Colossians 3:16-17

16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

“Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.”

• The Word in us
  • Word of Christ refers to the word to Christs teachings
  • Dwell – to be at home. Like when someone says “make yourself at home”.
    • visitor vs family
  • Richly – abundance. more than you need to survive
  • Have the teachings of Christ in you.
  • When the teachings of Christ are missing – humanity feels a soul craving that it trys to fill with nonsense
• Share the Word
  • Teaching – sharing what you are getting – after service!
  • Admonishing – has to do with duty. we owe our brothers and sisters
• Praise God
  • And sing, sing your hearts out to God!
  • Taking in the teachings of Christ then sharing the teachings of Christ with each other – Praise should be the immediate result

Colossians 3:17

Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

• Don’t act or speak unless you have the teachings of Jesus dwelling richly in your life.
• Your mouth and your actions can hurt more than help.

All believers have had some personal experience with Jesus. We were touched and our Spirits were restored. Our physical or mental health may have also been restored. Beyond Church is where your God given skills make room for Jesus to change your city. “Beyond Church” is the next message in our “Change Your City” series.

Mark 1

29 After Jesus left the synagogue with James and John, they went to Simon and Andrew’s home. 30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever. They told Jesus about her right away. 31 So he went to her bedside, took her by the hand, and helped her sit up. Then the fever left her, and she prepared a meal for them. 32 That evening after sunset, many sick and demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. 33 The whole town gathered at the door to watch. 34 So Jesus healed many people who were sick with various diseases, and he cast out many demons. But because the demons knew who he was, he did not allow them to speak.

If you are listening to this message now or sitting here today and haven’t had a personal experience with Jesus yet, and you want to begin your relationship with Jesus, would you be so bold and email info@lighthouse805.com; or direct message us on any social media platform. Just search Lighthouse 805.

The thing that stands out in this story is that Peters mother-in-law was touched by Jesus then immediately serves Him.

Most of us today wrestle with what’s my kingdom contribution? What is my skill? What is my purpose? How am I serving the King of Kings? How am I impacting the Kingdom Of God?

Peters mother-in-law made a meal for Jesus and everyone there. I think the miracle and meal together unlocked vs 32.

Most of us have already been touched by Jesus. We just need to start walking in our skills, gifting, purpose… so that our City is Changed. 

__Identifying Your kingdom contribution, Skill, Purpose__

Based on Peter’s mother in law here are some basic attributes of turning your skill into a purpose.

1. It Unifies – It brings people together, it isn’t divisive.
2. It’s seasonal.

• • • • The meal was for that precise moment.
      • It will happen again. Most people do something once then and think its over.

3. It strengthens – it was food to give nourishment to sustain what came next. It will build people up or strengthen them.
4. It’s your skill – your kingdom contribution will look like you
5. There is room for Jesus.

Doing Life Together –

1 Peter 4:10-11

10 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 11 Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

The message translation

Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he’ll get all the credit.

Talk about what this verse is speaking to you. Are you using the gifts God gave you beyond church? Talk about a gift you have and encourage the person you talk with.

Mark 1: 32-34   32 That evening after sunset, many sick and demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. 33 The whole town gathered at the door to watch. 34 So Jesus healed many people who were sick with various diseases, and he cast out many demons. But because the demons knew who he was, he did not allow them to speak.

Why after sunset?

In Bible times, the new day started when the sun went down. So if the sabbath was Sunday, they waited till first thing Monday to bring their friends and family to Jesus. Because on the sabbath it was the law to rest. 

1. REST is NOT RECOVERING from what was…. but actually PREPARING for what’s to come.
2. Church is for hearing Jesus and learning what we should be acting on this coming week.

Your skills will make room for Jesus to heal and save people through the week; but you need to understand the significance of Church preparing you for the mission of “Beyond Church”.

35 Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. 36 Later Simon and the others went out to find him. 37 When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.”

38 But Jesus replied, “We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too. That is why I came.”

Your city will be changed if you posture yourself like Jesus:

1. Prioritize relationships – God first, people second
2. pray before doing
3. know your mission – you are here to bring Jesus to others in all the towns in your city.

NEXT STEPS – Go beyond Church this week. Start your Monday in prayer for direction like Jesus. Then use your skills for others like Peter’s mother in law. Lets change our city.

Have you ever been stabbed in the back? How do you hold onto hope when you feel betrayed? We are continuing in our Can’t Cancel Hope series. It is so hard to keep hope strong when someone close to us betrays us or stabs us in the back. The enemy uses other people and situations to try and get us to lose hope. That’s why it’s so important to be tethered and connected to HOPE. Like an anchor. During this series we will explore characters in the Bible that have found themselves in caves, caverns and dark places.

Follow along here:

Genesis 37:5 Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. 

Genesis 37:23-28

23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. 24 And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

25 Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. 26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. 28 Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.

• The tactics of the enemy are actually pretty simple…affect you externally, in hopes of hurting you internally. 

• • They stole his robe – his public identity.
  • His robe represented a special relationship to the father. 
  • Your identity represents a special relationship to the Father.
• Your identity is a child of God. Friend of Jesus. Hope filled believer. 
• Your identity is your special relationship to the Father. its found in 2 places in your life…on the outside and on the inside.

• The enemy will try and steal who you are on the outside in the hopes that you lose your identity on the inside.

1. They threw him in a pit – or empty, dry well.
   • An empty well is a prison
   • A full well is a source of life
2. They sold him into slavery – get others to lead you, another word is servant. Someone else was in-charge of his life. 

• • The enemy wants to lead you in your life.
    • your decisions
    • your actions
    • your mind

How did Joseph stay strong and hope filled all those years?

Genesis 50:19-20

But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. 

• How do we deal with identity?

1 – I am not God

• How do we deal with feeling like the world threw us in a pit?

2 – God is in Control

• How do we deal with loss of control?

3 – He brought me