FaceTime? Reconcilable Differences

 Date: 29 December 2019

Speaker: Duane Lowe

We found out last week: Jesus will meet us at a table we do on purpose, as a habit and enjoy relaxing at with our family.

Question: How can we accomplish this? 

• By focusing on the Reconcilable Differences! Not the irreconcilable differences! 

Many, if not most, couples have stopped healthy communication because they focus solely on irreconcilable differences. 

Whether functional or dysfunctional, the place that we call “Home” is where our hearts are formed.” 

More than furniture, a table is a place where lives are shaped.

Psalms 23:5 (NKJV)

Ask yourself:

1. How healthy is my family’s emotional makeup?
2. As a follower of Christ, what table are you sitting at?
3. Out of twenty-one regular meals each week, how many does your family eat together, on average? 
4. What barriers are preventing you from increasing that number? 
5. What can you do to remove some of those barriers to increase the number of meals your family eats together? 

The busier we are, the more we overlook the need for healthy relationships in our family, marriages and friends.

Jesus Shows us how to set up for reconcilable differences. Luke 22:8:15 (NKJV)

FOUR THINGS BELIEVERS USES TO RECONCILE DIFFERENCES:

1. Bring Freedom to The Conversation 1 Samuel 22:1-2 (NKJV)

• Horrible table experiences take trust off the table. 
• Without “trust” FREEDOM to navigate in the conversation is nonexistent.

1. Make Jesus A Part Of It Rev. 3:20 (NKJV)

• When we trust and receive Him, He meets us at our table! 
• Titus 2:5

1. Value Connections Above All Else Psalms 133 1-3 (MSG)

• Healthy CONFRONTATION is a must! Giving your best friend (your spouse) and those who sat with you at your table permission to have the real conversation; to collaborate; to clarify for unified agreement is a must!

Question: When did the frustration, division and bad days start?

• The day Satan stole Adam’s blessings; Satan influenced Adam to blame his best friend; to give excuses as to why he decided not to walk with God.

Desiring to “Be Alone” isn’t God’s nature! It’s your “OLD NATURE” in opposition to GOD’S NATURE! 

Value Connections Above All Else!

1. Enjoy The Experience Psalms 36:7-8 (NKJV)

• Families who make one another a priority always “Set a Table.”
• Irreconcilable Differences are never the focus – Reconcilable Differences are!

We’ve found out today that our roles as Christ followers is focus on reconcilable differences and:

1. To bring freedom to our table conversations. 
2. To invite Jesus to be a part of every conversation.
3. To value being connected with God and each other above all else
4. To focus on enjoying the experience of moving forward in the relationships at our tables. 

Pray for families that want to bring their families to “A Table Experience.”

What is God saying to you about this message?

FaceTime?

A Seat of Honor

Date: 05 January 2020

Speaker: Duane Lowe

2 Samuel 9:1-3, 7-13 (NLT)

• David became excited about an opportunity to show God’s Kindness at his table, to have FaceTime with someone who could connect Him with an old friend.
• Mephibosheth (Jonathan’s son) is hiding for his life because of his grandfather’s (Saul) failure as king. 
• On top of his identity crisis, he’s crippled and can hardly take care of himself. David summons him to his house and gives him a seat of honor and adopts him as his own son.

What does it mean to HONOR someone from God’s perspective? Honor as God sees it means to demonstrate the privilege of serving; to accurately acknowledge who people are.

Three problems with our human “Value Systems” that all believers must work through:  

1. Our tendency is to value and serve others that serve us. 
2. Our human tendency to value and serve people that can advance our cause.
3. We tend to believe the lie of our culture that says: “if you produce, you have value.” Our value isn’t contingent on our productivity, we’re God’s treasure regardless.

Three ways you can honor others like Jesus:

1. Value your relationships.
   1. Acknowledge what God reveals to you about others without regard to their past; take time to study them and what makes them so valuable and significant.
2. Demonstrate God’s kindness.
   1. Be persistent! Assist them in way so that their past doesn’t influence their NOW! 
   2. Acknowledge what God reveals to you about them without regard to their past; the lies they believe about themselves and then encourage them to receive the honor you want to show them.
3. Activate their true identity.
   1. Mentor who God puts in front of you to accept their God given identity and role!

2 Corinthians 5:16-18 (NIV)

• If you see yourself in a different light than being Christ, you really don’t know who you are.
• Jesus paid our sin debt so that we would continue His ministry of reconciling others into their true identity.

Matthew 18:1-6, 10 (NIV) 

• Jesus teaches that The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven honors others.
• It’s freeing when we except our identity based on how we represent Jesus and encourage others to accept their identity.

Matthew 25:31-36, 37-40 (NIV)

Who can you honor? Who can you show His kindness to?

FaceTime?

Managing Relationships

Date: 19 January 2020

Speaker: Duane Lowe

When our tables are established, every lost person in our paths has the potential of being FOUND, MENTORED, EQUIPPED and CHANGED. This begins by each of us Receiving the Promise, Experiencing Freedom so we can Change the World.

Trust is the path God asks from us as we FOLLOW Him. When we deviate in FOLLOWING Him, we become weak and disillusioned.

• The marriage covenant is weakened 
• The family unit begins to shatter
• Relationships fragment 
• We even begin to question our identity in Him

What we possess (as provision) is a direct result of our capacity to steward in the way that JESUS would steward.

God promises Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. Abraham tries to help and adds tremendous stress to the process. He confirms that he is not ready for the promise. However, when Abraham is ready God gives him  portion of the promise, a son.

Genesis 22:1-8 (NIV) God tested Abraham by asking him for His promise back. 

What fueled Abraham’s confidence that God would provide? Are you confident that God will provide? If not, why?

Our attitude toward Provision reveals the level of faith we have in God:

• Frustration is evidence that we believe we’re the provider
• Joy is evidence that we believe that God is the pro

Do I trust God with the thing I value most?

It’s when we trust God with what we value most, we begin to realize its God’s provision and dream that we’ve been holding all the time.

How well are you allowing God to manage you? What has God given us that is so valuable?

God has given each of us a relationship with Him and with others.

Five ways to manage our time with God and others:

1. Start your day right; Philippians 4:6-8 (NLT)
2. Make it intentional
3. Make it simple
4. Make it fresh
5. Make it fun

How do we grow our trust in Jesus?

• Our actions come into play! They derive from one of two basic emotions – fear or love. Jesus operated from love! 
• It is from this place of intimacy that we strike terror in the heart of the devil’s plan.

Things the enemy uses to steal our trust in God:

1. Not taking a day off – sabbath
2. Lack of Godly counsel
3. Daily clutter hinders quality FaceTime

Everything about God and His kingdom is experiential! We are relational because we crave the experiential connections that come with each relationship. 

Too many are starved for connections!

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you about this message?

FaceTime?
What Are We Passing On?

Date: 26 January 2020
Speaker: Duane Lowe

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (NKJV)
What can we do to facilitate relationship-building conversation during FaceTime
at our tables?

There are three relational categories for conversation to pass on in God’s
commands that we should communicate during FaceTime:

1. Our relationship with Him
a. God is looking for our commitment to Him being our true and only
source
b. He wants to be first on the discussion list

When we do FaceTime the way God designed us to:
We’re authentic!
Anything less than authenticity is idolatry.
Putting a mask on; being fake in our relationships gets between us
and our faith in God and = Idolatry.We’re respectful!
All Believers REPRESENT His Name – Whatever we do in word of deed,
as believers we do in His name:
God choose us to be Representatives of His Character!

FaceTime is how we clear the clutter and come together. Jesus gives us an
example of clearing the clutter in a parable in Matthew 13 about a sower, seed and
soil.
Four types of soil that setup FaceTime:
 Stony Soil – The kind of soil that produces offense
 Thorny Soil – This soil produces a passion for the cares of life
 Wayside Soil – This soil produces religious pride and arrogance
 Good Soil – This soil is prefect for FaceTime conversation. It’s creative,
encouraging, edifying. It heals and makes room for miracles etc.

1 Corinthians 12:27-28 (NKJV)

2. Our relationship with ourselves
a. Cultivating rest in your weekly events is an important part of our
relationship with God
b. Be acutely aware of where your self-talk originates from

1 Corinthians 6:19 (NIV)
Your relationship with yourself has everything to do with how you promote the
identity of others.
The health of your relationship with yourself is key:
 If you are going to bring something to the table during FaceTime
 How you extend mercy to others, validates the health of your relationship
with yourself

3. Our relationship with others
a. God values parents and we should too.
i. Along with your biological parents, do you know who God has put
into your life as a supporting spiritual mentor?

b. God values marriage and we should too.
i. God desires our marriage covenant to be aligned with our
commitment with Him.
ii. Marriage is descriptive of being together, unified, communicating,
investing in each other as one.
c. God values Life and we should too.
i. God is a life giver! So, building the character of others is key. Never
assassinate the character of anyone. Make your FACE-TIME
opportunities time where you build up others.
ii. Remember, we’re representatives of God.

d. God values stewardship:
i. Do I trust God with the assignment He’s given me?
ii. Do I Take care of His investment in the lives of others!
iii. Do I treat them as free sons and daughters, not slaves; as
righteous, not sinners; as wealthy, not poor?
iv. Do I honor others based on God’s honor system?

e. God values honesty / truth
i. Use your weakness to encourage others to accept their God given
identity while encouraging them to do the same.
ii. Never hide behind the flaw of others while trying to appear
innocent. Take responsibility of the burden of others. Assist them to
victory. Take it personal!

f. God values individuality
i. Trust God to be who He says you are! Happiness and fulfillment
always follow.
ii. Desiring to have what belongs to another only diminishes who you
truly are.

Our tables should demonstrate:
 Faith in God by “hosting His presence”
 Care for ourselves
 Respect for others

At the table Jesus sets, it’s ok to ask: PASS THE BLESSINGS PLEASE!
 God has promised that He will pass His blessings on to our next generation!
This starts at our tables!
 Working with the challenges that everyone has who sits at your table is an
experience of grace.
 It’s what Jesus does when you ALLOW HIM to lead at your tables.
Numbers 6:24-26 (NIV)

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you about this message?