Sermon Summaries

How we grow One of our goals is to be a people of yielded minds and yielded hearts. God’s destiny for you is to be formed in the image of Christ. Christlikeness mean “To think, perceive, act, response like Christ.” We need to be so Christlike that when we people see us it needs to be so evident. Being formed in the image of Christ = GROWTH. We cannot grow spiritually alone and we cannot grow outside of servanthood. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren Romans 8:29 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 4 ways we help each other grow Affirming each other’s worth. – How do we actually do this? 1.1 Showing acceptance Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you that God will be given glory. Romans 15:7 1.2 Showing attention. What we put our attention on grows Galatians 6:10 | Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people especially those who belong to the family of believers 1.3 Showing Affection 1.4 Showing Appreciation 12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 Pray For Each Other’s Growth Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God. Colossians 4:12 ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 14 My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, 15 this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. 16 I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit – not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength – 17 that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, Ephesians 3:14-17 Admitting our mistakes – Sometimes we’re afraid that if we admit our mistakes we may be met with rejection. It’s uncomfortable but necessary. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbour, for we are all members of one body. Ephesians 4:25 So admit your sins to each other, and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:10 Encourage each other’s commitment – It is easier to work out when you are working out with someone Stay clear of silly stories that get dressed up as religion. Exercise daily in God – no spiritual flabbiness, please! 1 Timothy 4:7 … that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. Romans 1:12 Unless we are growing, we are dying. Growth doesn’t happen in isolation but rather in connection and relationship.

As we begin to learn what it means to connect and form relationships, we need to remember that we need to come from a place of honour. 4 Negative Attitudes That Destroy Relationship  (Part 2) 3. Insecurity Insecurity basically means you and I are not secure in who we are. We don’t have a firm foundation in who we are and who we are in Christ. If you don’t know who are you are in Christ you will be insecure in every area of your life. Why? Because you are basing your identity on things that are temporal. Things that are here today and gone tomorrow. For example, if you place your identity in your marriage, what happens when your marriage ends? If you place your identity in your children what happens when your children leave? If we know we are loved by God then we will always operate from a place of “I don’t need to measure up to someone else’s idea of who I should or shouldn’t be.” The fear of human opinion disables; trusting in God protects you from that. Proverbs 29:25 Insecurity prevents intimacy. What we fear in relationships:  1. Exposure – exposure for who you really are  2. Rejection – wanting acceptance God is saying He loves you no matter what. God sees everything, you can’t hide anything from Him. That’s the beauty of our God. We can be vulnerable in front of Him. So, because we’re afraid to be vulnerable in front of God it leads to fear of rejection. That filters through in lives and in our relationships. He said “I hear you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. And I hid.” Genesis 3:10 This message essentially unfolds how when we are vulnerable we don’t want ourselves exposed because we don’t want God to see who we really are because we don’t like who we are, because we are insecure. Do you see how the process of insecurity unfolds? It proves the need for a relationship with God so we can know who we are and who’s we are. Secure yourself in Christ and you will find that your relationship will be strengthened. Insecurity DESTROYS relationships. Love BUILDS them. If you are feeling insecure in relationship chances are it isn’t the other person making you feel that way. It’s a reflection of your relationship with God, showing you that it is strained.  Such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced His perfect love. 1 John 4:18 When we know how much Jesus loves us, we won’t feel pressure to prove ourselves to anyone.  4. Resentment Resentment is bitter indignation at having been treated unfairly. NEWSFLASH: The reality is you will be treated unfairly in your marriage and in your church. Do you know why? Because you’re dealing with human beings. Resentment can also unfold as an offense. It’s the way of the enemy to take you off-course of what God is trying to do in your life.  21 When my heart was filled with bitterness and my mind was seized with envy, 22 I was stupid and I did not understand. I was like a dumb animal in your presence,  Psalm 73: 21-22 Resentment turns your heart into a desert, and it dries you up emotionally. Forgiveness is the antidote to resentment. Forgiveness is letting go of the pain and letting go of my right to get even “bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you must also do Colossians 3:13 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval. 19 Let us, therefore, make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall. Romans 14: 17-21 15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector. 18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be[d] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Matthew 18: 15-18 Bear (endure, carry) one another’s burdens and troublesome moral faults, and in this way fulfill and observe perfectly the law of Christ (the Messiah) and complete what is lacking [in obedience to it] Galatians 6:2

Heads up! This message may challenge you but it is necessary. Relationships are more of a spiritual thing than they are a natural thing. The one of the main reasons why you have strained relationships is because your relationship with God may be strained. Relationships starts with God. He needs to be at the forefront always. For example, marriage is a spiritual thing. It won’t work if God is not not the centre of your marriage. You se,e not having a relationship with God has a snowball effect. No relationship with God means your marriage will be strained, then that filters through the way you parent. If you don’t have a relationship with God, there is just no chance of bearing fruit in spiritual things. What destroys relationships and what builds them? In the same way, even though we are many individuals, Christ makes us one body and individuals who are connected to each other. Romans 12:5 It’s inevitable that in the body of Christ we won’t always agree with one other because we are all different. The only people who agree on everything are dead people. If you are alive and alive in Christ, you are going to have disagreements. You won’t always see eye to eye. You should be concerned if you don’t have conflict. You know why? Because conflict is a sign of growth.  One of the purposes of Destiny Groups, is to teach us relational skills. The relational skills you will learn in Destiny Groups will filter throughout various avenues in your life. E.g., work and home.  How do we stay connected? We’ve got to become good at having healthy relationships. Every relational problem comes down to one of 4 negative attitudes.  The truth is it doesn’t always come down to the devil. It’s mostly up to us.  Selfishness – This is probably one of the biggest problems you’ll have in any relationship. Human nature insists that we always think about ourselves first. It’s all about me, myself, and I. If your approach to relationships is selfishness, you are bound to butt heads with people. Often, we put more energy into building relationships than maintaining them. Selfishness destroys relationships, selflessness builds them.  Selfishness only causes trouble. You are much better off to trust the Lord. Proverbs 28:25 Selfishness = “Me, myself and I” Selflessness = “How better can I serve you”  And look out for one another’s interests, not just for your own. Philippians 2:4 Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others – ignoring God! harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.  Galatians 6:7-8 First respond to God, not what others do. My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. Galatians 5: 16 If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me. Matthew 10:39 Pride – This leads to conflict Pride leads to conflict; those who take advice are wise. Proverbs 13:10 Pride is expressed in: Criticism  Competitiveness and Comparing Cannot admit when you are struggling/wrong Likewise you younger people submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothes with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5 Grace is unlimited, the access you have to grace is unlimited. But the degree to which you operate in humility will limit the grace extended to you. Whatever relationship you’re in, you need to be humble. If you want grace in your relationships, or marriage be humble.  4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 He humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Philippians 2: 4-8 The attitude that Jesus had was never arrogant because of the favour that was upon Him. Instead, He humbled Himself because he knew he was a servant of the people. So, our question to you is, in our relationships, how much are we serving one another? Not just to feel better about ourselves but really asking how can you serve someone else. If you are going to try and do this on your own strength, it wont work. Because selflessness is not human nature.   We will get to points 3 and 4 of the 4 negative attitudes in relationships next week.

We are better together! We will be sharing with you, how to be connected to the body of Christ. You cannot be connected in isolation. You must be connected to the body of Christ and to other people. We are a society that values independence. The idea of independence is not of God. The Word of God says no man can stand alone. The key to happiness is not independence, it is inter-dependence. This life is too challenging for us to go through it alone. Backtrack to 2020 March/April, for the first few days we were happy to be on “holiday”, but reality sets in and weeks after that we started realising that we actually need relationships and interaction. This is integral. Interdependence is integral. I have something you need, and you have something I need. Since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other and of us needs all the others Romans 12:5 We need one another in the body of Christ. To God, community is not optional. We come together for a common unity. The great thing about community is that it is not based on ethnicity. We come together from different backgrounds. We cannot fulfil God’s purpose by ourselves. There’s an African proverb that says “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” If you want to go fast, then please, by all means, but our faith journey is exactly that, a journey. It is a marathon. You need to go on a journey with others. 5 reasons we must be CONNECTED in a COMMUNITY I need others to WALK with me Colossians 2: 6 | Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him We were never meant to walk through life alone. You are meant to go through life with others because you and I were built to require relationships. We are called for connection and not isolation. God created us to want a family. That’s why as New Season we value connecting. So, that you never have to walk alone. Why walking together is better. It’s safer It’s supportive It’s smarter Imagine being so isolated that not one person has taken time to call in and check on you. You need to have relationships so that people can care for you. What happens when you’re in hospital and no one knows that because you are so isolated. Its not healthy. Walking together is better because its safer, supportive and smart. Only fools trust in what they alone think Proverbs 8:26 You are not a fool, because only fools trust in what they alone think Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone.” I will make a helper who is just right for him. Genesis 2:18 This concept that you cannot be alone is biblical. You CANNOT be alone. God created 2 families. -Natural family: what you are born into -Spiritual family: what you are ingrafted into – you make choice to be in this family. The moment you accept Jesus you become a part of a spiritual family. We encourage you to be a part of a spiritual family. We cannot always rely on our natural family because they are not always Godly. They will not be able to support you in your spiritual journey Hebrews 10:25 | not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching. We encourage you to not give up on Destiny groups and worshipping corporately. Its unhealthy to only go to church every 3 to 6 weeks. 1 Corinthians 14:26 | So here’s what I want you to do. When you gather for worship, each one of you be prepared with something that will be useful for all: Sin a hymn, teach a lesson, tell a story, lead a prayer, provide insight. To be a healthy believer you need: -Large group worship – where you are being instructed and being taught in the things of God -Small group fellowship – where you can have meaningful relationships We’re made for relationships. God wired us that way. I need people to WORK with me For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 What God has called you to is your ministry. Its better to have a partner than go at it alone. Share the work, share the wealth Ecclesiastes 4:9 We have a ministry, purpose and calling. The more we work for things of God we are going to get tired. You need someone else to walk the journey with you so that when you are tired, someone is there to build you up. If Pastor Bojan is running the New Season ship by himself constantly, he will eventually get tired, and that would be bad news for us. He has a support system to ensure he doesn’t get completely burned out. Community is God’s answer to fatigue. I need others to WATCH out for me in life Our question to you is, is anyone watching out for you? Don’t be upset when someone who cares about you challenges you. They’re doing that because they care about you. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others Philippians 2:4 Satan cannot hurt God. So, he will try hurt his children. That’s why you need a community around you. To help you, support you and minister to you. 10 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. 12 A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for triple-braided cord is not easily broken. Ecclesiastes 4:10 & 12 I need others to