Northlake Church | November 27, 2016
Temptation and our Wonderful Counselor | Mike Garner
Locations & Times
Northlake Church
3610 Lohman Ford Rd, Lago Vista, TX 78645, USA
Sunday 8:00 AM
He Will Be Called...
It is Christmas Time! What an awesome time of celebrating, parties, family gatherings, sharing of gifts and most importantly, rejoicing in the birth of our savior Jesus Christ! As we enter the Christmas season, we are going to be focusing on some specific names of Jesus given to us by the prophet Isaiah. "For unto us a child is born...a son is given...and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace". We pray you will know and experience each of these qualities of Jesus as you remember him and celebrate his birth this Christmas Season!
http://www.mynorthlake.comChristmas Eve and Christmas Day at Northlake Church
We will be celebrating Christmas Eve with two special services. Our service times will be at 4:30pm and 6:30pm with childcare provided for birth through 3 years old. Make this wonderful experience part of your family tradition and come and join us as we celebrate Jesus!
Due to Christmas Day falling on Sunday, we will not have regular Sunday services this year and are encouraging all of you to spend it with your family, have a great day together!
We will be celebrating Christmas Eve with two special services. Our service times will be at 4:30pm and 6:30pm with childcare provided for birth through 3 years old. Make this wonderful experience part of your family tradition and come and join us as we celebrate Jesus!
Due to Christmas Day falling on Sunday, we will not have regular Sunday services this year and are encouraging all of you to spend it with your family, have a great day together!
Christmas Eve Offering 2016
What God has done to you he wants to do through you...and he has blessed all of us abundantly! As we enter the Christmas Season, one of our traditions is taking up a Christmas Eve Offering. This offering funds our Outreach budget, not one penny will go to pay for light bills or salaries, all of it will go to bless those in need. Last year we raised over $14000 that helped us to minister to our community through special events and in aiding individuals who had financial needs. We are doing it again and hope you will participate again and help us to do what we are called to do in ministering to those in need. Let's hit $20,000+ this year! To God be the Glory!
https://vimeo.com/148647701
Come join us for our 11th Annual Happy Birthday JESUS Party! It is free fun for the whole family. Enjoy inflatables, crafts, games, music, pictures with Santa, lunch and birthday cake as we celebrate Jesus' birth! It is free and open to our whole community!
Sermon Videos on Vimeo
If you would like to see the video of this message or watch one from a previous week, click on the link below which will take you to our Vimeo Page!
https://vimeo.com/northlakechurchlagovista/videosOnline Giving
We believe all that we have comes from the gracious hand of our God. It's not ours to keep; we've been entrusted by Him to be good managers of all that He has given us. So we view the giving of our resources to the Lord as an act of worship. That's why it's a part of our worship services. Give as the Lord leads you. Thank you for worshiping God in this way and being a part of helping Northlake Church accomplish its purpose of making disciples who make disciples!
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=F73SZ2WZZN42ATHE LORD'S PRAYER: Temptation and Evil
Today we will look at the last phrase in this prayer and begin our Christmas series using Isaiah 9:6 as a guide to teach about Jesus and the promise he will be a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace.
Today we will look at the last phrase in this prayer and begin our Christmas series using Isaiah 9:6 as a guide to teach about Jesus and the promise he will be a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace.
TEMPTATION DEFINED...
QUOTE: J R Miller “Shrinking From Temptation”
“It will help us to understand the spirit of the prayer to remember that the word “temptation” does not mean primarily to allure to sin. To tempt is to try, to test, to prove…The temptations to which we are exposed continually are primarily provings, testings, to see whether we will be true to God or not. Indeed there is no experience that we meet in life which is not in a sense a testing. Every moment we are required to make a choice, and our choices prove us… Thus testing always implies the possibility of failure. There is no experience in which we may not sin. There is a wrong alternative in every call to that which is right. Instead of doing the duty, we may neglect it. Instead of making the self-denial or sacrifice, we may decline it. Instead of resisting the sin, we may yield to it. Temptation always brings an opportunity to overcome, to grow stronger. But if we fail to use the opportunity we sin.”
QUOTE: J R Miller “Shrinking From Temptation”
“It will help us to understand the spirit of the prayer to remember that the word “temptation” does not mean primarily to allure to sin. To tempt is to try, to test, to prove…The temptations to which we are exposed continually are primarily provings, testings, to see whether we will be true to God or not. Indeed there is no experience that we meet in life which is not in a sense a testing. Every moment we are required to make a choice, and our choices prove us… Thus testing always implies the possibility of failure. There is no experience in which we may not sin. There is a wrong alternative in every call to that which is right. Instead of doing the duty, we may neglect it. Instead of making the self-denial or sacrifice, we may decline it. Instead of resisting the sin, we may yield to it. Temptation always brings an opportunity to overcome, to grow stronger. But if we fail to use the opportunity we sin.”
VERSES ON TEMPTATION
TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS
--> God allows them
--> We pray for strength to endure them
--> We realize everyone faces them
--> God is able to rescue us from them
--> God allows them
--> We pray for strength to endure them
--> We realize everyone faces them
--> God is able to rescue us from them
TRANSITION FROM MATTHEW 6 TO ISAIAH 9
In light of these truths, we now want to read our passage from Isaiah for this advent season…and learn something about our Messiah, our Savior, that should help us in dealing with temptation and trials…
In light of these truths, we now want to read our passage from Isaiah for this advent season…and learn something about our Messiah, our Savior, that should help us in dealing with temptation and trials…
JESUS IS WONDERFUL...
The word wonderful in this passage literally means “incomprehensible.” The Messiah will cause us to be “full of wonder.” The word is much weightier than the way it’s used in normal conversation today—we say things are “wonderful” if they are pleasant, lovely, or the least bit likable. Jesus is wonderful in a way that is boggling to the mind.
Jesus demonstrated His wonderfulness in various ways when He was on the earth...
-- His conception in the womb of a virgin (Matthew 1:23… 23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”).
--He showed He is the “wonderful” One in His power to heal (Matthew 4:23…23 Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness.)
--His amazing teaching (Mark 1:22…22 The people were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike the teachers of religious law.)
--His perfect life (Hebrews 4:15…15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.)
--His resurrection from the dead (Mark 16:5-7… 5 When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, 6 but the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body. 7 Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died.”)
Jesus taught many wonderful things that are counterintuitive to the human mind:
--“Blessed are those who mourn” (Matthew 5:4)
--“Rejoice and be glad” in persecution (Matthew 5:11–12)
--“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” (Luke 6:27)
Jesus’ kind of wonderful is awe-inspiring and superior to any other kind, for He is perfect in every way…
-- 1 Peter 2:22…22 He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone
-- 2 Cor 5:21… 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
-- 1 Jn 3:5…5 And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him
The word wonderful in this passage literally means “incomprehensible.” The Messiah will cause us to be “full of wonder.” The word is much weightier than the way it’s used in normal conversation today—we say things are “wonderful” if they are pleasant, lovely, or the least bit likable. Jesus is wonderful in a way that is boggling to the mind.
Jesus demonstrated His wonderfulness in various ways when He was on the earth...
-- His conception in the womb of a virgin (Matthew 1:23… 23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”).
--He showed He is the “wonderful” One in His power to heal (Matthew 4:23…23 Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness.)
--His amazing teaching (Mark 1:22…22 The people were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike the teachers of religious law.)
--His perfect life (Hebrews 4:15…15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.)
--His resurrection from the dead (Mark 16:5-7… 5 When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, 6 but the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body. 7 Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died.”)
Jesus taught many wonderful things that are counterintuitive to the human mind:
--“Blessed are those who mourn” (Matthew 5:4)
--“Rejoice and be glad” in persecution (Matthew 5:11–12)
--“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” (Luke 6:27)
Jesus’ kind of wonderful is awe-inspiring and superior to any other kind, for He is perfect in every way…
-- 1 Peter 2:22…22 He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone
-- 2 Cor 5:21… 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
-- 1 Jn 3:5…5 And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him
JESUS IS COUNSELOR...
The second part of the Messiah’s title is the word counselor.
In ancient Israel, a counselor was portrayed as a wise king, such as Solomon, giving guidance to his people (1 Kings 4:34; Micah 4:9).
Isaiah uses this word again in ISA 28:29 to describe the LORD:
-- “This also comes from the LORD of hosts; he is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.”
1. Jesus is a wise counselor
-- “He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person” (John 2:25).
2. He is able to advise His people thoroughly because He is qualified in ways no human counselor is.
-- In Christ is “hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3)
-- including the knowledge of all human nature "1 O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. 2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. (Psalm 139:1–2)
3. Jesus always knows what we are going through, and He always knows the right course of action (Hebrews 4:15–16)
The second part of the Messiah’s title is the word counselor.
In ancient Israel, a counselor was portrayed as a wise king, such as Solomon, giving guidance to his people (1 Kings 4:34; Micah 4:9).
Isaiah uses this word again in ISA 28:29 to describe the LORD:
-- “This also comes from the LORD of hosts; he is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.”
1. Jesus is a wise counselor
-- “He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person” (John 2:25).
2. He is able to advise His people thoroughly because He is qualified in ways no human counselor is.
-- In Christ is “hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3)
-- including the knowledge of all human nature "1 O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. 2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. (Psalm 139:1–2)
3. Jesus always knows what we are going through, and He always knows the right course of action (Hebrews 4:15–16)
1. Jesus was tempted in every way that we were
· but did not sin
· relied on the power of the holy spirit to help him
· honored his father, enduring the cross, the shame, the pain, the separation
2. Jesus sympathizes with our weakness
· he is able to understand you and your situation
· he was tempted in every way…let that soak in
3. Because of that…we can:
· Approach the throne (of grace)
· With confidence
· Receive mercy
· Obtain grace to help us in our time of trial
4. Your response:
· Do you know him as wonderful?
· Are you being brutally honest with him as a counselor?
· Do you know that Jesus identifies, sympathizes and understands you?
· Where are you sick, needy, what is your need?
· Are you being faithful in your trial to follow and obey Jesus? Is he the object of your worship or is comfort, happiness your focus?
· but did not sin
· relied on the power of the holy spirit to help him
· honored his father, enduring the cross, the shame, the pain, the separation
2. Jesus sympathizes with our weakness
· he is able to understand you and your situation
· he was tempted in every way…let that soak in
3. Because of that…we can:
· Approach the throne (of grace)
· With confidence
· Receive mercy
· Obtain grace to help us in our time of trial
4. Your response:
· Do you know him as wonderful?
· Are you being brutally honest with him as a counselor?
· Do you know that Jesus identifies, sympathizes and understands you?
· Where are you sick, needy, what is your need?
· Are you being faithful in your trial to follow and obey Jesus? Is he the object of your worship or is comfort, happiness your focus?