Westpoint Fellowship Church Weekly Messages

Josh Taylor: Outrageous Love 1 John 5:4-12

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:32:01 PDT

There is not a better book of Scripture that best sums up what our existence is all about than the book of 1 John. Further, this passage sums up the whole book. It is well worth reading through the book of 1 John and really studying how simple God’s plan for our lives really is.

The following verses were used:

1 John 5:4-12 (The Message)

The Power That Brings the World to Its Knees

^4-5Every God-begotten person conquers the world’s ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. The person who wins out over the world’s ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God.

^6-8Jesus—the Divine Christ! He experienced a life-giving birth and a death-killing death. Not only birth from the womb, but baptismal birth of his ministry and sacrificial death. And all the while the Spirit is confirming the truth, the reality of God’s presence at Jesus’ baptism and crucifixion, bringing those occasions alive for us. A triple testimony: the Spirit, the Baptism, the Crucifixion. And the three in perfect agreement.

^9-10If we take human testimony at face value, how much more should we be reassured when God gives testimony as he does here, testifying concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God inwardly confirms God’s testimony. Whoever refuses to believe in effect calls God a liar, refusing to believe God’s own testimony regarding his Son.

^11-12This is the testimony in essence: God gave us eternal life; the life is in his Son. So, whoever has the Son, has life; whoever rejects the Son, rejects life.

John 3:16 (New International Version)

¹⁶“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,^[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 5:8 (New International Version)

⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 John 3:16 (The Message)

^16-17This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.

Hebrews 11

Faith in What We Don’t See

^1-2The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.

November 25, 2007

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 11:42:49 PST

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November 18, 2007

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 11:51:10 PST

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November 11, 2007

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 11:51:42 PST

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October 28, 2007

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 12:16:55 PST

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Questions 2.0 October 21, 2007

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 13:11:29 PDT

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Questions 2.0: October 14, 2007

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 10:40:49 PDT

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Questions 2.0 September 16, 2007

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 14:36:12 PDT

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Questions 2.0 September 30, 2007

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 14:33:09 PDT

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Questions 2.0 Sept 23, 2007

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 14:32:09 PDT

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Questions 2.0 September 9th

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 14:52:23 PDT

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Questions 2.0 September 2

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 11:42:55 PDT

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Questions 2.0 August 26

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 11:41:48 PDT

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Questions 2.0 July 22

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 11:39:33 PDT

Q&A with the pastoral team.

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Questions 2.0 July 15

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 08:08:37 PDT

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Questions 2.0 July 8

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 08:07:35 PDT

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Questions 2.0 July 1

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 08:06:07 PDT

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Final Thoughts on Being Human June 24, 2007

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 04:54:26 PDT

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being human...were humans meant to be religious? June 3

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 04:53:48 PDT

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more on being human May 27 (Luis Socarras)

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 04:52:49 PDT

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Thoughts on Being Human May 20

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 04:51:40 PDT

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Thoughts on Being Human May 13th

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 04:50:49 PDT

_being human...is the safest place to be really in God's will?

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Thoughts on Being Human May 6

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 04:49:47 PDT

We continue the "thoughts on being human" series and asked the question: how do we stay connected. Listen Now

Here's an overview:

The BIG QUESTION then is this: how do we get past those overwhelming tendencies to turn inward and sin? How do we stay connected? Here are 2 suggestions:

#1_We must focus on what we’ve been given, not what Satan offers us.

And so with wiring connected to the spiritual beyond us and covering connected to the world around us, we journey. As we journey, we need to be aware that there is a force that is out to deceive us into disconnecting (Ephesians 6:10-18).

You see, satan works to steal life from us. Jesus said in John 10:10 that “the thief comes to steal and kill and destroy.” Peter called him a “lion trying to devour us.”

The problem is that we are letting a formidable force appear to be an unstoppable force and so we surrender. The truth is that Jesus’ followers are the unstoppable force (Matthew 16:13-19).

"The Christian is a Holy rebel loose in the world with access to the throne of God. Satan never knows from where the danger will come." -AW Tozer

Look back at that Ephesians passage. It’s clear that the best defense is a good offense. Look @ the weapons he says we have. And look at the life Jesus promises.

We must focus on what we’ve been given, not what Satan offers us.

#2_We must stop, drop, and roll to the right connection. When those flaming arrows come our way, we need to remember that we are not alone in this battle. Not only do we have each other, but we can “stop, drop, and roll” to the King Himself.

You hear that phrase related to how to react if you realize you are on fire. Well, a lot of our problem with getting disconnected is that we tend to treat the fire alarm as a fire drill – too familiar and too numb to its danger. Then we catch on fire.

We need to stop, drop and roll before we ever catch fire.
>>STOP when you see fire and look for the escape (1st Cor 10:11-13).
>> DROP to your knees and cry out for help (James 4:1-10).
>>ROLL to Jesus (Luke 9:23).

You may, like me, get tired of being clumsy and forgetting to stop, drop, and roll. The good news is that there is an end in sight, and we must overcome (2nd Corinthians 5:1-8).

So, here's THE BOTTOM LINE: As we follow, let’s listen for the fire alarms that the Holy Spirit rings off when flaming arrows are on their way. Let’s stop, drop, and roll for cover in Christ. Let’s overcome the battle and enjoy the victory that is to come for all who follow Him.

Thoughts on Being Human April 29

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 04:48:29 PDT

_being human...so, where's the disconnect?

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Thoughts on Being Human April 22

jdukes@westpointchurch.org (Westpoint Fellowship Church Orlando, Florida) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 04:47:48 PDT

being human...are we human beings on a spiritual journey, or spiritual beings on a human journey?

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