“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever…”
The loss of all of our previous content reminds me not only of the delicate nature of all that we do, but that in this world the only constants are the Lord and His Word.
It also reminds me to back up stuff, because the cloud can’t be trusted (shakes fist at imaginary cloud)…
Well, here are the notes from this week’s sermon, I’m glad that our audio files are preserved!
Byron
Fear No Evil
Harvest South Bay September 7th, 2008
Three Themes:
1. A story of Darkness: Both the setting is dark and the soul of the demonized man is dark.
2. A story of Power: The power of the demon is impressive, but the power of Jesus dominates.
3. A story of Transformation: The man is found completely transformed by Jesus.
Two reminders
1. Jesus has power over all evil: All demonic and Satanic evil as well as the evil intent in the world.
2. Jesus has purpose in allowing evil: All evil is allowed for a reason in this world in God’s greater plan.
Weekly Application Exercises
1. CS Lewis states insightfully that we either have a morbid preoccupation with evil and the demonic or an unhealthy apathy toward Satan’s dealings. Examine how you can think and live more biblically concerning this area of spirituality.
2. Think of the difference that it would make if you were more conscious of the fact that Satan is a real power working to undermine your spirituality and godliness. How will you this challenge?
More questions for the week!
1. Think of how you would respond if someone were to come to you for help because of an alleged demonic oppression/possession. If you eventually came to witness that circumstance as being credible through many proofs, what, then would be your reaction? How would you proceed and what would your emotions be?
2. Pay attention to the circumstances that you disdain in your life- especially the ones where you feel someone has evil intent toward you. What does this say about your trust in God’s power over evil and in His plan in allowing evil to impact our lives? How can your attitude change toward those circumstances?
3. There is evil in our world and in our own personal environment. If we co-exist with that evil, we cope with it in any number of different ways: we give up on conquering that evil and tacitly admit that God has lost control, or we accept that God has a plan for that evil being in our lives, or we ignore the evil altogether and resign ourselves to simply living in a world with evil without regard to it’s source or purpose. How do we reconcile and cope with the evil that impacts us?