Faithwalkers 2009-Day 1, pt. 2

I decided to continue to a new post just to break things up in smaller chunks. Things are much easier to digest that way....
































Breakout Session 1: Trials, God's Love & Spiritual Growth, Jay Yousling
"God whispers in our pleasure, but shouts in our pain." C.S. Lewis

• John 15:2 "He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,"
  

1. You can be a Christian and still bear no fruit
2. In a vineyard, there will be fruit that ends up on the ground, dirty and trampled. Instead of throwing it out, the vine dresser will tie the broken vine to the fence, closer to the other vines in hopes of saving it.
   

• John 15:2 continued "while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."
• God is not ignorant of you.
• God is not indifferent of you.
• God is not incapable for you.
• God is in love with you!

• God allows pruning for
  

1. My growth
2. Other's good
3. His glory!

Breakout Session 2: Living in God's Word, Jim Harrington
"If I had to stake my life on one thing, it's that God is real and that He affects change in our lives."

• The Bible reveals that God's dwelling is with us. "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call Him Immanuel (which means, God with us)" Matthew 1:23
• Revelation 1:1 "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place"
• --> Jesus Christ is the revelation that is soon to take place. Everything that happens in my life is a revelation of Jesus Christ. When I am truly aware of this, I will become more intentional in how I interact with people if I want to win them to Christ.
• "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:18
• --> Am I worried more about changing me or having Christ revealed in me?
• Change happens quickly when we remove the veil (the Law that keeps us from having true fellowship with God). Let God's glory shine on you; stop trying to change!
• There is no sin between me and the Lord.
• Is your reality with the Old Covenant or the New?
• Colossians 2:23 [Such regulations] have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
• -->The more I place restrictions on myself and say, "Don't do this," or "don't do that", the more likely I am to actually do the things I don't want to do.

Main Session III: Good News Changes Lives, Brent Knox
Thought to ponder: Christianity is the only religion that sings. We sing in response to the good news of Jesus Christ.

• Religion: "I obey, therefore I am accepted by God.
• Christianity: "I am accepted, therefore I obey."
• When we are drowning, God isn't sitting in the boat shouting at us to try harder. He dives in to save us!
• My life doesn't change as a result of me trying harder; it changes as a result of Christ working in me.
• The gospel is central to our joy.
• Psalm 32:1-2 Blessed is he
  whose transgressions are forgiven,
  whose sins are covered.

  ² Blessed is the man
  whose sin the LORD does not count against him
  and in whose spirit is no deceit.

• --> Blessed in the Hebrew translates as a state of happiness.
• God doesn't hold a thing against me, so why do I hold anything against myself?
• Our joy will attract the world to Christ
• The gospel is central to our generosity
• Generous people are the most attractive people in the world
• What separates us from every other religion in the world is our generosity
• God cares about my heart and motivation. He does not consider me generous until both my heart and motivations are generous. The gospel releases our hearts so that our motivations change.
• "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich."
• --> Generosity fades when the gospel has faded in our lives
• -->He became poor so that we might become rich
• "And your renown when forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you..." Ezekiel 16:14
• --> God is delighting in me right now
• --> God became ugly so that we might become beautiful
• The gospel is essential to successful and vibrant marriages
• The greatest tragedy about Christianity is that the divorce rate in Christian marriages is the same as, if not higher than, that of the secular world. Broken relationships won't attract people to Christ.

Overall theme from Day 1? I need to stop trying to change me and allow God to work in me and through me so He can change my life and use me.


That's all for now. My brain is ready to explode just reviewing all of that, and I've already been through it all once! I will possibly post more tomorrow.... :-)