Sacred Cows

August 6 2009

"Change Will Happen" 1. Change will happen WHEN YOU ARE FULLY ENGAGED! Our souls have to be engaged in the services....our mind, will, and emotions.

2. Change will happen WHEN YOU ARE WILLING TO RISK! The issue with blood was willing to risk her reputation....we have to risk embarrassment and God actually turning our lives upside down! It ought to be dangerous to come to theTURN.

3. Change will happen WHEN YOU ARE PROPERLY POSTURED! We must come before Him each week with a CONFIDENT HUMILITY. 4. Change will happen WHEN YOU KEEP ON COMING. You can't expect overnight changes from God for every issue and area in your life. Keep showing up. That is 90% of the battle. Be here each week! 5. Change will happen WHEN YOU ARE COMING PREPARED! Psalm 100:4 tells us to enter His courts with praise and thanksgiving...we will do that every week! We are an assembly of devoted fans who have prepared their hearts and aligned their souls each week so when we get to theTURN - CHANGE WILL HAPPEN! "We need to become more focused on who we are trying to reach than who we are trying to keep." August 13 2009 "What's theTURN? I used the five dumbest things I've heard said about the church to preach my message on Thursday night, and then I sought to show how they were ignorant statements based upon what the church did not do in the book of Acts. What is the vision for theTURN? It is simple - the vision for the Church at large. My whole message came out of Acts 2:36-46. 1. PREACHING ISN'T NEEDED IN TODAY'S CHURCHES - IT DOESN'T WORK ANYMORE! We will always believe in the preaching of the gospel at theTURN. NT church started with preaching. It is a life-giving exchange. 2. I WASN'T GETTING FED AT THAT CHURCH.

The people devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching....an authentic church is a learning church. It is the first mark of a Spirit-filled church that Luke gives in Acts 2:42. 3. I DON'T HAVE TO GO TO CHURCH TO BE A CHRISTIAN. No, but they needed it; so I know I need it! Read Acts 2:46. They met in large gatherings as well as in smaller groups. We will follow this model of ministry at theTURN. Don't rob yourself of the greatest thing going because it sucked one time. A bad experience is no excuse for a withdrawal or complacency in the church. An unchurched Christian in the NT would have been a grotesque abnormality - a monster. Stop being a benefited church shopper and buy in to what God is doing..! Never heard the bare minimum principle applied to any other part of our lives...never heard a lady say, "I only need one pair of shoes to walk." 4. I DON'T LIKE BIG CHURCHES. Simple as this: you won't like heaven then. Rev. 7:8-9. Don't excuse your lack of church growth and souls coming to know Jesus by saying you don't like big churches. Shame on us for wanting to preserve our community at the expense of people dying and going to hell. 5. GOD DOES NOT CHANGE SO WHY DOES THE CHURCH? He always moves...I want to pastor a church that sings a hymn for worship and plays Outkast behind theTURN News - a church that combines old timeless values and truths and adds modern vibes to reach people. August 20 2009

Thursday Nights: What Should I Expect? •

Nehemiah 8

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Came together for worship as one man - gathered together in unity yet were still divided

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The people begged him to preach - could you imagine what would happen if we were all face-forward into what God wanted to say to us on Thursday nights?

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We are anchored to the Word of God - not entertainment.

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Preached til noon - 5 hours and the people listened attentively! Wow - preaching is a big deal. Well we say that each week...

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5 Faulty Approaches to Worship:

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Simon Cowell - judgmental, critical spirit - church is like American Idol to you - are you going to vote us in another week?

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Bunny Rabbit - professional church shoppers - this alienates you from the life God wants you to live - buy in!

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Movie Theater - "Here we are now, entertain us!" - this is not a show - people show up with an exit strategy in one hand to get out on the last song to beat the crowd - more to this than that!

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Diet Coke - I will live like hell all week and wash down all my guilt in one hour each Thursday night! Worship is meant to be an overflow not a meal replacement plan!

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Blackberry - just another thing to do - another appointment to make - come to church as a duty to check off the list

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And I taught for a while on the two creations - old man and new man and the divide of the Cross, but I could not possibly put all of those points on here.....if you want more of that, sign up for the School of Discipleship - it starts Monday, September 14 at 7:00 pm and will go until 9:00 pm. The session is 12 weeks long - it will flat out change your life!

August 27 2009 A UNIFIED COMMUNITY 1 Cor. 12:12-24

A unified community = authentic relationships committed to a common vision. The church has the most potential for beautiful community and meaningful relationships than any other organization can offer in the world. You can't escape the presence of the value of community in the Scriptures. Community is not the goal of what we do - it is the byproduct. When we make friendships and community the goal, the focus of what we do turns in. But the focus has to be on Jesus - making Jesus known, worshiping Him, and lifting Him up. Start thinking battleship, not cruise ship. A battleship is about mission; a cruise ship is about comfort. We are a unified community with intentional mission. You need it and you're needed. Make the choice to connect your life. Don't believe the lie: "All I need is God and me." Know that we are all different but can complement one another. The very thing that rubs you the wrong way about the people you are closest to is the very thing pointing you the right way so you can be on mission with God. Puzzle pieces go together because they are shaped differently! Check out these Scriptures: Romans 12:5 So in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Romans 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Romans 15:14 I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another.

1 Cor. 12:25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 1 Thess. 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. Ephesians 5:21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Ephesians 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 1 Peter 4:10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Galatians 6:2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ Over and over we see the Scriptures pushing us back toward each other. The reason the choice to connect your life is the first choice is that God wants people in your life to bring about the benefits of the other choices. The other choices do no good for the hermit. You need others, and the alienation you experience in your pain blocks them off from you. So you must take a step away from your comfortable surroundings and allow others to minister to you and nurture you - no matter how difficult it is.

What is God's purpose in creation? And what is His purpose in redemption?  Creation: 1. Romans 3:23 → Man to share in Glory 2. Romans 3:21→ Glory of the children of God For the Glory!

"Every time you sin, instinctively you think of judgment and punishment. When God sees sin, he thinks 'Man missed out on Glory'...When you sin, you forfeit Glory."

Purpose of Redemption: GLORY, GLORY, GLORY Romans 8:16-18 and Romans 8:29-30 Jesus is the first born Son among many other glorified sons. BUT, It says in John 1:14 that he is the ONLY son. How can God make the ONLY begotten the FIRST begotten?? John 12:24 says "unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." Jesus was the ONLY seed, but He DIED and rose again so He could produce MANY SEEDS!!! The Prodigal Son isn't about the son's suffering, but the father's loss. The 1st and 20th chapters of John explain Unified Community. In chapter one, Jesus is the ONLY son and refers to God as "My Father" or "The Father." But after His death and resurrection, when He becomes the first of many sons, He is pleased to call us brethren. "My Father AND Your Father." This is found in John 20:17. Check it out. It is the first time the disciples are called brethren, because now the resurrection has happened! "He became what we are so that we can become what He is." Glory only follows order. Our bodies are our temples, and in the Old Testament, God specifies the order that He wants His temples to be built so that the Glory may follow. Give the temple (our bodies) order, so that Glory can enter.

"I THE SON OF GOD BECAME THE SON OF MAN, SO THAT YOU, THE SON OF ADAM, MIGHT BECOME THE SON OF GOD!!"