Harvest DNA – Part 3: Unceasing Prayer.

Review / Introduction:

James 4:2-3 - You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

Three Powerless Prayers:

1. The "pray it Safe" prayer.
2. The "Santa Claus" prayer.
3. The "public Performance" prayer.

How to Have Your Prayers Answered, Every Time (Matthew 7:7-11):

1. Pray in Humility. (Matt 7:7-8)
1. I need your Provision.
2. I need your Wisdom.

Proverbs 2:4 - if you seek it like silver and search for it as hidden treasure

James 1:5 - If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

3. I need to Serve you.

Acts 14:7 - ...they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

1 Corinthians 16:9 - ...for a wide door for effective work has opened to me...

2. Receive like a Child. (Matt 7:9-11)

Psalm 62:11-12 - Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
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Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Matthew 7:7-11

1. Why do you think prayer is such a struggle for many sincere Christians?

2. How would you respond to someone who says, "I tried praying, and it didn't work."

3. State Jesus' teaching in Matt 7:7-8 in your own words, regarding "asking... seeking...  knocking".

4. How does Jesus' parent / child illustration help you understand prayer in a better way (Matt 7:9-11)?

Breakout Questions:

Pray for each other, using Jesus' instructions here!

Harvest DNA – Part 2: Unashamed Praise.

Review / Introduction:

"I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation... the delight is incomplete till it is expressed." - C.S. Lewis

Why I Am Compelled to Worship (Psalm 34):

1. God has never Disappointed me. (Psalm 34:4-10)
2. God has taught me how to Live. (Psalm 34:11-16)
3. God has Comforted me through difficult times. (Psalm 34:17-20)
4. God has taken away my Guilt. (Psalm 34:21-22)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
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Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Psalm 34 (stand and read aloud; sing a favorite hymn as a group if compelled)

1. How would you define "worship" to a child? How would you explain to that child the purpose of worship in music at the church?

2. What are the nuances in the synonyms for worship in Psalm 34:1-3?

   - bless:

   - praise:

   - boast:

   - magnify:

   - exalt:

3. What would you say to someone who says to you, "I tried trusting God once, and He disappointed me." How can we reconcile this statement with Psalm 34:10?

4. In church, does the music prepare you for the sermon, or does the sermon help make you a better worshiper? (Note to discussion leader: My <Jeff’s> opinion is the latter, but this isn’t really a dogmatic "right or wrong" issue. It is just meant to think through why we do what we do at HBC.)

5. What was your big "take-away" from this passage / message?

6. Bonus: What is your favorite worship song / hymn? What is meaningful to you about that song?

Breakout Questions:

How would you rate yourself as a worshiper? From this text / message, how will you seek to become a more passionate worshiper? 

Harvest DNA – Part 1: Unapologetic Preaching.

Review / Introduction:

Four Reasons We Are Committed to Expository Preaching:

1. It determines the Sermons.
2. It lets the Word Speak for itself.
3. It gives us Confidence to read the Bible ourselves.
4. It supernaturally Confidence to read the Bible ourselves.

Isaiah 55:10-11 - For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty; but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Romans 10:17 | 2 Corinthians 3:18 | Nehemiah 8:1-8

For God's Word to Be Effective:

1. You have to Want it! (Neh 8:1-2)
2. You have to be Attentive to it! (Neh 8:3)
3. You have to Revere it! (Neh 8:4-6)
4. You have to Understand it! (Neh 8:7-8)

John 15:11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

Ephesians 3:10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Nehemiah 8:1-8

1. How has the Word of God changed you? Be specific - and beyond salvation - how has the Bible changed your life?

2. How would you rate your hunger for God's Word? How can you increase this appetite?

3. Why do you think people aren’t as attentive to the Word (Nehemiah 8:3)?

4. How has your Small Group been doing in helping you (and the others) in understanding God's Word (Nehemiah 8:7-8)?

Breakout Questions:

Did you abide through prayer and Bible reading this week? What specifically are you moved to change or apply this week, and how are you going to apply it?

Questions from the Congregation - Part 8

Note: The time signatures [00:00] below indicate the start of a question if you'd like to skip to a particular one of interest in the audio file.

1. [04:47] - Q: Do you believe we can get signs, messages from loved ones who die? Can we communicate with them? Can mediums?
   A: See Deut 18:9-12 | Matt 6:9 | John 14:13 | Rom 8:26
   

2. [07:30] - Q: My fellow Christian family members continue to make statements that loved ones who have passed are now angels or they're guardian angels & are leaving them signs that they are okay and watching over them. I know that humans and angels are distinctly separated & that we don't become angels. How do I respond or am I wrong?
   A: See Rev 14:13 | Heb 13:2
   

3. [11:21] - Q: What do the Jehovah's Witnesses reference from the Bible in that they don't take blood products?
   

4. [13:55] - Q: Calvinism, Arminianism, or Molinism? What is Harvest's position on these views?
   A: See Deut 30:19 | 2 Cor 5:20 | John 6:37 | Deut 29:29
   

5. [21:05] - Q: Why do some preachers only ever preach about God's love and never about His judgement? (Note: Live from the audience question. The question was not captured on the recording, only the answer was.)
   A: See Deut 30:19 | 2 Cor 5:20 | John 6:37 | Deut 29:29
   

6. [23:48] - Q: Can you further explain how God mourns and is saddened with us when tragedy occurs in our lives and how He may not command for these things to happen, but allows it because of the sinful world we live in?
   A: See: John 11:35 - Jesus Wept.
   

7. [28:12] - Q: Describe the differences between "death", "sheol", "hades" and "the lake of fire". What does Rev 20:14 mean when it says that death and hades were thrown into the lake of fire?
   A: See: Matt 11:23 | Luke 16:19-23
   

8. [35:32] - Q: Being in High School I am constantly surrounded by the "do what you think is right" mentality. That being said, how can I be confident in what the Bible says is right and wrong?
   A: See John 7:17 | Judges 21:25
   
   This question was missed due to time constraints during the service. Pastor Jeff will address this in a blog posting on the website. Check back for a link later.
   Q: Why did Jesus (in the whole New Testament) not say a single word about being gay but he condemned adultery and many other things. Did Jesus love gay people who were born this way?

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
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Small Group Questions (Whole Group):

Review the questions submitted above. Discuss any of these that stuck out to you, or that maybe your group finds particularly interesting.

Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another for a Christ-seeking, Christ-exalting New Year!

Did Jesus Find You?

Introduction:

Two Signs that Jesus is Pursuing You (Luke 2:12):

1. Wrapped in swaddling cloths = Why He came: He has come to Die.


2. Lying in a manger = How He came: He has come in Humility.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Luke 2:1-20

1. What distractions keep you from seeking Christ as you should?

2. What is the biggest way Jesus changed you when you found Him?

3. What was your big "take-away" from this passage / message? What did you learn that you didn't know before?

Breakout Questions:

Pray for one another to continually be seekers of Christ.