The Helper Series: In the Beginning

Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, May 2, 2021

Bible Reading: Ephesians 3:14-19 “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

The Helper Series: In the Beginning

Text: John 14:16-18

“Overarching principles”

            Number 23:19

            James 1:17

  1. The Holy in Creation
  2. Genesis 1:1—God existed before the beginning of time.
  3. Genesis 1:2—The Holy Spirit was present before the beginning of time.
  4. Holy Spirit—Ruach ha Kodesh
  5. The Holy Spirit “hovered” as a brooding dove
  6. Genesis 1:2—There was chaos; confusion and emptiness; shapeless and useless.
  7. Genesis 2:7—
  8. Psalm 104:30—
  9. Job 33:4—
  10. Romans 8:11—

a.

b.

c.

II.              The Holy Spirit in God’s Word

  1. All Scripture is “God breathed”—2 Timothy 3:16
  2. Zechariah 7:12
  3. 2 Peter 1:21

Conclusion:

Promises

Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, April 25, 2021

Bible Reading: Psalm 46:1-3, 10 “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling…..10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

Promises

Text: 2 Corinthians 1: 20

#1—Philippians 4:13

            Whatever might come along…….

            Infusions–

#2—Deuternonomy 31:6

            40 years of daily miracles–

#3—Jeremiah 29:11

            A promise given during tough times–

#4—Exodus 14:13-14

            Don’t freak out–

#5—2 Timothy 1:12

            I know—

            I have believed—

            That Day–

Living Hope

Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, April 18, 2021

Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 1:3-9 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been [c]grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.”

Living Hope

Text: 1 Peter 1:3; 2:9, 24; 5:8-9

The Apostle Peter wrote this letter, from Rome, to Christians scattered throughout Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). It was written about 30 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. His intent was to encourage these believers as they faced severe persecution.

#1—The high price paid for our salvation demands our holy living.

1 Peter 1:13-16, 18-19.

#2—Believers are not just anybody.

1 Peter 2:9—

Ephesians 2:10—We are God’s “masterpiece” or “creative work.”

#3—Arguments interrupt our prayers.

1 Peter 3:8

#4—We are to rejoice even in hard times.

1 Peter 4:12-16

#5—Motives for service counts.

1 Peter 5:2

Difficult times will continue to come our way. But God is at work in those times to bring about victory and to work in our lives for good that honors Him!

Truth

Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, April 11, 2021

Bible Reading: 1 Peter 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Truth

Text: John 3:5-8

Look at all the new terms we’ve learned over the past year.

Fake news is not new. Jesus addresses the issue of “fake news” in his nighttime conversation with Nicodemus.

Nicodemus—A Pharisee; member of the Sanhedrin (The Sanhedrin was comprised of 70 Jewish men with the purpose of creating and enforcing Jewish Laws. In some ways, it was like a Congress/Supreme Court combo.

Jesus addresses the fake news by saying, “Most assuredly, I say to you.” Some versions of Scripture translate this as “verily, verily” or “I’m telling you the truth.”

Jesus is not asking Nicodemus to simply trust him. By saying, “verily, verily” Jesus is actually saying, “I know this firsthand.” It was part of Jesus’ claim to be God. Jesus is not merely aware of these truths; He is the One who originated them.

The Fake News—Salvation by works

The Truth—Salvation by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Born of the water and the Spirit—

Ezekiel 36:23-27—

How to be “born again”—Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23; Romans 5:8; Romans 10:9-10; Romans 10:13

The Characters of Easter–Jesus

Troy Mills Christian Church

Easter, April 4, 2021

Text: Isaiah 53:3-5

Bible Reading: Romans 6:8-11 “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Text: Isaiah 53:3-5—

          700 years before the birth of Jesus, Isaiah prophesied about his birth and his death.

          Old Testament prophets wrote in the “prophetic perfect tense.”

Griefs & Sorrows—

          Genesis 3—When sin entered the world.

Psalm 107:20—God sent His Word” and healed & delivered them.

          When God sends His Word, things happen.

1 John 3:8—Jesus, the Word, came to destroy the works of the devil.

Mark 1:40-45—If you are willing; I AM willing.

John 10:10 “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”

The Characters of Easter—Pilate

Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, March 28, 2021

Bible Reading: Isaiah 53:4-5 “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”

The Characters of Easter—Pilate

Text: Galatians 4-5

Backstory—

          How things worked–

          Pilates’ hatred of the Jews—Luke 13:1

          Sandredin’s hatred of Jesus—John 7:1; John 11:49

          Lies—Luke 23:1; Mark 12:15-17

Pilates’ attempts to set Jesus free—

          Physical abuse—John 19:4

          Sent him to Herod—Luke 23:6-12

          Barabbas—

                    A murderer—Acts 3:14

                    An insurrectionist—Mark 15:7

Pilates’ disillusionment—John 18:38 “What is truth?”

Judas, Oh Judas

I have always been fascinated with the biblical character of Judas. He is a mystery from the beginning to the end.

We really do not know anything about him other than Jesus chose him to be a disciple.

He is listed as “Judas Iscariot.” Some claim the word “Iscariot” means “men of Kerioth.” Kerioth was a small village a little south of Hebron which was south of Bethlehem, which was south of Jerusalem. John 13 mentions, twice, that Judas was the son of Simon. But nothing more is said.

We have no clue how the paths of Jesus and Judas crossed, but they did. And Judas was chosen right along with the other eleven.

One of my favorite things to mention regarding Judas was that he was part of the action in Matthew 10:1 where Jesus anointed the disciples, gave them power to heal, power to set people free from demons, and power to work miracles. Which they did and came back with glowing reports of what happened. And yes, Judas was as much a part of this as was Peter, James, and John.

He was also present when the fish and bread were distributed to the 5,000 and again to the 4,000. He helped pick up leftovers too.

He had a ring side seat to see the dead raised along with blinded eyes and deaf ears opened. He saw lepers healed, water turned to wine, and was present when Jesus calmed the storm and when Jesus and Peter took a walk on the water.

Before going further, please know Judas was not predestined to betray Jesus. He had a choice. He could choose life or choose death just as we have the same choice every day.

Yes, it was prophesied hundreds of years before that Messiah would be betrayed by a friend, but it did not have to be Judas. I suppose it could have been any of the 12. If you and I had been there, it could have been one of us. It did not have to be but it could have been.

I have always assumed somewhere along the way, Judas became disillusioned. Perhaps he became impatient. Perhaps he thought he had a better way to bring about the Kingdom and rid the world of the Romans.

Whatever it was, he opened the door for Satan to come in. Well, we know the rest of the story.

It should serve as a warning to us not to allow things into our lives that ought not to be there so we can keep the door shut on Satan and not give him so much as a toehold in our lives.

Solomon warned us to “above all, guard your heart.” Keep your eyes on Jesus, keep your ears open to His voice, keep your hands busy with His work, and keep your feet always pointed in the right direction.

Always in Pursuit!

Don

The Characters of Easter—Judas

Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, March 21, 2021

Bible Reading: Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”

Text: Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Our Free Will–

John 13

          Washing of feet

          Sacredness of the table

          Jesus announces his betrayal.

John 13:26—

Judas, the disciple

          Matthew 10:2-4

          Note Matthew 10:1

          The Miracles

Judas the thief

          John 12:6

          Gospels written after the fact.

Judas the betrayer

          Matthew 26:14-16

          John 13:27

The Characters of Easter—John

Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, March 14, 2021

Isaiah 61:1-3 ““The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

The Characters of Easter—John

Text: 1 John 3:14-16

From fisherman to Apostle—Matthew 4:18-22.

          Zebedee—would have had to give his blessings.

From “Son of Thunder to Apostle of Love”

Mark 3:17–Jesus names John and his brother James—Boanerges, Sons of Thunder

          Luke 9:54—Willing to call fire down on a village in Samaria.

          Matthew 20:20–Requested positions of power in Jesus’ Kingdom.

          John and James’ mother, Salome, was a sister to Mary, the mother of Jesus.

The Upper Room—John 13

          Jesus used the disciples’ fascination with who was the greatest (Mark 9:34) to teach      

          what it meant to serve one another.

          Philippians 2:5-11; Mark 10:45

John—author of 5 New Testament books; Elder of the Ephesian church; fisherman; sentenced to death in boiling oil; sentenced to the Island of Patmos; given of Jesus’ mother, Mary; last living Apostle; only Apostle to die of natural causes.

          Ecclesiastes 7:8a— “The end of a thing is better than its beginning.”

1 John 3:14-16—Two transitions:

          #1—From death to life—from self-serving to serving others.

          #2—Loving the brethren [others]

True living, really living, is a life spent serving others!

Do What with My Nets?

I have no doubt that the “Jonah & Sons” fishing company was one of, if not the premiere fishing enterprise on the Sea of Galilee.

Scripture makes it sound as if they had additional partners, at least they did until Jesus came by in Mark 1:16-18.

Several times in Scripture we are warned about trusting in our own abilities, or our own understanding. Solomon warned his son, three times in Proverbs about not putting your trust in yourself. (Proverbs 3:5-6; Proverbs 14:12; and Proverbs 16:25)

An observation I have made is that it is not a challenge for most of us to trust God for things we know little about or for things we have no abilities or prior experience in. But when it comes to things we have been “trained” in, or the things we have spent our lives doing, I have observed that often we jump in and rely upon our own devices rather than put our trust in God and follow His directives.

In first 8 verses of Luke 5, Peter, the fisherman, has a moment with Jesus, the Messiah, that was defining.

Peter had been fishing all night only to come up empty handed. After Jesus had completed his time of teaching from the boat, He tells Peter to cast out a little further from the shore and throw his nets in. Peter’s answer is a bit condescending to Jesus. He lets Jesus know they had already been fishing all night. After all, Peter was the professional fisherman, Jesus was a carpenter (stone mason). But, since you said so, here goes.

Read the results. Use your imagination about what happens when a fisherman listens to the Creator of the sea and the fish! The results speak for themselves.

Peter, the fisherman, the Apostle and follower of God learned a great lesson. It always pays to listen to what God says. (By the way, in the way of thinking of biblical times, listening and obeying were the same thing.)

As someone who has been around the block a couple of times, seen a lot, been privileged to do a lot, I am of the opinion I need to put my trust in the Creator now more than ever. I have no desire to simply repeat my experiences, even the good ones. This is a new day, a new time, we have never been this way before and God is wanting to do a new thing. So, we need to let go of the old. Listen to the words of the Creator.

I think Peter, the fisherman, the Apostle, and the follower of God would agree!

Always in Pursuit!

Don