part #9 Over the Wall & Through the Roof:
Heroes who help in Jericho, Capernaum & Damascus
Rev. D. Johns
Joshua 2:1-21
• What motivated Rahab to side with the Israelite spies and their God? … fear of punishment? promise of blessing? reputation of previous victories/miracles?
• Rahab’s actions spare her family. What can we do to help insure the safety & salvation of our loved ones?
• What “scarlet cord” will you hold onto for life?
Acts 9:19b-25
• Saul/Paul is now the persecuted: (reap what you sow?)
• The ‘basket escape’ points to just how far he has been humbled (see 2 Corinthians 11:30-33) + it is an indicator of the genuineness of his conversion & his courage
Luke 5:17-26
• In what ways does Jesus challenge the ‘status quo’?
• What do you make of the words “when Jesus saw their faith” (vs. 20)
• What motivates the friends to be such ‘risk takers’?
"LET'S ROLL: who will be the next hero?"
Rev. D.Johns
part #8
Hebrews 10:23 - 25, 35 - 11:2
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.
“For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. And my righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.”
But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved. Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually
happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.
7 steps to attain superhero status:
1. build hope
2. believe God is faithful
3. encourage
4. don't neglect church fellowship
5. get motivated by Christ's return
6. remain faithful
7. live by faith
5 reasons why faith is essential:
1. it takes us from what is seen to what is unseen
2. it is what God looks for
3. it joins us with a glorious past
4. it gets us through the stress of the present
5. it launches us into a better future
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE
Part #7
Rev. D. Johns
Exodus chapters 3,4,13,14
THE BURNING BUSH
* it is God's 'attention getter'
* it reveals 'divine initiative'
* it is a type of 'good news - bad news' encounter for Moses
God says: "I have heard my people cry ... I am concerned about their suffering ... I will come and rescue ... I will take you to the promised land"
God also says: "I am sending you to Pharoah ... You will bring my people out of Egypt"
OUT OF EGYPT & THROUGH THE SEA
What precludes progress?
1. fear
2. feelings of inadequacy
3. barriers
4. complaining
5. comfort with captivity
What promotes progress?
1. faith in God's promises
2. partnering to accomplish more
3. embracing new adventures
4. being still before God
5. celebrating God in His victory/deliverance
LESSONS TO LEARN:
How is God trying to get your attention? ... What is your mission? ... Do you see it as impossible? ... Taking on God's mission may make us feel uncomfortable, but just because it may stretch us does not change the fact that this is what God wants for us: so put faith into action (Hebrews 11) ... 'Let Go and Let God': "if God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8)
Part #6 “ROAD TRIP” (Genesis 12, Hebrews 11)
Sunday August 28, 2011
Rev. D. Johns
• Abram says ‘yes’ to the adventure of living by faith!
• ‘On the Road’: leaving the home country looking for a heavenly country
1. The command to move
2. The joys & challenges of moving
3. The promised blessing
4. Blessed to be a blessing
Living Abram’s Legacy:
- How do we live in the will of God?
- How can we be a blessing?
- What new ground is God calling us to break?
- What is our normal ‘default’ response to God’s call?
- What does it mean to live with ‘an eye towards heaven’?
“7 days till Victory” – Joshua, Jericho & Joy (Joshua 5 & 6)
PART #5 - August 21
The Power of Faith – only one way the walls were coming down! – Hebrews 11:30
The Prelude to Faith – a holy encounter with God (Joshua 5:13-6:2)
The Plan of Faith – obey the instructions (Joshua 6:3-13)
The Persistence of Faith – keep at it! (Joshua 6:14-16)
The Prize of Faith – the walls tumble! (Joshua 6:20)
SUPERHEROES: Living with audacious faith! …. Rev. D. Johns
Part #4 John the Baptist: Life as the spotlight, not in it!
Matthew 3:1-17 John 3:22-30 Matthew 14:1-12
John shows us how to live as a spiritual superhero:
Embrace your destiny! John accepts God’s call & claim on his life.
For John, it was in a preparatory role as predicted in Isaiah 40:3, & as affirmed by his father, the priest Zechariah, at John’s birth in Matthew 1:76,77
Exalt Christ over self! As Jesus moves to centre stage, John retreats to the sidelines.
John clearly affirmed who the lead character is in Matthew 3:11. That is why he is confused over the question of ‘who should baptize who’ in Matthew 3:13,14. As the popularity of Jesus increased, John knew that he must decrease.(John 3:30)
Express the truth! Without fear for self, John does not hold back words that confront.
• To the religious leaders about corruption & hypocrisy (Matthew 3:7-19)
• to Herod about taking Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife (Matthew 14:4)
SUPERHEROES: Living with audacious faith! …. Rev. D. Johns
Part #3 Ambushed by the Choir: sing your way to Victory!”
2 Chronicles 20
EXPRESSIONS OF CONFIDENCE, ECHOES OF HOPE
1. After the exile from Egypt, fasting did not exist as an official/routine part of the Hebrew worship. It was used to stress the sincerity of prayers when facing special threats – vs. 2-4; see 1 Samuel 7:6
2. Jehoshaphat’s conclusion – “we have no power, but our eyes are upon you” – vs. 12, echoes a similar faith demonstrated by his father Asa in 2 Chronicles 14:11
3. Jahaziel’s words of confidence – “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army, for the battle is not yours but God’s” – vs. 15, echo the spirit of David against Goliath in 1 Samuel 17:47
4. Jahaziel’s words of explanation – “Stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you” – vs. 17, echo the speech of Moses at the Red Sea in Exodus 14:13
5. Sending the choir out in front – vs. 21, echoes the battle plan of Joshua at Jericho in Joshua 6:9
6. The resulting “ambush chaos” – vs. 22,23, echoes the triumph of Gideon in Judges 7:22
SPIRITUAL SPUPERHEROES FACE BIG BATTLES WITH AUDACIOUS FAITH
• Don’t underestimate the role of hope
• Promote hope by learning from the past
• Practice praise to promote the promise
• Keep your eyes alive and on the prize in order to survive – vs.12 (see also Hebrews 12:2, Psalm 25:15, 121:1, 141:8, 1 Peter 3:12) – and remember, God’s eyes are on you! (Psalm 139:16, Jeremiah 24:6)
SUPERHEROES: Living with audacious faith!
Rev. D. Johns
Part #2
Final Scenes: facing death with a strong faith
http://superheroesdougjohns.blogspot.com
Acts 6 & 7
How do you measure success?
… Peter preached in Acts 2 and the result was a mass conversion. Stephen preaches in Acts 7 and the result is his brutal death.
Some might say Stephen’s finest hour was when
• he was elected to ministry (6:1-6)
• when he performed miracles (6:9)
• when he preached a powerful sermon (7:1-53)
Others will say that it was when
• his face was like the face of an angel (6:15)
• he had his glorious vision (7:55,56)
• his words mirror those of Jesus on the cross (7:59,60)
• his martyrdom impacted Saul/Paul & thus the entire world (6:58)
African theologian Tertullian (160-220) first used the phrase “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”
Sunday July 24, 2011 Rev. D. johns
Superheroes: living with audacious faith!
part #1 CHAIN REACTION (serving dungeon time? keys to survival)
Doing “jail time”?
• Are there different types of imprisonments/enslavements/banishments?
• Can anything good come out of being ‘in chains’? (Philippians 1:12-14, 21; Acts 16:33, 34)
Great persecution can lead to great witness:
• Paul & Silas in a Philippian jail
• John on the island of Patmos
• Martin Luther in Wartburg Castle
• John Bunyan in Bedford Jail
• Samuel Rutherford in the “bottle dungeon” of St. Andrew’s Castle
How to Become a ‘Spiritual Superhero’ with audacious faith:
• Paul & Silas: sing, pray, concern for others – Acts 16:22-34
• John: “in the spirit” - Revelation 1:10
• 2000 years of courageous & loyal martyrs inspire us
Post script: audacious, adjective, defined as:
1. extremely bold or daring; recklessly brave; fearless
2. extremely original; without restriction to prior ideas; highly inventive
3. recklessly bold in defiance of convention, propriety, law, or the like
4. lively; unrestrained; uninhibited
