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Sermon – Andy Stanley – Guardrails – Why Can’t We Be Friends?

Sermon – Andy Stanley – Guardrails – Why Can’t We Be Friends?

Sermons

In this wonderful sermon, Andy Stanley of Northpoint Community Church teaches on “Guardrails” and how they can apply to our friendships. Guardrails are “a system designed to keep something from straying into dangerous or off-limit areas.” Guardrails create a small accident to protect you from a larger incident. We rarely pay attention to or think about guardrails until we need them. When we need or use them, they can save our lives.

Applied to our lives, spirituality and relationships, guardrails can help guide and protect us. In this context, Andy redefines guardrails as “a standard of behavior that becomes a matter of conscience”. Most likely our biggest mistakes in life could have been avoided if we had guardrails steering us in the right direction.

Read on for the 6 Guardrails for Friendship[…]

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Devotional: Honor Your Wife Even When She’s Not Around – Bounce Your Eyes, Mind, and Heart

Devotional: Honor Your Wife Even When She’s Not Around – Bounce Your Eyes, Mind, and Heart

Devotional

While I was strolling with my wife on a quaint beach-town promenade in Orange County, California, I thought about how even the most well-intentioned man is a soldier storming a land mine field of the best stereotypical model bodies money can buy.

As I am everyday when I leave the house, I was reminded of the importance of “bouncing my eyes”. This  tried-and-true technique for protecting your mind and honoring your wife is taught by Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoeker in Every Man’s Battle: Winning the War on Sexual Temptation One Victory at a Time (The Every Man Series)

However, I also thought about what it would mean to my marriage and relationship with God if I also “bounced my mind” and “bounced my heart” […]

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A Quick Guide to Being the Perfect Husband – “What Would / Did Jesus Do?”

A Quick Guide to Being the Perfect Husband – “What Would / Did Jesus Do?”

Love & Intimacy

Men… how would you feel if every time you poured your heart out to Christ, He responded with…”Will you please hurry up and get to the point. Not this again! Really, guy? I’ve listened to this SO many times. Why can’t you do this right? You are like a broken record. I’m tired of listening to this, you’ve had your share of grace. Blah blah blah blah. Jesus… out”.

In my head, this is where Jesus forms His holy (yes, that has dual meaning) hand in that goofy, hackneyed pinky-thumb phone structure and hangs up from the prayer.

While I definitely do not talk to my wife like that, surely I do in my actions more often than I should (which, of course, is never). This quick example really made me think about what it means to be the “Head” of and Christlike figure in my marriage in how I love and serve my sexy wife. […]

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Devotional: For Better or Worse, In Health & If Handicapped – A Love Story Excerpt

Devotional: For Better or Worse, In Health & If Handicapped – A Love Story Excerpt

Devotional, Love & Intimacy

I read the selection below in James Merritt’s How to Be a Winner and Influence Anybody: The Fruit of the Spirit as the Essence of Leadership.  Merritt actually excerpted the passage from David Ireland’s book Letters to an Unborn Child. Ireland had a debilitating neurological disease that confined him to a wheelchair. He knew he might never have the opportunity to enjoy a relationship with or see his unborn child grow up, so he wrote a book with letters to the unborn child.

God desires to change our hearts and reveal his beauty, love, and sacrifice to us more than he seeks to use his God-magic-wand to change the circumstances. […]

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Sandals Church Sermon / Small Group Notes: John 13 – Love & Servanthood

Sandals Church Sermon / Small Group Notes: John 13 – Love & Servanthood

Devotional

We have a stupendous church with amazing teaching and a fantastic small group. Every week my wife and I lead a small group bible study, and I figured since I take lotsa’ notes and actually spend time preparing for it every week, I might as well post them for you. I’m going to make it easy on me by posting them in information “note” format. Hopefully you find this both useful and helpful. Please give me feedback and let me know.

When I create posts like these, I will try to include the following:

  • A quick overview of the sermon
  • My notes / thoughts from the sermon in bullet point format
  • Discussion questions
  • Paste the scripture we read aloud in small group
  • Provide a link to the sermon

This week’s sermon was on John 13… which was about Christ taking on the position of a lowly slave and washing the gross, dirty, horse-manure caked feet of his disciples.

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