I learned so much from this sermon. My discipler had me listen to it so as to shed more light on the Gospel and its implications. It's cRAZY when I think about the humility of Jesus Christ. I hope this sermon will be enlightening to you and remind you that even though we have a God that is so incredibly superior than us, He humbled himself and bore all of our sins, so that we may have true fellowship with Him. Can you think about Jesus being born and learning how to walk and talk? Can you think about Jesus crying for His mother's milk? Humility is not humiliating. It is beautiful and wonderful. It means we have a Savior who loves us greatly.
click here to listen to the sermon--> http://www.gracechurchsd.org/sermon/the-beauty-of-his-life-humility/
my notes:
- not only did He die for me, He lived for me--the righteous life I was supposed to live
- we admire humility in others, but view it negatively in ourselves--it feels like loss
- relate humility to our sin -- humiliating
1) perspective of humility we find in Jesus
v. 6~ Jesus is God. He set aside His rights of being God. He compared it to something else and decided His rights weren't worth clinging to.
2) actions of humility we see in Jesus
v. 7-8- he "made himself nothing"; "taking the very nature of a servant" <-- washing disciples' feet; "being made in human likeness"; "became obedient to death--even death on a cross" <-- most shameful, humilitiating form of death ~ from Creator of all things to experiencing what it was like to learn to crawl <-- was dependent on parents ~ he prayed ~ he grew up in poverty
* 2 Cor 8:9- "thought he was rich for your sake he became poor"
- sin curves us in on ourselves
* Gen 3:5- "you will be like God"
application
His humility is our covering
- I do not find peace in Christian life by what I do but what God did perfectly (confess my sin and confess His perfect humility as mine)
His humility is our future
v. 9-11~ utter joy in the presence of God
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Dreaming About Evangelism, Part 2
Hello all~
I just wanted to share with you a burden God has placed on my heart for evangelism and for missions.
Ever since high school began, I have wanted to go on a mission trip. At first, I didn't have a good reason for going--I wanted the experience to work in the mission field--which is why, I suppose, God canceled these trips time and again. Later on, however, God developed in me a heart for the Lost. He showed me how everyone is in need of a Savior, how depraved mankind really is, and how my heart should cry for those who are unsaved.
Then, last year, my freshman year, I wanted to apply for missions to go with a team at my college fellowship to the Philippines or to China. But, when I realized that I hadn't been home since the summertime, God urged me to spend time with my family and friends, and I missed another opportunity to serve Him in a foreign country.
During summer, however, God revealed to me that He did not only called me to missions in a foreign country but to missions to my friends who were non-Christian. When I went back to school and served in outreach team and mercy ministry, God divinely placed me in teamGo on outreach, a role designed for us to encourage our brothers and sisters to preach the Word to their friends.
God opened up many more opportunities for me then, to evangelize to my roommate, to my classmates, etc and every single conversation was a blessing. Although there were times when it was frustrating, God was showing me that I could only rely on His ability to change/soften peoples' hearts and, ultimately, reminding me that He's the One who saves.
Last night, I had another dream about evangelism. I'm not going to say that God speaks to me in dreams, but He does get me to think about things in them. Before going to bed, I had another conversation with one of my friends about God. We had just watched a debate between two scholars about the existence of God, and he was asking me a lot of questions about it, and about what I believed.
So, in my dream, I dreamt that I was evangelizing to the scholar who argued against the existence of God. Many times when I evangelize, the questions that I pose to non-Christians don't really seem to come from me--the Holy Spirit tells me what to say (Mark 13:11). The same was in this dream. God gave me the strength to talk to someone who was older than me and to reveal to this person the fallacies of his argument.
I woke up from the dream feeling refreshed and amazed at what God can do through me. Even though the dream never occurred in reality, it reminded me that I can't put God's abilities in a box. These past couple of weeks, God has again been urging me to go on missions and I want to go again this summer. Sometimes I am fearful that I will not be able to preach the Gospel to people in a foreign country, that I am in adequate or incapable...but, in this dream, God showed me that He can use me.
Pray for me, brothers and sisters, as I talk to my parents about going to missions this summer. I am again going to apply for a team in my college fellowship. This time we're going to Taiwan :). Pray that God will prepare the hearts of the people in our fellowship who are applying, including but not limited to, me. Pray that He will also prepare the hearts of the people we will reach, whether it be in serving fellow believers in Taiwan and/or evangelizing to non-believers. May God use me for His glory!
In Christ Alone,
Andrea
I just wanted to share with you a burden God has placed on my heart for evangelism and for missions.
Ever since high school began, I have wanted to go on a mission trip. At first, I didn't have a good reason for going--I wanted the experience to work in the mission field--which is why, I suppose, God canceled these trips time and again. Later on, however, God developed in me a heart for the Lost. He showed me how everyone is in need of a Savior, how depraved mankind really is, and how my heart should cry for those who are unsaved.
Then, last year, my freshman year, I wanted to apply for missions to go with a team at my college fellowship to the Philippines or to China. But, when I realized that I hadn't been home since the summertime, God urged me to spend time with my family and friends, and I missed another opportunity to serve Him in a foreign country.
During summer, however, God revealed to me that He did not only called me to missions in a foreign country but to missions to my friends who were non-Christian. When I went back to school and served in outreach team and mercy ministry, God divinely placed me in teamGo on outreach, a role designed for us to encourage our brothers and sisters to preach the Word to their friends.
God opened up many more opportunities for me then, to evangelize to my roommate, to my classmates, etc and every single conversation was a blessing. Although there were times when it was frustrating, God was showing me that I could only rely on His ability to change/soften peoples' hearts and, ultimately, reminding me that He's the One who saves.
Last night, I had another dream about evangelism. I'm not going to say that God speaks to me in dreams, but He does get me to think about things in them. Before going to bed, I had another conversation with one of my friends about God. We had just watched a debate between two scholars about the existence of God, and he was asking me a lot of questions about it, and about what I believed.
So, in my dream, I dreamt that I was evangelizing to the scholar who argued against the existence of God. Many times when I evangelize, the questions that I pose to non-Christians don't really seem to come from me--the Holy Spirit tells me what to say (Mark 13:11). The same was in this dream. God gave me the strength to talk to someone who was older than me and to reveal to this person the fallacies of his argument.
I woke up from the dream feeling refreshed and amazed at what God can do through me. Even though the dream never occurred in reality, it reminded me that I can't put God's abilities in a box. These past couple of weeks, God has again been urging me to go on missions and I want to go again this summer. Sometimes I am fearful that I will not be able to preach the Gospel to people in a foreign country, that I am in adequate or incapable...but, in this dream, God showed me that He can use me.
Pray for me, brothers and sisters, as I talk to my parents about going to missions this summer. I am again going to apply for a team in my college fellowship. This time we're going to Taiwan :). Pray that God will prepare the hearts of the people in our fellowship who are applying, including but not limited to, me. Pray that He will also prepare the hearts of the people we will reach, whether it be in serving fellow believers in Taiwan and/or evangelizing to non-believers. May God use me for His glory!
In Christ Alone,
Andrea
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