Pastor Jeremy “spark” sermon notes

Matthew 3:11-12 (NIV) “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Pray

I. God is FIRE

a. “Fire is represented as the symbol of God’s presence and the instrument of His power, in the way either of approval or of destruction. There could not be a better symbol for God than this of fire, it being immaterial, mysterious, but visible, warming, cheering, comforting, but also consuming.”

b. Matthew 24:12 “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,  13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved”

i. Stay close to Jesus and you will never grow cold!

c. Stories of starting a FIRE: Campfire with my Dad and teaching us to “start” a fire – using gasoline!

i. Royal Rangers Commanders were mad at him because they wanted him to use two Rocks to create a SPARK

ii. Then once we got the fire started with GASOLINE!

iii. Marshmallow on the stick and stuck it in the FIRE. Lo – behold my marshmallow turned into a great big BALL OF FIRE because the SPARK the created the FLAME ignited my marshmallow! SO I begin to wiggle the stick so the flame would go out – but it didn’t, it fell off – still on fire – and landed on my hand! “Stop Drop and Roll!” IT’S ON MY HAND!!!! The result of being in contact scarred my hand!

d. People in the BIBLE are FIRE:

i. Peter & John: Walked to the gate called beautiful and healed a lame man and sparked a fire in the city

ii. Paul: Was killing Christians until Jesus lit a fire in him and he wrote half of the NT

iii. David: He killed giants and defeated nations and was dubbed the Man after God’s own heart!

II. Spark

a. BUT sometimes a SPARK is better than a FIRE – let me explain. . .

b. Isaiah 1:31 The mighty man will become tinder and his work a spark; both will burn together, with no one to quench the fire.”

c. Be the Spark that Creates the FIRE

d. What is a Spark?

i. Step-dad is a Fire Chief -Fire Fighters don’t just fight the flames, but they fight the SPARKS, which cause the FIRE.

ii. CA Forest Fires were started by a small spark

1. The enemy knows a spark can be powerful – that is why he will do whatever it takes to keep a spark from igniting a forest fire.

iii. James 3:5 (NLT) “In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire.”

1. We talk about TAMING the tongue and you should, but what about being positive for a change? What if we SPEAK GOD LIKE WORDS that set a great forest on fire like your school?!

iv. We are called to be SPARKS that will lead to the FIRE

v. We are called to start FIRES of REVIVAL, we are called to “stick” to those that do not know Jesus and to make an impact!

vi. “Sparks are benchmarks in your life”

1. My benchmarks in my life:

a. Bible Camp and running to the altar because I was sick of being AVERAGE

b. Retreat where I found the call of God in my life

c. Laying hands on a deaf student and seeing God heal him

d. Seeing my Dad rededicate his life to Jesus Christ!

2. “The sparks inside of you get you saved”

3. 2 Timothy 1:6-7 (NLT) “This is why I remind you to fan into flames (Fan the spark) the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”

a. Sparks in your life FAN the flame of God that is inside of you!

III. Jesus was simply a SPARK

i. Luke 12:49 (NIV) “I have come to bring FIRE on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!

1. Jesus was the SPARK that ignited the FIRE, which were the Disciples in ACTS 2

2. The SPARK brought a FIRE that changed the course of HISTORY

ii. 3 ½ years of sparks

1. Walking on the water

2. Healing people

3. Drew a line in the sand and said “He without sin may cast the first stone”

4. Jesus came to bring FIRE by becoming a SPARK!

a. The Fire Jesus sparked was in Acts 2

b. “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tonguesa as the Spirit enabled them.”

b. The Spark will NEVER die: (worship team)

i. When there is death – there is always a SPARK that is evident (Forest Fires)

ii. How do I know? Talk about the RESSURECTION of Jesus Christ – they wrapped his body as though he had absolutely no life in him. They did not anticipate a SPARK that would ignite the early church

Hey UNITED!!

I want to start off by saying, I am so excited about our back to school bash that is taking place on september 1st. I know that it is going to be amazing, and that God is going to touch and change lives!! that is something to get excited about!!

This week the message that was preached was entitled: what is your platform.

It came from the book of Nehemiah. Chapter 8

A platform is defined as: anything that God is going to use to bring glory to his name.

Some platforms can be:your school, your home, an event such as: see you at the pole, a gift or talent that God has given you, or even your friendships.

What is your platform United? What has God given you to use as your platform ?so people can encounter and amazing and wonderful God

What are the requirements for a platform?

CHARACTER.

your character is what people really think of you.

What are some aspects of character, you need to have for a platform?

Integrity . Accountability.  purity.  righteousness.  suffering.

* the best kind of character is the tested kind****

How to build a Platform?

you must have a purpose.

1.an effective platform has a purpose.

*****What is in your heart is the very thing that people need to hear!!***

2. takes time

3. takes hard work.

What platforms are you building?

are you building a platform that has purpose, that is going to effect those around you?

Something very powerful that Pastor Jeremy said was,

” the enemy will tell you that you dont have a platform because of your weakness”

aren’t you glad that you serve a God that takes you as you are! With all of your mess ups, all of your short comings, and not only does he forgive you and cleanse you but he takes what the devil intended for evil and turns it around and uses it for His Glory! That is an amazing thing!

So I encourage you guys today, give God your gifts your talents, your school your home, and let it be used as a platform.

This week, lets use our schools as our platforms and invite people to the back to school bash.

Get ready for next week, its going to be amazing! and remember to invite your friends!!!!!!!

Rebecca

So this tuesday we had the honor of having Pastor Jeremy back in the pulpit, to continue this awesome series that we have been doing on the book of james!
This week was part 8 if you can believe that!

Pastor Jeremy started off with recapping his sermon from the previous sunday entitled: taming the tongue!
I encourage you guys, if you have not listened to the sermon, do so! It is a great word and would be a blessing in your life!

This week Pastor Jeremy preached out of James chap. 4 1-7:

1What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
4You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?[a] 6But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”[b]
7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

I love how anytime you open the bible something can speak to two different people in two completely different ways!
The main things that really impacted me were when pastor talked about fights and quarrels among you. that they come from evil desires that are within you.
We are a family at United, and i am more than ready to admit that just like with family members at my house we dont always get along! But I want to make sure that I am having the right attitude and not having any unforgiveness in my life that would stop God from working and moving in my life.
It really hit me that when we are fighting and arguing with one another, we are literally starting a war: an unnecessary war at that. The thing about wars is someone always leaves hurt, no one goes unharmed. I dont want the words that I speak or my actions to hurt someone even if I didn’t mean them too.

Another point Pastor Jeremy talked about was having the right motives. He shared his story about being at a camp and praying from someone that was deaf and that even though he was praying for someone that had the same problem as him, his love for God and the desire to see this young man get healed by the power of God, began to change his motives.

I want to know that I have pure motives and that I am doing nothing out of selfish ambition, but that everything I do I want to honor God with.

What were some of the things that God spoke to you about this past tuesday? what were some of the things that you were challenged with this week? We would love to hear from you!!!

UNITED!!!!

We have had an awesome last three weeks at United!
Lets do a little recap in case some of you forgot.

First we had Curvine come and visit us on July 28th, 2009!
that was awesome, he ministered about how we need to not let pop culture effect us. I know that his song pop culture, really hit home with a lot of us. I believe that he challenged us to live a christian life with christian standards even in a world that glorifies the complete opposite! He was a blessing to out ministry and we cant wait to have him back!!

Then.. the following week, August 4th and 5th, we had Pastors Joe and Grecia Small come from california with Unleashed ministries! Pastor Joe talked about image, and how we should see ourselves the way that God sees us, and not the way this world or our friends might see us.
Something that really stuck out for me was when Pastor Joe said
We need to stop living life by our preferences but rather live out our convictions.
preferences are something that can be changed based on the circumstance, but a conviction is something that stay not matter what and can be built on.

Well thats basically it for the recap.
What did you guys think of these two services, we would love to hear what God is doing in your lives, and how theses messages have been able to impact your life!

We had a GREAT service last week – we broke our attendance record for the year and more to come! Jesus is doing some amazing things at United! Video podcast coming soon!

Here are the notes:

James 1:22-27 NLT “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.  23 For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.  24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.  25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

Real Christians Do What the Word Says:
Verse 19 “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.
Pastor Jeremy, “I spent an hour reading God’s Word this morning, I can even remember what I read!” But James would say ”Well Done! Now what about OBEYING what the Word says?”

Meaning: have you re-directed your imagination and your eyes and your thoughts to live according to God’s Word?
Old School: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves”
James is saying  “Keep on being doers of the Word of God.
“This refers to attendance of the lecture and not the disciples of the lecture – they were the hearers in life that did not follow instructions that were given”

The reason James used just a strong word here, “Deceived” is that you sit in a service, you hear the SECRETS to living life called the Word of God – then you leave United and do the OPPOSITE of what you HEARD – you are the one to blame, you are merely deceiving yourself and no the GREAT DECIEVER (Satan)

Fake Christians Glance at the Word: (Mirror)
Verse 23 “For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.”
Ever had a huge ZIT on your face and no one told you?!
I used to have a friend that would get so mad, not embarrassed, but MAD: “Dude, why didn’t you tell me!”

When we “glance” at the word and don’t do what it says!
It is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself

You see yourself – the beholder looks into the mirror, sees WHAT NEEDS TO BE CHANGED, then walks away and forgets. Often every Tuesday night is like that for many of us.

We hear the message, God convicts us, we know what areas we need to change, but we forget the minute we post pictures on Myspace.

Real Christians take a long look:
Verse 25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

Real Christians take a long look at themselves. Real Christians have a full body mirror. (Anyone hate full body mirrors?) Because you don’t like what you see.
“He that looketh” in the Greek means: to pour out, to bend over and look at the mirror.

When was the last time you took a good long look at yourself? Compared yourself to Jesus?
Looking at the mirror constitutes more than just “acknowledging” something wrong, but it means you are now a “Doer” of the Word.

John 8:31-32 “.Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching (OBEY), you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”IF the TRUTH will set you free – then stop living a life of lies. Confess your sins to one another, so you can have accountability in your life and live for God.Matthew 7:24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

If you “Just Do It” your foundation will never be moved. If you ignore it, your house will be destroyed by the smallest conflict. (Break up ruins your walk with God)

Real Christians are blessed:
…and if you do what it (Word) says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

Watch it!

Watch here or subscribe to iTunes:

We started with our new series “REAL CHRISTIANS” by using the book of James. I encourage you to read this book – there is only 5 chapters, but  James, the brother of Jesus, gives PRACTICAL things we need, act, and do in order to become REAL Christians to live out this thing called life

There are Three main themes in the Book of James
The Birth of a Real Christian
The Growth of a Real Christian
The Development of a Real Christian

In order to become the REAL Christian that God has called you BE, read the book of James!
James 1:2-8 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

I. Real Christians look beyond
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds”
This is where the “Real Christians” come in…
Joy: biblical joy not to be mixed with pleasure, but rather the ability to look beyond problems and become more like Jesus Christ.

Real Christians look beyond the trail:
It doesn’t say “Drink when you face trials”
It doesn’t say “Cuss someone out when you face a trial”
It doesn’t say “Don’t go to church when you face a trial”
It says, “Consider it SHEAR JOY!” 100% Joy

II. A REAL Christian develops Character:
“…because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

Develop Perseverance will help you “perfect” your relationship with Jesus Christ. (Means to NEVER QUIT on God)

Develop CHARACTER: once you get the endurance to go through temptations – you have a character that reflects Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:3-5 “Not only so, but we can also rejoice (JOY) in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

“When you have perseverance, and you never quit on God, you will establish a God-like character that has complete hope in God.”

III. This is the GOAL of a REAL CHRISTIAN:
Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
Maturity and Completeness
“Pastor Jeremy, I can never be perfect” Yes you can, its called holiness

“Purity is what you don’t do, Holiness is what you do.”

-Join us next week as we continue our POWERFUL series on REAL CHRISTIANS

I spoke a message that was sparked in my spirit regarding Jesus’ story of the Sheep. According to Jesus in John 10, there are several characters, or people that attend the “Sheepfold” or United.

John 10:1-18 NLT “I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber!  2 But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.  3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice.  5 They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”

6 Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.  8 All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them.  9 Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.  10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. 11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. 12 A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock.  13 The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me,  15 just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.  16 I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd. 17 “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again.  18 No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”

1. The Sheep- We are the sheep, but true sheep are the ones that know the voice of God
2. Lost Sheep- are the sheep that once came, but Jesus will find you. United will leave the 99 to find the 1. But when we do, we rejoice but break your legs.  (listen to the sermon)
3. The Hired Hand- the one that attends and does the bare minuim. The hired hand doesn’t care about others.
4. The Wolves- Wolves are people that DO NOT want to change – lost sheep can change. Wolves scatter and divide the flock – if you are a wolf in United – CHANGE OR LEAVE.
5. The Gate- Jesus Christ. Jesus himself said, “My Purpose is to give MY SHEEP a rich and satisfying life – I will sacrifice myself in order to make that happen”! Jesus wants to protect you from the Wolves (Satan) and the Sheepfold (United) is a safe haven.

We had an intimate time in prayer after the service – God called many Shepherds to guard the flock, in 21st Century terms: To guard United.

Last Wednesday – after United vs. Satan, I had the honor to preach to the Wednesday night adult service, right along with my Senior Pastor sitting in the back watching….fun : )

But my scripture was 1 Peter 4:12-19 and Peter is talking about “Suffering for being a Christian” and that we are to count it all joy when we suffer. I am sorry, but I can’t catch that excitement – especially when I am going through a tough time. I can praise God when all is good, when there is money in my bank account, when my wife is not mad, or when I got a promotion – let’s worship God all night long! BUT can you worship God through the tough times?

According to Peter: there are 5 ways to worship God through tough, difficult times:

1.  Worship God through your Attitude
2. Worship God through His Glory
3. Worship God through His Spirit
4. Worship God Because You Are a Disciple of Christ
5. Worship God through Your Sufferings

I close this lengthy blog with a powerful verse to wrap it all up.
Romans 5:3-5 “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, (We WORSHIP in our tough times) because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

For Christians: this life is the closest you will ever get to hell.
For unbelievers: this life is the closest you will ever get to heaven.