Climb

Colorado Springs

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I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guard post. There I will wait to see what the Lord says and how he will answer

Who can climb Mount God? Who can scale the holy north-face? Only the clean-handed, only the pure-hearted;

"Come, let's climb God's Mountain, go to the House of the God of Jacob. He'll show us the way he works so we can live the way we're made." Zion's the source of the revelation.

Circle Zion, take her measure, count her fortress peaks, Gaze long at her sloping bulwark, climb her citadel heights— Then you can tell the next generation detail by detail the story of God, Our God forever, who guides us till the end of time.

Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. The text for this is, He climbed the high mountain, He captured the enemy and seized the booty, He handed it all out in gifts to the people. Is it not true that the One who climbed up also climbed down, down to the valley of earth? And the One who climbed down is the One who climbed back up, up to highest heaven. He handed out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ's followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ's body, the church, until we're all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God's Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.

Habakkuk 2:1 Psalm 24:3 Isaiah 2:1 Psalm 48:12 Ephesians 4:7

Be ambitious for the Lord, but be cautious about your motives.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God.

Glenn

Declare

White towns

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Declare what is to be, present it— there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me.

You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

The Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.

Our God gave us the courage to declare his Good News to you boldly, in spite of great opposition.

Go, take your stand in the temple courts and declare to the people the whole doctrine concerning this Life (the eternal life which Christ revealed).

And I tell you, Whoever declares openly [speaking out freely] and confesses that he is My worshiper and acknowledges Me before men, the Son of Man also will declare and confess and acknowledge him before the angels of God.

Isaiah 45:21 1 Peter 2:9 Galatians 3:22 1 Thessalonians 2:2 Acts 5:20 Luke 12:8

I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself. Psalm 89:2

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn

Spirit power

Magnificent Power

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I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate—I was scared to death, if you want the truth of it—and so nothing I said could have impressed you or anyone else. But the Message came through anyway. God's Spirit and God's power did it, which made it clear that your life of faith is a response to God's power, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by me or anyone else.

A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air…

"I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere…

I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might, to declare…

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2:3 Romans 8:1 Luke 24:49 Acts 1:8 Micah 3:8 Romans 15:13

God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn

Vast

Vast

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Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.

I run for dear life to God…you said your door was always open! You're my salvation—my vast, granite fortress.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

Great is the Lord and highly to be praised; and His greatness is [so vast and deep as to be] unsearchable.

But despite Jesus’ instructions, the report of his power spread even faster, and vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases.

A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all.

Jesus looked up then, and seeing that a vast multitude was coming toward Him, He said to Philip, Where are we to buy bread, so that all these people may eat?

Psalm 36:5 Psalm 71:1 Psalm 139:17 Psalm 145:3 Luke 5:15 Matthew 15:30 John 6:5

No one is hopeless whose hope is in God’s word.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn

Eternal

Tribute...Scott
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You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

For I am not ashamed of the Gospel (good news) of Christ, for it is God's power working unto salvation [for deliverance from eternal death] to everyone who believes with a personal trust and a confident surrender and firm reliance

For so the Lord has charged us, saying, I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles (the heathen), that you may bring [eternal] salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth.

When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, “We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.”

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope.

But you, Timothy, (Scott) man of God:…. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses.

Psalm 16:11 Romans 1:16 Acts 13:47 Acts 11:18 2 Thessalonians 2:16 1 Timothy 6:11

Hold tightly what is eternal; Hold lightly what is temporal.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn

Bud

breaking out!

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Then Jesus said, "God's kingdom is like seed thrown on a field by a man who then goes to bed and forgets about it. The seed sprouts and grows—he has no idea how it happens. The earth does it all without his help: first a green stem of grass, then a bud, then the ripened grain. When the grain is fully formed, he reaps—harvest time!

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater.

I made for myself pools of water from which to water the forest and make the trees bud.

For before the harvest, as soon as the bud blossoms and the flower becomes a ripening grape, then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives and remove and cut away the spreading branches.

“Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near.

The time is coming when Jacob’s descendants will take root. Israel will bud and blossom and fill the whole earth with fruit!

Mark 4:26 Isaiah 55:10 Ecclesiastes 2:6 Isaiah 18:5 Matthew 24:32 Isaiah 27:6

Christ’s resurrection is the bud of promise – our resurrection is the flower of fulfillment!

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn

Beyond

Look beyond...

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And the grace (unmerited favor and blessing) of our Lord [actually] flowed out superabundantly and beyond measure for me, accompanied by faith and love that are [to be realized] in Christ Jesus.

He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—

know (experience) the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us (be all praise and glory).

[ The Reality, Not the Illusion ] My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God's Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion.

[Born anew] into an inheritance which is beyond the reach of change and decay [imperishable], unsullied and unfading, reserved in heaven for you

Now thanks be to God for His Gift, [precious] beyond telling [His indescribable, inexpressible, free Gift]!

1 Timothy 1:14 Colossians 1:22 Ephesians 3:20 1 John 5:13 1 Peter 1:4 2 Corinthians 9:15

No one is beyond the reach of God’s grace.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn

Remember

This is...

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Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don't you remember?

Jesus was matter-of-fact: "Embrace this God-life. Really embrace it, and nothing will be too much for you. ...That's why I urge you to pray for absolutely everything, ranging from small to large. Include everything as you embrace this God-life, and you'll get God's everything. And when you assume the posture of prayer, remember that it's not all asking. If you have anything against someone, forgive—only then will your heavenly Father be inclined to also wipe your slate clean of sins."

Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you've been raised from the dead!—into God's way of doing things. Sin can't tell you how to live. After all, you're not living under that old tyranny any longer. You're living in the freedom of God

"You didn't choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won't spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.

And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.” the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

Mark 8:18 Mark 11:22 Romans 6:12 John 15:16 Acts 20:35 Luke 22:19

Our choice to bring glory to God yields a great return on Christ’s investment.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn

Find

The fog lifts

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My choice is you, God, first and only. And now I find I'm your choice! …And then you made me your heir!

I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.

"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.

It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.


Psalm 16:5 Proverbs 8:17 Matthew 5:5 Ephesians 1:11 Matthew 6:30 Romans 5:1

To find your way through life, follow Jesus.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn

Camp

Camp New Life

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I was right on the cliff-edge, ready to fall, when God grabbed and held me. God's my strength, he's also my song, and now he's my salvation. Hear the shouts, hear the triumph songs in the camp of the saved? "The hand of God has turned the tide! The hand of God is raised in victory! The hand of God has turned the tide!"

God, when you took the lead with your people, when you marched out into the wild, Earth shook, sky broke out in a sweat; God was on the march. Even Sinai trembled at the sight of God on the move, at the sight of Israel's God. You pour out rain in buckets, O God; thorn and cactus become an oasis For your people to camp in and enjoy. You set them up in business; they went from rags to riches.

Then Zachariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he came and set his people free. He set the power of salvation in the center of our lives, and in the very house of David his servant, Just as he promised long ago through the preaching of his holy prophets: Deliverance from our enemies and every hateful hand; Mercy to our fathers, as he remembers to do what he said he'd do, What he swore to our father Abraham— a clean rescue from the enemy camp, So we can worship him without a care in the world, made holy before him as long as we live.

By faith, Moses, when grown, refused the privileges of the Egyptian royal house. He chose a hard life with God's people rather than an opportunistic soft life of sin with the oppressors. He valued suffering in the Messiah's camp far greater than Egyptian wealth because he was looking ahead, anticipating the payoff. By an act of faith, he turned his heel on Egypt, indifferent to the king's blind rage. He had his eye on the One no eye can see, and kept right on going. By an act of faith, he kept the Passover Feast and sprinkled Passover blood on each house so that the destroyer of the firstborn wouldn't touch them.

As long as I'm alive in this body, there is good work for me to do. If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I'd choose. Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better. But most days, because of what you are going through, I am sure that it's better for me to stick it out here. So I plan to be around awhile, companion to you as your growth and joy in this life of trusting God continues. You can start looking forward to a great reunion when I come visit you again. We'll be praising Christ, enjoying each other.

Psalm 118:5 Psalm 68:7 Luke 1:67 Hebrews 11:24 Philippians 1:22

Light overcomes darkness…”Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn

Turn

Stockpile

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Blessed are you who give yourselves over to God, turn your backs on the world's "sure thing," ignore what the world worships; The world's a huge stockpile of God-wonders and God-thoughts. Nothing and no one comes close to you!

God-defiers are always in trouble; God-affirmers find themselves loved every time they turn around.

All believers, come here and listen, let me tell you what God did for me. I called out to him with my mouth, my tongue shaped the sounds of music. If I had been cozy with evil, the Lord would never have listened. But he most surely did listen, he came on the double when he heard my prayer. Blessed be God: he didn't turn a deaf ear, he stayed with me, loyal in his love.

Turn your back on evil, work for the good and don't quit. God loves this kind of thing, never turns away from his friends.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him,

Psalm 40:4 Psalm 32:10 Psalm 66:16 Psalm 37:27 Psalm 51:13 Psalm 22:27

Turn us again to yourself, O God. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved.

Psalm 80:3

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn

God's WORD

Maui '05

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We couldn't be more sure of what we saw and heard—God's glory, God's voice. The prophetic Word was confirmed to us. You'll do well to keep focusing on it. It's the one light you have in a dark time as you wait for daybreak and the rising of the Morning Star in your hearts. The main thing to keep in mind here is that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of private opinion. And why? Because it's not something concocted in the human heart. Prophecy resulted when the Holy Spirit prompted men and women to speak God's Word.

Now that you've cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it. Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God's living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself! That's why the prophet said, The old life is a grass life, its beauty as short-lived as wildflowers; Grass dries up, flowers droop, God's Word goes on and on forever. This is the Word that conceived the new life in you.

Instead you thrill to God's Word, you chew on Scripture day and night. You're a tree replanted in Eden, bearing fresh fruit every month, Never dropping a leaf, always in blossom.

God's words are pure words, Pure silver words refined seven times In the fires of his word-kiln, Pure on earth as well as in heaven.

Ignore the Word and suffer; honor God's commands and grow rich.

The Lord is good to those who wait hopefully and expectantly for Him, to those who seek Him [inquire of and for Him and require Him by right of necessity and on the authority of God's word].

But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him.

2 Peter 1:19 1 Peter 1:22 Psalm 1:2 Psalm 12:6 Proverbs 13:13 Lamentations 3:25 1 John 2:5

One truth from the Bible is worth more than all the wisdom of man.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn

Manifest

Light

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For God Who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts so as [to beam forth] the Light for the illumination of the knowledge of the majesty and glory of God [as it is manifest in the Person and is revealed] in the face of Jesus Christ (the Messiah).

The reason the Son of God was made manifest (visible) was to undo (destroy, loosen, and dissolve) the works the devil [has done].

In this the love of God was made manifest (displayed) where we are concerned: in that God sent His Son, the only begotten or unique [Son], into the world so that we might live through Him.

The person who has My commands and keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me; and whoever [really] loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I [too] will love him and will show (reveal, manifest) Myself to him. [I will let Myself be clearly seen by him and make Myself real to him.]

And the Life [ an aspect of His being] was revealed (made manifest, demonstrated), and we saw [as eyewitnesses] and are testifying to and declare to you the Life, the eternal Life [ in Him] Who already existed with the Father and Who [actually] was made visible (was revealed) to us [His followers].

And [now] in His own appointed time He has made manifest (made known) His Word and revealed it as His message through the preaching entrusted to me by command of God our Savior;

2 Corinthians 4:6 1 John 3:8 1 John 4:9 John 14:21 1 John 1:2 Titus 1:3

Manifest: illumination - visable - displayed - revealed - demonstrated - made known

A small light can dispel great darkness.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn

Creation

Created to give glory!

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The glory of God—let it last forever! Let God enjoy his creation!

Every creature in the forest is mine, the wild animals on all the mountains. I know every mountain bird by name; the scampering field mice are my friends. If I get hungry, do you think I'd tell you? All creation and its bounty are mine…Spread for me a banquet of praise, serve High God a feast of kept promises, And call for help when you're in trouble— I'll help you, and you'll honor me."

Jesus said, "You're not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the 'wind-hovering-over-the-water' creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it's not possible to enter God's kingdom. When you look at a baby, it's just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can't see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit.

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother's womb. I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day.

The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation.

Jesus replied, "Yes, you have followed me. In the re-creation of the world, when the Son of Man will rule gloriously, you who have followed me will also rule, starting with the twelve tribes of Israel. And not only you, but anyone who sacrifices home, family, fields—whatever—because of me will get it all back a hundred times over, not to mention the considerable bonus of eternal life. This is the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first."

Psalm 104:31 Psalm 50:7 John 3:5 Psalm 139:13 Psalm 145:9 Matthew 19:28

All creation is an outstretched finger pointing toward God.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn

Welcome

Our royal WELCOME in Branson

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Your strength, God, is the king's strength. Helped, he's hollering Hosannas. You gave him exactly what he wanted; you didn't hold back. You filled his arms with gifts; you gave him a right royal welcome. He wanted a good life; you gave it to him, and then made it a long life as a bonus. You lifted him high and bright as a cumulus cloud, then dressed him in rainbow colors. You pile blessings on him; you make him glad when you smile. Is it any wonder the king loves God? that he's sticking with the Best?

"I, I'm the One comforting you…For I am God, your very own God, who stirs up the sea and whips up the waves, named God-of-the-Angel-Armies. I teach you how to talk, word by word, and personally watch over you, Even while I'm unfurling the skies, setting earth on solid foundations, and greeting Zion: 'Welcome, my people!'

But you'll welcome us with open arms when we run for cover to you. Let the party last all night! Stand guard over our celebration. You are famous, God, for welcoming God-seekers, for decking us out in delight.

You've always given me breathing room, a place to get away from it all, A lifetime pass to your safe-house, an open invitation as your guest. You've always taken me seriously, God, made me welcome among those who know and love you.

But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won't know what we're talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God's terms. It stands to reason, doesn't it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he'll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ's!

Psalm 21:1 Isaiah 51:12 Psalm 5:11 Psalm 61:3 Romans 8:9

The heavenly Father’s arms never tire of holding His children.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn – 368 Mission Hill Way, Colorado Springs CO 80921

Strength

The Christ

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I love you, O LORD, my strength.

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.

The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, and my Deliverer; my God, my keen and firm Strength in Whom I will trust and take refuge, my Shield, and the Horn of my salvation, my High Tower

He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.

The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.

God is awesome … God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!

Yes, even when I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not, [but keep me alive] until I have declared Your mighty strength to [this] generation, and Your might and power to all that are to come.

Psalm 18:1 Psalm 46:1 Psalm 18:2 Psalm 23:3 Psalm 29:11 Psalm 68:35 Psalm 71:18

To trust is to triumph, for the battle is the Lord’s.

LIFEgroups – together experiencing God

Glenn – 368 Mission Hill Way, Colorado Springs CO 80921