For His Kingdom, #5: Commitment | Mac Hammond
 
Recap
 
In Pastor Mac’s fifth installment of his series entitled, “For His Kingdom,” he talked about how commitment is the final step to the outworking of God’s will and blessing in your life. If you’re not committed to your part of the covenant you have with God, then He can’t perform His part of that covenant. It’s a two-way street! Each part makes a commitment to each other. Commitment must be taken seriously. And one of the things that will help you to be committed is passion… which was the subject of his message.
 
Dive Deeper
 
If you lack a cause in your life, you will be an uncommitted person. You will end up cowering in the ditch in fear in front of your Goliaths of impossibility.
 
Without making a commitment to God, you will never get up out of the ditch.
 
Only cause-oriented people make commitments to God… so be a cause-oriented person.
 
We need to become a cause-oriented people if we’re ever going to run at the mountains of impossibility that stand between us and the promise of God.
 
God has called you to be a giant slayer, a world changer, an overcomer.
 
Jesus said there’s a lot of tribulation in the world. He said, “But be of good cheer because I’ve overcome the world.” If you are born again and have a covenant with Him, that makes you an overcomer.
 
And yet there are many who never overcome. They have that spiritual right and privilege, but they never overcome because commitment to anything meaningful always evades them. And that happens because they’re not cause oriented.
 
Last Sunday, Pastor Mac talked about the components of a God-ordained cause.
 
1.    The first component is vision. You must have a vision which provides you with direction and momentum in that direction.
2.    The second component is faith. You must believe that God’s going to show up when you confront your giant.
3.    The third component of a God-ordained cause is passion.
 
You have to burn with an inner fire that makes it impossible for you to stop short of where God said it’s His purpose for you to be. It makes it impossible for you to cower in your ditch and do nothing.
 
When you burn with this holy fire, it gets you moving. And it propels you all the way to God’s high purpose. Passion is huge. It’s defined simply as fervency, an inner fire that burns and propels a life down a certain path.
 
Read About It
 
1st Samuel 17:20, “So David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, and took the things and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the camp as the army was going out to the fight and shouting for the battle. 21 For Israel and the Philistines had drawn up in battle array, army against army. 22 And David left his supplies in the hand of the supply keeper, ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers. 23 Then as he talked with them, there was the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, coming up from the armies of the Philistines; and he spoke according to the same words. So David heard them. 24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid. 25 So the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel; and it shall be that the man who kills him the king will enrich with great riches, will give him his daughter, and give his father’s house exemption from taxes in Israel.” 26 Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 27 And the people answered him in this manner, saying, “So shall it be done for the man who kills him.” 28 Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger was aroused against David, and he said, “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 29 And David said, “What have I done now? Is there not a cause?”
 
Discussion Questions
 
Do you consider yourself to be a cause-oriented person?
If yes, what are your causes?
Have you identified the “Goliaths” that stand in front of your path to fulfill your cause?
 
 

Recent Sermon Notes

A Faith-Building Weekend With Nancy Dufresne

What a weekend we had with guest minister Nancy Dufresne. She shared on the power of faith and reminded us that God and the Holy Spirit should always remain our focus. That means when we face difficulty, listening to the Holy Spirit, our guide on the inside, is the best thing that we can do. You can walk in faith toward your miracle!

GRACE UNVEILED: “All Under Sin,” #7 | Jim Hammond

Pastor Jim delivered his seventh installment in his series on the book of Romans, entitled, “Grace Unveiled.” The first three chapters of Romans focuses explicitly on the definition of sin. “Because,” as Pastor Jim says, “if you don’t understand what sin is, you will not understand the solution to the sin problem.” Paul wanted them to understand that all of mankind has a sin problem, and no matter who you are, you will never, ever be able to achieve righteousness through your own merit. If doesn’t matter if you’re a secular pagan who worships Zeus or a religious Jew who strictly follows the law, God will never see you as righteous through your own effort. Pastor Jim has much more to say in this message subtitled, “All Under Sin.”

They Brought | Mac Hammond

Last Sunday, Pastor Mac taught a message entitled, “They Brought.” He said, “If you’re in a relationship with the Lord, you’re in a covenant with Him. And that covenant is one of blessing.” Yet, many covenant believers do not seem to walk in the level of blessing the Bible promises. Why is that? Pastor Mac said walking fully in the provision and purpose of God begins by understanding what the definition of a covenant actually is.

Focus for Effect #4: The Resurrection of Christ | Pastor Mac Hammond

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Grace Unveiled: Everyone Is Guilty (Rom. 2:1–9)  | Jim Hammond

Pastor Jim gave the fifth installment of his series entitled, “Grace Unveiled.” The first three chapters of Romans can be summed up by saying people who rely on their own righteousness, their own ability, their own self-effort will not escape the judgment of God. It is only through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ can any man escape His judgment. In the book of Romans, the apostle Paul defines New Testament righteousness as the ability to stand before God without a sense of guilt or inferiority.