Message Notes: HEART CHECK #2

02: HEART ATTACK

1 Corinthians 16:9 (ESV) –  for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

• We are in a season where great and effective doors are going to be opening…
• I’m sensing a double focus – stepping through doors but also preparing for doors that are about to open… but there will also be many adversaries

If we are going to walk through these doors… (and even beyond that… simply because God is our heavenly Father and He wants us to mature and grow) each one of us needs to allow the Lord to do work in our hearts.

• We need allow God to work in us so He can work with us and through us
• The degree to which will allow the Lord to work in our hearts is directly proportionate to the degree to which we will walk in our destiny/purpose]
• In this season each one of us needs to allow the Lord to work in our hearts.

Acts 8:21 – You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God…

 SOME AREAS WE NEED TO CHECK OUR HEARTS:

1)    A SINFUL Heart 

Acts 8:21-22 (NIV)  …21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.

• Sin in our heart disqualifies us from purpose/destiny.
• The antidote for a sinful heart is repentance (1 John 1:9)

2)    A WOUNDED Heart

Psalm 147:3 (ESV) – He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

• Everyone of us is hurt/wounded in our lives and this often hinders of from running the way God has called us to.
• The antidote for a wounded heart is healing

3)    A CAPTIVE Heart

Luke 4:18-19 (ESV) – 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

1 John 3:8 (NKJV) – He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from thE beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

• The Greek word for ‘destroy’ actually means to untie our to unbind
• The antidote for a captive heart is deliverance

4)    An OFFENDED Heart

Matthew 13:54-58 (ESV) – and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished… 57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” 58 And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.

• When we hold unforgivness we put ourselves in a prison, we open up ourselves to demonic torment and we actually limit what God can do in our lives
• “Unforgivness is like drinking poison and expecting it to hurt someone else”
• The antidote for an offended heart is forgiveness

5)    A DULL Heart

Matthew 13:15 (ESV)  – For this people’s heart has grown dull…

Hebrews 6:12 (ESV) – 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

• The antidote for a dull heart is a fresh encounter with the love/presence/power of God

Romans 12:11 (TPT) – Be enthusiastic to serve the Lord, keeping your passion toward him boiling hot! Radiate with the glow of the Holy Spirit and let him fill you with excitement as you serve him.

The Solution: Do A Heart Check!

Psalm 139:23-24 (TPT) – 23 God, I invite your searching gaze into my heart. Examine me through and through; find out everything that may be hidden within me. Put me to the test and sift through all my anxious cares. 24 See if there is any path of pain I’m walking on, and lead me back to your glorious, everlasting ways—the path that brings me back to you.

1. Invitation – in a moment but also day by day in a season
2. Examination – God and you…
3. Testing and Sifting
4. Opening up our areas of Pain
5. Change

Want to get more plugged into Toronto City Church? Here’s 3 simple ways:

1. Attend our monthly TCC Family Night (First Friday)
2. Join a Connexion Group
3. Start serving in a Ministry

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#Food4Thought – Stuff that Got Me Thinking this Week…

It’s been a busy week in my world… lot’s of stuff at Toronto City Church, my wife is in India… still I was able to get some ‘good food’ for my mind and soul. Here are some highlights:

1. Chase the Lion by Mark Batterson – this was an assignment from my Bishop (I’m actually a little behind… catching up). Really good stuff on chasing the dreams that God has given you and believing big. A great quote: “Life is about more than arriving safely at death”
2. The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere, Join the New Rich by Tim Ferris – this is not a Christian book and I don’t agree with everything in it… but it has really challenged and encouraged me so far in a number of areas. It is very thought-provoking.
3. Top-Ten Ways Churches Drive Away First Time Guests by Thom Rainer – great little article that has some real nuggets about welcoming people in your church. You might be surprised by some of what is on the list.
4. What To Do When Your Spirit is Inwardly Disturbed by Rick Renner – every Christian leader (and really every Christian) needs to understand and heed the truth in this Sparkling Gems from the Greek devotional from Rick.
5. Erik Fish – got in a training session this week with PastorsCoach.com and Erik Fish shared for a bit about real discipleship and what it looks like… some real good stuff. I’m planning to dig in a bit more to what he teaches.
6. The Passion Translation is on BibleGateway.com – I got the Passion Translation for Christmas and am loving it… was hoping they would get it online soon and here it is! It is such a great translation!