Life You Were Meant to Live: A Mind at Peace (Handout)

This blog entry is an appendix to the teaching “A Mind at Peace.” Below is a link to the handout we talked about in that teaching

To download the handout from Sunday Click HERE.

Join us on Sunday’s at 9:30 a.m. for worship. You can find out more about Pathway by visiting www.pathway-church.org

SpringLife: Celebrate Good Times

Title: Celebrate Good Times
Text: Luke8:5-15

In this teaching we look at the discipline of Celebration. We considered the role of Joy & Hope as it relates to how a Christ follower responds to lifes trials. We then considered what it means to be blessed and how obedience is critical to a life filled with Joy & Hope and as a result, celebration.

SpringLife: Confessions of a Dying Plant

Title: Confessions of a Dying Plant
Text: Luke8:5-15

Jesus said the weeds in our lives are those things that choke out the life that God would have us live. He got very specific and said they were life’s worries, riches, and pleasures. These “weeds” keep our life from growing into maturing believers.In this teaching we are going to focus on the “Discipline of Confession” and it’s role in keeping us “weed” free. In James 5:16 we find, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Out of this passage we discovered that the discipline of confession includes:

Ownership – I have to own my sin and not blame it or depreciate it
Encouragement – I need people in my life who will pray with me to overcome this sin
Grace Filled - my life is to be characterized by righteousness. That happens when I cease from my strivings and endeavor to live in Christ’s righteousness.

SpringLife: Confessions of a Dying Plant

Text: Luke 8:5-15Teaching Synopsis
Jesus said the weeds in our lives are those things that choke out the life that God would have us live. He got very specific and said they were life’s worries, riches, and pleasures. These “weeds” keep our life from growing into maturing believers.

In this teaching we are going to focus on the “Discipline of Confession” and it’s role in keeping us “weed” free.  In James 5:16 we find, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

For a lot of people, confession is something you do with a priest, in a box, at a church. I’m not sure that’s what James had in mind.  So what did James have in mind?  Here are some questions I’d love for you to help me answer:

• What has been the role of confession in your life?
• What insights do you have to the meaning of confession?
• What bothers you about confessing your sins to someone?
• What are the character qualities you would look for in a person you would confess to?

I look forward to your thoughts!

SpringLife: Rooted in Rocks

Title: Rooted in Rocks
Text: Luke8:5-15

Have you ever felt spiritually alive and vibrant…only to have it fade faster than it came? Jesus says it’s a sign of a hear that is filled with “rocks.” The things you want to grow in your life, can’t, because there is no moisture to feed and nourish the roots.

In this teaching we look at the discipline of Silence as a means to bring “moisture” into our hearts and lives. Thomas A. Kempis said, “If you avoid unncessary talk and aimless visits, listening to news and gossip, you will find plenty of time to spend in meditation on holy things.” When I choose silence…

• I listen for One Voice
• I make God my Defender
• I choose to Speak

To exercise this discipline, here are two questions to ask:
1) When will I be silent before God?
2) where will I be silent before God?

SpringLife: In-Roads to the Heart

Title: In-Roads to the Heart
Text: Luke 8:5-15

In this teaching we looked at the Parable of the Sower. There are four souls mentioned in Jesus’ story, we looked at the first one. The “road” was probably a path that was made through a farmers field during the time the land laid fallow. In this teaching we considered the Disicpline of Submission and how that breaks the in-roads we have allowed the world to make into our lives.

SpringLife: That Stinks? (teaching)

Title: That Stinks!
Text: Isaiah58:1-12

This past Sunday we looked deeper at what it means to be God’s field. In this teaching we look at what it means to commit ourselves to God’s, “All Things Plan.” When we believe that God can use everything and anything in our lives to bring about good, we will let Him use the “crap” of our lives (old regrets, things that have happened to us, etc.) to bring about a “bountiful harvest.” A practical way to determine if we believe in the “all things plan” is to look at our reaction to the discipline of sabbath.

A Sabbath is characterized by…

• Pulling the Brake of Life
• Putting Away the Lists
• Luxury w/ friends and family
• Honoring God

SpringLife: Tilling Up Rocks (teaching)

Title: Tilling Up Rocks
Text: Isaiah58:1-12

Have you ever felt that God owes you? I have. I’ve lived a pretty good and clean life…God owes me a blessed one…right? In my mind I’ve created a ledger of the great things that I’ve done that should garner his approval. But that’s not how it works, God can’t be manipulated like that.

In Isaiah 58:1-12 God tells Israel that they have used the spiritual discipline of fasting for personal gain. In this teaching we looked at what are some of the supernatural results of fasting. We also provided a handout which you can download by clicking here. Here is what we discovered out of this passage:

• Fasting reveals my Indifference
• Fasting reveals my Injustice
• Fasting reveals my Light

Links to Resources:

• Fasting PDF File
• Sermon Prep Blog – help w/ the upcoming sermon by sharing your thoughts and reactions.