KINGDOM OF GOD - radical decisions for the kingdom of God

-the Israelites were hoping that there will be a king coming from heaven and there no more wickedness

-John came and told that the Kingdom of God is near... and Jesus came not long after

Baptize in the Holy Spirit.. fully immerse us in the spirit of God till overflowing

-fire of judgement reserved for the wicked

-the righteous and wicked will be separated

-Kingdom of God is here but only at the 2nd coming that the Kingdom of God be fully manifested

-if God is alr here, why is life so difficult?

-blessed... we must understand the alr and not yet

the kingdom of God is very strong, way stronger than Satan

-those who hears force their way in

-the kingdom of God is not for those who are lazy, half hearted

-salvation is not by works but by grace... Require us to be bold, powerful response

-nothing can stand in the way

-the kingdom of God is working powerfully in the world... but we need respond powerfully

how radical should we be?

1. radical to live a righteous life

-no more anger, no more sexual immorality, no more lying/exaggerating, no more unforgiveness

-we need to have a decision and the Holy Spirit will give us the strength

-we need to be radical in our decision... 

-don't let any blessing be our idol

2. radical to love

-flip side of love is Forgiveness

-think of best of ppl, decide not to gossip or talk bad abt other ppl

3. radical to bear the fruit of the Spirit

-9 fruits of the Spirit... it is the atmosphere of the Kingdom of God

4. radical to see the power of God

-boldly believe and confess the promises of God 

KINGDOM OF GOD - the kingdom and faith

-kingdom of God comes by the Holy Spirit

-Jesus made a decision tt He will live and walk relying on the Holy Spirit

-when the Holy Spirit comes, amazing things happen

-not just because we pray or have faith, we will definitely get what we want

Stephen is a man full of faith, but he is the 1st Christian to be stoned to death

-not afraid to confess God's promises

-we cannot have 1 without the other.. we need to have both!

they believed in God

-not my will by God's be done

-the moment faith is gone, relationship with God dries up

KINGDOM OF GOD - the kingdom and the holy spirit

Jesus could do all this cos of the spirit of God

everything Jesus did is by he power of the spirit

the Holy Spirit will make us very strong, and bold in suffering

spirit body.. God will resurrect us and give us a spirit body

every teaching from Jesus is through the Holy Spirit

-it was the Holy Spirit who carried Jesus all the way to heavenly realms

-Jesus is sinless even going through all temptations cos He made the decision to depend on the Holy Spirit!

Peter is not divine, but he could also walk on the water cos of his faith

Peter has faith, but little... not size but duration!

we can do it if we believe.. if we speak out what we believe... miracles can happen

-love without forgiveness will make us hard

-God's love must overflow out of us to benefit others

-Jesus cares deeply abt the poor, needy

-the more we learn to pray, let God's love overflow out of us, the more we can experience God 

-live for God for the benefit of others

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deu 24
God cares for them

Israel must represent the cross to the rest of the world

isiah 58

isiah 58 9

if we represent God well, God will answer!

mark 1

Jesus was giving all His attention to the poor, outcast, little children

matt 14

alot of poor ppl were following Jesus wheverever He goes and He had compassion on them

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the cost of discipleship will be the same...

   life of suffering and service to the poor

not just of Jesus, but also the disciples

mark 8

follow Jesus and be prepared to suffer, but save our life

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mark 9

to be a leader, will have to serve

pic serving others

mark 10

-Jesus suffered to show us how to suffer and remains in faith... not to escape from suffering

-greatness is measured by how much we serve others

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we cant take all this into eternity

kingdom of God part 4

pic busyness proverbs
are we wearing ourselves out to get more in life

even though Jesus is busy, he has prorities

mark 1 (last)

in the mist of all busyness, Jesus again and again had silence and solitude

luke 5 15

often, all the time

places.. not one place

we can be busy, but our prorties must be right

pic unharried life

waited 30 years to start His ministry

Jesus refused to be push and pull by the ppl

nv in a pressure to heal the sick

Jesus left many things undone... 

   refuse to waste energy on wealth, fame

pic christlikenss

pic silence and solitude

there should be s&s to be in the presence of God

pic silence and solitude

silence is a form of fasting from the noise of the world.. we are living in a "wordy" world

solitude is a form of fasting from the fellowship in the world

pic psalm

silently = rest

when we have rest, we will have easy yolk and light burden

for most ppl, silence makes ppl panic

3 blessings of silence and solitude

1.

ppl expect instant replies

God speaks in silence!

1 kings 19

-God can move in the dramatic.. but Elijah found God in a small still voice

-God speaks in a sheer slience

-at some point, we need to slience our soul to hear from God

pic s&s

pic contemplation

come before God without string attached

there is a time to be slient, theres a time to speak

in the silence, wait and yern for God's prescence

2.

though God knows everyting abt us, allow God to see the deep

only in silence and soltide, we can see our ownselves and there, healing begins

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pic borkenss and darkness

in s&s, we bring our brokenness and darkness to God

pic fruit of the spirit

in s&s, we learn to just wait...

3.

to live in the world and not of the world

we must first be free from the push and pull of the world

pslm 131

-weaned child.. no longer drinks from the mother or bottle

-a wean child comes to the mother for love, closeness

we cannot have a utility relationship with God

   having benefit from the relationship

love God for who God is, and not for His blessing

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pic intimacy

this is God's goal for us

God always uses the most painful time to get our attention

kingdom of God part 3

 matt 11
-weary = overworked, tired
-burdened = worried, stressed

romans

dont let the world change our pattern

if we get to entangled in this world, we will lose our own soul

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for 20 years, saint Anthony lived in the dessert

   he enjoyed at first, but then after temptation came

   he came out 20 years later becoming so Christlike... he surrendered himself to God

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this is the key to easy yolk and light burden

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under all the busyness is anger, lust, greed

whats the point of doing so much but feel empty

matt 6 33

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we must grow in the same grace as Jesus

Jesus developed His spiritaulity in the silence and solitude prescense of God

luke 4

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in solitude, at first all things are ok.. then in silience, our ownself will raise to the surface

luke 4

Jesus was sinless, but He was also tested

   1st temptation is self-desire.. gratification of flesh

-greed is an endless gratification of flesh

luke 4

2nd temptation

most of the time we are tempted to prove ourselves to ppl

luke 4

3rd tempation

God's way 

God couldnt use Jesus if He is ambitious

we dont stop and ask God if this is what God wants for our life

pic worlds way vision

acts

the source of true vision is not from us, but by the Holy Spirit

pic vision

a vision must come from God... 

luke 4 14

in verse 1, Jesus is alr ful of the Spirit

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we need to find our own silent and solitude place with God

KINGDOM OF GOD - LIFE OF THE KINGDOM

eternal life and kingdom and is the same thing

salvation = kingdom of of God = kingdom of heaven = eternal life

-blessed are the righteous

-kingdom of God is a future reality... righteous inherited at the end of 2nd coming

we can experience the kingdom of God, eternal life

we can have eternal life now, but not in full now

what is eternal life 

1. knowledge of God

-we can start knowing God

-knowledge is not having information... is abt experience (personal encounters, entering into relationship, becoming God's friend, entering into fellowship and communion with God)

-to know a person means to have experience (knowing facts is easy.. google, facebook but doesnt mean knowing the person)

2. life of the Holy Spirit

-we need to be born again

-water, not abt baptism, but in the new covenant, the Holy Spirit will cleanse us

we need to be spiritual

born again person within us

spirit = our heart, inner-man

3 things about spirituality

1. result = Christ is being formed in us

-personality is who are externally, how we present ourselves to the world

   -easily changed via coaching

-character is internal (the real us) - fruit of the spirit

   -formed through transformation over time

      -through thoughts

-character is what God is focusing on

2. desire to integrate all aspects of all our lives

-if our spiritual life is not integrated with our life, our soul breaks down

   -dont do exactly what we say... having a divided heart

-integrity = character

3. process = place our "real self" in the presence of God

-spirituality makes us aware of our true self

   -bring it before God's presence so that He can change us

-when we overwork, we be stress / pressured.. become irritable/easily angry

-only 1 thing is needed... spirituality

-sometimes we allow ourselves to being so busy

-the true self maybe more angry, not be so pure, honest, kind

-ppl are afraid to come before God, surrender to God... things may not turn out how we want it to be...we are not willing to accept it

-weary = overworked, tired, burnout

-burdened = worried, stressed

-its a promise! but we must first come to God

-silent all our mind, come before the presence of God, focus our whole heart on Jesus

-our spirituality is more important than all other world accomplishments

-Mary chose the most important thing... that is to spirituality