In my younger years I did a lot of hunting on my Uncle’s farm near Maquaoketa Ia….with mostly a rifle or shotgun…but never with traps. I know my uncle did use traps to catch varmints that were causing trouble…

But, I know someone else who uses traps, (and he’s no relation).
His name is Lucifer, Deceiver, The Father of Lies…Satan.
And because he is powerless to attack Christians, he almost exclusively uses…traps to catch his prey.

Sadly many Christians today get caught in a TRAP OF OFFENCE. So this morning, (part 2) I want to talk about how to avoid getting trapped…and next week (part 3)…when you’ve been caught, how to get out.

The last 2 weeks with the messages “What’s in a Name?”
I taught on how Christians have taken on some Name that the enemy or the world has called them…and consequently, they don’t know who they are in Christ.
They don’t know their true Identity. (CD…part 1, part 2)

In both messages I talked about the fact that words are powerful things. Well, even though I’ve preached on this subject a few years ago, I know it’s time to teach it again. If not for your sake, at least for mine…because words can also cause you to be trapped in an OFFENCE.

JOHN BEVERE WROTE A BOOK CALLED “THE BAIT OF SATAN”…PRIMARILY IT WAS A TEACHING ABOUT HOW MANY CHRISTIANS ARE CAUGHT IN A TRAP OF UN-FORGIVENESS AND BITTERNESS AND SO…
THEY’RE UNABLE TO GO FORWARD IN THEIR WALK WITH CHRIST
HOW DID THEY GET CAUGHT? SELAH SIMPLE…THEY TOOK THE BAIT.

One of the main points I made last week was that…
“God is more concerned with telling us who we could be, than reminding us what we’ve done or who we were.” (2X)

But, our enemy is constantly reminding us of our past failures.
One of his names is “The Accuser of the brethren.” Rev. 12:10

And the fact is, we have all been called names and some of them we rejected, but some, we have taken on as our Identity.

Hurtful, destructive names…and because those names have been a part of our lives for so long, we’re more familiar with what the enemy has called us, then who God says we ARE!
And it has affected the way we live our lives. (GET A CD)

We ended our time last week with looking at 32 statements of who God says we really are. I included a copy with the bulletin.

THE FACT IS, EVERYTHING YOU DO…DOES…FLOW OUT OF YOUR OWN I.D. …(SLOW)…..EVEN IF IT’S WRONG. (SELAH)

We're going back to a mid-week service on Wednesday night's at 7PM for all ages. We're beginning a Study on The Book of Acts. There will be youth and childrens ministry also.

We're setting aside a time for prayer on Sunday mornings from 9 - 9:30. Come and join us and stay for Sunday School as we go through the book, "The Story" each week.


We're having a Valentines party Feb 16th at Home Plate Diner in Des Moines, by the Fair Grounds.

Check out wwwrbjtrio.com for dates with RBJ

Today we’re going to look at some “I AM” statements again, but these are not about Christ…these about YOU.

Now, there are a lot of old “sayings” that really aren’t true.
One of them is “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

The truth is…Words…are powerful things.
They can be hurtful and damage a person’s life, esp young ones.
Names people call a kid can set the wrong course for their life.

But, more powerful than any hurtful words that Man can say… the Word of God…is supreme and absolute in power.
His Word created the universe. Hey…That’s power!