Forerunner Saturday Service June 30, 2012

Forerunner Saturday Service – june 30, 2012

prepare for the glory of god – pastor grace Page 1

Prepare for the Glory of God

–Seabiscuit Movie: A true story of a champion Thoroughbred racehorse in the United States in the 1930s. A small horse, Seabiscuit had an unpromising start to his racing career, but became an unlikely champion and a symbol of hope to many Americans during the Great Depression. Seabiscuit was undersized and lost his first seventeen races. After being assigned to a new trainer, Seabiscuit gradually improved and started to win races and then became a leading money winner and eventually won the “Match of the Century” against the seemingly invincible War admiral.

God Knows who we are

–It is very important to know who we are.

–We are God’s children. God has a consuming fire inside of Him but we are often cold inside and we don’t see where our value lies.

–The person who bought Seabiscuit saw the value in the horse. The horse later brought hope to people in a time of economic depression.

–God knows what would happen in our lives, what we would go through and the difficulties we encountered and will encounter. However, our past would not affect what God intends to do in our lives. He uses difficulties in our lives to shape us.

–Seabiscuit was such a legend because it was small and weak and had short legs. God could use the imperfect to do mighty things.

Who we are

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well… your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:14

–The world values a person based on external qualities such as success and appearance.

–We are fearfully and wonderfully made. We are His children.

–He gives us an abundant life and we can influence and edify others.

–Refer to Song of Songs 4 to know how God sees us: “beautiful”, “eyes are doves”, there is no flaw in you”. In reality, the life is still very young with disobedience. God admires us no matter how immature or disobedient we are. He admires us and sees us as blameless and holy because of what Jesus has done on the cross.

–We are honorable, precious, great,

–We are God’s treasure.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” Matthew 13:44

–There are two interpretations for this verse. The “treasure” can be interpreted as Jesus to us or it can be interpreted as us to God. We are a treasure to God that Jesus left heaven to come to save us.

Be healed and arise and shine

–Seabiscuit’s new trainer first healed the shame Seabiscuit went through and created a home environment for Seabiscuit that he felt secure and at home in the stable.

–God heals us in His home and restore our honor and gives us a direction.

–We are a being with spirit and our spirit is built up to be Christ-like through fellowshipping with God.

–Bob Jones prophesied that God’s glory would return to the Church in year 2012.

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.” Isaiah 60:1-3

–Darkness is great and covers the earth now. It’s time that God to bring His glory back to the Church.

–We would miss the return of the glory if we pay attention to the people who have hurt us and when we are filled with anger and shame.

–Don’t let the embarrassment or shame in our past affect us because the honor God created in us remains unchanged. We can joke about ourselves and our weaknesses with a healthy attitude because we learn to accept ourselves.

–Walk out of your shame, criticism from others (ie friends and parents). Forgive them and look to God and not look to yourself. We are adopted into the family of God.

–God’s glory is going to return to the Church. We need to know who we are first or else we feel unwelcomed and feel bad about ourselves, we need to get out of that hole.

Jeremy lin’s example

–Jeremy Lin was against many odds, was brought to shame, was rejected, mistreated, and overlooked.

–He could feel self-pity, anger, or bitter or protest but he sought God. So, through these difficulties, he grew in many aspects (perseverance, hope, characters, forgiveness, love for God, etc.).

–All things God works for the good of those who love God. Don’t fall into self-pity and feel bad for yourself. If difficulty comes to you, you come to God and dialogue with Him and you will receive healing, steadiness, and comfort.

–We need to live in hope and we receive gifts from above with faith.

–God sometimes open the river in the desert till the last moment, like how Jeremy’s first defining game on the day he was about to be waived by the Knicks.

–God was able to raise Jeremy up in due time because Jeremy went through the difficulties and he remained humble and he doesn’t live for his fame and fans. He played the games for God so pressure was lifted off of him. It’s a pity if we live for the applause from people because people clap for us one day and can spit on us the next day. God always applaud for us and we are always His treasure.

–Jeremy changed America’s value system. Despite losing consecutive games in a culture that applaud only for the strong, Time still awarded Jeremy as the most influential person of the year, mainly due to Jeremy’s characters. Jeremy’s core value systems is to play for the team and play for God and not self-seeking.

–God’s glory shines in the lives who turn to Him and not those who seek their own glory but seek God’s glory.

God sees our potential

“Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter). John 1:42

–Simon means small pebble, Cephas means a big salt rock or marble.

–Peter was impulsive in speech, had higher appraisal of himself and was rebuked by Jesus the most out of other disciples but Jesus called him Cephas and the pillar of the Church. God not only saw who Peter was but he also saw who will become.

–God is like the trainer, he knows how to train us.

Path to healthiness

–We should lift up our head and face God and give Him all the shame and fear we have.

–We need to face the wrong things and hurt in our relationships. Forgive, bless, and give thanks for these hurts.

–Don’t be afraid to face our wrongs but receive grace from God.

–We need to look at our reactions to things, ie negative thoughts, anger, fear.

–Develop an intimate relationship with God. Take opportunities to be equipped (ie Bible study). Practice praise, wait upon God, etc.

–Receive all the training and equipping, find the purpose and calling become reality.

We are extraordinary

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” John 14:12

–When we ask, the Holy Spirit will do, the Holy Spirit is here to serve and help us. We can do greater things than Jesus. We should believe this and it’ll come to fulfillment as we obey God in every small thing. God has a great plan for us.

–We are extraordinary because we are God’s children. We are created in God’s image and we are called to be kings and to rule, nurture, and bless.

–We should bear children (spiritual and physical) and nurture them to be godly.

12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior. 16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive. Judges 6:12, 16

–God called Gideon the mighty warrior when he was a coward. But when God was with him, he could strike down all the Midianites.

–We can do greater things and have the ability to strike our enemies because we dwell in/with Him and God is with us. We need to encounter God and be with God.

Action Plans:

1. Turn Isaiah 60:1-3 into a personal prayer with your name on it.

Arise, shine, for (your name)light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon (your name). See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon (your name) and his glory appears over (your name). Nations will come to mylight, and kings to the brightness of mydawn.” Isaiah 60:1-3

1. Practice the three steps to receive the glory of God.

(Be healed, have thanksgiving, and encountering God)

Discussion questions:

1. Share with us if you have had similar experiences like Seabiscult. Do you know how valuable you are?
2. Share with us a testimony when Holy Spirit helped you. Have you witnessed signs and wonders? Share with us the testimonies.
3. Among the three steps of receiving the glory of God(i.e. Be healed, have thanksgiving, and encountering God), which one of them is the most difficult one for you? What have you learned from practicing the three steps?

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