Freshwater: Check Your Altitude!

Freshwater

Located in the wilds of Wyoming, the name Freshwater was chosen as a Western analogy to Christ. Just as He is the Living Water, and we must have Him to have eternal life, any desert dweller knows the importance of fresh water to life, both for self, and the nourishment of crops or livestock. By taking nourishment in God and His word, we strengthen our own relationship with Him, our faith, and the quality and abundance of our fruitfulness.

Our keystone verse is from Jeremiah, Chapter 17, Verse 8: "For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see whenSave heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."

The fruit that we speak of is mentioned in Galatians 5:22
"²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, ²³Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

And the heat could be anything we experience that might test our faith in God; trials and tribulations, relationships, anything that focuses our love and attention anywhere but on Him...

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Check Your Altitude!

Title: Check your altitude!

Theme: God has called us for His purpose.

Purpose: To be bold with God’s purpose.

The text for this sermon comes from 2 Timothy, Chapter 1, verses seven through nine. ⁷For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. ⁸Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; ⁹Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

A pilot has to file a flight plan before he can take off. The flight plan tells where the plane is going, the path it will take to get there, even the expected speed and altitude while it is in the air. God’s word is our flight plan. He’s filed the destination, the path we need to take to get there, and what we need to do along the way. As the pilot, He’s always in charge. As the navigator, He knows where we need to go and how to get there. We must trust in God to take us where we need to be.

God tells us that we do not need to fear in 2 Timothy 1:7, ⁷For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. He’s also let us know that is with us wherever we go (Joshua 1:9), and that He will never leave us (Hebrews 13:5).

Just knowing that God is always there for us is only part of the picture. He’s also got a plan for each of us (Jeremiah 29:11). A plan that we need to follow boldly, without being ashamed of what He has given us to do (2 Timothy 1:8). We should not be conformed by the world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds, proving the will of God.

God also has a specific purpose for each of us to fulfill, an assignment if you will (Ephesians 1:11). He has called us to that purpose (Romans 8:28), and we can trust Him to help us fulfill that purpose with His strength and grace (2 Timothy 1:9).

God assigned us each a specific purpose, but He knew that we would not be able to do it alone, so He equipped us with His strength and grace so that we could go forward and fulfill that purpose (2 Timothy 1:9). He gave us a spirit of power, of love, and told us to be strong and of good courage (2 Timothy 1:7, Joshua 1:9).