Sermon on a Stick

(My notes from Sunday, if you trust my note taking. From Dr Chris at FBC Ruston...)

WHO IS THE WORST PERSON ON YOUR TEAM?
Titus 3: 9-11 (NIV)

9But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. 10Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. 11You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

1. WHO is the divisive person
* 'divisive' means heritic, someone who holds to fake doctrines...one who separates himself for his own benefit. It's not necessarily a person who disagrees; it's a person who is disagreeable.
* The divider is the person who is the worst person for/on your team.

2. WHY are they this way?
* They major in the minors (v.9)
* They havea personal agenda
* It's often all about them, "serving our own appetites." (Romans 16:17-18)
* They have a heart problem (v. 11)

3. WHAT do we do with them? (v. 10)
* Warm them twice, suggest the behavior is not healthy, then allow them to have nothing to do with the team. Remove them from the roster.
* Avoid them, because
a. it might waste time
b. you might get pulled down too
c. avoiding them might be what it takes to wake them up; the shock of losing the familiar might be what it takes the lead them toward repentance

4. DON'T be this person
* Lovingly and gently deal with this kind of behavior in others
* Deal strongly and immediately with this behavior in yourself

Jesus ... Others ... You ... = JOY

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WHAT THE GREAT ONES DO!
I Samuel 12:16-23

We are all leading or teaching in some way; how do we assure our leadership is influencing others in a positive way?

1. You Need Power with God (v. 16-18)
* Samuel prays for rain, rare duing the harvest time of year, and God allows it ... There is no shortcut to power with God, so ...

2. You Need to be a Person of Prayer
A: In your own life ... (v. 18)
* The Gospel of Luke is often called the gospel of prayer
* The way to spiritual dependency is to become more dependent on God and less on ourselves; humble yourself, as God asks us to...
B: For your people (v. 19, 23)
* Samuel prayed for those in his circle/sphere of influence; not praying as I should is sin
* It's awfully hard to gossip about people who you're praying for.

3. You Need to Teach and Speak the Full Truth of God
* Major on encouraging them (vs. 20-21); remember, we have Good News
* Lay out the hard stuff too (v. 24-25 .. "persist in evil and you'll be swept away...")
*Sometimes you have to say, "I love you and God loves you but what you're doing is wrong and you are going to wreck yourself and your life and others."
* You haven't done much of anything at all if you haven't been used of God to help change the lives of other people..

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