Eden Church

• My All for Him, The Fellowship in His Suffering- Josiah Nicotra

  My All for Him1. SET THE SCENEWe often discuss or even teach about our own suffering and what we do to overcome…ourhardships, our pain, our disappointments, our even the flesh being crucified and even theunderstanding of how we walk in God in the crucified life.But we rarely pause to feel the weight of Christ’s suffering, the fellowship of His anguish, theprivilege of being counted with Him.We consider God as above all things…enthroned, victorious, untouchable and …He is.But the God who sits above creation is also the God who became a man, who felt pain, who tookon sorrow, who felt torment.On the cross of Calvery, Jesus said, as He was beaten, and mocked, He says, “father forgivethem for they know not what they do”…On the Damascus Road, Paul persecuted the church, but Jesus said,“Why do you persecute Me?”He makes it personal.He feels what His body feels.He identifies with our suffering because we are in Him, and He is in us.And in following Him, we are not only invited into His resurrection power but we are invited intothe fellowship of His sufferings,the devotion that costs something, the bridal love that walks through the valley with Him.This is not self-pity.This is not emotional tribulation.This is Holy union…and identification with The Cross of Calvary.2. SCRIPTURE*read all of Philippians 3*Philippians 3:8–11 (ESV)“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus myLord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that Imay gain Christ and be found in him…that I may know him and the power of his resurrection,and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible Imay attain the resurrection from the dead.”3. TENSIONThe tension: Are we suffering for Christ, or just suffering in our flesh?Crucifying the flesh is not suffering for Christ.That is simply the very necessary death of the old man in order that we might identify with Him.True suffering for Christ is Holy union, it is identification with Him.It is sharing in His rejection,His humiliation,His burdens,His pain for the sake of the gospel.Many believers obsess over where they’ve been, what they’ve lost, what they feel but Paul says:“I count it all loss.”It is all eclipsed by the revelation and privilege it is to know Him.In fact, all that I do have is but worthless in the eyes of eternity, for anything I have moth and rustwill destroy but Jesus, the person of Jesus, the love, the embrace, the knowing of Him, He isenough.He even warns:Many have become enemies of the cross (Phil 3:18).Not just enemies of Jesus but enemies of His way. How he comes lowly. How he comes to lay Hislife down.And so often in our charismatic circles, we often say “I don’t need to strive”, “it’s a free gift”…well,you’re right that salvation is a free gift but Paul says: “By any means possible I may attain…”This is not earning salvation, but living with holy longing, reverential pursuit, costly devotion.I want to see us drawn into the depths of His love, the union of His suffering, the union ofHis death, the union of His life and the union of His resurrection power.The question we are presented then is this:Do we love His resurrection power but avoid His suffering?Do we want His glory but not His cup?

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• The Gospel- Russ Doty

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• The Covenant of Greater Glory- Josiah Nicotra

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• Hearts that Host Jesus- Josiah Nicotra

  Hearts that Host Jesus16.11.25Galatians 6:9 (ESV)“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”2 Thessalonians 3:13 (ESV)“As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.”The person (or ideology) we host determines the fruit you bear.The picture we idol paints the person you are.Let us consider this with the framework of soil…Soil that is soft is a heart that is humble.Humility is the bedrock for fruit and abundant fruit.When dependency on The Lord becomes the rest and resolve we live by and live in, wereap harvests that are beyond the paradigma4 dr1`ewq of this world’sunderstanding; whether that is health or finance, including…character, positional,generational.Focal Point:Be on watch that the soil of your heart is soft soil, ready to discern between good and evil,dependant and receptive to the seeds that come from Jesus.As we do, multiplication is the inheritance of dependence.God fashions and forms abundance beyond systems and flows because the result of theabundance is Glory given back to God, it is fruit unto righteousness. A righteousness thatshines like the sun. His abundance speaks of His Glory and His Glory speaks to His radianceand wonder.Tension:There are 3 core tensions presented here that we come up against.Before we get to the tensions, let us be reminded that the Kingdom of God is an upsideKingdom. To see good, fruitfulness, we don’t attack the enemy with effort and might, but wetend inward and remain upward. When our gaze is on the lamb of God, vulnerable yetdetermined to see that His Kingdom has a landing pad on my heart, it’s in THAT position wesee breakthrough.Tensions1. Hardened Soil2. Shallow Soil3. Crowded SoilFertile Soil is where it is neither hard, shallow nor crowded, but soft, deep, andconsecrated.Scriptures:Matthew 13:3–9 (ESV)—The Parable of the Sower3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow.4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately theysprang up, since they had no depth of soil,6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away.7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, somethirty.9 He who has ears, let him hear.”Matthew 13:18–23 (ESV)—Jesus Explains the Sower18 “Hear then the parable of the sower:19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comesand snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediatelyreceives it with joy,21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution&

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• “The How”, in Coming to Jesus - Josiah Nicotra

  “The How”, in Coming to Jesus 🕊This message is intended for every Christian in this room and for those who may, evennow, have a first-time encounter with the living God. Coming to Jesus is not a one-timeevent…He is life itself. We depend on Him daily through surrender and learning to remainin His holy will.For the way we first come to Jesus is the same way we stay with Him…humbly, needy,and surrendered.Opening Scene / Setting the FrameLet’s set the scene…The disciples, just witnessing Jesus pull his tax to give to Caesar…from the mouth of a fish,circling Him in awe, on this glowing afternoon, dust on their feet, faith in their hearts, God ontheir mind…seeing that Jesus is The Miracle Worker, that He has healed the sick, raised thedead, given words of knowledge no one will know, speaking of prophecies and in parables forwhat is to come…within this current moment…one of of them dares to ask, “Who is thegreatest in the kingdom of heaven?”Just imagine. If that was you or me in the shoes of Jesus, doing what has been done andbeing asked “Who is the greatest?” How we would fall from patience and likely respondwith rebuke…Jesus, instead of rebuking, or answering with titles or ranks, positions or gifting…Hecalls for a child. He lifts the little one into their midst and says;“Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”First, let us qualify what the “kingdom of heaven” is. It is both where God is, the locationof heaven, and yet it is also where His Glory is, where heaven collides with earth. Forwhen Jesus did miracles, or when he charged the gospels to preach the gospel, whereyou and I preach the gospel He says then, in that moment, where the light of Christ ispresent, “THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND”….So often we have complex ideas or understandings of loops and hoops we need to jumpthrough in order to come to God…or…Maybe we don’t think there is any requirements and that “if God is good” he is without justiceor that He removes our free will in order that He would force us into communion with Him…butthat wouldn’t be in His nature. God doesn’t send anyone to hell, he gives you the liberty tochoose if you want to be with Him or not. If with Him here, you continue with Him there and ifyou desire to not be with Him now, He will let you be apart from Him there…The scriptures are clear, for it teaches us “The How” we come to God.(pause)It’s in this moment Jesus defines the doorway to the Kingdom…not through performance,pride, or position, but through humility, dependence, and trust.We come to God not to impress God but to be known by Him.Not to perform but to embrace.Not to strive but to surrender.The question today may be for some, “if” we’ll come to God,For others it’s not if we’ll come to God,but how we’ll come to Him,And for others not just how,but remaining with Him and depending on Him every moment of our lives, surrendering,dedicating, committing, every part of our being…Walking with God is more than a belief, more than church attendance, more than ministry. It isliving in step with Him….breath by breath, moment by moment, thought by thought, desire bydesire.This brings us to the three attributes of how we come to Jesus — three of many, but three thatlay the foundation for how we come to Jesus and remain in Him:1. Humble2. Needy3. Surrendered(1) (I am) Humble (nothing without)Humility is the bedrock in coming to God(tension)Here is the tension: Pride seeks recognition; humility seeks relationship.Pride says, ‘look at the good I’ve done’Humility says, ‘I am evil, and only you are good’Pride says, ‘if God is God then He would or wouldn’t do that….blah blah blah…’Humility says, ‘Oh Lord,

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