Team Jesus Part 2

It is time to till up our hearts as a habitation of the Lord so that our society will receive the seed of an authentic Christian culture.

Summary

God wants us to build an authentic Christian culture, and the medium for that is faith.  Faith is the seed we plant in our hearts that have been dug up with God’s word and causes us to reproduce.  Bishop Ron Rhea teaches us how to till up our hearts to receive the Lord so that a culture of faith grows in our midst, a culture which God Himself inhabits.

Outline

1. Culture – Jesus has a culture.
   1. Culture defined
      1. Cult – to till the ground for habitation.
      2. Ure – with force or consistency.
   2. We till up our hearts to make a habitation for God.
   3. We can plant any seed we want in our hearts.
   4. Culture is the quality of a person or society that derives from a concern for what is excellent.
   5. Every seed form must have a medium of exchange to sustain life.
   6. A character of seed is that it reproduces – life must reproduce or it will die.
   7. Everything has to be fertilized.
2. Jesus has a culture. – Luke 13:10 – A woman with a spirit of infirmity for 18 years.
   1. Jesus called the woman to receive from Him – sometimes we need to exercise faith and come to Jesus at His calling.
   2. After being healed, she glorified God – that is the natural result of being delivered by God.
   3. All of us have multitudes of reasons to give thanks to God.
   4. God is always giving to us, we should be thankful and give Him glory.
   5. The religious ruler was indignant because she was healed on the Sabbath.
   6. Jesus referred to the woman as a daughter of Abraham – IT IS ALL ABOUT FAITH.
   7. She was bound by satan for 18 years.
   8. WHAT WAS HER MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE THAT KEPT HER GOING?  WHAT GAVE HER HOPE?  She went to the synagogue for 18 years knowing God could heal her.
   9. Her faith is what kept her going.
3. World War 2 – many concentration camps were for forced labor.
   1. People were often used to generate money for them, and then cremated them when they were seen to have no more value.
   2. To keep them productive, people were able to come in and bring them stuff.
   3. Victor Frankel – medium of exchange to keep hope going, and that was cigarettes.
   4. Cigarettes were used as money – they could even use them to get favors from guards.
   5. Whenever they saw someone smoking their cigarettes, they knew that they would soon die – it was a sign that they were giving up hope.
   6. Eventually the people got liberated.
   7. Thousands of orphans were liberated and were staying in barracks.
   8. Every night the kids would cry all night long.
   9. A psychologist gave each of them a piece of bread at night telling them that they could eat it in the morning.  The kids stopped crying.  IT GAVE THEM HOPE FOR THE FUTURE.
   10. The kids had been so conditioned to hopelessness – but their transformation came when hope was revived.
4. Many of us have been bent over for a long time because we have been programmed that way.
   1. We may have faith but still be bound up.
   2. Maybe it is because of an illness, or a pattern of thinking.
5. In Vietnam when they were in the field there was unity
   1. When they were pulled from the field they would start infighting.
   2. The problem is that they took their eyes off the true enemy and made enemies of each other.
   3. We need to get our focus right.
   4. We need to share our faith so that the lost will come in.
   5. God is building a culture of faith in us that He can draw people to.
   6. It is time for people to not be bent over any more.
   7. Anytime we get our eyes off the main thing, we begin nitpicking.
   8. Every one of us has idiosyncrasies which we can focus on and begin nitpicking.
   9. We need to keep our focus right.
   10. Jesus is our liberator.
   11. Now that we are liberated, why do we not hold onto the bread of life?
6. God is trying to wake us up to build a culture of faith.
   1. Hebrews 11:1 – The medium of exchange for us is faith in Christ.
   2. Faith is the seed we plant in our hearts that have been dug up with God’s word and causes us to reproduce.
   3. God rewards those who diligently seek Him – the woman with infirmity sought the Lord diligently for 18 years.
   4. Inheritance comes by going out – Abraham went out to his inheritance.
   5. Sarah needed faith to conceive and give birth – the church needs faith to bring forth what God desires.
   6. We are children of Abraham, children of faith.
   7. Sarah judged God as being faithful, how do we judge God.
7. Faith
   1. “I only want a Cadillac” is not faith, it is humanism.
   2. Faith is giving a good sacrifice from our gifts.
   3. Faith is being rewarded for seeking God.
   4. (God puts things simply, but we simply do not want to do them.)
   5. Faith is action, it is moving out, it is walking in Godly fear.
   6. Faith is obeying.
   7. Faith is patient – it waits for God. 
   8. God has a seed He wants to plant into our hearts, but we need faith.
8. Let us rise up and believe God.