SURRENDERED:Setting our Hearts on God,

Shaped by God,Set on Fire with Love for God,

Sent with a Purpose!

Psalm 127:3-53 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward.4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth.5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

It is my stated goal today to preach three sermons in 40 to 45 minutes!

Sermon Number 1: We Are in a Battle

Ephesians 6:10-13

2 Timothy 2:2-4

Psalm 18:13-14

We are in a battle! There are at least three battlegrounds:

One of the battlegrounds is our lives – our hearts, our minds, our lives. We are a walking battleground.

Another battleground is the world as a whole.

Another battleground is the spiritual realm.

“It is because life – especially the Christian life – is a battle. Every Christian is a walking battlefield. Every believer carries deep within himself a terrible conflict…

It’s a flat-out knock-down-drag-out war. And when it’s over, you want to be among those who are still standing.”

From Spirit Warriors by Stu Weber

Sermon Number 2:

SURRENDERED:Setting our Hearts on God,

Shaped by God,Set on Fire with Love for God,

Sent with a Purpose!

Every one of us in this room today has the potential to be an arrow in the hands of a mighty God! We have the potential to be, but it is a choice we must make.

If you want to be an arrow in the hands of a Mighty God,

then one of the first things you are going to have to purpose

in your heart to do is to “SET YOUR HEART ON GOD.”

“God has given us the Disciplines of the spiritual life as a means of receiving His grace. The Disciplines allow us to place ourselves before God so that He can transform us.”

From Celebration of Discipline by R.J. Foster,

Some of the Key Spiritual Disciplines:Established in God’s Word: Growing in our prayer lives…Growing in our worship of God…

Serving others in His name and for His glory…

Fellowshipping with other believers….Accountability…

Establishing these spiritual disciplines in our lives over time is a way to show our love for God and set our hearts on Him so that God is able to shape us.

As we set our hearts on Him and as He shapes us, we know Him better, and we will fall more deeply in love with Him - I refer back to a pattern we have discussed previously in other sermons: the more I seek You, the more I know You; the more I know You, the more I love You! Falling more deeply in love with God is the flame on the tip of the arrow!

What does it mean to be “SENT”?

We are sent to be disciples of Jesus who help make disciples for Him. Yes, we go to love, to serve, to witness, etc., etc., but the ultimate purpose of all of this is to be disciples of Jesus who help make disciples for Him.

A key question for us today if we are taking our faith seriously is: What does it mean or what does it look like to be a modern day disciple of Jesus who helps make disciples for Him?

Now Sermon Number 3:

We are called and sent by God to be disciples of Jesus

who help make disciples for Him.

Each one of us here at Crossroads are called to be disciples of Jesus who are surrendered and ready

and willing to be sent by God into the world to help

make disciples for Jesus!

2 Timothy 2:2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.