Spark Notes (10/21)

5 Fold Ministry Gift - the Prophet - Lyle Schut

Lyle started with sharing a few testimonies.

1. God desires the prophetic ministry - He desires to speak to His people.

Number 11:24-30:

"So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. He brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the tent. ²⁵ Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took some of the power of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but did not do so again.

²⁶ However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷ A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”

²⁸ Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ aide since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!”

²⁹ But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” ³⁰ Then Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp."

2. The Lord desires all people to hear him and the Holy Spirit to rest in them. 

Amos 3:7 - 
Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.

3. The Lord speaks in many different ways - through the Word, dreams, visions, Music, people, creation art, etc. 

Prophets are the mouthpiece of God, direction, council, and vision. If they give correction, the correction is delivered in love. 

Prophets are intercessors. They are interceding on behalf of others or situations and they ask the Lord for his heart. 

The Office of a Prophet - someone who receives corporate words, maybe a group of people, a city, region, and nation. It is a leadership roll. 

However, all people can prophesy. Not everyone is called to lead as a prophet, but all people are called to listen to the Lord and speak His heart. 1 Corinthians 14:3 - "But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort."

We are all to eagerly desire this because it builds up the Body of Christ. 

Following his teaching, Lyle invited those in the congregation to ask the Lord for words and share them with the congregation. To watch the full service, click here. To listen to the audio only, click here. 

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Spark Notes (10/14)

Five fold Ministry - Evangelist Gift - Mark Vermeer

Ephesians 4:11 - 13: "So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."

Christ didn't stop at "good enough", instead he's given us access to the fullness of him. 

Billy Graham, Christine Caine, Kirk Cameron, are some evangelists that you may have heard of. 

Key Elements or Characteristics of the Evangelist Gift
1. An evangelist makes the stories of Jesus' remarkable love and goodness famous. 
2. An evangelist is a carrier of Good News in partner with Jesus and celebrating peoples' transformation. 
3. An evangelist stirs curiosity and desire to know Jesus.
4. An evangelist's life is a living invitation to all to join the family of God.
5. An evangelist has a heart for others to know and love God.
6. An evangelist is convinced that God the Father is so good.
7. An evangelist believes that their life should speak louder than words.
8. An evangelist has an appreciation and an urgency for the messaged of Jesus' love.

1 Peter 3:15: "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect."

Mark then shared a testimony about leading a man to Christ on a youth trip years ago.

Sometimes an evangelist may let the urgency take over rather than remembering the command to use gentleness and respect.

Colossians 4:6 - "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone" 

Scripture that is helpful for leading someone to the Lord:

1. Romans 3:10 - "As it is written“There is no one righteous, not even one;"
2. Romans 3:23 - "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, "
3. Romans 6:23 - "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in^[a] Christ Jesus our Lord."
4. Romans 5:6-8 - "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us"
5. 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 - "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve."
6. Romans 10:9-10 - "If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 
7. Ephesians 2:8-9 - "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast."

When is the appropriate time to tell of the goodness of God?

Ephesians 5:15-16 - "Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil."

The average lifespan of a man in the U.S. is 76 years and the average lifespan of a woman in the U.S. is 81 years. Mark led the group through a convicting illustration: take the lifespan of your gender, subtract your age from the lifespan. Then take that number and multiply it by 365. If you would live to the average lifespan, that is how many days you have left. 

What are some of the misconceptions of an evangelist?

1. "It's my duty to share the Good News as an evangelist." It's not a duty, it's a privilege. 
1. Ephesians 3:16-19 - "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,  may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God"

Tips on Leading Someone to Christ:

1. Let the person admit that they are a sinner. 
2. Let the person turn from their sin. They need to turn, repent of their sin. 
3. They need to believe that Christ died for them on the cross. 
4. Ask Christ to come into their heart and live inside them. 
5. Do it publicly. It is important for the person to share. 
6. Do it now! Don't wait. 

How long does it take to become a Christian?

It can happen in an instant. There's not hidden agenda - it's so simple. God's love is so abundant and he's so willing to give it to us. 

Why evangelize? The Kingdom of Heaven is not full. 

Matthew 9:37-38 - "Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." 

Revelation 12:11 - "They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death."

Following the teaching, a group told their "Cardboard Testimonies" - to watch, click here.

To watch the full service, click here.

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Spark Notes (10/7) - Teacher Gift (Five fold Ministry) - Jeff Mann

On Sunday night, Jeff Mann from the 5 State Revival spoke on the Teacher gifting from the Five fold Ministry. 

How to Operate in the Teaching Gift 

What is the purpose of the teaching gift? The purpose is to strengthen people to know God, to love God, to trust God, and to obey God. It's to reveal who God is according to the scriptures and to motivate people to know God and respond to him.

1 Timothy 1:5-6: The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk.

When thinking about teachings, ask yourself these questions: Does the teaching help me to love Jesus better? Does the teaching help me to love people better? Does it help me disciple others? Does it help me do the main things that the Bible commands? 

If it's just arguing over trivial, meaningless things, then it's not an important teaching. 

God didn't give us the scriptures to just pass a theology quiz. The end goal isn't just knowledge, it's to know God, to know His way to walk in His ways, to reveal Him to those around us. 

Part 1 - Delight in God through the scriptures

We can open the Bible with the author - the Holy Spirit living within us - and ask Him questions about what He wrote. Jeff encouraged everyone to simply pray "Holy Spirit, reveal more to me. Show me what these scriptures mean." as we read the Word. We can interact with God as we read His word. 

Always read the Word. Every single time it is benefitting you, whether you "feel" something or not.  You will always benefit from it. You may read something and then a year later it will really impact you.

Part of the grace for those with the Teaching gift is learning with Jesus. Jesus is the Teacher. People with the teaching gift often get so excited about what Jesus has taught them and just long to share with others. 

We are to first received from God, encounter him, THEN communicate that with others. 

Jeff then shared the story of Jesus appearing in Luke 24.  The story says the men felt their hearts burning inside them as Jesus talked. We have the Holy Spirit within us, burning, revealing the Lord to us. 

Part 2 - Out of the place of delighting in Him, preach the Word and reveal God to others

2 Timothy 3:14-17 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 

The scriptures are useful! They are not just for knowledge but to be used. He uses it to prepare and equip His people. It is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.

Benefits of the scriptures:
1. Wisdom to receive salvation.
2. All inspired by God.
3. Teach us what is TRUE
4. Equip us to do every good work.

2 Timothy 4:1-5: In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge:  Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.  For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

Preach the Word when it's in season AND when it's out of season. Stick to the Word. The Word is Truth, so we are to teach what is in the Word. There are so many others out there teaching things that aren't directly from the Word, so stay true to the Word. Society's opinion of what is right and wrong is always changing. But God's Word is the true standard.

We have to be willing to have difficult conversations in LOVE. God gives us warnings in scripture because He loves us and wants us to walk with Him.

Jeff shared many testimonies and examples in his teaching that you can hear on the recording.
To watch the video of the service, click here.
To listen to the audio, click here.

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