Following are my message notes for the talk, “Live Local: The Blessing.” May the Lord glorified through your study of His Bible.
Live Local: The Blessing
God has been blessing people from the beginning of time (Genesis 1:28) and continues blessing until the end of time (Revelation 22:7, 22:14).
Consider God’s blessing in the life of Abram, Jeremiah, and Laban.
Notice the blessing pattern of Genesis 12:1-3. Abram is called to leave what he knows and loves to a land that God would show him. 12:1
As Abram leaves, God promises to do four things:
• I will make you into a great nation
• I will bless you
• I will make your name great
• I will bless those who bless you.
Because of these actions by God Abram receives his job description:
• And you will be a blessing
• And all peoples on earth will be blessed through you
In Jeremiah 29:7 we learn that we are planted in a city and that we are to:
• Seek the peace and prosperity of the city (God’s blessing upon the city)
• Pray for the peace and prosperity of the city
Genesis 30:27 unveils the awareness of collateral blessings. Because of God’s blessing on Jacob, Laban was blessed of the Lord.
Consider Proverbs 11:11 “Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted.”
Applying to our Lives Today
1. As you walk your neighborhood, ask God to make you into something great and to bless you.
2. As you walk your neighborhood seek the peace and prosperity of your neighborhood and pray.
3. As you walk your neighborhood pray that God’s blessing upon you has a collateral impact upon your community.
MCA Church LIFE Groups
Getting to Know One Another
1. What is your favorite July 4th tradition?
2. What is one of the blessings of God upon the United States?
Digging Deeper into the Weekend Talk
1. In Matthew 5:3-6 Jesus pronounces a blessing upon four unlikely candidates; the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, and those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Why does God bless the unlikely, in unlikely ways?
2. In Matthew 5:7-9 Jesus pronounces a blessing upon three qualities through which people could easily be taken advantage. Wicked people could easily misuse the merciful, the pure, and the peacemaker. Why does God bless while others might take advantage?
3. In Matthew 5:10 Jesus pronounces a blessing upon those who are experiencing no material or physical blessing and, in fact, are being mistreated even to the point of death. Why does God bless the persecuted?
Prayer
1. As you walk your neighborhood this week, ask God to help you see through “The lens of the beatitudes.” In other words, ask God to help you find the poor in spirit, the mourning, the meek, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the merciful, the pure, the peacemakers, and those who are being persecuted for his name.
2. Pray and invite your neighborhood to Heaven’s Gates and Hell’s Flames and the July 4th Family Freedom Celebration.