Mercy Culture Church Lecture Notes

Introduction

• Speaker: Landon, Senior Lead Pastor
• Vision: Transition people from corporate to daily personal encounters with God.
• Emphasis: Not only on church services but daily encounters with God for life transformation.

Membership and Spiritual Growth

• Membership: Called Connect (essentially discipleship).
• Process:
  • Text to connect or visit mercyculture.com to engage.
  • Watch videos about the church.
  • Take "Connect with God" assessment to discover how individuals best connect with God.
• Goal: To catalyze personal spiritual growth by identifying individual spiritual connection methods.

Weekly Church Activities

• Dallas Interest Night.
• Monthly prayer night on Wednesday focused on healing.
• Upcoming events: SLS starting this week.

Sermon: The Breastplate of Righteousness

• Scripture Reference: First Kings 22:29-36
• Main Theme: Putting on the breastplate of righteousness is key to spiritual warfare.
• Series: Full Armor of God

Full Armor of God

• Previous focus on the Belt of Truth.
• Current focus on the Breastplate of Righteousness.

Understanding Righteousness

• Righteousness: Judicial term indicating innocence or guilt, divine approval.
• Importance:
  • Associated with Heaven’s justice and the kingdom of God (Romans 14:17).
  • Described by John Paul Jackson as the "matter of Heaven."
  • Compared to DNA, with righteousness being the DNA of Heaven.

Imputed vs. Imparted Righteousness

• Imputed Righteousness: Free gift through Christ’s sacrifice.
• Imparted Righteousness: Reflecting Christ’s character in life.

Importance of Righteousness in Scripture

• Over 1000 scriptures on righteousness.
• Righteousness saves cities and families.
• Examples include Noah, Abraham, Job.

Guarding the Heart

• Proverbs 4:23: Importance of guarding your heart as it is the wellspring of life.
• Tests of the Heart:
  • Faithfulness Test
  • Success Test
  • Betrayal Test

Passing Tests

• Guard heart with Holy Spirit’s help and God’s word.
• Importance of introspection and prayer for self-awareness.
• Significance of passing tests for spiritual promotion.

Conclusion

• Key Message: Guarding your heart with righteousness protects against spiritual attacks and ensures a life aligned with God’s will.
• Final Thought: Spiritual armor is vital for protecting against enemy attacks, as demonstrated in the story of King Ahab.