Horizon.org

Weekend Reflections …

[GUARDRAILS] part two “Guard Your Heart”

We had an incredible weekend at Horizon. Hearing the stories of how God in at work through the worship and teaching of His word is a mind blowing thing that never gets old. Watching countless hands raised in surrender to Almighty God at the close of each service was evident of God’s Spirit at work. Glory to the Lord!

We jumped full stream into our Guardrail series by tackling the most important rail of all, the one that Guards our Heart.

Proverbs 4:23-27 served as today’s inspiration:                                                                                                               “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let you eyes look straight ahead. Fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet, and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; and keep your foot from evil.”

Guardrails that were both hugely important and unfortunately forgotten by the Corinthian Church. They had forgotten to guard what God has entrusted to them. As a result, much of the influences of the surrounding society had permeated the soul of their congregation.

The ACCEPTANCE of sin begins with an APATHY towards it and pushes towards an APPROVAL of it. This so troubles Paul (and God for that matter) that in 1Corinthians 5:1-3 he writes with the hope of exposing the sin and extinguishing any approving acceptance of it and apathy towards it. Paul knows that if things are allowed to go on as usual, the church will lose its light, its salt, its persuasion and witness.

Think with me how many things that would have been considered sinful a decade ago have become socially acceptable today. It’s getting crazy fast. A sexually charged society seems to be screaming “everything goes.” The recent edition of GQ laden with offensively suggestive photos of the young stars of GLEE is just another example of far too many unfortunate examples for our kids.

Here’s the deal. Tho we can’t curb much of how the world chooses to live, what we can and must do is this; guard our hearts. The church must combat against sins constant contamination. If we don’t then the sin like yeast will swallow up the whole of who we are calling to be and love for … Christ.

The problem is we aren’t learning from history as much as we are repeating it. Paul uncovers the issue of Corinth’s sin and as much as we should have avoided their problem we seem to have repeated it. As a result, things are no better today than they were for  Sodom and Corinth.

So what breaks the cycle? What stops the downward spiral?
Answer … Guardrails!!!

As you read this, if there are sins stil being approved and accepted I pray that God would be given the opportunity to purge, to cleanse, to forgive, to sanctify, garner, guard and protect.

The long and short of it was this … IT’S TIME TO GUARD OUR HEART

To here this week’s message [HeartGuard] in it’s entirety click here …

AND DON’T MISS THIS WEEK’S STUDY QUESTIONS FOR DIGGING DEEPER… Click here

Blessings, pb

We kicked off a brand new series at Horizon call Guardrails. It was a giant undertaking and concerted effort from our construction team, production, and graphics department to get this one off the ground. But God blessed it and again I was amazed to see everything come together without a hitch. Having ordered some legit galvanized highway guardrails we went to work constructing them for the size of our stage, posts and all.  Super visual!

Wikipedia defines Guardrails as …

“A system designed to keep people or vehicles from (in most cases unintentionally) straying into dangerous or off-limit areas. In traffic engineering, guardrails prevent vehicles from veering off the roadway into oncoming traffic, crashing against solid objects or falling into a ravine. In most cases guardrails would not be able to withstand the impact of a vehicle just by the strength of the individual posts in the area hit by the vehicle. Instead, the guardrail is effectively one strong band that transfers the force of the vehicle to multiple posts beyond the impact area along the length of the band or into a ground anchor at the end of the guardrail.”

Genius! What often goes unnoticed becomes a lifesaver when necessary. Reminds me of the story in John 5 when Jesus heals the cripple at the pool of Bethseda. We all know that amazing story. The guy is healed from his disabilities after being handicapped for 38yrs. But here’s the part of the story that I find most intriguing and yet often overlooked. Later, Jesus catches up with that some guy, reintroduces Himself to him and says to Him, I’m paraphrasing; “Hey buddy, don’t waste what I’ve done for you! Get on with your new life and don’t sin anymore … Lest something worse befall thee.” Now if that was ever a challenge to us, and the need for some guardrails erected in our lives, I don’t know what is. So here’s what we did. We took the teachings of Paul to the church of Corinth and began identifying a similar system spiritually that needs to be established, and in our first section of pavement identified six critical guardrails to staying on track with God.

1) Guarding Against Deception

2) Guarding A Servants Heart

3) Guarding a Motive of Faithfulness

4) Guarding the Authority of Scripture

5) Guarding God’s Gift of Grace

6) Guarding our Life Intent

To hear the message in it’s entirety click here ….

Here are some questions for deeper study:

1. Guardrail #1 is Guarding Against Deception (1 Corinthians 3:18). In what way is pride significant to becoming self-deceived (see Isaiah 14:12-14)? What are some examples of being self-deceived? What are some consequences of being self deceived?

2. Guardrail #2 is Guarding Service (1 Corinthians 4:1). In what way is the apostle Paul’s example of being a “servant Christ and steward of the mysteries of God” contrary the way of the world and fundamental to the life of the true believer (see Matthew 25:21)?

3. Guardrail #3 is Guarding Motive (1 Corinthians 4:2). We are not asked to be brilliant or successful servants, rather “faithful”. How is faithfulness everything to the true servant of the Lord?

4. Guardrail #4 is Guarding Scripture (1 Corinthians 4:6). If we are not applying God’s Word in our lives we are deceiving ourselves about our true spiritual condition. How does this challenge you to place God’s Word as the sole source of authority and truth over your life?

5. Guardrail #5 is Guarding the Grace (1 Corinthians 4:7). We live in a “give to get world” which is antithetical to the doctrine of grace. In what way do you see the grace of God as a clear way God demonstrates the depth of His love for us? How have you seen God’s grace demonstrated in your own life?

6. Guardrail #6 is Guarding Intent (John 5:14). What does this passage teach us about how Jesus views sin and its consequences? How can we guard our intent (aim, purpose, and goals) so that the glory of God is given priority rather than our own convenience, comfort, or success?

Great Start! Great Series. Don’t Miss Part Two …

God bless your week. Love in Christ, pb

Weekends This Fall at Horizon…
[GUARDRAILS]
from the book of 1st Corinthians.

Messages include:

Lest Something Worse Befall Thee – now archived

Guarded from Immorality

Falling Rocks, Slippery Slopes & Shortcuts

Blindspots & Deception

Guarded from False Freedom

Off the Map & Lost in Passion

God’s Road to a Happy Marriage

Guarded Against Divorce

The Glare of Glitz, Glam & Unguarded Worship

Guarded Rights & Privileges

Don’t Remove the Guardrails

Guarded Against Ad Libitum Living