When God is Your Father | Pastor Lee Cummings

When God is Your Father | Pastor Lee Cummings

When God is Your Father …Your Identity is defined and your value is affirmed One of the greatest longings of the human heart and most critical issue in our day is for someone to tell us who we are and that we have worth. One of the central aspects of becoming a Christian – is that God not only “defines” for us “who we are – in Christ” but also “affirms” our value – not based upon our merit, but upon His mercy. When God is Your Father….Your Identity is Defined 1. We become children of God when we believe and receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. John 1:12-13 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.  1. We experience a second birth into the Kingdom and God’s family John 3:5-7 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again 1 Peter 1: 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.. 1. Water Baptism is a public funeral for our sinful identity and also birth announcement our new identity in Christ. Romans 6:3-11 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  1. In Christ… We are no longer free agents, we are redeemed. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body When God is Your Father…Your Value is Affirmed    Ephesians 1:3-8 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us 1. You are chosen, not tolerated. 2. You are now holy and blameless in His sight. 3. You have been adopted into His family. 4. You are accepted and no longer rejected. 5. You are redeemed and no longer a slave. 6. The price was Jesus’s blood. = God’s Son. 7. God has lavished His love on you, because He poured out His wrath on Him.

Immerse | Mark 5-11

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. 30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”  31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” 32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”  Mark 5:25-34 NIV  Faith is the gridwork by which we allow the Lord to move in our lives Our view of Faith is determined by how we view our Father and ourselves The outcome of our Faith is not controlled by us 20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.  Jude 1:20-21 NIV

Immerse | A Ready Heart

Immerse: A Ready Heart 5.17.26 Mark 4:13-20. Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”  NIV.  4 Degrees of Readiness Path: A heart where nothing sinks in.  Rocky: An emotional response with no roots.   Thorns: A heart contaminated by life’s distractions.   Good soil: A heart the follows & obeys God’s word.  Cultivating Our Hearts 1.  Read & obey God’s word.  2 Timothy 3:15-17  and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.   NIV.  2.    Pray daily. Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.  NIV. 3.   Pay attention to what is influencing your soul. Mark 4:24  “Consider carefully what you hear…” NIV.  4.   Protect your heart from spiritual weeds.

Immerse | Demolish Strongholds

Immerse: Demolish Strongholds 5.10.26 2 Corinthians 10:3-5  For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.   What Is A Stronghold Stronghold: A false refuge that protects our pain while imprisoning our soul.  Diagram of Stronghold. Demolish Strongholds: Recognize the lie, renounce the lie, replace it with God’s truth.   3 Common Lies We Believe Lie: I’m not good enough.  Truth: You are deeply and completely loved as a child of God. Romans 8:15-16  So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. NLT  Lie: I can’t forgive, the injury is to great.    Truth: Forgiveness releases us from the chains of our injury.  Matthew 18:21-22  Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me?  Seven times?”  22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!    Lie:  God’s forgotten me.  Truth: God’s with you, He sees you, and fights for you.   Hebrews 13:5-6 because God has said,  “Never will I leave you;  never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence,  “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.  NIV

Immerse | Spiritual Gifts Part Two

Immerse: Spiritual Gifts Pt2 4.26.26 1 Corinthians 14:1-5   Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. 2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. 3 But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. 4 Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. 5 I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.    NIV Discerning Gifts Word of knowledge: A supernatural revelation of information pertaining to a person or event. Discerning of spirits: Ability to discern the true source of circumstances or motives of people. Word of wisdom: A Devine answer or solution for a particular event or situation. Dynamic Gifts Gift of Faith: An unusual measure of trust in the power of God for a situation. Gifts of healing: A supernatural restoration of physical, emotional, or spiritual health.    Gift of Miracles: A manifestation of God’s power that goes beyond the normal course of nature. Proclamation Gifts Gift of Prophecy: A message of encouragement to others imparted by the Holy Spirit.   Gift of tongues: Speaking supernaturally by the Spirit in a language not known to the individual. Interpretation of Tongues: The ability to express the meaning of a public tongue through revelation.   What Our Attitude Should Be Toward Gifts  Desire spiritual gifts. Pray to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Seek opportunities to practice.