Take 5: Making It Stick, Part 2
In the second part of “Making It Stick,” Pastor Mike shares about the importance of being able to distill your message down to a memorable, portable statement.
Take 5 is a series of videos for pastors & teachers of God’s Word. Mike Minter, teaching pastor and founder of Reston Bible Church, shares practical wisdom from over 40 years of ministry experience.
For more Take 5 videos, visit vimeo.com/channels/minter or subscribe via RSS here.
To suggest a topic for Pastor Mike to cover, send an email to questions@restonbible.org.
TRAIL GUIDE: My Gift of Love
The “Trail Guide” devotional is used by our adult leaders of grade school groups in Quest as a way to prepare their hearts and minds for the topics we will be covering with the children on the weekend. We have made them available here to help our parents of grade-schoolers engage with their children around the topics we are discussing and also for anyone else that might be blessed by following along.
EXTREME MAKEOVER, Section 1, Lesson 3: My Gift of Love
“So what’s on your heart this week?” Hopefully you have taken some time during our study to reflect on how to use your interests and passions for God. But what about when you see things in yourself that fall short of God’s standard? Do we assume we’re a lost cause and of no use to God? We cannot hide our good qualities or our failures from Him. He “alone knows every human heart.” (1 Kings 8:39). But be of good cheer, the ungodly things I find in my heart bring me to Him in a special way, a humble way. I wish I could bring to Him a Great Commandment Christian, fully assembled and ready to serve. But I came broken, and though I’m not a slave to sin, my flesh still fights against my makeover. When I recognize this and grieve my sin, then I am in a position for God to transform my heart. Yes, it’s uncomfortable, but the Lord promises that He is near to the brokenhearted.
In Psalm 147 we are reminded that it is fitting to praise God. The best way to praise God is to think about His actions and his attributes. The Psalm tells us:
God heals the brokenhearted. He names the stars.
He sends rain to the earth.
He delights in those who fear him.
He has unfailing love.
He sends us his protection.
He shares his commands with us.
He controls all nature.
He communicates his word to Israel and eventually to us!
Praise the Lord.
Loving God has many facets, praising Him for all He has done is one of them. Aligning our lifestyles with His word is another. What kind of heart does God want me to have? A pure heart, a clean heart, a kind heart and of course a heart that loves Him above all else. The kind of heart that Jesus displayed for us.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for
everything you do flows from it.” -Proverbs 4:23MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
1 Kings 8:61 | Joshua 22:5
Psalm 37:4 | Psalm 57:7!
Luke 6:45 | Psalm 51:10
Sunday Rewind | 9.21.2014
MUSIC & SCRIPTURE
Alive In Us (Ephesians 2:4-5) – God Is Able by Hillsong
Open Up Our Eyes (Ephesians 1:18-19a) – Nothing Is Wasted by Elevation Worship
Rock of Ages (Deuteronomy 32:3-4) – Death of Death by Charlie Hall
Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies) (Psalm 27:1) – Let The Future Begin by Chris Tomlin (Passion)
Be Thou My Vision (2 Corinthians 3:17-18) – Cathedral by Heartsong
Christ Is Enough (2 Corinthians 12:9) – Glorious Ruins by Hillsong
TEACHING: Rooted: A Study of Deeper Faith in Colossians, Part 11
Character counts. For better or worse, human character always impacts history. But divine character, led & influenced by the Holy Spirit, always impacts eternity.
CLICK HERE FOR THE SERMON AUDIO
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR SHEPHERD GROUPS
- What was one thing you found particularly interesting, insightful, helpful or difficult to understand from this sermon?
- Read and discuss Colossians 3:12-14. What do you see about God? What does this tell us about man?
- What is the significance of “chosen” and “holy & beloved” (v. 12)? What are we to “put on” as a result? Why does this matter?
- What does it mean to be a person of character? Who comes to mind for you when you think of a person of good character? How has their character impacted your story?
- How do the accounts of Abraham, Joseph and Mordecai illustrate the principle that divinely-inspired character impacts eternity? What other examples from scripture can you think of that illustrates this principle?
- Do you ever feel like your life is stuck in a rut or doesn’t count? How does the gospel address that?
- How does the gospel inform, impact and shape our character?
- Spend some time in prayer about the things you’ve discussed. Thank God that we matter to Him and ask Him to be glorified in our character as we become more like Jesus.
Take 5: Making It Stick, Part 1
In part one of the “Making It Stick” sessions, Pastor Mike shares two essential elements to help make your message stick in the minds & hearts of your hearers.
Take 5 is a series of videos for pastors & teachers of God’s Word. Mike Minter, teaching pastor and founder of Reston Bible Church, shares practical wisdom from over 40 years of ministry experience.
For more Take 5 videos, visit vimeo.com/channels/minter
To suggest a topic for Pastor Mike to cover, send an email to questions@restonbible.org
Take 5: Introduction
It has been my distinct privilege to have taught the scriptures for about forty years at Reston Bible Church. Though I think there is still some tread left on the tire, I would like to pass on to both young and old some of the lessons I have learned regarding this great calling that we lovingly refer to as preaching. Take 5 is an online video series for pastors and teachers of God’s Word where I will share some of the teaching tips I have learned through the years.
Starting September 22, we will publish Take 5 on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays here on the RBC blog, and will keep a running archive on RBC’s Vimeo channel.
To suggest a topic for Pastor Mike to cover, send an email to questions@restonbible.org.
TRAIL GUIDE: God’s Gift of Wisdom
The “Trail Guide” devotional is used by our adult leaders of grade school groups in Quest as a way to prepare their hearts and minds for the topics we will be covering with the children on the weekend. We have made them available here to help our parents of grade-schoolers engage with their children around the topics we are discussing and also for anyone else that might be blessed by following along.
EXTREME MAKEOVER, Section 1, Lesson 2: God’s Gift of Wisdom
About two years ago, I started using a Mac laptop instead of my old PC. One thing that prompted that switch was the problems I was having with viruses on my PC. As it turns out, the Mac operating system is much less prone to virus problems. It does a better job on its own, without the expense of extra virus protection services, of keeping out unwanted and damaging material that could slow down or freeze up my machine.
Last week we talked about the good passions and desires that God has put in our hearts – let’s call them the pre-loaded software. We also talked about guarding our hearts from storing up ungodly things – let’s call them malware or viruses. The human heart was made for loving and glorifying God. Sin has corrupted that heart, but by faith in Jesus we can have our hard-drive (heart) wiped clean of sin and reinstalled with God’s programs, so that it is free to function as it was intended. The problem is that we still live in a sinful world where there are new viruses around every corner. That’s where God’s heart operating system comes into play: WISDOM. Wisdom comes from God and is the atmosphere in which all of your pre-loaded heart software works best. It is also highly resistant to viruses and will prevent unwanted items from piling up in your heart and slowing down or freezing up your system. If our kids want to love God with ALL their heart, then they need the right operating system… wisdom. “Whatever else you get, get wisdom.” (Prov. 4:7)
“Above all else, guard your heart, for
everything you do flows from it.” -Proverbs 4:23MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Prov 2:1-11 | Jer 33:3!
James 1:5 | Psalm 19:7
Prov 10:8 | Prov 16:23
Prov 2:10
From the Field: Mae Phae, Thailand
Last weekend, the RBC congregation was blessed to receive a missions report from Scott McManigle, a former RBC missionary who now serves as the associate missions pastor at Faith Bible Church. Scott, along with his wife Annette and their children, spent eighteen years in northern Thailand. Through their service, the Lord used them to plant a church among the Pwo Karen tribe in a village called Mae Phae. Three Pwo Karen church leaders joined Scott last Sunday in praising the Lord for RBC’s support and involvement in sending the gospel of Christ to their tribe.
“Thank you for sending us a missionary. Thank you for sending the gospel. God has saved us from worshiping the spirits; He has saved us from the deceit of Satan through His son, Jesus.”
We praise God for the fruit He is bearing through the faithful proclamation of the gospel in Northern Thailand. Since the McManigles left Thailand in 2006, the church in Mae Phae has continued to grow and the Pwo Karen believers are teaching the gospel in other tribes around their area.
Please continue to pray for gospel to go forth in the Mae Phae village and to other villages throughout the region. Pray that many Pwo Karen tribesmen would come to saving faith in Jesus and that the church there would be a great light for the glory of God. To learn more about the church in Mae Phae and the Pwo Karen people, check out the video below.
(Video credit: Fellowship Bible Church)
Sunday Rewind | 9.14.2014
MUSIC & SCRIPTURE
Closer (Psalm 89:14-15) – Glorious Ruins by Hillsong
Beautiful Lord (Ephesians 2:4-5) – Sound of Melodies by Leeland
Our God Is Love (1 John 4:9-10) – Yahweh by Hillsong Chapel
Lord I Need You (Hebrews 4:16) – All The People Said Amen by Matt Maher
TEACHING: Rooted: A Study of Deeper Faith in Colossians, Part 10
If you are toying with sin, where will the trajectory of your life lead you? Sin is not a toy.
CLICK HERE FOR THE SERMON AUDIO
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR SHEPHERD GROUPS
- What was one thing you found particularly interesting, insightful, helpful or difficult to understand from this sermon?
- Read and discuss Colossians 3:1-11. What do you see about the person of Christ? What do you note about the nature of man?
- What “tension issues” do you see in these verses? What other “tension issues” do find in Scripture?
- What is “sin”? What is the difference between sin and a mistake? How would you describe sin to someone who does not have a ‘church vocabulary’?
- What does society teach about sin? How does our culture treat sin like a toy?
- Where as the church in general “gotten used to the dark”? In what areas of your life have you gotten used to the dark?
- Is there an area of your life where you are toying with sin?
- How does the gospel deal with sin? How does it change our perspective on sin? How does the gospel motivate and empower us to “Put to death whatever is earthly in you…” (v. 5)?
- Spend some time in prayer about the things you’ve discussed. Thank Him for the “new self” we have in Christ (v. 10) and pray that we will live from the life we have in Christ.
TRAIL GUIDE: Start With Your Heart
The “Trail Guide” devotional is used by our adult leaders of grade school groups in Quest as a way to prepare their hearts and minds for the topics we will be covering with the children on the weekend. We have made them available here to help our parents of grade-schoolers engage with their children around the topics we are discussing and also for anyone else that might be blessed by following along.
EXTREME MAKEOVER, Section 1, Lesson 1: Start With Your Heart
When Jesus gave the greatest commandment, He was responding to a scribe who was asking the most important question for someone who believes in the all-powerful God of the Bible. “What does God want from me?” Jesus was glad to answer. He quoted from Deuteronomy 6:5. The answer was simple but profound… if you want to know what God really wants from you, the answer is love – practical, everything-I-have-and-am love. And it starts with your heart.
God has created each of our hearts differently, with different passions, different likes and dislikes. He intended each of these to be used in love for serving Him and others. But our hearts are not a closed-loop system. Things come in and out of our heart. Jesus teaches us in Luke 6:45 that, “For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” The abundance of the heart includes both the good things that God has placed there as well as the things, either good or evil, that we have “stored up” there. This is why it is so important to both know what is in our hearts already (Psalm 139:23), so we can ask God to remove anything that doesn’t glorify Him and store up good things there instead, but also to guard our hearts (Proverbs 4:23) from letting in those things we don’t want to store up.
In order to keep our hearts in tune for loving God, we should do this check-up regularly in prayer and in the Word. How is your heart this week? Let’s do a self-check first and then we can help the children to do the same. David was man after God’s own heart. This doesn’t mean he was sinless, but that he had a heart fully devoted to God. Let’s ask with him this week, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” (Psalm 51:10)
“Above all else, guard your heart, for
everything you do flows from it.” -Proverbs 4:23MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
1 Kings 8:61 | Joshua 22:5 !
Psalm 37:4 | Psalm 57:7!
Luke 6:45 | Psalm 51:10
Sunday Rewind | 9.7.2014
MUSIC & SCRIPTURE
With Us (Psalm 46:10-11a) – God Is Able by Hillsong
10,000 Reasons (Psalm 103:1) – Unrelenting Love by Nick Thurmond
Mighty To Save (Zephaniah 3:17) – Yahweh by Hillsong Chapel
I Lift My Hands (Psalm 46:10) – And If Our God Is For Us… by Chris Tomlin
TEACHING: Rooted: A Study of Deeper Faith in Colossians, Part 9
The things you love determine the path and trajectory of your life. Affection determines direction.
CLICK HERE FOR THE SERMON AUDIO
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR SHEPHERD GROUPS
- What was one thing you found particularly interesting, insightful, helpful or difficult to understand from this sermon?
- Read and discuss Colossians 3:1-4. What do you see about the person of Christ? What do you note about the nature of man?
- What is the distinction between being “in Adam” and “in Christ?” What does it mean to be “raised with Christ” (v. 1)?
- What earthly things do you personally tend to “set your mind to” (v. 2)? What draws your affections to them?
- What does it mean to set our minds on things above (v.)? What are those things?
- If you continue your life in the present trajectory of your affections, where do you think you will end up? Where do you need to adjust your affections in order to change your trajectory?
- How does the gospel help us prioritize and shape our affections?
- Spend some time in prayer about the things you’ve discussed. Spend some time thanking God for the life we have in Christ. Ask Him to increase your affections for Jesus.