Podcasts about cross you

There's so much to the story of Jesus's death and resurrection, and yesterday we focused on just one part - specifically on what the people were shouting while Jesus was on the Cross: “You saved others but You can't even save Yourself.” They just left out one word. Let's fix it for them: “You CHOSE to save others, but You CHOSE not to even save Yourself.”Jesus made a choice. He did not have to do this. He chose to. The choice of the cross was so brutal and senseless that the only possible reason was love. The message of Easter is both profound and simple: JESUS LOVES YOU.

* The analogy of wax and clay that Lauren uses is from the Podcast, "The Bible in a Year" by Fr. Mike Schmitz.INVOCATIONLeader :  We Adore You O Christ and we bless YouAll:  Because by Your holy Cross You have Redeemed the WorldMARY PRAYERWe fly to your protection, O Holy Mother of God; Beneath your compassion, Hear our petitions, and rescue us from all temptation. O Glorious and Blessed Virgin Mary. Amen.

INVOCATIONLeader :  We Adore You O Christ and we bless YouAll:  Because by Your holy Cross You have Redeemed the WorldMARY PRAYERWe fly to your protection, O Holy Mother of God; Beneath your compassion, Hear our petitions, and rescue us from all temptation. O Glorious and Blessed Virgin Mary. Amen.n

INVOCATIONLeader :  We Adore You O Christ and we bless YouAll:  Because by Your holy Cross You have Redeemed the WorldMARY PRAYERWe fly to your protection, O Holy Mother of God; Beneath your compassion, Hear our petitions, and rescue us from all temptation. O Glorious and Blessed Virgin Mary. Amen.

thegodminute.org/lentMusic:  Ola Gjeilo, "Syline"INVOCATIONLeader :  We Adore You O Christ and we bless YouAll:  Because by Your holy Cross You have Redeemed the WorldMARY PRAYERWe fly to your protection, O Holy Mother of God; Beneath your compassion, Hear our petitions, and rescue us from all temptation. O Glorious and Blessed Virgin Mary. Amen.

thegodminute.org/lentINVOCATIONLeader :  We Adore You O Christ and we bless YouAll:  Because by Your holy Cross You have Redeemed the WorldMARY PRAYERWe fly to your protection, O Holy Mother of God; Beneath your compassion, Hear our petitions, and rescue us from all temptation. O Glorious and Blessed Virgin Mary. Amen.

thegodminute.org/almsINVOCATIONLeader :  We Adore You O Christ and we bless YouAll:  Because by Your holy Cross You have Redeemed the WorldMARY PRAYERWe fly to your protection, O Holy Mother of God; Beneath your compassion, Hear our petitions, and rescue us from all temptation. O Glorious and Blessed Virgin Mary. Amen.

INVOCATIONLeader :  We Adore You O Christ and we bless YouAll:  Because by Your holy Cross You have Redeemed the WorldMARY PRAYERWe fly to your protection, O Holy Mother of God; Beneath your compassion, Hear our petitions, and rescue us from all temptation. O Glorious and Blessed Virgin Mary. Amen. 

SCRIPTUREDeuteronomy 30: 15-16MUSIC"Your Word" (instrumental)---INVOCATIONLeader :  We Adore You O Christ and we bless YouAll:  Because by Your holy Cross You have Redeemed the WorldMARY PRAYERWe fly to your protection, O Holy Mother of God; Beneath your compassion, Hear our petitions, and rescue us from all temptation. O Glorious and Blessed Virgin Mary. Amen. 

CLICK HERE for a 9 minute God Minute Lent Overview Video from Fr. RonCLICK HERE to go to our Lenten webpage with all our prayers and an overview of Lent 2023 here at The God Minute.----INVOCATIONLeader :  We Adore You O Christ and we bless YouAll:  Because by Your holy Cross You have Redeemed the WorldMARY PRAYER We fly to your protection, O Holy Mother of God; Beneath your compassion, Hear our petitions, and rescue us from all temptation. O Glorious and Blessed Virgin Mary. Amen. 

Tuesday 3rd Week of Advent - Year CII (John of the Cross) You can follow The Average Shepherd on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Spotify by clicking here. Music by Michael Paton

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, his holy mountain. We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple. (From the Introit for the 20th Sunday after Trinity)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Let us pray: Lord God, Heavenly Father, You alone are worthy of our praise. You have made Your goodness known to Your Church, Your salvation is proclaimed among us, and we are to be seen as Your great and mighty city. Upon Your mountain the joy of all the earth is to be found. This mountain is known as Calvary and upon it can be found the Cross of Your Son. Upon this Cross You have established Your Church. And because of this Cross You have given to us a fortress that cannot be shaken.All the kings of the earth can rise against You. They can assemble their troops and ready their forces, but nothing can defeat Your Cross, and so nothing can defeat Your Church. Not even the gates of hell will prevail against Her. Your promise is that all Your enemies have been defeated in Christ. They may shout and shake their fists, but they will not be victorious. Soon they will all flee in terror, shriek at the coming of the Holy One who has defeated them. Within the confines of your Church may we dwell in safety, knowing that our enemies have no power over us.May Your steadfast love for Your people abound in Christ. Let us rejoice in Your salvation that You have won for us, that You give to us daily in the Gifts given here within the walls of Your Church. And may this Word of salvation reach out to the ends of the earth. May the Word of the Cross be spoken into the ears of our enemies. May those who are at enmity with You be brought to repentance and know that Jesus is for them.May this be the Church's prayer and may this be our cry of joy: That salvation is ours, but not ours alone. It is for all. You seek not the death of the sinner, but that all would come to the knowledge of the Truth. Let us live our lives within the safety of Your Church. May we know that She will not fall, that She will last forever and ever, that our children and our children's children will receive the same Christ as we receive!Guide us in the ways of your Son, O Lord, that our confidence may never be shaken. Amen. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.O, then, draw away your hearts From all pleasures base and hollow; Strive to share what He impartsWhile you hear His footsteps follow. As you now still wait to rise, Fix your hearts beyond the skies!("Jesus Christ, My Sure Defense"  LSB 741, st.8)Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

 Greetings! Welcome to Lechem Panim.  Years ago I worked at an Apple retail store. And during my time there I had an atheist acquaintance I used to work with that I tried to witness to. And he was open to Christianity, but remained unconvinced. But I will never forget what his chief struggle was. It wasn't any of the typical things you might think an atheist would struggle with; the problem of evil in the world, or anything like that. No, it was something else. The primary thing he just could not get past and accept was the fact that the God of the universe would ever lower Himself to care for people like us to the depth and to the degree that the Bible says He did. For my friend, that seemed very un-God-like.      And you know I think you can even be a Christian and struggle with this question. I know sometimes I have questioned and even doubted God's love for me simply because of how unworthy I feel of that love. But one of the things we will unpack as we begin to move through this passage today is that God loves us not on the basis of who we are, but on the basis of who He is. He is not just “loving”; no, He is love. He defines love. And though it is one of the clearest Biblical teachings, the doctrine of God's love for us is at the same time one of the most profound truths and (at times) the most difficult to accept. God is Love — Have you ever wondered why it is that God loves us? Or, on a similar note, why did He create us? Have you ever wondered why God created man? Is it because one day He just got bored and lonely and decided to create us for entertainment; or for company? I mean if God has always existed and existed before we were created, what did He do? Does God need us? Was He compelled to create us because, by Himself, He was deficient? Is He like some kind of Ferris Bueller character that says to us, “You complete me.”? Does God need us? That is an interesting question because of what is revealed to us in… 1 John 4:7-8 (ESV)-- 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. God is Love— Now notice that it doesn't say that God is loving. No, it says God is love. He is the very definition of love. This is something that sets Christianity apart from every other religion. God is not merely loving; He is the very definition and source of all love. Requiring and Object-- Now love, as we all know, requires an object. You cannot love; truly love by yourself. Love is something that is demonstrated by your actions in another person's life. Love is not a feeling. It is an action verb. Well, let me ask you this. Long before man was created; long before the world was created; long before heaven and angels were created, was God still love? That is what Christianity teaches. But the question then becomes, “Well, how could God be love before there was anything to love?” How could God be love before there was an object that could receive that love?” Now you can say that God was not love until He created man, but that is not what the Bible teaches because then that would mean that God had to change at some point; and the scripture is very clear that God never changes. It says in… Malachi 3:6 (ESV)-- 6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. James 1:17 (ESV)-- 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. The Triune Nature of God-- So how could God be love from eternity? How could He possibly be love before there was a single created thing? Well the answer lies in the unique Christian doctrine of the Trinity. God is not one person, but three; God The Father, God The Son, and God The Holy Spirit. And so rather than being just one, God is three. God is a community of persons who live in constant communion; a fellowship of love with one another; and have done so from eternity. And so God has always been love in Himself because all three persons of the Trinity have always existed and have each poured themselves out in love to the others. The Most amazing thing-- Now this is important in answering our first question: Does God need us? Because one of the most amazing things we come to know about our relationship with God is that while we need Him, He does not need us. He is already a community of persons in Himself (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). He doesn't need our companionship, our worship, or our prayers. Rather, He is sufficient; He is complete in Himself. So why then did God create us? Well, while our minds cannot even begin to grasp the depth of that love and every aspect of it, we do know one thing about it: IT CANNOT BE CONTAINED. IT CANNOT BE CONTAINED. You see, God's love is always growing; always expanding. It is so selfless that it is always seeking for new beings to love. Why? Because God's love is always creative; it always bears fruit. It always desires to expand. And so because God is that kind of love, He wanted to produce more beings who might be recipients of the overflow of His love. God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness...” The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit wanted to allow their love to produce a fruit. And so they created man. And that is the defining characteristic of Biblical love; Godly love always bears fruit. Humanity the Overflow of God's Love-- Humanity is the fruit of the overflow of God's love. And, because Biblical love is always fruitful, so was mankind to be fruitful. Just as God is plural, yet one, so man was to be plural, yet one. Man was to cleave unto His wife and become one flesh. And that relationship was meant to bear fruit. The first command given in all of scripture was to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, .…” (Gen. 1:28 ESV) Fruit Now Born Through Pain-- But then of course man sinned. And sin changed everything. Adam and Eve did what they thought was best for themselves rather than what was in God's interest or each other's interest. And the result of that sin was that we became separated from God. But it is interesting how the curse immediately affected them. Adam would work the ground, which would no longer easily bear fruit. Eve, who would become the mother of all living, would from this point onward experience pain in childbirth; at the very point of her fruitfulness. God would still allow them to bear fruit; fruit from the ground and fruit from the womb, but that fruitfulness was now limited and associated with pain and toil. And that is what sin does; it always touches us at the point of our fruitfulness. Love as Christ loved us— Now God could have turned His back on us. He could have said, “You are no longer my children. I am going to leave you to the death that your sin has produced, which will be the end of you.” But He doesn't. Instead, He begins to show His true Father-ness; the depth of His love for us. 1 John 4:9-10 (ESV)— 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Frequency of the World Love-- Now in verses 7-21 the word “love” appears 27 times. Now there are many words for love in the New Testament. But I looked every one of these up in Greek. They are all agape. Well, what is agape love? The Boy Rewrites the Story of The Ant and the Grasshopper— I remember reading a story a number of years ago. [The mother of a nine-year-old boy named Mark received a phone call in the middle of the afternoon. It was the teacher from her son's school. “Mrs. Smith, something unusual happened today in your son's third-grade class. Your son did something that surprised me so much that I thought you should know about it immediately. The mother began to grow worried. The teacher continued, “Nothing like this has happened in all my years of teaching. This morning I was teaching a lesson on creative writing. And as I always do, I tell the story of the ant and the grasshopper: “The ant works hard all summer and stores up plenty of food. But the grasshopper plays all summer and does no work. Then winter comes. The grasshopper begins to starve because he has no food. So he begs, ‘Please Mr. Ant, you have much food. Please let me eat, too.'” Then I said, “Boys and girls, your job is to write the ending to the story.” “Your son, Mark, raised his hand. ‘Teacher, may I draw a picture?' “ ‘Well, yes, Mark, if you like, you may draw a picture. But first you must write the ending to the story.' “As in all the years past, most of the students said the ant shared his food through the winter and both the ant and the grasshopper lived. A few children wrote, ‘No, Mr. Grasshopper. You should have worked in the summer. Now I have just enough food for myself.' So the ant lived and the grasshopper died. “But your son ended the story in a way different from any other child, ever. He wrote, ‘So the ant gave all of his food to the grasshopper; the grasshopper lived through the winter, but the ant died.' “And the picture? At the bottom of the page, Mark had drawn three crosses.”] Defined by the Cross-- You see agape love is the deepest kind of love; it is self-sacrificing love. And it is defined by Christ's own love demonstrated for us on the cross. And it is a love we are called to as well. 1 John 4:11-12 (ESV)-- 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. By The Spirit-- Now the only way for us to love self-sacrificially not only those who love us, but even those who wound us (just like Christ loved those and prayed for forgiveness for those who were at that time wounding him on the cross) is by the Holy Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit can enable you to love like that. So if you are loving like that, then that is strong evidence that the Holy Spirit is at work in your life. But the self-giving, sacrificial love of the cross is the standard. And you and I can know that love. But it must begin with your own relationship with Jesus; you have to come to the point where you accept and receive God's love for you in and through His Son Jesus Christ; and the sacrifice He made for you on a personal level.  Only then can we fully reflect a love that is (like Christ's) perfect and complete. And though we may never understand why God loves us (at least FULLY), we CAN know that He loves us. Let's embrace that Love today. Amen.

è Review: Progression of bondage …. Genesis 3 è SHAME: Retreat, Isolate, Run and Repeat • The absence of INTIMACY (rejection). We run from the ONE who loves us and is pursuing us. (We substitute performance for intimacy.) • The deceit: We run from the ONE pursuing us (we have the wrong assumptions: He’s angry, He’s vengeful; He left!) • We need revelation of GRACE – How He sees us • Truth: He is eternal; omnipresent; He saw it all before you did and still loves you completely and chose you as His own. • Hebrews 10:16, 17; 2 Corinthians 5:17, 21; Ephesians 1:3-5; Romans 8:1; Romans 5:17 • Truth: HE BORE OUR SHAME! (Stripped; spat on; accused; cursed) • Romans 10:11; Hebrews 12:1, 2 …. He refused to let shame define Him or stop Him! • So how do I walk free from shame’s hold? • Revelation of Jesus and the Cross: You were represented • Revelation and obedient practice of RENOUNCEMENT: 2 Corinthians 4:2 (We must remind ourselves and even the enemy that we are forgiven and He sees our sin no more! Tell yourself the truth! • Renovation of the mind …. James 1:21; Hebrews 4:11, 12; Romans 12:1, 2 è Remember: He is pursuing you while you struggle. He desires to partner with you now …. not when you are able to “fix it”. è Remember: The master root of all their (our) bondage was unbelief …. Believing lies! (See Genesis 3) • The lie? “He doesn’t really LOVE you. Doesn’t really want the Best for you. You can have what He has without submitting to Him.” (Genesis 3:4, 5) • Lies violated and stole their identity and their authority! (See Genesis 1:26 – 28) His image is LOVE. (See 1 John 4:8, 16) • His image, LOVE, was in them and they walked away from it into bondage by way of lies. Unbelief! Fear and shame flowed from their unbelief. (1 John 4:18) è DECEPTION/UNBELIEF • THE root of all Bondage and brokenness is a failure or refusal to believe and deeply connect with a promise in the Word of God. (John 8:31, 32) • Hebrews 3:7-19 …. After 40 years of seeing His faithfulness, miracles, deliverance and incredible grace, His people refused to take the next step of faith and GO FORWARD! (See Hebrews 3:12, 13, 19 …. God called this evil) • Who, what is the final authority in my life? è The root of unbelief is broken by ABIDING (connecting, and staying connected to His Word. • Pride …. John 15:5 Without Me, you can do NOTHING!  Luke 14:11 …. If I exalt myself, I will be humbled  Admit …. Total dependency, ownership (1 Corinthians 6:19)  Submit …. To His leadership (Proverbs 3:5, 6) • Fear …. Connecting with His LOVE (1 John 4:18; John 17:23, 26) • Shame, guilt, inferiority …. Hebrews 10:16, 17; 2 Corinthians 5:17, 21; Ephesians 1:3-5; Romans 8:31 “It was for FREEDOM that CHRIST has set us free!!” (Galatians 5:1)

• SHAME: Retreat, Isolate, Run and Repeat  The absence of INTIMACY (rejection) We run from the ONE who loves us and is pursuing us. (We substitute performance for intimacy.)  The deceit: We run from the ONE pursuing us (we have the wrong assumptions: He’s angry, He’s vengeful; He left!)  We need revelation of GRACE – How He sees us  Truth: He is eternal; omnipresent; He saw it all before you did and still loves you completely and chose you as His own.  Hebrews 10:16, 17; 2 Corinthians 5:17, 21; Ephesians 1:3-5; Romans 8:1; Romans 5:17  Truth: HE BORE OUR SHAME! (Stripped; spat on; accused; cursed)  Romans 10:11; Hebrews 12:1, 2 …. He refused to let shame define Him or stop Him!  So how do I walk free from shame’s hold? • Revelation of Jesus and the Cross: You were represented • Revelation and obedient practice of RENOUNCEMENT: 2 Corinthians 4:2 (We must remind ourselves and even the enemy that we are forgiven and He sees our sin no more! Tell yourself the truth! • Renovation of the mind …. James 1:21; Hebrews 4:11, 12; Romans 12:1, 2

JOHN 8:31, 32 è Review …. The power of abiding in His Word …. John 6:63; Hebrews 4:12 • Until TRUTH shines in our innermost being, we are held hostage by roots of brokenness! è Roots of Bondage • PROGRESSION .... Believing lies; acting sovereign, independent; lost intimacy • PRIDE …. Thinking, speaking, acting like I am SOVEREIGN over my own life. (Believing the lie that I can have dominion without submission)  The results of acting like I am sovereign (Genesis 3) • FEAR  Loss, lack, death, failure, rejection (that I won’t meet the expectations of others)  Results: Control/Manipulation; retreat; overcompensate, isolate, hoard  What we greatly fear, we attract …. Job 3:25, 26  The enemy is always paying attention …. 1 Peter 5:8, 9  Is fear a manifestation of an area where I am acting sovereign? (Don’t want nor allow Him to control)  DECLARE WAR ON FEAR! Ask for revelation of God’s love and how He sees me. (1 John 4:18; Romans 5:5)  Admit where I am shown issues and confess it as sin.  Apply the love of God by faith.  Confront and advance …. Be aggressive in your inner man, stop being neutral and advance! Call yourself up and call yourself out by PERSONALIZING the living Word. Speak it to yourself, over yourself, and into your world’s atmosphere. • ANGER/BLAME …. Rooted in pride (People and circumstances don’t fit my expectations and agenda.)  Rooted in rejection (Never loved and accepted for who I am, the way I am.)  Anger at God (permissible vs. poison) (Genesis 3:12; Judges 6:11-18) • Maybe we are asking the Wrong Questions …. “Why would YOU see me having the strength, the perseverance, the potential to carry this pain and use it to bring glory to YOU and change the lives of others?” • SHAME: Retreat, Isolate, Run and Repeat  The absence of INTIMACY (rejection) We run from the ONE who loves us and is pursuing us. (We substitute performance for intimacy.)  The deceit: We run from the ONE pursuing us (we have the wrong assumptions: He’s angry, He’s vengeful; He left!)  We need revelation of GRACE – How He sees us  Truth: He is eternal; omnipresent; He saw it all before you did and still loves you completely and chose you as His own.  Hebrews 10:16, 17; 2 Corinthians 5:17, 21; Ephesians 1:3-5; Romans 8:1; Romans 5:17  Truth: HE BORE OUR SHAME! (Stripped; spat on; accused; cursed)  Romans 10:11; Hebrews 12:1, 2 …. He refused to let shame define Him or stop Him!  So how do I walk free from shame’s hold? • Revelation of Jesus and the Cross: You were represented • Revelation and obedient practice of RENOUNCEMENT: 2 Corinthians 4:2 (We must remind ourselves and even the enemy that we are forgiven and He sees our sin no more! Tell yourself the truth! • DECEPTION/UNBELIEF  THE root of all Bondage and brokenness is a failure or refusal to believe and deeply connect with a promise in the Word of God. (John 8:31, 32)  Hebrews 3:7-19 …. After 40 years of seeing His faithfulness, miracles, deliverance and incredible grace, His people refused to take the next step of faith and GO FORWARD! (See Hebrews 3:12, 13, 19 …. God called this evil)  Who, what is the final authority in my life? è The root of unbelief is broken by ABIDING (connecting, and staying connected to His Word. • Pride …. John 15:5 Without Me, you can do NOTHING!  Luke 14:11 …. If I exalt myself, I will be humbled  Admit …. Total dependency, ownership (1 Corinthians 6:19)  Submit …. To His leadership (Proverbs 3:5, 6) • Fear …. Connecting with His LOVE (1 John 4:18; John 17:23, 26) • Shame, guilt, inferiority …. Hebrews 10:16, 17; 2 Corinthians 5:17, 21; Ephesians 1:3-5; Romans 8:31 “It was for FREEDOM that CHRIST has set us free!!” (Galatians 5:1)

The Cross- You can accept Him. You can reject Him. But you can’t ignore Him.