Sermon Notes: Andy Stanley – Follow Part Five

May 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Here are my notes from Andy Stanley’s message today at NorthPoint Community Church.  This was the fifth message in a series called “Follow.”  Catch all the messages in the series here.

  • “I didn’t choose to become a Jesus follower because I loved Jesus but because I didn’t want to go to hell.”  A lot of us get off to self-centered starts.
  • In Matthew 19:27, Peter is worried about what will happen to HIM.  He was approaching it as a Jesus consumer.
  • Jesus didn’t hate the Romans.  Jesus didn’t align with the religions leaders.  This frustrated Judas.
  • Matthew 26:6ff describes Judas and the disciples reacting to a woman who poured expensive purfume out to worship Jesus.
  • Judas wanted to be the treasurer or the CFO of the Kingdom of God.
  • God’s hand can’t be forced.  His will can’t be thwarted.
  • Following Jesus might feel like a death.
  • Our response should be:  I want what YOU want more than I want what I want.
  • If we’re not there yet, maybe we could start with this:  I want to want what you want more than what I want.
  • Blessed is the one who chooses to do the will of God rather than attempting to impose his will on God.
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Sermon Video: Why Would God Take Me Back?

October 8, 2012 by 1 Comment

Sunday, I had the honor to preach at Fusion Church for my friend Tony McCollum.  It was my first sermon quite some time and I’d love to share the video with you.

Title: Why Would God Take Me Back?
Text: Exodus 34:6-7
Big Idea: Who He is trumps what you’ve done.

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Sermon Notes: Future Family Part 2 by Andy Stanley

August 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

There a tension between what’s real and what’s ideal that we will never resolve.

Jesus taught and pointed toward an ideal but he refused to condemn people when they fell short.

Ephesians 6 seems so ideal, but it’s where the New Testament points us in regards to family relationships.

“Wives, submit to your husbands” in 5:22 is a specific application of a larger principle given in 5:21. It’s the principle of mutual submission. Jesus laid this message of love on a Roman-dominated culture. The principle of mutual submission is what family should look like where love is the context.

The real question: What can I do to help?

We don’t ask this because we’re afraid there will be an answer, but when we do, it changes the game. We think our agenda is more important. We think if we can get everyone to do what we want them to do, we will be happy. But it’s a myth.

This question is a game changer when wives ask their husbands, husbands ask their wives, and kids ask their parents.

This question forces us to lean in, rather than pull away. We should be fully available.

It’s a helpful principle if you’re not a Christian, but it’s not optional if you are. This should characterize our approach to family.

When you want to ask it least, you need to ask it most.

As we left church, everyone was given a small, simple sticker to remind us to ask this question.

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Sunday Sermon Notes: A Beautiful Mind

October 2, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Last week, we visited friends in Nashville, but this week we were back at Buckhead Church.  Rodney Anderson taught from Romans 12 on “A Beautiful Mind.”  Here are my notes:

  • We change our mind all the time, but we struggle to change our lives.
  • Change is a difficult thing for all people, but it just might be tougher for Christians.  We’re often frustrated because we know we are not where we are supposed to be, and we feel guilt because of that.
  • The first message Jesus ever preached was “repent” (Matthew 4:17)
  • You probably feel instant guilt over some behavior when you hear that term, because you think repentance is changing the way you act.
  • But in the Bible, repentance is changing the way you THINK.
  • Right thinking over time multiplied by the power of God leads to a changed life.
  • We cannot reverse the old pattern of thinking, but we can create new patterns.
  • The same power that overcame death s available to us as Christians.
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Sunday Sermon Notes: Recovery Road Part 5

September 18, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Here are my notes from week five of a series called Recovery Road, by Andy Stanley.  I took these notes at Buckhead Church this morning.

  • We don’t primarily have a financial crisis in this country; we have a discipline problem.
  • There are two kinds of people: those that pay interest and those that make interest.
  • Andy and his wife decided long ago that they would give, save and spend (in that order).  That’s a counter-cultural and un-American way to do things and it leads to several problems.  1: You can’t have everything you want. 2: You can’t even have everything you can “afford.” 3: You have to live on a budget.  4: When the money is gone, you have to stop spending.
  • But in America, you can reach into the future and grab cash and bring it back into the present…it’s like MAGIC.  But eventually, credit or time will catch up with you and you’ll have several problems:  1: You can’t have everything you want. 2: You can’t even have everything you can “afford.” 3: You have to live on a budget.  4: When the money is gone, you have to stop spending. (THE SAME PROBLEMS!)
Scripture:  Deuteronomy 28:12.
When God started a nation, He actually gave them rules about money and borrowing.  He says that wealthy nations loan money, not borrow it.
100 years ago, credit was actually a sign of poverty.  If you didn’t have cash for something, you could be embarrassed and use layaway.  Today, the wealthier you are, the more you owe.  Solomon (the wisest man who ever lived) said, “The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is slave to the lender.” (Proverbs 22:7.  This is why you have a bad attitude towards your mortgage company or bank.  When you owe money, you feel like a slave in some regards.
The American economy is fueled by debt.  As the rich and middle class dove into debt, people came up with sub-prime loans to entrap the poor and the young.  Read the Old Testament, and you’ll see that very few things anger God as much as the rich taking advantage of the poor and the young.  ”We should be ashamed of ourselves,” Andy said.
The shortest path to financial strength is generally the best path.  Stop blaming others and start taking responsibility.  Tough decisions aren’t always fair (fair is where they have the merry-go-round).  When it comes to politics, vote for the person who will require something of you rather than promise something to you.  Anyone who promises blessings without talking about sacrifice is either uninformed or lying.
The most blessed nation in the world should be the biggest blessing to the world.
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Sunday Sermon Notes: Recovery Road – In God We Trust

September 12, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Here are my notes from Buckhead Church last weekend, the fourth message in a series called Recovery Road by Andy Stanley.

The Big Idea: Recovery begins with a declaration of dependence.

Ten years ago, more prayers were prayed from New York than probably any other city on earth. Today, our nation is unwilling or uneasy with acknowledging a dependence or gratitude towards God. And it’s easy to camouflage this prideful behavior with a concern for offending others.

We would rather run the risk of offending God than the 8% of the United States population who say they don’t believe in God.

Two funny comments: Maybe Congress should just read a quarter (“In God We Trust”) before every session. You can’t pray in school, but you can pray in NASCAR. And nobody ever drops out of NASCAR.

Scripture: 2 Chronicles 6:12 describes the dedication of Solomon’s temple at the height of Israel’s wealth and power. In this great time of national favor, when the country was NOT under attack, Solomon knelt before the entire assembly to acknowledge their dependence on God. In 6:22-33, he asks God to hear the prayers of foreigners as well.

There is a powerful connection between humility and blessing. Maybe Americans need to stop saying, “We’ll get through this because we’re Americans” and start acknowledging our dependence on God.

In 1863, in the midst of a civil war, James Harlan called for a National Day of prayer and fasting. Lincoln called for prayer, and called the nation back to obedience to God’s Word. Congress approved it and President Lincoln signed it. Can you imagine if Congress would talk about such things today?

The Bible says that God resists the proud.  I wonder if God resists arrogant national leadership as well.  We need a declaration of dependence.

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Sunday Sermon Notes: Recovery Road Part 2

August 28, 2011 by 1 Comment

Here are my notes from Buckhead Church today. Andy Stanley continued a series called Recovery Road.

As a church, we have a responsibility to talk about what’s going on in our nation. If people are talking about it during the week, the church should probably talk about it on Sunday.

It’s easy to point the finger, but the reality is you can’t make a decision for THEM. You can only look at yourself. At the heart of recovery is a fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Look in the mirror without excuse. You will never fully recover from anything if you are not completely honest with yourself.

Our pattern is: If it weren’t for _____, then I wouldn’t have _______.  That’s the blame game.  We start to take responsibility for our actions, then say BUT…We employ coping mac

You know this to be true, and you want other people to embrace this truth, but it’s human nature to point the finger.

Scripture: Jeremiah 17:9.

Jeremiah addressed two kings who both foolishly attacked Babylon, who God was using to judge Israel.  The kings kept making terrible decisions.  Jeremiah says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.”  We look back and say “what was I thinking” because we weren’t thinking clearly…our heart deceives us.

We naturally resist looking in the mirror, and we lie to ourselves all the time. But if you are brave enough to stop making excuses, you can recover from anything.

Andy then asked some serious application questions (joking…”if you were thinking about leaving early, now would be a good time.)

1.  Are you racist? “Some of you don’t like black people or hispanic people,” he said. That’s a YOU problem. Some of you just don’t like poor people…you think all poor people should just quit drinking and get a job because that’s what your grandfather said. You’re a Christian racist.

Stop using Christianity as an excuse not to like gay people. Or rich people. Or poor people. This is a YOU problem.

2.  Some need to admit that there’s a real reason (not the elaborate story) behind why you married her, dropped out of school, or are selling your home.  Refusing to deal with the real reason leads you to create coping mechanisms and you end up compensating for that hurt in some way.

Answering these personal inventory questions is terrifying on the front end but liberating on the back end. You will never fully recover if you keep lying to yourself.

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