series unchained message - part 4 - message - sunday 04-24-16
TRANSCRIPT
THE BIBLE VERSES THAT UNDERGIRD
THIS ENTIRE SERIES!
MASK + MOSAIC + MERCY = MESSAGE
STEP 1:
To forget the past, you first gotta
remove the mask!
STEP 2:
God can turn broken pieces into
masterpieces!
STEP 3:
Forgiveness is setting a prisoner free only to find the
prisoner is me
STEP 4:
God can turn your greatest problem into His greatest platform
All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and
before you know it,
he brings us alongside someone else who is going
through hard times so that we can be there
for that person just as God was there for us.
(2 Corinthians 1:3-4 – The Message)
God can turn our mess into our message and our
test into our testimony!
TESTIMONYTelling the truth about what you saw, heard or
experienced. Describing What happened to you
We cannot stop talking about what we’ve seen and heard.
(Acts 4:20 – God’s Word)
MY HISTORY BECOMES “HIS STORY”
God helps us through our pain so that we can help
others through theirs!
What a wonderful God we have—he is . . . the one who so wonderfully comforts and
strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does he do
this?
So that when others are troubled, needing our
sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God
has given us. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 – Living
Bible)
PAUL’S HISTORY
Before he was “Paul” he was “Saul” a first-century
terrorist. He was a religious zealot intent on destroying anything or
anyone that was a threat to Judaism.
He hated Christ and Christians and was willing
to go to any lengths to keep this belief from spreading, including
persecution and murder.
He would stop at nothing to eradicate this
dangerous teaching from taking hold.
And Saul was not only consenting to Stephen’s death,
he was pleased and entirely approving. On that day a great and severe persecution broke
out against the church which was in Jerusalem;
and . . . Saul shamefully treated and laid waste the church continuously with
cruelty and violence;
entering house after house, he dragged out men and
women and committed them to prison. (Acts 8:1-3 – Amplified
Bible)
PAUL’S HISTORY BECOMES
“HIS STORY”
If anyone ever had reason to hope that he could save
himself, it would be me. If others could be saved by what they are, certainly I could . . . Yes, so much so that I greatly persecuted the Church . . .
But all these things that I once thought very worthwhile—now I’ve thrown them all away so that I can put my trust and
hope in Christ alone.
Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing
Christ Jesus my Lord . . . I am still not all
I should be,
but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one
thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward
to what lies ahead. (Philippians 3: 4, 6-8, 13 – Living
Bible)
Turning My Mess Into My Message
Q & A With Edgar Gonzalez
YOUR HISTORY BECOMES “HIS STORY”
THE MESSAGE PRINCIPLES
MP 1: We are all “messed up” it’s just a matter of degrees!
MP 2: Because everyone is a mess,
everyone has a message!
MP 3: God doesn’t cause the mess in our
lives, but He can use it to
help others
It is God himself, in his mercy, who has given us this
wonderful work of telling his Good News to others, and so
we never give up . . . We stand in the presence of God as we
speak and so we tell the truth . . .
But this precious treasure—this light and power that now shine
within us—is held in a perishable container, that is, in our weak bodies. Everyone can
see that the glorious power within must
be from God and is not our own.
We are pressed on every side by troubles, but not crushed
and broken. We are perplexed because we don’t know why
things happen as they do, but we don’t give up and quit. We
are hunted down, but God never abandons us.
We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep
going . . . this gives us constant opportunities
to show forth the power of Jesus Christ . . . These
sufferings of ours are for your benefit.
And the more of you who are won to Christ, the more there are to thank him for his great kindness, and the more the
Lord is glorified. That is why we never give up . . .
These troubles and sufferings of ours are quite small and
won’t last very long . . . so we do not look
at what we can see right now . . . but we look forward to
the joys in heaven . . .
The troubles will soon be over, but the joys to come
will last forever. (2 Corinthians 4:1-2, 7-9, 15-18 – Living
Bible)
Turning Our TestInto Our Testimony
Q & A With Adam & Sheha Joyner
MP 4: When your history becomes “His Story” it can impact
others for God
Let’s Pray