Peace of My Mind (06.17.18 Notes)

A Peace of My Mind

#FamilyCircus Week 3

Pastor Kris Freeman

Revolution Church

Sunday, June 17, 2018

Scripture: Matthew 5:9 and Ephesians 4:15 (NLT)

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God. - Matthew 5:9

We are called to be PEACEMAKERS not peacekeepers - there is a difference.

It’s a lot like the difference between LEADERSHIP and MANAGEMENT.

1. Leaders are influential and servant-minded
2. Managers are controlling and rigid

What kind of parent do you want to be? A leader or a manager?

• Peacekeepers often AVOID conflict to keep the peace
• Peacemakers EMBRACE conflict to make peace

Being a peacemaker doesn’t just mean the absence of trouble - it means SEEKING the highest good!

• You have a right to be angry
• You have a right to be offended
• You have a right to be hurt
• But when you exercise your right - your are putting self first

Peace is to be SELFLESS for the building of what is ACTUALLY right, not just A RIGHT.

1. Peacekeepers often AVOID conflict to keep the peace
2. Peacekeepers EMBRACE conflict to make peace.

Remember, we have a goal to make our #FamilyCircus a Christ-centered home.

A Christ-centered home isn’t a CONFLICT-FREE family. It’s a CONFLICT-SOLVING zone!

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. … 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Rom 12:17-18, 21

What do peacemakers do?

1. Tell the TRUTH in love.

Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ… Ephesians 4:15 NLT

Confront the issues, and not the person. Love the person, deal with the STUFF.

• When you don’t listen to me, I don’t feel like you value me.
• When you raise your voice, I don’t feel safe.
• You may not even notice, with our friends, jabs.
• When you continue to check your phone at the table—devalued.
• When you lie insignificant, it’s hard to really trust you.

2. Apologize when you are WRONG

16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. James 5:16

Admit to specific attitudes and actions with no EXCUSES.

The difference between remorse and repentance

• I’m sorry is for mistakes.
• Will you forgive me is for sin.

3. Forgive and LET GO

How do I forgive? Most people say I can’t!!!!

• Significant betrayal
• Spouse adultery
• Abuse
• Tragedy
• General irritation and annoyance!!!! (right? come on somebody amen that!)

You forgive by doing what they don’t deserve, by giving something that you didn’t pay for.

13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Col 3:13

Family is worth it, as far as it depends on you, it BETTER be.

Children of God are made in his IMAGE. You never look more like God than when you forgive, and when you make peace.

Every Ingredient of the Recipe (06.10.18 Notes)

Every Ingredient of the Recipe

The Family Circus Week 2

Pastor Kris Freeman

Revolution Church

Sunday. June 10, 2018

Scripture: Psalm 34:1-10 (NLT)

I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises. 2 I will boast only in the Lord; let all who are helpless take heart. 3 Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness; let us exalt his name together. 4 I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. 6 In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; he saved me from all my troubles. 7 For the angel of the Lord is a guard; he surrounds and defends all who fear him. 8 Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! 9 Fear the Lord, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need. 10 Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.

Last week we discussed having a family that is hungry for righteousness.

What did your family say they were thankful for this week?

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Sometimes, I get hungry for things which take a LONG TIME to make.

In the church and the family, these are the things that take a long time to develop:

- A sense of community

- A movement of discipleship 

- A life of worship

- A structure of stability

It’s like a RECIPE - you need the right ingredients, the right mixture and the right TEMPERATURE.

My family is like yours, we are a mixed bowl of different gifts, abilities and talents all molded together for a common purpose.

Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! 

Making brownies!

1/2 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1/3 cup sweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat to 350, grease pan and spread, bake 25-30 minutes

And don’t forget some recipes have a few nuts!

The recipe is like a model of the BODY which makes up the church.

1. Butter - the liquid fat of the recipe provides TEXTURE. Every family and church needs texture. Texture represents the people who are the substance of the family and the church.
2. Sugar - the sweetness. Every family needs those sweet people who love bigger than their body and all churches need people who can love unconditionally like Jesus.
3. Eggs - the egg is an interesting ingredient. It’s full purpose is not revealed until it’s broken. We love broken people, we are just not satisfied that you stay that way.
4. Vanilla - the vanilla extract is for flavor, but what it does is bring out the savory elements of the other ingredients. If you are vanilla, you make others better!
5. Cocoa - the diversity, color, culture and style of the recipe comes from a powdery substance that once mixed and heated takes its full place. Families which are diverse and whole are so beautiful!
6. Flour - the foundation. Nothing rises and gets full without the flour. You need foundation people in every relationship, family and church. They are the cornerstones.
7. Salt - the preservation. Everybody thinks salt is about flavor. That’s just a small part of it! The salt makes everything in the dough stronger, thicker and more likely to stick together. It also slows down the conflict of chemical reactions in the recipe. The salt is such an important role because in your church, the salt people hold everything together in crisis, and bring flavor in success! 

But did we FORGET an ingredient?

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. (Psalm 139:13-16 NLT)

There are SPECIAL parts of God’s kingdom that don’t seem to fit in, but are so important.

NUTS come in all shapes, varieties and ways. And you can be a little off, and still have a place!

8. The most important thing about the additive to the recipe is it does for it what NOTHING ELSE can do. 

You never think you need it - until it’s NOT THERE.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (Romans 8:28 NLT)

Once you apply the heat (PRESSURE) then you reveal the PURPOSE.

You are a part of this family, and you BELONG.

Everybody's Hungry (06.03.18 Notes)

Everybody’s Hungry

The Family Circus Week 1

Pastor Kris Freeman

Revolution Church

Sunday. June 3, 2018

Scripture: Matthew 5:6 and Psalm 63:1 (NLT)

God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied. (Matt. 5:6 NLT)

The King James Version of the English Bible says hunger and thirst for RIGHTEOUSNESS.

What is it that your family is hungry for?

Think of this for a minute…

• If you have babies, they are hungry for EVERYTHING but can only have CERTAIN THINGS
• If you have small children, they are PICKY for what they learn to love
• If you have teenagers, God bless you. Let’s pray and work on a grocery budget (and don’t act like you’re not feeding four of their friends regularly too!)
• If you are an adult, you settle into a mature TASTE for what you like and a RESPONSIBLE taste for what you need.

Sometimes though, I just get hungry for more. (Popcorn!)

In your home, what does your family truly hunger for?

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What does not work in a family, or in a church:

• Legalistic Christianity
• Lukewarm Christianity

What does work:

• We are not just a CHRISTIAN family, but be a CHRIST-CENTERED home

O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. (Psalm 63:1 NLT)

Help your family hunger for God see him as LOVING, approachable and INVOLVED.

Create an environment where questioning God and seeking him is not only recommended, but invited. Help your children see the DEPTHS of how delicious the Word of God is! Do you remember helping them try a food for the first time?

I hated steak! I got sick the first time I ever ate it. It was a disaster. But I parents taught me how to eat it, chew it and even savor it. And now as an adult, I want STEAK!!!! I love it!

You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God's word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. (Hebrews 5:12 NLT)

Three ways to create a hunger for God in your crazy, family circus of a world.

1. Involve God in your daily CONVERSATIONS

Apply this - every day, ask a question to your kids that brings God or the Bible into the equation. Nature. Reason. Science. Will. Understanding. Tragedy. Happiness. Thankfulness.

Start a THANKFULNESS CHART (see example with Pastor Kris on the stage) - every day, every member of your family has to write something on the chart/board. No exceptions!

2. Make attending church together a NON-NEGOTIABLE

Don’t just send. Lead.

Don’t just attend. Serve.

Don’t just take. Give.

Don’t just complain and bicker. Love.

Don’t just search. Stay.

3. Show how seeking and serving God is FUN

Inside the worship guide, there is a family activity sheet. During the summer, post this in your home and see how many of these activities you can accomplish. Make being together fun.

But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15 NLT)