God Encounters

Canvas Church : San Diego

God Encounters 

Jacob has deceived his brother & now his brother is coming to see him. So he divides up his family in preparation. As soon as he's alone he gets "jumped".

"The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh."(Genesis 32:22-32 ESV)

When Jacob begins to wrestle he doesn't know who it is but he realizes that it's not a natural being. This match lasted from sun up to sun down. God even messes up Jacobs leg & Jacob still goes for it. God says ok that's enough it's been all day, but Jacob refused to let go until he was blessed. God asked him his name, even though he already knew it. Because he wanted Jacob to admit who he was. A deceiver, a manipulator, & a liar. God changed his name b/c from that point forward everything would change. He was brand new & later Israel (Jacob) even became the father of God's chosen people. 

Israel - meaning wrestled with God

Peniel - meaning I've seen God & I live

Jacob - meaning deceiver, manipulator, liar. 

When God shows up & shows out, that's a God encounter! 

Theology & Doctrine can be read & taken from the bible but when we read it we read it through the filter of our own theology & doctrine. However, everything isn't based on how much you know b/c sometimes it just doesn't make sense, sometimes you just have to wrestle with God. It's about obedience. 

Encountering God

1) Encountering God is sometimes a process. (Jacob was beat up, it was messy) Don't give up too soon! Our culture medicates everything! Instead, wrestle through it! Embrace your problems, like "God its on!"

2) Encountering God will often change your destiny. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV) (Jacob later became the father of God's chosen people. ) ( paul was a mass murderer) (David, Peter, James, & John) 

3) Encountering God will cause you to walk differently. 

Saved by grace through faith! You can do nothing to deserve, receive, or achieve salvation = the greatest encounter. Choose to stick around & have a wrestling match with God.

Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, (Matthew 3:8 NKJV)

I am Barrabas: He is my resurrection & life

Canvas Church : San Diego CA

I am Barrabas: He is my resurrection & life

"Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.” But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed. Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.” Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” And he said, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!” So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified." (Matthew 27:11-26 ESV)

Barrabas vs Jesus , surly Jesus would win right!? A criminal vs a healer. However, the people voted to release Barrabas instead. 

Your probably thinking, wow in comparison to Jesus, Barrabas shouldn't be released ! He is not worthy ...as if we are? It's easy to see others & point out their flaws. In that moment God decided, let my son Barrabas go free & crucify my other son Jesus. God knows that Barrabas is unworthy but that is the very purpose of Jesus's death.

 You and I are Barrabas! 

The resurrection of Christ, before there was a resurrection of Christ, was a reality to Barrabas 3 days before the actual resurrection. Foreshadowing & fulfillment of God's will. Christ put on the sins of humanity so that we could be born again. He suffered for the weight of our sins & took our place so that we don't have to die. Barrabas is the only one in all of history who can say that Christ PHYSICALLY took his place. 

.."by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross." (Colossians 2:14 ESV)

You are free!

Crouching Sin Hidden Dragon : Grace

Canvas Church : San Diego CA

Crouching Sin Hidden Dragon 

Grace

You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.” (Genesis 4:7 NLT)

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. (Romans 3:23 NLT)

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NLT)

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. (Ephesians 2:8, 9 NLT) 

Grace- undeserved, unmerited favor of God

 

A mother in law who was getting ready to retire from her job wanted to take her entire family to Disneyland. Her son in law was adopted into her family by marriage & did absolutely nothing to earn or deserve to go. She worked hard for many years at this particular job yet she selflessly chose to share this gift that she sacrificed herself for & worked so hard for (for so long) with her family. Not because they earned it or worked for it or were entitled to it. But because she loved them. This is a living example of grace (:

"Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” - (Basiclly asking what are you doing here b/c I am demonic) - For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned. When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. - (They were probably afraid of their own demons being revealed) - So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. (Luke 8:26-39 ESV) 

*Read entire Luke 8

*Also read Mark 4

A LESSON OF GRACE! They took a trip & when they get to the other side they are assaulted by a naked maniac. The disciples had to be in shock & probably hiding behind Jesus. Humanity did the best they could to manage the naked man & keep him from hurting himself (Mark 4) BUT that didn't FREE him. This man couldn't help himself. Humanities best attempts do not set you free but the bible says, whom the Son sets free is free in deed. Jesus enters the scene & then the man is sitting clothed in his right mind! This is a picture of us separated from Jesus. Worldly grace says I'll give you another chance. Godly grace says I'll give you a brand new life! Jesus says, your not worthy but I created you & your not worthless. 

This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. (1 Timothy 1:15 NLT)

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— (Ephesians 2:4, 5 ESV)

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Repentance : Crouching Sin Hidden Dragon

Canvas Church : San Diego CA

Crouching Sin Hidden Dragon

Repentance

What in me needs to be addressed & changed? 

True repentance is not: getting caught, or diminishing sin (comparing), casting blame on others, or doing things to justify & feel good about your sin. 

Obedience is a response to Gods love & forgiveness; God doesn't bless us because we've earned it.

"One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!” Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.” “Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied. Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.” “That’s right,” Jesus said. Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?” And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” (Luke 7:36-50 NLT)

This woman was not invited & she didn't care, she needed to get to Jesus. Then she starts crying over his dirty nasty feet & wiping it with her hair & poured EXPENSIVE oil over his feet. Vs this Pharisees (religious political figure) who knows the religious customs very well BUT didn't bother to treat Jesus accordingly. 

1) True repentance will cost you something! Dreams, Relationships, Things. "Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance"-Matthew 3:8 NKJV

2) True repentance seeks to serve others. Like this woman who served Jesus vs the Pharisees that could have but didn't. Get rid of your sin & then help someone else get rid of their sin. 

Sin is self serving!

3) True repentance lives for an audience of one. Do all things as unto Christ. Because my God said so, regardless of if it makes sense to the rest of the world. The Pharisees was more concerned with his reputation among men vs the woman who didn't care.

4) True repentance leaves a legacy. "I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.” (Mark 14:9 NLT) Just like sin affects others around you so can your righteousness, for generations to come.

5) True repentance brings peace. Integrity brings peace. Reference the phrase "how can you sleep at night". Walking in sin brings no rest.