SERMON -- WE BELONG TO ABBA! by Eddie Lawrence
Alternate Title: YOU ARE ADOPTED!

Galatians 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. 4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

ROMAN LAW CONCERNING ADOPTION
Source-- Backgrounds of Early Christianity, by Ferguson, page 51.

1. Taken out of his previous condition.
2. All old debts were cancelled.
3. He started a new life as a son.
4. He took the family name.
5. He was entitled to the family inheritance.
6. The new father owned the adoptee's property.
7. The new father controlled his relationships.
8. The new father had the right of discipline.
9. The new father was responsible for his support.
10. The new father was liable for his actions.
11. The adoptee was viewed as natural born.
12. Could not be reversed.

WHAT THE FATHER DOES FOR US:
1. A Father gives his children life.
A. A New Nature (2 Cor. 5:17; John 1:12)
B. Receives God's life (Jo. 3:36)
C. Receives new desires (Gal. 5:22)
D. Recieves a new family (brethren)
2. A Father loves his children.
Luke 11:13 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will [your] heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"
3. A Father protects his children.
John 10:28 "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 "My Father, who has given [them] to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch [them] out of My Father's hand. 30 "I and [My] Father are one."
4. A Father provides for his children.
Matthew 6:30 "Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, [will] [He] not much more [clothe] you, O you of little faith? 31 "Therefore do not worry, saying, `What shall we eat?' or `What shall we drink?' or `What shall we wear?' 32 "For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 "But seek first the kingdom of God

WHAT WE HAVE WITH THE FATHER:
1. Fellowship with the Father
1 John 1:3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship [is] with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
2. Access to the Father
Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."
3. Guidance by the Father
John 16:13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own [authority], but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
Psalm 32:8 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.
4. Security from the Father
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
5. Correction from the Father
Heb. 12:5"My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives." 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
6. Inheritance of the Father
Romans 8:16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with [Him], that we may also be glorified together.

10 Sermon Titles on Faith (with references) by Eddie Lawrence

These can be individual sermons in a series on Faith or they can be stand alone messages, or they can become main points in a fewer number of messages. Use them anyway you like. 1. THE FAITH THAT WALKS AWAY FROM A JOB
James and John (Matthew 4:21,22; Mark 1:19,20)

2. THE FAITH THAT PRESSES THROUGH TO JESUS
The woman with the issue of blood (Matthew 9:21,22)

3. THE FAITH THAT REACHES OUT FOR SOMEONE ELSE
Jairus, for the healing of his daughter (Matthew 9:18,23-25)

4. THE FAITH THAT SEES THROUGH BLINDED EYES
Two blind men (Matthew 9:29,30)
Blind Bartimaeus and a fellow blind man (Matthew 20:30-34; Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-42)

5. THE FAITH THAT STANDS ON MERCY AND RESPONDS WITH THANKS
The Samaritan leper (Luke 17:11-19)

6. THE FAITH THAT TOUCHES THE POWER OF GOD
The sick people of Gennesaret (Matthew 14:36; Mark 3:10;6:54-56)

7. THE FAITH FOR A FRIEND THAT FIGHTS TO THE FINISH
Those who brought the paralyzed man to Jesus (Luke 5:18-20)

8. THE FAITH THAT REALIZES THE POWER OF A LITTLE CRUMB FROM A GIANT GOD
The Syrophoenician woman (Matthew 15:22-28; Mark 7:25-30)

9. THE FAITH THAT KNOWS A WORD IS ENOUGH
The nobleman whose child was sick ( John 4:46-53)

10. THE FAITH AWAKENED THROUGH A DISCERNING WORD
Through the prophetic and proclamation of Jesus ( John 4:39-42)

SERMON -- HOW TO DO EXPLOITS FOR GOD by Eddie Lawrence

INTRODUCTION: How many of you want to have God's power in your

life? How many of you want to accomplish great things for the glory

of God in the earth?

William Carey "The world is yet to see what God can do with a man

totally dedicated to him. By the grace of God I plan to be that man."

"Attempt great things for God and expect great things from God."

Daniel 11: 32"Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall

corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be

strong, and carry out great exploits.

To Be a People Who Know Their God:

1. WE NEED TO LEARN THE ACTIVITY OF GOD

You can tell a lot about a person by what they do.

Illus--A lady called me and was very upset that her husband wanted

to spend all his time with his sick parents. This was unusual for

him. She was very frustrated. I shared with her that her prayers

were being answered. She had been praying for months that he would

not be so selfish and that he would begin to think about others. I

informed her that this was the activity of the Holy Spirit. It was

a ripe opportunity for her to support him and come along side him.

God could bring them closer together if she would support him. She

was seeing it as him being taken away from her when actually he was

being brought closer to her.

God is working all around you--look for the evidence and when you

see it be sensitive to it.

Jesus said:

What I see the Father do that's what I do.

What I hear from the Father, that's what I speak.

If you have seen me you have seen the Father.

This principle is true individually, corporately, and globally.

We need to see what God is doing in the earth and join him.

2. WE NEED TO HEAR THE VOICE OF GOD

In Daniel 11 the people are being deceived by the anitchrist and

swayed by his flattery.

Illus--A "good" salesman can make you think you have to have what

he is selling. We use expressions like "He could sell ice cubes to

an Eskimo." Or "He could sell anvils on a sinking ship." Satan is

a shrewd salesman!

Flattery doesn't care about facts it cares about itself.

Proverbs 20: 19 He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets;

Therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his lips.

Proverbs 26: 28 A lying tongue hates those who are crushed by it,

And a flattering mouth works ruin.

Proverbs 29: 5 A man who flatters his neighbor

Spreads a net for his feet.

Psalm 12: 2 They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;

With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,

And the tongue that speaks proud things,

In the Garden of Eden Satan caused Adam and Eve to doubt what they

"knew" about their God. He is doing it today. He flatters us and

shatters God. If he can make God smaller in our thinking then we

will begin doubting what we have known about out God.

He'll fatter you then shatter you.

He'll thrill you then kill you.

He'll fascinate you then assassinate you.

When Jesus (the second Adam) was tempted he refused to move off the

voice of God. It is written, man shall not live by bread alone but

by every word that proceeds out of God's mouth.

Every mess up in my life was a result of following the wrong voice:

*My voice, my own reasoning or imagination (Prov. 3:5-6) lean not

to thine own understanding

*Friends voices--well meaning friends who meant no harm but who were

not hearing from God.

*World's voices--through various forms of entertainment and media

being swayed because we become bombarded and saturated with it over

a period of time.

*Satan's voice--thoughts implanting by the evil one through the

doorway of my mine to fee my own flesh (flattery--you deserve it,

why should you not enjoy it, everyone else is,etc)

To be able to consistently hear God's voice we have to be in

agreement with what we are hearing.

3. WE NEED TO KNOW THE GREATNESS OF OUR GOD

If we are going "carry out great exploits" in the earth, then we

have to know the greatness of our God.

There is some needed theology in the little prayer we learned as

children"

"God is great, God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. By His

hand we must be fed. Thank you Lord for daily bread. Amen!"

A. Universe--consult John Bevere's book on The Fear of the Lord,

chapter on God's greatness.

*Light travels at 186,282 miles per second or roughly 670 million

miles per hour.

I just came back from India which is half way around the earth from

here. It took me a total of about 30 hours on train, plane, car.

Light can travel around the earth over 7 times in one second.

*Moon--239,000 miles from earth. Light reaches it in 1.3 seconds.

Our jumbo jets travel at about 500 miles per hour. It would take 19

days to reach the moon.

*Sun--93 million miles from the earth. By jet over 21 years with no

stops. By car, over 200 years, no stops. Light travels it in 8 min.

20 sec.

*Nearest Star--4.3 light years from earth. By airplane=51 Billion

years-non-stop. Light 4.3 years.

*Other stars--the ones we see at night are 100-1000 light years

away. There are a few stars you can see with the naked eye that are

4000 light years away. That means that the light they released when

Moses crossed the Red Sea is just now reaching the earth and has

been traveling at 670 million miles per hour for 4000 years.

*Galaxy--These are just stars in our galaxy. A galaxy is a vast

gathering of billions of stars. Our galaxy is known as the Milky

Way. The next nearest galaxy is Andromeda which is 2.31 million

light years away. Scientists estimate that there are billions of

galaxies each of them containing billions of stars. Galaxies tend

to cluster together and our galaxi is part of a cluster of at least

30 galaxies. In 1994 a new group of galaxies were discovered the

distance across it was calculated at 650 million light years. The

most remote object ever seen by man appears to be over 13.2 billion

light years away.

Is. 40:12 HE can measure the universe with the span of His hand.

(And he knows the stars by name.)

Ps. 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God.

Illus--Soviets enter space "We've searched the heavens and there is

no God."

USA "The heavens declare the glory of God.

B. Microscopic World

*human body is composed of 100 trillion cells 1 with 14 zeros.

Each one with specific tasks. They grow, multiply, and eventually

die right on schedule.

Cells>Molecules>elements>Atoms (a period at the end of a sentence

contains more than a billion of them composed mostly of

space)>composed of protons, neutrons, and electrons at the center

of the atom. These are little bundles of energy that whiz around

the nucleus of the atom at the speed of light. These are the core

building blocks that hold all thing s together. Where does it gets

it energy? Heb. 1:3 Upholds all things by the word of his power.

Col. 1: 17 In Him all things are held together.

C. Genome--Life map of the cells of our bodies--can tell

propensity to disease, behaviors, etc.

D. Supercomputer--30 times faster than current fastest. Will

process 100 trillion operations per second. World's pop. + 5

billion. That's each person 20,000 times per second.

Read

Psalm 139

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

1 O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;

You understand my thought afar off.

3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,

And are acquainted with all my ways.

4 For there is not a word on my tongue,

But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.

5 You have hedged me behind and before,

And laid Your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

It is high, I cannot attain it.

7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

9 If I take the wings of the morning,

And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,

And Your right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, "Surely the darkness shall fall on me,"

Even the night shall be light about me;

12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,

But the night shines as the day;

The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

13 For You formed my inward parts;

You covered me in my mother's womb.

14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

And that my soul knows very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from You,

When I was made in secret,

And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.

And in Your book they all were written,

The days fashioned for me,

When as yet there were none of them.

17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!

How great is the sum of them!

18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the

sand;

When I awake, I am still with You.

19 Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God!

Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.

20 For they speak against You wickedly;

Your enemies take Your name in vain.

21 Do I not hate them, O LORD, who hate You?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?

22 I hate them with perfect hatred;

I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me, and know my anxieties;

24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,

And lead me in the way everlasting.

Now understanding this greatness, why would we doubt that He

couldn't help us.

4. WE NEED TO BECOME INTIMATE WITH GOD

Paul's prayer in Phil.3 was "That I may know Him..."

Matthew 7:20-22 "I never knew you..."

Illus-A lot of marriages fail because the husband or the wife or

both never really get to know their spouse. Living in the same

house or sleeping in the same bed doesn't mean you get to know each

other. We get to know someone else when we cease being

self-centered and take the time to understand someone else. We want

people to know us but we are not willing to hear them.

"You never listen."

"You never hear what I have to say."

"Why bother, you don't understand me."

"You never take the time to understand how I feel."

"You haven't heard a word I've said."

Isn't it interesting in this context that the Scripture says that

we have to "deny ourselves, take up the cross and follow Jesus."

The cross is an instrument of death. It is in dying to ourself that

we become alive unto God and that is the place where we get to know

Him.

Eph. 3:20-21

SERMON IDEA --Posturing Yourself to Experience Spiritual Growth by Eddie Lawrence

1. Be Still so You Can Hear or (Open Your Ears)
-Ps 46:10 In this busy world we have to learn to listen for the voice of God. As God shares His heart with us, we get to "know" Him better and better.

2. Be Alert so You Can See or (Open Your Eyes)
-John 5:19 Jesus only did what He saw the Father do. We will miss an opportunity to join God in what He is doing if we are not alert.
-Also we are to be alert to discern Satan's schemes against us.
-In addition, being alert enables us to recognize the needs that other people have in their lives.

3. Be Humble so You Can Learn or (Open Your Heart)
1 Peter 5:5-6 Our pride can block us from God's grace. A sign in the High School where I grew up read, "It is what you learn after you know it all that counts." The same is true in the spirit realm. When we receive God's grace we become enabled to do the will and work of God through the power of the Holy Spirit.

SERMON -- ESTABLISHING KINGDOM DOMINION IN YOUR LIFE by Eddie Lawrence

Matthew 6:5-15
Kingdom Truths Seen in the passage and context of the Lord's Prayer

You are a part of a kingdom.
Your life as a believer is intrically weaved into the kingdom of God.
We are members of a local church but member also of the Universal
Church.
We are believers living locally but our loyalty and allegiance is international in scope touching all believers.

1.Don't showboat your spirituality. (Don't be a hypocrite)
The secret place is the place of power.

Illus--Pastor asked his wife, "Honey, how many truly great preachers do you think there are in the earth?" She replied, "One less than you think!"

2.Keep prayer simple.

One of the greatest prayers you can pray is "Help!"

Jer. 33: 3'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.'

Some people say, "I do not know how to pray." If you can talk you can pray.
Just complain in reverse and that will be praise.
Grumble backwards and that will be thanksgiving.

Feel free to drop the King James English. It does not speed the answer up at all.

The amount of words you use does not determine the amount of response you will get.

3.Recognize God as your Heavenly Father

"Daddy God" In a service one night as I prayed I called God my
"Daddy God". As a result there was a girl that was there with teen challenge. She broke down. She had a terrible relationship with her father growing up and was filled with rejection. She received a revelation of God as father that night.

I have a Heavenly Father. He adopted me. He has invested a great deal in me. He purchased me when I belonged as a slave to Satan. He took a very long trip to come down here to seal the deal. He has forever settled the question that He loves me.

4.Reverence His Name
Reserve the use of God's name for Holy purposes.

5.Desire the expansion of His Kingdom--not yours or the churches'
We are soldiers for Him. It is His kingdom.

6.Submit to His Will
Get in agreement with what is going in Heaven. We do this when we worship. Pray--I will to will the will of God.

7.Recognize Him as your supply
He owns it all. No matter how it gets to you, give Him the credit.

Whatever you need--talk to God about it.

8.Seek His forgiveness
Do it quickly. Keep a short account with the Lord.

9.Demonstrate forgiveness
Do it quickly. Keep a short account with man.

10.Recognize that it is relationship with Him that delivers us from temptation and the evil one.

Knowing He is with you will not make you sinless but it will make you sin less.

11.Know He's the boss and He gets the credit for what is done.

Illus--Imagine the donkey that Jesus rode on cocking his ears and saying, "Look at what all these people are doing for me."

Invitation--Are you living by Kingdom rules? Are you praying the kingdom way?

SERMON -- Three Keys for a Thankful Life!
General Text -- 1 Peter 1:1-7 by Eddie Lawrence

1. Remember Who You Once Were A. We often forget who we were before God's grace came to us. B. where would you be if He had not saved you? C. Illus--How a person saved from a burning house feels toward the firefighter who waded through the flames to save them. D. Some may think, "Well I wasn't that bad before I was saved.
When you are in the same burning house with everyone else it doesn't matter that much that your clothes are nicer than the other people in the house. E. Being ungrateful is a symptom that we have forgotten what we have already been given when we were saved.

2. Remember Who You Still Are A. You are child of God B. You have direct access to the God of the Universe C. You have the wisest counselor in the world living inside of you. D. You have the most faithful friend ever daily walking with you. E. You have the person with the most power imaginable praying for you and working in you.

3. Remember Who You Are Going to Be A. You are going to live eternally with God in a beautiful utopia called Heaven. B. You are going to have a body that will never be touched by sickness or death. C. You are going to be reunited with your saved loved ones who have preceded you in death. D. You are going to see what your mind cannot yet imagine. E. You are going to experience a perfection and beauty that is eternal and indescribable.
SERMON IDEA -- A Life with Wind and Fire by Eddie Lawrence

Scripture passages you can use:

James --Blessed is the man who endures temptation when he is tried.

1 Cor. 10:13 God is faithful and who provides a way of escape.
God is faithful--Notice he provides the way out. He controls how much you are exposed to. Nothing you face is new for humankind. There is a bearing up, an enduring that you must go through in order to get where God wants you to go.

Old Testament Story: Children of Israel--Pharoah's army and Red Sea

Applications: Truths About Wind and Fire
Of course you can relate the physical attributes of wind and fire to each of these truths.
1. God puts fire between us and the enemy/world/past
2. God sends wind between you and your future
3. The fire keeps the enemy away from you.
4. The fire keeps you away from the enemy.
5. The wind prepares the path for you to overcome all obstacles and enter into the place of your future.
6. While the fire burns and the wind blows we are often required to wait.
7. To go back is to be destroyed, to go forward is to be destroyed.

New Testament Application:

-How do we live in the present world in victory?
-Jesus came with a promise of immersing us in wind and fire.
-The baptism of the Spirit and Fire.
-The Day of Pentecost brought Wind and Fire
1. The Holy Spirit will purge us to keep us from the enemy and the enemy from us.
2. The Holy Spirit will always release the power we need to advance into the purposes and promises of God.

Other Title Ideas:
Needed: Wind and Fire
Waiting on Wind and Fire
Two Ingredients that Enable You to Advance
The Fire Behind You-The Wind Before You

SERMON OUTLINE — THREE POWERFUL TRUTHS ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT by Eddie Lawrence
We describe the activity of the Holy Spirit in the beleivers life in a variety of ways: Ps 23 –My Cup Runneth Over
Luke 24 –Endued with power from on high.
Acts 2 — They were all filled with the Holy Spirit
Acts 4 — And the placed they prayed was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.
Eph 5:18 Be filled with the Spirit
John the Baptist — When he comes He will baptize you with the H.S.
Acts 19 –We did not even know there was a Holy Spirit I recently read about an experiment that involved four monkeys and a bunch of bananas.
Four monkeys were placed in a room that had a tall pole in the right in the middle of the room. At the top of that pole was a bunch of bananas. The monkeys began scrambling up the pole each trying to get to the bananas. When one got close to snatching the bananas cold water was doused on him from the people doing the experiment. Eventually each monkey quit trying to get the bananas. Then one of the monkeys was replaced by a new monkey Know what happened, the other monkeys grabbed the new monkey refused to allow him to climb up the pole. One by one all of the old monkeys were replaced and only monkeys who had not been doused remained. Still none of them would attempt to climb the pole. The concluding state of the experiment as I read it: NONE OF THEM WOULD CLIMB THE POLE AND NONE OF THEM KNEW WHY! This little story caused several observations to pop into my mind:
Who is dousing you with cold water? why did you quit? why did you stop others?
The real issue –When your hunger for the bananas exceeds your fear of the cold water, you can be filled with bananas.
Paul wrote to a young timid pastor and said, 2 Tim 1:6 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Interesting Paul had already told Timothy he saw a bold faith in his grandmother and his mother and was convinced it was in him. You see the previous generation (old monkeys) can pass on either positive or negative attributes to us. Sometimes we do things and don’t know why? It has been passed on to us. Sometimes those things are negative and we find there is hindrances (cold water experiences) that keep us at the bottom of the pole. Instead of arguing over whether or not you have been filled with the Holy Spirit, ask are you full of the Holy Spirit? How can we know. Paul told Timothy there were three powerful effects in the life of person who was full of the Spirit he was given. LOVE, POWER, and A SOUND MIND. One of the big hindrances is the work of FEAR. This is what turned a brave bunch of monkeys who love bananas, had the power to climb the pole and the sense to know they wanted bananas into cowards who lived at the bottom of the pole. These verses tell us that in order to get freed up, something has to happen:

1. IN REGARD TO RECEIVING LOVE
We have been given "love" The word is Agape. It is selfless, committed sacrificial love. The God kind of love. The nailed to the cross for others kind of love. The fight through the cold water kind of love. How do you know when it is hindered by the spirit of fear?
When there is bitterness, unforgiveness, grudges, hatred, selfishness, vengenance, etc. Maybe you need to recieve a fresh baptism of the love of God. Knowing you are loved will free you to love. 2. IN REGARD TO ACHEIVING POWER
We have been given "pwer". The word is dunamis. Spiros Zohiates says it is the power to achieve. God gives us the power to climb the pole and face the water in order to get the bananas.
What have we been given to do? The great commission (Matt. 28:18-20). How can we do it? Acts 1:8. The power of the Holy Spirit to achieve what God has given us to do. Maybe you need a fresh baptism of power in order to get back into the game of life. 3. IN REGARD TO A BELIEVING MIND
We have been given a "sound mind." The word means a self-disciplined mind. A mind that is rightly ordered. We have the mind of Christ. We can see our pole climbing battle infested lives from God’s point of view because the Holy Spirit has the mind of God and we have been given the Holy Spirit. Maybe you need a fresh baptism of wisdom in order to see what the hindrances are and to deal with them rightly with courage and authority. Oh, by the way, a major question is: WHAT ARE THE BANANAS? Revival? The Holy Spirit? Healings? Miracles?
NO–Jesus (He is the bread of life that came down from heaven)
The Holy Spirit and all His fruit and gifts is what God gives us to keep climbing the pole through the flood of the enemy, and to know the strategy we need to overcome it.