JOURNEY
Really Living
First Baptist Church – Venice, FL
August 13, 2023

Pastor's Notes

Numbers 21:4-9 (CSB) Then they set out from Mount Hor by way of the Red Sea to bypass the land of Edom, but the people became impatient because of the journey. 5 The people spoke against God and Moses: “Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!” 6 So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died. 7 Then the people came to Moses and cried out, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take away the snakes.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 Then the Lord told him, “Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!” 9 So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed!
  • One of the worst conditions of the human heart is a spirit of ungratefulness.

The Neuroscience of Gratitude and Effects on the Brain - April 9, 2019
  1. Gratitude releases toxic emotions. (clears them out)
  2. Gratitude reduces pain.
  3. Gratitude improves sleep quality.
  4. Gratitude aids in stress regulation and decreases the production of cortisol (stress hormone).
  5. Gratitude reduces anxiety and depression.

Psalm 9:1-2 (NLT) I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done. 2 I will be filled with joy because of you. I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.
 
  • How have you practiced GRATITUDE today?
Psalm 100 (NLT) Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! 2 Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before Him, singing with joy. 3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are His. We are His people, the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving; go into His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. 5 For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and His faithfulness continues to each generation.
“We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you."
  1. Admitting we have a problem or we are the problem
If you have problems getting along with others, maybe you are the problem!
 
  • Saving faith recognizes the need for an intercessor between the guilty sinner and God. You cannot pay the price for your sin.
  • Well, that is not entirely accurate. You can pay the price, YOUR LIFE!
 
Genesis 2:17 (CSB) but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”
Romans 6:23 (NLT) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
 
2 Corinthians 5:21 (CSB) He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
  • The bronze serpent could not save the people. Only God could provide the remedy.
  • In looking at the bronze serpent on a pole, their eyes of faith looked to God.

John 3:14-17 (CSB)  “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. 16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave His one and only Son, 
so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

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LOOK AT fbcvenice.org to register and for more information

Holy Land Tour: Walk Where Jesus Walked. Led by Pastor Tom and Tassie
Informational Meeting, Sunday, August 20, 6:00 PM - Building C

Friday Date Night. Adults with Children at Home, Birth-High School
Friday, September 15, 6:00 – 9:00 PM. Steak Dinner. Child Care

Labor Day Weekend Beach Service – Sunday, September 3, 6:00 PM
North Jetty Park. Singing, Message, Baptism, Ice Cream Sandwiches