nick's Page

Welcome
Glad you joined our wonderful internet family, sharing the love of Christ, learning and growing in your spiritual life.And as a bonus making wonderful friends.

May you experience a wonderful fellowship and growth with all the others by joining in the groups and forums and share the love of Christ.
Blessings
Nienie

Welcome to AAG. We want your experience here to be positive and uplifting. There are a couple of things that can help you maximize your experience.

Forums and Blogs: Forums are for asking questions and for sharing a response to a question someone has posted. This is a great opportunity for “iron to sharpen iron.” Blogs are for posting an opinion, view or specific message regarding a subject.

Making New Friends: You will make many new friends here on AAG. Some will send a friend invite to you. You have the choice to accept or decline. When an invite has been sent to you the “My Friends” the upper right box on your home page will be followed by the word “New”.” Simply click on the icon and make your choice. To invite someone to be your friend you simply need to go to their home page and click on “add as friend” under their personal photo. Once someone is your friend you will be able to email each of your friends on AAG. You can also leave a message on someone personal page, but note that everyone will be able to read what you leave there.

IMs: You can IM anyone who is on line by clicking on their picture located at the upper right part of the page.

Chat Room: There is a chat room located near the top of the AAG main page. It is a great place to get to know people better.

Videos: You can also upload Christian videos on the AAG main page or watch them. They are located down the left side of the main page.

If you have any questions feel free to ask. We are here to serve you to the best of our abilities.

We are glad you are here,
LT
Volunteer Forums Moderator

Nick,

Greetings in the Lord! This is Greg, TheNET Coordinator. Welcome! We're glad you are here! What's your cat's name? It looks like he/she enjoys the perch :-)

Please be sure to fill out your profile as completely as you can so that we can get to know you better. I have included some links to help you navigate around the site. You may want to check out the Footprints group, the Links for Growth forum for great tips on how to grow in Christ, and Miracle Grow to help you get closer to God every day.

Once again, thanks for joining TheNET. I hope you make lots of good friends here and keep growing in the wisdom and knowledge of the Lord.

Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions. I look forward to getting to know you.

Reaching the Lost

A. Jesus reached the lost and chose His disciples. Lk. 6:12-16

1. Jesus met them each and called them to Himself.

2. He then called them into service.

3. There are steps between be called and serving effectively.

a. These are illustrated for us in Matthew 8-10 .

II. Healing the Hurting. Matthew 8

A. In order to be healed, made whole, we must learn to surrender to Jesus. This surrender must take place in various areas of our life.

1. We must surrender our health. Mat. 8:1-17

a. This deals with our physical health.

1) Leper, paralytic, and fever

b. This also deals with our spiritual health.

1) Demon possessed

2. We must surrender our possessions. Mat. 8:18-20

a. What we have cannot dictate our life.

b. Too much effort within the church body is given to maintaining that which we cannot keep or take with us.

3. We must surrender our family. Mat. 8:21-22

a. New family and new order.

b. We do not discard the old (biological) family, but we cannot let them hold us back or derail our mission for Christ.

4. We must surrender our circumstances. Mat. 8:23-27

a. If we are walking with Jesus and obeying His will we have nothing to fear.

5. We must surrender our spiritual battles to Jesus. Mat. 8:28-34

a. Spiritual warfare is won through Jesus in His name as we are covered by the blood and empowered by His Word and the Holy Spirit.









III. Equipping the Healed. Matthew 9

A. In order to be equipped, one must be saved and healed.

B. This equipping deals with living our life in Christ as He would live through us.

1. We are to experience, teach and offer forgiveness through Jesus. Mat. 9:1-8

a. Jesus has made the sacrifice and has the authority to forgive sins.

b. We are an instrument of that forgiveness, but it is in Him alone that the forgiveness comes.

2. We are to engage the lost where they are. Mat. 8:9-13

a. Jesus went to Matthew’s home and ate with sinners.

b. Do we reach out to the lost or only gather in “holy huddles?”

c. When you engage the lost where they are you will be criticized.

3. We are to experience intimacy with Jesus. Mat. 9:14-17

a. They did not need to fast, for they were walking with Jesus.

b. We need to take time to spend quietly at His feet.

1) Your ministry flow depends on this.

2) Jesus set the example by withdrawing frequently.

4. We must be ready to help others. Mat. 9:18-31

a. We must be willing to alter our course to meet the needs that come before us as Jesus directs us.

b. Sometimes this means stopping along the way to meet a need as it arises.

5. We must be willing to battle the forces of darkness. Mat. 9:32-34

a. Jesus is the source of victory and He has given us authority to win the battles against darkness.

b. When you engage in spiritual warfare you will be criticized and viewed as a bit odd.

6. Jesus establishes the method, mission and reason. Mat. 9:35-38

a. Preaching the good news – reaching the lost.

b. Healing the sick – Healing the hurting.

c. Equipping workers.

d. Sending the equipped.

IV. Sending the Equipped. Matthew 10

A. In order to be sent prepared, one must be saved, healed and equipped.

1. Jesus gives the disciples, those who have been saved, healed and equipped, authority over physical elements and spiritual beings. Mat. 10:1

a. Note that He did not send them at the end of chapter 7.

2. Jesus identifies the one’s He is empowering. Mat. 10:2-3

a. They represent the church and more specifically the ones who are ready to engage in serious warfare.

b. This battle is not for the faint or unprepared.

3. Jesus gives them specific instructions. Mat. 10: 5-10

a. He instructs them regarding where to go and to whom they are to be trying to reach.

b. He instructs them regarding what they are to do and say.

c. He instructs them to trust Him for the journey.

4. Jesus instructs them regarding the expenditure of their efforts. Mat. 10:11-16

a. Work only where you are being received.

b. Do not waste effort on those who outright reject you.

5. Jesus warns them that they will experience persecution. Mat. 10:17-25

a. This persecution will come from family as well as strangers.

6. Jesus instructs them to not be afraid. Mat. 10:26-32

a. All a matter of perception – Temporal vs. Eternal.

7. Jesus reminds them to keep their focus clear. Mat. 10:34-40

a. Read Matthew 10:38-39