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All fields are optional First NameLast NamePhoneEmail* Date of Your Visit Date Format: MM slash DD slash YYYY Age range of adults living in the home? 18-28 29-38 39-48 49-57 58+ Married or Single (with or without children)?Married with NO ChildrenSingle with NO ChildrenMarried with ChildrenSingle with ChildrenChurch ExperienceLots of church experienceOnly on holidaysRarely, if ever have been to churchLooking for a new churchNever been to churchWill you join us again this Sunday or an upcoming Sunday?YesNoStill thinking about itI would recommend this church to family and friendSelect ValueStrongly AgreeAgreeNeutralDisagreeStrongly DisagreePlease evaluate your experience (HONESTLY)Were you greeted at the front door?YesNoN/ADid you feel welcomed upon entering the sanctuary?YesNoN/AIf you had children with you, were you told about our Nursery and Children’s Church?YesNoN/AIf you had children, were the Nursery and Children’s Church workers friendly and helpful?YesNoN/AHow did you hear about us?FriendRelativeOther Word of mouthSignageSocial MediaAdvertisementIs there anything you would like our church to pray about?Comments (Please share your comments here – they are greatly appreciated!Hidden Email ID Δ Interact Zoe Center The Sacredness of Singleness – Part 2 Archived – August 11, 2024 View This Weeks Note View All Past Notes View This Note w/o Blanks The Sacredness of Singleness – Part 2 August 11, 2024 Introduction This series is an invitation to embrace the high call of the single life—if you are single. If you are married, it is to help you encourage, support and pray for the single people in your lives. Review Key Ideas from last week: Single life is as honorable as married life. Getting married and having children is not a mandate. People can be single or childless for multiple reasons (both practial and spirital), so don’t judge. You can choose to be a life-long single for the sake of the kingdom. 1 Corinthians 7:8–9 (ESV): 8 To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single, as I am. 9 But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion. + Click to add your own note God Can Also Ask Us “Why?” God does not press you about marriage. He presses you about motives. God is more interested in what drives your decisions than the decisions themselves. The test of our loyalty to God hinges on our willingness to submit our beliefs to God’s scrutiny. God Tests for Our Loyalty What Jesus calls the greatest commandment is a loyalty test: Mark 12:30 (ESV): 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ + Click to add your own note Jim Brengenberg explains loving God with all your strength at Biblicalleadership.com: “I like to think of loving the Lord with all your strength as loving the Lord with all the things that make you strong or stable in life: your accomplishments, your influence, your paycheck, your talents, your time” If we explained what Jesus is saying about the inner life in contemporary terms, we’d be talking about your psychology, your will, your emotions, your subconscious thinking, your self-esteem, your imagination, your reasoning, your philosophy, the ways you self-identify, how you see yourself in relationship to other people, how your perceive the world. All of this must be constantly assessed. Why? The Heart is Not to be Trusted When left to itself, your innermost being is not trustworthy. Its signals are not reliable sources of direction. The Scriptrue communicates this emphatically: Jeremiah 17:9 (ESV): 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? + Click to add your own note Matthew 15:18–19 (ESV): 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. + Click to add your own note The Power of God’s Scrutiny Jeremiah 17:10 (ESV): 10 “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” + Click to add your own note Hebrews 4:12–13 (ESV): 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. + Click to add your own note God addresses the matters of the heart directly through His Word and Spirit. He also addresses the heart indirectly through the counsel of other people. The Power of Good Advice Proverbs 11:14 (ESV): 14 Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety. + Click to add your own note Proverbs 15:22 (ESV): 22 Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed. + Click to add your own note Proverbs 20:5 (ESV): 5 The purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out. + Click to add your own note Giving Our Hearts Back to God Psalm 51:6 (ESV): 6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. + Click to add your own note James 4:8 (ESV): 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. + Click to add your own note Psalm 119:10 (ESV): 10 With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! + Click to add your own note Psalm 139:23–24 (ESV): 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! + Click to add your own note © Joshua D. Smith, Ph.D., 2024 Save PDF LocallyClick to save a copy of the filled-in notes to a PDF file on the computer/device you are currently using Save File Click to View PDF Save PDF to Google Drive Click to save a copy of the filled-in notes to a PDF file on your Google Drive account(For Apple devices, use Chrome browser or go to SETTINGS>SAFARI and uncheck BLOCK POPUPS.) Save File Send to Email Enter your email address below to receive a copy of your filled in notes Send