Lakeview Christian Center

Various

Mother’s Day 2009

“Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her” (Proverbs 31:28)

-Mother’s to experience the pleasure of God in their service
-Families to truly honor their mothers and grandmothers
-Young mothers in the church continually growing into women who are…
…Laboring diligently for the cause of Christ
…Having “theology in their minds and backbones of steel” (Piper)
…“Holy women who hope in their God” (1 Peter 3:5)
…Havens for their family and lovers of their homes
…Strong women with tender hearts

Reviving Spiritual Disciplines

“My soul thirst for God, for the living God” (Psalm 42:2).

-A people who characteristically thirst for God
-Daily experiencing God through His Word
-Growing in our knowledge of Christ and the Gospel
-Committed to the practice of personal and intercessory prayer
-Meditating on the character and attributes of God
-Fasting from the pleasures of earth to pursue delight in God
-Families who worship the Savior together regularly
-Pursuing the means of grace through serving others, participating in fellowship, and receiving the preached Word

Loving the Local Church

“God is not just saving individuals and preparing them for heaven. Rather, He is creating a people among whom He can live and who in their life together will reproduce God’s life and character” —Gordon Fee

Temple of God

“In [Christ] the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Eph. 2:21-22)

-People of holiness who reflect God’s character
-Church distinguished by God’s manifest presence
-Church structured on the cornerstone of Christ
-Gathering as a place for God to dwell by His Spirit

Members of the Household

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph. 2:19)

-Loving the church as Christ loves the church
“Every Christian should have his church enclosed within his heart, and be affected with its maladies, as if they were his own, sympathize with its sorrows, and bewail its sins” —John Calvin
-Valuing the corporate gathering & functional church membership
-Practicing Biblical fellowship & “iron sharpening iron”
-Cultivating an atmosphere of leading & following
-Serving the family of God as well as those outside the family

Praying the Beatitudes

Matt. 5:1-11

Students of Jesus

“Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them” (v. 1-2)

-Men and women committed to and living by Christ’s teaching
-Hearts that long to be directed by the rod & staff of their Shepherd
-Church filled with people who “receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21)
-Abiding in Christ’s Word, and so proving to be His disciples (John 8:31)

Poor in Spirit

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. …Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (v. 3-5, 10)

-Eyes lifted from temporal possessions and pleasures to the eternal hope
-Fostering an atmosphere of humility and self-forgetfulness
“Naked, come to Thee for dress; helpless, look to Thee for grace”
-Gospel-comfort for those in the Body who mourn over sin
-Those suffering to hear Christ’s proclamation of “Blessed” over their life

Hunger & Thirst for Righteousness

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. …Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (v. 6, 8 )

-More of Jesus Christ, our Righteousness! (1 Cor. 1:30)
-A church that displays the holiness of God
-Grace-motivated, joyful obedience to the commandments of Jesus
-Purity that is rooted in satisfaction in God

Living the Resurrection

Resurrection Indicatives…

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1)

Pray that we would be meditate on and live in the truth that…

-Christ is our Living Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5)
…“Why do you seek the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5)
-Christ and his work have been vindicated by resurrection (1 Tim. 3:16)
-Christ has defeated the power of death (Acts 2:24)
-Saints will not see corruption or be abandoned in the grave (Ps. 16:10)
-We have been raised with Christ and seated with him (Eph. 2:6)
-We are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ (Rom. 6:11)
-Death no longer has dominion over us (Rom. 6:9)
-We have been delivered from bondage to the fear of death (Heb. 2:15)
-We are no longer under the punishment of our sins (1 Cor. 15:16)
-Christ’s resurrection is the first-fruits of our resurrection (1 Cor. 15:23)
-Stings of death and law have been swallowed in victory (1 Cor. 15:56)
-To live is Christ and to die is gain (Phil. 1:21)
-We have been crucified with Christ, who lives in us (Gal. 2:20)
-Christ’s resurrection enables us to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4)
-All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Christ (Matt. 28:18)
-The Resurrected Christ has given us the promised Spirit
…“This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.” (Acts 2:32-33)

“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Phil 3:10-11)