CommonGround Church Podcast

IF                                                                                                                    WHAT IF WE DON’T GIVE UP Galatians 6:9   9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.   NIV Galatians 6:9    So let's not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don't give up, or quit.     MESSAGE   Galatians 6:7-9  Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. NIV WATCH WHAT YOU ARE PLANTING.  WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.  Galatians 6:7  Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. Deceived – planao (plan-ah'-o) – to lead away, to stagger, to be led off course; or to be led by someone’s outside influence and led in a wrong direction. Galatians 6:7  . A man reaps what he sows. Sows - speiro (spi'-ro) any seed that is sown, but it is nor singular – it means to sow and to sow and to sow…. Reaps is also not singular so it means to reap and to reap and to reap….. Galatians 6:8   The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Destruction - phthora (fthor-ah')   decay and ruin Eternal Life - zoe (dzo-ay') life that is truly life, - today, tomorrow and forever QUITTING WILL ENSURE THAT YOU LOSE. Galatians 6:9   Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Weary - ekkakeo (ek-kak-eh'-o) to give in, to surrender, to let something bad defeat you Do not give up - ekluo (ek-loo'-o) to loosen up, to relax  

IF                                                                                  IF YOU REMAIN IN ME John 15:1-8   "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.  5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.     NIV MOST OF OUR PRAYERS REVOLVE AROUND US.   Parable of the Sower  Mark 4:3-20 The word remain is in these scriptures 8 times. It means to be still. Exodus 14:13-14   But Moses told the people, "Don't be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. 14 The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm."       New Living  It means to be expectant. Haggai 1:14    So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel …    NIV It means to wait.  Acts 1:4   On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.    NIV John 15:7    If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.    HOW TO HAVE THE WORD REMAIN IN YOU 1.  READ IT. 2. STUDY IT. 3. MEDITATE IT. 4. MEMORIZE IT. 5. PERSONALIZE IT. 6. PRAY IT. 7. DO IT. 

IF                                                                                                                     IF GOD IS FOR US Romans 8:31   If God is for us, who can ever be against us?   New Living  HOW DO WE KNOW GOD IS FOR US??? He didn’t spare his own Son. Romans 8:32   Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all,       NLT 1 John 4:9-10   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. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.      NIV His blessings keep coming. Romans 8:32   …won't he also give us everything else?     NLT Romans 8:28    And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.     NIV He gives us right standing. Romans 8:33   Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself.    NLT 2 Corinthians 5:21   God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.     NIV Jesus is pleading for us. Romans 8:34   Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God's right hand, pleading for us.    NLT And the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:26-27    In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.       NIV He won’t let anything separate us from His love. Romans 8:35-39    Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, "For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.") 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.     NLT

IF                                                                                                                                ONE TOUCH Mark 5:24-34    So Jesus went with him.  A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.  30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"  31 "You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?'" 32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."     NIV WHAT WILL TRY TO KEEP YOU FROM YOUR BREAKTHROUGH THE PAIN 1 Peter 5:9-11   Keep your guard up. You're not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It's the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. 10 The suffering won't last forever. It won't be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ — eternal and glorious plans they are! — will have you put together and on your feet for good. 11 He gets the last word; yes, he does.     MESSAGE THE PAST Isaiah 43:18-19   Forget about what's happened; don't keep going over old history. 19 Be alert, be present. I'm about to do something brand-new. It's bursting out! Don't you see it? There it is! I'm making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.    MESSAGE THE PEOPLE Galatians 1:10   Obviously, I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant.    New Living  HOW DID SHE GET HER BREAKTHROUGH SHE WAS DESPERATE. Matthew 5:25-26 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.   SHE WAS DETERMINED. Matthew 5:27-28  When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed."   SHE WAS HEALED. Matthew 5:29   Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

IF                                                                                                                               IF WE OBEY – GOD WILL BLESS Hebrews 11:17-19   It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God's promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, 18 even though God had told him, "Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted." 19 Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.    New Living  HE HEARD GOD SPEAK. Genesis 22:1-2   Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"  "Here I am," he replied.  2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."    NIV HE PREPARED FOR WHAT GOD TOLD HIM. Genesis 22:3   Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.    NIV HE ENDURED THE PROCESS. Genesis 22:4  On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.    NIV HE SPOKE FAITH. Genesis 22:5  He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."    NIV HE TRUSTED GOD’S PROVISION. Genesis 22:7-8    Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"  "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"  8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.    NIV HE HAD FOCUSED OBEDIENCE. Genesis 22:9-12   When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"  "Here I am," he replied.  12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."     NIV HE EXPERIENCED GOD’S BLESSING. Genesis 22:13-18   Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided."  15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, "I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your  offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."    NIV