Episodes
Monday Jan 16, 2017
01-15-17 The Discipline of Giving
Monday Jan 16, 2017
Monday Jan 16, 2017
“The Discipline of Giving” Matthew 6:21
Of all the spiritual disciplines, there is none as attractive, or as demanding, as giving. On the one hand, giving gives us the opportunity to join God in his Kingdom work or to meet the needs of others, but, on the other hand, giving imposes a cost. When we give, we lose control of something that at one point belonged to us. That is why giving must be motivated by the heart. Jesus talked about this in Matthew 6:21, when he said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” What does Jesus mean by this? There are three things we need to understand about this statement:
I First, it is significant that Jesus does not say, “Where your m_________ is, there will your heart be also” (6:21).
There are three basic categories when it comes to things of value:
A. First, there is _____________.
B. Second, there is __________.
C. Third, there are _________ and ____________.
II Second, we all have a p_________ where we p_____ our treasure (6:19-20).
III Finally, Jesus says there is a _____________ between our treasure and our heart (6:21).
Why does Jesus put treasure first? Why didn’t he says, “Where your heart is, there will your treasure be also?” – Two reasons:
A. First, because we often do not ________ where our heart is.
B. Second, because our __________ has power over our ___________.
Tuesday Jan 10, 2017
01-08-17 Growing Spiritually in 2017
Tuesday Jan 10, 2017
Tuesday Jan 10, 2017
“Growing Spiritually in 2017” Matthew 11:29-30
In our text today we hear Jesus ask us to take his yoke upon ourselves, which is a very picturesque way of asking us to do his work in this world. January is a good month to evaluate how well we have obeyed his command. But instead of criticizing ourselves for our inadequacies, it would be more profitable to ask ourselves the question: How can we do better in this new year? Our text makes four suggestions:
I First, we need to realize it is not i______________ (11:28).
II Second, we need a b____________ b____________ t_____________ (11:29a).
III Third, we need a m______________ p_______________ (11:29b).
IV Finally, we need to recognize that the Christian life is not all s_____________ – it includes the b________ as well (11:30).
Sunday Jan 01, 2017