Generosity Pt. 2

Vitals - Generosity Pt. 2
Dave Riddle - 08/25/19
Key Passage: Mark 12:41-44

Generous: the readiness to give more of something than is strictly necessary or expected.

Scripture: at the core it’s about God giving to us.

Embracing a lifestyle of generosity...

• A Reflection of God

  • John 13:34 - Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.

    • Jesus is the perfect picture of generosity for us to emulate.

• A Display of Gratitude

  • Mark 12:44

    • Even though she had very little, she realized that she was blessed.

  • Hebrews 12:28

    • We’ve received a kingdom that can’t be shaken. Our response should be an outpouring of gratitude.

• An Assertion of Trust

  • Mark 12:44

    • She gave everything and, trusted that God would provide for her.

      • Not a suggestion that we are all prescribed to do the same.

      • But a challenge for us to examine the way we give.

    • Do we give out of our surplus, or do we give sacrificially?

• An Attack on the “King”

  • We are our own biggest enemies: our selfishness, our self-centeredness, our greed. We are the kings of our own lives.

  • Matthew 6:24 - ...you cant worship God and money both.

Spiritual Formation Pt. 2

Vitals - Spiritual Formation Pt. 2
Dave Riddle - 07/14/19
Key Verses: Philippians 3:10, Galatians 4:19

ginōskō (Greek: γινώσκω) - to know by experience, in contract to an intellectual or intuitive type of knowledge.

• it’s one thing to know what sunburn is, it’s another thing completely to ‘experience’ sunburn.

symmorphizō (Greek: συμμορφίζω) - to receive the same form as; to be conformed to.

• Luke 6:40 - ...everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.

• We are being transformed, not by our own power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Spiritual Practices & Rhythms

• Not obligations, but invitations!

Study

• Philippians 4:8 - “...dwell on these things”

• Repetition, conversation, reflection

Meditation

• Psalm 63:6 HCSB): When I think of You as I lie on my bed, I meditate on You during the night watches

• On scripture, on the works of God, on the things we see happening around us.

Prayer

• “Prayer catapults us onto the frontier of the spiritual life. Of all the spiritual disciplines, prayer is the most central because it ushers us into perpetual communion with the father.” -R. Foster ‘Celebration of Discipline’

Fasting

• Luke 4:1-2 - Jesus fasted.

• “More than any other discipline fasting reveals the things that control us.” - R. Foster ‘Celebration of Discipline’

• Matthew 6:16 - not a requirement, but it does appear to be an expectation. “when you fast”

Solitude

• Mark 1:35

• Solitude =/= loneliness

• Let him who cannot be alone beware of community... Let him who is not in community beware of being alone... Each by itself has profound perils and pitfalls. One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the void of words and feelings, and the one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self-infatuation and despair.” - Bonhoeffer ‘Life Together’

Simplicity 

• “The central point for the discipline of simplicity is to seek the kingdom of God and righteousness of his kingdom first and then everything necessary will come in it’s proper order.” - R. Foster ‘Celebration of Discipline’

Submission

• To God, to the cross, to scripture, to our family, our neighbors, to the needs of others, to the body of Christ.

Service

• John 13:15 - "For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done for you. "

Out (Our World)

A Family on Mission - Out (Our World)

Dave Riddle - 06/30/19

Key Passage: Matthew 9:35-38

A Quick Review

1. One Calling

   • Help people follow Jesus together

2. Two Commandments

   • Love God, Love Others

     • Mark 12:28-31

3. Three Dimensions

   • Up, In, Out

Living on Mission like Jesus

He went.

• Matthew 9:35 - “Jesus continued going...”

  • Teaching

    • didaskō (Greek: διδάσκω) - teaching with the purpose of transformation.

  • Gospelling

    • kēryssō euaggelion basileia (Greek: κηρύσσω ευαγγελιον βασιλεα) - preaching the good news of the Kingdom.

  • Healing

    • Jesus understood that people needed healing and he provided it.

He Noticed.

• Matthew 9:36 - “when he saw the crowds...”

  • He didn’t overlook them or look past them. He saw them.

He felt.

• Compassion

  • Matthew 9:36

  • splagchnizomai (Greek: σπλαγχνίζομαι) - to be moved as to one's bowels, hence to be moved with compassion, have compassion (for the bowels were thought to be the seat of love and pity)

He Explained

• Matthew 9:37

  • The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few

Our Response

We Embody Jesus

• Luke 6:40

• We want to be like Him.

We Proclaim

• Acts 1:8

• Witnesses for Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit

Two Outcomes

1. Redemption

   • Ephesians 1:7

2. Restoration

   • We can make a difference in a world of chaos.

The most important thing to remember is how desperately God loves you.

• The world is full of individuals that God loves individually.

• Do we see the world through God’s eyes or do we see faceless/nameless masses?

Up (Our Father)

A Family on Mission - Up (Our Father)

Dave Riddle - 06/16/19

Key Passage: Acts 13:22

The most important thing

• Mark 12:28-30

Captured by the concept of worship

• Romans 12:1

A rhythmic response to God’s self-revelation

• 1 John 4:19 - “we love because He first loved us...”

A matter of our hearts

• Mark 7:6

—-—-—-

David

• 1 Samuel 16:7

  • “...the Lord looks at the heart”

• Acts 12:22

  • “...a man after my own heart”

  • We are called to align our hearts with God’s heart.

Allow God to be first

• Philippians 3:7-14

• Make God the object and pursuit of your life.

Rely on God’s power

• 1 Samuel 17

• Romans 8:11 - the same power that raised Jesus from the dead now lives in you!

Rest in His authority

Live in full transparency

• Psalm 139 - you have searched me and know me.

Two Outcomes

1. We are loved

   • The creator of the universe loves you!

   • 1 John 3:1 - his love is so great that we are called His children!

2. Called to live in obedience!

   • John 14:15 - if we love God we will desire to keep His commands.