For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 1:9-14 (NIV)

Speaker: Pastor Tom Wood

The Father loves you like He loves Jesus. He has rescued you from all of the things that keep you from flourishing.

Blessing & Sending 

This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love.

1 John 4:13-16a (NIV)

The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his brother. On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the Lord, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts.”

Haggai 2:20-23 (ESV)

Speaker: Jon Adams, Lead Pastor

Sermon Notes for 06/09/2013:

We are promised a God-sized destiny

The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month.

Haggai 2:20 (ESV)

Dampened dreams

“Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his brother.

Haggai 2:22 (ESV)

For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea. Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing. And Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”

Exodus 15:19-21 (ESV)

Our ring of power

On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the Lord, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts.”

Haggai 2:23 (ESV)

“They’ve taken everything, Sam,’ said Frodo. ‘Everything I had. Do you understand? Everything!’ He cowered on the floor again with bowed head, as his own words brought home to him the fullness of the disaster, and despair overwhelmed him. ‘The quest has failed, Sam. Even if we get out of here, we can’t escape. Only Elves can escape. Away, away out of Middle-earth, far away over the Sea. If even that is wide enough to keep the Shadow out.’

‘No, not everything, Mr. Frodo. And it hasn’t failed, not yet. I took it, Mr. Frodo, begging your pardon. And I’ve kept it safe. It’s round my neck now. . .’

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

“As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off and give you into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

Jeremiah 22:24-25 (ESV)

And after the deportation to Babylon: Jehoiakim was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

Matthew 1:12-16 (ESV)

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV)

But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand.

Luke 15:22 (ESV)

Communion Meditation:

You can’t get second things by putting them first; you can get second things only by putting first things first.

C.S. Lewis, English author and theologian

Without doubt, the mightiest thought the mind can entertain is the thought of God, and the weightiest word in any language is its word of God.

A.W. Tozer, 20th century author and theologian

God is a sea of infinite substance.

John of Damascus, 8th century hymn writer and defender of the faith

God is not a deceiver that He should offer to support us, and then, when we lean upon Him, should slip away from us.

Augustine of Hippo, scholar, philosopher, and a bishop of Church in the 4th century

Blessing & Sending:

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

Philippians 4:19 (ESV), 1 John 3:1 (NKJV)

In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’”

Haggai 2 (ESV)

Speaker: Jon Adams, Lead Pastor

Sermon Notes for 06/02/2013:

Your Disappointments

In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet,

Haggai 2:1 (ESV)

* Droughts create disappointments

“Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes?

Haggai 2:2-3 (ESV)

* Comparisons create disappointments

The Difference

* What you do matters

Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work . . .

Haggai 2:4 (ESV)

* It’s His presence, not just what you do

Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, 5 according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not.

Haggai 2:4b-5 (ESV)

For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’”

Haggai 2:6-9 (ESV)

I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty.

Haggai 2:7 (NIV)

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

Malachi 3:1 (NIV)

How do you live above disappointments?

* Relax about finding the perfect job.

* Re-center your desires on Him.

Communion Meditation:

“He makes His ministers a flame of fire. Am I ignitable? God deliver me from the dread asbestos of ‘other things.’ Saturate me with the oil of the Spirit that I may be a flame. But flame is transient, often short-lived. Canst thou bear this, my soul – short life? In me there dwells the Spirit of the Great Short-Lived, whose zeal for God’s house consumed Him. ‘Make me Thy Fuel, Flame of God.’”

Jim Elliot, martyred by the Auka Indians

Man appears for a little while to laugh and weep, to work and play, and then to go to make room for those who shall follow him in the never-ending cycle.

A.W. Tozer

Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.

Augustine

Fear God and work hard.

David Livingstone

Temptations which accompany the working day will be conquered on the basis of the morning breakthrough to God. Decisions, demanded by work, become easier and simpler where they are made not in the fear of men, but only in the sight of God. He wants to give us today the power which we need for our work.

Dietrick Bonhoeffer

To say prayers in a decent, delicate way is not heavy work. But to pray really, to pray till hell feels the ponderous stroke, to pray till the iron gates of difficulty are opened, till the mountains of obstacles are removed, till the mists are exhaled and the clouds are lifted, and the sunshine of a cloudless day brightens-this is hard work, but it is God’s work, and man’s best labor.

E.M. Bounds

Blessing & Sending:

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

Colossians 3:23-24 (ESV)

In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest: “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord. You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.”

Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord. Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, “I am with you, declares the Lord.” And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

Haggai 1 (ESV)

Speaker: Jon Adams, Lead Pastor

Sermon Notes for 05/26/2013:

In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.

Haggai 1:1 (ESV)

The History of Distraction

He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.

Haggai 1:2 (ESV)

The Heart of Distraction

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.”

Haggai 1:2 (ESV)

Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?

Haggai 1:3-4 (ESV)

Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord. You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.”

Haggai 1:5-11 (ESV)

The Healing of Distraction

Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.

Haggai 1:12 (ESV)

Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, (AA)“I am with you, declares the Lord.”

Haggai 1:13 (ESV)

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV)

Communion Meditation:

For a small reward, a man will hurry away on a long journey; while for eternal life, many will hardly take a single step.

Thomas a’ Kempis (1380-1471)

We are told that Christ was killed for us, that His death has washed out our sins, and that by dying He disabled death itself. … That is Christianity. That is what has to be believed.

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Religion today is not transforming people; rather it is being transformed by the people. It is not raising the moral level of society; it is descending to society’s own level, and congratulating itself that it has scored a victory because society is smilingly accepting its surrender.

A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)

The great need today among the young is the strengthening of belief in things spiritual, for in spite of the superhuman advances in science, invention, and culture, none of this is attributed to God’s gift to man; in fact, the increase of knowledge and the cult of education have but given to youth a self-reliant independence where religion has no place, and beyond admitting that Christ was “the best man that ever lived,” there are few who concede any other tribute to the Creator. And yet the saving principles of the world are rooted in Christ, implanted in him; the Truth by which men live is the Truth as taught and lived by Jesus.

Helen Olney, Thoughts

It is no hard matter to adhere to God while you are in the enjoyment of His comforts and consolations; but if you would prove your fidelity to Him, you must be willing to follow Him through the paths of dryness and desertion. The truth of a friend is not known while he is receiving favours and benefits from us; but if he remain faithful to us when we treat him with coldness and neglect, it will be a proof of the sincerity of his attachment.

Backhouse and Janson, A Guide to True Peace

Heaven is not here, it’s There. If we were given all we wanted here, our hearts would settle for this world rather than the next. God is forever luring us up and away from this one, wooing us to Himself and His still invisible Kingdom, where we will certainly find what we so keenly long for.

Elisabeth Elliot in Keep a Quiet Heart

Blessing & Sending:

One thing(A) I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.

Psalm 27:4 (NIV)

Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Galatians 6:6-10 (ESV)

Speaker: Jon Adams, Lead Pastor

Sermon Notes for 05/19/2013:

Everyone is sowing something.

Sowing to the flesh = living as a slave.

Sowing to the Spirit = living in our Sonship.

Where should we sow?

The context for sowing

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Galatians 6:10 (ESV)

The content for sowing

. . . finances

Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.

Galatians 6:6 (ESV)

. . . service

Why sow to the Spirit?

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Galatians 6:8 (ESV)

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

Galatians 5:13-15 (ESV)

What is sowing to the Spirit?

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Galatians 6:8 (ESV)

Even youths shall faint and be weary,?and young men shall fall exhausted;

Isaiah 40:43 (ESV)

Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action.

Dallas Willard

Blessing & Sending:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

Hebrews 12:1-3

Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong. You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you, my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!

Galatians 4:12-19 (ESV)

Speaker: Jon Adams, Lead Pastor

Sermon Notes for 05/12/2013:

my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!

Galatians 4:19 (ESV)

What is “Christ formed in you”?

Paul’s labor pains: our hearts would be pliable to the Father’s heart of love.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,

Romans 12:2 (ESV)

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Romans 8:29 (ESV)

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)

Why is “Christ formed in you” so hard?

Our hearts are swayed by cheap substitutes.

Our hearts are swayed by passion.

Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may have zeal for them. It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always, not just when I am with you.

Galatians 4:17-18 (NIV)

Our hearts are swayed by wanting ‘credit’.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 1:12-13 (ESV)

And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Galatians 4:6-7 (ESV)

Communion Meditation:

God always has and always will look for men and women who say to Him, ‘I trust you so much, I’m all in. I want your way not mine. I am willing to live by faith!’

Chip Ingram

Brokenness is the shattering of my self-will – the absolute surrender of my will to the will of God. It is saying “Yes, Lord!” – no resistance, no chafing, no stubbornness – simply submitting myself to His direction and will in my life.

Nancy Leigh-DeMoss

We do not segment our lives, giving some time to God, some to our business or schooling, while keeping parts to ourselves. The idea is to give all of our lives in the presence of God, under the authority of God, and for the honor and glory of God. That is what the Christian life is all about.

R.C. Sproul

The greatness of a man’s power is the measure of his surrender.

William Booth

Blessing & Sending:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:1-2 (ESV)

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Galatians 4:1-7 (ESV)

Speaker: Jon Adams, Lead Pastor

Sermon Notes for 05/05/2013:

The gospel launches you to new freedom in His love.

so that we might receive adoption as sons.

Galatians 4:5 (ESV)

A Failure to Launch

* The Old Testament era.

* Those who aren’t yet Christians.

In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.

Galatians 4:3 (ESV)

* Christians striving to do the work themselves.

But when the fullness of time had come (after being 1,500 years under the of Moses), God sent forth his Son, born of woman (he was fully human), born under the law (Jesus was born in an era of the law) to redeem (pay a price to release slave from his/her master) those who were under the law (the master was the Law), so that we might receive adoption as sons (or “full rights as sons”).

Galatians 4:4-5 (ESV)

Freedom to Launch:

Jesus’ release to guarantee your sonship.

As Calvin puts it: “by putting the chains on himself, he (Jesus) takes them off the other.”

The Spirit’s release to experience your sonship.

And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Galatians 4:6-7 (ESV)

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV)

And I wrote out a prayer:

“Father, I repent of my self-sufficiency and I come to You not in strength, but in my need for You. Please, Lord, provide mightily for The Vine. You always have. You always will. I trust You, but I don’t like to struggle. I thank You that you are teaching me to believe You are My Provider, Source of Strength and Abba.”

Love, your son,
Jon

Communion Meditation:

St. Ignatius of Loyola notes that sin is the unwillingness to trust that what God wants is our deepest happiness.

The English word surrender carries the implication of putting one’s full weight on someone or something. It involves letting go – a release of effort, tension and fear. And it involves trust. One cannot let go of self-dependence and transfer dependence to someone else without trust.

David Benner

We are afraid to go all the way in accepting the authority of God, because of our secret uncertainty as to His adequacy to look after us if we do.

J.I. Packer

Soren Kierkegaard suggested that:

1. fear occurs when the human spirit is afraid of itself
2. fear is often a substitute for guilt.
3. Guilt always results in an inhibition of love.

Blessing & Sending:

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

Romans 8:5-6 (ESV)

Galatians 2:11-14 (ESV)

Speaker: Jon Adams, Lead Pastor

Sermon Notes for 04/28/2013:

Stop the slippage and be tethered in His love

The Scene of Slippage.

What will save us when we slip:

* We all slip.

For we all stumble in many ways.

James 3:2 (ESV)

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.

Matthew 16:18 (ESV)

* We can be blind to our faith’s erosion.

Wounds from a friend can be trusted,
but an enemy multiplies kisses.

Proverbs 27:6 (NIV)

* Nothing is more important than aligning your heart in the gospel.

When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel,

Galatians 2:14 (NIV)

* The truth of the gospel is secured in God’s love.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2:20

(that you) may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:18-19 (ESV)

Communion Meditation:

I could more easily contain Niagara Falls in a teacup than I can comprehend the wild, uncontainable love of God.

Brennan Manning

The gospel is adoption through substitution. God honors believing sinners as if they had done everything that Jesus had done, and loves them as His only natural Son.

Tim Keller

O Father, every part of my life-my reason, my body, my emotions, my will-is a snare to me. I can hardly open my eyes without envying those above me or despising those below me. I covet the honor and riches of the mighty, and I am proud and unmerciful to the rags of the needy. If I behold beauty, is a temptation to lust; if I see deformity, it stirs up loathing and disdain. How easily do slander, cruel jokes, and lewd speech creep out from my heart! You know that all these are snares to me because of my corruption, and that my greatest snare is myself. I confess that my apprehensions of you are dull, my thoughts shallow, my affections cold. Keep me mindful of my fallen state apart from Christ, but let me never forget my heavenly title in Christ-that I am forgiven, loved, and accepted-or that his grace can deal with every sin; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Gospel is the good news that the eternal Son of God took on humanity, lived a sinless life and died a sinner’s death in our place for our sin. He is now risen and seated in heaven as Lord and Savior, promising freedom from sin’s penalty and power to all who will repent of their sin and trust in Him.

Steve Childers

Blessing & Sending:

that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:16-19 (ESV)

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Galatians 1:6-10

Speaker: Jon Adams, Lead Pastor

Sermon Notes for 04/21/2013:

And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Galatians 4:6-7 (ESV)

Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion.

Brennan Manning

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Galatians 1:10 (ESV)

Confidence in Abba’s heart will radically shape how your see your identity.

The Bondage of a False Identity

Only madmen, geniuses, and supreme egoists do things purely for themselves… it is truly difficult – perhaps impossible – to march only to your own drumbeat. Most of us, whether we are aware of it or not, do things with an eye to the approval of some audience or other. The question is not whether we have an audience but which audience we have.

Os Guinness

The Galatians’ false identity

Paul’s new identity

Real freedom is freedom from the opinions of others. Above all, freedom from your opinions about yourself.

Brennan Manning

The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

Proverbs 29:25 (ESV)

The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

Psalm 118:6 (ESV)

Your Identity as Abba’s Child

And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Mark 1:11 (ESV)

Communion Meditation:

When we encounter suffering as followers of Christ we can be certain of three things: It is not punishment, God can be trusted & it will come to an end.

Jonathan Walker (Brian and Mandy Miller’s brother-in-law)

My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it.

Brennan Manning

The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.

Oswald Chambers

It is not possible that mortal men should be thoroughly conscious of the divine presence without being filled with awe.

C. H. Spurgeon

To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark. In admitting my shadow side I learn who I am and what God’s grace means.

Brennan Manning

Blessing & Sending:

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs— heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Romans 8:15-17 (ESV)

And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Galatians 4:6-7

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Romans 8:14-17 (ESV)

Speaker: Jon Adams, Lead Pastor

Sermon Notes for 04/14/2013:

He invites you to cry.

What is this cry?

but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

Romans 8:15 (ESV)

When God’s promise is more to you than anything else … I not only know the care of God, I sense His care.

Jonathan Edwards

Who cries?

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Romans 8:14 (ESV)

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.

1 Corinthians 6:19 (ESV)

Crying, and yet, free.

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

Romans 8:1 (ESV)

I was devastated to hear the news of Rick Warren’s son, who took his own life on Friday after a lifetime of battling serious mental illness. I don’t know Rick well, but we have met a few times and have many common friends, having served in similar ministry circles here in Orange County. I have heard Rick speak about his children on a few occasions, and he always struck me as a loving and compassionate dad. A story that sticks out in my mind was the time Rick’s daughter tried out for a team and didn’t make the cut. He found her crying in the closet, and rather than trying to get her up or give her a pep talk, he sat down and held her and cried with her. That story has stuck with me. It exemplifies the kind of parent I want to be — a parent who, instead of trying to fix things, gets down on the floor and sits with a child’s grief.

Kristen Howerton, blog post on Rick Warren’s Grief

And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Mark 14:36 (ESV)

Communion Meditation:

Each moment you can choose to practice My Presence, or to practice the presence of problems.

Sarah Young

The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God. The essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man.

John Stott

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (NIV)

Cheer up! You are far more sinful than you ever imagined. But, cheer up! You are far more loved and accepted than you ever dared to hope.

Jack Miller

When all Christians surrender to the mystery of the fire of the Spirit that burns within; when we submit to the saving truth that we reach life only through death, that we come to light only through darkness; when we acknowledge that the grain of wheat must fall into the ground and die, that Jonah must be buried in the whale’s belly, that the alabaster jar of self must be broken if others are to perceive the sweet fragrance of Christ; when we respond to Jesus’s call of “Come to Me,” then the limitless power of the Holy Spirit will be unleashed with astonishing force upon the church and the world.

Brennan Manning, The Importance of Being Foolish

If the love of a father will not make a child delight in him, what will?

John Owen

Blessing & Sending:

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.

Isaiah 43:1(ESV)

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!

Psalm 34:8 (ESV)

Hebrews 4:14-16

Speaker: Tim Barton, Pastor of Family Ministries/Life Group Director

And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Acts 4:1-12 (ESV)

Speaker: Jon Adams, Lead Pastor

Our Hope for Wholeness is found in the Risen Christ alone.

• People are healed.
• Crowds are attracted.
• Religion is repulsed.
• Followers are wholly changed.

There is only One Hope for our Wholeness.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6 (ESV)

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

I Cor 15:17 (ESV)

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

“Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Matthew 18:21-35 (ESV)

Speaker: Jon Adams, Lead Pastor

Sermon Notes for 03/24/2013:

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”

Matthew 18:21 (ESV)

Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

Matthew 18:22 (ESV)

The depth of our need for forgiveness.

* We are in a bottomless hole of debt.

In the New Testament, there are 5 different Greek words for sin.

• missing the mark
• trespass
• stepping across the line
• lawlessness
• debt

* His forgiveness covers the depth of our debt.

Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’

Matthew 18:32-33 (ESV)

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit

Psalm 103:1-4 (ESV)

Forgiving the debt of others

• A lack of forgiveness imprisons us. 
• Forgiveness is a willingness to absorb the cost of the debt.
• Center your forgiveness of others in Christ.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Ephesians 4:32 (NIV)

Communion Meditation:

I just realized today that I have forgiven the person I’ve prayed for … for 30 years.

C.S. Lewis

He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

Psalm 103:10-13

Nothing in the past, the present, or the future can cause Jehovah to be unkind to me.

Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

Psalm 32:1-5 (ESV)

I am guilty but pardoned.
I am lost but saved.
I am wandering but found.
I am sinning but cleansed.
Give me perpetual broken-heartedness.
Keep me always clinging to Thy cross.

The Valley of Vision: a Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions. P. 83

Blessing & Sending:

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Colossians 3:12-14 (ESV)

Romans 8:35-39 (ESV)

Speaker: Jon Adams, Lead Pastor

Sermon Notes for 03/17/2013

Our perception: We are loved if our circumstances are good

Paul lists 7 perils that threaten your feelings of His love in verse 35:

• tribulation
• distress
• persecution
• famine
• nakedness
• danger
• sword

In verse 36, Paul quotes Psalm 44:22:

Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

The Reality: You are loved in all circumstances

The Right Question: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

The Right Answer is not:

• tribulation
• distress
• persecution
• famine
• nakedness
• danger
• sword

The Right Answer is:

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:35-39 (ESV)

Mark 5:25-34 (ESV)

Speaker: Jon Adams, Lead Pastor

Sermon Notes for 03/10/2013

A Willingness to be Vulnerable

And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

Mark 5:34 (ESV)

God’s Willingness to make you Whole

The word “peace” here “means not just freedom from inward anxiety, but that wholeness and completeness of life that comes from being brought into a right relationship with God.”

Kittel, TDNT, Volume II:911

How do you live vulnerably pursuing His Wholeness?

• Daily, it’s a fight of faith.
• Believe your life is full of value and dignity.
• Take the next step to Open Up.

Communion Meditation:

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless– it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.

C.S. Lewis

When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability… To be alive is to be vulnerable.

Madeline L’Engle

I understand now that the vulnerability I’ve always felt is the greatest strength a person can have. You can’t experience life without feeling life. What I’ve learned is that being vulnerable to somebody you love is not a weakness, it’s a strength.

Elizabeth Shue

There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, and ultimately no life, without community.

M. Scott Peck

Blessing & Sending:

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (NIV)

Acts 20:25-31 (ESV)

Speaker: Jon Adams, Lead Pastor

Sermon Notes for 03/03/2013:

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

Acts 20:28 (ESV)

The 4 primary privileges of care for our elders are:

• Know
• Feed
• Lead
• Protect the “Flock”

The key to Elder Care is relationship

The Key to Elder Care: Know the Flock

Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.

Acts 20:31 (ESV)

How can we create a culture of care?

Why should we create a culture of care?

• We long for it.
• It creates growth.
• It matters to God.

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

Acts 20:17-38 (ESV)

Recommended Resourses:

• Gospel Coach: Shepherding Leaders to Glorify God by Tom Wood
• The Shepherd Leader by Timothy Witmer

Communion Meditation:

Experience has taught me that the Shepherd is far more willing to show His sheep the path than the sheep are to follow. He is endlessly merciful, patient, tender, and loving. If we, His stupid and wayward sheep, really want to be led, we will without fail be led. Of that I am sure.

Elisabeth Elliot

The authority by which the Christian leader leads is not power but love, not force but example, not coercion but reasoned persuasion. Leaders have power, but power is safe only in the hands of those who humble themselves to serve.

John Stott

Dear Lord, I know that if I do not love You with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my soul, and with all my strength, I shall love something else with all my heart and mind and soul and strength. Grant that by loving You first, I may be liberated from all lesser loves and loyalties and have You as my first Love, my chief Good and my final Joy.

Oxford Book of Prayer

The very first thing which needs to be said about Christian ministers of all kinds is that they are “under” people as their servants rather than “over” them (as their leaders, let alone their lords). Jesus made this absolutely plain. he chief characteristic of Christian leaders, he insisted, is humility not authority, and gentleness not power.

John Stott

Blessing & Sending:

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV)

James 5:13-16 (ESV)

Speaker: Jon Adams, Lead Pastor

Sermon Notes for 02/24/2013:

The Context of Confession

David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.

2 Samuel 12:13 (ESV)

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.

James 5:16 (ESV)

The Cover-Up

Why do we hide?

·      A Lack of Teaching

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus

1 Timothy 2:5 (ESV)

·      Shame

·      Fear

And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”

Genesis 3:10 (ESV)

Confession in Community

We desire to follow Christ in community as we consistently pursue time with one another by eating together, confessing our sins to one another and praying for each other.  We gather in small groups where encouragement, hope, healing and restoration emerge as we minister to all ages, especially the next generation.

Loving Each Other

How to get started?

·      Be wise
·      Often
·      Centered in Christ

Questions for reflection: 

·      God, what do you want me to confess?
·      To whom do you want me to confess?
·      When do you want me to confess?

Communion Meditation:

Sin has but two places where it may be; either it may be with you, so that it lies upon your neck, or upon Christ, the Lamb of God. If now it lies upon your neck, you are lost; if, however, it lies upon Christ, you are free and will be saved.

Martin Luther

We pardon in the degree that we love.

Francois de la Rochefoucauld

Dear Father always near us,
May your name be treasured and loved,
May your rule be completed in us —
May your will be done here on earth
In just the way it is done in heaven.
Give us today the things we need today,
And forgive us our sins and impositions on you
As we are forgiving all who in any way offend us.
Please don’t put us through trials,
But deliver us from everything bad.
Because you are the one in charge,
And you have all the power,
And the glory too is all yours – forever –
Which is just the way we want it!

Dallas Willard, out of The Divine Conspiracy

Confession is not resolving to reform, but gambling on grace

Dick Kaufmann

I am guilty but pardoned.
I am lost but saved.
I am wandering but found.
I am sinning but cleansed.
Give me perpetual broken-heartedness.
Keep me always clinging to Thy cross. 

The Valley of Vision:  a Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions

Blessing & Sending:

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

1 John 4:10 (NIV)

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. You are a hiding place for me.

Psalm 32:5; 7 (ESV)

Matthew 9:1-8 (ESV)

Speaker: Jon Adams, Lead Pastor

Sermon Notes for 02/17/2013:

Wholeness is believing the gospel alone can heal you and make you and your community whole.

Wholeness and Paralysis

I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

Isaiah 43:25 (ESV)

Paralysis and faith

When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

Matthew 9:8 (ESV)

Such fear breeds praise.

D.A. Carson, p. 222

When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified.

Matthew 17:6 (ESV)

What’s your response?

* Forgiving others is hard.

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant.

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Matthew 18:21-22 (ESV)

* It’s hard to believe that Christ really does forgive you.

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Genesis 2:18-25

In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

Ephesians 5:28

Speaker: Jon Adams, Lead Pastor

Sermon Notes for 02/10/2013:

Your intimacy in marriage can be “more than just skin deep”.

A deep desire

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field.

Genesis 2:18-20 (ESV)

But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.

Genesis 2:20b (ESV)

A deep resemblance

So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.

Genesis 2:20b (ESV)

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:27 (ESV)

Not made out of his head to top him, not out of his feet to be trampled by him… but under his arm to be protected and near his heart to be loved.

Matthew Henry commentary (1710)

In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

Ephesians 5:28 (ESV)

A deep bond

Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

Genesis 2:23 (ESV)

This is my lover, this my friend.

Song of Songs 5:16 (NIV1984)

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Genesis 1:27 (ESV)

Recommended Resources for your Marriage:

• Gary Chapman, The 5 Love Languages
• Dr. Emerson Eggerichs, Love & Respect
• Timothy and Kathy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage

Communion Meditation:

The real cause of failure, ultimately, in marriage is always self.

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free! Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me! Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best! ’Tis an ocean full of blessing, ’tis a haven giving rest! O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heaven of heavens to me; And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!

Hymn written by Trevor Francis, 1875

The Puritan ethic of marriage was first not to look for a partner whom you do love passionately at this moment but rather for one whom you can love steadily as your best friend for life, then proceed with God’s help just to do that.

J.I. Packer

Blessing & Sending:

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV1984)

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