Sunday, February 26, 2012

Incredible You - Part 4

REVIEW:
The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth… FROM ONE MAN he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the WHOLE EARTH; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.
~Acts 17:24,26

We are all Different Shades of the Same Colour!

ALL Human's DNA is 99.8% the SAME!  There is only a 0.2% Difference Between any Two People.  ALL Humans Racial DNA is 99.988% the SAME.

We are all ONE skin colour: Melanin. It is a Brown pigment produced in the cells in our skin.  It is a SIN and a DISGRACE to DIVIDE BY RACE!

ONE GOSPEL FOR ALL NATIONS

Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism, but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right." ~Acts 10:34-35 NIV

Take a look at some of the words that stand out in this verse:
  • Speaks
  • Now
  • Realize
  • True
  • God
  • Not-Show-Favouritism
  • Accepts
  • Every-Nation
  • One
  • Fear
  • Him
  • Jesus
  • Right
The word REALIZE means 'to fully understand'.  To NOT SHOW FAVOURITISM means to not have a prejudice or discrimination against anyone.  Prejudice and Discrimination is a Problem faced in EVERY GENERATION and NATION.
  • Prejudice is an ATTITUDE
  • Discrimination is an ACTION
There are 3 main roots that cause people to have racist thinking:
  1. PRIDE - thinking of oneself as superior to another            ~Romans 12:3
  2. FEAR - a feeling of intimidation
    ~1 John 4:18
  3. HATRED - a deep rooted feeling of ill will against another
    ~Numbers 12:1-16
Racism is NOT a matter of SKIN but a matter of SIN!

In Jesus Christ’s Family Tree there are mixed-race couples:
  1. Moses’ wife was Ethiopian ~Numbers 12:1
  2. Solomon had a black lover ~Song of Solomon 1:5,6
  3. Ruth was a Moabite ~Ruth 1:4, 4:13
  4. Rahab was a Canaanite ~Joshua 2:1, 6:25

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Incredible You - Part 3

A Hero is someone you:
  1. THINK about
  2. KNOW some trivia about
  3. TALK about what they do
  4. ADMIRE the results they get
Some examples would be:
  1. Sports Players
  2. Family Members
  3. TV Personalities
  4. Politicians
  5. Business People
  6. Movie Stars
Who is your hero? The man who is my hero is not my hero because he is black; he is my hero, who just happens to be black.  There are great people from every Country, every Culture, with every Colour of skin.

"Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope." ~Ephesians 3:20

My Hero is a man named William J Seymour (1870 - 1922)

WHAT MAKES HIM MY HERO?

"If You're Going To Win, You Can’t Give Up!"

My Hero faced:
  1. FINANCIAL challenges
  2. PHYSICAL Challenges
  3. RACIAL Challenges
Even in that environment - my hero became the FIRST PASTOR of a MULTI-RACIAL CHURCH!

HOW DO WE BECOME GREAT HEROS?

What made William Seymour great? His Favourite Bible Verse was, "I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect UNITY that the world will know that you sent me and that you LOVE them as much as you love me." ~John 17:23 NLT

His life and his legacy declare his greatness:
  • Yale University in 1972 declared him: "the most influential black leader in American religious history."
  • Life Magazine listed events at Azusa Street Mission as one of the 'top one hundred events of the millennium'
And even more importantly than that - Today it is estimated that over 3/4 of a BILLION PEOPLE worldwide attend churches that were started as a direct result of William Seymour’s Azusa Street Mission.

William Seymour is a HERO because he:
  • Believed that God was ABLE
  • TRUSTED God
  • LOVED people the way that Jesus loved them
We challenge you today that you may HAVE a hero like that, but with God on your side you can BE a hero like that.

Sunday, February 05, 2012

Incredible You - Part 1

God’s plan for Man:
  • To Love each other - even though we're all different
  • To Accept each other - even though we're all flawed
  • To Embrace each other - even though we're
ALL MEN ARE EQUAL ~Dr. Martin Luther King Junior

So God created people in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them. ~Genesis 1:27

Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was excellent in every way. ~Vs 31

Everything God makes is EXCELLENT and that includes you!

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free… male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ~Gal 3:28

'One' means 'complete unity, none are excluded'

'EQUAL' means 'to have the same value, merit and
importance'

  • Different as we look – God LOVES us
  • Different as we sound – God LOVES us
  • Different as we act – God LOVES us
"You're Different from Me, but God loves us Equally!"

CHARACTER MAKES THE PERSON ~Dr. Martin Luther King Junior

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. ~2 Peter 1:5-7

'Diligence' means 'to earnestly strive after to accomplish'

'Virtue' means 'moral excellence, upright conduct and character'

It's not the skin COLOUR of a person that makes them;
It's the CHARACTER of a person that makes them!

"Your skin colour is what you are born with -
your character is what you develop!"

Every country and every race has good people and bad people.  We want people to determine who we are by the character we develop – AND in turn WE need to determine who others are by their character.

"It's What's Inside that Counts!"

JOIN OUR HANDS IN LOVE ~Dr. Martin Luther King Junior

Many have stood up for their 'civil rights', but there is a big difference between civil rights and Kingdom Love!
The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." ~Romans 13:9-10

Love does no harm to its neighbor.

'Love' means 'to openly welcome and embrace, to have concern for, to look out for their needs'

'Neighbor' means 'according to Christ; any person irrespective of nationality or religion whom we chance to meet'

How God wants us to live is summed up in this:

Openly Welcome and embrace, have concern for and look out for the needs of any person irrespective of nationality or religion whom we chance to meet.

Love is your Attitude Combined with Your Action

TEST IF YOU LOVE ALL PEOPLE:
  • Who is in your Social Circle – that you have openly welcomed and embraced?
  • Who do others say is your real friend?
  • Who is at your party?
  • Who is it you are calling or texting?
Practical Pathway:
  1. Take time to move outside your background and love people
  2. As Christians we need to be proactive
  3. Don’t wait for others to talk to you
  4. Lead the way in displaying: Gods heart of Love
WORDS are Cheap, ACTIONS are Loud!

We don't tolerate multiple cultures, we celebrate them!
Be a person of ACTION:
Get to know and appreciate others,
Let others know and appreciate...
The INCREDIBLE YOU!