Putting Christ first in my Time, Relationships, Money  and prayer  to worship God 1. Time alone with God each day. The habit of a daily time with God (Reading God’s Word)  James 1:22 & 25. Personal Bible reading and prayer each day. Mark 1:35, James 1:25 and Romans 12:1 2. The habit of Fellowship Hebrews 10:25. Being a committed team for God. Fellowship with  believers in a small group and church. 3. The habit of Tithing; revealing our heart to God and giving to invest in the future through a weekly tithe to God 1Corinthians 16:2; 2Corinthians 8:7; Matthew 6:19-21. 1Timothy 6:18-19 and  2Corinthians 9:6 4. The habit of Prayer Romans 12:12. By developing these four habits we will; - 1.Know the Word of God 2.Have the mind of God 3.Have the heart of God     4.Do all to the glory of God        5.Have the character of God Mature Believers are called Disciples:I cannot be a Disciple without being disciplined The more disciplined I become the more God can use me. Jesus said, “Whoever do

Bible reference:  Romans 8; 2 Corinthians 13:4-6 Jesus ministered among people in all different ways.   When we try to fit people into a box, it doesn't work as we are all different.   Put yourself to the test, to see if we're in the faith.  Jesus won the victory,  we need to know live with Christ. Romans 8:1-17 Where do you reside?  Live by the Spirit; put to death the misdeeds of the sinful nature. If we are God's children, then we are heirs in Christ. Believers will be disciplined by the Lord. It will happen first in Gods house.  We're not talking about condemnation but discipline. By our faith in Christ,  we are secure.  You cannot change by self-will.  The Spirit must work in you.  Corruption of the world or grace of God. By which of these are we governed? God turned his face from his Son on which the condemnation of the world was put on him.  Cross reference: Genesis 6 (corruption of the world) God's divine nature was satisfied by the death of Chris

Bible Reference:  Acts 20:24 "But nothing, not even my life, is more important than my completing my mission. This is nothing other than the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus: to testify about the good news of God’s grace."  Acts of the Apostles 20:24 CEB /https://bible.com/bible/37/act.20.24.CEB Completing the mission the Lord has for us to do.  We will know who we are; your people. Romans 16:25-27 Jesus Christ came from the line of David but he was also the divine Son of God.   God also raised him from the dead. A disciple - a disciplined way of life.  We are loved by God and members of His body. God has called you and set you aside from this world.   We are holy saints; people of God; we are Christians. Only God through what the Jesus Christ has accomplished through his death and resurrection, salvation and eternal life. The Roman church suffered great persecution.   They were loved by God and called to be his saints.   As we go about our life as a Christian,

Bible References:  Psalm 63:1; Psalm 42:1-2; John chapter 4; Jeremiah14:1-3; 1 Samuel 23 and 24 Water.  An essential part of life.  For people, for animals and for plants.  Water is even essential for fish and marine life. Water is often spoken about in the Bible.  Sometimes water is referred to as life giving, refreshing.  Sometimes it’s referred to as being in cisterns.  What is a cistern?  It’s a  storage facility to hold water.  Places that have cisterns hold the water for the dry times, or times of siege. Cisterns are not life giving.  They often hold stale, still, stagnant water. “…In the Middle East, water is scarce and precious, and very much needed for survival. Only a few months of the year does rain fall in Israel, and the rest of the time the ancient peoples survived on stagnant water that was stored in cisterns in the ground. When rain does fall after many months of clear blue skies, it seems to be a miraculous gift from God. The difference with or without rain in I

Romans 5:1 Justification - being saved. Santification - holiness You may not be in heaven yet, but you are in kingdom of God. As God's child, You have all the resources of heaven at your disposal. 1 John 3:9 When the seed of God is in you; you are no longer a sinner.  When you are saved, in God's eyes you are no longer a sinner.   God now wants to sanctify you. Romans 5:1 - we have peace with God because we are right with God.  Because of what God is doing in our life.  Our justification comes through our faith in Jesus Christ.   God sees us a someone worthwhile for God to invest His time in. Each of us should use the gifts God has given us to build, not tear down.  To do worthwhile work and edify the Church. Galations 2:16 - Galations was written because people came along and said Christians had to keep the Law and they became confused.  Law shows us our shortcomings; but cannot save us. The Law is not done away with; but we can only live with God's help. Galatio

Living a Life of Victory - 3 Types of People (1) Romans 1:19-31 New International Version (NIV) 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Cre

Bible References:  Matthew 5:20; Romans 1:1-17; Romans 16:25-27 Our righteousness comes from Jesus Christ.  Live a life of victory.  God wants us to live a life of victory.  To do so we need to Read the Bible and Live by the Word of God.  Example:  The apostle Paul had is Damacus conversion, he then went and was taught, (approx. 3 years) before he began his ‘public’ Christian ministry.  Paul knew the Scriptures very, very well.  He knew Israel’s history, he knew the law.  He allowed God to re-teach him about His Son – Jesus Christ – Fully God and Fully Human.  Paul learnt to live a life of victory.  His obedience came from faith in God.  Why do we obey God?  Duty?  Peer Pressure?  This brings suffering and bitterness.  We obey God because of Jesus Christ in our life – He gives us Victory. Christianity does not consist of knowledge only (information) but obedience to the plan God has for each of us in our lives.  Obedience to the Lord.  Obedience in faith.  Trusting God will do what

Bible References:  Phil 4:4; Prov. 2:3-5; Rev.1:3; Prov. 4:23, Romans 12:1-2; 1 John 4:4; Ezekiel 48:35; John 10:11; Genesis 22:8; 2 Cor. 1:8-10; Ex. 15:26; James 5:11-17; Phil. 3:9; Phil. 2:12-13; Lev. 20:8; Judges 6:24; Ex. 17:15 Every Church will be known by what they are committed to.  Every believer will be known by what they are committed to.  If you don't practice the Christian life as a Christian, you will sit, soak and sour.  That is, if you don't read the Word of God, pray, fellowship (spend time with God's people), worship and then put into action what you have learnt, you will simply sit, soak up negative influences and then go sour (bitterness). Worship is celebrating God's presence in your life.  Praising God is where we start.  Don't go around trying to show how good you are, how much you have it together, or think you do.  Our victory is only in Christ Jesus, not in ourselves.  The One who lives in you is greater than the one who lives in the wor

Bible References: Rev. 1:4-6; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Col. 1:15-18; 1 Peter 2:9; Mark 1:9-11; Rom. 6:6-14; John 15:5; 1 Peter 3:15 We have beliefs and Values.  Our values don't mean much unless we put them into actions.  We need to be people in the world who keep morality and keep values that build up, not pull down. We are not to have empathy, BUT we are to have compassion. Empathy:  Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives. Compassion:   Deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it. We as believers and disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ are Overcomers not the underdogs.  We are all ministers - we all share the ministry of reconciliation.  We are all in a full time vocation - a minister of JC! Some practices we need to establish daily: Read the Bible everyday Pray everyday Regularly meet with fellow Christians to encourage each other and build up each other remember each Church is a BODY no