1 Samuel 16:1

"The Lord said to Samuel, "How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem because I have selected a king from his sons." 

Samuel was in mourning because Saul had disobeyed God, and God had rejected him as king. But in the middle of Samuel's depression, God reminded Samuel that His story wasn't over!

"Fill your horn with oil and go." --- Without the oil there is no anointing. God wanted Samuel to fill his horn with oil and go anoint David as king.

--In the same way we Christians need to fill our hearts with the Holy Spirit and go do what God has assigned for us.

"How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

--If you allow people to bring up your past rather than "forgetting those things that are behind" 
(Phil. 3:13). Then you will live without the anointing of God. So let us forget about the past and GO make disciples of all nations. 

Ask yourself this:

--Why is it important that believers remember that even in great disappointments or failures, God is still in control of His story in their lives?

Psalm 73

A psalm of Asaph- also wrote Psalms 50, 74-83
Also in (2 Chronicles 5:12)

Envious and Angry. Why do the ungodly prosper?
Why doesn't God clearly reward the faithful and definitely punish the wicked?

Instead, it seems that rebellious living reaps rewards!

v 3 prosperity of the perverse

v 13 "in vain" why am I living right?

v 17 because I understand their (the wicked people's) final destiny

Asaph's forgetting this led to envy and anger.

Realize success is temporary

Rebellious living reaps RUIN!

Ungodly are successful for now, but God has the last word.

Righteous living reaps rewards! (v 23)

verse 26 strength="Rock"


God's presence is:

constant when you are weak (v26)
guiding when you are confused (v24)
immediate when you die (v24)

Reward or ruin, just give me Jesus.

How to Get Ready for the Future

Joshua 3: 1-7

If you're going to get ready for the future and "you haven't traveled this way before" (verse 5)


1. Don't live in the past

       (Phil 1:3) Paul is thankful every time he remembers Philippi, even though when he went there he was beaten and imprisoned
        Remember the best, forget the rest!

2. Don't worry about the future

       (Joshua 1:5) Trust that God is going to do amazing things


3. Don't miss today

       (Joshua 1:5) God said He would do amazing things "tomorrow", but the Israelites crossed the Jordan that day!


4. Don't fail to prepare

       (Joshua 1:5) God called them to "consecrate" themselves as an act of preparation

Grace

Ephesians 2:8

Living He loved me,
Dying He saved me,
Buried He carried my sins far away,
Rising He justified freely forever,
One day He's coming, oh glorious day!

Grace- an unmerited favor; gift

Saved- "to be rescued from imminent peril"

Faith- trust and reliance upon something or someone

Mourn over the devastation of your sin, but rejoice in the liberation of Christ!

Jesus did not come to make bad people good, or good people better, but to make dead people live.

Stepping Up Our Prayer Lives

Philippians 1:3-11

A leader's prayer life determines their effectiveness.

Step up your prayer life!

Prayer is as important as eating and sleeping, and we make time for those every day.

Prayer can do anything God can do.

The greatest problem we face is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer.

The prayer meeting will be the barometer of our church.

Make prayer more prominent and preeminent

In the prayers we offer up, we must:

Be grateful (v3-4, 7-8)

Be mindful (v5-6)
    none of us are perfect

Be purposeful (v9-11)
    let your love flow, your discernment grow and your fruit show

Divisions in the Church

1 Corinthians 3:1-9

A baby instinctively knows it has to eat.

If you never pick up your own spoon, you will never grow.

Take up your cross daily!

verse 3 "you are still worldly" because you are jealous and quarreling

Dumb things churches have split over

• the color of the proposed carpet
• whether or not to get a new piano bench
• the spelling of the word "Hallelujah"
• whether they should take offering before or after message
• whether or not it was a sin to check email on Sabbath
• the location of the front door

Do not quarrel
Do not be jealous
Do not remain on milk

If we are comfortable, we cannot grow.

Division distracts us from planting and watering 

"If you knew what was keeping you from following the One who died for you, what would you sacrifice to get back on track with the LORD?"