Sunday Morning at James River Assembly

September 23rd, 2012

Nehemiah "Built to Last" Series
Pastor John

"Dedication and Joy"
Nehemiah 12:1-47
Read Nehemiah 12:1-47

• Joy is something God works in our heart as we follow His commandments and serve Him.
• Happiness is based on what happens to us. Joy is exurbarnat and something we have regardless of circumstances.

Nehemiah 8:10
Then he said to them, "Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

Psalm 4:7
You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.

John 15:11
These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

1. Joy comes by remembering the people who have helped us.

Philippians 1:3-5
I thank my God in all my rememberance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

• The key to Christian joy is to look beyond the mistakes people make, and look at the good and celebrating the good.
• Key to joy is remembering the people God has put into our lives.

2. Joy is the result of whole heartedly worshipping the Lord.

• Come to church ready to worship God with enthusiam. Come without distractions.
• Have you or are you preparing your heart for the worship service and sermon?
• We were made to worship God.

3. Joy is the result of getting involved in serving the Lord.

• There's joy in being part of something that is bigger then yourself.

Mark 8:34-35
And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.

4. Joy is the result of giving your resources to the Lord.

Proverbs 11:24 (MSG)
The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.

Proverbs 11:24-25 (NKJV)
There is one who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty. The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself.

2 Corinthians 9:7-8 (MSG)
Remember: a stingy planter gets a stingy crop; a lavish planter gets a lavish crop. I want each of you to take plenty of time to think it over, and make up your own mind what you will give. That will protect you against sob stories and arm-twisting. God loves it when the giver delights in the giving. God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you're ready for anything and everything, more than ready to do what needs to be done.

• "There was a man, some called him mad, the more he gave the more he had."

Malachi 3:10-12 (MSG)
Bring your full tithe to the Temple treasury so there will be ample provisions in my Temple. Test me in this and see if I don't open up heaven itself to you and pour out blessings beyond your wildest dreams.

• We cannot imagine what God will do.
• God can only bless the parts that we surrender to Him.
• As we are faithful to God, He will be faithful to us.
• We get in life what we're looking for. If you look for the bad you will find the bad, if you look for the good you will find the good. Look for the good in life.
• The joy of the Lord is our strength!

Sunday Morning at James River Assembly

Nehemiah "Built to Last" Series
Pastor John

"A Covenant Commitment"

Nehemiah 9:38 to 10:39
Because of all this we make a firm covenant in writing; on the sealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests. 10 “On the seals are the names of Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, Zedekiah, ² Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, ³ Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, ⁴ Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, ⁵ Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, ⁶ Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, ⁷ Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, ⁸ Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah; these are the priests. ⁹ And the Levites: Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel; ¹⁰ and their brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, ¹¹ Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, ¹² Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, ¹³ Hodiah, Bani, Beninu. ¹⁴ The chiefs of the people: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, ¹⁵ Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, ¹⁶ Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, ¹⁷ Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, ¹⁸ Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, ¹⁹ Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, ²⁰ Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, ²¹ Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, ²² Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, ²³ Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, ²⁴ Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, ²⁵ Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, ²⁶ Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, ²⁷ Malluch, Harim, Baanah. ²⁸ “The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who have knowledge and understanding, ²⁹ join with their brothers, their nobles, and enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God's Law that was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord and his rules and his statutes. ³⁰ We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. ³¹ And if the peoples of the land bring in goods or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. And we will forego the crops of the seventh year and the exaction of every debt. ³² “We also take on ourselves the obligation to give yearly a third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God: ³³ for the showbread, the regular grain offering, the regular burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the new moons, the appointed feasts, the holy things, and the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. ³⁴ We, the priests, the Levites, and the people, have likewise cast lots for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers' houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the Law. ³⁵ We obligate ourselves to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the Lord; ³⁶ also to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, as it is written in the Law, and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks; ³⁷ and to bring the first of our dough, and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and to bring to the Levites the tithes from our ground, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our towns where we labor. ³⁸ And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive the tithes. And the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of the storehouse. ³⁹ For the people of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the contribution of grain, wine, and oil to the chambers, where the vessels of the sanctuary are, as well as the priests who minister, and the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not neglect the house of our God.”

• A covenant says no to a lot of other things, but yes to one thing which frees us to live a life of impact.
• Nothing remarkable is accomplished without a covenant.
• They don't stop when God does something powerful, when God does something powerful it's setting us up for the next powerful work.
• Changes heart leads to a changed life.
• Make commitments for endless blessings.

1. We will honor and obey the Word of God.

• Our commitment to do the things of the Word is how we really serve God and live for God.
• Do people see evidence of the Word in your life?
• God's Word should be the foundation of your life.
• Personally and practically do you believe the Word in it's entirety?
• Spirituality means nothing.

2. We will lead our families spiritually.

• We should not marry or flirt or date a nonbeliever.

2 Corinthians 6:14-15
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?

• We (as believers) have nothing in common with unbelievers at the most basic level.
• Can't have a rationale conversation once passion is raging.

3. Worshipping God will be a priority for us.

• Worshipping God will become a priority.
• The 7th day is not a day to do as we will, it's a day to get a renewal and enjoy the presence of God. A day fully involved in worship.

Hebrews 4

• One day a week rest in the Lord allowing Him to renew and recreate you.
• Orient life around worship with God.
• Don't give God your time leftovers!!!

4. We will make it a priority to use our resources to honor the Lord.

Leviticus 27:30
Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord's; it is holy to the Lord.

Malachi 3:7-10
From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ ⁸ Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. ⁹ You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. ¹⁰ Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

• The blessing of God will take me further then we can take ourselves.
• As we give, God will bless us.
• As we honor God, He will honor us!

Sunday Morning at James River Assembly

Nehemiah "Built to Last" Series
Pastor John

"Prayer and Repentance"

Nehemiah 9:1-37
Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. ² And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. ³ And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God. ⁴ On the stairs of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani; and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God. ⁵ Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. ⁶ “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. ⁷ You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. ⁸ You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous. ⁹ “And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea, ¹⁰ and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted arrogantly against our fathers. And you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day. ¹¹ And you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into mighty waters. ¹² By a pillar of cloud you led them in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them the way in which they should go. ¹³ You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments, ¹⁴ and you made known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses your servant. ¹⁵ You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them. ¹⁶ “But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. ¹⁷ They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. ¹⁸ Even when they had made for themselves a golden calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed great blasphemies, ¹⁹ you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. ²⁰ You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. ²¹ Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell. ²² “And you gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner. So they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and the land of Og king of Bashan. ²³ You multiplied their children as the stars of heaven, and you brought them into the land that you had told their fathers to enter and possess. ²⁴ So the descendants went in and possessed the land, and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would. ²⁵ And they captured fortified cities and a rich land, and took possession of houses full of all good things, cisterns already hewn, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in your great goodness. ²⁶ “Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies. ²⁷ Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. And in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies. ²⁸ But after they had rest they did evil again before you, and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you delivered them according to your mercies. ²⁹ And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, which if a person does them, he shall live by them, and they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey. ³⁰ Many years you bore with them and warned them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not give ear. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. ³¹ Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God. ³² “Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. ³³ Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly. ³⁴ Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings that you gave them. ³⁵ Even in their own kingdom, and amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works. ³⁶ Behold, we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves. ³⁷ And its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress.

• When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said "repent" He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.
• They wore sackcloth:
• For the purpose of getting right with God.
• Didn't care what anyone else thought.
• Church is about worshipping God, but first you have to repent.
• You can fool everyone else but you can't fool God.
• What God thinks is more important than anything else.
• The way we serve God affects everyone around us. (and the way we don't serve God affects everyone around us).
• Should not just be confessing our sin, but the sins of the nation.
• When it comes to repentance, excuses have to go.
• If your heart is cold towards God just block out a day and spend large quantities of time in God's Word, allowing the Word to wash over you.
• The more we know of the Word, the more we know of God and who He is.

1 Peter 1:15-16
But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

• Be an imitation of God.
• Repentance is about being brokenhearted for your sin.

1. God should be the focus of prayer.

• Use this prayer (in Nehemiah) as an example.
• If we don't know how to pray it's because we haven't been in the Word enough.
• If we don't know how to pray, make your prayers Biblically based.
• Prayer should not be self-centered. Prayer should be all about God and not at all about us.

2. God's goodness should be the theme of prayer.

3. It is the recognition of God's goodness that brings people to repentance.

Romans 2:4
Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

• Meeting our needs should not be the bulk of what our prayer is about.
• The more we give thanks the more thankful we become.
• Begin to think of the goodness of God and all He's done.
• What is enslaving you?
• We can serve God and He will be our master or we can serve sin and it will be our Master.

1. Repentance begins with recognizing who God is.

• God is worthy of everything we could give to Him.

2. Repentance is repenting to God and to those you have wronged.

3. Repentance involves reversing the course of your life.

4. Repentance is resting in God's forgiveness.

Psalm 32:1-2
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

Wednesday Night at James River Assembly

Prayer Meeting
Pastor John

"Calling: Do not neglect your gift"

1 Timothy 4:14
Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.

2 Timothy 1:6-7
For the reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

John 14:12
"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father."

• We serve a God who knows the future!
• The fact that we can't imagine it, doesn't mean it won't happen.
• What is God stirring in your heart?
• We each have our own set of gifts that are unique to us.
• Don't neglect your calling!
• God chose you and gave you your gift! We don't choose it, He did!
• What have you done with what God has called you to do?
• Your calling is beyond me.
• Just because you have a gift doesn't mean it will automatically function.
• Are you putting fuel on the fire of your gift so it can burn brighter then ever?
• God has a great purpose and plan for your life.
• Being afraid is from the enemy or a sinful lack of faith.

1. God gives us power!

• It's not your power, but His power working through you.

2. God gives us love!

Romans 5:8 (NIV)
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

• His love should motivate you to love others, rather then being selfish.

1 John 4:18 (NIV)
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

3. God gives us self-control!

• God wants us to just do it (whatever it may be)!

Sunday Morning at James River Assembly

Nehemiah "Built to Last" Series
Pastor Scotty

"City in Revival"

Nehemiah 8:13-18
On the second day the heads of fathers' houses of all the people, with the priests and the Levites, came together to Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the Law. And they found it written in the Law that the Lord had commanded by Moses that the people of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, and that they should proclaim it and publish it in all their towns and in Jerusalem, "Go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written." So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim. And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths, for from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing. And day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the rule.

• Joy comes from God and being right with God.
• Have a desire to know God's will and a commitment to do it.

1. When there's a move of God, there's a hunger for truth. (and a hunger for more; you can't get enough).

• 60% of Christians are women.
• When you get a little taste, it drives us to get more. A hunger for the things of God.

2. Commitment to do what the Word of God says.

• Anytime God brings you out of someplace, He wants to take you somewhere that is far, far better.
• Don't lose sight.
• In the journey don't forget God is with you, and after the journey don't forget the journey.

James 1:22
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

• Live your life based on what I've heard.
• Hearing isn't enough.
• What are you doing with your life?
• This is temporary, God is taking me somewhere far better.
• Use my talents to reach others.
• God is looking for somebody who will do His commandments.
• When we do what God calls us to do there is great blessing.
• It's about why we're doing what we're doing. It's not about doing a religious routine.
• God's blessing follows our obedience.
• God has joy for me!
• We have to follow the map!
• The one who created you, knows the plans for you!
• God is the healer of your broken heart!

Sunday Morning at James River Assembly

I have been a terrible poster and I apologize. I will get better about posting my sermon notes and book notes and the slacking will stop.

(Nehemiah "Built to Last" Series)

Pastor John Lindell

"The Work of the Word"

Nehemiah 8:1-12 (ESV)
And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. ² So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. ³ And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. ⁴ And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. ⁵ And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. ⁶ And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. ⁷ Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. ⁸ They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. ⁹ And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. ¹⁰ Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” ¹¹ So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” ¹² And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.

• Being exposed to the Word prepares us for the callings of the Lord.

1 Peter 2:2 (ESV)
² Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—

• In the heart of a believer there should be a desire to be in the Word of God.

Ezra 7:10 (ESV)
¹⁰ For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.

• It doesn't do any good to study the Word without living the Word.
• Study the Word, Live the Word, Do and Share the Word.

Ezra 9:1-3 (ESV)
After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. ² For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.” ³ As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled.

• What we have in the heart of a leader, we will have in the people.
• Reading the Word is what gives us the desire to live the will of God.

Proverbs 30:5 (ESV)
Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Isaiah 55:11 (ESV)
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; t shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Hebrews 4:12 (ESV)
¹² For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

• The Word shows us how to live.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV)
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

• 3 Things about Ezra (that we can learn from):
• He studied God's Word.
• He lived out God's Word.
• He taught God's Word.
• God's Word will transform.

Nehemiah 8:3 (ESV)
"Attentive to the Book"
- Are you attentive to what you read and hear?

• There's something valuable about having the Bible (and not the online version).
• The Bible is straight from the heart of God to us. It's God's love letter to us.
• There should be reverence and respect for the Bible. We shouldn't abandon it.
• "Amen" = So be it.
• Lifting hands is welcoming the Lord.
• Do not limit your worship of the Lord by your own comforts.
• Who cares what others think.
• Be 100% in devotion of the Lord.
• Brokenness is a good thing, but we aren't meant to stay in our broken state.
• Joy is suppose to be our response to forgiveness.
• Don't let the devil keep you in the brokenness of sin.

Psalm 32:1-2 (ESV)
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. ² Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

• Have you moved from the brokenness of sin to the joy of forgiveness? Or are you letting the enemy keep you in the bondage?
• We are strongest when we have the joy of the Lord.
• Have you made the conversion from conviction to joy?

Sermon Note Sunday

Sunday Morning
James River Assembly
Pastor David
July 22nd, 2012

"What Do I Lack?"

Matthew 19:16-26

And behold, a man came up to him, saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments." He said to him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and You shall love your neighbor as yourself." The young man said to him, "All these I have kept. What do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

• What do we have to do to get eternal life?

Jesus did 3 things in this passage:

1. Jesus shattered the young man's assumptions about Christianity.
     A. The young man thought Christianity is just something you add to your life (it's not).
     B. The young man thought Christianity is something you do.

• In reality, Christianity is like a bomb that explodes inside you, you are born all over again. You are a new creation when you are a Christian.
• Christianity isn't something you can add, rather it overtakes your life!
• There's only one being who is completely good, and that's God.
• No one is perfect. The problem isn't that one thing (that one sin, pain in the side, etc.) hanging out there, it's that we aren't perfect and we won't admit it.
• Christianity isn't something we do or try to do, it's something that we receive.
• The real line that matters isn't the line that separates the good from the bad (or the bad from the bad), but the line that connects me from God.

2. Jesus got personal.

Mark 10:20-21
And he said to him, "Teacher all these I have kept from my youth. And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."

• One thing was keeping this man, from being able to see God. He had a cancer eating at his soul. What cancer do I have eating at my soul, and what cancer do you have eating at your soul.
• At the base of all of our problems, is a battle between God and us for control.
• God wants ALL!!!
• He wants our relationships, dreams, battles, and all that is important to us.
• All we have to do is surrender it to God!

Matthews 7:21-23
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty words in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'
- There are people that know a lot about Jesus, but who never really know Jesus and He never knew them. Because they didn't allow Him to have control, and didn't allow Him to see their heart.

• We have to let Jesus have control and supremacy in our lives.
• We have to allow Jesus touch all of us, even the dark places, the hurt, the pain, the places we have even hidden from ourselves.

3. Jesus asked for the impossible.

• It's impossible to get to Jesus without full surrender.
• Without Jesus, it's impossible to get into heaven. No amount of works will get us into the kingdom of God.
• There is not one person who can enter into eternal life because of their own good works.
• We can't clean ourselves up enough to get into the kingdom!
• BUT, God can clean us up! And with Him, we can enter into the kingdom!

SNS - Wednesday Night Edition

Wednesday was a really bad night for me, so I ended up skipping church. Although, I know I needed it more then ever.
So there will be no SNS - Wednesday Night Edition this week, although I will be sure to post notes from other sermons and podcasts I have listened to soon.

SNS - Designed for Life 2010 Edition

DeLynn Rizzo

• Who are you?
• We can never do all God's calling us to do if we don't know who we are.
• Mary Anne Williamson said, "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
• If we don't know who we really are in Christ our lights can never really shine the way God wants them to.
• Who am I?
• I am a woman.
• I am a nursing student.
• I am a daughter.
• I am a granddaughter.
• I am a sister.
• I am a niece.
• ... (and on and on and on).
• Who are you?
• We can hide behind our lists of things we are and we can make that be our security and identity, if we want.
• But if the list was taken away, who would we really be deep down on the inside?
• What we do is not really who we are. But, who we are affects what we do.
• What describes you?
• Is it your character or is it your accomplishments?

Things I (you) need to believe about ourselves; and things God believes about us!

1. I am (you are) strong.

• Strong means capable of withstanding force or wear; strong is solid, tough, firm.
• Strength means impowered to withstrain strain or stress.
• God made us strong.
• Be strong, because God put His strength in us.

Joshua 1:9 (NLT)
This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

• Be strong, because we have the support of Jesus Christ in us.
• God has promised to never leave or forsake us.
• Our strength is found in Christ and in Him alone; no other place can we find real strength.
• We can't schedule when bad things will happen so we have to be strong in Him so we can face whatever may come our way.
• We (you) can mandle more then we (you) think!!
• Mother Teresa said, "I know God won't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much."
• The joy of the Lord is our strength!
• We have to be tough!
• We have to know how to fight!

2. I am (you are) valuable and precious!

• Nothing can complete us, we are only complete in Christ.
• God is not the reflection of our earthly father's; but the perfection of the father.

Proverbs 31:10 (NIV)
She is worth far more than rubies.
- We are God's bling!!

• We mean so much to Him that He laid down His own life for us!

3. I am (you are) comfortable in my (your) own skin!

• We don't need to be like anybody else.
• We are God's masterpieces.
• We are one of a kind.
• We are different, and that's the beauty of it all.

Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

• We have to embrace what God has given us, and do the best with what we have.
• He created us all different for a purpose, for our own designed master plan!
• Don't look to everybody else, wishing we had what they have.
• God made us the way He wanted us to be!
• We are perfect in God's sight!
• God makes us beautiful in our own way!!!
• Never never never look to Hollywood trying to figure out what we should look like.
  Never never never compare yourself!!

2 Corinthians 10:12 (NIV)
When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.

• We will never win in the comparison game!
• Be comfortable in how God created you, be comfortable in your own skin.

4. I am (you are) enough! I'm (you're) more then enough!

• It's a huge lie when we believe: "if {fill in the blank} then I will be good enough"
• We are never going to be good enough, but God made us enough through Jesus.
• We are enough in Him!
• Nothing we do will ever make us good enough!!
• God has mafe us enough, we don't have to do anything else!
• You are enough in Christ!
• "It's not who we are that holds us back, but it's who we think we're not." - Author unknown.
• Let your light shine so bright that others lights shine around you!

SNS - Wednesday Night Church

Wednesday Night Church
James River Assembly
Pastor Scott O

"Worry Isn't Worth It"

(Pre-Sermon Notes)

• Sometimes God wants to show us a different direction, because we aren't doing it right or we are going the wrong direction.
• There's so much more to life then what is right here, right now!
• Invest in eternity.

(Sermon Notes)

Matthew 6:25-34 (ESV)
"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to this span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil not spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and you heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

1. Worry is silly - it doesn't make much sense.

• Worry doesn't help, it's a waste of time and diminishes the life we have.
• Worry comes from a German word that means to choke or to strangle.
• Our lives are more important than worry.
• 40% of the things we worry about won't ever happen.
  30% of the things we worry about can't be changed.
  15% of the things we worry about, is worrying about what other people think of us.
  15% of the things we worry about are actual reality.
• God is more then ok with us being concerned, but he hates us being worried.
• Concern is when we have the opportunity to apply wisdom and take action about a potential problem.

2. Worry is selfish - it's focused solely on us.

• Worrying is putting ourselves ahead of God. It's solely focused on what we can bring to the table, not what God can.

3. Worry is sinful - it's not centered on God.

• Anytime we choose to make something (even worry) bigger then God we make it our god and it is an idol.
• Either the God of the Bible is our God, or something else is our god (our idol).

Three important things to remember about worry and about us:

1. You (I) am extremely important to God!

• God cares about His creation.
• And we're not creation at the bottom level, because we are an image bearer of the Creater, and we have His Spirit in us. We are the top level.
• God already knows what we are worried about. He knows that we need Him. He will take care of us.

2. God will take care of your (my) personal needs.

• God is going to take care of us, and He will make sure we have everything we need (and more).

3. When God takes care of us, it's beautiful.

• In the midst of the struggle it is really hard, and it is really dark; but then when He provides it will be beautiful.
• (It will be a beautiful testimony).
• God is going to provide for us...Period!
• In the midst of the provision seek first the kingdom of God.
• Invest our lives in the kingdom!
• If we spend all of our time investing in the kingdom then we won't have time to worry!
• When we belong to God, it's not just our problem it's also God's problem!!
• Ultimately God is going to make what is wrong, right.
• He will make what is rough, smooth!
• Stop being so consumed with the natural!!
• Get your mind off of now and the stuff, and get your mind on God!
• When we give God our faith, He will give us His peace!!

Isaiah 26:3-4 (ESV)
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

SNS - Designed for Life 2010 Edition

Designed for Life 2010
Christine Caine

Ephesians 3:20-21 (ESV)
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever, Amen.

"Dream's are a Matter of Perspective"

• Different people will draw out different things in our lives.
• God can do a whole lot!!
• Life is about perspective.
• Keeping pursuing the goal (Jesus)!
• The greatest gift we can give our partner is a complete us in Christ.
• The greatest gift our partner can give us is a complete them in Christ.
• Then when we are both complete in Christ, we can become an interdependent unity in Christ and we'll make a difference. 
• God doesn't just want us to start, He wants us to run the race, and finish the course.
• Dream big, and finish well.
• We have to learn practical ways of how to put our dream into practice. We have to have a strategy.
• What we look for we will find.
• Without a shadow of a doubt, where we are looking we will end up going.
• If we're looking for the negative we will be in the negative.
• If we're looking for the positive we will be in the positive.
• If we're going to fulfill the dream God has for us, we cannot look in the natural.
• Things that can be shaken will be shaken.
• Things that cannot be shaken will remain!
• Look at the eternal promise, not the temporal.
• Look through what's going on now to what God is preparing for us.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (ESV)
So we do not lose heart. Though the outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

• If we live the God dream it will have eternal ramifications.
• If we focus only on what we can see in the here and now we will give way to discouragement and disappointment. And challenges, obstacles, and hurdles will take us out.
• We can't just focus on what we see!!
• If we give up in the midst of the pain we will never fulfill what God has for us.
• If what we see right now is all we see, then we will never see all there is to see.
• There's always a whole lot more to see then what we're seeing right now.
• See through our current circumstances to the eternal promise God has for our lives, for our future, for our destiny.
• We have to see through the here and now to the eternal promise God has for our lives.
• We have to go beyond!
• Life is just perspective.
• If we are going to fulfill the dream God has for our lives, we can't be caught up in what's in front of us.

Numbers 13:1-33 (ESV)
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Send men to spy out the Land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief [leader] among them." So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel. And these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun; from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Susi; from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hosea the son of Nun Joshua. Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canann and said to them, "Go up into the Negeb and go up into the hill country, and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit to the land." Noe the time was the season of the first ripe grapes. So they went up and spief out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt). And they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, adn they carried it on a pole between them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs. That place was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there. At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, "We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hitties, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan." But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it." Then the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are." So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, "The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them."

• The promise is ahead of us.
• God has so much for us which is why we have to dream these dreams.
• It's not based on gift or talent, it's based on perspective.
• It's based on what we see and how we see.
• We have to have a strategy to achieve our dreams.
• There is some difficulty is seeing the dream come to pass. It's not guaranteed to be easy.
• There's going to be challenges, obstacles, and hurdles. But that doesn't mean God isn't in it.
• He's already made the promise and give it to us, but we are going have to work at a strategy to get what He's already given.  
• When we get to the physical manifestations of the dream we are suppose to stop, because we lose the dream when we begin the "however's"
• If we could forget the "however's" more of us would fulfill the God dream.
• God hasn't asked us to give Him a statement of why it can't be done, He's already told us it will be done!!
• Stop with the rationalization, and the "however's"
• Keep our eyes on the eternal promise and not the temporal circumstances.
• We will never fulfill our God dream's if we put the facts about our circumstances above the truth of the Word of God!
• Look at the eternal and build our live's on the truth, because it's the only thing that will remain and the only thing that will take us into our future.
• God says, "I am giving you this dream and this promise."
• But once we lose perspective of God and begin to see the challenges, obstacles, and hurdles we will think that the dream is devouring and destroying us.
• If we don't step out of the boat and do what God is calling us to do and if we don't stay faithful in the path God has called us to, we will think that the dream/thing is destroying and devouring us.
• When our perspective changes, that thing, that blessing will no longer feel like a blessing.
• We won't fulfill our dream's if we take our eyes off the eternal and focus on the temporal.
• Continue to believe the eternal promise of God and not our temporal circumstances.
• At the end of the day we have to fix our eyes on Jesus.
• Don't focus on the giants!
• The challenges, obstacles, and hurdles are always there.
• It's not about the challenges, it's about our super-natural God and His promise and His super-natural ability.
• GOD IS ABLE!
• We have to believe God and we have to elevate our eyes to Him.
• Everyone has the ability, because it's Christ in us!!
• It's the choice of if we are going to focus on Him or focus on {fill in the blank}.
• There's going to be barriers, it's about finding ways around them.
• We are well able to overcome all the barriers!!!
• With God ALL things are possible!
• It's all a matter of perspective.
• We are well able!!
• Whatever our dream is there has to be a tenacity in us that says, "I am well able!"
• We can't go around saying, "Let me give you a list why it's impossible."
• What is impossible with man is possible with God!
• We need a "well able" spirit.
• What we look for we will find.
• Where we look we will end up going.
• It's all a matter of perspective if we're going to fulfill what God has for us.
• It's not excuses it's perspective. It's not gift or talent or anointing it's perspective.
• Are we going to keep an eternal God perspective and open up and see God do amazing things in our lives; or, are we going live based upon the natural and the here and now?
• Don't look at what we can see, but look at what we cannot see.
• Live by faith and move in the unseen not what is seen.

Sermon Note Sunday

James River Assembly
Guest Speaker: Robert Madu (Evangelist)

"I Got More than I Came For"

Mark 2:1-12 (ESV)
And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, "Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, "Why do you question thoese things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, "Rise, take up your bed and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" - he said to the paralytic - "I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home." And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"

Introduction Notes:

• Whatever I do, always stand on the Word of God.
• The reason Jesus has been distoreted is because there's not enough witnesses.
• You can go to church for years, and still not know who Jesus is!
• Most people want Jesus, but only want Him on their terms.
• But that customized "Jesus" isn't actually Jesus.
• We need a God that contradicts us (and our desires).
• Freedom and joy is only found in Jesus' presence.

Sermon Notes:

• People like to define us by our issues, but we don't have to be defined by our issues because Jesus is in us and we are a brand new creation.
• People may know my (your) history, but they don't know my (your) destiny.
• God if I don't have {put your issue in the box} my walk with You would be so much better.
• The issue won't matter if we're in the presence of God!
• When our experience doesn't line up with our expectations, God is giving us a revelation of who He is.
• Jesus will never leave us or forsake us.
• He reveals who He is in our struggles.
• What is He revealing to you?
• We think {fill in the blank} is the issue, but the {fill in the blank} is just the fruit of the issue. The real issue (and the root of the issue) is sin.
• We're better off being a paralyzed saint, then walking in sin.
• But God wants to fix both. He wants us to be free from sin, and walking.
• People attack things they see in other people, because they have that issue in themselves.
• God has the ultimate authority over every situation!!
• GET UP!! GET UP from the mat, GET UP from the struggles, GET UP {from whatever is holding you down}!
• God is calling us to get up.
• Once we're up, we should never ever forget where we came from when we were down on the ground.
• The time where we were down on the ground is our testimony.
• We are suppose to take our mat, and share how great our God is!
• The real miracle is that our sins have been forgiven!
• God can touch our soul's and our circumstances.
• When we go to Him we get so much more then what we came for!