We His People - We Become

We His People - We Become

Dave Riddle - 9/17/2023

Key Passage: Philippians 2:5

Spiritual Formation/Development

- “The process of being formed in the image of Christ…” – M Robert Mulholland Jr. - Invitation to a Journey

- Luke 6:40

- We should be becoming more like Jesus.

- Matthew 28:19-20

- We should be forming others to be more like Jesus.

- Teaching for transformation, not just information.

Imitators of Christ

- John 14:15 - If you love me, keep my commands.

- 1 John 2:4-6

- …walk just as Jesus walked.

- 1 Peter 2:21

- Ephesians 5:1-2 - be imitators of God

- 1 Corinthians 11:1 - imitate me as I imitate Christ

- Galatians 2:20a

- …I no longer live but Christ lives in me.

Belonging and Becoming are intrinsically tied together

- We are meant to walk and grow together.

How do we do this?

Philippians 1:6

- God is at work in you!

- Surrender, listen to the Holy Sprit

- Walk with brothers and sisters in Christ

Hebrews 12:1-3

- Jesus starts and finishes the work

- Our job? Throw off all the weight that entangles us.

2 Corinthians 3:18

- be transformed

Galatians 5 - Fruit of the Spirit

- are you filled with these things?

- Are you growing in them?

“The process of being formed in the image of Christ for the sake of others” – M Robert Mulholland Jr. - Invitation to a Journey

If we aren’t becoming more like Jesus, what’s the point?

- “the church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that… [it’s] simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose.”

- CS Lewis

Is Your Faith Worthless?

Is Your Faith Worthless?

Dave Riddle - 6/11/2023

Key Passage: James 1:26-27

If anyone considers themselves religious…

• James 1:26

• Religious = thrēskos: fearing or worshipping God; ceremonious in the worship of God

…their religion is worthless

• James 1:26

• Worthless, profitless, empty, devoid of value 

• Same word as 1 Corinthians 15:14

• If there is no resurrection your faith is “worthless”

…If you don’t keep a tight reign on your tongue…

• James 1:26

• We all hold tightly to the resurrection, but how seriously do we take the way we speak?

Pure and undefiled religion…

• James 1:27

• Pure = katharos: clean (literally and figuratively). Free from anything that soils or corrupts.

• Undefiled = amiantos: not defiled. Incorruptible.

Our faith is directly tied to our concern for others

• James 1:27

• Pure and undefiled religion means having concern for vulnerable people.

• Orphans and widows in distress.

• Doing this requires an investment of time, energy, resources.

• See also: James 2:15-17, James 2:26, 1 John 3:17-18

Our Allegiance and Devotion

• James 1:27

• Keep yourself unstained from the world.

• Romans 12:2 - don’t be conformed… be transformed…

What is the product of your heart?

• Luke 6:45

• What we say and do overflows from our heart.

Your words, actions, and heart are the true indicators of your faith.

• Repent. Don’t rationalize.

Organic Outreach

House Rules - Organic Outreach

Dave Riddle - 11/27/2022

Key Passage: Matthew 9:35-38

Outreach = Sharing and showing the good news of Jesus in everyday life.

He Went

• Matthew 9:35

  • While he was out and about he was purposeful.

…Teaching

• Matthew 9:35

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

…Proclaiming the Good News

• Matthew 9:35

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

…Healing

• Matthew 9:35

  • 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.

…Jesus 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 9:37-38

  • The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few

We Embody

• Luke 6:40

  • We should do what Jesus did.

  • Our ministry should be incarnational.

We Testify

• Acts 1:7-8

  • We are being sent out to share and show the good news of Jesus!

• Ephesians 1:7

  • Good news!

House Rules

House Rules

Dave Riddle - 9/18/2022

Key Passage: Ephesians 2:19

We are a family!

• Ephesians 2:19

  • …members of God’s household

  • oikos (Greek: οἶκος) - an inhabited house, a physical dwelling place. Also, the inhabitants of a house, all the persons forming one family - a household.

• Galatians 6:10

  • …do good to everyone, but especially to the family of God.

• 1 Timothy 3:15

  • God’s household=the church

• 1 Peter 2:4-5

  • A spiritual house

• Hebrews 10:19-21

  • Jesus is the head of our family

Gospel of Jesus – Priority 1!

• Romans 1:16

  • The gospel is the power of God that brings salvation!

• 1 Corinthians 9:16

  • Sharing the gospel is a necessity.

  • …Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.

God’s Greatest Commands

• Mark 12:29-31

  • Love God

  • Love People

God’s Great Commission

• Matthew 28:19-20

  • Make disciples, baptize, teach.

Genuine Discipleship

• Luke 9:23 - Follow me

  • Be on the same road

• Galatians 2:20 - crucified with Christ

  • We no longer live, but Christ lives in us!

Targeted Spiritual Development

• Luke 6:40

  • We should become more like Jesus

• 1 Timothy 1:5

  • The goal of our instruction is love.

The Word of God- Our Way of Life

• 2 Timothy 3:15-17

  • The Word changes us and equips us.

You Can’t Serve Two Masters

Message begins around 34:00

You Can’t Serve Two Masters

Dave Riddle - 8/28/22

Key Passage: Matthew 6:24

“No one can serve two masters…”

• Jesus in Matthew 6:24a

• “No one” = oudeis (οὐδείς) - not even one

  • Romans 3:10

• “Can” = dynamai (δύναμαι) - to be able, have power whether by virtue of one's own ability and resources, or of a state of mind, or through favourable circumstances, or by permission of law or custom

• It is impossible!

• “Serve” = douleuō (δουλεύω) - to be a slave to (literal or figurative, involuntary or voluntary):—be in bondage, (do) serve(-ice).

• “Masters” = kyrios (κύριος) - supreme in authority

  • Romans 10:9, Luke 6:46

“…he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.”

• Jesus in Matthew 6:24b

• It’s impossible for us to love (agapaō: ἀγαπάω - perfect unconditional love) two supreme masters at once.

  • Compare to Jesus’ comments about the good “single” eye from last week, Matthew 6:22.

“…You cannot serve both God and money.”

• Jesus in Matthew 6:24c

• “Money” = mamōnas (μαμωνᾶς) - Mammon - everything we pursue in life. Riches, treasures, dreams, feelings, idols. Everything that isn’t God.

• Joshua 24:15 - “…choose this day whom you will serve...”

Why Family on Mission?

Why Family on Mission?

6/13/21 - Dave Riddle 

Key passages: 1 Timothy 3:15, Matthew 28:18-20

We use the word family because it’s biblical.

Family = oikos (Greek: οἶκος) - an inhabited house, a physical dwelling place. Also, the inhabitants of a house, all the persons forming one family - a household. 

• 1 Timothy 3:15 - we are the household of God.

• The church is called “brother and sisters” over 20 times in the book of Acts alone!

What is our mission?

• Matthew 28:18-20 - The great commission. Go make disciples…

• Disciple = mathetes (Greek: μαθητής) - pupil/learner/student - a disciple. In the New Testament, a disciple is one who not only learns, but accepts and adverse to the instruction given to them, making it their personal everyday way of living .

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

• Acts 1:8

• “The church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that [everything else is] simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose.” CS Lewis

• Luke 6:40

Helping People Follow Jesus Together

1. UP

   • Living in right relationship with the Father.

     • Jesus prioritized his relationship with his Father.

2. IN

   • Living in right relationship with our church family.

     • You can’t walk in obedience with the will of God if you aren’t walking in right relationship with your brothers and sisters.

3. OUT

   • Living on mission to reach the world.

     • We are ambassadors, as if God was making his appeal through us!

Look Up

Look Up

This is a season of reset

Helping people follow Jesus together

• Help people become like Jesus 

  • Luke 6:40

• Walking as He walked

  • 1 John 2:6

Our Up Relationship is Prime

• Mark 12:30

Worship 

• Romans 12:1

• The heart of worship is loving God with our entire being.

• Latreia (Greek: λατρεία) - worship or service. To kiss (in the same way a dog licks its master). To revere, to adore.

• John 4:24 - worship

  • Proskyneo (Greek: προσκυνέω) - to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence

• Revelation 19:4

Our Worship is a Response 

• 1 John 4:19 - we love because he first loved us.

Our Worship Must be Real

• Mark 7:6 - Honoring God with our hearts, not just our lips. 

• 1 Samuel 15:22 - obedience not sacrifice

You are Loved 

• 1 John 3:1 - You are His child!

The Life You Live

• John 14:15 - love results in obedience

• 1 John 5:3a - keep His commands

• Acts 13:22 - a person aligned with God’s heart.

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?

God’s Household

A Family on Mission - God’s Household

Dave Riddle - 06/09/19

Key Passages: 1 Timothy 3:15, Matthew 28:18-20, Luke 6:40

Our mission: Helping People Follow Jesus Together!

• A family on mission!

1 Timothy 3:15 - ... I have written so that you will know how people ought to act in God’s household, which is the church of the living God,  the pillar and foundation of the truth.

• Household = oikos (Greek: οἶκος) - an inhabited house, a physical dwelling place. Also, the inhabitants of a house, all the persons forming one family - a household. 

  • In the New Testament: the family of God: Where God has made his home. Us!

Matthew 28:18-20 - Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  19 Go, therefore, and make disciples  of  all nations,  baptizing  them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember,  I am with you always,  to the end of the age.” 

• Disciples = mathēteuō (Greek: μαθητεύω) -  to be a disciple of another, or to make someone a disciple. 

• mathetes (Greek: μαθητής) - pupil/leaner/student - a disciple. In the New Testament, a disciple is one who not only learns, but accepts and adverse to the instruction given to them, making it their personal everyday way of living .

Luke 6:40 - A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.

• we are called to become like Jesus and help others become like Him too!

Three-Dimensional Discipleship 

1. Up (Father)

   • Reconnect with our Father God through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. 

2. In (Family)

   • We are connected. We can’t do this apart from our brothers and sisters. United in Christ. 

3. Out (World)

   • Salt and light, ambassadors and witnesses to the world! We exist to reach out into the world to see them become like Jesus too!