It was based on when King Saul only partialy obeyed the Word of the Lord.  I examined motives, the excuses and God’s hate of disobedience, and he delight in obedience.  To finish I spoke on the help we have from the Holy Spirit and the importance of not trying to “go it alone” like King Saul was doing!

See below the Sermon Notes (Leader Notes for the House Groups) and the Discussion Points.  Feel free to use at your own churches.  If you have any feedback, please do contact me.

Recording will be available soon.

Leader Notes – To Obey is Better than Sacrifice

Discussion Points – To Obey is Better than Sacrifice

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ore would it be for a soldier to rush out to battle without protective clothing?  Without the tools to succeed in battle?

As Christians we can all to often forget that we do have armor to protect us, and tools to enable us fight the battles and win the wars.

The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. (NIV)

Surely a wake up call!  Are you struggling with Sin?  Are you feeling far from God?  Is your relationship with the Lord where you would like it to be?  Have you back slidden?  The WAKE UP,  ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!  The day is at hand!

So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. (NIV)

Turn away from sin, that is turn completely away from sin.  And don the armor that our Lord gives us.

Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.

These things bring us down, they detract from our relationship with Him.  They hold us back, they enslave us.  As soldiers of Christ they render us ineffective.  Do you have a passion in your heart to see God move?  If so, living in Sin will only hold you back.  The pleasures of sin are temporary, and lead to spiritual death.  Where as you will find pure joy, fulfilment and completeness in the Living God!

So as in verse 14, don’t dwell on those things that tempt us, dont dwell on the darkness, for where your thoughts are, your heart is sure to follow!  Rather think of heavenly things.  Clothes yourselves in Jesus.

He will protect us and keep us, fulfil us, equip us, and enable us to be effective soldiers of Him.

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Sure I have….  Havent I?  I am nice to people…

Thinking about it in detail, our neighbour is not simply those who live next door and behind our physical homes, but litterally everyone!  It says quite clearly in James we shouldnt have favourites, and I know for a fact I have been guilty of that in the past, avoiding someone else, and “bee-lining” for someone who is more popular, easier to talk to or have less problems to “moan” about!

You see the problem there is I displayed selfishness, and by that simple action, broke the “law of loving”.

OK, but I have never murdered anyone, nor have I stolen from a bank, robbed a car or anything terribly bad!

 Well, when standing in court for a driving offence be it speeding or parking, it will not help your case should you say, “But I havent murdered, anyone your honour!”.  The fact is, a law has been broken, thus the penalty must be served.

The Bible is clear also, that the wages of sin is death.  And if it were not for our Lord God, through the death and ressurection of His Son Jesus Christ, there would be no hope for us!  We would be no doubt be sent away was it not for His love.

Now as Christians, it is clear we have a calling to keep this law.

Speak and act as people who will be judged by the law that sets us free.
James 2:12  - GNB 

It is a desire of our hearts, as we are freed from slavery to sin (Rom 8:2).  As part of our relationship of love with the Lord, it is natural to want to live a life for Him, to follow Jesus’ example and live like Him.  Examine your heart, examine your motives, and if there is anything that you are struggling with, leave it at Jesus feet, seeking His help.  Invite His Holy Spirit to open the eyes of your heart, to guide you, and to strengthen you in the name of Jesus, Amen.

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It is amazing to think that God is our father, that He was with us when we took our first steps, even when we lay in bed at night scared of the “bogey man” God was there!  The day we chose to follow Him, He was there!

 He is the perfect father, who will never abandon us, who will always be listening to us, always loving and caring.

For parents, this passage is very touching as it is very easy to apply this situation to your own family, and how you would feel in the same situation.  As parents we love our children unconditionally, they do not earn it!  How intense therefore the pain, if our Children were to rebel, or reject our love and care.

God’s love for us led Him to offer the biggest sacrifice He could ever have given;

“…How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure…”
Stuart Townsend 

Thank you Father God for your sacrifice, for your immense love.  Thank you for your Father heart, that loves us unconditionally, that extends your grace to those who seek you, that loves us as your very own children.

It is such an encouragement to find a passage like this in the old testament that really reminds me and drives home that our God is a loving Father God.  I rarely dip into the old testament as I am always focusing on the Gospel, and yet God was with man for hundreds of years before He sent His Son, and by reading what transpired, really helps us to build up a picture of our loving father, as well as see the events that led to that manger and eventually the cross.

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I take for granted, and how very little credit I offer to the Lord for everything He has done in my life and the lives of countless others around me and accross the world!

I can thank the Lord for the very fact I woke up this morning!  Yes the Lord has given me another day.  I pray I use it wisely and for His glory.  What other things might we want to be thanking the Lord for in a morning?  I will list a few that come to mind.

Thankyou for:

• Giving His Son
• Loving me
• Family and friends
• Food on the table
• His beautiful creation
• Fellowship with others
• The car still works!

OK, my list is seemly random, but to make a point!  Psalm 92:4, reminds me how much God has done for us!  Jesus death for our Sins is mind blowing, and I cant thank the Lord enough.  What I often forget is that God doesnt stop there.  He has a hand on our lives, influencing those around us, caring for the creation around us, guiding our hearts and carrying us through those difficult times!

How often I take it all for granted, how often I forget to “declare my love” for Him in the morning, and my faith in Him in the evening (Psalm 92:2).

Check out my recent post about “Starting Right“.  And consider this.  What better way, to start the day, than spending time with God, praising, thanking, communicating with, listening to and growing in the Lord our God.

Thank you father.

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In recent months since my holiday, I have been spending time with the Lord in different ways.  It stemmed from a bad habit of not doing my daily readings during the holiday, thus continued afterwards in a “now and again” attitude.  I would read the word at work, or in an evening, and only when I had time and the end result was, in my experience, a feeling of spiritual “unhealthiness”.  I felt I mas neglecting my relationship with the Lord, and by only reading the word as and when, it wasnt sticking!  I was quickly forgetting what I had read or learnt within hours.

Why the morning

? – Psalm 5:1-3

I have realised that concentrating on God first thing in the morning when I wake up is the most important time.  By waiting till further in the day my brain has become full of problems I am dealing with at work, stress of life situations, and constant interruptions from collegues or family.  So getting up early again and maintaining this devotional blog will become my way of spending time with Him.

What better way to start the day, than spending time with Creator God!

I do encourage you, if you to struggle with a daily time with the Lord, or just to get time in your hectic lives to get up those 15 minutes earlier, read some scripture, make some notes if it helps (that why I do this blog to help me remember what I have learnt) and also pray.  You can get so many daily devotionals to help you if you struggle to find a place to start in the Bible, and they ususally have some very good write ups explaining the passage(s) you have just read.

Our Daily Bread and Word for Today are 2 I have used regularly and learnt so much from.

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offspring is will fed, well looked after, and even when it comes to flying the nest, the parents are still near by watching over their young.

Our Lord God cares for us and just as the Eagle, he is always hovering above us, always ready to swoop against the enemy to protect us, always there to help and guide us, a friend that will never leave us, nor let us down.  I think using the imagery of the Eagle, highlights how committed the Lord really is to us.  I understand that upon birth, some birds and animals abandon their young, and their young fend for themselves, but not the Eagle.  The Eagle remains attentive, and sees to the needs of the nest.  The Lord is even more committed to us that an Eagle is to it’s offspring.

He is there to pick us up when we fall, He is there to encourage us when we are down, He is there to share in our joy and our laughter, He never abandons us.  In those moments where I feel alone, or feel far from God, I am going to try to remember these verses and remember just as an Eagle, and just as in the wastelands from this passage, the Lord will always be there for me.

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Wisdom

I understand this to be the ability to advise in difficult situations, resolving arguments, solving problems etc. I don’t think it refers either to a worldly wisdom but one that is of a divine nature.

Knowledge

Knowledge of the Word, and being able to effectively communicate the Word and the Knowledge gained from it.

Faith

Matthew 17:19-20 talks of faith enabling you to achieve wonderful and amazing things. As believers we all have faith, however I think this refers to a more radical faith where the normal rationalisations we add to a situation no longer apply to those people, and the have complete and utter faith in the Lord for something.

Healing

Jesus healed the sick.  By the power of the Holy Spirit some are able to pray over the sick and the sick are healed.  I think healing can cover both physical and mental illnesses or afflictions.

Miraculous Powers

Seems to tie in with healing, however there are stories too of other miraculous things taking place in modern times, for example people being raised from the dead.

Prophecy

The ablitiy to receive pictures and Word direct from the Lord, and to then be able to effectively communicate these to the group or to the individual that picture or word is for.  I used to think that prophecy was about predicting the future, however it would seem it is more being a mouthpiece for God, speaking wisdom, knowledge, encouragement and advice into peoples situations.  Prophecy can be particularly effective when someone prophecies into a situation in your life, or into something you are thinking about, and yet they have no earthly knowledge of the situation!  This has happened to me on occasions and it is incredible.

Distinguishing Between Spirits

Often when I watch religious broadcasting, certain preachers will set off alarm bells in my mind.  Sometimes based on what they are saying, and others just the feeling that although what they are saying seems Biblically sound, their motive is not that of the Lord.  It is the ability to see what is of the Holy Spirit, and what is of satan.

Tongues and Interpretation

This is an often debated subject in the church and one I believe we are going to study together in the Lifegroup to better understand this gift.  I think in a nutshell that its the ability to talk in other languages and others have the ability to translate.  I will go into more detail in on tongues as and when we have studied it in more detail soon.

Bryn pointed out that throughout the Bible, there are other gifts of the Spirit mentioned to include:

Serving, Administration, Teaching, Encouragement, Giving, Leadership, Mercy, Helping Others, Hospitality, Interpretation of Dreams and Creative Arts.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but certainly highlights the wide breadth of gifts that the Holy Spirit can and will bestow on believers.

Why so many gifts, and why does he give them to us?  Firstly, these are gifts.  They are gifts of His grace, and not of our own doing.  He gives us these different gifts, to different people, I think to build up the church, as well as each other and to help advance His kingdom.  We all have different gifts at different levels to create balance within the Church so that we can act as one body.  Ann made a good point, if we all had the same gift for example, prophecy, we would never get through one Sunday service as everyone would be prophecying and there would be far to much to act upon!

With such a wide range of gifts at our own church, things really do work well.  We have people gifted with musical abilities, others with serving others (the welcoming team), others with leadership, others with administration (including finances etc) as well as others with serving (including those that always have the tea and coffee ready at the end of the service).  During the service also, we are lucky to have many wise, knowledgable people who bring word to us all, as well as prophecy.  The Lord has built up a dynamic Church, full of people with completely different gifts, all working together to grow His church.  Its is indeed amazing, exciting and wonderful.

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The Promise:

1Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

When you accept Jesus into your heart, you become a child of God and are automatically eligible for the inheritance of eternal life.

Longing for Rest:

2Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

Just like a long hard day, we long for rest and relaxation where we can unwind and leave the problems of that day behind us.  Its the same with life on earth!  It is tiring and we long to rest and be with our heavenly Father.

The Guarantee:

5Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given

us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

God sent his one and only Son, Jesus Christ to the sacrifice for our Sins. When we accept Jesus into our hearts, we are given the gift of Gods Holy Spirit as a guide, a strength and a comfort. And as this verse reminds us, as a guarantee of how serious God is about his promise to us.

Faith:

7We live by faith, not

by sight.

Unlike doubting Thomas, we believe in Jesus without needed to see Him.  We do not demand proof!  In my own life things have changed so much since I met Him that I can not deny His existence!  Looking at the beauty of creation, its impossible to imagine there was no creator!

Preparation:

10For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Matthew 6:19-24 – Treasures in Heaven.  We will be judged on that final day!  The things that we do for His glory will earn us spiritual rewards in heaven.  We don’t know what they are to be, but they must be awesome to be described as treasures!

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It is also our duty therefore, as we read on into verse 7, that we treat out government with respect. They have been given a position of high responsibility, and therefore we should not become caught in the web of negative words against them. The media today picks up very much upon the faults of government parties, as well as the individual faults of members in the name of entertainment and news. People gloat over this information, and use it to fuel their dislike of that person or party. We must not get involved in that world. Avoid reading papers that do this, or watching programs of a similar nature. We are to be obedient to the Lord: (Acts 23:5, Exodus 22:28).

Mark 12:17  – Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.

We do therefore have a responsibility to fund our government.  It helps support all the services that are provided, including the security and safety the police and fire services bring.  We should render unto our government the taxes they require without complaint.  If we get the “cash in hand” jobs, as tempting as it may be to keep, we should seek to do the right thing and ensure all taxes have been paid on all amounts of money in.

Why do this?  We do this as a sign of respect for those in Government that God has placed there, and also as an act of obedience to the Lord who has commanded we do this.

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