1. “Testing: Our Response” Northside Mission Church (16-Sep-2012)

2. 1 Corinthians 15:57-58 MSG It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God! With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort. Our Proclamation

3. After the first year – “Bed hard” After the second year – “Food cold” After the third year – “I quit!” The older friar said, “Brother, no wonder you’re quitting. You’ve done nothing these past 3 years but complain!”

4. “Testing” or “Chastening”? 1.As Christians we will all undergo tests 2.These tests come in many different forms: A health crisis A health crisis A financial setback A financial setback A breakdown in a personal relationship A breakdown in a personal relationship Rejection or persecution because of our faith Rejection or persecution because of our faith Abundance or success Abundance or success

5. Psalms 139:23-24 NIV Search me, O God, and know my heart Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting. Psalms 19:12-13 Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression.

6. Chastening – when God has searched our hearts and He puts His finger on anything that is offensive to Him Our response− Repent Testing – when God has searched our hearts and He does not put His finger on anything that is offensive to Him Our response– Endure

7. Repentance – Mind & Direction Mark 1:14 The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. Luke 24:46-47 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

8. “To repent means – to recognize we are not living in the right way, to stop and to change our direction.”

9. A full, 100% Commitment Romans 10:9 NIV If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Acts 10:36 The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all Q. “What does it mean to me that ‘Jesus is My Lord’”?

10. “If Jesus is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all” My whole life My whole life My money My money My talents My talents My priorities My priorities My relationships My relationships

11. Attitude to Scripture Satan helped brought the downfall of Adam & Eve when he enticed them to question God’s word by saying: “Has God indeed said…?” (Genesis 3:1) Jesus set the seal of His divine authority upon the Scripture when He called it the word of God and added, “The Scripture cannot be broken.” (John 10:35) Paul states categorically, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. (2 Timothy 3:16)

12. Right Relationships John 13:35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. Matthew 6:15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. “Right doctrine is the basis of the Christian faith. But right doctrine rightly applied will produce right relationships.”

13. Is there any: Bitterness? Bitterness? Resentment? Resentment? Unforgiveness? Unforgiveness? “We cannot have the right relationship with the wrong people. The apostle Paul warns ‘Do not be so deceived and misled! Evil companionships (communion, associations) corrupt and deprave good manners and morals and character.’” (1 Cor. 15:33 AMP)

14. “Looking unto Jesus…” Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted (tested) as we are, yet without sin

15. Inspired by the example of Jesus, “let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

16. “Something may not be sinful, but they can be ‘weights’ that so easily ensnares us” Social obligations that have no spiritual significance, sentimental attachments to people, places or pets, excessive concern with the stock market, sports or fashions, window-shopping, worries about health, money, family or politics Sins and Weights

17. James 1:2-3 NLT Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. Verse 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. The need for Endurance

18. 1 Corinthians 9:25a NLT All athletes are disciplined in their training “Temperate” or “Disciplined” “Temperate” or “Disciplined” “Self-control” “Self-control”

19. 2 Peter 1:5-7 paraphrase To your faith add virtue, then knowledge, then self-control, then perseverance, then godliness, then brotherly kindness, and finally love (agape)