ascend

Ascend-rise-climb-soar-go up-come up-lead. To take an upward direction-to proceed from an inferior to a superior-rise from a lower to a higher level-to attain.

­ Colossians 4:2-3 "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ ..."


1. "Devote yourselves to prayer . . ."

­ 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Keep on praying. 

(appeal-plea-request-desire-hope-wish)

­ 1 Timothy 2:1-2 “I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. As you make your requests, plead for God's mercy upon them, and give thanks. 2Pray this way for kings and all others who are in authority, so that we can live in peace and quietness, in godliness and dignity.”

• Devote yourselves to pray for the leaders of your campus, community, and country, that they would be filled with the knowledge of God and do His will.
• As you pray for the strength of your leaders Christian and Non-Christian God says He will have mercy on them.
• God also says that because of your prayers that we can live in peace and quietness, in godliness and dignity. (pride self-esteem-self-respect)

“Bad habits are like comfortable beds--easy to get into but hard to get out of.” Source Unknown


2. ". . . being watchful and thankful."
2 Thessalonians 3:3 “But the Lord is faithful; he will make you strong and guard you from the evil one. 4 And we are confident in the Lord that you are practicing the things we commanded you, and that you always will. 5 May the Lord bring you into an ever deeper understanding of the love of God and the endurance that comes from Christ.”

• Pray that God will protect you from the evil one, who will try to discourage you.
• To Ascend we also must let God take us into a deeper understanding of the love of God and the endurance that comes from Christ.

1 Chronicles 16:8 “Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done.“

• Thank the Lord for who He is and what He can do through you.
• To Ascend we must thank the Lord for who He is and what He can do through me!

3. "And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ . . ."

1 Peter 3:13-16 “Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don't be afraid and don't worry. 15Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. 16But you must do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak evil against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.”

­ Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes--Jews first and also Gentiles.”

­ Luke 9:26 "If a person is ashamed of me and my message, I, the Son of Man, will be ashamed of that person when I return in my glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels."

­

• Thank You for ascending your relationship with Christ! 
• Thank You for not being ashamed of Christ!
• Thank You for sharing Christ with others!
• Thank You for living in the power of Christ!
• Thank You for walking in the Spirit and not after the flesh!
• Thank You for standing out!

­ Christians stand out!

• If you are really living Christ like then you are standing OUT!

Mark 16:15 “And then he told them, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere. 16Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned."

Revelation 16:15 “Take note: I will come as unexpectedly as a thief! Blessed are all who are watching for me, who keep their robes ready so they will not need to walk naked and ashamed."

• -Make prayer a habit in your life-

The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken. Samuel Johnson.

• -Make prayer a habit in your life so strong it cannot be broken!-
• Listen Being a leader requires that you ASCEND!

Ascend- rise-climb-soar-go up-come up-lead. To take an upward direction-to proceed from an inferior to a superior-rise from a lower to a higher level-to attain.

Psalms 24:1-6 "The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to Him. 2 For He laid the earth's foundation on the seas and built it on the ocean depths. 3 Who may climb the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in His holy place? 4 Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. (Idols are anything that comes before God) 5 They will receive the Lord’s blessing and have right standing with God their savior. 6 They alone may enter God's presence and worship the God of Israel." 

Explain-pure hands and pure hearts

• Pure hands-we can only rescue others when we have pure hands because it takes the Spirits power.
• Pure hearts- Job 17:9 "The righteous will move onward and forward, and those with pure hearts will become stronger and stronger." 

Matthew 5:8 “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.”

• God wants to be an awesome, intricate, part of your life.
• We can’t communicate with God if we don’t have pure hands and a pure heart.
• To begin a relationship with God you have to believe on Him.
• While using your faith, your heart, and your mouth.

­ Matthew 5:8 “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.”

Faultless (Titans)

We have been in a series where we are discussing Greek Mythological gods and how no matter how powerful or gifted they are that they all have a fault.

 

Despite what you've been told, despite any disappointments you might have encountered, despite what culture, society, or the media might have tried to show you our God is faultless.

 

Illustrate here: clash of the Titans Video

 

 

Titans are a race of godlike giants who were considered to be the personifications of the forces of nature.

They were immortal giants of incredible strength and stamina they were overthrown by a race of younger gods, the Olympians, in the "War of the Titans."

 

Gaea

Greek earth goddess and mother of the Titans.

 

Uranus

Uranus is the sky god and first ruler.

Cronus

The offspring of Cronus and Rhea were first of the Olympians. To insure his safety Cronus ate each of the children as they were born. This worked until Rhea, unhappy at the loss of her children, tricked Cronus into swallowing a rock, instead of Zeus. When he grew up Zeus would revolt against Cronus and the other Titans, defeat them, and banish them to Tartarus in the underworld.

 

Rhea

Rhea was the wife of Cronus and she tricked Cronus into swallowing a rock, saving her son Zeus.

 

Oceanus

Oceanus is the unending stream of water encircling the world. Together with his wife Tethys produced the rivers and the three thousand ocean nymphs.

 

Tethys

Titan goddess of fresh water. Tethys is the wife of Oceanus.

 

Hyperion

Hyperion is the Titan of light, an early sun god. He married his sister Theia. Their children Helius (the sun), Selene (the moon), and Eos (the dawn).

 

Mnemosyne

Titan of memory and the mother of Muses.

 

Themis

Titan of justice and order.

 

Iapetus

Titan of mortality.

 

Coeus

Titan of Intelligence.

 

Crius

Titan of astrology.

 

Phoebe

Titan of the Moon. Virgin huntress.

 

Thea

Titan goddess of sight.

 

Prometheus

Prometheus was the wisest Titan. His name means "forethought" and he was able to foretell the future. He tricked Zeus into allowing man to keep the best part of the animals sacrificed to the gods and to give the gods the worst parts, then he stole fire from heaven giving it to humankind.

 

For this Zeus punished Prometheus by having him chained to a rock with an eagle tearing at his liver. He was to be left there for all eternity or until he agreed to disclose to Zeus which of Zeus children would try to replace him. He was eventually rescued by Hercules without giving in to Zeus.

 

Epimetheus

Epimetheus was a stupid Titan, father of excuses, whose name means "afterthought." He also accepted the gift of Pandora(box filled with all evils) from Zeus, which lead to the introduction of evil into the world.

 

Atlas

Unlike his brothers Prometheus and Epimetheus, Atlas fought with the other Titans supporting Cronus against Zeus. Due to Cronus's advance age Atlas lead the Titan's in battle. As a result he was singled out by Zeus for a special punishment and made to hold up the world on his back.

 

Metis

Metis was the Titaness of the forth day and the planet Mercury. She presided over all wisdom and knowledge.

 

Dione

Titan goddess of the oracle of Dodona in Thesprotia, and the mother of Aphrodite by Zeus. Her name is simply the feminine form of Zeus.

 

 

Myth-false belief or idea. 

•                  There are myths all around us.

•                  There are false ideas, religions, half-truths trying to destroy mankind that have come straight from the mouth of the Devil whose whole mindset, career, and existence is to destroy.

•      We have to know truth.

•      We have to engage in truth.

•      When our lives disengage from truth we live just like hell itself in the fact that we try to engage those false ideas, religions, and half-truths into our lives therefore into culture, society, even the church.

 

"Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly.” (John 7:24 NLT)

 

1.Many people have a surface relationship with God.

1.They simply see the things He has done for others, they have heard of the things He has done for others, or they somewhere witnessed God moving.

2.There is no depth to their relationship where they actually "know Him."

Know-be absolutely certain or sure about something, have personal experience of.

•      To "know" Him.

•      Not just His healing, not just His provision, not just His power, nor His gifts, but Him.

 

John 7:27 NLT "But how could he be? For we know where this man comes from. When the Messiah comes, He will simply appear; no one will know where he comes from.”

 

2. Another surface account.

•      Jesus is just gonna appear right?

•      Is that what the bible says?

•      Did it say this or did it say that? I'm confused.

•                  People get confused about God when they only have a surface relationship with Him and truly don't know Him.

•      Why should I read the bible for myself when I have someone else tell me what it says, cause that's only surface relationship!

•                  You should know Him.

•                  Not just know about Him.

 

Illustrate here: guacamole or a type of weird looking food that when you actually taste it or engage in it, you love! Or something deceptive from the outside looks great, try it and it's horrible.

 

•      Surface-the outside part or upper most layer of something.

•                  Many people never get any deeper in their God relationship than the surface.

•      Surface relationship says, "God please do what I want, when I want, your my genie in a bottle, your my wish list giver, you give me stuff, you give me things, you are just here to give, give, give.

•      God no matter how much I disappoint you, no matter how much I ignore you, no matter how much I try my very best to dodge your house, your word, your worship, or service to others you should do what I say when I say it.

•                  Surface relationship is mainly about what everyone sees but not what God sees.

•      I go to church, I'm good when everyone is looking, I do all the right things, and make all the right decisions when it counts but inside your as evil, deceptive, and conniving as the Devil.

•                  When no one is looking your mind goes to places that it should never go, when no one is looking you make different decisions with your heart, your actions are shameful not faultless.

 

1 Samuel 16:7 (NLT) "But the Lord said to Samuel, "Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

 

•      God does not work for you!

•                  He is not employed by you, He is not salaried by you, He..is..God!

•      Faultless God means I can trust Him, I can confide in Him, I can rely on Him, I can expect Him to never fail me, I can expect Him to lead and instruct me.

•      Faultless means free from defect or error. 

 

Jude 1:24 (NLT) "Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into His glorious presence without a single fault."

 

John 17:3, NLT "And this is the way to have eternal life--to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth."

 

How do we get eternal life? Jesus tells us clearly here--by knowing God the Father himself through his Son, Jesus Christ.

 

Eternal life requires entering into a personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ.

•      When we admit our sin and turn away from it, Christ's love lives in us by the Holy Spirit.

Faultless (Dionysus, Midas, Athena, Medusa)

We have been in a series where we are discussing Greek Mythological gods and how no matter how powerful or gifted they are that they all have a fault.

Despite what you've been told, despite any disappointments you might have encountered, despite what culture, society, or the media might have tried to show you our God is faultless.

In my study of the Greek gods I have found some crazy stuff! I have found some things so far fetched I've been astounded.

Dionysus

The god of wine, parties and festivals, madness, chaos, drunkenness and pleasure at forever young.
He was depicted in art as either an older bearded god or a pretty effeminate, long-haired youth.
Semele was a priestess of Zeus, and on one occasion was observed by Zeus as she slaughtered a bull at his altar and afterwards swam in the river Asopus to cleanse herself of the blood. Flying over the scene in the disguise of an eagle, Zeus fell in love with Semele and afterwards repeatedly visited her secretly. Zeus' wife, Hera, a goddess jealous of usurpers, discovered his affair with Semele when she later became pregnant. Appearing as an old crone, Hera befriended Semele, who confided in her that her lover was actually Zeus. Hera pretended not to believe her, and planted seeds of doubt in Semele's mind. Curious, Semele asked Zeus to grant her a wish. Zeus, eager to please his beloved, promised on the River Styx to grant her anything she wanted. She then demanded that Zeus reveal himself in all his glory as proof of his godhood. Though Zeus begged her not to ask this, she persisted and he was forced by his oath to comply. Zeus tried to spare her by showing her minimum amounts of his power but mortals, however, cannot look upon Zeus without incinerating, and she perished, consumed in lightning-ignited flame. Zeus rescued the fetal Dionysus, by sewing him into his thigh. A few months later, Dionysus was born. This leads to his being called "the twice-born". When he grew up, Dionysus rescued his mother from Hades, and she became a goddess on Mount Olympus.

Midas

Once, Dionysus found his master and foster father, Silenus, missing. The old man had been drinking, and had wandered away drunk, and was found by some peasants, who carried him to their king. Midas recognized him, and treated him hospitably, entertaining him for ten days and nights with politeness, while Silenus entertained Midas and his friends with stories and songs. On the eleventh day, he brought Silenus back to Dionysus. Dionysus offered Midas his choice of whatever reward he wanted. Midas asked that whatever he might touch should be changed into gold. Dionysus consented, though was sorry that he had not made a better choice. Midas rejoiced in his new power, which he hastened to put to the test. He touched and turned to gold an oak twig and a stone. Overjoyed, as soon as he got home, he ordered the servants to set a feast on the table. Then he found that his bread, meat, daughter and wine turned to gold.

• Thinks everything can be fixed with money, or possessions.

Matthew 6:31-34 (NLT)
"So don't worry about these things, saying, 'What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?' [32] These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. [33] Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. [34] "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today."

Athena

The goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, just warfare, mathematics, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill.

• Thinks everything can be fixed through wisdom or war.
• She only fights for great causes.
• Everything can be fixed with wisdom but only from the wisdom of God.
• Everything can be fixed through spiritual warfare.
• Prayer, worship, bible reading, fasting, serving,and giving.

Proverbs 2:6-9 (NLT)
"For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. [7] He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity. [8] He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him. [9] Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go."

Medusa 

Medusa was once very beautiful and lived far in the north were the sun didn't visit. Being very curious, she wanted to see the sun, and asked the Goddess Athena for permission to visit the south. Athena refused to allow her to visit. Then Medusa got angry and dared to say that Athena hadn't given her permission because she was jealous of her beauty. That was it, Athena was angered and punished her by turning her hair into snakes and cursing her by making her so ugly that who ever looks at her eyes would turn into stone.

• We see jealousy, fear, lust, resentment, lies, drama, covetousness, stealing, fornication, murder, drunkenness, adultery, bad attitudes, homosexuality, anger, selfishness, deception, greed, and that's just in one myth.
• But truth calls it like the bible sees it, sin.

• Most Greek Mythology sounds like a modern day soap opera to me.

• Our God has given us the earth, our God has given us time, our God has given us seasons, our God has given us breath, and life. Our God has given us love, our God has given us His Son Jesus Christ, our God has given us the Holy Spirit, our God has given us the bible to guide and instruct us into right living.

1 Thessalonians 2:10-13 (NLT)
"You yourselves are our witnesses-and so is God-that we were devout and honest and faultless toward all of you believers. [11] And you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children. [12] We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory. [13] Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn't think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God-which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe."

• How did these men and women of God know how to live their lives devout, honest and faultless?
• Because our God is devout, honest, and faultless.
• "This word continues to work in you who believe."
• There is something to be said of a devout, honest and faultless person.
• There is a value, a character, a quality that has has entered into the soul of a person of this caliber.
• One of the things we can see through all of these Greek gods is their jealousy, their desires over running their character, and their sense of immorality.
• Something else we can see is how nearly every college in the world has sororities, sorority parties, and many of these teach immorality, illegal acts, and unethical behavior.
• Their thought process is that you can be anything you want in the daytime then nights, weekends live a mythological lifestyle.

Myth-false belief or idea.

• There are myths all around us.
• There are false ideas, religions, half-truths trying to destroy mankind that have come straight from the mouth of the Devil whose whole mindset, career, and existence is to destroy.
• We have to know truth.
• We have to engage in truth.
• When our lives disengage from truth we live just like hell itself in the fact that we try to engage those false ideas, religions, and half-truths into our lives therefore into culture, society, even the church.