Letting Christmas Define our Lives (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12)

 

Sunday, December 27th - Pastor Kyle Van Tine - (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12)  

Click Here to Listen to "Letting Christmas Define our Lives" 

Questions for Personal/Family/Group Study

Work Backwards
How do you define your life; as primarily proactive or reactive, and why?
How do you want to be remembered by your family, friends, coworkers and neighbors?  
What would it look like to finish well in your marriage and leave a godly legacy for your family?
Are your daily, weekly, monthly and yearly goals and habits consistent with what you believe?
   
Live Consistently
Where are the areas of inconsistency in your life? (Examples: self-discipline, church vs private life, marriage, family, work, private life?) Are you honest about your inconsistency?
What are the major lessons you’ve learned from your failures in 2015?  What are you need to do to keep from making the same mistakes?

Make Resolutions
If hoping alone is not a viable strategy for growth and change, how will your 2016 be different than 2015?
What areas in your life need to change in 2016? What projects and goals do you want to accomplish in 2016? Use the S.M.A.R.T method for help (Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound).

Be Intentional
Where have you seen a disconnect in your life between good intentions and good actions?
Who will you pour into and invest in during 2016? How will you encourage, cultivate and challenge them this year?
As the saying goes, “Find your misery and you will find your ministry”, what breaks your heart, makes you angry, provokes you; what will you do about it in 2016?
What season of life are you in and how does that season (e.g. singleness, retirement, etc.) shape your ministry? 

Stay Faithful
How have you personally been enriched by the faithfulness of others?
Who will your faithfulness impact, encourage and guide?

How can you cultivate faithfulness and long obedience in the same direction? 

"Compelled to Integrity and Forgiveness" 2 Corinthians 1:12-2:11

Sunday, June 14th  -  Pastor Kyle Van Tine  -  2 Corinthians 1:12-2:11 "Compelled to Integrity and Forgiveness"  

Listen to "Compelled to Integrity and Forgiveness" Here

Growing deeper

There are several themes that flow together in this passage - integrity and confidence, discipline and love, mercy and grace, forgiveness and restoration. Each theme is grounded in the others. Paul knows that by following God’s wisdom for life, he can be confident in a clear conscience that is fully dependent on the triumph of God’s grace.

Christ’s character is Paul’s character, and our own character.When we say “Yes” to Christ in our lives, we are saying “Yes” to a life of integrity, confidence, sincerity and power centered on a reliable and gracious God. God is the God of truth and restoration. He fulfilled all His promises of the Old Testament Covenants (Genesis 9, 12, Exodus 19, 2 Samuel 7, Jeremiah 31) in Christ.

God disciplines us lovingly, mercifully warning us of our sin and patiently waiting to restore our fallen standing with Him (2 Peter 3:9). He makes us His people, guarding and protecting our faith, giving us His Holy Spirit and granting us full inheritance when we accept Christ as Lord.

Now, as recipients of the New Covenant, we must, in obedience, grant forgiveness and restoration to repentant fellow sinners with whom we are bonded together in Christ, for both the health of the individual and the church body. In our new life, acknowledging our own weakness and sin, we must passionately pursue integrity in prayer, Bible study and intentionally move forward as we stand firm in Christ.  

Read 2 Peter 1:2-4

Integrity comes from the Latin word for wholeness or completeness. How does the knowledge of the character of God create wholeness in us?

What does merciful love look like biblically?

What are ways God has been faithful, loving and merciful to you?

Do you have anything for which you need to repent and seek forgiveness?

What does the restoration of repentant sinners look like, according to Paul?

Is there anyone in your life who is repentant that you need to forgive and restore?

Prayer is a powerful tool in our Christian lives. God listens. Take some time to bring your struggles to God and seek His wisdom.

"Great is thy Faithfulness" a sermon on the text Genesis 15:1-21

It's New Year's Eve and I wanted to post my last sermon on God's Faithfulness to encourage you as we come into the year 2015 of our Lord. This sermon comes from Abram's encounter and covenant with God in Genesis 15. You can listen to the sermon here.