2015

2015 NYC - Only One Family by Matt Reagan

 

No one in the world is outside of a relational context

  • Genesis 12:1-3 “Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

  • The units of the earth are families

  • America is one of the most individualistic cultures in the world

  • Matthew 12:48- 50 “But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

Family is hard because the idea or concept is wonderful, but it rarely lives up to what we hope for in true family

True Family:
1. They know each other

  • The deepest longing of the human heart is to know and be known
  • In heaven everyone will know each other perfectly- That's scary right now
  • 2 Timothy 1: 2-7

2. They delight in each other's joy

  • No competition

3. They do not perform for one another

  • Nobody is looking at me, they are too busy looking at themselves
  • Not putting on a show
  • Song, "Unsteady" by the X Ambassadors
  • True families are a haven and a refuge 

4. They discuss each other's pain
5. They walk through conflict

  • Galatians 6: 1-2

6. They aren't going anywhere

    True families are a messy, wonderfully and healthily messy

    • “The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community, but the person who loves those around them will create community.” -  Dietrich Bonhoeffer

    • Ephesians 2: 14-20

    How do you step into this family?

    • Vertically

    • Galatians 4:4-6

    2015 NYC - Only One Day by Matt Reagan

    Summary: We have one life and it comes from God to us and it fills us up like a chocolate fountain and it overflows from the trinity to us, to other people our one family and then other lives, one life at a time in the world, those who we want to bring in the family so they will be in the family forever.

    1 Corinthians 10:31  “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

    12 crossroads we experience in any normal day

    1. Wake up. To which voice will you listen, the voice of waking, of life or the voice of escape. You remember the world is safe because God is safe
    2. Two more voices. One speaks of performance and tasks, the other is the voice of God saying to rest in Jesus, be not do.
    3. When you read the bible you feel the call of the scriptures is too hard to live out. You are torn again. You can muster up strength, or you can go to God for help.
    4. Communing with God, distractions are already calling but you know there are people who need the same love you are fighting for.
    5. What is my purpose today? To be impressive or to be impressed?
    6. Breakfast. You can stare blankly or you can actually enjoy the food, think of the great chef who created food to be good, not just for fuel.
    7. Class. Opening your mouth to meet the person sitting next to you. You remember he needs Jesus. You remember you are safe, the one who made the world loves you.
    8. You know pressing into this conversation will be messy. He hurts, you know it, and you’re a chocolate fountain full of hope.
    9. Learning in class. God wants you to know him in history class, so you actually listen. You think of pain and fear that people feel.
    10. You decide to ask deeper questions to the person who is hurting.
    11. Should you bring up Jesus to this person, it would be taboo and awkward. You ask them to study the bible.
    12. You could call someone to get help, but that would be admitting weakness and fear. You remember you are weak and needed a savior to die for you, so you ask for help.

     

    Four Considerations:

    1. In a hypothetical way, you chose the right way every time, but what if you don’t. You can go the way of guilt or you can go the way of repentance

    •  2 Corinthians 7: 7-10 “8 For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. 9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.”

    2. The christian life is both harder and easier that the life of a non- believer

    • It's hard to stay awake as a christian, we need vigilance because we want God.
    • We are fighting for rest

    3. There is coming a day when you don’t have to fight against yourself

    • This life is a vapors breath

     

    4. God will carry you in his arms until that day

    • We fight with his strength

    2015 NYC - Only One Way by Matt Reagan

    Hebrews 9:27- 28 “27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

    •  I only have this one life, then I will live forever, I will never stop existing


    What do we do with this one life?
    1. You die to it 

    • Colossians 3:3, 2 Corinthians 4:17
    • Everything is mine so we die to this life, how can we not give it up when we have everything in Christ?
    • Is our life dear to us?
    • The glory we have in Christ far outweighs all the suffering and pain we endure for the gospel to go forth.  

    2. You go where hurting people are

    • Because we are in Jesus, we are invincible. What are they going to do kill us? we would only go to paradise. 

    3. You pour your life and that one life out gladly 

    • Philippians 2: 16- 17, 2 Corinthians 12:15 
    • We get spent for someone else so that their life can be saved 
    • Don’t just be a candle that brings light, but be a flashlight that points to Jesus so that others might know him. 
    • Give your life away one life at a time

    Five ways to die:

    1. Pray for one life on campus
    2. Start a spiritual conversation with them
    3. Invite them to see Jesus in the Bible
    4. Give you leisure, development, and free time to them
    5. Teach them that one love so they will die to their one life.  

    2015 NYC - Only One Love by Matt Reagan

    2 Corinthians 4:4-6 “4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

    1. How do we see the glory of God?

    • In the face of Christ

    • Christ came to demonstrate God and His love

    2. What is the gospel?

    • Jesus shows himself through it

    • 1 Peter 3:18 - Paul is the foremost of sinners

    *There is one love, God’s love for us. The gospel is free, His love is free*

    3. Why don’t we get giddy when we start talking about the gospel of Jesus?  
     - Because we don’t think of God as a person, we think of God as a concept

         a.  We are meant to know the warm, loving face of our father God

         b. Because we think of Him as a cosmic police officer who is never                      pleased

    • His countenance is a frown

    • Luke 15:20 “And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.”

    • Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”

       c. Because we don’t look at the world around us as loving communication

    • But everything around us is sending a message from God

    • Psalm 19:1-5 “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving it's chamber, and, like a strong man runs it's course for joy."
      Because the cross of Jesus has become cliche

        d. Because the cross of Jesus has become cliche

    • Use my imagination to see the cross more clearly

    2015 NYC - Only One Mission by John Piper

    1. God’s pursuit of his glory and my joy are not two pursuits, but one
      - John 12:27, 1 Peter 3:18, Psalm 16:11

    • God sent Jesus to glorify the father because we trample on it every day 
    • He died so that we might have everlasting joy in His presence

    2. I must not minimize or diminish my joy in God, but pursue it with all of my heart

    • I conquer sin by a superior superior satisfaction in Jesus- we sin because it feels good
    • We can’t be christians by ‘should nots’ but by the biggest ‘want to’ of pursuing joy true joy in Jesus


    ONE MISSION: Joyfully and sacrificially declare and demonstrate that the glory of christ is more precious than life. And help all people discover that their only hope is in Christ’s death and resurrection for everlasting happiness. 

    • Our mission is not living, or staying alive

    Breaking down our life mission statement:

    1. Declare

    • 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” 
    • With our words 
    • Sometimes by giving up our lives 

    2. He is better than life 

    • Luke 21:12-18 “12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. 13 This will be your opportunity to bear witness. 14 Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers[a] and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. 17 You will be hated by all for my name's sake. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish.”
    • If  we ever get arrested for being a christian, we are on assignment 

    3. Demonstrate 

    • 2 Corinthians 8:1-2 “1We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.”
    • The glory of Christ has made me more happy than the removal of affliction or poverty 
    • 1 Peter 2:12 “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”
    •  We hope people will see our lives and see Jesus 

    4. To all people 

    • Revelation 5: 9-10 “9 And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are you to take the scroll   and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,  and they shall reign on the earth.”

    2015 NYC - Relationships Talk by Reid and Nikki Jilek

    Reid and Nikki share their story and Biblical principles for relationships. 

    Five Guidelines Healthy for Dating

    1. The point of dating is marriage - are you ready to get married? If not, maybe avoid dating for a while. 

    2. The bible calls us to community - dating in isolation can be dangerous

    (Hebrews 10:24-25, Proverbs 18:1)

    3. Be clear about your attentions - both the guy and the girl

    Genesis 3:6 - warns against male passivity.
    Genesis 3:16 - warns against desires for control and manipulation

    4. How to pace a relationship

    The emotional, spiritual and physical parts of the relationship should all slowly grow equally. 
    But the bible clearly warns about saving sex for marriage, fight to live in community and in the light with the physical parts of dating. 

    5. Both of you must have an understanding of the Gospel
     

    2015 NYC - Ministry to College Athletes by Stephen Lawrence

    Are you a college athlete or engaged in ministry with athletes?  If so, you know there are unique challenges to walking with God and making Him known on your teams.  This seminar will address helpful tips and perspective for those wanting to make an eternal difference on their athletic teams. 

    2015 NYC - Talking about Jesus with People Who Don't Want To by Eric Longergan

    Jesus is becoming increasingly unpopular and misunderstood in American culture.  Many people have grown up with little to no familiarity with church, Christianity, or Jesus.  In addition to this, many people are believing that to even disagree about something is to be intolerant.  How do we share the gospel message in what many call a Post-Christian culture?  If that's a question you're asking, come and find out more in this seminar. 

    2015 NYC - Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus Through the Spiritual Disciplines by David Mathis

    Reading, meditating, studying, memorizing, praying, fasting, silence, solitude, evangelism, stewardship-is your head spinning yet?  What if spiritual health and growth weren't about juggling a long list of to-dos, but three simple principles for receiving God's ongoing grace in fresh way s that are life-giving and specific to you?  The Christian life is not about checking boxes, but knowing and enjoying the living Christ through the means He has appointed: hearing His voice, having His ear, and belonging to His body. 

    2015 NYC - Knowing is Only One Half by Paul Poteat

    Jesus loves me this I know...or do I?  What is it like to experience the love of Christ, to know that you are forgiven, to feel the power of grace?  There are many ideas and truths that you probably attest to, that say you believe, but you don't really live in light of these, you don't experience these things do you?  Well, you're not the only one, I'm in the same boat.  So, let's engage not simply knowing truth, but feeling it. 

    2015 NYC - Christianity 101: Understanding the Essentials by Nate Frantz

    What does it mean to become a Christian?  Why should I give my life to Christ and how do I do that?  What does it mean to believe and trust in Christ?  If you have any questions like this, Christianity 101 will explain some of the foundational aspects of the gospel. 

    2015 NYC - You: Redefined by Larry Martini

    Do you ever feel like there is some invisible standard that you are always being pressured to live up to?  It can happen in school, family, friendships, or really in any part of your life.  It can feel especially overwhelming if you can never quite reach the standard.  During this seminar, we will learn how the Gospel gives you a new standard that helps you see yourself in a completely different light. 

    2015 NYC - All of Life is Worship by Connor Dimmick

    I understand how Bible study, praying, and churchgoing are means to worshiping God, but what about my school work? My lesiure time? My sleep schedule? Eating and drinking?? This seminar will look to answer the question, "What does it look like to glorify God in every area of my life?" 

    2015 NYC - Apologetics in Today's World by Nirmal Mekala

    The Bible makes many bold claims about the world.  Whether you find yourself skeptical of the Bible and want to learn more or you believe the Bible and want to learn to defend it well, this seminar is for you.  We will look at what the Bible has to say about doubt in general and how to answer some common objections to Christianity. 

    Cart (0)