What I learned yesterday! love elevation

Rarely do I ever retype my notes from church.  I usually write them on the journaling side of my bible and refer to them as refrence when I read the passage again.  But... I want to share what I learned.  If you want to hear the entire sermon you can listen to it HERE later today!

Have you ever walked into a place that you can tell that something supernatural is about to take place? You just sense the divine anticipation of what God is going to do. And, then in similar places, you don’t get the same sense of the Holy Spirit. We just started calling this factor, “IT.” We wanted to look into this IT factor.” Here are some characteristics of IT:  

God makes IT happen. IT is for Him and from Him.
We cannot manufacture, create, or reproduce IT. IT is not something that one person can bring, but the wrong people can kill IT.
IT is the work of God. IT is not a model, system, paradigm, or a result of a program. IT is not based on the style of worship or building.
IT has an upside- lives are changed. IT has a down side- IT attracts critics; people will misunderstand and misquote IT.
IT happens, but often times, IT doesn’t, even with faithful people and leaders.

You have to keep it. 2 Timothy 1:14

• This is the most important thing...you (as individuals) must keep it. You must guard the special work of God in your life. When you have that raw faith that God can save anyone, it is attractive. When you can hear it in your voice and see it in your eyes, it is attractive and people are drawn to it.
• You must keep it! Here is the danger: when God blesses you with a big ministry, it’s easy to skim over personal devotion, lose your own passion, and start to fake it. You can allow the momentum of the crowd to carry you.
• You cannot lose the power of your first love, Jesus Christ! You cannot lose the passion around the main thing.
• God is not pleased with part-time disciples. If you want to find your life, you must lose it all. You must guard. You cannot take for granted the power and grace of God.

Don’t be afraid to fail. (Matthew 25:24-25)

• Failure is not an option, it is an absolute necessity. You will grow and learn more through failures than through successes.
• Some of our biggest successes were born out of failures. We often learn how to make it better through failure. The massive failure in one area allowed more success to come.
• Failure is the first step to real success. Failure is when God speaks to you with clarity. He will do something in you before He does something through you when you fail.
• Peter is a great example; who failed more than Peter? He failed greatly, was forgiven greatly, and was empowered to preach at Pentecost.
• Failure is an event, not a person. Just because you fail at something doesn’t mean you are a failure. So, do not be afraid to fail.