Sermon Notes Courtesy of Deacon Anthony Sparks

“BUT GOD”…5/6/18

Speaker: Pastor Sparks
Text: Ephesians 2:1-9

-You can’t just pick up the Bible & understand it by yourself; you gotta ask the Holy Spirit to help you!

-We’re living in times where people are doing some jacked up stuff!

-If you find yourself in some difficult circumstances, before jumping up & blaming God, consider the part YOU played in it…

-Even though we created our mess, God still provided a way for us to get it right

1. God’s Divine Intervention is Personal
* In other words, if it was only you that needed saving, God would’ve STILL sent Jesus!
* No matter how hard things might be for you right now, don’t ever forget two words: BUT GOD!

2. God’s Divine Intervention is Precious
* God has enough mercy for ANY situation you might find yourself in!
* God is moved by your situation!
* Don’t look down on folks who are struggling, because you never know if you’ll find yourself in need. HELP PEOPLE WHEN YOU CAN, WHERE YOU CAN, & HOW YOU CAN!

3. God’s Divine Intervention is Profound
* Even if you’re not expecting Him to come thru, God will!
* God doesn’t want you to try to get yourself together, that’s what He’s for! In the midst of your mess, He is able to clean you up!

4. God’s Divine Intervention is Permanent
* When you’re His, you will NEVER know a time when His Love isn’t with you!

5. God’s Divine Intervention Provides Divine Identification
* Once I received the gift of salvation, I was able to have the same relationship with God that Jesus does!
* God is my Daddy! And because He’s my Daddy, He has an obligation to look out for His child!

6. God’s Divine Intervention is Intentional

-The things you don’t like about yourself, are you CRUCIFYING them or PACIFYING them?! If you pacify those negative things, you stay stuck; but if you crucify those things, you experience a better life!

-Trust Him like a baby trusts his parents; let go, and let HIM catch you. He will.

-You are a living Bible; some people will never pick up a Bible, so as they’re “reading” you, can they see Jesus?
— Whatever you do, let your life always point to how good God has been to you!

-Does God saving you enhance Him? Does He “need” you? Why would God choose to save you?
— It’s simple.
HE LOVES YOU. Period.

“God Will Never Put More On Me Than I Can Bear”

SERMON SERIES:
“FAKE NEWS”

Speaker: Pastor Sparks
Text: 1 Corinthians 10:13

*To wade thru this “fake news”, we’ll try to determine where the saying came from, why it’s used, & what it’s trying to say

-You might be going thru so much right now because God is bragging on you; He has confidence in your faith

-The reason this saying is fake news is because oftentimes things come up in our lives that are absolutely too hard for us handle!
-How can you “handle” the loss of a child? The loss of a spouse? The loss of everything I saved up to support my family?

-Life changes…swiftly! One day you’re on top, the next you can be on rock bottom. People are struggling & with everything they’re “handling”, there’s no question why some wanna check out. Life is hard!

-In spite of everything, please remember that GOD. WILL. TAKE. CARE. OF. YOU.

-In your life, God WILL allow more than you can handle; but this is true:
-While He might allow more than YOU can handle, He’ll NEVER allow more than HE can handle!

-In 1 Corinthians 10:13, Paul speaks about being tempted more than you can bear; there’s a difference between TEMPTATION & TRIALS

This fake news does two things:
1. Uses our culture’s standard of fairness & not God’s standard
* We think God is only supposed to give us troubles that are commensurate with our abilities; HOWEVER, think about all the blessings you’ve gotten that were in spite of your behavior???
2. The greatest power you have is to choose God
* This fake saying makes you believe that the answer to your problems is inward; in other words, “more than I can bear” means the solution lies with me—when in actuality, it lies with HIM!
* There’s never a good time for your life to be wrecked, so because you never know what’s going happen, CHOOSE GOD—and let Him handle it!
* “God gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.” ‭Isaiah‬ ‭40:29‬… This shows that when you can’t handle the situation, the situation is perfect for God to handle!

-God WILL give you more than you can handle so that people can know that it was Him who brought you out! It’s all for the glory of God!

-God will NEVER give you more than HE can bear. Turn to & depend on Him!

Notes Courtesy of Deacon Anthony Sparks