UPDATED attendance helps!

HERE is the instructional pdf

Watch this 4.5 minute instructional video.

Suggestions for leading Session #2: CULTURE

First of all, be sure to let me know
anything that would be helpful for other leaders (post in the comment section or email me)
any blessing that would be an encouragement (post in the comment section or email me)
any suggestions/critiques that will help this specific ministry grow (email me)


For our Kid’s Devotional part

We talked about promises and the fact that God is faithful.

Clarification of the 2 Chronicles 7:14 section…

Moore states that often we read passages of scripture thinking the Bible is addressing America like 2 Chronicles 7:14 

Here is an expansion/clarification of what Moore said about how we should read this passage and other passages. 

This was originally written stating that a specific nation (Israel) would receive a specific blessing (the healing of their land).

“Their land” refers to the specific land that God promised Abraham. 

If we think of the church as God’s people, we need to remember that the church has no land, the way Israel had a land.  

We are aliens and exiles (1 Peter 2:11). 

A proper way to think about this verse is that God is faithful to his promises.  Does this sound familiar?  Hint:  Sunday’s sermon. 

We need to be living with God’s glory and will in mind.   This Future Kingdom mindset doesn’t mean we live anyway we want.  We realize that God wants us to proclaim the life changing truth of the Gospel in the self-seeking, fallen world.

More from the video, the concept of Engaging the Culture provides a great talking point for Session #2.

Replicating the culture  

Raging against the culture

We need to start with the Gospel which should sound alarming and distinctive to the world.

Values, morals and principles are not the starting points.  JESUS IS!

As I watched and prepared for the lesson, I realized I want to help myself and others in my group understand GROW IN COMPASSION FOR OTHERS!

Another way to think of ENGAGING THE CULTURE is LOVE OTHERS!

A STRIKING EXAMPLE:  the hotel maid discipling the corporate CEO.  In this example what is valued?

Here is a point I am going to be making on the church blog.

We are doing a Bible Teaching Hour class entitled "I Will."  The subtitle is Nine Traits of the Outwardly Focused Christian.
We are doing a small group study entitled Onward.  There is a question on page 35 that asks "Why is it important for us to first focus on the culture inside our churches before we engage the culture of the world outside it.  

So what is it?

Being an outwardly focused Christian
or
First focus on the culture inside our churches... 

These two foci are not different they are the same.

The "first focus on the culture inside our churches" is not a command to be selfish.
It is a self-awareness.  We need to understand and address the issues within the church, not merely rage against the culture around us.  Pay careful attention to Russell Moore's example around 13 minutes in the video.
The question to consider is "How am I kicking against the scriptures?  How am I evading the Gospel?"

This self-examination reminds us that we all are sinners in desperate need of a savior, the Savior, Jesus.

Here are some quotes I have shared before from the book Compelling Community.  
These quotes help us see that what the church ultimately has in common is not a demographic or a set of morals.  What we have in common is our sin nature and our salvation through Jesus.

“When Christians unite around something other than the gospel, they create community that would likely exist even if God didn’t. As a modern-day tower of Babel, that community glorifies their strength instead of God’s.” (23)  

“To follow Christ is to love other Christians. . . . Love between believers isn’t a sign of maturity; it’s a sign of saving faith.” (52)

For more quotes from this great book, click HERE

Suggestions for leading Week 1: Kingdom!

Here are a couple of suggestions based on my Soul Care Group last week...

Starting tomorrow there is s going to be a blog post on the church page about each of the ONWARD topics.  These are scheduled for the next six weeks.
I want to encourage you to check them out and tell your group to check them out.

Also, over the next week or two we are going to be tweaking the DVD schedule.
I would really appreciate your help and flexibility as we work through some of those details.

Thanks!

DVD sharing schedule

In an effort to reduce the number of DVDs we have to purchase, I have set up this DVD sharing schedule.  I think I have included every group.  

If for some reason your group is not on this list please let me know.

Here is the DVD sharing schedule.  

I have sent out the the additional Wednesday schedule to the groups that will be sharing on Wednesday. 

Please let me know if you see any corrections that need to be made.

	Sunday	Wednesday	Thursday
Disk 1	Paul	Casey & Warren
Disk 2	Aaron	Kerry
Disk 3	Andy	Andy & Kurt
Disk 4	Dave	Dave and College	Dave
Disk 5	Duke	Shane	Bobby
Disk 6	Adrian	Dave Regnier
Disk 7		Everett
Disk 8		Burt
Disk 9	Bruce	Flamm
Disk 10	Mitch		Kim

* Pastor Dan's Tuesday group will be sharing with Pastor Dave.

You should receive an email on Friday with the names of individuals who want to get into a group.

Soul Care Start Up Info

TRAINING TIME:

I have spoken with almost every leader who has not gone to the live training.  If I haven't spoken with you, we are going to get together Sunday morning at 9:45 am.  Remember there are no 9:00 am classes this Sunday.

BOOK DISTRIBUTION:

The books will not be in this Sunday.  However, there will be a limited number of copies for Soul Care groups that will start with the first session.  There will be a post on the church blog (www.emmanuelbaptist.com/blog) letting everyone in the church know about this.

Lord willing the study guides will be in before September 11th.  

GROUP START UPS:  

I know some groups are starting up this upcoming week with kick-offs and social.
If you are planning to start watching the videos this upcoming week, please let me know.

DVD SHARING:

In order to save the church over $1000 we are going to have some groups sharing DVD sets.  

I have been working on a DVD sharing schedule where we will only need 9 DVD sets instead of 22 sets.  

Wednesday night has proven to be the biggest challenge because there are so many groups meeting that night.  I am glad a number of groups are going to be meeting or doing the videos every other week.
I was hoping to have that finalized today but it is not done yet and should be done tomorrow (09.02).

INVITES:

With this DVD sharing schedule, I am going to include a list of those who asked about being in a group.  I would love for you to see who you can invite on that list.


PRAYER:
I would really appreciate your prayers as I work through many different details and challenges.  Thanks!

Role Play: Training Session #5

Thank you to everyone who has been out to one of the two training times.

Here is a possible situation that could happen in your group.
After reading this short description of the situation, do the TWO assignments right after it.

Someone comes to your 2nd Soul Care meeting and tells the group they read a great book that shares the ancient mystery that holds the secret of America's future
AND
it is all found in the Bible.  Most of it is found in one verse...
Isaiah 9:10.
AND
they want to take some time to share about it this week or next week.

Assignments

1. Before doing Assignment #2, email me how you might handle the situation.
2. Read one of these two articles and let me know when you finished reading it.  Book Review or Bestsellers.  Both articles are very good.

Prayer Training Time - Training Session #4

IMMEDIATE NEED:  Two people to help with the sign up table this Sunday, August 21, 2016.

For this week's training time there are no videos.
There are two activities to do.

FIRST, PRAY!

Take 10 minutes to pray for Soul Care and this Onward Study.

Here are some specific Biblical prayer requests from the article

How to Pray for your Small Group Ministry

Paul's prayers for the churches make a great place to start praying for small groups—which, after all, are manifestations of the church. Consider these examples:

• Colossians 1:9-14: knowing God's will, spiritual wisdom and fruit, growth in knowledge of God, endurance, patience, joy, gratitude
• Ephesians 1:17-19: spiritual wisdom and revelation, knowledge of God and of their hope as believers
• Ephesians 3:14-21: spiritual power and faith, knowledge of Christ's love, being filled with God's fullness

A major success factor in any small group is meaningful relationships. Here are a few ways to pray for relationships in your small groups:

• Pray for a spirit of grace and forgiveness among group members (James 1:19 and Matthew 6:12, 14-15).
• Pray for humility (Philippians 2:1-5).
• Ask God to protect the groups from grumbling and complaining spirits (Philippians 2:14-15).
• Ask God to create environments of encouragement (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
• Pray that God will reveal small-group members' spiritual gifts and create opportunities for those gifts to be used to honor him and serve the groups.
• Pray for appropriate levels of intimacy, accountability, and confidentiality.
• Ask God to lead new people into the right small groups, and pray for a spirit of acceptance and welcoming.

Here are some specific prayer requests related to our Soul Care ministry this Fall.

• Pray this Onward study would help groups members think Biblically as they engage.
• Pray that new Soul Care Group leaders would be identified, trained and developed.  I would really love for us to commit praying specifically for this ongoing prayer request.
• Pray for group members to be more focused on glorifying God and challenging others to do the same. 

SECOND, EMAIL.

Email Pastor Dave at soulcare@emmanuelbaptist.com 

to let me know which of the trainings you have done.

If you have not done all of the trainings,

 please do them and then let me know.

ONWARD 6 Session Bible Study (Softcover)

The softcover 6 session Onward 6 Session Bible Study is what we are going to be using 

in our Soul Care training this Fall.  

Each group will get one copy of this book for free for the leader.

Your group members can sign up in the foyer to purchase a copy for $12.00

or can purchase a copy at LifeWay for $12.99, with coupons or upcoming sales you could purchase it for cheaper.

ONWARD book (Hardcover)

The hardcover book Onward is not needed for our study 

BUT is a great book that develops the themes 

introduced in the Bible Study and Video.

About the Onward Study: Training Session #3

This week's training is designed to help you gain a better understanding of the Onward curriculum we are going to be using.

Next week's training session will include some schedule options for the study.

Also if you didn't do the other training times AND email me to let me know they were done, then please do so.  Thanks!

Session #1:  What is Soul Care @ EBC and brief introduction to the Onward study
Session #2:  Small Group Leadership 101.

For the free pdf of the Study Introduction and Session #1 of 6 sessions click HERE
Each study will include 
about 10 minutes of intro questions
about 15 minutes
2o minutes of RESPOND questions from the lesson book (see pdf above)
30 minutes of group prayer
Total of 1 hour 15 minutes.

Three options for schedule:

1. Every other week:  Watch the video.  Do Bible studies for personal study outside of group time.
2. Every week:  Six straight weeks of video.  
3. Every week:  Watch the video every other week.  Discuss the Bible study questions during non-video weeks.

Introduction video:  http://bcove.me/fvf7u9sg

Leader Video:  http://bcove.me/knkk6wjx

Sample of a lesson video:  http://bcove.me/liyjj2t9

About the Onward Study: Training Session #3

This week's training is designed to help you gain a better understanding of the Onward curriculum we are going to be using.

Next week's training session will include some schedule options for the study.

Also if you didn't do the other training times AND email me to let me know they were done, then please do so.  Thanks!

Session #1:  What is Soul Care @ EBC and brief introduction to the Onward study
Session #2:  Small Group Leadership 101.

For the free pdf of the Study Introduction and Session #1 of 6 sessions click HERE
Each study will include 
about 10 minutes of intro questions
about 15 minutes
2o minutes of questions from the lesson book (see pdf above)
30 minutes of group prayer
Total of 1 hour 15 minutes.

Introduction video:  http://bcove.me/fvf7u9sg

Leader Video:  http://bcove.me/knkk6wjx

Sample of a lesson video:  http://bcove.me/liyjj2t9

About the Onward Study: Training Session #3

This week's training is designed to help you gain a better understanding of the Onward curriculum we are going to be using.

Next week's training session will include some schedule options for the study.

Also if you didn't do the other training times AND email me to let me know they were done, then please do so.  Thanks!

Session #1:  What is Soul Care @ EBC and brief introduction to the Onward study
Session #2:  Small Group Leadership 101.

For the free pdf of the Study Introduction and Session #1 of 6 sessions click HERE
Each study will include 
about 10 minutes of intro questions
about 15 minutes
2o minutes of questions from the lesson book (see pdf above)
30 minutes of group prayer
Total of 1 hour 15 minutes.

Three options for schedule:

1. Every other week:  Watch the video.  Do Bible studies for personal study outside of group time.
2. Every week:  Six straight weeks of video.  
3. Every week:  Watch the video every other week.  Discuss the Bible study questions during non-video weeks.

Introduction video:  http://bcove.me/fvf7u9sg

Leader Video:  http://bcove.me/knkk6wjx

Sample of a lesson video:  http://bcove.me/liyjj2t9

Soul Care Training #2 - 2016/17

TONIGHT we have our first live training time at the church in Room 401 at 7:00 pm.  There will be another live training time Sunday, August 21 at 6:00 pm.  Plan to come to ONE of these training times.
During these live trainings we are going to talk about the importance of praying and planning for Gospel Growth in our groups ( Think end game - more disciples makers).

Some other dates to remember:

The week of July 31 - church wide prayer focus for Soul Care.
The week of August 6 - heavy online promotion for Soul Care
Sunday, August 14 - Soul Care sign up in the foyer with Pastor Dave
Sunday, August 21 - Soul Care sign up in the foyer with a couple of Soul Care leaders.  If you are able to help between the services and/or after the service please let Pastor Dave know.

This 11 minute video has some basic but very good, practical things to remember.
You will want to have a piece of paper to take some notes.
After watching this video email (soulcare@emmanuelbaptist.com) one or two of these ten things you need to work on as a leader this year.
A couple of clarifications:  Some things they mention are specific to the resources their groups use.  In asking others to lead a session, please practice prayerful, godly wisdom.




Thank you for your leadership!

Soul Care Training #1 - 2016-17

This is first of six weekly Soul Care training posts.
After you have viewed each of these three videos, email soulcare @ emmanuelbaptist.com
The first two videos are approximately 2 minutes each and the third is approximately 6 minutes.

Post #1 is designed to remind us of the purpose of Soul Care and introduce us to the Onward study.

The Purpose of Soul Care in three videos:

Video #1:  from Camp Patmos.

To watch the video of this information, scroll down.

Hello!  I thought this would be a great place record our first training 2016 training video.
Here at the lighthouse at Camp Patmos.

And I want to begin with telling you about a movie called THE FINEST HOURS.

This amazing, powerful true story is about the biggest small boat rescue in the history of the coast guard.

In the story there men on the sinking boat and on the shore who make some difficult decisions and face some strong opposition.  (HERE is a link to the movie trailer.)

BUT because they were concerned about people’s lives, they did what needed to be done to save lives.  This is not a spoiler alert:  the crew is saved.

After watching the movie I realized our Soul Care ministry is a rescue ministry.

With the power of The Holy Spirit, God’s Word and the church, we come  alongside one another to encourage one another to grow more and more in Christ.

Over the next couple of weeks I want to remind you how God has been using Soul Care at Emmanuel and I want to challenge each of us to prayerfully consider how you can help others glorify God as worshipping, growing, loving disciples.

Please check back here every Tuesday for through August for some specific training information.

There will be information posted on the church blog this week!



Video #2:  A clip about the Onward study that explains why we are doing this study at this time.




Video #3:  an explanation of Soul Care given in the service on July 3rd.

We want to get a small group of people to come together to encourage one another and help one another grow.

For a timeline sketch of what we are going to be doing to promote Soul Care in August, click HERE

Pray for Returning Leaders and New Leaders

We are excited about what God can do when Holy Spirit empowered Christians meet for the purpose of encourage one another to live out God's Word!

Please join me in praying for this fall's Soul Care leaders and assistant leaders.

Pastor Duke and I have talked about the nature of our fall study may encourage more people to sign up.
This past year we had 23 groups meeting.
This upcoming year, we have set a goal of 30 groups.

Here is what I would love for you to pray with me.

God would allow us to help even more people grow even deeper in their relationship with God.
We would love to see 30 Soul Care groups because we believe that would help this happen.
This goal of 30 groups is not the ultimate goal though.

The ultimate for our Soul Care ministry is more God-glorifying disciples who are worshiping God, growing in the Lord and loving others.

Pray for more discipe-makers willing to lead a group of people into a deeper relationship with God and others.

ONWARD with Soul Care in 2016

Here is some information about Soul Care and the ONWARD study.

GENERAL INFO ABOUT SOUL CARE:

It is my prayer that each of you would understand that Soul Care groups are   

a small part of this churches ministry.  God wants to do so much more in your life then just have you sign up to get together with a group of people. 

At the same time our Soul Care groups play a MAJOR part in Emmanuel’s ministry.  We genuinely believe that being in a smaller group than this here, discussing with others how to live out God’s word individually and together and praying with others will help you treasure Jesus and encourage others to do the same.  

GOAL for the Fall of 2016 

• 30 groups.  This past year we had 24 groups.

SPECIFIC INFO ABOUT THE ONWARD STUDY:

• Title:  ONWARD;  Engaging the Culture without Losing the Gospel
• Click HERE for information and several videos about this study.
• Click HERE for a post containing 20 quotes from the book.
• Think about this quote below for your Soul Care group and our church this year.  You can share it on facebook by clicking below.

Summer Prayer Time: Praying for Gospel Growth!!

This is going to be on the church website tomorrow.
I want to encourage you to invite your Soul Care Group to these prayer meetings.
You will be getting an invite/encouragement from a pastor to attend at least one specific night but I want to encourage you come every night.

"A praying church is a church that admits its dependence upon God."  (Megan Hill)

We are going to have 5 weeks of prayer meeting starting next week (July 13) from 7:00 to 8:00 pm.

This church-wide prayer time is going to focus our attention on God 
as we pray that God would continue making us into a church that is 

• Growing closing and closing to Him (July 13)
• Praying in a way that show dependence upon God not merely His approval of our plans (July 20)
• Giving generously from what God has given us in order to glorify God (July 27)
• Serving one another and the community to help others grow closer and closer to Him (Aug 3)
• Shining the love of God to the world around us (Aug 10)

Reflections on a Changing America

By Rick Phillips

For Christians, the issue of patriotism is always complicated by our citizenship in two realms, one earthly and one heavenly.  The Bible teaches that we have duties to our earthly nation, including obeying laws, paying taxes, and honoring our leaders (Rom. 13:1-7).  At the same time, we are subjects of the eternal kingdom of Christ.  Jesus said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s”  (Mt. 22:21).  This dual citizenship presents serious complications when the civil and the divine authorities strongly conflict.  This was the situation the early believers faced in Jerusalem, resulting in their persecution.  Peter told the Jewish leaders, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29), and for his disobedience he was beaten and later threatened with execution (Acts 5:40; 12:1-6).

While our “two kingdoms” citizenship always warrants biblical reflection, the situation facing Christians in America today demands special wisdom and grace.  Throughout our lifetime, there have been two competing Americas, one theistic and the other atheistic; one which more or less respects our Christian heritage and upholds general biblical values, and one which aggressively opposes biblical morality and a godly outlook on life.  The pagan agenda, which is apparently pursued by roughly half of America, seeks by all means to change our laws, institutions, and moral consensus in a radically secular and sensually permissive direction.  With the assistance of a radically motivated media establishment, pagan America has made steady gains during each of the last several decades.  But in the few years marked by the election of our current President, an aggressive use of raw government power is effecting an exponential shift in our society.

The blueprint for the pagan conquest of America seems was discovered in the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision, which forced abortion on an unwilling society.  Prior to the Supreme Court imposing its will on the people, a clear majority of Americans opposed abortion on demand.  Over the years, the sheer force of public policy and unrelenting media misinformation has shifted public opinion so that the nation is now roughly split on the issue.  The same strategy is now succeeding with homosexuality and the redefinition of marriage.  The secularist control of the higher courts has imposed an alien morality on the people and the radical media has used propaganda to confuse minds and control opinions.  Last week’s Supreme Court decision to overthrow the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was a classic example of this strategy.  The majority explanation did not even attempt to establish a constitutional basis for the judicial overthrow of this law.  Instead, in flagrant violation of the balance of powers that has kept America free for over two hundred years, the Supreme Court justices simply imposed their personal opinion on the nation, overthrowing the will of the people as expressed through the national legislature.

Let me suggest some conclusions that Christians should draw from recent experience

1. We face explicitly anti-Christian forces who are determined to paganize America and are completely unrestrained by concerns of integrity, fairness, or democratic process.  As Justice Scalia wrote of last week’s DOMA decision, the only thing that will restrain the liberal assault on America “is its sense of what it can get away with.”
2. There is mounting evidence that the current administration will use its vast coercive power to unjustly persecute its opponents.  From the National Security Agency’s sweeping violations of privacy, to the Internal Revenue Service’s harassment of conservatives and Christians (to cite only the most notorious examples), the vast power of federal agencies is being employed not for the general good of the nation but for the secularist overthrow of American institutions.
3. Contrary to the rhetoric they have long employed, the forces of pagan America do not merely seek tolerance for their own values and practices but the exclusion and removal of Christian dissent, opinion, and participation in civil society.  It is difficult to see how this agenda can fail to result in the official persecution of Christians and the denial of civil rights to those who wish to proclaim the Bible’s message of salvation and godliness.
4. Given the aggressiveness of the liberal powers, it seems likely that the years immediately before us – 2014, 2015, and 2016 – will be historically significant in terms of their assault not only on Christians and their values but also on the very freedoms that have marked our nation since 1776.

If these reflections are even generally accurate, it will be important for Christians to respond carefully and biblically both as citizens of America and as citizens of Christ’s kingdom.  Let me first offer counsel on how Christians must respond as Americans:

1. We must continue to love our country.  Nothing would more please or serve the radical secularists than for Christians to jettison their patriotic impulses.
2. We must speak out boldly and pointedly as Christians even if we are publicly derided as hatemongers or dangerous religious extremists.  We must refuse to surrender our rights under the Constitution and we must be prepared to pay the price of persecution to uphold them.
3. We must joyfully love our neighbors and serve our communities, including those who vigorously oppose us in the culture war.  It will serve little for Christians to argue a biblical morality if we are not willing to demonstrate biblical grace and truth in action.  By all means, there must be no violence, personal abuse, or vindictive spirit in the Christian defense of our national heritage.  Our calling as Christian Americans is to “overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21), even if our virtues are slanderously labeled as hate.
4. We must support godly elected leaders and some of us will be called to serve in the political process.  This will be especially important at the state level in the upcoming years, since God charges lower civil leaders to protect the people against the tyranny of higher civil leaders.  We will need to pray for and support our godly leaders at the state and local level, fortifying them with the courage and wisdom they are going to need.

Even more importantly, we must be faithful to Christ in the midst of these troubles.  The Bible has amply warned us to expect such upheavals (1 Pet. 4:12).  So let us be neither dismayed nor distracted from our primarily calling as disciples of Jesus.  This means:

1. We must steadfastly refuse to violate God’s Word, either in obeying ungodly government requirements or in opposing them.  This is our absolute duty to the Lord and the source of our moral authority among men.
2. Our churches must stop dancing to the world’s tune.  We must no longer measure church success in secular terms – attendance, buildings, and cash – but in the biblical terms of truth, godliness, and evangelistic zeal.  Our pulpits must resound with the biblical message of law and gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit.  While many churches (especially many prominent mega-churches) may capitulate to the pagan agenda, ours must stand with the Lord through faithfulness to his Word.
3. We must commit ourselves to prayer.  Francis Schaeffer lamented a generation ago that American Christians care mainly for “personal peace and enough affluence to enjoy it.”  The truth of that statement is the cause of many of our woes.  We must now rally as Christians around the source of our true power, the throne of grace in heaven (Heb. 4:16).  If the prayer meetings of Christian churches do not fill in the coming months and years, then James 4:2 will explain the loss of our country.
4. We must rise up with renewed zeal in taking the gospel message of Jesus Christ to our neighbors.  If troubled, we must proclaim Christ.  If persecuted we must proclaim Christ.  If jailed, we must follow Paul’s example by proclaiming Christ.  Our pagan neighbor is not primarily our culture-war enemy but a sinner in bondage who needs the loving message of salvation through the grace of Christ.

Christ is reigning over this year’s Fourth of July.  The startling troubles before us are as much an opportunity as they are a threat, but only if Christians rise up to our calling as servants of a triumphant gospel in the midst of a sin-broken world.

@ www.reformation21.org/blog/2013/07/fourth-of-july-reflections-on.php

Awe of God

Check out the church blog - www.emmanuelbaptist.com/blog

Read Genesis 3

Read and think about the following quote from The Gospel Primer:
“Every time I deliberately disobey a command of God, it is because I am in that moment doubtful as to God’s true intentions in giving me that command.”

What does this quote mean in light of Genesis 3 and this week’s sermon?

God created us in His image.
God communes with people.
God made people accountable to Himself.
God's will was not honored because His word was not obeyed.

God works for His glory and our good.  But we usually don't live that way.
We are selfish and put ourselves before God.
Here is something you can do with this question:
Look at specific sins and talk about how it is doubting God's goodness...
Some examples, that you can make even more specific are...

• STEALING.  What God has provided for me is not enough.  I am going to take more. 
• COVETING:  What God has provided for me is not enough.  I long for what others have.
• SEXUAL IMMORALITY.  What God has planned for sex is not enough.  I long for sex my way.
• You can talk about these and others.

Three prayers from video by Paul Tripp entitled Recovering the Awe of God! at www.emmanuelbaptist.com/more-awe
In the video 3 short but important prayers are mentioned.

• God, I am a man in desperate need of help today !
• God, I pray that in your grace you would send your helpers my way!
• God, give me the humility to receive the help when it comes! 

How do these prayer connect with the first 3 chapter of Genesis and the first 3 sermons of this series?

We need God! 

Why do we need Him?

Have you been living in awe of who God is?
If yes, how?
If no, why not?
If you are not sure what “living in awe means” go to www.emmanuelbaptist.com/more-awe 



You can pray prayers that show your awe of God.!

Notes and question help for May 1st.

These questions do not follow Pastor Duke’s sermon point by point.  However, they are designed to get you thinking about who God is and how that impact your life.

Read or Listen to Genesis 1

God does not need us or our money or service because He is ultimate.  He is  self-sufficient.  He does not lack anything.  What are some reasons we need to give to and serve Him?

If God doesn't need us money or time why do we need to give and serve.  GIVING and SERVING promote DEPENDENCE UPON GOD.  GIVING and SERVING are done to GLORIFY GOD!

You can discuss how GIVING and SERVING shows OUR DEPENDENCE UPON GOD and HIS GLORY!   

God comes first.  God is eternal.  God is ultimate.  God has life in Himself.

God made everything.  How should these truths impact the way we pray?  Take some time to pray with these truths in mind.  During this prayer time don’t share prayer requests.  Pray the attributes of God.  Go to  www.emmanuelbaptist.com/gods-glory/ for some helps on how to do this.

If we understand these truths our prayer lives should be changed.  

God is bigger than we could ever understand.  As we approach Him in prayer, we need to be in awe of who He is.  

Here are some quotes/thoughts from Paul Tripp's New Morning Mercies.

• Prayer is abandoning hope of independent capability and believing that in Christ you’re given everything you need for life and godliness. (121)
• Prayer decimates my independent self-surety; it puts my utter dependency before my eyes and calls me to cry out for the help that I am so often tempted to deny I need. (121)
• God’s care for you is secure because it does not depend on your faithfulness, but on his. (124)  

God is greater than anything we will ever face in this world.

God speaks.  God spoke creation into existence.  God speaks broadly through creation and our consciences.  He also speaks uniquely and personally through the Bible.  For an infographic of this go to visualtheology.church/products/god-speaks

What is revealed about God in creation, universal law & our consciences?
Why are these not enough and why do we need the Bible?

"While God speaks broadly to all humanity through his creation and through our consciences he also speaks uniquely and personally and he does this through the Bible.  In the Bible, God speaks to us of his purposes and intentions and reveals to us things we cannot learn by looking at the world or listening to our consciences.  Where creation and conscience provide general knowledge of God's existence and God's Law, the Bible provides provides clear and specific communication about his nature and his plan."  (Visual Theology p.43) 

Basic question:  What happens to a culture that rejects, denies or even ignores the simple yet weighty words that open the Bible, “In the beginning God”?