Prayer Pt. 2: Intercession

Prayer: Intercession

Speaker: Crispin Schroeder

I.               Why Pray? – If God is in control of everything then why should we even bother to Pray?

A.    The original call of humans – Humans were created in God’s image and given  _____________________________,  _____________________________ and __________________________________. (Genesis 1:27-28)

B.    Humans used their free will to disobey God and thus handed over their authority to the enemy.

C.   The great commission (Matthew 28:19)

D.   God brings forth his kingdom with people who choose to respond to him and be a part of his work.  The body of Christ (1 Cor 12:17)

E.    “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…” (Matthew 6:10).  We pray for God’s kingdom to come precisely because there are many things going on that are not God’s will.

II.              Intercession – the action of intervening on behalf of another

• the action of saying a prayer on behalf of another person : prayers of intercession. 1Timothy 2:1-8

A.    Pray for everyone especially rulers and authorities

B.    Pray for folks to encounter Jesus

C.   Pray instead of complaining and getting angry

D.   A picture of intercession (Luke 5:17-26)

III.            Conclusion

Who is My Enemy?

Who is My Enemy?

Speaker: Crispin Schroeder

8.8.10

Northshore Vineyard Church

I.               Spiritual Warfare – 2 Pitfalls

1.    Obsession With the Devil

2.    Rationalism

Theodin: “I will not risk open war”

Aragorn: “Open war is upon you, whether you would risk it or not.” (from Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers)

II.              The Enemy and the Fight (Ephesians 6:12, 2 Corinthians 4:4)

A.    The enemy behind your enemy (a modern parable)

B.    “Love your enemies…” Matthew 5:43-48

III.            The Trap and The Way

A.    The Trap - One of the greatest traps we can fall into in the Christian life is when we fail to distinguish the real enemy of our lives and to fight with the weapons of the world.

·      Peter cuts off a servants ear

·      James and John wish to call down fire

B.    The Way

·      Jesus loved his enemies and even prayed for them from the cross

·      Paul and Silas in prison (Acts 16:25-34)

·      Ruby Bridges

IV.            Conclusion (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

Signposts

I. INTRODUCTION

II. SIGNPOSTS

A. God has called all of his people to be signposts along the road of life, pointing to the life of the future, and the life of His kingdom.

B. After Jesus went to heaven, his followers got busy being signposts.

C. The Church (the Jesus followers) are to show the world, through their lives, what things would look like if God were running the world.

III. RISK

A. Matthew 6:33 (the Message) – “Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God provisions. Don’t worry about missing out (on stuff). You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.” B. In order to be a signpost to the kingdom, there’s going to be some risk involved.

1. Risk of money, time, energy, comfort, safety . . .

IV. REWARD

A. It seems that the only people who will really get to experience the depths of Jesus’ promise to sustain them through life are the ones who pursue His kingdom with their whole lives.

V. CONCLUSION

Groan

I.               Intro – Romans 8:18-27

II.              The Groan

A.     The groan of creation

B.    The groan of the children of God

C.   The groan of the Holy Spirit

III.            The groan comes from our connection with ______________ and _________________

·      Proximity

·      Praying with others = letting the withness inform our prayers

IV.            Conclusion

Don't Stop

7.18.10

Speaker - Jim Holland

All Things to All Men

7.11.10 - Crispin Schroeder

I.               Intro – 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

II.              Freedom and Love

·      Not merely freedom from but freedom to __________________

·      ________________   trumps personal freedom

III.            All Things to All Men…

A.    …Isn’t about faking it with people, or trying to get folks to like us

B.    …Is identifying God in our stories and connecting with others from that point.

·      Paul did this by connecting with folks who were:

Ethnic Jews, Religious Jews, Pagans, and those with weak consciences

C.   “All things to all men” requires that we see ourselves as a work in progress.  Philippians 3:12-14

D.   “All things to all men” involves viewing our past through the lens of Jesus’ work of redemption

IV.            Breaking through the wall of denial

1 John 1:8, Luke 5:31-31, John 9:39-41

2 Ears... 1 Mouth

God With Us With Others: Two Ears, One Mouth

Northshore Vineyard Church

7.4.10 - Crispin Schroeder

I.               Intro – James 1:19

“…Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”

II.              Barriers to Listening

1.    We don’t care about what others have to say

2.    Wanting to fix things quickly

3.    Inherited hearing problems

4.    Hot-Button issues

III.            Slowing Down the Conversation through Active and Reflective Listening

When you’re the speaker:

1.    Talk about your own thoughts, your own feelings, your own desires

2.    Try to be concise and focused in your sharing.  Use short sentences.

3.    Correct your partner if you feel he/she has missed something

4.    Continue speaking until you feel understood.

When you’re the listener:

1.    Put your own agenda on hold.

2.    Allow your partner to speak until he/she completes a thought.

3.    Begin the phrase with “what I hear you saying is…” and then try to accurately reflect your partner’s words back.  Avoid judging, interpreting or paraphrasing.

4.    Then ask, “Is that correct?”

IV.           Conclusion