Channels of Life, Power, and Grace

Pastor Rocklyn Clarke - Sunday May 17, 2009

© 2009 Life Church Ministries, Inc.

http://www.LifeChurchMinistries.org/

* Notes
V Introduction
* Bible Reading 5/10 - 5/16: 1Sam 8 - 19; John 6:22 - 8:59; Psalm 106:32 - 112:10; Prov 14:34 - 15:14
> Review
V New Material
> Preparation
V Channels of Life, Power, and Grace
> Preparation - John 7:37-39
V Standing Issues
V Make it plain
* Use accessible language and modern parables.
* Make sure people do something with God's message.
* Keep it simple.
* Use illustrations of truth out of my own experience.
* Impart faith to obey the Word and receive God's promises.
V Introduction
* ???
V Last and greatest day of the feast
V Feast of Tabernacles - Leviticus 23:34-43
* 7 days
* Israelites lived in booths to commemorate how they lived when the Lord brought them out of Egypt.
* Used choice fruit, palm fronds, and leafy branches.
V On the last and greatest day of the feast:
* Priest filled golden pitcher with water from the Pool of Siloam
* Priest poured out water at the alter during recitation of Isaiah 12:3
V If anyone is thirsty
* Recognize your thirst.
* Obey your thirst.
V Come to Jesus and drink
* Come
* Drink
V The promise
* Whoever believes
V Streams of living water
V Drink from the spiritual rock - 1 Corinthians 10:1-6
* Strike the rock - Exodus 17:1-6
* Speak to the rock - Numbers 20:1-13
* Out of your belly
V Channels
* Life
V Power - Acts 1:1-8
* I don't have to know how God is empowering me.
* I need to trust God's Word which says that he is empowering me.
V Develop a confession of faith regarding the Holy Spirit
* I follow Jesus: there is a river of living water flowing out of me!
* The river of living water flowing out of me will refresh others.
* Be like a child - they know they’re not the source. Everything they have comes from someone else.
V Grace
* Grace - The empowering presence of God that enables you to be who he has called you to be and to do what he has called you to do
V Conclusion
* It’s not about you.
* We’re not the source - we’re channels
* Let God use you to transmit his life, power, and grace to others.
* Altar Call / Welcome Cards
* Men's Prayer
V Discussion Questions / Topics (based on the indicated scriptures)
John 7:37-39
On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
* What are some of the ways that you "come to Jesus and drink"? How are you making his words a part of you?
* In what ways have you experienced streams of living water as a result of following Jesus?
Acts 1:4-8
In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
* According to this passage, what is the purpose of the power that Jesus is talking about? Have you received this power?
* Jesus told his disciples that they would be his witnesses starting where they were in Jerusalem and expanding outwards. Have you been a witness recently? Discuss.
V Witnessing Activities
V Discuss with your life group and pray for the following people:
* Guests of yours who have already visited Life Church and how they felt about the experience.
* People you plan to invite to church for Father's Day (6/21/2009).
V Scriptures For 05/17/2009 Life Church Sermon
John 7:37-39
On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
Isaiah 12:3
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
1 Corinthians 10:1-4
For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
Exodus 17:1-7
The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”
Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?”
But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”
Then Moses cried out to the LORD, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”
The LORD answered Moses, “Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”
Numbers 20:1-13
In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.
Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the LORD! Why did you bring the LORD’s community into this desert, that we and our livestock should die here? Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!”
Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them. The LORD said to Moses, “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”
So Moses took the staff from the LORD’s presence, just as he commanded him. He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”
These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD and where he showed himself holy among them.
Acts 1:4-8
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Understanding The Bible

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

Here, for your convenience, are the Bible passages that we will be using in today's sermon at Life Church. We use the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible so that you can read it in modern English. You may have been accustomed to reading or hearing the King James Version of the Bible, which uses older English (with words like "thee" , "thou", "thine", "believeth", etc.). If so, don't be alarmed - the passages below are really from the Bible even though they are in modern English.

The Bible was originally written in three ancient languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. None of the people in the Bible, and none of the people who God used to write it spoke English. In fact, English did not even exist as a language when the Bible was written. The King James Version, first published in 1611, was a translation of the Bible from it's original languages into the every day English that people used back then - almost 400 years ago! They didn't just speak that way in church - they spoke that way with everyone. English has certainly changed a lot since then! Since you probably don't speak Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek, you're going to have to read the Bible in translated form. At Life Church we believe that since you're going to read an English translation of the Bible you might as well use an up to date one - written in the English you speak every day. God wants you to understand his Word so that you can put it into practice!
Thank you for joining us! You can listen to our sermons and view our other resources at our web site:

http://www.lifechurchboston.org/

God Bless You!!!