EVERY ONE OF US CAN BECOME UNSTUCK BY LIVING THESE THREE R’S:

 1)   Recognize that I have sinned

• We have to admit and recognize when we sin.
• Remember the sin is an archery term that means – “to miss the mark”.
• We have to admit we miss the mark
• When there is sin in the present, there will be uncertainty in the future.
• The choices you make today will affect your tomorrow.
• There is a way to break this cycle of sin

1 John 1:9 (ESV)
⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Is there a sin in your life that is keeping you from moving forward?

Sometimes it is not just sin that keeps us stuck, but life circumstances.

• Jesus said, ‘In this life you will have trouble…”
• There is no getting around it.
• You need to know that God is bigger than your circumstances.

II Corinthians 1:8–9 (CEV)
⁸ My friends, I want you to know what a hard time we had in Asia. Our sufferings were so horrible and so unbearable that death seemed certain. ⁹ In fact, we felt sure that we were going to die. But this made us stop trusting in ourselves and start trusting God, who raises the dead to life.

2)   Remember God’s faithfulness

1. When we give God an opportunity to take over our problems it builds us to trust in Him for our future
2. When I am going through a problem I have a handful of God moments that remind me how much He can see me through.
3. What words would you like to describe your future?
   - Anxiety, worry, uncertainty  -OR-
   - Assurance, trust, peace

Psalm 105:4–5 (CEV)

⁴ Trust the Lord and his mighty power. ⁵ Remember his miracles and all his wonders and his fair decisions.

The unknown writer of this Psalm goes on to give the historical details of how God provided and protected them in the past, and for all these reasons to “shout praises to the Lord”!

• Take a moment and think of some of the ways in which God has come through for you in the past.
• If you can’t think of any it is not because of a lack of effort on His part, you may have not let Him into the problem to solve
• If God has done this for you in the past, He WILL do this for you in the future.
• Here is an amazing truth about God:

Deuteronomy 7:9–11 (NLT)
⁹ Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. ¹⁰ But he does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who reject him. ¹¹ Therefore, you must obey all these commands, decrees, and regulations I am giving you today.

3)   Refocus my mind on heaven

Too many times we get caught up in the micro view of life and God wants us to look at the macro view of life.

Colossians 3:2 (NLT)
² Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.

• If you are a believer, you have a future home which will blow away any of the problems we go through now.
• If you are going through problems right now this is what you need to do

STAY THE COURSE

Galatians 6:9 (NIV84)

⁹ Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

1)    I Worry

• This is something that we all do
• When it comes to our future you can either worry about it or trust God
• I have learned you can’t do both

2)    I make Assumptions like:

• I am never going to have enough money
• I am never going to find that perfect person
• I am never going to be happy in my marriage
• I am never going to be happy in my job
• I am never going to lose those final 5 pounds

Our assumptions paint a picture that many times can be unrealistic.  We are often disappointed, rather than surprised.

3)    I make Plans without Praying

• You may have your goals set on a certain income or career
• Maybe you are set on a certain place to live
• Maybe you are set on a certain person you want to marry
• If you do not pray about it, you may miss the plan that God has for you and completely miss out on His blessing

4)    I Procrastinate (“I’ll tell you later.”)

• We see this all the time with our kids
• Can you__________? “I’ll do it later”
• What have you noticed about people who give that answer? It never gets done.
• You may be stuck because you have never started the process of getting unstuck
• Maybe you are waiting for the perfect time to start or to stop

Are you stuck because you have been approaching your future in any one of these 4 ways?

New Mantra: I will move forward in my life because I am willing to give God complete control.

So how do we give God control of our future? How do we become unstuck in our future?

It’s as simple as the Living By the Three R’s.

(to be continued…come back tomorrow)

]]> http://carmelmountainchurch.com/blog/avoiding-the-four-mistakes-that-get-you-stuck/feed 0 http://carmelmountainchurch.com/blog/are-you-stuck http://carmelmountainchurch.com/blog/are-you-stuck#comments Thu, 22 Sep 2011 16:03:15 +0000 Blog Administrator http://carmelmountain2.redbottledev.com/?p=63026 “Success will never be a big step in the future; success is a small step taken just now.” ~Jonatan Mårtensson

If you came to service last week, you heard the first part of our new series, “Stuck”.  At service this coming Sunday, we continue the series with “Stuck in my Future”.  With the potential for a bad thing to happen, even with the best of planning, it is easy to feel stuck about your future – whether it’s getting married, starting a family, buying a house, planning for retirement – we are conditioned to always plan for possible future outcomes.

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

On Sunday, I’m going to talk about being stuck in the future and putting faith and trust in God to guide you to your best future.  I’m going to talk about the four most common things that get us stuck and how every one of us can become unstuck by living the “THREE R’S”.

We hope you will join us this Sunday, September 25th at 10:00 at Carmel Mountain Church.  Check back here on Monday for more about being “stuck in your future”.

Join Carmel Mountain Church for the first Summer Golf Classic taking place at noon on September 3oth at The Vineyard at Escondido – 925 San Pasqual Rd. Escondido, CA 92025.  We are very excited about this event and know that you will love it too!

The cost for the golf tournament is only $75, all levels welcome.  Click here to sign up today!  Hurry up before all the spots are full.

We look forward to hitting the links with you!

How Good Is Good Enough? How Good Does One Have To Be To Get Into Heaven?

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Matthew 7:13-14 

It is important to remember that everybody is welcome:

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13 

And everybody gets in the same way:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 

Everybody can meet the requirement:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16 

Being good is not enough – it requires completely leaning on Jesus.  Jesus did not teach that good people go to heaven.  Jesus taught that forgiven people go to heaven.

Narrow is the path because the only path is through Jesus.

Here’s feedback from church goer, Allen:

What most influenced your decision to attend Carmel Mountain Church a second time?

Attending the first time! I was blessed by the friendly openness of the people I met. The way pastor Ken and his wife handle the word of God. The worship and worship music. The comfortable size (small but growing) of this congregation. I don’t think my gift is spiritual discernment (I still don’t know what it is) but I sense the Spirit moving strongly among believers here and I’d like my family to be a part of this fellowship.

What was most memorable about your first or second time at Carmel Mountain Church?

A sense of belonging and answered prayer.

​Thank you for sharing Allen!

Will you be at service this Sunday at 10:00?  Would you like to share your thoughts about the service, the church with us?  Join (“Like”) our Facebook page and leave your comments about CMC.

1) Food safety – For those planning a picnic or BBQ, remember to keep hot food hot and cold food cold, and wash hands frequently with soap and warm water before handling food. Use alcohol-based preparations if soap and water are not readily available. In addition:

• Refrigerate or keep cool cooked foods that are not served promptly.
• Cook meat and poultry thoroughly. For hamburgers, be sure to cook until the center of the meat reaches 155 degrees F or until the juices run clear.
• Throw away food items, like potato salad, if it has been sitting out for more than two hours.
• Separate raw meat and poultry from other foods.
• Serve leftovers very cold (directly from the refrigerator) or very hot (heated to 165 degrees F or higher).

As summer ends and you prepare for the fall, whether it’s back to school or a heavier work load, find time to reconnect with yourself.  Find time to reconnect with your faith.  Strengthen the faith in yourself and in God.  Know that what ever challenge you face ahead, you have all of the tools to meet and overcome it.

“One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his greatest surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn’t.” ~Henry Ford

Here’s an inspiring story: see if you can guess who this is…

As the 15th of 17 children of a poor candlemaker, he had only one year of schooling. In his lifetime he taught himself and mastered four languages, science, finance, politics,  and all the classics in literature. He went on to become a world famous inventor, diplomat, author and formed the first lending library and fire department in the United States.

Any guesses?

Clue: You can find him on a one hundred dollar bill. 

What challenges lie ahead for you as we transition from summer to fall?  How will you reconnect with your faith in yourself and in God?

How important of a role does prayer play in  your life? It’s something we all want to be better at doing but sometimes we struggle with creating and maintaining our line of communication with God. This is part 8 of series “I Can’t Believe it Still Works.

“I do believe that the Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force. God doesn’t mind if we bang on the door to heaven sometimes, asking him to listen to what we have to say.”
~U2 singer Bono, in June 2001 in Washington, D.C.

The innocence of kids’ prayers. At some point we grow up and out of that kind of innocence and I believe it is because we feel like prayer does not work.

When we think about prayer we either:

• don’t understand it
• wish we did it more
• feel guilty because we don’t do it enough
• wonder if it really works

We’ll discuss how every believer can have an intimate thriving and prosperous prayer life by removing some of the barriers that hold us back.

We look forward to seeing you this Sunday and we continue our journey. Don’t forget we will be holding our service at our new location at Mesa Verde Middle School.

Matthew 18:19 (ESV)
19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.

- Pastor Ken