Canoe Creek Christian Church

To catch up from last Sunday:Freedom isn't doing whatever you want, it is wanting what the heart needs (Galatians 5:1).We fight to surrender control to the Spirit (Ephesians 6:12).God's grace allows us to belong before we become (Colossians 1:12-14).

When we set our resolve to live a life guided by the Spirit, we will experience a fuller life.

Christmas is a story about victory. And, more importantly, victory even in the face of impossible odds.

The power of God in you is greater than the circumstances that surround you. Never take your enemy for granted.

What we see most often can discourage us from our faith in God. But John received a revelation in which he described the Christmas events for us, and we see the rarely seen; and in it God is fighting for us.

What if we learned that the real satisfaction we are seeking in life is not to be blessed, but to be hungry for the things that satisfy God?

We are very narrow minded at times and this limits us. For example, the word purity makes most people think about sexual misconduct. Or, I suppose I jeweler may think of gold and stones. The point of purity made by Jesus in this verse is much deeper and far more impactful:Matthew 5:8 (NIV):Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Our culture makes it hard to be meek and merciful. Everything about our world tells us we are entitled to something and we are not willing to give things up or offer compassion in place of condemnation.

God is reconciling the world through us and we have an opportunity to make peace in four ways.

The statement, "God is not concerned about your happiness, He is concerned about your holiness", may sound great in a platitude, but it is biblically inaccurate. The two are not opposed, and God does want us to experience happiness in life. However, the pathway to happiness may seem upside down when compared to what the world tells us. The question is, do we have faith that God does want us to be happy so we can trust that what He says will lead to happiness?

As we end this series we are presented with a hard challenge, we either have faith in who Jesus is or who we want Him to be. The two are radically different. In the end, we have to make a choice, do we have the faith to believe that the vision Jesus has for our life is bigger than our own?

We are talking about an essential component in life that helps us grow spiritually but also expands the vision of life to make it even more worthwhile.

If our purpose is true, our passion will be guided well. But to live out a vision for life that is the best it can be, our values have to be right.

Purpose makes vision possible, and it will help us establish and focus passion. Passion in life can be leveraged for good and bad. The right purpose helps us leverage our passion in a way that leads to a life that satisfies most. The more our passion supports a purpose that is united with our source of life, the more we live.

We have shifted to a segment of three messages that zone in on channeling our passion to accomplish a vision worth of our life. Last week we saw that God has a vision and passion for everyone and we were challenged to evaluate if that is how we are living. IN today's message, we see how God's love can change the human heart. His love and passion were and are demonstrated in the fact that He doesn't leave us with a step-by-step manual to do things for ourselves that only He has the power to do. His love provided for us what is impossible for us to provide for ourselves.

In this series we are talking about having vision for our lives. At the same time, we are talking about following God's vision for His Church. Do the two align? Passion is a key element to vision. Sometimes we have passion for the wrong things that lead us to the wrong vision and the wrong outcomes.

Jesus clarified the greatest command to follow, and it is tied to the fact that God sets people apart for great purposes, but not because of their performance, it is a result of God's proclamation. In essence, there is no special edit club. Everyone can experience significant purpose as a result of a relationship with God.

Having a clear vision for our lives is important. Vision requires us to evaluate our purpose, passions, and make a plan. As we evaluate our purpose today we are asking the question, what or who are we building for, and will it last.