Sermon by Dr. Robert Lewis

11/5/2000

Our opponent is heart disease.

• A look at life’s most vital organs - When you lose at the heart level, you lose it all.
  • Physically - life starts in the heart.
  • Spiritually
• The four hearts of scripture
  • The defective heart - pumping life back to yourself
  • The new heart
  • The healthy heart - a step up from new heart
  • The diseased heart - if you don’t care for the new heart
• Common characteristics of the “healthy” heart:
  • Good nutrition - your intake
  • Abstinence - saying no to unhealthy things
  • Downtime to reflect and hear God
  • Courageous faith exercises

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Sermon by Dr. Robert Lewis

10/22/2000

Our opponent is anger.

• Anger is energy that is focused. It can rally you the right way or the wrong way.
• Three specific types of anger:
  • Righteous anger - right reaction, right response
  • Misplaced anger - right reaction, wrong response
  • Problematic anger - wrong reaction, wrong response
• From anger to angry -- why?
  • Angry people come from angry families.
  • Angry people come from wounded backgrounds.
  • Angry people are often "control freaks" using anger for protection or gain.
  • Angry people have serious, unmet expectations and feel trapped.
  • Angry people are most often men.
• Action points for taking the gold:
  • For those who are angered
    • Don't go hot or cold, learn to express yourself directly.
    • Listen and be willing to forgive.
    • Be quick about it.
    • Memorize Eph 4:25-27
  • For those who stay angry
    • Admit you have an anger problem.
    • Find the root cause.
    • Be courageous and willing to change whatever behavior fuels that anger.
    • Enlist the support of others.
    • Ask for God's help.

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Sermon by Dr. Robert Lewis

9/24/2000

Our opponent is prosperity.

• The danger prosperity brings:
  • Pride - the complete anti-God state of mind.
  • Forgetfulness - forget about God.
  • Deceit - makes temporal and eternal things look the same.
  • Fruitlessness
  • Hoarding - the more we have, the less we give.
  • Pain - people who hurt aren't happy.
• The call to balance
  • Imbalance perspectives:
    • Become Poor - voluntary self-imposed
    • Get Rich - don't let the wealth replace Jesus.
  • A balanced perspective is staying focused and cultivate generosity.
• How to maintain balance and "win gold":
  • Recognize that prosperity makes godly living harder, not easier.
  • Know that discipline must replace what desperation once demanded.
  • Invest in good works and expect life's best.
  • Always have an accountability system.
  • Keep thinking about meeting God for an accounting of all you've been give, because one day you will.

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Sermon by Dr. Robert Lewis

8/27/2000

Hear stories of life change from the church body.

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Sermon by Dr. Robert Lewis

7/23/2000

• Lessons learned from this series:
  • It has reminded us to stay honest.
  • it has called us to be humbler.
  • it has helped us to remain hopeful.
• The eighth step:
  • Yield myself to God to bring this good news of freedom to others, both by my example and my words.
• Why God allows pain:
  • Pain is the hard reality that comes with free will.
  • Pain is often used by God to get my attention.
  • Pain teaches me I must depend on Him.
  • Pain can give me a ministry to others.
• Three things we have learned from every story shared in this series:
  • My journey to freedom starts with choice.
  • My journey to freedom is established through a specific process.
  • My journey to freedom is completed when I reinvest it to help others.

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Sermon by Dr. Robert Lewis

7/16/2000

From freedom to relapse

• Causes of a relapse
  • Complacency and reverting back to willpower after a few short successes.
  • Compromise by convincing yourself you can be in control and handle it.
  • Ignoring one of the steps.
  • Trying to recover without support.
  • Refusing to fill the void with something right.
    • Real freedom is not what you stop, it's what you start after you stop.
• Preventing a relapse
  • Reserve daily time with God for self examination and spiritual empowerment.
    • Evaluate: Physical, emotional, relational, spiritual inventory
    • Evaluate daily, periodically and annually
    • Meditate by slowing down enough to hear God speak to us from His Word.
    • Prayer
• Relapse doesn't mean hopeless.
• Freedom is not a moment in time; it's one day at a time.

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Sermon by Dr. Robert Lewis

7/2/2000

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Sermon by Dr. Robert Lewis

6/18/2000

• Step 3: Consciously choose to commit my life and my will to the care and control of Jesus Christ.
  • We commit our lives but wait to commit our wills. These decisions should be completed as one.
• What keeps us from taking this step:
  • • Pride
    • Shame
    • Fear
    • Foolishness
    • Friends and Family
• How do I take step 3 completely:
  • Accept God's Son as my Savior
  • Accept God's Word as my standard
  • Accept God's Will as my strategy
  • Accept God's Promise as my security

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