ALIVE Wesleyan

What does faith look like when life falls apart?   What do we really put our faith in? Does it work?   Psalm 139:1 (NRSV) 1O Lord, you have searched me and known me.  Add notes Psalm 139:2–6 (NRSV) 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away.   3 You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.   4 Even before a word is on my t...

Do I want to be in a relationship with Jesus?   All of us need a relationship with God.   We go into those situations with a relationship with God. Or we go into those situations alone.  Add notes Jesus desires to be my friend.   John 15:13–15 (NIV84) 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (“philos”—brotherly love). 14 You are my friends if you do what I co...

Galatians 5:1 (NIV84) It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.   Our minds are troubled, corrupt, anxious, rash, confused, deluded, depraved, dull, restless and evil.  Add notes Jeremiah 17:9 (NIV84) 9 The heart (mind) is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?  Add notes Our minds...

Grace.   Can something really change inside of me so that what comes out of me is different?   Whatever is going on in my life is coming from inside of me.   Spiritual formation — something new is being formed in me. Grace is coming in and as a result, Christ is coming out.  Add notes Can people really change in their careers?   John 3:16–17 (NIV84) 16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his...

Does God desire for our society to change in how we relate to each other? If he does, how? Genesis 12:2–3 (NIV84) 2“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”   Blessing in this context means three th...

Can people really change when it comes to family and friends?   If left alone and there is not a constant introduction to outside energy, everything will move from order to disorder and chaos.   Probably the greatest pain you have experienced and the greatest pain you have caused was in the context of a relationship. #alivewesleyanchurch  For the latest sermons, stories, & training: https://al...

People see me as ______________.   Behaviors are an overflow of what is inside.  Add notes Can people really change?   Imagine living in a world where we didn’t believe change was possible. I don’t want to live in that world.   Vision—what would life be like if someone opened the door to freedom? Intention—what must I choose to do differently? Strategy—what will my plan be to freedom? #alivewesley...

Genesis 2:7 Then the Lord of God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul.    Today I want to talk about what may seem like an oxymoron, I want to talk about the Satisfied Soul. Unfortunately, all of us have to learn to resist the temptation to be satisfied too soon. This detox is for heads that are full, but heart...

We are not a body with a soul; we are (first) a soul with a body.   Exodus 20:3–5 (NIV84)  3 You shall have no other gods before me. 4“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything . . . 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. . .    Our souls are created to worship the One true living God.   Deuteronomy 4:16-19 So do not corr...

Psalm 40:12 New Living Translation (NLT) 12 For troubles surround me—    too many to count! My sins pile up so high    I can’t see my way out. They outnumber the hairs on my head.    I have lost all courage.  Add notes He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. J...

Genesis 2:7 (NIV84) 7 The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being (nephesh, soul). We are not a body with a soul; we are a soul with a body. Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV84) 5“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart" Psalm 139:13–14 (NIV84) 13 "For you created my...

The Christmas story is one of real people who had real lives and faced real events that sometimes got real weird and produced real fears in a very real Bible. Hope God cares for me. Hope God has not forgotten me. Hope I am not alone. Hope God hasn’t given up on me. Hope is the only way we move from fear to faith.  I stink at waiting.  Waiting is part of learning to trust, its part of having hope. ...

God chooses real people to do things we never thought possible in ways we never considered.   Faith is the belief that God is who he says He is and will do everything He has promised to do.   The belief I’m good enough (qualified) and I can do (solution) and will do (ability) everything that needs to be done.    I wonder if there are two kinds of faith.    Faith that saves us. Faith for the battle...

Luke 2:8–20 (NIV84) 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  God is good and He keeps His promises. 15 . . . “Let’s go to Bethlehem and...

I wonder if we have almost sanitized the Christmas story so it’s believable as a Fairy Tale for children and yet not believable as adults who know better.   Baby Jesus came to die on the cross because we had to be forgiven.   But that is too dark for us, so we sanitize it and prefer to think of Christmas this way.   These were real people who had real lives and faced real events that sometimes got...

Our lives are burdened under the epidemic of busyness.   What is the antidote for a world that is weary and exhausted?   SABBATH.   Sabbath literally means cease or stop.   Sabbath is a posture of  becoming  instead of  doing.   It's about moving from managing time as a scarce reality to keeping time as an abundant gift #alivewesleyanchurch  For the latest sermons, stories, & training: ht...

Worship--treasuring God above all things.   Jesus wouldn’t cave to something he admires less at the cost of what he admires the most.    Did you know what happened this week during the Compassion Experience?   2,830 Stories walked through 226 Children Rescued (sponsored) #alivewesleyanchurch  For the latest sermons, stories, & training: https://alivewesleyan.com/sermons/ STAY CONNECTED:  Twitt...

The Bible talks about a heart that is divided, a heart that pursues one thing but needs another. The heart needs tending. The heart is powerful. The heart is to be protected and valued.   Proverbs 4:23 (NIV84) 23Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Heart of Prostitution vs. Heart of Holiness   The biggest competition that Jesus faces in our lives is our question of w...

This series is built on the premise that every single one of us—man or woman, young or old, religious or not—we were all created by God to know and to worship him.   Colossians 1:16: For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth… —all things were created through him and for him.   Isaiah 43:21 “the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.”   The Creature inside us...

#1--God’s greatest goal in my life is to form me into the kind of person who He can trust with whatever it is that I want.   Matthew 17:20 (NIV84) . . . I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”   #2--As our character is formed into the same character as the char...

We work for big incomes, large houses, easy retirements and long lifelines. John 10:10 (NRSV) 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. John 3:16 (NRSV) 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. John 17:3 (NRSV) 3 And this is eternal lif...

Spiritual formation—something Spiritual is being formed in us, making us into something better. Growing spiritually isn’t about me changing what I want. It’s about Jesus changing the inside of me. John 17:3 (NRSV) 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.   What would be the best possible environment for any seed to grow? Is what I...

Last week we started with some big questions. What does Jesus say needs to be done? What does Jesus say needs to change? What does Jesus say I need to do better?   #1 - God’s greatest goal in my life is to form me into the kind of person who He can trust with whatever it is that I want.   #2 - As our character is formed into the same character as the character of Jesus, our “wanter” will begin to...

And after coming out of a series like Meat and Potatoes we would place ourselves under a similar scrutiny but we would add some Jesus. What does Jesus say needs to be done? What does Jesus say needs to change? What does Jesus say I need to do better? Do I want to do it? If I don’t want to do something, then what I need to do is irrelevant. #alivewesleyanchurch  For the latest sermons, stories, &am...

Former Southern Wesleyan University Religion Professor, Dr. Bob Black goes deeper into the concept of Holiness. This event was the third of three weekly classes provided at ALIVE Wesleyan Church. #alivewesleyanchurch  For the latest sermons, stories, & training: https://alivewesleyan.com/sermons/ STAY CONNECTED:  Twitter: https://twitter.com/ALIVEWesleyan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ALI...