"In spite of Imperfection"

November 04, 2011 ~ Edge! Lifted Service 
~Pastor Brandon 
 --> Philippians 1:


Question: What has God started in you? 
     - He's changed your heart so that you can honestly say that Jesus is your Lord and Savior 
*There's no such thing as a perfect person 
         - Just because you're not perfect doesn't mean God hasn't done a marvelous work in you! 
               --> Do you know how long it takes to craft a masterpiece? 
*God isn't done crafting you yet- it isn't in your hands! Allow God to shape you. 


--> Jeremiah 18:1- 
       - spoiled = corrupted, decayed, ruined, injured, "rotted" --> God touches dirty things and makes them whole again! *He doesn't even bother putting on gloves! He touches and restores the things in our lives that no one else wants to deal with. *Your problem/ sin, etc is no match for the power of God!! 

[untitled] Friday Lifted Service

October 28, 2011
~ Pastor Brandon 
Isaiah 61: 1- 


- poor = those in need of the gospel --> the gospel means you don't have to be broken anymore! 
- "broken-hearted" = a shattered/ crushed heart 
- when you live for Jesus, He makes you whole again! 
- everyday when your eyes pop open, you should be convicted of all the things you did the night before because it's only by the grace of God that you're alive to even see that new morning! 


*He didn't just die on the cross to save you from hell, but to break the bondage of sin in our lives. --> We don't have to sin anymore! 
- your mentality reflects how important Jesus is to you. Do you see Jesus and think,"Lord, I'm yours. Take me." or do you think, "Lord God i don't want to go to hell when I die!" Jesus is more than just a press pass into Heaven! 


"Life without Jesus is like an un-sharpened pencil- it has no point." ~Pastor Brandon 
**Q: How badly do you want him?? 
      - Will you let your pride or  friends keep you from Him? (b/c friends won't be who you face on judgement day!) 

Another Friday Lifted Service

October 07, 2011

scriptures:
Luke 1: 26-35; Matthew 1:18-25; Jeremiah 1:5; Romans 11:29; Ephesians 2:10; Matthew 28; Mark 13:11; Romans 10:14

-You've been chosen. Therefore you have been equipped with everything you need (through the Holy Spirit) to minister to the multitudes
*Think of 2Timothy 1:7 before you get ready to minister to people [if fear is something that stops you from sharing the Gospel] and read Mark13:11 [if you deal with insecurities like what to say when you minister, etc]

*Romans 10:14 = your motivating force in discipling
--> Romans 8:35
         *We have to be crazy in love with God in order to follow christ. I want to make my life look so much like Christ's life so that I can live forever with him.

- The only way you know Christ is through the word.
**Question: What are some things that tend to separate us from Him?
               our own physical plans - music - friends - guilt - unforgiving heart - insecurities - etc

-Paul is talking to us; he is asking us what shall separate us from the love of God?! It's really just a rhetorical question b/c NOTHING can separate us from the love of Christ!
     Tribulation= distress, turmoil, dire or extreme tragedy and sadness.
*even though i'm feeling this way[insert emotion here], God is still in love with me!
(I no longer live but Christ lives in me)

--> God is still amazing; He is still good despite your circumstances!! For God's sake, we are being persecuted all day long! We may not be killed physically, but we are persecuted by words, etc. We can't do all the things of the world b/c we know that it doesn't please him.
              - I'd rather be treated like a sheep, than BE a sheep without Christ. (*Without a good shepherd, we're treading on very dangerous territory)

-suicide= allowing affliction to separate us from God

*Paul doesn't say what turns GOD away from us, but what WE do to separate ourselves from HIM! God is ALWAYS there!! He'll never leave you nor forsake you. He won't give up on you, even when everyone else around you does.
                 ---> It's not enough for God to be crazy in love with us! We have to reciprocate that same love back to him!
**Question: Are you in love with him back?
          -it takes a leap of faith. Are you crazy enough to not only believe in Him, but be radical enough to love him back by sacrificing your life to Him?
      

Crazy Love ~ Pastor Brandon Davis

Friday night Lifted Service [September 30,2011]

* a huge misconception about God is that he doesn't love individuals who don't follow him.
-God loves us, in spite of us!
-we could go day after day doing the same sins we swore we'd stop doing, constantly breaking promises to Him and he STILL loves us!
-God is omniscient [all knowing] He knows your good, bad, and ugly (all the little things you put away in a closet for no one else to see)
*God's love is different than the "love" of this world!!
-->Romans 5:6-8 Jesus died for you IN your sin! *If you never realize how jacked up you are, you'll never truly appreciate the death of Christ
            - the death of Christ signifies that you have the power to defeat sin, we're born again, etc. and we mock his death when you keep playing with those sins.
-He must be crazy to send his son to die for us, knowing that we were going to sin against him over and over...
-John 3:16-18 "....he gave"
         --> Love leads to giving
*Jesus didn't come to the world to judge or condemn us! --> His love came in and rescued us from what we were about to do to ourselves.
Q: how many times have we put our feelings, sin, etc. ahead of God?
        ex:"i don't feel like reading my word tonight, i'm too tired.." I know i shouldn't be doing this [insert sin here], but i want to do it.." When you do that, you're putting your feelings, sins, etc. before God! He's a jealous God! you can't play around with sin throughout the week, then try to clean yourself up on sundays and think God is pleased with you.
-->Ephesians 3:17
*Jesus wants to dwell on the inside of your heart forever [only possible if you have faith! trust in him and know him!]
-understand the extent of God's love. It surrounds us; we can't ever escape it! Despite what you've done, what people say about you, etc God has not given up on you!

*There is never a day when you were so good that you're beyond the need of God's grace, and there's never a day where you were so bad that you're beyond the reach of God's grace!  (Jerry Bridges 1994) --> "The Discipline of Grace" chapter 3...

-come to know how much God loves you and how much he loves others
*our ability to love can either hurt our ministry or help it

Ghandi- "I would've became a Christian if I never met one." --> Show the true love of Christ and break this stereotype!!

-->Matthew 25:31-34
Did you even know...
    -That someone is in need?
    - That Jesus is sick when people are sick, hungry when people are hungry, etc.

"Walk"

September 08, 2011
Given by Pastor Brandon Davis; Thursday youth service
- we should not live defeated lives [Matthew 16:24-26]
- every day we must die to flesh
- what you "plan" to do should never be bigger than what God wants you to do
- don't live for the moment, live for eternity
--> Joshua 1:8
--> Acts 9:20-25
- The more you walk with your cross the stronger God will make you
- God is all powerful, I am not
- Lord means master
- 2 things in order to walk
        1) be courageous [Joshua 1:8]
        2) rely on Godly relationships to keep you going
--> Acts 14:19- 22
         -  Life is not about you 
         - I set my mind to do what God wants me to do
         - nobody is perfect including you
 "forbearance" - bear with one another

"Lifted"

by Pastor Brandon Davis


--> Romans 12:1-
- present: to place at one's disposal; to present a person to another to see and to question
- Paul is charging us to put ourselves at God's disposal!
(We're trying to be more like God- if you become "like" a person, it's easier to pick up their habits. For example, if you have a friend that consistently uses profanity, you are more likely to accept cursing or begin cursing yourself. Not necessarily ALWAYS the case but you make yourself more vulnerable  to it by putting yourself in an environment where they curse.


       --> He (God) has the power to do whatever he wishes to do with your life!


Q :does God have the power to do whatever he wants to do in your life? [obviously, he has the power to do anything, but he gives us free will]


- Are you willing to be at God's disposal? [present yourself to God as a living sacrifice]


-Don't make anyone make you feel like you can't be used, or walk in God's purpose for your life as a teenager.


-Paul also calls us to let God examine every aspect of our lives


  3 things in this text:
1) God wants our lives to be a lives to be a living sacrifice
2)wants our lives to be holy
3) wants our lives to be acceptable to his standards


*sacrifice--> the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something more important
     - it's easy to give up something when you the better


Q: what's your most prized possession? who/what do you feel you can't live without ?


-sacrifice is worship.
- the surrender/ destruction of something not pleasing to God= an act of worship!


-destroy your selfish will because God's will is more important! *It's not you at all whenever God uses you.
- what will you value most? --> there your worship & your heart will be also.
* anyone trying to follow God can't hold on to what they had before they knew him!
-when Jesus enters you life everything in your life should drastically change! Why? Because you must sacrifice.
*If your heart isn't open to God, how is he living there?


2) holy- living before God, good conduct before God --> *righteousness = your position with God
holiness is your character before God


3) acceptable = pleasing to God
      - we shouldn't want to please our teammates, boy/girlfriend, family, music, money, etc more than God
*in order to worship, you must sacrifice.
 - you can't gain Christ holding on to the things that keep you away from him


--> Matthew 13:44 * [meditation script]
- when sacrificing something we always view it as a negative
-as long as you hold on to the stupid things you do, you'll never gain him!


- i know he's worth more b/c the things of this world won't be there with you when you die
        *what sense does it make to be popular? Who is going to die with you?
*mark 10: 17-
        - whatever you're not willing to sacrifice
        - is Jesus worth more to you than all you have? 
*When the first thing you ask is, " what do i have to do to get into heaven?" you're being selfish- only looking out for yourself getting into heaven instead of looking at what Jesus actually requires for you to live! 

The "Break-up" ~ Pastor Brandon Davis #TeamLifted

Scripture reference: Romans 6, beginning at verse number one.
- there's nothing like being free from sin
*The most miserable people on Earth are the back-slid Christians because they know the truth! They know and have experienced God for themselves! 
- why hide from God when he's the ONLY one who can fix it??! --> It's very important that we don't take advantage of God's mercy.. because we don't know when it will run out. 
- Our God didn't change! His character is unchanging. The same God that poured his wrath out onto the people of the old testament is the same God we serve today. The reason we have not yet felt his wrath is because Jesus satisfied it by dying on the cross. 
-How do you know if you're truly living for God if you live that way?? If you live as if you can do whatever you want and just ask God to forgive you when you slip up? 
- People that take advantage of other people really don't love them--> friends that only come to you when they want something. Are they really your friends? (apply to spirituality) Do you really love God when you only seek him to fix your problems or forgive you?
- if sin is dead to you, it no longer has influence over you. It doesn't look good to you anymore. 
-your spirit is affected by three things: what you hear, say, and watch
- If we are playing in sin, we may not be happy Jesus washed them away! 
- God says to hate ALL sin--> that includes sinful MUSIC, TV, etc. Anything not of god. 
*However, when you've surrounded yourself with sin for so long, and you've been playing with sin, you sometimes won't be able to tell the difference between what is evil(sin) and what is acceptable. 
-ex: let's use music. Some people say that they listen to a certain kind of music because they "like the beat," even though they know it contradicts the God they say they serve. 
      Q: "If it's just music, why can't you put it down?" 
      someone answered: " because i like it." --> okay...Q: "why do you like it? If it has NOTHING in common with the God you say you serve, but you "like it," maybe your relationship with Him isn't as tight as you though.." **oxymoron don't you think?? 
- The whole purpose of you being buried in Christ and being resurrected is to put all the sinful ways aside and live a life according to God's will and His word. 
* Many people want to share in the burial of Christ, which symbolizes Jesus dying for our sins, but they don't want to share in his resurrection, which symbolizes newness of life. 
- you can't expect to be forgiven by Christ while not even trying to live your life his way. 
- we want to do wrong, but we want our lives to go well, THEN get mad at God if it doesn't. 
(we didn't finish this lesson, so more is to come next week hopefully) 

Why Preach?? ~ minister Brandon (youth pastor @ Faith Christian Center)~ thursday youth service

- 1 trick of the devil is to get us to a point where we don't even realize that people around us are hurting! (because we become so focused on whats best for us and how we can get blessed, etc). You never get healing before glorifying the name of God.

**QUESTION: how is it possible for you to have friends and they AREN"T christian??! --> the most terrible thing about Hell is that the presence of God is there, and you can't get to Him. his grace, glory, love, mercy, kindness, etc. is all there!!! BUT you can't get to it, Him. You had a choice to love him...

--> **Would you want to live with that guilt for all eternity??! (the guilt of knowing that you could have shared, you had the opportunity to share the Gospel with a friend, stranger, etc, and they could have possibly given their life to Christ, but you were too afraid to open your mouth and share the good news with them..) God is soverien in both heaven and hell

*if the christians never lift up Jesus, how will the world ever see him?

-"preach" - to make known, to announce openly or proclaim

          -> this isn't a shy person, or a popular person for that matter.

                      -> *anyone who hates being corrected probably is not a Christian! (wow!) God contradicts the things of the world, and vice versa. he is a father who corrects his children out of love..

                                   -> if  your friends don't want to be held up to God's standards, judged by him, why would they want you in their faces constantly proclaiming the name of Jesus??!

-we have to be careful b/c we can go a few days w/o being in the presence of God and we may look fine on the outside, but in actuality, we are slowly dying like a branch that has been removed from the vine. 

-you can't be damaged beyond repair if you have Jesus

-Jesus can fix you, but you have to go to him! & he is the only one that can satisfy our needs!

-don't worry about your hurt! --> go out into the world and help others with their hurt & i guarantee you that god will take care of yours 

*Q: what's the reason you don't want people saved?? (b/c you must not want them saved if you're not opening your mouth to share God w/ them!)

*you'll never be pleasing to God until you realize that you need him (heaven should be the last thing on your mind)

-everyday you almost have to live in the mindset of "hey, does that person know Jesus?" 

-open your eyes!! there's life outside of highscool!! life is bigger than your household

---> [continued..] Matthew 9:34-38

point # 1: 

point# 2: have the same compassion 4 the lost that Christ had 4 them

point #3: (1 timothy2:4) know that God desires for everyone to be saved --> therfore we should want them saved too!

point #4: God ensures that everyone he sends out is equipped to preach!! --> he gave us all the same power that he had! --> that's what you need to build your faith on!

- you have to start speaking the word of God into your own life before you can speak it into someone else's life!

*Jesus ought not be a expression or phrase! we must use that name with respect

-we have the power to cast out all demons & afflictions & pain. & we must have the faith in the name of Jesus 

-point #4 continued--> luke 10:17-  --> God kicked Satan out of heaven faster than lightning and he turned into a SERPANT! Jesus's name gives us authority and power to triumph over the heads of serpants (vs 20)

-bk to the text: healing will never take place before/ unless you procliam Jesus first (because he is the one doing the healing..)

- the answer to all problems is Jesus! nothing else

-Q: why did Jesus care/ have compassion for the multitudes??

      A: b/c the people were harassed; harassed- to be distressed, to have great pain, to have anxiety and sorrow. To have acute physical & mental suffering, afflictions & trouble.

- helpless: to feel like a failure or disappointment.

Refer to Matthew25:31