May 2, 2010 - Life on the Porch #4:

Experiencing the Presence (Matthew 1:23; 18:20; 25:40; 28:18-20)

Kernel Message:

• Life on the Porch #4:

This is part of a 4 lesson series that helps remind and define us as a church family. The lessons focus upon:

1. DNA Testing - the five values or motives that have defined us over the years
2. Embedded in our Souls - the theme "To live for Christ and Share Him with others" as the blood that courses through our body at Southern Hills.
3. The I's Have It - using Inviting, Including, and Involving to be our map that shows what we are trying to do with each person who comes into the Southern Hills family. We will emphasize that we want to move folks from "membership" (cycle one) to "ministry" (cycle two) to "mentoring" (cycle three). This will be a short message tied to communion because this is WATS Sunday.
4. Experiencing the Presence - how do we know if people are progressing down the map toward maturity? We will use the four Immanuel sayings in Matthew to help define what this means and stress that folks want and need to experience God with us.

• Experiencing the Presence - This week's lesson
  1. For many people, God is an idea they learn about in religious studies, not a living Father with whom they have relationship. Yet as we have learned in our study about the Holy Spirit, God gives us His Spirit so we can have an Abba Father relationship with Him. But what does this mean and how can we know we have it?
  2. Using the Maturity Map from last week (using the 3 I's), we want to define biblically what it means to be Invited -> Included -> Involved. We will use the four "Immanuel Sayings" of Matthew:
     • Invited -- Knowing Jesus through His story and being caught up in that story, culminating in baptism and a life modeled after His (Matthew 1:23).
     • Included -- Brought into family life where we experience forgiveness and accountability, where we offer forgiveness and confession, and live in the type of family life based on Jesus' values so that we can experience the presence of Jesus (Matthew 18:20)
     • Involved -- Caught up the life of Jesus and living in the family of Jesus ultimately means we are actively involved in the mission of Jesus. This involves two things:
       1. Acts of Compassion (Matthew 25:40)
       2. Actively growing others to maturity in Christ (Matthew 28:18-20)

Practical Pieces of the Message:

• Giving folks a clear map of what we are trying to do and where they are on the process and tying this to a Biblical mandate

Key Point:

• Challenging folks to commit to grow in the area where ...
  • They feel most called
  • And where they feel most needs growth

Key Scriptures:

• Matthew 1:23
• Matthew 18:20
• Matthew 25:40
• Matthew 28:18-20

Drama, Media, & Connecting Pieces:

• Pre-video:
• Key Video:
• God Story Videos:

• Scripture Reading:

• Colossians 1:28-29
  

Sundown: From Max Lucado's Traveling Light

1. Theme:
2. Speaker:
3. Worship Leader: