The Lie: God An Be Defeated

The Lie: God Can Be Defeated

Genesis 32:22-30

God will let you wrestle with Him, but you are never going to win.

God’s Plans Cannot Be Stopped (Luke 14:28-30; Matthew 5:27-28)

God had all His plans in place when He created us, knew exactly how much everything was going to cost, knew exactly what His ultimate goal was, and knows how everything was going to turn out.

First, the main focus of God’s plan is God, not us.

Second, God’s plan is to develop people who will serve and wors

The Lie: God Sugarcoats the Painful Things He Wants Us to Face about Ourselves

The Lie: God Sugarcoats the Painful Things He Wants Us to Face about Ourselves

John 4:9-26, 28-29 and Matthew 23:1-33

When Jesus interacted with people there was always a common theme: He always spoke the truth.

When Jesus interacted with people there was always a common theme: He always spoke the truth.

The Holy Spirit Guides Us to Truth (John 16:13)

The Holy Spirit makes sure we find the most important truths in Scripture: the ones about what God is like, what we are like

The Lie: God Gives Us Everything We Want in Life

The Lie: God Gives Us Everything We Want in Life

1 Kings 3:1-15

Over time, we develop a more mature view of Santa Clause, but our view of God tends to stay very simplistic and childish.

don’t take for granted the blessings God has bestowed on you or presume to give yourself the people and things you want to have. 

God Finds Great Pleasure in Giving Gifts (Matthew 7:9-11)

He loves to give us gifts, but only that that are good and healthy for us to have, not bad and harmful.

The Lie: God is Mean and Vindictive

The Lie: God is Mean and Vindictive

Matthew 14:13-21

  When we see God as someone who is out to harm us rather than help us, we run away from Him rather than toward Him and we resent Him rather than appreciate Him.

God Created Us and the Universe out of His Goodness (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31)

The universe and all creatures great and small are expressions of God’s goodness.

God’s Goodness Is Extravagant (Exodus 34:6)

God’s Goodness Has No Ulterior Motives (John 2:1-

The Lie: God Has Lost Control of Everything

The Lie: God Has Lost Control of Everything

Psalm 23:4

 Even in our darkest moments of life, God is there, cares, and can be relied on to ultimately make things right.

 God Is All-Knowing (Job 12:13)

Wwe can be confident that He is in complete control of everything that happens in human history, regardless of the way things appear.

 God Is All-Powerful (Psalm 62:11; Isaiah 55:8)

If there is one single person or circumstance that can take power from God or exercise power over Him

The Lie: God Is a Shamer

The Lie: God Is a Shamer

Matthew 26:21-22, 33-35, 56-58, 74-75

 When we view God as a shamer, we think of Him as this force in the universe with a stick in his hand, waiting for our next mistake so He can administer a spiritually and emotionally painful beating. 

 God Creates Us in His Image (Psalm 139:13-14)

 If we think God makes mistakes, we will treat ourselves and others badly. 

 If we think God makes masterpieces, we will treat ourselves and others kindly and carefully as

The Lie: God's Love Must Be Earned

The Lie: God’s Love Must Be Earned

Luke 7:36-50

The kind of love we receive here on earth has a significant impact on how we view the love of God, leading some of us to believe, wholeheartedly the lie that God’s love has to be earned, that it is conditional, and that we have to be perfect for Him to love us.

God’s Love Has No Starting Point (1 John 4:8)

God has always loved you, even before you got here.

God’s Love Has No Dimensions or Limitations (Eph 3:17-19)

God Loves You

Sain

Heal Your Affliction

Heal Your Affliction

James 5:13-18

 Our enemy, the afflicter, desires to use pain and suffering to drive a wedge between God and His beloved children, for our human tendency is to reject or blame God in times of great hardship.

Get Season Tickets (v 13)

 Accept the fact that there indeed is a season for everything.

Call Upon the Cavalry (v 14)

 Definition—military force organized for maximum mobility.

Use a Thimble of an Important Symbol (v. 14) 

Turn to the One Who Can Turn th

Prioritize Your Investments

Prioritize Your Investments

James 4:13-17

 The problem that James highlights is people who make plans without understanding life’s brevity and without submitting the God’s sovereignty.

 Track your Spending (v 13)

 Unearth Those Idols

 Whatever we prioritize is what we idolize.

 Anything that takes precedence over God becomes an idol.

 Remember the Epitaph (v. 14)

 When we live with an eye on our epitaph, we will begin to live as if every day was our last on this earth.

 Set the Cam

Restore A Broken Heart

Restore a Broken Heart

James 4:1-12

If you were able to investigate the heart  of everyone you saw, you would notice a slight fracture upon just about every heart.

God created us to have a relationship with Him and others.

The Desire that Battles Within Us--vv. 1-2

The first step in restoring a broken heart is to take a good long look at the selfish desires that battle within us and work on reducing their importance.

Our Failure  to Ask God--v 2

We have made a mess of certa

Curb Your Profanity

Curb Your Profanity

James 3:1-12

When we should be speaking only truth and edification, instead we spew deceit and disdain.

How have we wandered so far from righteousness?

Our speech not only effects our present, but also our eternity, so we cannot afford to allow our speech to go unchecked.

Remember, Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires. (v. 2-6)

James uses these images to demonstrate that even something as small and insignificant as the tongue can have a massive impact.

If w

Resuscitate a Dying Faith

Resuscitate a Dying Faith

James 2:14-26

We need to have real faith, not fake faith.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer a German pastor, theologian and martyr at the age of 39: “The Christian life comes to mean nothing more than living in the world and as the world in being no different from the world …The upshot of it all is that my only duty as a Christian is to leave the world for an hour or so on a Sunday morning and go to church and be assured that all my sins are forgiven. I need no lo

Breaking Down the Walls That Divide

Teacher’s Pet

Favorite Sibling

Cliques

Popular crowd

Do any of these bring back flashbacks to your childhood?

This sort of favoritism that introduces itself so early in life may bring back bitter memories.

What Is Favoritism?

Favoritism is “to have a favorable bias toward one person or group over others with equal claims.

The barrier of favoritism may be old, strong, high, wide and thick, but it is not impenetrable.

I wholeheartedly believe that in Eliminating favoritism, through

Overcoming Temptation

Overcoming Temptation

James 1:13-27

We are all tempted to sin. 

The difference between the Christian life and the worldly life is demonstrated by how we respond to temptation.

Round Up the Usual Suspects (v. 13-14) 

This passage reminds us that temptation and evil do not come from God. 

Accepting the blame—choosing to react differently toward temptation that we have in the past—enables us to begin to resist that which tempts us.

Consider the Consequences (v. 15)

Turning Stress Into Joy

God Has an App to Turn Stress into Joy

James 1: 1-12

If you are struggling with things like:

Stress

Temptation

Prejudice

A dying faith

Profanity

A broken heart

Materialism

Any physical affliction

You will discover God’s peace-giving and life-changing response within His Word.

It’s as simple as a click of an icon in an app store.

 In fact, this is the app store of the Bible and there is infinite power behind each topic we will examine.

Two-Things Before we Get Started

As we dive into th