Messages

A message from the series "Encountering Jesus." The Gospel of Jesus Christ is still the Good News!  John 14:6 (NKJV) 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.   God had open relationship with Adam and Eve in the Garden and they walked daily experiencing His Goodness. He wants that with us still today!  The Garden of Eden was the place that was created to be the home for humanity. The Nursery of learning trust, relationship and protection that was to grow out from there and fill the whole earth. Ex. 23:29   God wanted to have open relationship with the children of Israel in the Promise Land. He wanted them to experience His goodness. He wants that with us still today!    Moses interceded on behalf of the children of Israel when God wanted to bring severe judgement on them and start over with Moses. So God relented. Now more than ever we need to stand upon 2 Chron. 7:14 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV) 14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.     Then Moses had another encounter with God again at Mount Sinai where God told him that He would send an angel with them to lead them into the Promise land.Exodus 33:1-3 (NKJV) 1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, To your descendants I will give it.’ 2 And I will send My Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”   God is still Sovereign.Exodus 33:15-19 (NKJV) 15 Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.”17 So the Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.” 18 And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.” 19 Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”   The Glory of God is His Goodness!There is a movement today to make God into our image instead of allowing our lives to be shaped into His image.       Encountering Jesus in the Bible (Not the Jesus of popular culture). When reading the Life of Jesus I have come to a conclusion that Jesus was not worried about being politically correct or worried about trying to please man.   1 Peter 2:7-8 (NKJV) 7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,” 8 and “A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. Examples of difficult verses: Matthew 15:21-28 (NKJV) 21 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” 23 But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.” 24 But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” 26 But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” 27 And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.   Matthew 9:27-28 (NKJV) 27 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” 28 And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”   John 6:53 (NKJV) 53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. which led to: V.66 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.   Matt. 23:33   Why am I going to great lengths to show these particularly hard verses? Because people try to characterize Christ for their own purposes. They wrestle to make God into their own image.     God is not afraid to offend people - When Jesus shows up He doesn’t come to weigh arguments and take sides. - He comes to take over. And in His wake, is His Goodness.   God is sovereign and must be served as such His goodness is for those who will come to Him on His terms, not their own terms.   Exodus 33:19 And God said, I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim My name, THE LORD, before you; for I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy and loving-kindness on whom I will show mercy and loving-kindness.   God will accept us the way that we are but God will not allow us to stay that way! He expects you to start to look like Him!Our model and blueprint to follow is Christ.   God is not trying to offend us all the timeBut we must come to Him on His Terms. His Terms…   The way forward through the challenge of this season is to Humble ourselves, seek His face, turn from wicked ways, admit that God’s ways are not our ways and God’s thoughts are not our thoughts?   God desires for living, active, encountering relationship with Him. This is why He sent Jesus! This is why He gives us His Holy Spirit!One of the first things we must realize when desiring to encounter the Jesus of the Bible is that we must humble ourselves and submit to Him and His ways and His definitions of things.   Joel 2:11-14 (ESV) The Lord utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome; who can endure it? 12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. 14 Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?   Habakkuk 2:1 (NKJV) 1 I will stand my watch And set myself on the rampart, And watch to see what He will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected.   They knew that they were dealing with God on His terms as He saw fit, not as they saw fit.   There is only one posture when dealing with Jesus, Humility and Submission.   What if I have never encountered God’s goodness? What if I have never experienced Jesus the way that you talk about, or I have never experienced the filling of the Holy Spirit the way you describe? What if I haven’t experienced the blessings that the Bible talks about. Are you ready to stop trying to deal with God on your own terms? Do you want God’s presence enough that you are willing to humble yourself maybe even be misunderstood, made fun of, misrepresented? Let go of our pride and self preservation.   Walking with God and experiencing His Goodness requires that we are committed to being in relationship with Him and being committed to change. Just like the children of Israel   Luke 18:9-14 (NKJV) 9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ 13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”   2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV) 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.   John 1:12 (ESV) But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,   Why and How can we trust that coming to Him is worth it?Because He is Good!   Hebrews 11:6 (ESV) 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 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A message from the series "Church Life."

A message from the series "Church Life." Lets look at the life of Jesus Luke 5:16 – 28 Luke 5:16 - But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and . Passion #1 – Jesus had a passion to pray to his heavenly father Passion #2 – Jesus had a passion to minister to people Luke 5:17-26 17 One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. 20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” 21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and ’? 24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.” Jesus touches lives both physically and spiritually Passion #3 – Jesus had a passion to make disciples Luke 5:27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “ me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. Matthew 28:19-20: 19 Therefore go and make of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” John 17:4 4 I have brought you on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. Let’s look at the early church The Three Passions of the early church Acts 1:12-14 12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk[a] from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. The early church had a passion to pray to the Father Acts 2:42 42 They themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. The early church had a passion to minister to people Acts 2:43-47 43 Everyone was filled with at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. The early church had a passion to make disciples II Timothy 2:1-2 1 You then, my , be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. Let’s look at our church family 40 years ago Isaiah 46:9 9 the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. The first DOVE church 40 years ago…we experienced these same three passions Let’s look at our lives and at the life of our church today Do our passions today line up with the 3 passions of Jesus and the 3 passions of the early church? Rev. 2:2-5 (The Church of Ephesus) 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your . I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

A message from the series "Church Life." FEAR in SocietyThere is a concerted effort to keep people rowed up in our world today. There is an agenda preying on the nature of people to respond from a place of fear! Examples of fears in our society Proverbs 29:25 (AMPC) Why is it a snare? Never is someone more susceptible to manipulation and being controlled when they are afraid! When people are afraid they lose their ability to reason and respond honestly, authentically and with compassion. What, there's an Election this year?As we are halfway through this election year and politics is as divisive as ever, I would like each of us to consider these 12 core political values: Perhaps you would like to adopt them. 12 political core values: by Kris Valloton1- I can deeply love people in whom I strongly disagree with. 2- I refuse to demonize any politician who is made in the image of God. 3- I have enemies and Jesus gave me power over them on the cross. But my battle is NOT against flesh and blood. 4- When you call someone by a evil name, (Jezebel, Ahab, Hitler, false prophet, antichrist etc), you have decided that you know their hearts. But the Apostle Paul said, "Who are you to judge the servant of another?" 5- Associating with, or serving political people, should not be confused with embracing their ideologies. 6- All political offices deserve to be honored according to Romans 13. 7- I am commanded and called to pray for all my leaders. If you don't pray for them, then you don't have a right to critique their success or failure. 8- My first allegiance is not to a political party but to the kingdom of God. 9- I cannot separate my spiritual views from my political views because the government of this world is being affected and infected by the invisible realm. 10- Great government doesn't take away the right of people to sin. That's sharia law. It does however, protect people from sinning against others and teaching people to do so. 11- It's not the responsibility of government to christianize the world. That's the church's job. 12- Jesus rules the nations with rod of iron but He leads the church with a shepherd's staff. Please consider this when you are posting on Social Media. Especially over the next 7 months. DON’T PAY STUPID TAX! Fear is a tool that the enemy uses to control people! Proverbs 29:25 (NKJV) Psalms 37:3 (NKJV) Over and over again when God sent an angel to speak to someone what is the first thing that the angel says: - FEAR NOT! - Why because It can be scary when angel’s show up! Throughout the Bible we see that the very times with the biggest opportunity for God’s people to fear, was also the times that God was going to do something big in a major way. The children of Israel by the Red Sea with Pharaoh and his army trapping them Wondering in the wilderness needing water and food and God brings manna and quail. David going out to fight Goliath Queen Esther saves the Jews from annihilation by Haman. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego delivered from the firey furnace. Jesus death and the scattering of the disciples then His resurrection The Death of the apostle James and the deliverance of Peter The shipwreck of Apostle Paul the revival on the island of Malta There will always be challenges to overcome! This is why God gives us faith. 1 John 5:4 (NKJV) The Triumphant Overcoming Church 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 An herb releases it’s fragrance when it is placed in the pot of food over heat or when it is pressed of crushed. When you are in a time of immense pressure what fragrance do you produce? We are called to be an overcoming church! The Church on Assignment Why is there lack? Haggai 1 (NKJV) Haggai 2:1-9 (NKJV) Haggai 2:15-19 (NKJV) God gives the reason for the diminishing of the promised blessings and why they were not experiencing them. Because everyone was focused on their own life and not giving heed to building God’s house. God gives the solution. Get a heart to support God’s purpose for His house and ministry. The result was the full blessing of the Lord was restored! I believe the Lord is saying it is time to Build the church again! Living on Assignment Can God’s will be impacted by the will of man? We are heading into a season of new beginnings in Newport Church. We will be asking everyone to get involved and serve together in this vision in the future here. Will you allow yourself to be asked? Will you be willing to serve to build the House of the Lord? Season of Dedication to the Lord! I hear the sound of an abundance of rain! We are declaring the drought is over. The lack of miracles, signs and wonders, lack of prophetic utterance and revelatory Word of the Lord, lack of healings, and lack of breakthrough, lack salvations and discipleship, It ends now in this season - In Jesus Name!