Blog Archives

Mental Health through Knowing God

1/29/2017

Teacher: Matt Tully
Series: Mental Health & Spiritual Maturity

Matt's Notes

1 JOHN 2:27 As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie

1) SUBJECT OF TODAY
1 JOHN 2:13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning.

2) RECAP RUSTY AND KEITH FROM PREVIOUS WEEKS

3) WHAT IS A FATHER IN THE FAITH/SABBATH REST?
HEBREWS 4:9-11 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. 11Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.

JOHN 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."

4) HOW TO ENJOY IT?
EPHESIANS 6:13-17 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, 15and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; 16in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
- ROMANS 14:23 whatever is not from faith is sin.
- ROMANS 8:1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
- GALATIANS 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

5) MAIN IDEA
PHILIPPIANS 2:13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

6) NEXT STEPS
PROVERBS 2:4-5 If you seek her as silver And search for her as for hidden treasures; 5Then you will discern the fear of the LORD And discover the knowledge of God.

Leavener is the change agent found in a dough product that causes it to rise or transform while it is in a state of rest.

Mental Health Through Overcoming The Evil One

1/22/2017

Teacher: Keith Tyner
Series: Mental Health & Spiritual Maturity

Keith's Notes

Little children know their sins are forgiven
- You are a child of God
- You are one spirit with God
- You are joint heirs with Christ
- You are on the winning team
Young men, you have overcome the evil one
- Overcome is to gain superiority or win
- What does that look like and how does it happen in life
If you walk away today with a little greater appreciation for the invisible battles around us and hope for victory, our time together would have been profitable.
The nature of war is death. War is violent. Jocko Willink
- Our primary adversary is satan also known as the evil one
- Secondary adversaries include:
  - Demonic angels
  - The power of sin
  - The world system
  - And our flesh/ own habit patterns which lead to destructive actions
- satan is real and powerful
  - he roams around looking for someone to destroy 1 Peter 5.8
  - Not omnipresent Job 1.8 roams and walks earth
  - he is the god of this world 2 Corinthians 4.4 and blinded the minds of the unbelieving
- demonic angels are satan’s subordinates
  - can look like humans
  - can be invisible
  - have taken control of humans with evil expressions
  - Have polluted humanity and were cause of flood
  - have significant physical strength
- Power of sin is satan’s internal messenger which is present in your physical body
  - Genesis 4.7 Sin is crouching at the door, but you must master it
  - Romans 7.17 & 20 I am no longer the one doing ‘it’
    - Good is not the opposite of evil
    - Good is not the standard of life, righteousness is
    - When you have good and evil thoughts consider them seriously
  - POS is resident in our body, like a speaker is in this room. The speaker is simply the sound system and not the source of the message.
  - You are not the source of evil thoughts
- The world system is the prevailing culture which is contrary to God’s
  - Proverbs is a great description of God’s system vs. world’s
    - I have found focusing on God eliminates most of the time concerning myself with the enemy
    - Don’t assume the system you are connected to is godly
      - Is the ‘American Dream’ God’s system or world’s?
      - Are your political views God’s system or world’s?
      - 2 Timothy 2.4 No soldier entangles himself.
  - The world system leads to discontentment, disillusionment, frustration and even death. Love is not a part of it. The world’s term for love is tolerance. They are not anything close to one another.
  - Most of us have trappings of the world system without ever realizing it.
- Then there are those crazy habits stored in our brain which we have acquired naturally by living in the world. These habits are the ones which we used prior to knowing Jesus to get our needs met apart from Christ and ones which have developed along the way.
  - Bible calls habits we use to be the ruler of our lives as FLESH
  - My flesh looks completely different than yours.
  - Paul describes fleshly activities in Galatians 5:19-21, and James in James 4:1-3
  - My flesh will tend to struggle with controlling situations, it has workaholic tendencies, tends to avoid conflict, tends to be overly concerned about the future, can be goal obsessed, has included worldly success where you can find worldly acceptance
  - There are almost an infinite number of those types of efforts which can distract us from spiritual living
  - They are acquired early. A friend told me a story about their 18 month old and I pointed out the child is developing a unique FLESH as his father is the father of all lies.
What I am about to describe is intense sounding, but keep in mind it has evolved with much time. A war tested friend of mine described the essence of becoming a wingman as a fighter pilot. The wingman will have spent nearly 8,000 hours in training over a 2-2.5 year period of time. At that point a wingman works along with a lead pilot and they are in it together. DON’T WALK THIS LIFE ALONE!!!!!
OVERCOMING
- You are a new creation with Christ in you! (2 Corinthians 5.17)
- The battle is not yours (2 Chronicles 20.15)
- We don’t battle flesh and blood (Ephesians 6.12)
- Greater is He who is in you (1 John 4.4)
- Know HIM (Philippians 3.12)
- Know who you are (Who He sees you to be)
- The truth will set you free. (John 8.32)
- Take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10.5)
- Be alert. (1 Peter 5.8)
- Stand firm/Resist and he will flee (James 4.7)
- Don’t be ignorant of his schemes (2 Corinthians 2.10)
- The world will violate your peace. (John 1
- Don’t love the world or the things of the world! (1 John 2.15)
- Know the end of the story. (John 19.30)
When you walk out the door today, don’t be surprised by any fiery ordeal you may endure. Jesus said, ‘In this world, you have tribulation, but take Courage, I have overcome the world!’ WE WIN….WE WIN….

Mental Health through overcoming the evil one - "Who is Satan?"

1/15/2017

Teacher: Matt Tully & Keith Tyner
Series: Mental Health & Spiritual Maturity

Mental Health through our Faith - Forgiveness

1/8/2017

Teacher: Rusty Kennedy
Series: Mental Health & Spiritual Maturity

Rusty's Notes

1 John 2:12-13
12 I am writing to you, little children,
because your sins have been forgiven
because of Jesus’ name.
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
because you have come to know
the One who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have had victory over the evil one.[1]
----------------------------
One Thing…

I want to teach you one thing today.
Don’t believe a word I say.
This is something that I was not taught at OBU.
I never heard in seminary.
I did not learn this until I was 35 years old.

What percentage of the church understands forgiveness? Hold your responses.

1 John 2:12
12 I am writing to you, little children,
because your sins have been forgiven
because of Jesus’ name.

To begin with, “little children” refers to all believers.
John is not talking about age here.
John is referring to spiritual maturity.
Literally, this word means “born ones.”
All Christians have been born into God’s family through faith in Jesus Christ, and their sins have been forgiven.[2]
“Have been forgiven” is in the perfect tense (John will use a perfect tense form six times in these verses).
This forgiveness occurs because the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ made the mercy and grace of God available to those who repent of their sins and believe in the name of Jesus.[3]
“Forgiven” – the forgiveness of sins is mentioned as a completed fact, which, as a ground whereon they stand, as a sphere wherein they move, as a benefit they have received, has and is to have on them and the rest of their life a lasting effect and an efficient power.[4]
The first and most fundamental word of encouragement that John can give to all members of the church is that in the past they were forgiven of their sins and that this forgiveness remains effective in their lives.[5]

Many will teach that forgiveness is a gift that we can’t take for granted. (I agree) Therefore in an act of humbleness and pure desire to not abuse this gift of God they have been given, they accept it as they need it.
It’s like an endless water fountain to them.
At one point in my life I began to see God’s forgiveness differently.
I saw God’s forgiveness like an ocean… and I was swimming in it.
I couldn’t escape it.
It is inevitable that I was and am going to sin. (1 John 1:10 - 10 If we say, “We don’t have any sin,” we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”) [6]
I can see forgiveness as my nightly medicine I am expected to take to get better.
OR… I see forgiveness as my remedy and I am already healed.

How many times did Jesus die on the cross?
One time...
How does Jesus forgive sins?
He's not getting back up there.
He said, "It is finished"
Everything you've done in the past,
Everything you are currently doing, and everything you are going to do... Jesus has taken care of on the cross... one time.
It was good enough for even your worst day.
Every night I was taught I need to put Jesus back up on the cross.

Oh… I get it… I know what you are thinking.
How can you dare teach that because people will interpret what you are saying as “they are free to do whatever they want to.”
The truth is… I am!
But I also want to teach you about who you truly are as “a little child that calls on the name Jesus.”

This is the way it works.
God created a perfect world and a perfect couple.
Genesis 3 happened and sin entered into the world.
Everything began to die and it never was the way God intended eternity to be.
Genesis 3:15 is our first understanding in the Scripture that a Messiah will come to save us.
Throughout the whole Old Covenant it is proven that we cannot save ourselves.
God gave us the Law and we could not fulfill it.
He went to great lengths to show us. He even used the actual law to prove His love for us.
Romans 5:20 - 20 “The law came along to multiply the trespass.”[7]
- One rule
- Ten Commandments
- 613 Laws
- Sermon on the Mount
- Everything
- Cross
It all changed at the cross.
Hebrews 10:
10 By this will of God, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all.
11 Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins. 12 But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. 13 He is now waiting until His enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified.[8]

- Now let’s break this down…
- 1 Thessalonians 5:23 - 23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely. And may your spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.[9]

Paul indicates that we are 3 parts: spirit, soul and body.
“Body” obviously describes the physical being of a person.
“Soul” (psychē) is the life force that all living things (including animals) possess and that distinguishes them from the inanimate or the dead.
The word is used of life itself, as the seat of internal thoughts, desires, and emotions, or of that aspect of life that survives physical death.
“Spirit” (pneuma) refers to the “breath” characteristic of life.
It is roughly synonymous with “soul,” and like soul it sometimes is paired with “flesh” or “body” to sum up the entirety of a living being.
In one Pauline context, (1 Cor 2:14–15). The “spiritual” (pneumatikos) person is one enabled to commune with the divine. The “natural” (psuchikos) person lives apart from the knowledge and power of God (cf. 1 Cor 15:42–46).
The key distinction here is relational.
Paul was not describing the human person as a three-part conglomerate but as a being with material and nonmaterial existence who may or may not be spiritually enlivened in relation to God.[10]
Body – Physical being here on earth… originally came from dust and will return to dust.
Your body is not going into eternity.
This includes your brain (hard drive…memories)

Soul – Mind, will, emotions (personality). It makes each individual unique.
The soul is eternal. (Luke 16 – Abraham & Lazarus on one side and the rich man on the other side)
If the soul is eternal (out lasts the body) it has to be redeemed. When is it redeemed?
I have been given the mind of Christ. (1 Cor 2:16)

Spirit – It is our connection to God. We are born with a dead spirit… (from the seed of Adam).
Galatians 2:19-20 – 19 For through the law I have died to the law, so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ 20 and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. [11]
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 - 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come. 18 Everything is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, certain that God is appealing through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.” 21 He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. [12]
John 1:12 - I am a child of God (Romans 8:16).
John 15:15 - I am Christ's friend.
John 15:16 - I am chosen and appointed by Christ to bear His fruit.
Romans 3:24 - I have been justified and redeemed.
Romans 6:7 - I have been freed from sin's power over me.
Romans 8:1 - I am forever free from condemnation.
Romans 8:17 - I am an heir of God and fellow heir with Christ.
Romans 11:16 - I am holy.
Romans 15:7 - Christ has accepted me.
1 Corinthians 1:2 - I have been sanctified.
1 Corinthians 2:12 - I have received the Spirit of God into my life that I might know the things freely given to me by God.
1 Corinthians 6:17 - I am joined to the Lord and am one spirit with Him.
2 Corinthians 1:21 - I have been established in Christ and anointed by God.
Galatians 2:4 - I have liberty in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 1:1 - I am a saint (1 Corinthians 1:2; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:2).
Ephesians 1:3 - I am blessed with every spiritual blessing.
Ephesians 2:5 - I have been made alive together with Christ.
Ephesians 2:10 - I am God's workmanship, created in Christ to do His work that He planned beforehand that I should do.
Ephesians 2:18 - I have direct access to God through the Spirit.
Ephesians 3:12 - I may approach God with boldness and confidence.
Philippians 4:7 - His peace guards my heart and my mind.
Philippians 4:19 - God will supply all my needs.
Colossians 1:27 - Christ Himself is in me.
Colossians 2:10 - I have been made complete in Christ.
Colossians 3:4 - Christ is now my life.
1 Thessalonians 5:5 - I am a child of light and not of darkness.
2 Timothy 1:7 - I have been given a spirit of power, love, and discipline.
Hebrews 2:11 - Because I am sanctified and am one with Christ, He is not ashamed to call me His.
Hebrews 4:16 - I may come boldly before the throne of God to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 10:14 – I have been perfected by His one offering.
1 John 3:1 - God has bestowed a great love on me and called me His child.
1 John 4:15 - God is in me and I am in God.

What percentage of the church understands forgiveness based upon what we just discussed?

1 John 2:12
12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven because of Jesus’ name.

It is the simplest of things of our faith that are necessary to understand so we can mature into sound and blameless followers of Jesus.

[1] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (1 Jn 2:12–13). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 495). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[3] Akin, D. L. (2001). 1, 2, 3 John (Vol. 38, p. 104). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[4] Lange, J. P., Schaff, P., Brain, K., & Mombert, J. I. (2008). A commentary on the Holy Scriptures: 1, 2, 3 John (p. 61). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
[5] Akin, D. L. (2001). 1, 2, 3 John (Vol. 38, p. 104). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[6] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (1 Jn 1:10). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[7] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Ro 5:20). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[8] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Heb 10:10–14). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[9] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (1 Th 5:23). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[10] Martin, D. M. (1995). 1, 2 Thessalonians (Vol. 33, p. 189). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[11] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Ga 2:19–20). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[12] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (2 Co 5:16–21). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.