Dan Gould

Tag: Go

  • Sunday AM Remix – 10.2.11

    * The Greatest sin in the church today is not the sin of any commission or the sin of omission, it’s the sin of NO MISSION!

    * We have to understand that the church isn’t a LOVE BOAT but a LIFE BOAT, not a COUNTRY CLUB but a RESCUE STATION.

    * This isn’t another teaching to fill us up, its one to send us out! It’s not meant to be a check up from the neck up!

    * At FBCH we want to be a church that WORSHIPS, LOVES, Goes!

    ** God wants us to love Him with everything. That’s WORSHIP!

    ** God wants us to love one another deeply. That’s LOVE!

    ** God wants us to love the lost. That’s GOING!

    “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. . .” Matthew 28:19(NKJV)

    * Jesus never meant for the church to be a come and hear church, He sent them out with go and tell message!

    * You can’t spell Gospel with out the word GO.

    * QUESTION:Where are the places that God has sent you? Are you taking the Gospel to these places? Why or Why not?

    “What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith inChrist—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.” Philippians 3:8-9 (NIV)

    * There are only 2 types of people in the Bible: Those that are FOUND and those that are LOST.

    * When we refer to the LOST we are NOT referring to them in a negative way.  All of us know what it feels like to be lost and need to  remember that so we can appreciate what it means to be found even more!

    * TRUTH: We will never understand the state of our LOSTNESS until we understand the fullness of being FOUND!

    ‘For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.’ Luke 19:10 (NLT)

    * This is why Jesus came, and this is why we are to go and share!

    * Of the 9 times the Bible talks about the lost, 5 of them are found in Luke 15.

    * TRUTH: Our faith is personal. But it was never meant to be private! We must be people who are willing to go and share because…

    OBSERVATIONS ABOUT LOST PEOPLE …

    1.  LOST PEOPLE ARE EVERYWHERE.

     “Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.”  Luke 15:1 (NKJV)

    * Jesus was a magnet for the lost people!

    * There is a difference in being ODD and being DIFFERENT. Being ODD repels people! Being DIFFERENT, causes them to question and wonder why or what makes you different.

    ‘Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.’  Matthew 7:13 (NIV)

    * Jesus calls us to be different. However, the world wants us to blend in, to be good.  In fact, the world tries to get us to blur the line so it’s not so clear as to whats right and whats wrong.

    * QUESTIONS: What lines seem to have become a blur in your life? What steps need to be taken to clarify them?

     2.  LOST PEOPLE ARE SEARCHING.

    “Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.”  Luke 15:1 (NKJV)

    * Lost people don’t know they are lost!

    * All people are shaped with a God shaped vacuum in their heart that they try to fill with things that only Jesus can fill and fully satisfy.

    3.  LOST PEOPLE ARE A NUISANCE TO RELIGIOUS PEOPLE.

     “And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, ‘This Man receives sinners and eats with them.’”  Luke 15:2 (NKJV)

    * There is difference in being RELIGIOUS and be GOSPEL DRIVEN.

    * Being Religious is not the goal, nor a good thing.

    * God help us if we are a religious church

    * QUESTION: How do you tell the difference in someone who is Religious and someone who is Gospel Driven? Which one are you? Would others agree?

    * The church is WHO we are not WHERE we meet!

    *TRUTH: When we hate a lost person, it puts us as an enemy of GOD! (Remember Luke 19:20)

    4.  LOST PEOPLE ARE WORTH THE SEARCH.

    * God takes attendance much differently than we do! We look at who and how many are present, God looks at who and how many are absent! OUCH!

    * QUESTION: Who is missing that you have direct influence with?

    ‘What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?’  Luke 15:4 (NKJV)

    ‘Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?’  Luke 15:8 (NKJV)

    The shepherd felt a sense of PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY for the one lost. 

    * TRUTH: Some if us are the only Christians our family and friends may ever know.

    * QUESTION: If it’s not me, than who?

    The shepherd felt a sense of URGENCY for the one lost.

    * TRUTH: Some if us are the only Christians our family and friends may ever know.

    * QUESTION: If it’s not me, than who?

    The shepherd felt a sense of COMPASSION for the one lost.

    * TRUTH: Typically the most evangelistic people are the ones who have just been found.

    * QUESTION: When was the last time shared about Christ with someone who was lost? How did it go? What did you learn from the experience?

     5.  LOST PEOPLE ARE JOYOUSLY CELEBRATED WHEN FOUND.

     ‘And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!”  I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.’  Luke 15:5-7

     ‘And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!”  Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’ Luke 15:9-10 (NKJV)

    * As a church we want to engage and equip our people Locally and Globally.  We feel that we can do this best through our Small Groups (Life Groups & Bible Studies).

    ** Each small groups will be given a family to connect with thru our partnership with We Love St. Charles.  We will use a Coats for Kids initiative to begin to link families with our small groups so they can begin to develop a relationship with their family by sharing with actions so they can share with words.

    ** Each small group will be strongly encouraged to partner with one of out local missions partners so their group can have the opportunity to serve together with people who are reaching out to this community meeting needs and sharing the hope found in the Gospel.

    ** Here is a list of the Local and Global Partnerships that align with the vision of our church

    LOCAL MISSIONS
    The primary way that Harvester serves our local community of St. Charles is through We Love St. Charles. This organization is a movement of volunteers gathered for the purpose of taking city initiative to bring restoration to those in need of assistance in the City of St. Charles. To learn more about We Love St. Charles, click here.

    Our Lady’s Inn
    Our Lady’s Inn is an emergency shelter for pregnant women in crisis, helping them to choose life for their child.

    Habitat for Humanity
    Seeking to put God’s love into action, Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope.

    Christian Activity Center
    The CAC is an after-school center in the Samuel Gompers Housing Projects of East St. Louis, which provides a safe, Christ-centered environment for kids.

    Powell Terrace
    Powell Terrace is a food pantry near downtown St. Charles that helps those in need through the weekly collection and distribution of food.

    The Sparrow’s Nest
    The Sparrow’s Nest Maternity Home will be a Christ-centered shelter providing care and education to homeless, pregnant, and parenting teens. Their mission is to provide a wide range of services that empower these young mothers to make positive and healthy life decisions for themselves and their babies. The Sparrow’s Nest will open its doors July 2012 in St. Charles County.

    Carpenters for Christ
    C4C undertakes construction projects throughout the year in order to help individuals, churches, and communities in need.

    GLOBAL MISSIONS
    To serve our partners globally, we have planned a number of mission opportunities for 2011-2012.

    Madhya Pradesh, India
    Our effort is focused on developing church planting movements in order to grow healthy churches allowing Gospel access through native believers to the entire state. More specifically, this effort is aimed at the state’s Unengaged and Unreached People Groups.

    October 2011 – Church Planter Training and Discipleship
    February 2012 – Church Planter Training and Discipleship
    July 2012 – Partner Support, VBS
    July 2012 – City Evangelism

    East Asia
    Our team will go into English language college classes as an introduction to students for the purpose of sharing the Gospel through relational evangelism.

    May 14-30, 2012 – Student Evangelism

    Bengkulu, Indonesia
    This will be our first trip to our new mission partnership! We will be exploring the opportunities in this area where there is no known church or Gospel effort.

    September 2012 – Discovery Trip

    International Students, Inc.
    We are partnered with ISI at Lindenwood University attempting to reach international students with the Gospel through relational evangelism.

    WHAT CAN I DO?

    • PRAY 

     “He said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.’”  Matthew 9:37 (NLT)

    • LOVE the lost.
    • GIVE your money.
    • PACK your bags.

    SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

    As Bob mentioned on Sunday, this isn’t another teaching to fill us up, it’s one to send us out! As we begin to GO, will you think about the role you play in accomplishing this mission?  Are you willing to stack hands with us? Will you join us in praying Ephesians 3:20 over the opportunities we have as a church to impact this community?

    1.  Pastor Bob made this statement: “The church is not a clubhouse. It is a rescue station.  We are not the Love Boat.  We are to be a lifeboat. Never ever forget that the church is the only organization that exists primarily for those people who are not members yet.  It is the church God has chosen to use to get the Gospel out and draw people to Himself.”  What are your thoughts?  How is our church doing? What role do you play in the solution?

    2.  God doesn’t waste any opportunities. People are in your life for a reason. Who is the person or people currently in your path that are lost? How can you be more intentional in sharing your life and the Gospel?

    4. Many times “churched people” eliminate their friendships with the lost. We huddle in a Christian bubble. Can you remember when you were spiritually lost and separated from God? How were you found?

    5.  How do you tell the difference between someone who is Religious and someone who is living out the Gospel? Which one are you? Would others agree? Why or Why not?

    6.  Read Luke 15:1-2.  What was it about Jesus that had sinners flocking to Him?  How can we imitate this?  Should we? Read 2 Corinthians 5:20. What does this passage say we are to do?

    7. Read Luke 15:3-32 and answer these question:

    * How were each of the valuable items lost?

    * How much passion/energy was put out in the search?

    * How does the search for the sheep and coin differ from the search for the lost son?  Why is this?

    * What is the common denominator in verses 6, 9-10, and 22-24?  Is this how you feel when people are saved?  Why or why not?

    8. FBCH is strongly connected to local and global mission partnerships!  How are you currently involved?  How can your life group do a better job of strengthening our missions effort?

    MUSICAL WORSHIP SET

    For Your Glory – Matt Maher

    Everlasting God – Brown

    The Solid Rock – Page CXVI

    We hope that you found Sundays Message and following Small Group Questions helpful. If you missed this weeks message, I encourage you to get it here.  While you are there, browse around our website … we think you will like it and find it to be a great tool in inviting friends to FBC Harvester.

    As always, I hope you make plans to join us at FBC Harvester next weekend! If distance is a problem, you are always welcome to listen to any of the teachings from our worship service from our website. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us here. We would love the privilege of helping where we can and seeing God do amazing things in our lives together.

  • Sunday AM Remix – 9.18.11

    We started a brand new series this weekend titled Refresh. Over the last year, we have embraced these three words as a church … worship, love, go. During this series, we will be casting vision as to what each of these words look like for us as a church and what they mean for us as individuals.  Here are my notes from the first week of Refresh

    Refresh
    “Worship”
    Isaiah 58:1-9

    Worship can be described in a lot of ways.  We want to be a church were Worship happens.  However, there are some things that we need to understand about it so we can fully engage in it.

    * Worship isn’t about where you are physically but where you are spiritually.

    * Singing is the movement of your mouth, Worship is the movement of your heart.

    “The Lord says, ‘These people come near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.  Their worship of Me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.’” Isaiah 29:13 (NIV)

    * We can do many things without totally putting our heart into what we are doing.

    ** Singing without heart is not Worship, it’s simply music.

    ** Preaching without heart is not Worship, it’s simply a lecture.

    * If we can get excited about temporal things, how much more should we get excited about eternal things?

    * REALITY – Many people attend church services but never worship.

     “‘Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God.’” Isaiah 58:1-2 (ESV) 

    * Getting caught up in the routine of righteous things is not what pleases the Lord, He desires a righteous heart seeking Him completely.

    * SCARY THOUGHT – God doesn’t go to every church! Some church have been going through the motions for so long they haven’t even noticed He was missing.

    * The fire in the pew never burns hotter than the fire in pulpit.

    * The Pastor is the thermostat for the people they are leading.

    1.  GOD IGNORES OUR WORSHIP WHEN WE ARE…

    • SELFISH

     “Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all you workers” Isaiah 58:3b (ESV)

    * QUESTION – Who are you doing worship for?

    * We can’t have everything we want and throw God in on the side. Because we grow to where we don’t need Him. In this we grow restless and complacent.

    * We must realize that worship has never been about us, it has always been about Him.

    “If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.”  Psalm 66:18 (NKJV)

    * TEST – When was the last time you  turned everything off and focused on God? Yes this includes your phone, e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter. OUCH!

    * REALITY – Many of us never shut down our stuff even for a Worship Service

    * QUESTION – Am I here for God or am I here for myself?

    • STRIFE-FILLED 

    “Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist.  Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.”  Isaiah 58:4 (ESV)

    * Jesus said that people will know that we are His Disciples by the way we love one another.

    * If we can’t love the people we can see, how can we love the one we can’t see?

    “I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling.”  1 Timothy 2:8 (ESV)

    “In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives.  Treat your wife with understanding as you live together.  She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life.  Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.”  1 Peter 3:7 (NLT)

    * Just because we do the right things, does not mean God listens.  He has instructed us on how to live, yet we still want to do it our way and have Him adjust to us.

     

    • SUPERFICIAL

    * TRUTH: It’s easier to focus on the externals and look good on the outside than it is to do the hard work of changing from the inside out.

     “Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself?  Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?  Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord?”  Isaiah 58:5 (ESV)

    * Burlap & sackcloth were signs of brokenness. It was displaying on the outside the dirtiness that was being felt on the inside. However, over time, this just became routine.

    * QUESTION: What externals have you allowed to become routine?

    * REALITY – We can do all the externals and never leave eternally changed or different.

     

    2.  GOD IGNITES OUR WORSHIP WHEN WE …..

    • Experience the FREEDOM OF CHRIST.

    “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?”  Isaiah 58:6 (ESV)

    * The idea here is being freed from the bondage of sin … we could spend all kinds of time naming and listing these sins, but you know the one that really seems to keep you trapped.

    * When we are set free from sins bondage we don’t surrender to it anymore.

    “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” Galatians 5:1 (NKJV)

     * TRUTH – “Whoever the Son sets Free, is Free Indeed.” John 8:36 

    * Jesus says, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God;[a] believe also in me. 2In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?[b] 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. John 14:1-3 (ESV)

    • Express the COMPASSION OF CHRIST.

     “Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?”  Isaiah 58:7 (ESV)

    We are called to show compassion to the …

    • HUNGRY (Others)
    • HOMELESS (Others)
    • HELPLESS (Others)
    • HOMESTEAD (Family)

     

    WHAT HAPPENS WHEN GOD SHOWS UP?

    “Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.  Then you shall call, and the Lord with answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’” Isaiah 58:8-9a (ESV)

     1.  LIGHT 

    * God will shine His Face on us so we can be the light of the world.

    2.  RECOVERY

    * Healing will Happen

    3.  RIGHTEOUSNESS

    * Because of Christ we have Victory!

    4.  PROTECTION

    * The Glory of the Lord shall be your rear God … God’s got yo back.

     5.  PROVISION

    * You shall call on the Lord and He will answer you.

    SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

    1.  What is your favorite part of a worship service?  Why?  What is your least favorite?  Why?

    2.  Read Isaiah 29:13.  What is God’s indictment of the Israelites?  How could you apply this to your worship life?

    3.  What does passionate, heartfelt worship look like to you?

    4.  Read Isaiah 58:1-5.  God says He ignores worship that is selfish (verse 3), strife-filled (verse 4), and superficial (verse 5).  What does it mean for God to ignore our worship?  How do you see these three problems in the church or in your own life?

    5.  Read 1 Peter 3:7.  How does marital problems hinder worship?  Why does God force us to get along with our spouse in order to have a close relationship with Him?

    6.  Read Isaiah 58:6 and Galatians 5:1.  How do these two verses go together?  How should our worship be a celebration of freedom?  What have you been freed from through the cross of Jesus?

    7.  Read Isaiah 58:7.  God says one way to prepare ourselves for great worship is to diligently with four groups of people: the hungry, the homeless, the helpless, and the homestead.  How are you doing in these four areas?  How could you do better?  How could your group work together to help others and improve corporate worship?

    8.  Read Isaiah 58:8-9.  God promises four blessings of powerful worship: light (verse 8), healing (verse 8), righteousness (verse 8), protection (verse 8), and provision (verse 9).  Which one of those excites you the most?  Which one do you need most in your life right now?

    9.  What area of your worship life needs the most improvement?  What steps are you going to take to make adjustments?

    MUSICAL WORSHIP SET

    Awesome Is The Lord Most High-Able

    Your Grace Is Enough-Maher

    One Thing Remains-Jesus Culture

    Be Thou My Vision-Glorious Unseen

    Christ Is Risen-Maher

    We hope that you found Sundays Message and following Small Group Questions helpful. If you missed this weeks message, I encourage you to get it here.  While you are there, browse around our website … we think you will like it and find it to be a great tool in inviting friends to FBC Harvester.

    As always, I hope you make plans to join us at FBC Harvester next weekend! If distance is a problem, you are always welcome to listen to any of the teachings from our worship service from our website. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us here. We would love the privilege of helping where we can and seeing God do amazing things in our lives together.