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New Life COTR
Sunday February 10, 2008
FIRST THINGS FIRST
“Why Tithe”
INTRODUCTION: Today it is my goal to convince you to tithe. Tithing is for your benefit.
Malachi 3:6-12- Turn and Read
If you don’t tithe you are under a curse. I believe tithing is for your good.
If I found a cure for cancer would you want me to share that with you?
GOD SAID: “I THE LORD DO NOT CHANGE.”
The Immutability of God- “I do not change.” The reason God can’t change is because He’s already perfect. If God could change He could get better. You can’t improve on perfection.
If God said 3000 years ago, “I’m 6’0” tall would He still be 6’0” tall today?
3000 years ago God said “The tithe belongs to Me.” Does it still belong to God today? YES! He can’t change!
God makes statements that are related to His person, to who He is. It’s a principle with God that He’ll always be first! He can never be second.
The tithe falls under this principle. It’s an ordinance of the Bible. Tithe was before and after the law.
Here’s what God is saying, “The tithe tells me something about you.”
TRANSITION: Four things about tithing today.
I. TITHING IS A TEST
Tithing is a test of your heart.
Why would we ever argue about being blessed? God says, “I’ll open up the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing there’s not room enough to receive.”
And we argue about that. Why would we argue? It’s the devil!
TITHING IS A TEST OF THE HEART.
Matthew 6:21- “For where your treasure is there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 15:8- “These people honor me with there lips, but their hearts are far from me.”
They say they love me, but they don’t honor me!
If you put your treasure in the house of God, your heart will be there.
TITHE MEANS TENTH AND THE NUMBER TEN REPRESENTS TESTING IN THE BIBLE.
1. How many plagues were in Egypt? (God tested Pharoahs heart.)
2. How many commandments did God give Moses?
3. How many times did God test Israel in the wilderness?
4. How many times were Jacobs wages changed?
5. How many days was Daniel tested in Daniel chapter 1?
6. How many virgins were tested in Matthew 25?
7. How many days was the church in Revelation 2:10 tested?
THE NUMBER 10 REPRSENTS TESTING. EVERY TIME YOU GET PAID YOU’RE TESTED!
Some of you are failing that test and the Bible says you’re cursed!
I thought Jesus bore the curses on the cross?
Did Jesus bare sin on the cross? Do you still sin?
Did Jesus bare sickness on the cross? Do you still get sick?
You must appropriate what Jesus did on the cross to receive the benefit of it.
TRANSITION: WHY TITHE? Tithing is a test of our hearts.
II. TITHING IS BIBLICAL
Many people don’t tithe because they don’t believe it’s in the Bible.
Genesis 14:18-20- Turn and read
This is 500 years before the law.
Abraham represents our Spiritual Father and Melchizedek represents Jesus.
Genesis 28:22- “and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”
400 years before the law our Spiritual Fathers tithed. Why? Because it was a principal.
Leviticus 27:30- “A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.”
Deuteronomy 26:1,2,12-15
Take your tithe with you to a place of worship.
I’ve taken the Holy tithe from my house and I’ve brought it to your house. I’ve not done anything else with it.
I didn’t send it to a TV ministry, a missionary. I didn’t pay my bills with it or pay the kids Christian school tuition.
I BROUGHT IT TO YOUR HOUSE!
The tithe goes into the storehouse. The place God has chosen to make His name abide. This is a principle all through scripture of the place the tithe is supposed to go!
I haven’t given it to a charity, it goes to the house of God!
The Biblical principle is 10% to the house of God.
Matthew 23:23 Turn and Read (A NEW TESTAMENT PASSAGE)
Hebrews 7:1-10- Turn and Read
When I give I’m not giving to man but to God!
TRANSITION: Why Tithe? Tithing is a test. Tithing is biblical.
III. TITHING IS A BENEFIT
2Chronicles 31:4-10 (MESSAGE TRANSLATION)
When they began to tithe, God blessed them.
Tithing is a benefit.
TRANSITION: Tithing is a test. Tithing is Biblical. Tithing is a Benefit.
IV. TITHING IS AN EXPRESSION OF LOVE
Do your actions back up your words?
Matthew 15:8- “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”
Matthew 6:21- “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
What if I told my wife I loved her but everything I have is mine and she can’t have any?
You’d call me a hypocrite.
Tithing is an expression of my love. Tithing is personal to God!
ILLUSTRATION: I’m going away and I want three people to care for my wife. My bride.
Jesus said: “I’m going away. Take care of my wife.” Doesn’t the Bible refer to the church as the Bride of Christ.”
CONCLUSION: This is personal to Jesus. Every time you get paid you’re telling Jesus just how much you love Him. You respect Him. You love His bride.
WHY TITHE? (1) Because it’s a test (2) Because it’s Biblical (3) Because it’s a benefit. (4) Because it’s an expression of your love to God.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Why Tithe - Pastor Kenneth Woolf
Sunday, February 3, 2008
The Place of Prayer - Pastor Kenneth Woolf
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New Life COTR
Sunday February 3, 2008
FIRST THINGS FIRST
“The Place of Prayer”
Matthew 6:5-8- Turn and Read
WHEN YOU PRAY!
You will never put God first in your life until you put prayer first in your life.
Make prayer a priority. A set time and a set place. NOT PRAYER ON THE GO!
If we don’t have the time and decency to stop everything and pray and seek God I’m not sure we’re putting God first in our life.
If we’re to busy to go into a room and pray, we’re in trouble.
When the church began to grow in the Book of Acts it got very busy.
People began to say to the disciples, “you need to spend more time doing busy things.
Acts 6:1-4- Turn and Read
The Disciples said “we must give ourselves to prayer and ministry of the Word.”
Prayer was first!
What brings the unction and anointing? Prayer!
Without prayer you will live a dry boring life.
The enemy has deceived us into thinking that prayer is boring. SPENDING TIME WITH GOD IS BORING!
If you think prayer is boring it’s only because you don’t do it.
Mark 14:23- “After He had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,”
Luke 5:16- “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
Luke 6:12- “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.”
If Jesus needed to pray while on earth, do you think you might need to?
Mark 1:35- “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”
RISING EARLY TO PRAY! Would it be worth your time to begin your day with God?
First things First!
HOW DO YOU PRAY?
In Matthew 6 Jesus tells us how to pray. He gives us a contextual model of prayer.
Matthew 6:9-13- Turn and Read
TRANSITION: How do you pray?
I. PRAISE-(Verse 9)
If you want to have an audience with God, PRAISE HIM!
Psalm 100:4- “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise His name.”
II. PERMISSION-(verse 10)
God, what are you permitting in my life? God I can’t make it through the day without you!
“I DELIGHT TO DO YOUR WILL O GOD!”
III. PROVISION-(verse 11)
We get angry at God for not answering a prayer we didn’t pray
Matthew 6:31-34,
Matthew 6:8- “Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”
BUT WE MUST ASK
IV. PEACE-(verse 12)
Peace with God and peace with others.
1John 1:9- “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all righteousness.”
V. PROTECTION-(verse 13)
“Lead us not into temptation.”
Ephesians 6:18- “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”
Praying in the Spirit is part of our warfare everyday.
WE NEED TO PRAY EVERYDAY.
Matthew 26:41- “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
You guys are going to fall, close the door on temptation through prayer.
CONCLUSION: THE BEST THING ABOUT PRAYER!
WHERE DOES THE FATHER LIVE? In your house, in a room behind a door. I wonder how many are to busy to spend time with the Father. We wonder why we can’t overcome. THE BEST THING ABOUT PRAYER IS NOT WHAT YOU TALK ABOUT BUT WHO YOU SPEND TIME WITH!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
How to Manage your Mouth - Pastor Kenneth Woolf
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New Life COTR
Sunday January 27, 2008
FIRST THINGS FIRST
“How to Manage your Mouth”
INTRODUCTION: We love to talk. There are talk shows on every channel. Everybody always has something to say.
The Average American has 30 conversations a day.
In one year your conversations will fill 66 books of 800 pages a book.
If you’re a man you speak on the average 20,000 words a day and if you’re a woman you speak 30,000.
Like the guy who was asked, “Do you resent that your wife always has the last word?” He replied, “No, I’m just glad when she finally gets to it.”
Some of us have the natural ability to say the wrong thing at the wrong time.
Our mouths get us into a lot of trouble. In your Bible the book of James talks more about the tongue than any other book in the New Testament. Every chapter in James says something about managing your mouth.
James 3:2- “We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.”
James says that if you control your mouth your perfect. Not sinless. But the word “perfect in the Greek literally means “Mature, Healthy.”
When you go to the doctor and say I’m not feeling well, the first thing the doctor says is, “stick out your tongue.”
Your tongue reveals what’s going on inside of you, both physically and spiritually.
James tells us that we’ve got to get our tongues under control.
TRANSITION: Why must I watch what I say?
I. MY TONGUE DIRECTS WHERE I GO
My tongue has tremendous influence and control over my life.
Where are you headed in life? Where do you want to be ten years from now? Look at your conversation. What do you talk about the most?
James 3:3,4- “When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.”
A 95 pound jockey can control a 2,000 or 3,000 pound horse by a bit in the horses mouth.
THAT’S THE POWER OF YOUR TONGUE.
Your tongue controls the direction of your life wherever you want to go!
Our tongue is like a rudder that steers a ship. It directs the way we go.
FIRST THINGS FIRST, MY TONGUE DIRECTS WHERE I GO!
TRANSITION: Why must I watch what I say?
II. MY TONGUE CAN DESTROY WHATEVER I HAVE
Imagine a beautiful forest with tall beautiful trees everywhere. Now imagine it in one minute up in smoke, completely destroyed with a little tiny match. It only takes a spark to get a fire going.
In 1983 in Australia, one fire overnight destroyed 600 miles of land, villages and livestock. ALL FROM A SINGLE MATCH.
James says your tongue can do that.
James 3:5-8- Turn and read
A careless camper can destroy a national forest overnight. A careless word can destroy a life overnight.
Gossip is like fire. It spreads quickly and it wrecks havoc.
I wonder how many people because of a careless word have ruined a marriage, a career, or their reputation, or the reputation of another or their church, or a friendship.
MY TONGUE NOT ONLY HAS THE POWER TO DIRECT MY LIFE BUT IT ALSO HAS THE POWER TO DESTROY WHAT I HAVE IF I DON’T LEARN TO CONTROL IT.
Fire and words under control can bring tremendous warmth and light, but fire and words out of control can be devastating. It can destroy miles and miles of homes and lands and peoples.
Proverbs 21:23(Good News)- “If you want to stay out of trouble be careful what you say.”
Proverbs 18:20 (Good News)- “You have to live with the consequences of everything you say.”
Your tongue is like poison the Bible says. You can assassinate somebody with your words. Assassinate their character. The tongue is a deadly weapon.
TRANSITION: Why must I watch what I say? My tongue directs my life. My tongue can destroy what I have.
III. MY TONGUE DISPLAYS WHO I AM
It reveals my real character. It tells what’s really on the inside of me.
James 3:9-12- Turn and Read
The highest use of your mouth is praising God! Then we get in the car and argue about where we’re going to eat lunch.
Isn’t it amazing how quickly our attitude can change? We’re like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
We speak lovingly in one breath and then lash out in the next!
WHAT COMES OUT OF THE WELL IS WHAT’S ON THE INSIDE OF IT.
Matthew 12:34- “….For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Matthew 15:18- “But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things make a man unclean.”
THE PROBLEM: THE HEART!
THE SOLUTION:
1. Get a New Heart
Ezekiel 18:31- “Rid yourself of all the offenses you have committed and get a new heart and a new spirit.”
Painting the outside of the pump doesn’t make any difference if there’s poison in the well!
2Corinthians 5:17- “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. The old has passed away. Behold all things have become new.”
Pray like David in Psalm 51 “Create in me a clean heart, O God.”
2. Ask God for help every Day
You need supernatural power to control your tongue. You can’t do it on your own.
Psalm 141:3- “Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.”
Psalm 19:14- “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”
Sidlow Baxter: “The proof that God’s Spirit is in your life is not that you speak in an unknown tongue but you control the tongue you do know.”
Get a new heart. Ask God for help every Day.
3. Think before you speak
James 1:19- “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”
CONCLUSION: What does your tongue say about you? What does it reveal about you? If we played back a tape of your conversations you’ve had this last week what would we learn about you?
What direction is your tongue leading you? Our tongues control the direction of our lives.
Maybe you need to ask for forgiveness from some you’ve said the wrong things to. Maybe you need to apologize to your wife or your husband.
FIRST THINGS FIRST: MANAGE YOUR MOUTH.
1. Get a new heart.
2. Ask God for help every day.
3. Think before you speak.
