Author Archives: Kingsland Baptist Church

Three Keys to Restoration

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Scripture Passage: Matthew 11

  1. Be bold enough to ask.
    Verse 1-3. When we encounter hard situations or are struggling, it’s important to be bold enough to ask. John in this passage probably thought the plan was going different than he expected or thought it would. John is doubting but deals with it the right way by bringing his doubts directly to Jesus.
  1. Be wise enough to know.
    Wisdom focuses on knowledge rather than emotion. Emotions can easily deceive you. In verses 4-6, Jesus is quoting Old Testament prophecy and redirects back to truth.
  1. Be tender enough to accept.
    In this passage, Jesus reminds John how he sees him. It’s important to be tender enough to accept both how God truly sees us as well as believe God is who He says he is.

Discussion:

  • What stood out to you most from the message this morning?
  • How do you relate to John in this passage?
  • Is there Scripture truth you need to cling to this morning? What passage comes to mind?
  • In what areas of your life do you need to take your doubt, struggles or unbelief to God? Be bold and do so!

In those situations, what is the truth about how God sees you? What is the truth about who God is? Seek wisdom and truth.

The Dangers of a Hurried Life

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Unhurried Life

Scripture Passage: Matthew 11:28-30

Dallas Willard – “Hurry is the greatest enemy of spiritual life in our day.”

We live in a time where being busy is viewed as a good thing. The sermon today focused on three reasons that living a hurried life is dangerous.

1. Hurry Redirects Our Worship

Jesus invites us in Matthew 11:28 to “come to me”. Jesus invites all who are wearied and burdened to come to Him for rest. That implies that we need to step out of being wearied and burdened. Whatever takes up our time is what we worship. While working hard is a good thing, it can replace Jesus if we aren’t careful.

2. Hurry Reinforces our Worry

When we live in a state of continual hurry, we may be trying to feel needed. We may be trying to feel good enough. Living in a hurried state may reveal that we don’t trust God to take care of us and we need to work harder to take care of ourselves.

3. Hurry Results in Wreckage

Jesus calls us to love God and others. Love can’t be done in a hurry. Love takes time. Alan Fadlings states, “For many of us the great danger is not that we will renounce our faith. It is that we will become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that we settle for a mediocre version of our life.”  God promises us a life of abundance if we will rest in Him.

Discussion Questions:

  • Evaluate your schedule. Is there room for God to move in your life and space for you to hear his voice?
  • Is your life too hurried? What can you cut to make room to rest?

The Virgin Birth of the Genealogy

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Scripture Passage: Luke 1

The virgin birth is Mary’s conception of Jesus by Holy Spirit apart from a man.

QUESTION:What are some implications if we deny the virgin birth? Example: Bible is not trustworthy.

The virgin birth means: Jesus was able to live a sinless life; His living a sinless life means that Jesus was a sinless sacrifice; Jesus giving His life as a sinless sacrifice means there was an atonement for our sin.

  1. The virgin birth reminds us why we have access to God.
    1. What do the following verses have to say? 1 Corinthians 15:22, Romans 5:12, John 3:16
    2. His Father is God; His mother is human. He is God inhuman flesh; He is God-man. He is the One who is qualified to die on the cross for our salvation.
  2. The virgin birth reminds us that “nothing is impossible with God.” Luke 1:37
    1. You don’t have to understand to validate the truth.
    2. QUESTION: What are some things that we accept although we don’t understand the how? (Example: electricity)
    3. Ultimately, we have to believe – faith.

Read and discuss 1 Timothy 3:16.

QUESTIONS:

  • What are some challenges you have faced that seemed impossible? Ask your parents or grandparents.
  • Is there a challenge that you are facing that seems impossible? He is able. Will you trust Him?

PRAY: As a family pray about your challenges.

Lessons from the Genealogy

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Scripture Passage: Matthew 1:1-16

The genealogy of Jesus as shown in Matthew 1 is a passage that many of us skim past, but there are several powerful reminders we see in this passage that have real implications on how we live our lives.

Jesus is a real person in real history.
The story of Jesus is not to be compared with Greek mythology, folklore, or local legends. The Biblical accounts are of real places and real people–able to be verified and confirmed like any other accurate historical account. What does this mean for us? The story of Jesus is not just a cute bedtime story. What we read in the Bible is the real-life love story of a God who is pursuing his creation to bring them back into a restored loving relationship.

God’s timing is perfect.
In the genealogy we see that God chose a specific place in the order of these generations to have Jesus enter the world. Galatians 4:4 says, “When the time came to completion, God sent his Son…” There were many generations longing for a savior. Have you ever asked God, “Where are you?” In the same way that Jesus came in his perfect timing, God works in our lives according to His perfect timing.

Jesus came for freedom.
There are amazing layers of meaning in the genealogy shared in Matthew 1. One of which is the significance of the number of generations documented in the passage. The symmetry and symbolism point to Jesus being the fulfillment of the Jewish tradition known as the year of Jubilee–a special time when slaves are set free and debts are forgiven. Galatians 5:1 says, “For freedom, Christ set us free.” Jesus did not come to condemn us or institute new laws to follow–rather, He came to provide a way for us to find freedom in a relationship with Him.

Think About It & Talk About It:

  • How does it impact your life knowing that Jesus was a real person living in a real place in history?
  • How has God shown up according to his perfect timing your life?
  • What is something you are waiting on God for right now?
  • What does it mean for you to know that Jesus came specifically to provide freedom and not judgement on you?

A Shift in Purpose

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Scripture Passage: Philippians 1:12-13

All of us have experienced detours in life—unforeseen challenges or struggles that cause us to deviate from the path we expected. In today’s passage, Paul references some detours he experienced in his own life, but he turns the situation upside down by showing that God was able to accomplish good in the midst of the challenges. Every believer should make the most of “detours” because of the way God uses setbacks in Paul’s life.

Three ways God shapes lives for the cause of Christ:

1. The Answered Prayers of Detours

Sometimes, God answers our prayers in ways that we don’t anticipate. Paul prayed to be able to minister in Rome, he had not planned for his journey to Rome to be due to imprisonment. Through it all, God used these unplanned circumstances to further the Gospel.

2. The Unexpected People of Detours

When we end up in the midst of detours, we often find ourselves surrounded by people we would have otherwise never had access to. Many times our trials become like backstage passes that give us access to amazing people who would otherwise not be interested in connecting with you. And when you have that access, you have the opportunity to share the hope of Jesus with them.

3. The Altered Priorities of Detours

Every person is going to have to determine at some point what really matters. When we face major setbacks in our lives, a lot of the things that used to matter don’t matter anymore. And some of the things that should have mattered now matter a lot more.

Discussion Questions:

  • Think back to a time in your life when things did not go according to plan. Can you now see a way that God was at work during that time?
  • Who is someone that God has placed in your path to have an impact on their life? How could God use you to impact their life?
  • Have you had a circumstance in your life that recalibrated your priorities? Which priorities changed and why?

Visionary Followers

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Scripture Passage: Nehemiah 3

This morning at church we were in Nehemiah Chapter 3 and we looked at what it means to be a follower. Through the Scripture we saw that there were three types of followers. The first is the bystander. These are people who are not involved, they just observe, and they often try to bring things down. The second was the participant. These are people who check the box of helping and following, but they are not bought into what they are doing. The third is the champion. The champion is the person who gives above and beyond when they serve and follow.

The type of follower that we want to be as Christ followers is a champion. Below are a few characteristics of the champions.

  1. Champions are both leaders and followers.
    • In order to be a good leader you must learn how to follow.
  2. Champions take ownership.
    • Champions seek to learn how God has wired them and to use their spiritual gifts to serve others.
  3. Champions don’t care about receiving the credit.
    • They serve and follow to help move the vision forward and to be a part of the greater picture.

The people in Nehemiah 3 were all people who followed Nehemiah and helped accomplished the task of rebuilding the wall. Many of their names are mentioned here, but they may not mean much to us at first reading. However, they were all used to accomplish a greater goal for God. We are no different. The things we do today and the way we follow today may not ever be known by the multitude, but they matter in terms of eternity. They are part of a bigger picture, and they bring God much glory.

Questions:

  • Who do I follow?
  • Why am I following them?
  • How does my following of these people effect how I lead others? (We all have influence.)
  • As I follow what are ways that you can serve other people and be a part of what God is doing?

Prayer: Pray that you as a family would seek to follow well and follow those that will lead you to honor and glorify Jesus. Pray that your family would serve as you follow.

Sustaining the Vision

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Scripture Passage: Nehemiah 6:15-16

It’s not that difficult to have a great idea. And lots of people can get started in pursuing a vision with good intentions. But staying the course until the end is difficult and often makes the difference in whether the vision is accomplished or not.

In today’s passage from Nehemiah, we see that the vision for rebuilding the Jerusalem walls was completed. How did they pull this off? We’ve already read about all of the opposition. How did they survive all of the road blocks along the way? How did they sustain the vision amidst challenges?

Today we took a look at two essential practices that will lead to sustained success.

1. Visionary Leaders Sustain the Vision by Celebrating Victories Along the Way.

Nehemiah was quick to give credit to God for the success of their amazing accomplishment:

“When all our enemies heard this, all the surrounding nations were intimidated and lost their confidence, for they realized that this task had been accomplished by our God.” (Nehemiah 6:16)

It is good for us to take intentional moments to thank God for what he has accomplished in our lives.

2. Visionary Leaders Sustain the Vision by Focusing More on People than Projects.

In reading Nehemiah 1:9, we are reminded the true goal of Nehemiah’s vision:

“But if you return to me… I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I chose to have my name dwell.” (Nehemiah 1:9)

The Vision was never to build a wall, the vision was to restore the people. We see the importance of focusing on people more than projects.

As we seek to share the good news of Jesus with our neighbors and acquaintances, it’s important to focus on people and relationships more than simply sharing facts and information. The opportunity to share truth is won when we prove that we prioritize our relationship with them.

Discussion:

  • What is one victory in your life you want to pause and publicly thank God for?
  • Who is one person who doesn’t know God that He may be leading you to build a relationship with?
  • What is one thing you can do this week to show that person you care about your relationship?

Praying God’s Promises

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Scripture Passage: Nehemiah 1:4-11

This morning, we learned about using prayer correctly. Prayer is a wonderful, simple, mysterious, critical aspect in the life of a disciple of Jesus. We talk with God and He talks with us. Pastor Rush said, “It’s a conversation with our Heavenly Father. Prayer is a HUGE deal. Prayer IS THE WORK of the ministry. Nothing of eternal value happens without prayer.”

As we learned, Nehemiah knew the power of prayer. He knew that effective prayer begins with the Promises of God. This is one of the most powerful and effective prayers we have. To take the very words of God and pray them back in faith and say – “God, you said this. I am trusting you to fulfill what you promised you would do.” We are getting ourselves in line with what God has already said. (Consider Jesus’ words in John 14:13-14). Briefly, here are FIVE steps we can follow to experience the joy of praying God’s promises:

  1. Look for passages on that subject. You can utilize the concordance in the back of many Bible’s, ‘God’s Promises’ books, websites like blueletterbible.org or ask a friend, pastor or community group leader.
  2. Look for promises in those passages. Remember there are promises God made to all, promises he made specifically to others, but demonstrate His character and promises that are implied by His commands.
  3. Start memorizing and meditating on those passages. To Nehemiah, God said it was to be, so it’s as good as done – even with the mess he heard reported! When you pray from a position of confidence, you pray expectantly!
  4. Allow God to personalize the promises. It’s very important not to abuse this step! It’s a sequence: you trust in what you CAN know clearly from God’s Word, and then God begins to reveal to you other things that are completely in line with the Word of God – but are just for you.(Remember the difference between logosand rhema)
  5. Participate in the Prayer. This is where prayer and living out your faith connect. Nehemiah was confident in the Lord and went before the King and God answers his pray! But this was after fasting and praying for months!

One of the last things Pastor Rush said this morning was, “Our vision to reach 10 thousand homes will not happen without prayer, our mission to invite all people to experience true fulfillment in Jesus will not happen without prayer, our heart to see parents rise up as the primary faith trainers of the next generation will not happen without prayer. Our passion to see every home living out the 4 habits of REST, BLESS, GATHER, and GO will not happen without prayer. Revival will not break out across our city and nation without prayer.”

What else in your life will not happen without prayer?

Discussion Questions:

  • What about today’s sermon from Pastor Rush stuck out to you?
  • Which of the five practical steps from today’s message is most difficult for you to do? Why?
  • Why is it easy to abuse “praying God’s promises” back to Him?
  • What do we need to be careful about?What area(s) of your life are you seeking God for?
  • How can knowing God’s Word help you to pray more specifically and confidently for those?
  • What is one small step you can take today to put into practice what you heard?

Unfinished Business: How God Prepares Us for Vision

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Scripture Passage: Nehemiah 1:1-4 and 2 Chronicles 36:15-23

Before diving into the book of Nehemiah, it’s important to understand the context behind the story. 2 Chronicles helps us understand that. During this time, King Cyrus of Persia released the exiles because God put it on his heart, which would have been unheard of at this time. The people were going back to rebuild the temple. 100 years go by, and that’s when we get to Nehemiah. Nehemiah leads the charge because God wants his wall rebuilt. Nehemiah shows us the path to addressing unfinished business.

Three prerequisites to clear vision in our life:

1.​ Assess the problem. | Verse 4, “When I heard these words..”.Nehemiah cared about what God cared about and he wanted to know the truth. Do we investigate the needs around us and look beyond what is just convenient?

2. ​Acknowledge the discontent. |  Verse 4, “I sat down and wept..”.Nehemiah was emotionally invested in what takes place in his homeland. When God puts a burden on your heart, don’t ignore that burden, but instead let it trouble you. We all need a Popeye moment where vision starts to culminate: holy discontent. Devote your life to that which you cannot get over.

3. ​Answer the call. | Verse 4 Nehemiah was, “praying and fasting..”. Nehemiah raised his hand and answered the call to do what God called him to do and we should do the same. He did not just get emotional and then forget about it- he stepped up and led. This decision Nehemiah made leads to a transformation that lasts for generation.

Discuss around your table today (or any place you gather):

  1. Do you have unfinished business in your life? If so, what may it be and how can you address it?
  2. Has God placed a burden on your heart that maybe you have been ignoring? What is it that you cannot stand?  After this morning, what are next steps for you in this?
  3. Have you surrendered this over to the Lord and allowed him to use you in this? How are you going to answer the call?

Conflict in Marriage

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Scripture Passage: Proverbs 24:3 – “A house is built by wisdom, and it is established by understanding.”

Why do we fight? Where does conflict come from?

Number one, our differences. We are made and created different and we like different things. These are not right or wrong issues, but differences in parenting style and upbringings. We have to learn to embrace those differences.

The second source of conflict comes from our sinful ways. Meaning it’s all about me and when I don’t get my way, I throw a fit. In throwing fits we attack and cause conflict.

Here are a few ways to talk about conflict with your kids.
Reminder: In the midst of conflict always point your energy towards the issues, not the person. This means that it’s my spouse and I verses the problem, NOT me verses my spouse. If the husband wins, you both lose and vice versa. Focus on the issues, not the person. 

  1. Work out how they feel – Talk it over to help the process their feelings. Help them manage those feelings in the moment.
  2. Talk about wants and needs. What is the differences? Talk through these with them and help them understand the differences.
  3. Define the problem/issue. Have them verbalize exactly what happened and what they feel.
  4. Help them find the solution. (Don’t just tell them the solution every time) Allowing them to process and find a solution will help them greatly handle conflict in the future.

Most professionals say that the way a young child is taught to handle conflict will stay with them all of their lives. Meaning, if they learn at four years old how to face conflict, when they are adults they will most likely fight and argue like a four year old.

Conflict is healthy and unavoidable. Help your kids handle conflict in a healthy way so they can represent Christ everyday.

Questions: 

  • How did your parents handle conflict or teach you to handle conflict?
  • Do your kids argue all the time? Next time try the four points above to help them work out the conflict.