GOD'S WILL verses...

"GOD'S WILL"

Exodus 18:15 Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will.
Mark 3:35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
John 7:17 If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.
Acts 18:21 But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.
Romans 1:10 in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.
Romans 8:27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 15:32 so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed.
2 Corinthians 8:5 And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will.
1 Thessalonians 4:3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;
1 Thessalonians 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Peter 2:15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.
1 Peter 3:17 It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
1 Peter 4:19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

"WILL OF GOD"

Acts 20:27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.
1 Corinthians 1:1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
2 Corinthians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia:
Ephesians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:
Ephesians 6:6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.
Colossians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
Colossians 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.
2 Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
Hebrews 10:36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
1 Peter 4:2 As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.

"LORD'S WILL"

1 Samuel 2:25 If a man sins against another man, God may mediate for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him?” His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the LORD’s will to put them to death.
Isaiah 53:10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
Acts 21:14 When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
Ephesians 5:17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
James 4:15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

"WILL OF THE LORD"

Leviticus 24:12 They put him in custody until the will of the LORD should be made clear to them.
1 Chronicles 13:2 He then said to the whole assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you and if it is the will of the LORD our God, let us send word far and wide to the rest of our brothers throughout the territories of Israel, and also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their towns and pasturelands, to come and join us.

WHAT is iMMERSE?

We become what we consume and what consumes us.

The last few verses in Hebrews 12 have caused me to pause in the past few weeks. See Hebrews 12:14-29.
A reference to 'fire' in both verse 18 and 29 give bookends to a central thought...Responding properly to God matters. The writer defines acceptable worship.
Before that he mentions 'shaking' as a metaphor for the judgment of God so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Verse 28 offers a transition moment in saying 'therefore'. In light of things being shaken in our lives, we realize we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Strong. Beautiful. Firm. Foundation. As a result 3 things shake free as acceptable worship. Thankfulness. Reverence. Awe.
Why? Because "God is a consuming fire". Power. Engulfing. Glowing. Large. Bright.
Everything a consuming fire is and represents we should consider. After all, we are what we consume and what consumes us.
Consume God today. Consume God always. We become what we consume.

"King of Pop" and KING OF KINGS

They say bad things happen in 3's. First Ed McMahon, then Farrah, now Michael Jackson. I've been gripped today by the same news you heard of Michael Jackson's death. I think equally compelling to me are the quotable words quickly streaming through radio and tv. "We shall never stop talking about Michael Jackson", Al Sharpton. "Such a larger than life person is just a human body", Fox News as he was being transported to the LA Coroner office. "The most famous person in the world", Tommy Mottola. "Maybe the most famous man on planet earth", Fox News.
750 million albums sold. 2-time inductee into the Rock-and-Roll hall of fame. Songwriter hall of fame. 13-time Grammy award winner. 13 solo #1 hits. That will make you famous and get people talking....for a little while. Meanwhile, in the frenzied wake of a few hours after the news, many clubs and radio stations are playing the tunes that made him famous as an anthem memory. The self-proclaimed, "King of Pop" was always center stage and the world was always watching.
Good things happen in 3's too. One God existing in 3 distinct persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus had a 3 year public ministry. 3 nails were used for his crucifixion. On the 3rd day Jesus rose from the dead. 2,000 years later we're still talking about Him. Why? Because He is the King of kings. (1 Timothy 6:15)
On his robe and thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. (Rev. 19:16)
As I flew to Miami today, I read 1 John and was struck again by the overwhelming emphasis on God's love and offer of life. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 1 John 5:12 In other words, he who does not have the Son only has whatever awards, money and accolodes you can get in this life.
I don't know Michael Jackson's fate. I do know it's sealed now. In coming days watch the world's reaction. We will see worship at its best! Then what? The music will fade and we'll go back to life as we know it. You have an anthem. We all do. Who will you never stop talking about? I hope it's the King of kings. His name is Jesus. He who has the Son has life....forever.

Do we want the Presents or the Presence?

I've been struck lately and have been pondering the whole Michael Phelps thing. Disturbing. Disappointing. Sad.

This is what I find so striking: A man whose chest has been covered with gold medals, has achieved international fame, showered with awards, (PRESENTS) and blessed with an incomprehensible amount of money, still feels compelled to press his face to a bong.

What was he searching for at the bottom of that bong? What emptiness in his soul was he trying to satisfy? Do YOU see it? 8 Gold medals...hello! Now there is no debate over whether the 23-year-old is gifted with athletic greatness. He is. And financially Phelps is set for life. It is estimated that his potential earnings will reach somewhere around $100 million.

Emptiness comes when we become satisfied with PRESENTS without PRESENCE.

Enter Exodus 33. God was leading Moses to a promise. Along the way people just like us, obstinate, hard-hearted, wayward, were making the journey with him. Moses would enter the tent of meeting and all the people would arise and stand at the entrance and worship. "Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend." Interestingly, Joshua, Moses' servant, must have been hungry, thirsty......for God, for PRESENCE...., as he would not depart from the tent.
Years later as Moses is gone Joshua gets handed the leadership baton. Go. Carry on. Lead. Step out. Faith. Through the Jordan river. Don't you know he thought back to the tent days. How will I lead? Moses is gone! What now? In a word...PRESENCE.
I want to be like Joshua.

During the next few weeks we're talking about the Presence of God as we know it through the Spirit of God. So much of life is lived with limited awareness of the indwelling, enabling POWER of the Holy Spirit residing in those who have put their faith in Christ. We want to take a megaphone and shout, "Get in touch with the Holy Spirit of God". He will enable you. indwell you. encourage you. teach you. be your constant companion.

2009!

Hey, everybody!

We hope everybody is enjoying the holiday break...we're enjoying the Christmas season, but we also gotta' say that we cannot wait for 2009 @ iMMERSE!

We've spent the last few weeks praying and planning and dreaming for next semester and we want you to be a part of it!

We wanted to let you know about a couple of exciting things already set for our big kick-off on January 12th.

In the month of January, worship will be led by Todd Wright. Todd moved to Tyler in September and he's the new Pastor of Worship and Creative Arts at Bethel Bible Church. Todd actively leads worship at camps, retreats and other events. He's been married to his wife, Kristen, for over 10 years and have two kids (Jonah, age 7 and Finley, age 3.) Todd is also a blog-addict. You can catch him here on his blog.

In addition to that, we've got a lot of new stuff planned for Monday nights. Hopefully, we're going to do an even better job of connecting all of you and encouraging you with God's Word.

But for all our planning, the simple truth is this, gang: WE NEED YOU.

The fact is that college students aren't going to come here music by some guy they've never heard of. They're not going to just randomly show up to hear a sermon by Randy.

If we're going to fill that room with students, it's going to mean that YOU have made the effort to invite folks to check us out. In fact, we're going to ask you to do two things over the winter break.

1. Make January 12th a priority. Put it on your calendar. Lock it in. Decide now that you will be at the Ornelas Activity Center at 8pm, ready to have a blast.
   
   
2. Invite ONE person. Just one. We're not asking you to bring whole truckload of people. We're asking you to find one person and make every effort to bring them along this coming January.

We're excited. We're believing God for great things in 2009 and we cannot wait to see what He's gonna' do through you!