Series unchained message - part 4 - message - sunday 04-24-16

THE BIBLE VERSES THAT UNDERGIRD

THIS ENTIRE SERIES!

MASK + MOSAIC + MERCY = MESSAGE

STEP 1:

To forget the past, you first gotta

remove the mask!

STEP 2:

God can turn broken pieces into

masterpieces!

STEP 3:

Forgiveness is setting a prisoner free only to find the

prisoner is me

STEP 4:

God can turn your greatest problem into His greatest platform

All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and

before you know it,

he brings us alongside someone else who is going

through hard times so that we can be there

for that person just as God was there for us.

(2 Corinthians 1:3-4 – The Message)

God can turn our mess into our message and our

test into our testimony!

TESTIMONYTelling the truth about what you saw, heard or

experienced. Describing What happened to you

We cannot stop talking about what we’ve seen and heard.

(Acts 4:20 – God’s Word)

MY HISTORY BECOMES “HIS STORY”

God helps us through our pain so that we can help

others through theirs!

What a wonderful God we have—he is . . . the one who so wonderfully comforts and

strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does he do

this?

So that when others are troubled, needing our

sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God

has given us. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 – Living

Bible)

PAUL’S HISTORY

Before he was “Paul” he was “Saul” a first-century

terrorist. He was a religious zealot intent on destroying anything or

anyone that was a threat to Judaism.

He hated Christ and Christians and was willing

to go to any lengths to keep this belief from spreading, including

persecution and murder.

He would stop at nothing to eradicate this

dangerous teaching from taking hold.

And Saul was not only consenting to Stephen’s death,

he was pleased and entirely approving. On that day a great and severe persecution broke

out against the church which was in Jerusalem;

and . . . Saul shamefully treated and laid waste the church continuously with

cruelty and violence;

entering house after house, he dragged out men and

women and committed them to prison. (Acts 8:1-3 – Amplified

Bible)

PAUL’S HISTORY BECOMES

“HIS STORY”

If anyone ever had reason to hope that he could save

himself, it would be me. If others could be saved by what they are, certainly I could . . . Yes, so much so that I greatly persecuted the Church . . .

But all these things that I once thought very worthwhile—now I’ve thrown them all away so that I can put my trust and

hope in Christ alone.

Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing

Christ Jesus my Lord . . . I am still not all

I should be,

but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one

thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward

to what lies ahead. (Philippians 3: 4, 6-8, 13 – Living

Bible)

Turning My Mess Into My Message

Q & A With Edgar Gonzalez

YOUR HISTORY BECOMES “HIS STORY”

THE MESSAGE PRINCIPLES

MP 1: We are all “messed up” it’s just a matter of degrees!

MP 2: Because everyone is a mess,

everyone has a message!

MP 3: God doesn’t cause the mess in our

lives, but He can use it to

help others

It is God himself, in his mercy, who has given us this

wonderful work of telling his Good News to others, and so

we never give up . . . We stand in the presence of God as we

speak and so we tell the truth . . .

But this precious treasure—this light and power that now shine

within us—is held in a perishable container, that is, in our weak bodies. Everyone can

see that the glorious power within must

be from God and is not our own.

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but not crushed

and broken. We are perplexed because we don’t know why

things happen as they do, but we don’t give up and quit. We

are hunted down, but God never abandons us.

We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep

going . . . this gives us constant opportunities

to show forth the power of Jesus Christ . . . These

sufferings of ours are for your benefit.

And the more of you who are won to Christ, the more there are to thank him for his great kindness, and the more the

Lord is glorified. That is why we never give up . . .

These troubles and sufferings of ours are quite small and

won’t last very long . . . so we do not look

at what we can see right now . . . but we look forward to

the joys in heaven . . .

The troubles will soon be over, but the joys to come

will last forever. (2 Corinthians 4:1-2, 7-9, 15-18 – Living

Bible)

Turning Our TestInto Our Testimony

Q & A With Adam & Sheha Joyner

MP 4: When your history becomes “His Story” it can impact

others for God

Let’s Pray