New Day Christian Church - Weston, WI

Jesus and the Holy Spirit

 

The Holy Spirit is the PRESENCE of GOD in the PERSON of Jesus. 

Luke 1:35, Luke 1:15, Luke 3:21-22, Luke 4:1-2

 

The Holy Spirit is the POWER of GOD in the MINISTRY of Jesus.

                   A. Luke 3:16, Philippians 2:5-8, Hebrews 4:15, Luke 4:14

 

We too can be BORN of the SPIRIT so that we can bear the PRESENCE and the   

                  POWER of CHRIST until He returns.

                   a. John16:7-8, John14:15-17, John 14:19-20, Ephesians 3:16-17, Colossians 2:9-10

Levi's Gospel: Making Peace

Sometimes we think avoiding conflict is the same as making peace. Often what we’re actually doing is piling up problems for the future. God’s promise is that we experience the best life when we are His agents of real peace.

KEY VERSE: Matthew 5:9 (NLT)  God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.

BIG IDEA: Loving peace is easy. Making peace is messy.

Levi's Gospel: Pure in Heart

“What were you thinking?” is a somewhat accusatory question that follows a careless mistake. “What are you thinking?” is a reflective question that helps us avoid a careless life. “What is behind that thought?” gets to our heart. A divided heart leaves us stressed and frustrated; a pure heart opens our eyes to see God.

Matthew 5:8 (NLT)  God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.

Psalm 51:10 (NLT)  Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.  

AAPLICATION: This week commit to memory David’s prayer from Psalm 139:23-24

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

Point out anything in me that offends you,

and lead me along the path of everlasting life.  

Levi's Gospel: Have Mercy

God put Himself in our shoes when Jesus was born as a human. He has experienced what we experience; He sympathizes with us and shows us mercy. There is a huge shortage of this kind of mercy in the world today. People seem unwilling to understand and respect each other. The Church is in the perfect position to practice God’s sympathy and mercy

  KEY VERSE: Matthew 5:7 (NLT)  God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

PARAPHRASED: O the bliss of those who get right inside other people, until they can see with their eyes, think with their thoughts, feel with their feelings, for those who do that will find others do the same for them, and will know that that is what God in Jesus Christ has done!   --The New Daily Study Bible 

APPLICATION:  Think of a person or a group of people that you have a hard time loving; genuinely, prayerfully try to see the world through their eyes. What are their hurts? What are their fears? What are their hopes? Are you beginning to appreciate them as people created in God’s image? Until you do, you have something to pray about.

Levi’s Gospel: Hunger and Thirst for Justice

Contentment is an important part of discipleship. We should be satisfied with the blessings God has provided for us. In some things though, we are to feel dissatisfaction--a hunger and a thirst. Let’s take those unsettled feelings as motivation to join Christ in being a light to the world.

KEY VERSE: Matthew 5:6 (NLT)  God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice [dikaiosynē], for

they will be satisfied.  

Dikaiosynē, Greek: The character or quality of being right or just. --Vine’s Expository Dictionary

 

NEXT STEP:  Let go of some of the “junk food” that keeps you from hungering for justice and righteousness.

Levi’s Gospel: Inherit the Earth

“God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth” (Matthew 5:5). Pride is a seductive and destructive path that sets us against God’s purposes. We tend to recognize it easily in other people, but have a harder time seeing how pride has made its way into our own hearts. As Jesus sets His Kingdom right-side-up, we’ll see how humble hearts are best equipped to inherit the earth.

KEY VERSE: Matthew 5:5 (NLT)  God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.  

NEXT STEP:  Ask someone for help this week, and say “yes” when someone offers you something.

Revive Wisconsin: Believe and Follow

The Cost of Being a Disciple

²⁵ A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, ²⁶ “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.

²⁸ “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?

 

 

Levi’s Gospel: The Kingdom Blueprint

THIS WEEK: Levi’s Gospel: The Kingdom Blueprint

Jesus laid out a totally different way of understanding reality. Levi (aka Matthew) recorded His teachings so that generations of disciples could see how God’s plans are higher than human plans. What did Jesus mean when He said, “Blessed are the poor”? Understanding this will help us see more clearly God’s plans for His Kingdom, and our role in it.

KEY VERSE: Matthew 5:3 (NIV)  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  

BIG IDEA: The kingdom of heaven breaks down the barriers that divide us.

NEXT STEP: Make sure reviveWISCONSIN is on your calendar this week, even if you can only fit in a couple of the events.

 

reviveWISCONSIN Video Link: http://www.revivewisconsin.org/videos/153

The Body of Christ

Communion (or the Lord’s Supper) is a reminder of Christ’s sacrifice for us and our unity in Him. We’ll learn more about the Old Testament roots of Jesus’ last supper with His disciples, and continue the practice passed down to us. We’ll also acknowledge that modern disciples together form the body of Christ, continuing His work on earth today. You will hear a short update on the state of the church, and Members of New Day will vote to affirm the Church Board and approve the budget.

KEY VERSES: 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 (NLT) 16  When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ? 17  And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body.

 

NEXT STEP: Pray for unity across denominations as churches work together next week in reviveWISCONSIN.

Go Forth! Celebration

Scripture is full of times when people took time to remember God’s work. We’ll follow that example as we tell stories of God at work in our lives and in our community. There is power in what Christ has done, what the Holy Spirit continues to do, and in the testimony of His disciples.

KEY VERSES: Revelation 12:10-11a (NLT) 10  Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last— salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth— the one who accuses them before our God day and night. 11  And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony.

“And once again, good triumphs over evil.” --Joe Nikolai after Day 1 of New Day Explosion

Click here to watch the video referred to in the message.