Pastor Rick Hudgens | Trust
God for the Impossible
Sunday/Nov/2009 18:07
Let’s pull back the layers of Christmas in
today’s culture and focus on the core of the
holiday. Join with us as we see what Simply Christmas
is all about ~ a real authentic Christmas this year.
Every Sunday of this time of advent we will feature a
presentation from the Seasonal Choir; a live drama
vignette; the lighting of the candles on the advent
wreath; and a teaching message from Pastor Rick.
Today we view Christmas through the perspective of
Mary–to trust God for the impossible. Next Sunday
we plan to view Christmas through the eyes of
Joseph–to never under estimate your influence. On
December 13, we will feature our children’s
ministry as we view Christmas through the
“stinky, smelly shepherds” – to seize
the moment. December 20th we will view Christmas with a
simple perspective through Jesus–the name says it
all!
We will bring our celebration of advent to a crescendo
on Thursday evening, December 24, at 5:00 p.m. as we
will gather for our annual Christmas Eve
Service–featuring a moving time of worship, the
Christmas message through a simple format, the candle
lighting and communion. Christmas is wonderful time of
the year to invite friends, family and neighbors to
join you to experience Simply Christmas.
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Pastor Rick Hudgens |
Identity Theft: Who I am in Christ
Sunday/Nov/2009 14:22
We conclude our teaching series called “Identity
Theft.” In this series, we have addressed several
different lies that our spiritual enemy wants to use to
rob us of our spiritual identity. How can we feel so
close to God one moment and totally turn our backs on
Him the next? How can we have days of incredible
spiritual victories followed by periods of intense
defeat? What is the devil’s greatest weapon in
spiritual identity thief?
In John 8:44, Jesus said, “When he [the devil]
lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar
and the father of lies.” Jesus gives us the
answer for the lies that we believe. In John 8:32, He
said, “Then you will know the truth, and the
truth will set you free."
Three weeks ago we looked at the lie “I have to
be strong.” We learned the truth which is that we
have to be broken, vulnerable and weak because
God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness.
Two weeks ago we looked at the lie: “This is just
the way I am. I can’t change.” We learned
the truth which is: God’s power can change
anything in us that holds us bondage. Last week we
looked at the lie: “I’m not good
enough.” We saw from Scripture that we get our
worth and value from what God says about us!
We conclude this series with a message about dismissing
the lies-and grasping our true identity. We will see
the truths about who you are in Christ!
“I pray that Christ will be more and more at home
in your hearts, living within you as you trust in him.
May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's
marvelous love; and may you be able to feel and
understand, as all God's children should, how long, how
wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to
experience this love for yourselves, though it is so
great that you will never see the end of it or fully
know or understand it. And so at last you will be
filled up with God himself.” Ephesians 3:17-19
(LB)
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Pastor Rick Hudgens |
Identity Theft: I'm Not Good Enough
Sunday/Nov/2009 13:14
Case Study: For three years Norm has worked as an IT
technician in a large insurance company. Some days went
way beyond hectic when their network or computers went
down. It was difficult for soft spoken and calm-natured
Norm to face the pressure of panicked agents, and their
intense, and sometimes angry demands for immediate
service. But, Norm maintained his cool and was deeply
valued for his skill and serenity.
As a Christian, Norm had prayed and asked the Lord to
enable him to have a spiritual impact upon his
coworkers, but being soft-spoken and often overpowered
by driven and ambitious agents, he was content to let
his life, rather than his words be his witness. One day
as he arrived for work, he heard the shocking news that
the president of the company had been diagnosed with an
aggressive, inoperable, malignant tumor. Norm had
always had a burden for this man who lived a lifestyle
totally contrary to God’s Word, but there was no
way that he felt adequate to speak to this highly
intelligent and driven executive about his need for a
Savior. But Norm’s burden was real and the time
was apparently limited now. Perhaps he should call his
pastor and ask him to visit the hospital and share
Christ with his boss. Norm felt totally inadequate to
do so himself. What would you advise Norm to do?
Today we are continuing in our series Identity Theft.
We are going to examine the lie: I’m not good
enough. Our example will be found in the life of Moses.
When God told Moses to go and tell Pharaoh to release
the Israelites, Moses felt totally inadequate for the
mission. Moses explained to God why that was a bad idea
and would end in total failure. Moses truly believed
that he was not good enough and offered God reasons he
strongly believed that should surely disqualify him. Do
you ever feel incapable of doing anything great for
God? Is God only able to use talented or important
people to carry out His will, or is God able to use
ordinary people as well? The issue is not who we are;
it is who God is. He is the God who cannot fail and who
calls us to have faith in Him.
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Pastor Rick Hudgens |
Identity Theft: This is Just the Way I Am
Sunday/Nov/2009 14:02
Case Study: You were asked to teach your Connection
Class on Sunday morning by the lead teacher on the
subject of Biblical humility. You agreed and pored over
God’s Word for two weeks, and then poured out
your own heart to your Connection Class on how God had
been dealing with your pride as evidenced in some of
your own conflicts with others.
That Sunday afternoon you received an email from
someone in your Connection Class that morning who wrote
that they disagreed totally with the steps you laid out
as a way to let God develop humility in us. What would
you do? Here are some options:
-
Write this person off as a trouble maker and try to
avoid further contact.
-
Immediately reply with an email of your own letting
them know that they are the one who does not
understand, or live a life of humility.
-
Call your Connection Class leader and tell them to
never ask you to teach again.
-
Forward the email to five friends and ask them to
pray for you as you have come under attack and are
suffering unjustly.
-
Pray over it asking God for insight into how you can
further grow in humility and asking God for wisdom as
to how to talk with this person so that a conflict is
resolved and you can both grow in the
process.
-
Other:
_________________________________________
Does
every Christian see every issue exactly the same way?
Do conflicts ever divide Christian brothers and
Christian churches? Yes! If it happened to Paul and the
early church, then why does it come as a shock when it
happens to us? Because we know that that is not the way
it should be. But it is the way it is sometimes. So God
wants to teach us all how to respond to conflict in a
godly way, as Paul did with his Corinthian critics.
Today we grapple with the lie: This is just the way I
am. We will explore 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 for some
instruction in the truth.
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