First Alliance Church ATL

03-24-19 Kevin Goins - Balancing the Far and Near

“Balancing the Far and Near” Acts 12:25-13:3

Some churches today have elected to focus their attention on reaching out to the people who live near and around them. Other churches have decided to devote their prayer and financial support to international workers who will take the Gospel to people far away. Do we have to make an either-or choice, or can we do both? If we decide to do both, how can we balance our efforts? Our text today has some help for us.

I No matter where our ministry is directed, our life needs to be spent on ______________ (12:25).
A. “Mission” comes from the Latin mitto which means to ________.
B. If we are followers of Jesus we are sent people. He will send us _________ to do __________.

II Whatever God has called us to do, we should not limit our ministry to those ________ at hand (Acts 1:8; 13:1-3).
A. Acts makes it clear that while the church is called to do many things, its first priority is to carry out the ________ _____________
B. It is as if God has established a law that says, The f________ we are willing to look beyond ourselves, the h__________ we become.

III To take Jesus to those far away we must ________ with those who are near to us (13:1).
A. You cannot have a Great Commission if you do not have a s________ church.
B. The problem with the Jerusalem church is not that they began by evangelizing the people around them -- their problem was that they did not want to move ________ that point.
C. In evangelizing the city of Antioch the church refused to accept any kind of w_______ or b__________.

IV Last, to have a balanced ministry, a ministry that pleases the Lord, we must be an ______________ church (13:2-3).

03-17-19 Kevin Goins - Attitude of Prayer pt 2

03-10-19 Kevin Goins - The Attitude of Prayer

“The Attitude of Prayer”   Luke 18:9-14

We have talked about the “How” of prayer and the “Wow” of prayer, but there is something that is often overlooked and that is the attitude we bring to our prayer. Jesus tells a parable in Luke chapter eighteen which shows us the kind of attitude we need to have when we pray.

I Luke chapter 18 is about __________ and it begins with two parables.

A. The first parable is about how d___________ we should be when we pray. The second parable is about the a___________ we should have when we pray.

B. The parable is composed of _____ parts:

1. We hear a p________ r___________ man talk to God.
2. We hear a tax-collector talk to God in a very d__________ way.
3. We hear Jesus, who knows more about God than anyone, tell us w________ prayer makes it to the throne of God.

II The usual approach to this parable is to do a h_________ job on the Pharisee and his prayer.

A. The crowd who first heard this parable did not have a b______ against the Pharisees like we do.

B. In Jesus’ day there were _______ major religious groups in Judaism:

1. First, there were the E___________.
2. Second, there were the S___________.
3. Third, there were the P_____________.

C. The Pharisees were respected by the people, so when Jesus mentions the Pharisee the crowd would assume he is the _______ example.

III To hear this parable the way the first audience heard it, we must see the Pharisees as they did, as h_________. But then Jesus shocks us by showing us _______ problems this Pharisee had in his relationship with God:

A. First, the Pharisee had a problem with c____________ - his confidence was in __________ (18:11a).

B. Second, the Pharisee had a problem with _____________ - he was _____ of it (18:11b).

C. Third, the Pharisee had a problem with ___________ - there wasn’t _______ in his life (18:12).

03-03-19 Kevin Goins - The Desire to Pray, conclusion

“The Desire to Pray” (conclusion)
Matthew 6:5-13

It takes more to pray than simply knowing how to do it. Something else is required and what is required is desire. Why should we desire to pray? Our text tells us. We should love to pray:
I ... because prayer grows our relationship with God (6:5-6).
II ...because it’s is the most natural thing we can do (6:7-8).
III ... because prayer reminds us of our true significance (6:9)
IV ... because prayer puts us in touch with the power than can bring
honor to God’s name (6:9b).
V ... because prayer advances God’s Kingdom (6:10a).
VI ... because real prayer has a terrific safety mechanism (6:10b).

VII We should love to pray because prayer puts us in touch with the one who can meet all our p__________ needs (6:11).
We don’t think in terms of daily needs because we are so wealthy we do not have to live from _____ to _____.
B. Jesus emphasized “daily bread” because he got his
understanding of prayer from the _____ __________.
1. First, there is the teaching of P_________ ____.
Second, there is the teaching of E__________ ___.
C. Money ____ provide security and money ____ buy
happiness and that is the p___________.

VIII We should love to pray because prayer puts us in touch with the one who can meet all our r_______________ needs (6:12).
Before Adam sinned, Eve was his wife, but after he sinned, she
became “t_____ w_________.”
B. Sin doesn’t just separate us from ______, it hurts _____ our
relationships.

IX We should love to pray because prayer puts us in touch with the one who can meet all our s____________ needs (6:13).
A. This request is not about temptation, it’s about the ________ of temptation and how we can a________ that place.
B. Prayer brings us to the best place we can possible be when it comes to temptation, and that is in ________ _____________.

02-24-19 Jennifer Bliss-Criswell The Desire to Pray - corporately

The Desire to Pray - The “wow” of corporate prayer
Acts 4:23-31 and Matthew 6:9-13

When we pray together we pray as f______
A. O___ F_________
B. Peter and John went to their o___ p________
C. H___________ F _______ = H___________ F _______

When we pray together God’s name is s_________
A. M_______ is louder than o_____
B. They r________ their voices t_____________

When we pray together God’s w____ is c__________
A. The Lord’s Prayer teaches us that we can k____ God’s will
B. We can find God’s will in s__________
C. There is s___________ for every s____________

4. When we pray together there is a______________
A. Many v________, one p________
B. Agreement requires u__________
Matthew 18:19-20
C. Unity requires f______________.

When we pray together there is p_________.
A. Deliver us from evil by m____________ us s____________ than the evil one
B. God showed up: M____________ P_____________
C. Their prayer was a_____________.

02-17-19 Kevin Goins - The Desire to Pray, part 3

“The Desire to Pray” (pt 3)
Matthew 6:5-13

It takes more to pray than simply knowing how to do it. Something else is required and what is required is desire. Why should we desire to pray? Our text tells us.

I First, we should love to pray because prayer rewards us with a growing relationship with God (6:5-6).
II Second, we should love to pray because prayer is the most natural thing we could ever do (6:7-8).
III Third, we should love to pray because when we pray we are reminded of our true significance (6:9)

IV Fourth, we should love to pray because prayer puts us in touch with the power than can bring ________ to God’s name (6:9b).

A., The Bible teaches that it is _____, not ________, who sees to it that his name is honored.

B. We can use prayer to ask God to _______ the way this world treats his _______.

V Fifth, we should love to pray because prayer can a_________ God’s Kingdom in this world (6:10a).

A. When God first created human beings, he was _______ over all life.

B. Then God called a special nation through whom he could once again establish his kingship on earth – that nation was ________.

C. Then God told the prophets he would establish his kingdom through a perfect King - _________ is that perfect King.

D. Jesus not only called us to p________ the Gospel of the Kingdom – he taught us to pray that the Kingdom would ________.

VI Sixth, we should love to pray because real prayer has a terrific s_________ m__________ (6:10b).

A., Can you imagine how horrible it would be to the human race if God ____________ every prayer we ever prayed?

B. Prayer ought to wow us because prayer doesn’t depend on ____ understanding of what is best – it depends on the _____ of ______.

02-10-19 Kevin Goins - The Desire to Pray, part 2

“The Desire to Pray” (pt 2)  Matthew 6:5-13

It takes more to pray than simply knowing how to do it. Something else is required and what is required is desire. Why should we desire to pray? Our text tells us.

I The first reason we should love to pray is that prayer puts us in touch with the most s_____________ relationship we could ever have, a relationship with _____. (6:5-6)

II The second reason we should love to pray is because talking to God in prayer is the most n__________ thing we can ever do (6:7).

A. The first characteristic of pagan prayer is that it depends on using the r________ w_______.

B. The second characteristic of pagan prayer is that it tries to persuade God by r___________ requests over and over.

C. The point Jesus makes about both practices is that they are completely un________________.

III In verse 8 Jesus explains why it is unnecessary to worry about how we e__________ our needs to God – It is because, “The Father a_______ k_______ what you need before you ask him” (6:8).

IV The third reason we should love to pray is because when we pray we are reminded of _____ we really _____ (6:9).

A. What reminds us day after day of who we really are in Jesus? It is praying to God as “O_____ F_______.”

B. We begin our prayer by reminding ourselves who ____ are: We are ___________ of God. And we begin our prayer by reminding ourselves who _____ is: He is not some i___________ power, but our Father.

C. Some find it hard to think of God as their father because they had fathers who abused or abandoned them. But Jesus says we are to pray, not to ____ father, but to our Father who is ___ ___________.

D. But “in heaven” not only means that this father has no _____, but it also means he has no w__________.

02-03-19 Kevin Goins - The Desire to Pray

“The Desire to Pray”   Matthew 6:5-13

It takes more to pray than simply knowing how to do it. Something else is required and what is required is desire. Do we want to pray? Why should we love to pray? Our text tells us.

I We may swear we l_______ God, but can we really mean it if we have no d_______ to talk to him.

A. How, can it be that we don’t love talking with God? The enemy has taken our v________ and turned everything u________ d_______.

B. Matthew 6:9-13 is a p________, or b_____________, for the kind of prayer which followers of Jesus need to pray. But not only does this passage teach us h_____ to pray, but in this prayer we learn why we should l______ to pray.

II Who are the super-saints who have a n__________ a________ to love prayer? Jesus says it is the h_____________.

A. Hypocrites could not choose the t______ for prayer, but they could decide w______ they would be when those times came.

B. But notice Jesus’ response: he does not say the hypocrites were hypocritical because they prayed in order to receive a r________, he says they are hypocrites because they pray for the ________ reward.

III Here is the first reason why we should be t________ with prayer: Prayer strengthens the most wonderful relationship we can have, a relationship with _____.

A. The reason we often think of prayer as duty, rather than pleasure, is because we look at prayer in the _______ way: We often think of prayer as one long list of r___________ to dump on God.

B. Prayers of request are legitimate prayers, but they are not the o____ kind of prayer and they are not the most i________ kind of prayer.

IV The four steps for relational prayer are:

A. P___________ yourself to God without p___________.

B. A__________ to how you t________ about God.

C. P_________ yourself of anything blocking your relationship with God.

D. A_________ God as the f_______ concern of your life.

01-20-19 Kevin Goins - Ministry in the Middle

“Ministry in the Middle” Luke 11:5-8

There is a kind of ministry in which every follower of Jesus must stand in the middle, and this ministry in the middle is one of the most important ministries in which any believer ever takes part. In Luke chapter 11 Jesus uses a parable to explain this ministry to us.

I This story is about ________ people:
A. First, there is the man/woman in the ___________, and this could easily be ______ or _____.
B. Who are we in the middle of? On one side we have a friend who is on a journey and he comes to our door hoping for r_______ and b_______ for the night.
C. The third person in the parable is the one who stands on the o_______ side of us, our n________ who has the bread we lack.

II This story is about being a middleman/woman in the p________ sense: one who stands between a friend who n_______ bread and another who h____ bread.
A. But a parable uses a common event in the physical world to help us understand what happens in the s__________ world.
B. An i____________ is someone who stands between a person who has a need only God can meet and God himself.
C. Jesus says when you act as an intercessor for a friend in need, and you come knocking on God’s door for help, that door will be ____.

II We have looked at the three individuals in the parable, but what does the man/woman in the middle teach us about being an intercessor?
First, to be an intercessor we must have a f_______ who is willing to c_____ to us for help.
Second, to be an intercessor we need to know the difference
between needs we can ______ and needs only ______ can meet.
C. Third, to be an intercessor we must be convinced prayer makes a _____________.
D. Fourth, to be an intercessor we must be s_____________.
E. Finally, to be an intercessor we must be willing to p_____ the p_______ of being an intercessor.

01-13-19 Kevin Goins - Praying the Lord's Prayer

“Praying the Lord’s Prayer”  Matthew 6:9-13

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, he gave them the prayer we know as the Lord’s Prayer. Many people have committed this prayer to memory, but it also works well as a pattern or framework upon which we can build our own daily prayers. Each of the five petitions of the Lord’s Prayer gives us a piece of the structure which we can use to fashion an effective and powerful prayer

I The first part of the prayer structure is what we call w________ or a__________ (6:9).

II The second part of the prayer structure is s__________ or s___________ (6:10).

A. When we pray God’s will to be done in our life, we are surrendering our right to be the o____ who is in c__________.

B. But this request is not just about ____, it is about _____ people everywhere on earth.

III The third part of the prayer structure is p___________ (6:11).

IV The fourth part of the prayer structure is c______________(6:12).

. This petition makes our forgiveness by God depend on our w_____________ to forgive those who have _______ us.

B. This prayer is hard to pray because we so enjoy being _________ at those who wrong us.

V The fifth part of the prayer structure is the prayer for d______________ (6:13).

A. The best way for evil to hurt the progress of God’s Kingdom is to show that the work Jesus did on the cross is i______________.

B. E_______ is behind every sorrow and pain this world experiences, and so looking to Jesus to help us with t___________ will accomplish more than any political party ever could.