Living Stones Church - South Bend

2 Corinthians 10:3-4 - For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. Ephesians 6:10-12 - Finally, be strong in the Lordand in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Sermon Point #1 - WHAT WE SEE IS NOT ALL THERE IS Sermon Point #2 - WE ARE NOT ALONE IN OUR BATTLES 2 King 6:15-17 - When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “O

John 4: 4-26 NIV 4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a]) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who

Ruth 1:1-2 – In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there. SERMON POINT #1 - When you’re in trouble, don’t run to the enemy. Ruth 1:6 – When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. SERMON POINT #2 - YOU CAN ALWAYS COME HOME Ruth 1:8-13 - Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.” Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud and said to he

Luke 8:1-3 – After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means. SERMON POINT # 1 – JESUS INVITED MARY MAGDALENE TO BE ONE OF HIS DISCIPLES SERMON POINT #2 – SHE HELPED FUND THE MINISTRY OF JESUS John 20:1-3, 11-16 - Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As sh

Matthew 14:13-21 NIV When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate

Hebrews 10:22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Exodus 40:34–35 Then the cloud covered the Tabernacle, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. Moses could no longer enter the Tabernacle because the cloud had settled down over it, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. Luke 2:9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, John 17:5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. John 11:1–6 A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear fri

SERMON POINT #1 - FALSE NARRATIVE - I AM A SINNER Galatians 5:16-18 - So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. SERMON POINT #2 - JESUS’ NARRATIVE - I AM A SAINT 1 Corinthians 1:2 - ESV - To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours 2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone and the new is here! 1 Corinthians 6:19 - Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? Romans 8:10 - But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin,

SERMON POINT #5 - SOUL-TRAINING EXERCISE – MARGIN SERMON POINT #1 – FALSE NARRATIVE – GOD DOES NOT CARE ABOUT MY SIN Psalm 5:4 - For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people are not welcome. SERMON POINT #2 – JESUS’ NARRATIVE – GOD IS HOLY 1 Samuel 2:2 - “There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. Hebrews 13:8 – Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Malachi 3:6 – I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. James 1:17 – Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. SERMON POINT #3 - WE DON’T GET TO CHERRY-PICK THE ASPECTS OF GOD THAT WE LIKE Ezekiel 33:11 – “As surely as I live,” declares the sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live” SERMON POINT #4 - GOD IS AGAINST SIN BECAUSE HE IS FOR ME John 1:1

SERMON POINT #1 - FALSE NARRATIVE - WE MUST EARN GOD’S FAVOR AND LOVE John 14:15 - ESV - If you love me, you will keep my commandments. SERMON POINT #2 - JESUS’ NARRATIVE - GOD IS LOVE 1 John 4:7-10 - Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:15-17 - If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidenceon the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. Matthew 20:1-15 - “For the kingdom of heaven is like

Jeremiah 17:5-8 – This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Trust – to be confident and a feeling of safety and security that is felt when one can rely on someone or something…the state of being confident, secure, without fear SERMON POINT #1 – FALSE NARRATIVE – GOD CAN’T BE TRUSTED SERMON POINT #2 – JESUS’ NARRATIVE – GOD IS TRUSTWORTHY Mark 14:35-36 – Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour mi

SERMON POINT #1 - FALSE NARRATIVE - GOD IS AN ANGRY GOD Job 4:4-8 NLT - Your words have supported those who were falling; you encouraged those with shaky knees. But now when trouble strikes, you lose heart. You are terrified when it touches you. Doesn’t your reverence for God give you confidence? Doesn’t your life of integrity give you hope? Stop and think! Do the innocent die? When have the upright been destroyed? My experience shows that those who plant trouble and cultivate evil will harvest the same. Job 8:20 - NLT - But look, God will not reject a person of integrity, now will he lend a hand to the wicked. SERMON POINT #2 - WE LIKE TO HAVE CONTROL SERMON POINT #3 - JESUS’ NARRATIVE - GOD IS GOOD Luke 13:1-5 - Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repen

Sermon Point #1 - Narrative - a way of presenting or understanding a situation or series of events that reflects and promotes a particular point of view or set of values Sermon Point #2 - False Narrative - We Change By Our Willpower Sermon Point #3 - We Change By Indirection How Do We Change? 1) Changing our narratives Romans 12:2 - Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. How Do We Change? 1) Changing our narratives 2) Practice Soul Training Exercises 1 Timothy 4:7-8 - Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. How Do We Change? 1) Changing Our Narratives 2) Practice Soul Training Exercises 3) Participate in Community Hebrews 10:24 - And let us consider how w

Habakkuk 1:2-4 – How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? Why do you make me look at in injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. Habakkuk 1:6 – I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own. Habakkuk 1:12-13 – Lord, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, you will never die. You, Lord, have appointed to execute judgment; you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish. Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then to you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? Habakkuk 2:4 – “See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright – but th

Malachi 3:7 – Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. SERMON POINT #1 – RELIGIOUS…BUT SELF-SEEKING Malachi 1:13 – And you say, “’What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,” says the Lord Almighty. “When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hand?” says the Lord… “I am a great king,” says the Lord Almighty, “and my name is to be feared among the nations.” SERMON POINT #2 – RELIGIOUS…BUT SELF-CENTERED Malachi 2:13-16 – Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s alter with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings and accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the one God made f

SERMON POINT #1 – SOMETHING IS WORTH WHAT SOMEONE ELSE IS WILLING TO PAY FOR IT SERMON PIONT #2 – HOSEA’S NAME IN HEBREW MEANS “SALVATION” Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Hosea 1:2 - “When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” Hosea 1:3 – “So he married Gomer, daughter of Diblaim and she conceived and bore him a son.” SERMON POINT #3 – GOMER’S NAME IN HEBREW MEANS “COMPLETION” SERMON POINT #4 – GOD TOOK SALVATION AND COMPLETION AND JOINED THEM TOGETHER Hosea 3:1 – “The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.” Hosea 3:2 – “So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a h

PSALM 42 1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” 4 These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One[d] with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng. 5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. 6 My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. 8 By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life. 9 I say to God my Rock, “Why have you for

SERMON POINT #1 - TALK TO YOUR FRIENDS Mark 14:32-33 - They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. Mark 14:33 - MSG - He plunged into a sinkhole of dreadful agony. Mark 14:34 - “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.” SERMON POINT #2 - TALK TO YOUR FATHER Mark 14:35-36 - Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” SERMON POINT #3 - TALK TO YOUR FEELINGS Mark 14:36 - “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” Philippians 4:6-7 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present

Ephesians 4:26-27 – “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Matthew 21:12-14 – Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’” The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. SERMON POINT #1 – JESUS WAS ANGRY ON BEHALF OF THOSE WHO WERE MISTREATED SERMON POINT #2 – WHEN JESUS GOT ANGRY, HE FLIPPED TABLES, NOT PEOPLE SERMON POINT #3 – WHEN JESUS GOT ANGRY, HE LOVED AND HEALED THOSE WHO WERE HURTING Matthew 21:14 – The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. Colossians 2:13b-15 – NLT – for he [GOD] forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed

Luke 10:21 – At that time, Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.” Matthew 9:36 – When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. John 11:35 – Jesus wept. Mark 10:13-14 – People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Hebrews 5:7 – During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. John 2:13-16 – When it was almost time for the Jewish Passove