GoQuestion : How to Crush Your Enemy Without Even Touching Them

GoGroup Question
Ice breaker : Distribute a piece of paper for each member.Take time to think and then write your opinion about : What Go Group means to you personally? It can be positive or negative comments. Please relax, You may enjoy your snack or drink while you think.After you all finish writing, read and share it to your group.Leaders, please collect all the comments after you finish.You can email all of the comments to icagosolid@gmail.comWe will make an opinion pooling about GoGroup.Let's find out together what improvement can we make in the future.All of the pooling will be published on : http://gosolid.blogspot.comWithin two weeks, we will choose the most quality comment and prepare prize for it.The quality comment doesnt always a positive one. It can be critic, dissapoinment or suggession. All of this is made for improvement of all gogroups.

Now. let's go to the main disscusion!

How to Crush Your Enemy Without Even Touching Them (by Scott Stricker)

1. In what occation do you usualy sing? (church, birthday party, happy time, in the bathroom)
2. And what make you sing?
3. In no 1 and 2, did anybody say about singing in time of sadness or in the difficult situation or sing when we face enemies? May be this is a not common idea to sing in the difficult situation. But actually in our scripture today 2 Chronicles 20 about King Jehosaphat who sing in this difficult situation. How could it be? Is that possible? What's your opinion about this? Is that make sense?
4. Singing that we are talking about is not just ordinary singing. It is PRAISE (Praising God). For us Christians it become make sense because of what we have leart from Scott's sermon. There are three points that say why we should Praise.-Change Our Focus-Change is Coming-Chance for Deliverance(for complete sermon note see below)Please, if there any testimony about praising God and how it affected our life, please share.
5. This is the conclution for today discussion. How is our praise and worship life. Do we do praising God everyday? How often? Do we realize the power behind the praise? 6. If there any commitment you want to make related to praising God, let's pray together and keep reminding each other about it.

SERMON NOTE
How to Crush Your Enemy Without Even Touching Them by Scott Stricker
“Praise is Powerful” Choose to Praise

(vs 1 -4) After this, the armies of the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the Meunites declared war on Jehoshaphat. Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, "A vast army from Edom is marching against you from beyond the Dead Sea. They are already at Hazazon-tamar." (This was another name for En-gedi.) Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance. He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting. So people from all the towns of Judah came to Jerusalem to seek the Lord's help.

The king and all the people got together and sought the Lord’s help. He answered them through a prophetic word.

(17 – 19) But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord's victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!"

18 Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low with his face to the ground. And all the people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping the Lord. 19 Then the Levites from the clans of Kohath and Korah stood to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud shout.

Choose to Praise

Jehoshapat and the people faced what was an impossible situation but they didn’t sit around complaining or feeling sorry for themselves. They grabbed a hold of the prophetic word, a promise from God, took it as fact, and began to PRAISE the Lord.

We also have the promises of the Lord. He promises us that he will never leave us or forget about us, He will work all things together for good, and that He has a plan for us. But, often times when we face our battles we choose to worry, to doubt, to complain and in doing those things we forfeit the power of praise.

• Hebrew word for praise is HALAL: to praise, celebrate, glory, sing (praise), boast
• Celebrate
• Glory
• Sing
• Boast

Change Our Focus

(vs 12b ) "For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."

They said, “God, we know that we are outnumbered and that we can’t beat them. But we are not going to look around at how bad things are how horrible our situation is, we are going to look up.” And then they put their words into action. * (vs 21) Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army

That is looking up! They put their worship band at the front as head of their attack formation.

Where are you looking, around you or up?

Darlene Zschech

"I learned we’ll never find hope looking at our circumstances," she says. "It’s only found by fixing our eyes on Jesus who doesn’t change and who’s always faithful.“

When we are surrounded by circumstances and difficulties we can experience the POWER OF PRAISE by looking up

Change is Coming

Don’t just Praise God when things are going good. Don’t just praise Him after he answers your prayer. We need to praise him… - Before the Battle v. 18 ...all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD - During the Battle v. 22 As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. - After the Battle v. 26 On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, where they praised the LORD. This is why it is called the Valley of Beracah to this day.

Many of us don’t have a hard time praising God when we see the light at the end of the tunnel or when we can see that the victory is ours, but it can be hard for us to praise him before we see any results

Darlene Zschech commented that praise is "thanking God for things even though they’re not there yet," she says. "It’s appreciating Jesus not [just] for what He can do, but for being your Savior. And there’s power in that.”

Chance for Deliverance

(Vs. 27-30) Then, led by Jehoshaphat, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem, for the LORD had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies. 28They entered Jerusalem and went to the temple of the LORD with harps and lutes and trumpets.29The fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard how the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel. 30And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.

Chance for Deliverance

Talk about being delivered and the joy that comes with it. I believe that when we praise and worship the Lord it will release His power and we will experience wonderful things like.. miracles. - It’s not our own power but the power of God that delivers us and gives us victory over our enemies and problems.

Challenge

Choose to praise God and keep your focus on him. Don’t just praise him afterward but before and during your battle. Allow him to deliver you as you praise him. * Deut 10:21 o He alone is your God, the only one who is worthy of your praise , the one who has done these mighty miracles that you have seen with your own eyes.

GoGroup question, Sunday September 10. 2006 with Sermon Note

QUESTIONS

1. What is the most romantic moment you experience in your life ? Please share.
2. What make it so romantic ? Was it because of the atmosphere, the setting, your mood, or anything else.
3. Married is like going to the restaurant, especially if you never go to that restaurant before. You order  something, your friend order something, and when you get your food, you think somebody else's is better than yours.
Do you agree with that opinion? Explain why.
4. Do you have a special time that you set to have a quality time together with someone you love ? Please share  when, how often and what do you do ?
5. Please share if you have tips to keep your love with your spouse/girfriend/boyfriend.
6. For singles who dont have BF/GF ypu can share who do you fall in love with or who do you want to pursue now. Is he/she from ICA ? :) Share tips among each other how to treat the person you love and how to attract them.

There is no right or wrong answer in those questions. The important thing is share your life with your gogroup members. Let's pray for each other's burden. May be you srtuggle with your relationship with someone, or may be you still doing your job 'naming the animals' and haven't find your mate. Keep on working and praying each other.

Challenge :
For husbands/boyfriends, to give thanks to God everyday for your wives/girlfriends. Dont forget to give her appreciation, respect and gratitude.
For wives/gorfriends, to give him respect, honor and care.

God bless you all

SERMON NOTES
Part #4 of 6 The First Family
How to Fall in Love and Stay There
TEXT : Genesis 2:15
1. Imagine the garden of Eden
2. It was Adam's job to give guidance to Eve
a. Men take spiritual authority in your home
b. God never told Eve directly
c. Women make men wait a little bit, it's good for them.
3. Adam fell in love more quickly than Eve.
a. I wonder what went through Eve's mind
b. ADam had been waiting is whole life for that moment.
4. God did not create Eve directly after Adam stated he was lonely.
a. Loneliness happened even before sin entered the world. It is not a sin to be lonely.
b. Adam named the animals first before looking for a suitable mate. It takes a long time.
c. God created Eve so that when He did Adam would have the utmost : appreciation, respect and gratitude.
d. God created Adam so that when he met Eve she would have the utmost : respect, honor and care.
5. There is security in perfect love.
a. For that reason they could be naked.
b. This was the first thing they notice after eating of the fruit was they were now naked.
c. They had a level of security between the two of them.
6. Sin cause people to fall out of love.
a. When you are first in pursuit everything is perfect.
b. When we have sinned against each other love begins to disappear.
c. Imagine how much they lost.
d. Being a Christian and rediscovering God's love for us help us to know and attain perfect love.
 
Go SOLID

GoGroup question and Sermon Note - Sun July 16th

Questions

1. Describe what is your goal as a Christian (Your main goal in life)
2. Beside your main goal in life, do you have a personal short term goal you want to achieve? (Can be in work, family, hobby, etc)
Please share how you're doing with tat goal. How do you work on it, how long do you think you can achieve, how it is related to your main goal in life.
3. Please share if you have any tips, dealing with LUST. Please share simple ideas to avoid them, because this is really not easy.
Remember, in this world we are surrounded by lustful views we cannot avoid.
How do you think Job can make covenant with his eyes against lust (Job 31:1)
4. Please mention your hobbies, as many as possible.
5. From all your hobbies, which one do you think you are doing too much so you need to reduce or fast from it for a certain period?
6. Let's make commitment together if there something we need to fast, to gain self control over it.
Pray for each aother for it.

Have a wonderful go group discussion this week.

GoSOLID


SERMON NOTE
Sunday, July 16th 2006
Title : Seven Habit of Highly Defective People Part #3

GOALS and GAPS
In our Chrdtian life we should have the right goal.
Our goal as a Christian should be : Get closer to the Lord. It should be a constant and continual desire. That 1st goal sould be above any other goal (family, hobby etc)
As we don't pursue that goal, the gap between we and God become bigger and bigger, and when we never think about that goal may be our Christian life will be like 'auto pilot'. We may go to church every Sunday and doing church activities but we don't really realising God.

Habit #6 : LUST.
On all internet surveys, Lust was always the #1.
Every book of the New Testament warns us to avoid lust because it leads to sexual immorality.
Mat 5:28, Mark 7:21-23, Acts 15:29, Romans 13:12-13
1Cor 5:11, 6:13, 6:18, 2Cor12:21, Jude 7

Define LUST to have an inordinate desire especially sexual.
When lust came, there is a chemical reaction and it is addicted so we will want more. It happen mostly on men.
It can be illustrated like having test drive on a car. The seller let us try and enjoy the luxury of the car, the smell of its leather, comfortable driving, and when we realise we already sign the contract, purchase it.

Lust isn't limited to sexual things, it is lusting after something in this sense, it is related to greed but mostly focused on other people.
For women, lust is more spiritually and emotionally like thinking about how is it like to be married to another husband.

Sexual sin is more grievous than other sins.
We easily tolerate mixed standards in everything.
We must make covenant with our eyes likr Job
Job 31:1 "I make covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman."
We must make covenant with our minds too.
Because by not having covenant with our eyes and minds we make worse defect.
We will reap the benefits in our heart and in our relationship with God and families.
Minimise the opportunity for temptation.
From ladies perspective you must dress modestly.

The CURE of LUST is LOVE.
When we lust we USE people and when we love we VALUE our relationship with people.

How can we attain love instead of lust?
- firstly by reading and staying in the word of God (Ps. 119:9 How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word.)
- By being a accountable to someone for eyes and thoughts
- By making your spouse the center of your desires and not allowing desires for someone else to creep in.

Habit #7 : GLUTTONY
Gluttony is misdirected hunger, It is the pursuit of physical or personal pleasures.
Several types of gluttonous behaviors are things like watching too much TV, sleeping too much, playing too many games on the computer, a hobby that is out of control and of course over eating.
It was describes by one person as they no longer eat to live but live to eat.
Stoppong gluttony is about gaining power...
The gluttons says "I have no will power."
Stopping gluttony is about having control...
"Don't let anything have control over you. FASTing is good, it disciplines you.
When it comes to being gluttonous about food it is hard because you just can't stop eating.

The CURE of GLUTTONY is SELF CONTROL
We over eat, we over sleep, we over work, we over play, we over over. So how do we become self controlled and defeat the voice that is inside us saying just one more time won't hurt.

Self control enables us to stay within God's ordained boundries.
People in God's word that were mastered themselves, their appetites and emotions so they could please God and not themselves, Self control is the evidence that you are allowing the Holy Spirit to work in your life.
Self control provides protection.
Self control provides freedom.

Here are a few other steps to gain the cure;
- know what you want
- Don't settle for anything less.
- Be purposeful in everything you do.
- Depend on Christ.

GoSOLID