Chapel Service
All American Speedway
October 11, 2014
“Real Food For Our Life”
www.BeyondCheckeredFlags.com
Bob Butcher
The more we know God’s Word, the better equipped we are as believers to minister, teach and model Christ with our very lives. The whole Word of God …that is the Bible, …is important, and no verse less valuable than any other. As we study and memorize the Bible, we find some verses that help us understand key truths we need to learn and remember. Here are just a few to begin to ponder their importance to our life. The Bible is completely full of profound truths and lessons God expects us to take to heart. That is why it is so very important to spend a time each day in it.
Our Human Condition: For the wages of sin that we almost daily fall too; is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
God Provides for us: God will meet all your real needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus because He knows you personally. Philippians 4:19
God’s Love for us: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
God’s Plan for us in His Mind: For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and the future you hope for; to show up and not abandon you. Jeremiah 29: 11
Get to Know God’s Word automatically: Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Joshua 1:8
God’s Adoptive Process for each one of us: But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become His children …the children of God. John 1:12
About Trusting God: Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding; but, in all your ways acknowledge Him as THE only Way, Truth, and Life, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6
Our Priority MUST be: But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things that are needed in your life will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33
The Believer’s Body, Mind, and Soul: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies, mind and soul as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to the ways and thinking of this world, but instead be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Roman 12:1-2
Your Real Security is in Christ: For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, no matter how big or strong they propose to be, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
God’s Eternal Provision for us: For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:40
The Great Commandment we need to live by: Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:37-39
These are the Fruit of the Spirit when we live in Him: The fruit of the Spirit living within us is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23
Please Remember: there is only One Way to God: Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father in a relationship (because of sin) except through Me. John 14:6
About Serving Others: Pure religion and what is undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. James 1:27
Jesus Comforts us so we can help others the same way: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1: 3-4
Here is our Great Commission we were born for: Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age until I return. Matthew 28:19-20
Here is the True Nature of Love: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered; it keeps no records of wrong. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
You are a True Disciple…IF: If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:31-32
What We Should learn to Really Value: Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves cannot not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21
God Keeps His Promises: Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands. Deuteronomy 7:9
God Hears Us: The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. Psalm 145:18-19
The Truth About Temptation: No temptation has seized you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But, when you are tempted, He will ALWAYS also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
Yes, God started it all in The Beginning …Just Trust Me!
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1
There is an End to this world and a Beginning to Eternity with Him
Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Revelation 22:12-13
We are called to bloom where we are planted:
That’s correct even if you are taken captive and in exile like the Israelites were taken to Babylon. Let me add to the idea of this if we consider today whether we are still a Christian nation or are we Post-Christian? God allows for this or even plans it for our own good as He did for those Israelites in that day and time. So it is with us today in America, Canada, or wherever you live. The deal is to put down roots, bloom, to invest & pray for that city and engage in the life of those you are around. Read what God says in Jeremiah 29: 4-7:
This is the Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel’s God, to all the exiles I’ve taken from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and make yourselves at home. “Put in gardens and eat what grows in that country. “Marry and have children. Encourage your children to marry and have children so that you’ll thrive in that country and not waste away. “Make yourselves at home there and work for the country’s welfare. “Pray for Babylon’s well-being. If things go well for Babylon, then things will go well for you.”
Here is a Question for you: (considering the issue above)
What can you and I give our life away to?
Where can we offer our body as a living sacrifice?
Romans 12: 1 – 2 talks about placing our life before God as a living sacrifice. “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”
Whoa, …that’s a major statement to chew upon, isn’t it? However, let me give you a very simple and down to earth example most of us can identify with. Simply consider your Mom cleaning house, cooking meals every day of her life for the good of the family. Or, …How about Dad who went to work his whole life like mine did to provide a home, money for food, an education, maybe a wedding and so many other things. Have you ever considered how they offered their bodies as a living sacrifice before God?
Let’s stop here for this time. There are far more scriptures than would ever fit in one message, and I wrote these knowing that I was leaving out so many others that may even be more important to each one of you reading this. That is why it is so important for you to spend time reading the Bible. Each one of us individually are at different places in our life, have different needs, and are dealing with multiple and different issues in our life. Only God Himself knows where you are personally at in your life and exactly what you need …so take the time to let Him show you what will help.
Bibliography & Helps:
• Church on the Hill, Salem, OR
• Pastors Bruce Stefanik & Jason Treadwell – “Chasing the Dream” – Sermon Series study
• Crosspointechurch.com – (an article I stumbled upon in my study preparing this message)
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The Bible Version is the GBB
The Gospel by Bob – that is my own translation in an attempt to make it easier for you.