Forty-Fifth Street Baptist Church

The friendliest church from the parking lot to the pulpit

The Price Is Right

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45 – The Games People Play

The Price Is Right
The Parable of the Hidden Treasure
The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price
Matthew 13:44-46 NIV
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. (Matthew 13:44-46 NIV)
What turns half-hearted believers into whole-hearted discovers of Christ?
Just like these two men were willing to give up everything they owned so they could possess the treasure and the pearl.
Do you possess that kind of overwhelming hunger to possess Jesus?  Willing to forsake everything.
What makes people fully committed followers of Jesus Christ.
It starts with a discovery. 
One man discovers a hidden treasure and the other finds a pearl of great worth.  Commitment to Christ begins when we discover Him.  People discover the truth about Jesus in different ways.  The first man wasn’t even looking for a treasure…..he stumbled onto it.  Found the treasure in a field by accident.
Been busy around the church, looking like you have discovered Christ but you don’t have a relationship with Him.  Can know church but still not know The Lord.
The merchant on the other hand had spent his entire life looking for the most dynamic pearl he could find.  Some people spend their entire life searching.  Some have never thought about a relationship with The Lord.
Peace with God is not about religion.  It’s about relationships.
Not about works.  It’s about Grace.
You can’t possess a treasure you never find.
You then must understand its worth.
Must appreciate His value.  Must know His Price is Right.
If everyone understood with value of Christ then we would be committed to Him and take care of things the way He would.
Some of us value other things more than we do Christ.
Example: Some of us still call our best friends before we pray.
– The approval of our friends
– Physical beauty or physical strength.  Sooner or later cute goes away.
– Sex
– Money. Contentment doesn’t come from the amount of money in your bank account.
Commitment only happens when we recognize His value. Jesus came and paid a price so that we wouldn’t have to suffer for our own conduct.
A lot of people love you because of something you’ve done.  Jesus Christ loves us in spite of what we’ve done.

Tamala R. Maddox, Ph.D.

Principal
R.F. Bumpus Middle School

Family Feud

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45 – The Games People Play
Sorry! Repentance/Changing the Heart
Family Feud Genesis 25:19-34

Life presents a series of questions.  How you answer them determines your life’s path.
How do you treat other people?
Do you value other people?
How do you take care of your family?

If there are things in your family that prevents you from learning the right answers it affects how you proceed in life.

Adam and Eve’s children were the first in juvenile church for murder.
Abraham waits 90 years to have Isaac but he and his handmaiden had already had an outside child. Baby momma drama
Isaac’s family – Esau and Jacob – mother was Rebekah

**The Foundation of Good Parenting is Prayer
**Through prayer, God can bless everything else.  Isaac and Rebekah prayed for 20 years for children. At the age of 60, Isaac and his wife Rebekah had two babies – Esau and Jacob. Un-identical twins (fraternal) couldn’t be more different as people. Gen 25: 22-23

Esau – name means hairy, hunter, loved by Isaac because Esau was a hunter
Jacob – name means heel-catcher, came out smooth and clean, completely different than his brother, stayed among the tents and was loved by Rebakah

We spend a life-time trying to do what God had already said.  God had already said the older will serve the younger.  Jacob from the moment of his birth was trying to cold Esau back

Know your children and let them be how they are.  Learn to deal with each one.  Don’t make them feel bad because they’re not like you.

The parents created a problem so when problems showed up later in life, Jacob and Esau didn’t have the right answers.  They were in the midst of the Family Feud.

Parents need to be consistent in your discipline, time, love, rules, gifts.  Treat them the same as best you can.  Nothing good comes from playing favorites.

How does a worm get inside an apple?  The worm starts inside the apple.  What you plant inside the child’s heart grows out in their attitude, actions and behavior.

Jacob heard important things as he was around the house that Esau did not learn because he was in the field.  This whet his appetite for being in charge.  Fueled his spirit for wanting to take over.

Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for stew.  Doing so gave Jacob the right to the Covenant that God gave to Abraham.  Two portions of his father’s physical estate. He also became the head of the family and the spiritual head.  Esau did not love the Lord like his brother did.  Isaac did not put a love of God in Esau.  He only put a love of physical things.

Esau became the father of Edom when he ate that soup and sold his birthright.

**Favoritism is common but breeds confusion

**How do you live in the same house and have different values? Look for the worm in your house.

What makes a brother even consider SELLING food to his brother instead of giving it to him?

Then Jacob schemes to get the blessing from Isaac…..with the help of Rebekah.  This scheming is on the inside of the apple, not the outside.

Because Esau is not spiritual, he goes out and marries women he was specifically told not to marry.  Jacob went to live with his mother’s brother and HE was schemed by his father in law, Laban.  Worked 7 years to get Rebekah but got Leah.  Had to work 7 more years to get Rebekah.

**Someone has to say I’m sorry first.  Before death takes us away.  They were separated 20 years because of this Family Feud.

Jacob met an angel and the angel wrestled with Jacob all night.  Jacob left that fight named Israel.  He had to go find those he had messed up with and make it right.

**Bad parenting habits are passed down from generation to generation.
Tamala R. Maddox, Ph.D.
Principal
R.F. Bumpus Middle School

Sorry

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45 – The Games People Play
Sorry
Repentance/Changing The Heart
Ezekiel 18: 20-24 NIV

Your parents can set things in motion that can cause you pain or benefit in the future but it all boils down to you making a choice.  Your parents cannot destine you to a certain fate based on what they have done.  We all have a choice to make.

God has given us all choice.  Why would He do that if what someone else did determined our destiny?

Righteous people will be judged according to righteousness and wicked people will be judged according to their wickedness.

Alfred Nobel started over because he was Sorry!  He was originally known for creating dynamite but changed that by starting a means of honoring and recognizing peace in the world.  He made a change.  He started over.

Many don’t have the courage to say they’re sorry.

God expects us to change
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come” (2 Cor 5:17)
The old way of life must be replaced with the new way of life.

We can change.
Our thinking has to change. Cut the Stinking Thinking.
Change your attitude.
Change your commitments. Make the main thing, the main thing.  Let #1 be #1.  That’s a choice. Things have to be reordered.  There’s a benefit.

Change and say you’re sorry.  It re-characterizes who you are. The reward is much better than what I’m losing.  God’s got me.  He’s going to bless me.

It needs to be a permanent change.  We have to walk as Jesus did.  A Christian walk.  It’ll be uncomfortable. Paul was persecuted because he preached no more idol worshipping and that put the metal workers out of business.

God wants us to make changes to our hearts.
What you love with all your heart is what has to change.
Must be committed.

But how do we know if our hearts are not right with God? Bitterness, unforgiving nature, sexual immorality in your life, envy, jealousy, hatred, constantly critical of others, always finding a reason to say something negative

How can we change our hearts in order to please God?
First, we need to ask God for help.
You can’t make the change by yourself.  You need a higher power to make the change that needs to be made.  God will put you in a position where you’re uncomfortable which forces you to change.  Sometimes you regress and that regression can lead to progression.

Second, to make changes to our hearts we must get rid of sin.

God can change anybody.
Don’t try to equate your bad to someone else’s bad.  Just admit your sin.

Tamala R. Maddox, Ph.D.
Principal
R.F. Bumpus Middle School

The Curtain -LIFESPARKS-2-6-16

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The Curtain

50And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. 51And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; Matthew 27:50-59(a)

Perhaps this sounds familiar, I had just dashed through the airport, made it pass the gate onto the plane and was busily searching for my seat. I passed those first rows on the plane and noticed that none of the passengers sitting there seemed rushed at all. In fact, they seemed to be extremely relaxed and were reading, still on their phones or sipping on some cool beverage. One guy even seemed to be napping while the rest of us hustled to our seats.

Ironically, on this flight, my seat was directly behind the first class section. As I settled into my seat, it stuck me that in all my flying years, I had never actually flown in first class. It never really made sense to me to pay the extra fare to get on the same plane, going to the same place, which arrived at the same time. It always seemed a little like paying more money to ride in the front seat of a taxi instead of the back, because the driver lets you play with the radio and gives you a sandwich.

But the most interesting thing to me, was the little mesh curtain they use to separate the first class from the rest of the plane.  The curtain merely gave the illusion of separation.  It was almost a tease. Like a kid dangling a big lollipop in your face! We could still see everything that was happening, still smell the food being eaten and because of the size of the plane when I stretched my leg, it was literally in first class.

There are some people who will not fly unless they sit in first class.  For some it’s a matter of preference and sadly for others a feeling of privilege. In fact, and rightfully so, they get upset if they can’t board first, and get the extras.

I guess I’m so intrigued because I know some people who have lived first class lives without very many material resources. They would fit any definition of poverty except in terms of good character, which they have abundantly.  I’m so glad there are no classes in Heaven. I am so thankful that the illusion of separation which man made was destroyed by Christ on the cross. The curtain in the temple which allowed access to some, but not others was also just an illusion.  Now we all have free access through faith and The Holy Spirit.

How ironic it is that Christ gave up his first class seat to understand what it is like to ride coach. And because of His sacrifice, we all now get to ride first class!

Rethink Godliness

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45 – Rethink: Godliness

Ephesians 5:13-15
13 All things that God doesn’t like are manifested by the light
15 You have to walk aware
God will show you what’s right and wrong.  The dark is not going to identify itself as wrong.  It takes light to illuminate darkness.  We must put ourselves in the position to do this.
Keeping it real doesn’t mean you can keep things the way they were and be Godly.
Rethink how you do things.
You must read your Bible.  Not just the Daily Bread.  It will teach you where you’re wrong and show you where you’re wrong.  You must study.
One match can dispel darkness.  That’s the power we have.  We have to let our little light shine.
You’re in the position you are in to magnify His name.  God put you there. Be willing to use whatever platform you have to tell others about Him.  We have been called to be light bearers.
Dark times:
Folks don’t care about others.
Will rob you in church.
Killed as you walk out your house.
Teachers taking advantage of students everyday.
Folks in jail have as much public presence as those outside of jail.
Loose connection to The Church…..strong connection to the World
In the Old Testament light is often used as a symbol of goodness, uprightness or blessings.
In the New Testament light is used to point towards Jesus Christ.
The more Godly you are, the more light you reflect.
Must show others the worth of your walk in order for them to want to follow it.
Light attracts.
We’re supposed to be attractive to other folks.
“L” is for loving your neighbor as yourself.
Your neighbor is the one you hate.
Pray for those who abuse you.
16 references tell us to love our neighbor as ourselves in the Bible.
“I” is for imitating Christ!
Greek word for imitate is to duplicate.  You’re becoming a copy of Christ.
Paul said, “Follow me as I follow Christ.”
We’re the only church some may see.
Be the best copy of Christ that you can be.
“G” is for growing to know others.
Gotta learn folks in order to grow.
You have to invest in friendship.
Gotta invest in others in order to draw dividends later.
Challenge: Know two more people act 45th at the end of the year than you do now.
“H” is for helping or hospitality!
In Bible times, the host of the house was obligated to care for strangers.
“T” is for  telling others of Jesus!
People need to meet Jesus BEFORE they meet Him.  Don’t want to show up on His doorstep and Him say, “I never knew you.”
It is a privilege to tell others about Him.  Show someone who He is.  Your testimony should tell others who He is.  Don’t let your shyness be mistaken for shame.  Be undignified for Him.

Tamala R. Maddox, Ph.D.

Principal
R.F. Bumpus Middle School