Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Most epic story ever told




Epic-a long story generally centered upon a hero, in which a series of great achievements or events is told: heroic; majestic; impressively great.

1.           This week we are gonna talk about the most epic story ever told.

•                We’ve sanitized, Santa-fied and commercialized our image of the Holy Night into an ordinary night.

•    I assure you this was no ordinary night.

Luke 1:26-38 (NLT)ï

"In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, [27] to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. [28] Gabriel appeared to her and said, "Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!" [29] Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. [30] "Don't be afraid, Mary," the angel told her, "for you have found favor with God! [31] You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. [32] He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. [33] And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!" [34] Mary asked the angel, "But how can this happen? I am a virgin." [35] The angel replied, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. [36] What's more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she's now in her sixth month. [37] For nothing is impossible with God." [38] Mary responded, "I am the Lord's servant. May everything you have said about me come true." And then the angel left her."

•    Jesus Christ born of a virgin in a town called Bethlehem.

•                Luke 1 God interrupted a genealogy to birth His son to save the world.

•    Through the genealogy of Joseph, Christ was born.

•    God put His Son in line for Kingship.

•                When Jesus was born hope was born, life was born, healing was born, eternal life was born, prophecies were fulfilled through so many historians both secular and Christian.

Luke 2:11 (NLT) "The Savior-yes, the Messiah, the Lord-has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!"

•                He was just a child but still called a Savior.

•    A Savior-not One who shall be a Savior, but "born a Savior."

Isaiah 9:6 (NLT) "For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

•    He was called all these things and declared all things before he had ever even done anything.

•                That's prophecy the foretelling of future events.

•    You can't celebrate Christmas without a mention of the Son of God.

•    You can't sing a Christmas song or hear a Christmas phrase that was not built around Him.

•                You can't even write the date on anything without paying homage to His birth, death, burial, and resurrection.

•    BC-Before Christ, a fixed date used in dating years prior to the estimated birth of Jesus.

•    AD-The term Anno Domini is Medieval Latin, translated as In the year of the Lord, and as in the year of our Lord. It is sometimes specified more fully as Anno Domini Nostri Iesu ("In the Year of Our Lord Jesus Christ.")

•                4000 BC: Adam and Eve receive the prophecy that the Messiah (Jesus) would be born of a woman.

•    Promise: Genesis 3:15

•    Fulfillment: Galatians 4:4

•                700 BC: Isaiah prophesies that Jesus’ mother would be a virgin who conceived by a miracle and that Jesus would be God who became a man.

•    Promise: Isaiah 7:14 (NLT) "All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means 'God is with us').

•    Fulfillment: Matthew 1:18–23 – “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us).”

•                700 BC: Micah prophesies that Jesus would be born in the town of Bethlehem.

•    Promise: Micah 5:2

•    Fulfillment: Luke 2:1–7

•                400 BC: Malachi prophesies that Jesus would enter the temple, which was destroyed in 70 AD, meaning the Messiah had to come before then.

•    Promise: Malachi 3:1

•    Fulfillment: Luke 2:25–27



•    Jesus had to overcome ridicule, murder, unbelief, anger, disappointment, frustration, and fear, all to save mankind.



Illustrate here: Nativity Music Video by Bebo Norman Come and Worship




Merry Christmas to you and your family from Michael, Tara, Alec, Chase, and Madi Koelling!




Twitter: @koellingmichael
Facebook: Youthrock Srfc

Friday, December 16, 2011

Zero Tolerance

3 John vs. 11 “Dear friend, don't let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God's children and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.”


A lot of times we as the church have this predetermined idea of people and how they should act and live.


1.  Those without Christ, "the lost" live like sinners.


a.     Lost people have no care or concern for the things of God!

John 3:19 “And the judgment is based on this fact: God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.”


              i.      They don’t care about living right, living godly, reading their bible, or praying.


              ii.      Do we? How effectively do we do this? How successfully do we model this?


              iii.      We are always condemning people and judging people for their speech, lives, and actions. We are quick to see and speak in opposition to their faults and failures.


              iv.      My question is ‘are we concerning our spirits with our lives?’ Are we consulting our God about our actions?  Are we as consumed with others problems, actions, speech, attitudes, and lives and disregarding our own?


b.     Lost people talk wrong, live wrong and are going to the wrong destination; a place that wasn’t even created for them to go!


               i.      So again, are we talking different, living different, and treating others different than lost people do?


               ii.      Are we going to a heavenly destination created for us by God?


1 Corinthians 13:1 “If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”


The bible asks us a very pointed question when it says, 1 John 4:20 “If someone says, "I love God," but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? 21 And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters.”


We have to be so careful that our pride doesn’t get the best of us like it did the devil. If we become prideful we become sinful and we begin to judge, reject, and hold grudges on others instead of loving, accepting, and forgiving which are all acts and gifts of God.


We have to have a “Zero Tolerance” for judging, rejecting, and grudging against others in our lives.


Luke 6:32 "If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them!


c.     God convicted me about this type of behavior.


                  i.      Lost people need God’s love-not our judgment.


                  ii.      Lost people need God’s acceptance-not our rejection.


                  iii.      Lost people need God’s forgiveness-not our grudges. (chips on our shoulders)


We have to give lost people a first-class image of God because “we-are-His-Light.”


2.  Those with Christ in their lives, "saved people" need to stop living on the edge of these two worlds.


a.     Evil vs. Good


b.     Worldly vs. Christ like


c.     Cursed vs. Blessed


d.     Being Served vs. Serving


There is a definitive difference between these two procedures.


Mark 12:30 “And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.' 31 The second is equally important: `Love your neighbor as yourself.'* No other commandment is greater than these."


This scripture should awaken us, inspire us, and direct us to live Christ like=Christian.


e.     Our lives are to act as a pathway to Jesus Christ Himself.


                 i.      They should not be sidetracked by our language


                 ii.      Our actions


                 iii.      Or our lack of love…


                 iv.      Compassion


                 v.      Concern


                 vi.      Servitude


                 vii.      Faithfulness


                 viii.      Or spirituality!


John the Baptist prepared the way; John 1:19-34


When our lives were changed by Christ this makes us announce to the world that, “He is the Son of God.”


f.      Connect and correct one another!


g.     Grow up when you get corrected! Don’t pout, don’t cry, and don’t walk away from ministry or get mad at God. Grow up!


We need to have a “Zero Tolerance” for trying to live on the edge of the two worlds. “A double minded man is unstable in all His ways.”


3.  Lost people need to hear a message of love, acceptance, and forgiveness. While saved people need to be speaking, preaching, and living a message of love, acceptance, and forgiveness.


John 14:21 Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them."

  • God, I ask you to reveal yourself to me.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5 “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged.”

  • This is the image of biblical love. The example of love Christ intended for us to model.
  • Consider our relationships with those around us.
  • Am I demonstrating selfless, Christ like love?


Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Epic Moments

Epic-a long story generally centered upon a hero, in which a series of great achievements or events is told: heroic; majestic; impressively great.



1.This months series is all about epic stories.

•    I love to hear epic stories.
•                I love to hear a heroic story that was built upon the shoulders of an amazing human being.
•    Stories of difficulty, impossibilities, improbabilities, stories of final moments coming to a life altering clash.
•    Battles of great warriors, men and women alike that through courage and faith they rose above their situation to accomplish the very thing that was to be unachievable.
• I can't wait to hear of a Phoenix rising from the ashes to take their rightful place.

•                Men and women like:

Samuel 23:12 “…Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field and defended it…”

I’ve given all I’m going to give up, I’ve seen him take too much already and my conviction is to stand and if I die I’ll die standing for what’s right and if I die I’ll die fighting but I won’t go down without a fight.

“There was a spiritual principle here it wasn’t that it was precious; it’s that it was pivotal.”

2. Genesis 32 The wrestling match. Jacob.

  But there must be that spirit of Jacob that says I am so desperate for God to heal my home.

  For God to give me my purpose.

  For God to cause me to go to the next level, that I will not be content and casual about my journey, or about my life but I will wrestle, and I will weep, and I will fight, and I will struggle my way through to a victory, to a breakthrough.

3. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were men of courage.

  They were willing to sacrifice their lives in order to Obey God.

Daniel 3:12 (NLT) "But there are some Jews-Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego-whom you have put in charge of the province of Babylon. They pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They refuse to serve your gods and do not worship the gold statue you have set up."

   Refuse to serve the gods of this world.

 They said, there is power and strength in numbers, "God is able to rescue us but even if He doesn't we will not serve your god or worship the golden statue you have set up."

4. David killed a lion, Killed a bear, Killed a giant.

1 Samuel 17:34-37 (NLT)
But David persisted. "I have been taking care of my father's sheep and goats," he said. "When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, [35] I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. [36] I have done this to both lions and bears, and I'll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! [37] The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!" Saul finally consented. "All right, go ahead," he said. "And may the Lord be with you!"

David said,
1 Samuel 17:46-48 (NLT)
"Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! [47] And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord's battle, and he will give you to us!" [48] As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him."

5. Abishai-killed 300 warriors by himself.

1 Chronicles 11:20 (NLT) "Abishai, the brother of Joab, was the leader of the Thirty. He once used his spear to kill 300 enemy warriors in a single battle. It was by such feats that he became as famous as the Three."

6. Beniah-chased a lion down, into a pit, on a snowy day and killed him.

1 Chronicles 11:22-23 (NLT)
"There was also Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant warrior from Kabzeel. He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two champions of Moab. Another time, on a snowy day, he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it. [23] Once, armed only with a club, he killed an Egyptian warrior who was 7 1/2 feet tall and whose spear was as thick as a weaver's beam. Benaiah wrenched the spear from the Egyptian's hand and killed him with it."

 Wrenched a spear out of his enemies hand and killed him with it.

7. Gideon defeated thousands with only 300 men.

“Judges 6:16 “The LORD said to him, "I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites, every one of them."

  God loves to show the world that He can and will use a willing vessel to accomplish His purpose and plans through His grace, mercy, and power.

  Then throughout all of Gideon’s victories and conquests, he never forgot his dependence on God and that God was always with him.

8. Other leaders who fought along David's side:

1 Chronicles 12:14 (NLT) "These warriors from Gad were army commanders. The weakest among them could take on a hundred regular troops, and the strongest could take on a thousand!"

What a testament to the power of God through leadership and discipleship.

The bible taught how David had a band of misfits.


Judges 4:1 “After Ehud's death, the Israelites again did evil in the LORD's sight. 2 So the LORD turned them over to King Jabin of Hazor, a Canaanite king. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-haggoyim. 3 Sisera, who had 900 iron chariots, ruthlessly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years. Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help. 4 Deborah, the wife of Lappidoth, was a prophet who was judging Israel at that time.

9 "Very well," she replied, "I will go with you. But you will receive no honor in this venture, for the LORD's victory over Sisera will be at the hands of a woman." So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 At Kedesh, Barak called together the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali, and 10,000 warriors went up with him. Deborah also went with him. 11 Now Heber the Kenite, a descendant of Moses' brother-in-law* Hobab, had moved away from the other members of his tribe and pitched his tent by the oak of Zaanannim near Kedesh. 12 When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 he called for all 900 of his iron chariots and all of his warriors, and they marched from Harosheth-haggoyim to the Kishon River. 14 Then Deborah said to Barak, "Get ready! This is the day the LORD will give you victory over Sisera, for the LORD is marching ahead of you." So Barak led his 10,000 warriors down the slopes of Mount Tabor into battle. 15 When Barak attacked, the LORD threw Sisera and all his chariots and warriors into a panic. Sisera leaped down from his chariot and escaped on foot. 16 Then Barak chased the chariots and the enemy army all the way to Harosheth-haggoyim, killing all of Sisera's warriors. Not a single one was left alive. 17 Meanwhile, Sisera ran to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because Heber's family was on friendly terms with King Jabin of Hazor. 18 Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, "Come into my tent, sir. Come in. Don't be afraid." So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a blanket. 19 "Please give me some water," he said. "I'm thirsty." So she gave him some milk from a leather bag and covered him again.
20 "Stand at the door of the tent," he told her. "If anybody comes and asks you if there is anyone here, say no." 21 But when Sisera fell asleep from exhaustion, Jael quietly crept up to him with a hammer and tent peg in her hand. Then she drove the tent peg through his temple and into the ground, and so he died. 22 When Barak came looking for Sisera, Jael went out to meet him. She said, "Come, and I will show you the man you are looking for." So he followed her into the tent and found Sisera lying there dead, with the tent peg through his temple. 23 So on that day Israel saw God defeat Jabin, the Canaanite king.”

God does not do ordinary!

What makes you think that His plan for your life is simply routine?

  Have you ever asked Him what He desires for you or are you busy trying to plan your epic moment? Your 15 minutes of fame?

Power of perpetual prayer and praise.



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