Tag: Spiritual Disciplines

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Sermon: Spiritual Disciplines – Stewardship
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Duration: 24:01
Size: 11.0 MB

Spiritual Disciplines
Stewardship

I think that what I present today will be more broadly biblical than just a talk on tithing.

What is a Steward?

There are some notable stewards in the Bible, Joseph being the most notable.

A good steward always remembers that they are a servant of the master or the king, and does all that he or she does with an eye to what is best for their master’s household or kingdom.

Our Stewardship Of the Land Psalm 24:1

An understanding that the land belongs to the Lord has many implications.

As stewards of the land, we are supposed to look after our own needs, but we are to do it in a way that allows others to look after their needs.

Our Stewardship of Our Bodies 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

How does God want you to use the body that he has put you in charge of?

Our Stewardship of Money & Possessions 2 Corinthians 9:7

If we belong to God, then all that we have belongs to God.

I think that God is more concerned with your gracious relationship with your spouse than money coming into the plates.

Our Stewardship of the Gospel & the Grace & Gifts of God 1 Peter 4:10

If you are a Christian, you have Gifts given to the church through you.

How to Steward

Know God

If there is anything that we know about our God is that he is extremely generous, one could even say extravagant.

We are to steward the belonging of God in the same way that he has graced us with them

Gratitude

When we foster an attitude of gratitude for all that God has given us, including our position as stewards, it keeps us from imagining that creation and money is ours for doing as we please.

Practices

Change your Mind
Change your Bankbook
Change your Stomach
Change your footprint

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Sermon: Spiritual Disciplines – Worship
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Isaiah 6:1-8
Duration: 26:53
Size: 12.3 MB

Spiritual Disciplines
Worship
Isaiah 6:1-8

In worship we catch a vision of God, when we join with other Christians to lift our voice in praise.

In worship we come to know God in ways that we can’t just reading about him.

In worship we catch a vision of ourselves.

In worship we catch a vision of God’s grace.

In worship we catch a vision of our call.

The Practice of Worship

Come
It amazes me that Christians not coming to church and trying to live in the Kingdom of God without the Community of God surrounding them is not a new phenomena!

Participate
We don’t come to be a spectator to a performance of worship, we come to worship God!

Bring something to the table:

Find God
You could sit there and criticize the whole gathering, or you could trust in Jesus’ promise and Stop, Listen, Find God, and worship him.

A Life of Worship
Let the discipline of worship flow into your everyday life – learn to worship God by whatever you are doing.

Preparation for corporate worship
There are many reasons to worship – the most important being that God deserves it and we are created for it!

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Sermon: Spiritual Disciplines – Integrity of Heart
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Duration: 29:05
Size: 13.3 MB

Spiritual Disciplines
Integrity of Heart

“Integrity is what you do when nobody is around or watching.”

1. Identify the Problems

Thought Life – 1 John 2:15-17

Sexual Immorality – 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5,7

Attitude – Jeremiah 9:23-24

Words – Ephesians 4:29

Priorities – 2 Corinthians 4:18

2. Get Help!

When we keep our sins to our self, it festers and gets worse.

Hear me, you cannot do it alone!

3. Realize, it takes time!

Pursuing the Life of Integrity means always being open to the refining process God is pushing us towards.

Bottom-line: if it interferes with our purity before God, it’s going to take time to fully overcome with God’s help and our constant desire for purity.

4. Never Underestimate!

If you know you struggle in an area don’t put yourself in situations where you’ll be tempted.

We must be considerate that our own actions do not prevent someone from realizing salvation or continuing to live as a new creation.

5. The job is never done!

We will always be a work in progress, until we enter into heaven!

Can people tell what you stand for by the way you act—not what you say, but how you live your life?

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Sermon: Spiritual Disciplines – Service
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Duration: 31:33
Size: 14.4 MB

Spiritual Disciplines
Service

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Sermon: Spiritual Disciplines – Silence
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: James 3:2-12
Duration: 29:29
Size: 13.5 MB

Spiritual Disciplines
Silence
James 3:2-12

Have you ever opened your mouth without thinking and said something you regretted later.

The tongue is the most powerful part of the body with the power to curse & the power to bless, the power to start fires and the power to put them out.

Silence of the Mouth

One reason we can hardly bear to remain silent is that it makes us feel so helpless.

By observing a silence in our lives on a regular basis, we are training our tongue so that we learn to control it rather than have it control us.

In our personal relationships, our words often express a lack of faith, a lack of trust – if we do not trust some one to drive properly; we take to back seat driving.

We need to find ways of practicing silence in our everyday life.

Silence of the Ears

Even if we cannot keep a time of silence ourselves, we can learn to live without the constant noise of background music, TV or radio.

Interior Silence

Keeping silent on the outside, either through not talking, or shutting the noise off, is easy compared with learning inner silence.

As Eli teaches the young boy Samuel, we have to learn to say “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening“, and then actually listen.