The Rock of KC

The Rock of KC is a church located in the Northland of Kansas City, MO. Our motto is: we are a "church without walls for all generations." In short, we see a church that seeks to reach every age group, and that the church extends beyond the four walls we find ourselves in each weekend. As important as our weekly worship experiences are, the church is maximized when it extends into our communities. We offer four worship experiences each weekend. Saturday at 5 PM, and three services on Sunday morning, at 8:30 AM, 10:15 AM, and 12 PM. Age-appropriate classes are offered for your children during each service, from birth all the way up to 6th grade. We would love to have you join us!

The Rock of KC is a church located in the Northland of Kansas City, MO. Our motto is: we are a "church without walls for all generations." In short, we see a church that seeks to reach every age group, and that the church extends beyond the four walls we find ourselves in each weekend. As important as our weekly worship experiences are, the church is maximized when it extends into our communities. We offer four worship experiences each weekend. Saturday at 5 PM, and three services on Sunday morning, at 8:30 AM, 10:15 AM, and 12 PM. Age-appropriate classes are offered for your children during each service, from birth all the way up to 6th grade. We would love to have you join us!

- always forecast favor in your life - Jer. 29:11 - always surrender to the favor shifts that God is making within you - Seven favor dynamics: 1. favor flows to people through people 2. honor up, honor down, honor all around 3. relax - God knows what you need 4. somebody else's favor is not your favor - God's favor is favor with your name on it 5. seek the success of others 6. people who oppose you can't stop God's favor 7. stay connected to your God-assigned connections - Luke 2:52 - there is a fullness of God's favor in your future - do not settle for less of all that God has for you - "It is what you learn after you know it all that counts", John Wooden

The Rock of KC is a church located in the Northland of Kansas City, MO. Our motto is: we are a "church without walls for all generations." In short, we see a church that seeks to reach every age group, and that the church extends beyond the four walls we find ourselves in each weekend. As important as our weekly worship experiences are, the church is maximized when it extends into our communities. We offer four worship experiences each weekend. Saturday at 5 PM, and three services on Sunday morning, at 8:30 AM, 10:15 AM, and 12 PM. Age-appropriate classes are offered for your children during each service, from birth all the way up to 6th grade. We would love to have you join us!

- the path of favor is not always on the mountaintops, it also winds through the valley. What we do not want to do is trivialize the challenge and hardship of everyday life - Ps. 23 - we must keep our favor glasses on - v4 - God is with you, He is for you, He never leaves you, He never forsakes you - Getting real: -The fact that God is good. Does not cancel out that life is hard at times. -The fact that Life is Hard at times does not cancel out the fact that God is good! - you will atract to yourself your reality - v6 - a good life, like a good book, is made up of many chapters - the point is the chapter does not have to become the whole story. When you see your life through the lens of God’s favor, you see God’s goodness in the midst of life’s hardship. - Rom 8:28 - a chapter is a chapter - it's not the story - you don't decide all the chapters of your life, but how you frame them decides your story - decide the lenses you are going to iew life through - Gen. 50:20 - God's plan is working something good in your life - do not lose your hope - do not cast off your confidence - if it hasn't turned for good, then it just means your story is still being written

- A better lens (Mark 8:22-25) - Many times we think our circumstances need to change when in reality it is our perspective that needs to change. The way we see is determined by the lens we choose to look through. - The favor of God is impartial from one person to the next but not compatible with everyone's attitude and mindset. - Mark 6:1-6, 1 Peter 1:13 NIV, ESV, ASV - We do not attract what we want. We attract what we are. - Luke 11:34 (NKJV) - The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore when your eye is good your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad your whole body is full of darkness. - The key is in the eye. Your perspective. - Challenge: To reign in every thought! To be a Good Finder! No matter what season you are in, you are looking for and seeing the Good! - We see what we are looking at! - Ps. 34:3-5, 27:13

"No matter how devastating our struggles, disappointments, and troubles are, they are only temporary. No matter what happens to you, no matter the depth of tragedy or pain you face, no matter how death stalks you and your loved ones, the Resurrection promises you a future of immeasurable good." -Josh McDowell - Hope is Found - the tomb is empty (Luke 24:1-8) - Hope is found and we are no longer in our sins ( 1 Cor. 15:17) - "The cross is the victory, the resurrection is the triumph... The resurrection is the public display of the victory, the triumph of the crucified one." (Leon Morris) - Hope is found and we can all be made alive! (1 Cor. 15:22) - Hope is found and we will be resurrected (Rom. 6:5) - Hope is found and death no longer has dominion (Rom. 6:9) - Hope is found and we can have a new life (Rom. 6:4) - Hope is found and there is no one to condemn us (Rom. 8:34) - Hope is found and we do not grieve like those who have no hope (1 Thess. 4:13-18) - Hope is found and anyone can be saved (Rom. 10:9)

The Origin of Favor (Luke 15:22-24) - God's giving always follows His forgiving - God's favor is unearned. It's based purely on relationship and identity iwth God. God's favor is not about who you are. It's about whose you are. - He does amazingly good things for a son who does not deserve it. - the robe (Isa. 61:10) - the ring - the sandals (v.15 - "joined himself to a citizen of that country". To "join himself" meant to be taken into slavery) - when we are living without God we are slaves - two trees - the tree of mercy and the tree of favor - the tree of mercy - mercy is like a judge finding you guilty but then withholding any punishment - the tree of favor - favor is like the same judge then awarding you $10 million and making you his beneficiary after finding you guilty - God's mercy doesn't give us what we deserve, God's favor gives us what we don't deserve. - God's favor is unearned. It's based purely on relationship and identity with God. - God's favor is not about who you are but whose you are (2 Cor. 6:18) - Matt. 7:11 - He's interested in you in every way - He wants you to be confident in His favor towards you - He has come to proclaim the year of God's favor

Luke 4:14-21, John 3:16-17 1. When God turned toward us through His Son, Jesus, it was the beginning of the never-ending year of the Lord's favor (Ps. 30:5) 2. God's goodness is based on an everlasting covenant (Jeremiah 32:40) - when God makes a covenant, He keeps it - "I wil lnot turn away from doing good to them" (ESV version) 3. God's goodness is promise based and not performance based (James 1:17) - be a good finder - develope a mindset to find the good everywhere

- 1 Peter 1:1-25 - Foritfying the focus of our hope (v.13) 1. Our cjob is to fortify the focus of our hope A. that is the primary exhortation in this passage B. what it means to "rest your hope fully" 1. it means to "set your hope perfectly, unchangeably, without doubt and despondency" 2. as the NASV puts it: "fix your hope completely on the grace..." 3. therefore Peter is exhorting us to make our hope one that is complete, strong, and not wavering C. the cultivation of a strong hope is therefore a Christian responsibility 1. we have a duty to develop and fortify our hope 2. just as we need to cultivate patience, self-control, etc., so we need to cultivate our hope 3. for without a hope that is strong... a. our faith may waver b. we are subject to fear, doubt, and depression 4. yes, the cultivation (or fortifiction) of our hope is essential to living joyfu and victorious lives as Christians 2. Identifying the focus of our hope A. as defined in verse 13, our hope is... 1. the "grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" 2. i.e., the unmerited favor that we will receive when Jesus comes again B. as alluded to in the preceding twelve verses, our hope is... 1. the "inheritance...reserved in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:4) 2. the wonderful praise, honor, and glory we shall receive when He comes 3. the complete and final salvation of our souls from sin and its effects 4. the receiving of our wonderful inheritance, the heavenly city, which is incorruptible, undefiled, and that does not fade away 3. What is necessary to fortify the focus of our hope A. "Gird up the loins of your mind" 1. "gird up" is an oriental expression a. it refers to the act of gathering up around the waist the long, loose robes warn by those in the east b. such "gathering up" was necessary or one's progress in running or some other act of exertion would be impeded 2. with the use of this metaphore, Peter is saying... a. we must put out of the mind all things that would impede the free action of the mind in connection with developing our hope b. we must put out of the mind such things like worry, fear, or obsession with material possessions 3. i.e., remove anything and everything that is not conducive to having a strong hope in the coming of our Lord a. such as carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life (Luke 21:34-35) b. such things as these "choke" us and hinder our ability to bear fruit (such as the fruit of a strong hope) (Luke 8:14) B. "Be sober" 1. the word "sober" means "to be calm and collected in spirit, to be temperate, dispassionate, circumspect" 2. it is that state of mind in which the individual is self-controlled, able to see things without the distortion caused by worry or fear 3. i.e., to fortify the focus of our hope requires a calm and serious attention to the task at hand (Luke 21:36) 4. we cannot cultivate and fortify a strong hope if we are so "weak-minded" that we allow things to divert us away from our true calling Conclusion 1. And what is our calling? To sojourn through this life as pilgrims, but with a hope that is resting fully upon the grace we will receive when Christ comes again! 2. The problem with many Christians today is NOT that they have no hope... a. But that their hope is weak and shallow b. And that is because they are preoccupied with the affairs of this temporary life 3. To remain faithful to the Lord, we need to heed Peter's exhortation to fortify the focus of our hope by... a. Freeing our minds of those things which would hinder us b. Being more serious about the kind of lives our Heavenly Father would have us live

Pastor George Brantley Rock of Gainsville http://therockonline.org Gen. 8:20-22 NKJV Mal. 3:8-12 God can take you off the trash heap of life and clean you up to something beautiful God can take the filth of the world and clean it up. Plant + time = harvest The Word and the Spirit together will change your life.

Pastor George Brantley Rock of Gainsville http://therockonline.org Gen. 8:20-22 NKJV Mal. 3:8-12 God can take you off the trash heap of life and clean you up to something beautiful God can take the filth of the world and clean it up. Plant + time = harvest The Word and the Spirit together will change your life.

Pastor George Brantley Rock of Gainsville http://therockonline.org Gen. 8:20-22 NKJV Mal. 3:8-12 God can take you off the trash heap of life and clean you up to something beautiful God can take the filth of the world and clean it up. Plant + time = harvest The Word and the Spirit together will change your life.

1 Peter 2:1-3 A. as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word (Ps. 42:1) B. that you may grow thereby - The word of God is necessary for the growth of the Christian. "To drink the milk of the Word is to 'taste' again and again what he is like, for in the hearing of the Lord's words believers experience the joy of personal fellowship with the Lord himself." (Grudem) C. laying aside all malice, guile, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking: - malice: ill-will, desire to injure, depravity, wickedness that is not ashamed to break laws - deceit: deceiving someone by concealing or misrepresenting the truth - envy: a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else's possessions, qualities, influence, etc. (Matt. 27:18) - slander: evil speaking, defamation. This ancient greek word has more the idea of spicy, hurtful gossip than the idea of profane speech. - You Are 1. Chosen by God - picked out (1 Peter 2:4) 2. Precious to Him - held in honor, prized (1 Peter 2:5) 3. Living stones 4. A Holy priesthood (1 Peter 2:6-8) - Jesus is the cornerstone of Psalm 118; the stumbling stone of Isaiah 8; the foundation stone of Isaiah 28; the supernatural stone of Daniel 2; and the rock that gave Israel water in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:4). 5. A chosen generation - picked out (1 Peter 2:9) 6. A royal priesthood 7. A special possession (1 Peter 2:10) - So as a believer you understand: - You are Chosen - You have a new access to God through your royal priesthood - You are under a new government as a Holy Nation - You have a new owner as God’s own special people!

2 Peter 1:1-11 - time to do some addition - giving all diligence (diligence means with haste or earnestness) - add to your faith 1. virtue: a virtuous course of thought, feeling and action - moral goodness, modesty, purity 2. knowledge: general intelligence, understanding - the general knowledge of Christianity, moral wisdom, such as seen in right living 3. temperance: self-control - the virtue of one who masters their desires and passions, especially in regard to sensual appetites 4. patience: steadfastness, constancy, endurance 5. godliness: reverence, respect 6. brotherly kindness: love of brothers or sisters, brotherly love 7. love: agape - God's love - with these added and increasing: 1. we will be fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ 2. we make our calling and election sure 3. we do not stumble 4. we are supplied an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ