StoneBridge Church Sermon of the Week

In Mark 14 we read that Mary "did what she could" for Jesus. When God pours out His grace on our lives, He is looking to see if we are good stewards of what He has given to us.

God pours out the wine of His grace on our lives. We must have appropriate wineskins (lifestyles) in order to receive it and then give it to others.

We want to be people with generous hearts. How do we get them? We can ask for them, recognize how much we have been given, realize everything we have is a gift, and we can give.

Jesus said "freely you have received, freely give". We have all been given a place in this world and grace of God in some form. What's your world? What grace have you received to share with the people there?

Part of our identity as Christians is an Ambassador. As Ambassadors we need to know the sphere of influence we have been given and the message we are to announce there.

We are given a Jedidiah identity by the Lord- fully loved by Him. If we don't know who we are in the Lord, we can't live the abundant life God offers us.

Jesus' command to us is to go make disciples. As we launch our small groups, it is not about Christian education, but spiritual formation-helping others become disciple makers.

We were created to be in life-giving relationships. We need to be in relationship with God and others with whom we can be vulnerable and transparent with.

Baptism is a place where our faith intersects God's grace. Are there areas in your life where this is happening? God desires to pour Himself out on us, but will give Himself to the measure that we are willing to receive from Him.

Many of us have responded to the call of Jesus, but are still wrapped in grave clothes. We are forgiven, but never move from forgiveness to freedom.

There is often a tension in our hearts when we have situation where we need God to work and He is not showing up. We know He can, so why isn't He?

Jesus is the Way, Truth, and Life so anything apart from Him is dead. If there are areas of death in our lives, we need to respond to Him and let Him bring life to those places.

We are called to run the race set before us. As we run our race we often judge others in how they are running theirs. We need to trust the Holy Spirit to lead them and give them encouragement along the way.

Our influence has limits because those we are influencing still have the freedom to choose. Influence is not control. Once we try and control, we are no longer operating in the Spirit. We need to speak with Grace and Truth and focus on the relationship.

Some thoughts on where we are headed in the next few years...

If you are a Christian, everywhere you go, every situation you are in, you can be an expression of the Kingdom of God. One avenue of expressing the Kingdom is speaking. The right words at the right time can have a huge impact.

In the Old Testament God filled the temple with His glory and presence. Now, He calls us living temples and He fills us with His Spirit. Wherever we go, He is with us and we have the ability to be an agent of change and bring His presence.

God provides for His faithful people, even in the midst of terrible circumstances. When Jesus left, He promised to send the Holy Spirit, who lives in Believers and is the Source of everything we need.

God desires us to have obedient and repentant hearts. The more we understand of His grace, mercy, and forgiveness towards us, the more we will love and obey Him.

God uses our circumstances to show us what is in our hearts and to strengthen our faith in Him.

Jesus heals us and makes us whole so we can live the abundant life and bring glory to His name.

God had established boundaries where we have an inheritance. We can be tempted to move them in or out, but when we live within the ones God has established we will be the most fulfilled and effective.

The question Jesus asked the disciples, "Who do you say I am" is the most important question we can ask ourselves. It determines our eternal future and how we live our lives here and now. There are many different things we can believe about Him and the resurrection, but there is only one Truth, and that Truth sets us free.

We glorify God by bearing fruit. Bearing fruit doesn't save us, God's grace does. But the fruit in our lives is evidence of our connectedness to God.

We are a highly individualistic society that tends to see a person's life as a direct result of the choices that individual made. Our individual choices are important, but we are all connected, and our choices will impact those around us.