Abide in Christ through the Seasons of Life

“Abide in Christ through the Seasons of Life” Session 2 [Saturday Morning] All-Church Retreat 2016 © June 25, 2016 Pastor Chris Crossan

You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. John 15: 14 -16

THE SCRIPTURES INDICATE THAT THERE ARE SEASONS OF LIFE Ecclesiastes 3: 1 -8 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

OUR FAITH WILL BE TESTED MANY TIMES IN OUR LIVES • Abraham (Hebrews 11: 8 -19): Ø Abraham obeyed when he was called. Ø He went to live in the land of promise. Ø Sarah received the power to conceive. Ø Abraham offered up Isaac. • Moses (Hebrews 11: 23 -30): Ø Moses was hidden for three months. Ø He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. Ø He left Egypt, not fearing the king. Ø He kept the Passover. Ø The people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land.

THE PHASES OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT (ROBERT CLINTON’S THE MAKING OF A LEADER) • Sovereign Foundations • Inner-Life Growth • Ministry Maturing • Life Maturing • Convergence • (Afterglow/Celebration)

THE PHASES OF FAMILY LIFE • Singleness • Marriage • Parenthood 101 (with kids 1 -11) • parenthood 102 (with teenage kids) (Luke 2: 39 -52) • Grandparenthood

THE NEED FOR ENDURANCE (HEBREWS 10, 11, 12) Story of my wife, Karen (in two very different life stages) (e

APPLICATION QUESTIONS 1. What phase of life are you currently in your family life and leadership development? What is your realization concerning them? 2. How would you assess your “fruit-bearing” in this season of your life? What insight from this message was most encouraging to you and most challenging to you? 3. In light of the crucial need for endurance in various seasons of life, what would it mean for you to abide in Christ’s strength for your endurance now?