Podcasts about first chronicles

“Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.” (Romans 15:4 NLT) You will not find the hope that you need in people or things. You will not find it in a politician or political cause, no matter which side of the aisle you’re on. You will not find it in technology or science or in a relationship or in an accomplishment. Job 8:13–15 says, “The hopes of the godless evaporate. Their confidence hangs by a thread. They are leaning on a spider’s web. They cling to their home for security, but it won’t last. They try to hold it tight, but it will not endure” (NLT). In contrast, Psalm 42:5 says, “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God!” (NLT). This is the hope that gives us the strength to go on in life. This hope is not wishful thinking or blind optimism. It is quiet confidence. It is a supernatural certainty. We find this hope in the pages of Scripture. True and lasting hope comes from God and His Word. The apostle Paul wrote, “Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled” (Romans 15:4 NLT). Psalm 119:114 says, “You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my source of hope” (NLT). So, if hope seems in short supply in your life, you can replenish it by spending time in God’s Word. There will be times when you need to replenish because things don’t always work out well in this life. Not all marriages survive. Not all prodigal children return. Not all medical tests have benign results. Not all crises end happily. That’s when you need to embrace the reality that whatever happens in this life, be it wonderful or painful, is only temporary. We make so much of this life because it’s the only one we’ve known. But it comes and goes rather quickly. First Chronicles 29:15 says, “We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace” (NLT). Heaven—our ultimate hope—is forever. In Heaven, God will right all wrongs. He will answer all questions. He will ease all pain. He will replace our tears with laughter and joy. In Heaven, our losses will be more than compensated for. That’s why Paul wrote, “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth” (Colossians 3:1–2 NLT). Heaven is where our ultimate hope is found, so Heaven is where our thoughts should be when we struggle here on earth. Reflection question: What would setting your sights on the realities of Heaven look like in your life? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship! — The audio production of the podcast "Daily Devotions from Greg Laurie" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known."All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: 1 Chron 16; Ps 106; Matt 19 Click HERE to give! Get Free App Here! One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on 'The Daily Radio Bible' for a daily 20-minute spiritual journey. Engage with scripture readings, heartfelt devotionals, and collective prayers that draw you into the heart of God's love. Embark on this year-long voyage through the Bible, and let each day's passage uplift and inspire you. TODAY'S EPISODE: Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible! On today's episode, host Hunter invites us into day 122 of our journey through Scripture, focusing on First Chronicles 16, Psalm 106, and Matthew 19. Together, we reflect on God's enduring faithfulness, the story of Israel's wanderings, and Jesus' teachings about marriage, hard-heartedness, and what it truly means to follow him. As we listen, Hunter guides us to see how all of Scripture points to Christ, the bridegroom, as God's answer for our hearts. Alongside our Bible readings, we'll spend time in prayer—seeking God's purpose, asking to become instruments of his peace, and remembering that we are deeply loved. So, grab your Bible and join us as we warm ourselves by the fire of God's love and continue to grow together, day by day. TODAY'S DEVOTION: Jesus is the answer for our hard hearts. In today's reading from Matthew 19, Jesus says something remarkable about the law: it is a concession to our hardheartedness. The laws given, even about divorce, are an acknowledgment of our rebellion, our tendency to live life apart from God. God gives the law not as his ultimate desire for us, but as a way to deal with our brokenness and stubbornness. But that is not where the story ends. The answer is not the law. The answer is Jesus himself. Throughout scripture, we see marriage as a significant signpost. It was at a wedding in Cana that Jesus performed his first miracle, turning water into wine. And at the end of time, there is the promise of a great marriage feast—the marriage supper of the Lamb. All of scripture is pointing to this bridegroom, our Lord Jesus, who longs to transform our hearts and give us new life. He is God's answer to our heart's deepest need, far surpassing anything the law can do. The religious leaders came to Jesus trying to corner him with the law, but Jesus was not distracted by their traps. Instead, he offered freedom—the kind of healing only he can bring to hearts that are hardened by sin, disappointment, and pride. Jesus is the one who comes near with compassion, who makes all things new, who invites us to leave behind our old ways and follow him into abundant life. This is the answer for us today. Not more rules or burdens, but the loving, transforming presence of Jesus. The one who turns water into wine, the one who welcomes the little children, the one who calls rich and poor alike to lay down what stands in the way and receive the treasure of his kingdom. And that's the prayer of my heart today: that I will let him. That's what I long for my own soul, for my family, and for you. That we would open our hearts to the bridegroom, to the only one who can truly make us new and set us free. May it be so. TODAY'S PRAYERS: Lord God Almighty and everlasting father you have brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your Mighty power that we might not fall into sin or be overcome by adversity. And in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose  through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen.   Oh God you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth and sent your blessed son to preach peace to those who are far and those who are near. Grant that people everywhere may seek after you, and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.   And now Lord,  make me an instrument of your peace.  Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon.  Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope.  Where there is darkness, light.  And where there is sadness,  Joy.  Oh Lord grant that I might not seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.  For it is in the giving that we receive, in the pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in the dying that we are born unto eternal life.  Amen And now as our Lord has taught us we are bold to pray... Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image. And nourishing us with spiritual food, now send us forth as forgiven people, healed and renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world, and continue in the risen life of Christ.  Amen.  OUR WEBSITE: www.dailyradiobible.com We are reading through the New Living Translation.   Leave us a voicemail HERE: https://www.speakpipe.com/dailyradiobible Subscribe to us at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dailyradiobible/featured OTHER PODCASTS: Listen with Apple Podcast DAILY BIBLE FOR KIDS DAILY PSALMS DAILY PROVERBS DAILY LECTIONARY DAILY CHRONOLOGICAL  

Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: 1 Sam24;Ps 57-58; 1 Chron 8; Matt 8 Click HERE to give! Get Free App Here! One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on 'The Daily Radio Bible' for a daily 20-minute spiritual journey. Engage with scripture readings, heartfelt devotionals, and collective prayers that draw you into the heart of God's love. Embark on this year-long voyage through the Bible, and let each day's passage uplift and inspire you. TODAY'S DEVOTION: Will God reach out to us in our need? That's the aching question at the heart of Matthew 8 and, if we're honest, the question many of us quietly carry. The leper wonders, “Is God willing?” The Roman officer, seeking help for his servant, quietly asks the same. The crowds gathered at Peter's house come, each with the desperate hope that God's compassion and power are not reserved for someone else—but will reach even them. Deep down, all of us want to know: Will God cross the distance? Is He willing to touch us at our lowest, at our most unclean and unworthy? So much in our world, and even our religion, tries to sell us the lie of separation—that God is far off, distant, too holy to come near our mess. We get the message that God will keep his distance until we make ourselves acceptable, that we are always just out of reach. But that is not the gospel. The gospel is the declaration that God is not removed. In Christ, He draws near—He steps across every boundary, he sits with us in our worst, he touches what others would call untouchable, and he makes us clean. In answer to every fearful, doubting heart, Jesus says, “I am willing.” He unmasks the lie of separation with the reality of his compassion and presence. God, in Christ, is not far off from you. He is willing, he is present, and he has set his heart to set you free. Where you are right now is not too far. Your struggle, your shame, your uncleanness—none of it keeps him away. The good news is not only that God can restore and heal, but that God desires to do so, and he is already with you, closer than your breath. My prayer today is that I might be rooted more deeply in this union with Christ, that the lie of separation would lose its grip on my heart and mind. That's my prayer for my family—for my wife, my daughters, my son. And it's my prayer for you: that you would know, in the depths of your being, that God is willing, God is near, and you truly are loved. May it be so. Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible! In today's episode for April 21st, 2025, your host Hunter guides us through day 111 of our journey through the scriptures. Together, we'll explore First Samuel 24, Psalms 57 and 58, First Chronicles 8, and Matthew 8. This episode dives deep into dramatic moments—David spares Saul's life in the cave, the heartfelt songs and pleas of David in the Psalms, rich genealogies tracing the descendants of Benjamin, and several of Jesus's remarkable miracles: healing the leper, the Roman officer's servant, and calming a raging storm. Hunter not only reads and reflects on these passages, but also shares an encouraging message about the willingness and compassion of God. He confronts the lie of separation, reminding us that God is not distant, but present and loving—no matter where we find ourselves. Wrapping up, he leads us in heartfelt prayers and urges us to root ourselves in the good news of Jesus. So grab your Bible, settle in, and join us as we lean into the joy and assurance that we are deeply loved by God. TODAY'S DEVOTION: TODAY'S PRAYERS: Lord God Almighty and everlasting father you have brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your Mighty power that we might not fall into sin or be overcome by adversity. And in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose  through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen.   Oh God you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth and sent your blessed son to preach peace to those who are far and those who are near. Grant that people everywhere may seek after you, and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.   And now Lord,  make me an instrument of your peace.  Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon.  Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope.  Where there is darkness, light.  And where there is sadness,  Joy.  Oh Lord grant that I might not seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.  For it is in the giving that we receive, in the pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in the dying that we are born unto eternal life.  Amen And now as our Lord has taught us we are bold to pray... Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image. And nourishing us with spiritual food, now send us forth as forgiven people, healed and renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world, and continue in the risen life of Christ.  Amen.  OUR WEBSITE: www.dailyradiobible.com We are reading through the New Living Translation.   Leave us a voicemail HERE: https://www.speakpipe.com/dailyradiobible Subscribe to us at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dailyradiobible/featured OTHER PODCASTS: Listen with Apple Podcast DAILY BIBLE FOR KIDS DAILY PSALMS DAILY PROVERBS DAILY LECTIONARY DAILY CHRONOLOGICAL  

Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: 1 Samuel 18; 1 Chron 6; Psalm 11; Matthew 3 Click HERE to give! Get Free App Here! One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on 'The Daily Radio Bible' for a daily 20-minute spiritual journey. Engage with scripture readings, heartfelt devotionals, and collective prayers that draw you into the heart of God's love. Embark on this year-long voyage through the Bible, and let each day's passage uplift and inspire you. TODAY'S EPISODE: Welcome to another inspiring episode of the Daily Radio Bible podcast with your brother and Bible reading coach, Hunter. Today's episode takes us on a journey through the pages of scripture, starting in First Samuel 18, followed by First Chronicles 6, Psalm 11, and finishing in Matthew's Gospel chapter 3. Hunter reflects on the powerful declarations of God's love for humanity through Jesus, reminding us that we are loved and belong to God. He guides us in a moment of prayer, inviting us to seek mindfulness and divine presence in our lives. We conclude with gratitude for the partners who make this podcast possible. Join us as we continue our journey, setting intentions to live a mindful and prayerful life. Let's dive in! TODAY'S DEVOTION: This is my dearly loved son who brings me great joy. These are the first words we hear the father speak over the son. And through Christ, they are words that have been spoken over all people all over the Earth. God has declared his love for all humanity. He's declared his love for you. So here in this declaration, the heart of the father for all people everywhere, broken, lost, sinner people like you and me, Jesus comes to do all that is needed so that every man, woman, and child can be embraced into the triune love of father, son, and holy spirit. So all humanity can experience the love that is shared in the godhead. So we can be one as they are one. Hear the declaration of what is. Hear the proclamation that you are loved by god. This is not a proposition. God's love and your position as daughter, as son, is not a great opportunity for you if you believe enough or you get your act together enough. It is a declaration of what is. You are loved. You are his. And that is great news. Let's hear this declaration well today and move out into the world, learning, discovering how to live out who we have become. May God give us wisdom, and may God give us joy as we live out this gospel in him. That's a prayer that I have for my own soul. That's a prayer that I have for my family, for my wife, my daughters, and my son. And that's a prayer that I have for you. May it be so. TODAY'S PRAYERS: Lord God Almighty and everlasting father you have brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your Mighty power that we might not fall into sin or be overcome by adversity. And in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose  through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen.   Oh God you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth and sent your blessed son to preach peace to those who are far and those who are near. Grant that people everywhere may seek after you, and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.   And now Lord,  make me an instrument of your peace.  Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon.  Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope.  Where there is darkness, light.  And where there is sadness,  Joy.  Oh Lord grant that I might not seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.  For it is in the giving that we receive, in the pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in the dying that we are born unto eternal life.  Amen And now as our Lord has taught us we are bold to pray... Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image. And nourishing us with spiritual food, now send us forth as forgiven people, healed and renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world, and continue in the risen life of Christ.  Amen.  OUR WEBSITE: www.dailyradiobible.com We are reading through the New Living Translation.   Leave us a voicemail HERE: https://www.speakpipe.com/dailyradiobible Subscribe to us at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dailyradiobible/featured OTHER PODCASTS: Listen with Apple Podcast DAILY BIBLE FOR KIDS DAILY PSALMS DAILY PROVERBS DAILY LECTIONARY DAILY CHRONOLOGICAL  

Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: 1 Samuel 15-16; 1 Chronicles 5; Matthew 1 Click HERE to give! Get Free App Here! One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on 'The Daily Radio Bible' for a daily 20-minute spiritual journey. Engage with scripture readings, heartfelt devotionals, and collective prayers that draw you into the heart of God's love. Embark on this year-long voyage through the Bible, and let each day's passage uplift and inspire you. TODAY'S EPISODE: Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible podcast, where today we celebrate over one hundred days of journeying through the scriptures together. Join Hunter, your Bible reading coach, as he reflects on the transformative power of this habit, emphasizing that while the Bible itself doesn't save us, it points us to Jesus, the true source of salvation and the healer of our souls. Dive into today's readings from First Samuel, First Chronicles, and the beginning of Matthew's gospel, exploring stories of kings, prophets, and the lineage of the Messiah. Hunter shares insights on how God's anointing oil, unlike the world's oil, brings true peace, hope, and love. As we journey through scripture, let us continue to grow in understanding and devotion, keeping our hearts open to the work of the Spirit in our lives. TODAY'S DEVOTION: The world's oil is not what we truly crave. In our world today, oil is a symbol of power and influence. It establishes kingdoms and directs economies. People wage wars over it, lives are shaped and shattered by its value. But in reality, the world's oil cannot provide what we desperately need. It cannot bring us peace, offer us hope, or fill us with love. It does not have the power to transform the human heart. Yet God's oil is entirely different. It comes from a humble olive, representing His presence. This oil signifies the peace, hope, and love that only He can provide, transforming every heart it touches. In today's reading, the moment Samuel anointed David with oil, it was more than a physical act; it was a representation of God's divine presence and approval. David stands as a symbol of the anointed one, pointing us to Jesus – the ultimate expression of God's loving presence. Jesus, the true anointed one, was sent to offer the world an overflowing abundance of peace, hope, and love. According to the scriptures, He was born of a virgin, lived among us, was crucified, died, buried, and then rose from the dead. Now, He offers the oil of His spirit – His presence – to all of us. This anointing transforms us into lights in this dark world, filling us with His peace, hope, and love. Let us embrace the spirit's presence within us as we glow with His light and share His love with the world. Hallelujah. That's a prayer I hold close for my own soul, for my family, and for you too. May it be so. TODAY'S PRAYERS: Lord God Almighty and everlasting father you have brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your Mighty power that we might not fall into sin or be overcome by adversity. And in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose  through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen.   Oh God you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth and sent your blessed son to preach peace to those who are far and those who are near. Grant that people everywhere may seek after you, and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.   And now Lord,  make me an instrument of your peace.  Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon.  Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope.  Where there is darkness, light.  And where there is sadness,  Joy.  Oh Lord grant that I might not seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.  For it is in the giving that we receive, in the pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in the dying that we are born unto eternal life.  Amen And now as our Lord has taught us we are bold to pray... Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image. And nourishing us with spiritual food, now send us forth as forgiven people, healed and renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world, and continue in the risen life of Christ.  Amen.  OUR WEBSITE: www.dailyradiobible.com We are reading through the New Living Translation.   Leave us a voicemail HERE: https://www.speakpipe.com/dailyradiobible Subscribe to us at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dailyradiobible/featured OTHER PODCASTS: Listen with Apple Podcast DAILY BIBLE FOR KIDS DAILY PSALMS DAILY PROVERBS DAILY LECTIONARY DAILY CHRONOLOGICAL  

Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: 1 Samuel 13; 1 Chronicles 2-3; 2 Cor 12 Click HERE to give! Get Free App Here! One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on 'The Daily Radio Bible' for a daily 20-minute spiritual journey. Engage with scripture readings, heartfelt devotionals, and collective prayers that draw you into the heart of God's love. Embark on this year-long voyage through the Bible, and let each day's passage uplift and inspire you. TODAY'S EPISODE: Welcome to another episode of the Daily Radio Bible with your host, Hunter. Today, we continue our journey through the scriptures with Day 102. Hunter,  will be guiding us through readings from First Samuel 13, First Chronicles 2 and 3, and Second Corinthians 12. Together, we'll explore stories of leadership and challenges faced by Saul, discover the lineage detailed in First Chronicles, and delve into Paul's reflections in Corinthians about relying on God's grace amidst his own struggles. Join us as we dive into the word, seeking wisdom, encouragement, and a deeper understanding of God's presence and love in our lives. Whether you're at home, on a walk, or commuting, we're glad you're here with us on this spiritual journey. So grab your Bible and let's get into today's readings! TODAY'S DEVOTION: What do you really want? Is it comfort, security, pleasure, recognition? Maybe it's something related to your family. Maybe you want healing for a child or a spouse for yourself. Paul wanted something too. He wanted it badly. He pleaded for it. He wanted this thing that was bothering him to stop. He called it his thorn in the flesh. And the origins of this thing came from Satan himself, we're told. We're not exactly sure what it was, but the description seems to cover all the bases. We all have needs, physical and spiritual needs, and we all end up crying out to God, asking him to deliver us, to take that thing, to correct that thing, to heal that thing, whatever that thing is, and we see that Paul was no different. He pleaded and pleaded and continued to plead. Whatever it was, Paul felt that it was holding him back. This is what Paul really wanted. He saw God delivering and providing and doing miracles that were both spiritual and physical for others. Why didn't God do the same for Paul? Why doesn't he do the same thing for you, for me? Maybe it's because there's something Paul and you and I need that's more important than what we want. Paul needed to know the power of grace in his life. God tells Paul, not once, but three times, grace is what you need. My grace is perfected in your weakness. And so Paul began to treasure even his weaknesses because they became a doorway to the grace, the presence, the love of God. Maybe there's something that we need that's more important than what we want. And the prayer of my own soul to his is that I will have the wisdom, the courage, the grace to receive it. And that's the prayer that I have for my family, for my wife, and my daughters, and my son. And that's a prayer that I have for you. May it be so. TODAY'S PRAYERS: Lord God Almighty and everlasting father you have brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your Mighty power that we might not fall into sin or be overcome by adversity. And in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose  through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen.   Oh God you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth and sent your blessed son to preach peace to those who are far and those who are near. Grant that people everywhere may seek after you, and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.   And now Lord,  make me an instrument of your peace.  Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon.  Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope.  Where there is darkness, light.  And where there is sadness,  Joy.  Oh Lord grant that I might not seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.  For it is in the giving that we receive, in the pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in the dying that we are born unto eternal life.  Amen And now as our Lord has taught us we are bold to pray... Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image. And nourishing us with spiritual food, now send us forth as forgiven people, healed and renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world, and continue in the risen life of Christ.  Amen.  OUR WEBSITE: www.dailyradiobible.com We are reading through the New Living Translation.   Leave us a voicemail HERE: https://www.speakpipe.com/dailyradiobible Subscribe to us at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dailyradiobible/featured OTHER PODCASTS: Listen with Apple Podcast DAILY BIBLE FOR KIDS DAILY PSALMS DAILY PROVERBS DAILY LECTIONARY DAILY CHRONOLOGICAL  

Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: 1 Samuel 11-12; 1 Chronicles 1; 2 Cor 11 Click HERE to give! Get Free App Here! One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on 'The Daily Radio Bible' for a daily 20-minute spiritual journey. Engage with scripture readings, heartfelt devotionals, and collective prayers that draw you into the heart of God's love. Embark on this year-long voyage through the Bible, and let each day's passage uplift and inspire you. TODAY'S EPISODE: Welcome to this episode of the Daily Radio Bible, where we're diving into day 102 of our immersive journey through the Bible with your host, Hunter. Today, we take a look behind the pages of First Samuel chapters eleven and twelve, explore the genealogies in First Chronicles chapter one, and reflect on the profound insights from Second Corinthians chapter eleven. From Saul's stirring leadership in times of crisis, to the long lineage of faith, and Paul's candid testament of strength found in weakness, each reading brings its unique perspective on our walk in faith. We'll also spend time in prayer together, seeking guidance and strength for the day ahead. So, settle in as Hunter unravels the scriptures and invites you into a deeper experience of God's word. Let's continue to open our hearts and minds to the transformative power of these ancient texts. TODAY'S DEVOTION: It's an upside-down world. Paul's being lowered in a basket through a hole in the wall outside of the city. As he's being lowered, God is lifting him up. We've been invited into an upside-down world. It's a world where those who are lowered down are being lifted up, while those who lift themselves up are being lowered from within. Paul very briefly talks about his elevated days. He reminds his readers just how elevated he was, that he was like those super apostles. But Paul wants them to know that this elevated status did nothing for his soul. In fact, he was descending from within, even while on the outside, his status was soaring high. Paul tells us that it was while he was being lowered, descending on the outside, accused and scorned and whipped and stoned and shipwrecked, hungry alone on the outside, even as he was being lowered in a basket, it was in these moments that God showed himself most present in his life. It was there that Paul knew God's strength the most. He experienced God's love most intimately when he was being lowered in that basket outside the city. It was a defining moment for Paul. God does his deepest work in our lowering, and anyone, super apostle or not, who tells us otherwise, might want to be avoided. See God in the lowering. Experience the fellowship of his suffering there. He is faithful to bring about his good purposes in all of our circumstances. And the prayer of my own heart today is that I will participate with him in faith, even in the lowering. That's the prayer that I have for my own soul. That's the prayer that I have for my family, for my wife and my daughters and my son. And that's the prayer that I have for you. May it be so. TODAY'S PRAYERS: Lord God Almighty and everlasting father you have brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your Mighty power that we might not fall into sin or be overcome by adversity. And in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose  through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen.   Oh God you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth and sent your blessed son to preach peace to those who are far and those who are near. Grant that people everywhere may seek after you, and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.   And now Lord,  make me an instrument of your peace.  Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon.  Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope.  Where there is darkness, light.  And where there is sadness,  Joy.  Oh Lord grant that I might not seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.  For it is in the giving that we receive, in the pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in the dying that we are born unto eternal life.  Amen And now as our Lord has taught us we are bold to pray... Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image. And nourishing us with spiritual food, now send us forth as forgiven people, healed and renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world, and continue in the risen life of Christ.  Amen.  OUR WEBSITE: www.dailyradiobible.com We are reading through the New Living Translation.   Leave us a voicemail HERE: https://www.speakpipe.com/dailyradiobible Subscribe to us at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dailyradiobible/featured OTHER PODCASTS: Listen with Apple Podcast DAILY BIBLE FOR KIDS DAILY PSALMS DAILY PROVERBS DAILY LECTIONARY DAILY CHRONOLOGICAL  

If God is a God of blessing – then what about all the suffering we go through? And anyway, if God does bless, does that just mean a new car and a bigger house?   Does God want to Bless Me? Perhaps you've heard people say that we're “Blessed to be a Blessing”. But man, it's so easy to get the wrong idea about what God really, truly means by that word “blessing”. I see so much misunderstanding about God and His heart and where He stands on blessing us. There seems to be a couple of extreme positions on this whole subject of God's blessing – two opposite ends of the spectrum, if you like. On the one end, it goes something like this. God wants to bless me, therefore, I should believe Him for the new Mercedes convertible, more money and a bigger house and a big diamond ring. In effect it kind of reduces God down to some sort of sugar daddy: it's all about me, I am at centre stage – I name it and I claim it. And you know something, lots of Christians believe that. Now the problem that I have with that end of the spectrum is that when I take that and I hold it in one hand and I hold the cross of Christ in the other – when I look at Jesus, this Jesus that gave up everything for me; this Jesus who was nailed to a cross, beaten and bruised and brutalised, not even with the clothes on His back – and I compare those two things, you know something, this end of the spectrum over here, jars with that, don't you think? And it leads to some of the worst excesses – the tele-evangelists pressuring people for money and flying around in their private jets. Is that where that should end up? I mean is that what God's blessing is all about? The other end of the spectrum is you have to be poor to serve God. Money is evil. In fact, we just had a phone call, just the other evening, in the middle of the night, someone responding to a program, saying, "money is evil". Well, no that's not what the Bible says. The Bible says, “The love of money is the root of all evil”, but money itself isn't evil. "People who are rich are evil." I was talking to a man in India recently. India by and large, is a country of extremes – there is the very rich and there's a large, large number of very, very poor people. And this man was being very critical of a Christian leader who just happened to have a nice house in a nice area. He believed that it was wrong for him to have money. Then I looked at this end of the spectrum – you have to be a pauper to serve God. And then I go to the Bible and I read about Abraham, who was God's chosen man; he was very wealthy. I read about King Solomon, he was very wealthy. Yet King Solomon was still God's anointed leader over Israel. He was full of God's wisdom. Do you see the problem? You go to either end of the spectrum and you take teaching about God's blessing to the extreme and you know, I think you end up with the wrong answer. God is a God of balance and when we look at our lives, what we see is that we go through times of blessing, where there's joy and everything seems to be going well and we all go through difficult times. You see the problem. At one end you can have people getting the extreme prosperity thing in their heads and we can end up thinking it's all about us. It plays right into the hands of the world; it's the me, me, me – the next plasma TV, the next car, the next big thing. If you don't have that, obviously you don't have enough faith. On the other hand, if you have this perception that you have to be poor to be a Christian, well if that were the case, who would ever fund the work of the Lord on this planet? God has always chosen to fund His work through His people. And then on top of the pure monitory thing, there's the reality of tragedy and pain and suffering. I mean some of these things are indiscriminate – earthquakes, tsunamis, a young person who loves God dies of cancer, in a car crash or there's divorce or there's retrenchment or there's all that stuff of life that we all experience some times. Are you with me? So what's God's plan? Does God want to bless me or not? Is it okay for me to ask for His blessing? Is it okay for me to expect His blessing, or is that presumptuous? This is an important question. It is in a sense where the ‘rubber' of faith hits the ‘road' of life. It's when it comes to faith in God being active, right in the midst of life's realities today, the things we all have to face. We get up in the morning, we pray, we look forward to the day … How do I pray, what do I give thanks for? That difficult situation that's going be confronting me at work today, can I ask God to help me with that? Is God in all of that? That's why we are doing this series "Blessed to be a Blessing". I'm a simple man. I open the Bible, I see what God's Word says on a subject and you know God is largely a God of balance. I love to be empowered with God's Word and hopefully as we share these next twenty, twenty five minutes together we will both be empowered by God's Word. The problem with teaching on blessing is that you just can't take one verse and say, "That's it! See, God is a God who blesses; therefore I can ask Him for the next big car". You end up with an extreme position. Just as if you say, "You can't have any money to serve Jesus. You have to sell everything you have, give it all away", because Jesus did say that to one young ruler. I'd like to look at God's perspective; the whole thing. Is God a God who blesses? Well, let's just start with what we mean by the word "bless"? It has a number of different meanings but the main connotation is God's divine favour – God intervening to make something better or to give us something that will bring us joy or happiness, financial blessing, spiritual blessing, physical blessing, healing, anything and everything. God's divine favour – His blessing becoming active in our lives. The question is, is God in the blessing business? The word "bless" or "blesses" or "blessed" or "blessing", appears three hundred and fifty eight times in the Bible. The first time you see it is in the first chapter of the Bible, Genesis chapter 1, verse 22. Let's go there and have a bit of a look at what God's up to. Genesis chapter 1 is the account of God's creation. He creates the light out of darkness and the heavens and the earth and the oceans and the dry land and the plants. And the first time He creates a living creature, this is what He says: So God created the creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems. According to all their kinds and every winged bird according to its kind and God saw that is was good and God ... Listen to this: ... and God blessed them and said, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas and let the birds increase on the earth'. The second time that the concept of ‘blessing' happens in the Bible is in that same chapter, a few verses on, verse 26: Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image and in our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, over the livestock over all the earth and over all the creatures that move along the ground.' So God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him, male and female, He created them. God blessed them and said to them” – see, there it is again – “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth and subdue it and rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over every living creature that moves on the ground.' And then God said, ‘I give you every seed bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it, they will be yours for food and all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground; everything that has breath of life in it, I give every green plant for food.' And it was so. That's creation! Let me ask you something – do you think God's in the business of blessing us?   If God Blesses why do we Suffer? So we've looked at God's own account of His creation, Genesis chapter 1. The very first living creatures He creates, He blesses them. He says, "Go and multiply, increase in number and fill the earth." And He creates humanity, man and woman, and He hands the whole of that creation over to them. What an enormous blessing! You and I are joint owners in creation! Why? Because God created us in His own image and then He handed the whole thing over to us. Just stop and think about that for a minute. What a huge blessing! Right at the point of creation, God was in the blessing business. That's profound! And His plan for us was to live in relationship with Him – Adam and Eve. Genesis, chapter 2, verse 15: The Lord God took the man and put him is the Garden of Eden to till it and to keep it. A perfect plan of blessing and as you probably know, Adam and Eve rebelled. They did the one thing that God said, ‘don't do' and there were consequences. Rebellion against God always has consequences. To the woman He said, “I will greatly increase your pains in child bearing, with pain you will give birth. Your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you.” To Adam He said, “Because you listened to your wife and you ate from the tree about which I commanded you ‘you must not eat', cursed is the ground because of you. Through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you and you'll eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow, you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken – for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Enter pain and suffering because humanity rebelled against God. And for the rest of the history of humanity, there are consequences. Now you might say to me, “Berni that is so insensitive. If there's a still born baby, if tens of thousands are killed in a tsunami, if some young teenager is raped and murdered, how can you say that?” Here it is, God made us in His image but when who He is doesn't suit us, we try and remake Him into our image. God is a God of blessing – that was His plan, that's why He put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. But they rebelled and when that happens there is an interruption of blessing, there's an interruption in the relationship with Him. Have a look at it. In Leviticus chapter 26 is a perfect summary of where God stands on this. It's a summary of the old covenant; the relationship between God and Israel. And He lays out the relationship in this chapter. Let's go there and begin at verse 1. He says: Don't make idols or set up a sacred stone for yourselves, don't place a carved stone in your land to bow down to it because I am the Lord your God. If you observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary, I am the Lord. If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commandments, I will send rain in its season and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field will be full of fruit and your threshing will continue until grape harvest and grape harvest will continue until planting and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land. I will grant you peace in the land and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid of them. I will remove savage beasts from the land and the sword will not pass through the country. You will pursue your enemies and they will fall by the sword before you. Five of you will chase a hundred and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand and your enemies will fall by the sword before you. I will look on you with favour and make you fruitful and increase your numbers and I will keep my covenant with you. You will still be eating last years harvest when you have to make room for the new one. I'll put my dwelling place among you and I won't abhor you and I walk among you and be your God and you will be my people. I'm the Lord God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I broke the bars of your yolk and enabled you to walk with your heads high. But, but if your won't listen to me and carry out all these commandments and if you reject me and my decrees and you abhor my laws and fail to carry out those commandments and so violate this covenant, then I will do this - I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting disease and fever will destroy your sight and drain away your life. You will plant seed in vain because your enemies will eat it. I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies, those who hate you will rule over you and you will flee, even when there is no one pursuing you. See, God first and foremost is a God of blessing. He wants to be in relationship with His people and He is God – He gets to say this is how it is. And when Israel turned against Him, there were consequences. And you and I both have rebelled against God; we both have turned our backs on God at some point in our lives. I was talking to a man just the other day. He's my own age, he's a good friend of mine and he was talking about his three adult sons. This man had a dream to bless his sons. He's an entrepreneur. He's good at making money. He worked as a team with his sons; he wanted to build a business empire and to see them blessed and their children blessed. But one by one, they rejected him and his plans – they didn't honour their father. They went their own way; they turned their backs on him. It sounds like a parable, doesn't it? This is a true story – a friend of mine. And this is what my friend said to me, he said, “Berni, I really wanted to bless them, I wanted to give to them but now that they have rejected that, in their self-centered, selfish ways, I can't bless them.” and it's the greatest sadness of his life. That man is made in the image of God. What he said about his heart to bless his sons is exactly, exactly where God is coming from. God is a God of blessing, but when we reject Him, when humanity rejected Him, when you and I as individuals rejected Him, it interrupts the relationship. And it's in that relationship that we are blessed – that's God's plan. So we've all done that. Can we still go to God and ask Him to bless us?   Can I ask for God's Blessing? I hope that as we have looked into God's Word so far on the program, it's had a profound impact on you. God's heart is to bless us – it's in His very nature. That's what creation was all about. A huge abundant, indescribable blessing from Him to us. But when we reject Him, when we try to reconstruct God in our own image rather than accepting Him for who He is, we interrupt that blessing. It's as simple as that. Now we have all done that, so can we still ask God for His blessing, for His favour, for His grace? Absolutely, because God is a God of forgiveness. I'd like to take you to a place, a prayer by a man called Jabez. Someone wrote a book about this a few years ago and it became very prominent, but this prayer is in the Old Testament. If you have a Bible, grab it. We are going to First Chronicles, chapter 4, verses 9 and 10. It‘s in the middle of nine chapters of genealogy, you know, so and so begat so and so who begat so and so who begat so and so - nine chapters - riveting! Smack bang in the middle of that God stops and tells us the story of this Jabez. Obviously He thought it was important enough to break this riveting flow of the genealogies. Good stuff, thank you Jesus. Here's the prayer of Jabez: Jabez was honoured more than his brothers and his mother named his Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, saying, “O God, that you would bless me indeed and enlarge my territory and that your hand might be with me and that you might keep me from hurt and from harm.” And God granted his request. Jabez gets called "You're a pain" by his mother. Imagine if your mother or my mother named us that. Not a great start in life is it? Mustn't have been for Jabez because Jabez cried out to God. He cried out to Him in desperation, out of his pain, out of his imperfect life. We don't know much more about him but what we do know is that everybody has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and he rejected God in his life at some point, just the way that you and I have. And in his desperation he calls out to God. You might say, "Berni, how do you know that Jabez rebelled?” Let me ask you, if you're a parent, what's the first or the second or the third word that every child learns? "No!" Isn't it? And God's Word clearly teaches that we all have turned our backs on Him. So Jabez is a fallen man just like you and I are fallen human beings. What does Jabez ask God? “God, that you would bless me indeed.” Not just any sort of blessing an ‘indeed' blessing; not just an ordinary blessing of God, “I really, really, God, want you to bless me.” Secondly he asks God to enlarge his territory. In the Old Testament, land was very important, in terms of blessing. I mean, land is somewhere we live. If you have a house in the suburbs, you might take that for granted. If you happen to live in a Liberian refugee camp in Sierra Leon, where you are listening to this program, you won't be taking land for granted. Jabez asks God to enlarge his territory. Thirdly that God's hand might be with him. What a great blessing that is! And fourthly, that God would keep him from hurt and harm. And listen to what it says, (Jabez is a person just like you and me) listen to what it says next. It says, “And God granted his request.” This man put his faith in God and he asked God for a blessing. Once I discovered this prayer, I started praying it regularly, with my own twist. I said, “God, that you would bless me indeed today. I want to see your presence; I want you to be with me. God, that you would increase my borders and my territory. That more and more people would listen to these programs.” You know, I started praying that two years ago when these programs were being listened to by a few people on a few stations and now they are listened to by hundreds of thousands, even millions of people in over eighty countries around the world. God answers those prayers. “God that you would send your hand with me that doors would open for the work that we do and that you would keep me from evil that I wouldn't cause any pain.” It is just the Lord laid on my heart. The point is we can ask God for blessing. God is a God of great blessing and blessing happens in relationship with Him. When we reject God – listen to me – when we reject God it breaks the blessing. Just like that friend of mine that I was talking about with his sons. God wants to bless you … God wants to bless me and there's a purpose; there's a reason for His blessing. It's not just for us but as we will see over the next few weeks on the program, God blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others. But right from the beginning, right from the first creature that He created on this earth, He wanted to bless them. And when he created humanity, He wanted to bless them. And when He had a relationship with His people, Israel, He wanted to bless them. And we all turned our backs on Him and so God then gave us the greatest blessing that there could possibly be – He opened the door to a relationship with Him through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross. God is a God of blessing. Yes, we go through ups and downs in our lives, and we're going to have a look at some of those things over the next few weeks, but when I open the Bible I see a God who wants to engage, not just with humanity as a whole, but with little people like you and me and His heart is to bless us.

Cykl Drenai: 1. Waylander 2. Waylander II: In the Realm of the Wolf 3. Hero in the Shadows 4. The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend 5. The Legend of Deathwalker 6. White Wolf 7. Legend 8. The King Beyond the Gate 9. Quest for Lost Heroes 10. Winter Warriors 11. The Swords of Night and Day

Thank you for joining us for Christian Faith Center's Sermon of the week. This message is from our Nampa Location. Pastor Jordan shares a powerful word on the idea of hearing from the Lord in the coming new year.In the book of First Chronicles the Bible tells us about a man named Jabez. The first nine chapters consist of genealogies, listing more than six hundred names. Right in the middle of all those names, God singles out one man for special recognition, and his name is Jabez. There are only two verses in the entire Bible about this man, yet he's given honorable mention above the six hundred other people mentioned in the chapter. Why did God single him out? What did Jabez do that caused his name to be preserved for over four thousand years? What made him above average and worth mentioning in this way? 

Question: I have a Bible question which I don't understand—would you mind teaching me? In a Zoom Bible study originating from a Hong Kong Ministry, the teacher who is teaching suggested it is permissible to worship and sacrifice to the LORD at the high places since the Temple wasn't built yet and is forbidden after the Temple was built:But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire (Deuteronomy 7:5); And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God. But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come: And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks…. (Deuteronomy 12:3-6)1 Kings 3:2-3 said that Solomon offered 1,000 sacrifices to the LORD at the high place at Gibeon and after that God was revealed to him and accepted him, but in 2 Chronicles 1:5 Solomon actually went to the Tabernacle and offered at the brazen altar. So, did he do the right thing? Response: 2 Chronicles 1:3 tells us that Solomon, early in his reign and before the temple was built, worshiped at a high place. Verse 3 reads, “So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the tabernacle of the congregation of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness.” We know that the tabernacle was set up there. But, both Deuteronomy 7:5 and 12:3-6 clearly tell us that all the pagan materials are to be removed from the high place prior to any worship of the Lord. A “high place” itself is not a pagan location, except if the statues and the other things used in their rituals are there.Consequently, the reason Solomon worshiped at this particular high place was, as already noted, that the tabernacle was set up there. It was the same tabernacle that the children of Israel, according to the instructions given Moses, had constructed in the wilderness. Therefore, before the construction of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, the tabernacle was what God had chosen for the sacrifice and worship by Israel.It has been pointed out that Solomon's father King David had previously worshiped the Lord at this high place in Gibeon. First Chronicles 16:39 notes, “[David left] Zadok the priest, and his brethren the priests, before the tabernacle of the LORD in the high place that was at Gibeon….” The tabernacle was where the altar of burnt offering had been set up (see 1 Chronicles 21:29).Again, it was not the high place itself that made it a suitable place for the sacrifices, but rather a place cleansed of all pagan paraphernalia and with the tabernacle already set up there.

Can you share a time when you praised God for something specific in your life?Today in episode 1133, we're exploring "A Plan for Praise." Join us as we delve into First Chronicles 16, where King David provides a heartfelt guide on how to glorify God. Through key verses, we'll learn the importance of singing His praises, proclaiming His name, and remembering His wondrous deeds. Whether you're navigating a busy day or seeking spiritual upliftment, this five-minute devotional offers a daily dose of heaven to empower your spirit. Tune in and let's set the tone for a day filled with praise!Tap HERE to send us a text! Support the showNEW WORSHIP MUSICHear the new music project "Praise the Lord EP" from Metro Life Worship and Mary Alessi Listen on SpotifyWatch on YouTubeNEW TO MY MORNING DEVOTIONAL? We're so glad you're here! We're the Alessis, a ministry family working together in a church in Miami, FL, and we're so blessed to partner with the My Morning Devotional community and continue the great work done by the show's creator and our friend, Alison Delamota. Here's how to join our community! Subscribe to the show on this app Share this with a friend Follow Us on ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠Facebook⁠ Subscribe to Our ⁠YouTube Channel⁠ ⁠Leave a review KEEP UP WITH ALISON: https://alisondelamota.com⁠⁠⁠⁠IG: https://instagram.com/alisondelamotahttps://instagram.com/delamarried

Discover how a powerful prayer can expand your understanding of God and your true identity in Him, inspired by the wisdom of First Chronicles 28:20. This episode, based on "Strength to Equal Your Days," encourages you to break free from fear and discouragement, relying instead on the promise of God's unwavering presence and His commitment to complete the good work begun in you. Let go of the limiting beliefs that have fenced in your faith and open your heart to the miracles that await when you trust in His eternal constancy.

All of our stories have beautiful and difficult parts. Israel’s was no different. First Chronicles begins a narrative with a king who was unfaithful and rejected. But our story isn’t about rejection, but acceptance, because of our Faithful King–Jesus. From 1 Chronicles 10.

Understanding the characteristics of the mighty requires looking at some of David's top warriors. These men, detailed in First Chronicles and Second Samuel, demonstrate qualities that define true might. In this insightful message, David Bendett explores the profound characteristics that define mighty men and women through the lens of David's warriors. Drawing from biblical accounts, he shares fourteen key traits that can empower us to embrace our unique prophetic missions today.

Whether in moments of joy or times of trial, learn how worship transforms hearts and draws us closer to the heart of God. Tune in as we explore the significance of singing to Him in spirit and truth, inviting His presence into our lives. SUBSCRIBE to our sister podcasts:Your Daily Prayer: https://www.lifeaudio.com/your-daily-prayer/Your Daily Bible Verse: https://www.lifeaudio.com/your-daily-bible-verse/ Full Transcript Below: Welcome to the crosswalk devotional. We're glad to have you listening with us. Today's topic is why singing is a powerful way to celebrate God's wonderful work in your life. We'll return with the devotional after a brief message from our sponsors. Sing To Him written and read by Whitney Hepler. Sing to him, sing praise to Him. Tell of all his wonderful acts. First Chronicles 16:9 NIV.I sometimes sing my prayers to God, and I also love to sing pray songs at home or in my car. Singing helps me focus on using the unique voice God has given me to connect with him. It's also an enjoyable way to express myself. When I want to celebrate something wonderful God has done I naturally feel like singing.Lately I've been singing the simple yet beautiful praise song. I love you, Lord by Lori Klein, acapella and spontaneously, whenever I want to thank God for something. That song begins, I love you, Lord, and I lift my voice to worship You, oh my soul rejoice. Lifting my voice to worship God by singing makes me feel personally connected to God and inspires me to rejoice that God's wonderful work in my life.There is something uniquely powerful about singing.It transcends the spoken words we use in regular conversations and often take for granted. Singing taps into a deep spiritual part of us. And first Chronicles 16:9. The Bible encourages us to sing praise to God to tell him his wonderful acts. Music has a way of embedding itself into our memories and emotions. That makes singing a powerful way to celebrate the wonderful ways God is working in our lives. singing praise to God is a form of worship, that not only honors God, but also reminds us of His goodness in power. Each of us has a unique voice, a distinct way of expressing ourselves. When we sing, we engage this God given gift in a personal and profound way. Our voices become instruments of praise that resonate with our individual experiences and emotions. This uniqueness reflects our personal journeys with God. So singing helps us to discover and use our unique voices to connect with God more deeply.When we feel joyful, songs of praise can amplify our joy, turning our rejoicing into an offering to God. When we feel sad, singing can lift our spirits and help us find comfort in God's presence. The act of singing praises to God can transform our perspective by shifting our focus of our circumstances to God's greatness. Singing can be a powerful tool for self expression and connection with God because it involves our whole selves, body, mind and spirit. The physical act of singing engages our breath, creating a sense of presence and grounding and our bodies. The mental focus required to remember lyrics and melodies sharpens our minds. Spiritually singing opens us up to the Holy Spirit, making room for a stronger connection between our spirits and God's Spirit. We never need to worry about how good our voices sound musically when we're singing to God. God's focus isn't on our music, talents, or on our skills. It's on us authentically expressing ourselves to Him. God listens with the love when we sing to him from our heart. When we lift our voices in song to God with simple and genuine praise, we can notice God's presence with us and feel God's love for us. The songs we sing in worship are not just musical pieces. They're declarations of God's wonderful character and acts. So as you think of God's wonderful work in your life, sing praises to Him, not just as a ritual, but as a heartfelt expression of your love and gratitude. Let your voice tell the story of God's amazing grace and unfailing love. Your unique God given voice is invaluable gift. When you use it to sing God's praises you celebrate not only his wonderful acts, but also the individual way God has created you to connect with him.intersecting saith and life as you consider how singing can help you celebrate God's wonderful work in your life, reflect on these questions. Can you recall a time when a worship song helped you feel closer to God or gave you strength during a difficult time?What are some of God's wonderful acts in your life that you can celebrate through singing?How can you incorporate singing into your daily devotional time?How does using your unique voice by singing strengthen your personal connection with God? Further reading Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16,  Psalm 95:1, Psalm 10:2, Psalm 150:6. The crosswalk devotional is a production of life audio and Salem media. If you liked what you heard today, please take a second to rate and review this podcast in your favorite podcast app so that more listeners like you can find the show.For more faith filled inspirational podcasts, visit us at lifeaudio.com Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Pastor Steve Smothermon Jr. from Legacy Church explains "V.I.S.I.O.N." Vision without action is just a hallucination, inspired by First Chronicles 22:2-19. V.I.S.I.O.N stands for Vision Received, Insight Succession, Steps Taken, Inspiring Others, Overcoming Discouragement, and Nurturing the Future. To truly embody this vision, we must invest in projects with unseen benefits and live our legacy rather than just leaving one, encouraging kingdom-minded thinking meaning that individual credit doesn't matter; if one wins, we all win.“We help people win!” We want to help you get a 5 star rating in your life, whether it's through your marriage, your family, your job, or anything else.Did you receive Jesus today? Click the link below for a few tools to help you grow. :https://experiencechurchtv.churchcenter.com/people/forms/269183Subscribe to the latest sermons. :https://bit.ly/3bCFUEW To support the ministry and help us continue to reach people all around the world click here. : https://pushpay.com/g/experiencechurchtv?src=hppStay Connected With Us!Social Medias:Website : https://www.experiencechurch.tv/Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/exptvchurch  Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/experiencechurchtv

In this episode of Coffee and Prayer our devotions are found in Mark chapter 12-16, First Chronicles chapter 27-29 and Second Chronicles chapters 1 & 2. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coffeeandprayer/support

In this episode of the Celebrate Kids podcast, Dr. Kathy discusses the importance of music education for young people. She addresses the concerning trend of students dropping out of music programs and the decrease in enrollment in music classes. She explores ways to encourage young people to embrace music and highlight the disparities in access to music education among low-income and ethnically diverse school districts. 

Are you ready to embrace the bittersweetness of life and faith? This episode promises a compelling exploration of how we can find beauty and divinity in both our joys and sorrows. We will break down the Hebrew concept of bittersweet, an idea that encapsulates surrender and a bent spirit, to understand how this concept can show us the way to lean on God's provision. As we weave back and forth through the good and bad moments life throws at us, we find ourselves surrendering more to God's plan, finding solace not in the change of circumstances, but in the unchanging goodness of our God. Digging deep into Psalms 103 and First Chronicles 16, we find comfort in the eternal mercy and love of God, a reassuring reminder that even our longest sufferings are fleeting compared to the everlasting nature of His goodwill. Let these passages inspire you to refocus on God's character, to renew your heart's resolve to follow Him diligently. I will share a refreshing perspective on how the beautiful coexistence of worship and sorrow shapes us as Christ followers, proving that life's sweetness and bitterness are two sides of the same divine coin. Whether you are in a season of abundance or drought, we hope this episode encourages you to recognize the bittersweet reality of our existences and find strength in your struggles.Support the showLike, follow, subscribe, and drop an encouraging comment below

In this episode of Coffee and Prayer our devotions are found in First Chronicles chapter 19-21 and Mark chapter 4-6. We talk about how bad company corrupts good character and trust issues. We also discussed self-fulfilling prophecy, and how what you think matters. Lastly we go over the issue of pride, stewardship, and why you have to be careful of the people you surround yourself with. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coffeeandprayer/support

In this episode of Coffee and Prayer our devotions are found in First Chronicles chapter 12-15 and Matthew chapter 25-28. We discuss how God sends the right people at the right time. We talk about good intentions getting you hurt or maybe even worse. We touch on why we should ask God for direction, even if the decision is a no-brainer. Lastly, we talk about learning from your mistakes, and how the light in you will irritate the darkness in others. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coffeeandprayer/support

In this episode of Coffee and Prayer, our devotions are found in First Chronicles chapter 8-11, and Matthew chapter 21-24. We talk about God's faithfulness and power to restore, finishing well and staying humble. We also talk about the Hidden price of greatness, and how great leaders are really good at building up others. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coffeeandprayer/support

In this episode of Coffee and Prayer our devotions are found in First Chronicles chapter 4-7 and Matthew chapter 17-20. We discuss having intimacy with God, processing trauma, and following God's lead. We talk about being successful in the world, but unfaithful to God. we open up about God using our mistakes for his good and lastly, we talk about the power of a good name. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coffeeandprayer/support

In this episode of Coffee and Prayer, our devotions are found in Matthew chapter 13-16, Second Kings chapter 25 and First Chronicles chapter 1-3. We talk about getting what you want and not being mad at God when it's not what you expected. I talk about how God cares about you and He hasn't forgotten about you. We discuss how many of us know our history. Lastly, we chat about life being more than just bread. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coffeeandprayer/support

Audio Transcript: This media has been made available by Mosaic BostonChurch. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston ordonate to this ministry, please visit mosaicboston.com. Our Heavenly Father, you are a holy God and we marvel at your holiness and we are in awe at your glory. And we stand in amazement that though we rebelled against your reign and your rule, against your dominion over us, you Lord, did not leave us in our ignorance and darkness, but you provided a way for us to be saved. You did it through the life, the death, the burial, and the ascension of your son Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus, we thank you for revealing the fullness of the law of God to us. We thank you that you came, not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it, to ratify it, to show us that the law of God is good, and that we have transgressed it, and we deserve the wrath of God for that transgression. But Lord Jesus, you and your mercy and your love and your kindness went to the cross on our behalf. And today, as we remember your sacrifice on the cross, let us never lose sight of the fact that you were motivated by love toward God and neighbor. This is the epitome of what it means to love, Jesus. Thank you for defining love for us. That love is to lay down your life for those whom you love. And Lord Jesus, we thank you that you taught us the holy scriptures, and you expounded on the holy scriptures, and then you gave us the Holy Spirit, the indwelling power of God who is with us. Holy Spirit, today I pray that you light our hearts on fire for the mission that you have before us. The great mission and the great commandment and the great commission, empower us to fulfill your will here in the city. Give us a vision of what it means to be a city within a city, a humanity within a humanity, a people within a people, a people who submit to you, submit to your word and do everything that we do out of love for God and neighbor. And Lord, continue to use our lives to build up your kingdom. Show us how you have called each one of us individually to build according to the blueprints that you have given us. Lord, bless our service and bless the sermon, and we pray this in Christ's holy name. Amen. Today is our annual Mosaic Boston vision sermon. And every Sunday we meet here at this wonderful temple, Temple Ohabei Shalom. I always know who's new because they come in and they're mesmerized by the building. They haven't learned to see the flaws in the building as I have. I look at the roof and I'm like, "Oh, please don't collapse on us." Or the seats, that they're not the most comfortable. But it's a wonderful building. And temple Temple Ohabei Shalom means, the temple of the lovers of peace. And every Sunday we here open up Yahweh's holy word, God's holy word, which outlines the plan of God's peace, the plan of God's true shalom, which is universal flourishing. On our branding, we put our values which are love Jesus simple. Love, why? Because that's the point of the whole thing. God is love. And then God, out of love, gives his son, Jesus, motivated by love, lays down his life on our behalf, and God extends that love to us in forgiveness and by grace through faith in Christ. And then Jesus Christ is the word of God. He's the one that reveals God's word to us, confirms God's word. He shows us that everything that preceded him was true. And he does that by coming back from the dead. And what Jesus does is he shows us though God is love, love is not God. Jesus defines what it means to love God, what it means to love neighbor as self. And then by simple we mean that the Holy Spirit loves to simplify. Truth is simple. Satan loves to obfuscate. Satan loves to add rules upon rules, human tradition, manmade rules, and people lose sight of what it means to love God. And by simplicity, we have a very simple method of ministry here at Mosaic, we do what the early church did, we gather for worship publicly in the temple and then we meet in small groups around the city during the week. And that's how we practice community. And then service, we volunteer here and we volunteer our time, and we do want to see the next generation of believers built up. We volunteer at Mini Mosaic. A little more later on that. We are recruiting more volunteers for Mini Mosaic, which is a crucial ministry. But what is our vision? Where are we going? And by vision, I do not mean I foresee the future. By vision, I mean I believe that the Lord has impressed on my heart and mind blueprints for how we are to operate, how we are to build this church, how we are to build the kingdom. And this is how often God works. Moses goes up on the mountain and he is given the blueprint for the law of God, the 10 Commandments, the moral law. Moses goes up on the mountain again and he's given the architectural plans, the blueprints for the tabernacle. How are we to build the tabernacle? David, in the same way, receives from the Lord, the blueprints for how are we going to build the temple of God. Ezekiel gets a vision of the temple in the city, of the land and he gets blueprints. And then God's spirit comes upon God's people and God says, "I've given you opportunities, talents, I have given you skills, I have given you resources." And then the Holy Spirit helps you find your place in how you then practically build the kingdom of God. Our vision, and I'll unpack every word, "Mosaic Boston aspires to joyfully become a worldwide kingdom building force by proclaiming, believing and obeying the whole council of God, and thereby building men and women of God committed to the great mission, the great commandment and the great commission." So first of all, we aspire to do everything we do joyfully. Psalm 100 verse one and two, "Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come into his presence with singing." Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice." There's this one episode in holy scripture where God gives the power of the Holy Spirit, to the disciples and they go and they're doing miracles, and they started casting out demons in the name of Jesus Christ because the name of Jesus is above every other name. And then they come back to Jesus and they're like, "Jesus, even the demons obey us." You know what Jesus says? "Rejoice not that the demons obey you, rejoice that your names are written in heaven." So everything we do, we do as propelled out of the outflow of our joy, in that we get to be the children of God. We were adopted into the family of God and he's given us a wonderful mission. We aspire joyfully to become a worldwide kingdom building force. One of the reasons that God puts Israel, the people of God, in the Promised Land initially was because of the geographic location. In many profound ways, Israel, the promised land stood at the crossroads of the whole world. Israel stood at the crossroads of continents and of historic empires. Israel is right in the middle, connecting Africa, Asia, and to a certain degree, even Europe. It's a land bridge and that's why it's called the cradle of civilization. And some of the most important trade routes in the world went straight through Israel. And why did God place them there? God placed them there because he wanted them to stand at the crossroads, to shape and influence the cultural forces of the day, and witness to God, witness to Yahweh, witness to the fact that there is only one God and he has created everything and he has given us a law, and we have transgressed that law, and we deserve the penalty for breaking the law of God is death. So we need redemption. Isaiah 43:10, "You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He. Before me know God was formed." Exodus 19, five through six, "Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine. And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." So Israel was commissioned by God to testify to the world about who God is and then minister to the world as priests proclaiming the excellencies of God. Jesus echoes the same words to the disciples after his resurrection, Acts 1:8 "But you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." St. Peter in First Peter 2:9 says, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." In Revelation one, four through six, John, to the seven churches that are in Asia, "Grace to you in peace from him who is and who was and who is to come. And from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom priest to his God and father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever." Amen. And God still wants his children to be his witnesses, to be a kingdom of priests, proclaiming the truths of God's word. And he wants to call us, and he's calling us to stand at the crossroads of life. And Boston, in many ways, is the crossroads of the world. People from all over the world come here for education, career, success, money, opportunities. This week, end of August, beginning of September, this week before Labor Day, I always play the same game every year. I try to count the moving trucks. How many moving trucks can I count? This week, I'm telling you, I don't know what happened, a hundred plus. I stopped counting after a hundred. And the moving trucks, they're all here. And if you know anything about U-Haul, they give keys to anybody. You got a heartbeat, you got a license, 18 years old, just graduated high school, here's keys to a truck. And then they show up in Boston. They don't know how to drive here. People have lived here for 10 years, don't know how to drive here. You got to know the ins and outs. You've got to be a master driver to make it here. And so it's chaos, but we are to extend grace. But what I'm saying is, is there a more strategic place in the world to plant your life and to commit to serve as a witness to King Jesus? Jesus is Lord, this is what we're... Jesus told the disciples early on, "Go and make disciples of all nations." We live in a place where the nations come to us. And over the years I've got so many stories, but one just came to mind recently. A few weeks ago we had this couple that was with us for a couple weeks and they were just visiting. And what they said was, "We were part of this church seven years ago and God so blessed us seven years ago that we've been following the ministry," and they felt called by God to go to Sydney, Australia and they're part of a church planning team. And they said, "We have a confession to make all the resources you put online, we just steal it. We just take it." And I was like, "Good, it's not mine. It belongs to the kingdom. Use it for kingdom purposes." Incredible influence worldwide just by preaching the gospel here. And what are we preaching? We're preaching that Jesus is king. Jesus is king above all kings. He's Lord above all lords. And there are only two kingdoms. There's God and his kingdom, there's Satan in his kingdom. There's no neutral territory. It's either you're with Christ and you're in the kingdom of God or you're against Christ and you're in the kingdom of Satan. And what we preach is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Anybody who believes, anybody who receives the grace of God, anyone who repents of sin and submits to Christ, you're transferred from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved son. That's Colossians one, 13 and 14. "He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." And once you're in his kingdom, we work the rest of our lives to submit everything in our lives and in our spheres of influence to King Jesus. At every single one of our membership classes, we use the metaphor of cruise ship verse battleship to explain how we view the church. A lot of places where the church has been around for a long time and they're resourced, what happens is you can professionalize every single part of the ministry and you cater to everyone's needs, and you go to the church, it's like a show. You have a good time and then you're gone. It's like on a cruise ship. Why do people go on a cruise? To rest and to be entertained, to eat tremendously, to have a good time. Well, church is not like a cruise ship. We're not here to entertain you. We're here to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and the full counsel of God. And God has given us a mission. And on a battleship, what unites the people? What unites the people is the mission. Why are we here? What's our purpose? And the Lord Jesus Christ tells us we have an enemy. And if you're new to the city, welcome to spiritual war. There is a battle for the souls. And I feel this every end of August, beginning of September. I feel it. I see it. There's prophetic dreams. It's people from all over the world. Powerful souls are brought here, and now there's a battle for their souls. Which kingdom are you going to serve? Which king are you going to follow? But recently I've realized we're not just a battleship. In my church office, I have a beautiful painting. It's a sunset in the back, it's gorgeous. And then this is just a massive aircraft carrier, rusted, beat up from battles, but it's going, it's steadfastly, steadily moving, powerfully moving forward. And then planes land on the aircraft carrier and that they descend and ascend. That's how I view ministry in Boston. People from all over the world. It's like their plane lands in our aircraft carrier and then the mechanics go to work. They see what's wrong with the engine, they fix things up, they fuel you up, give you new directions and new inspiration, passion, desire to continue serving the Lord. In a similar way to the people of Israel worshiping in a beautiful temple in Jerusalem at the crossroads of their world, we find ourselves worshiping God the same God at the crossroads of the world here. So we see the strategic importance of a church proclaiming the gospel of God, the full counsel of God here. By making an impact here, we truly are making an impact worldwide. Now, how do we do that? How do we want to make an impact for the kingdom of God, a worldwide impact? How? By the word of God. Proclaiming, believing and obeying the whole council of God. In Acts 20, St. Paul, after spending some time with believers in Ephesus, he's leaving them, and then he says the following to them, "Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God." What an interesting way of phrasing his ministry, explaining his ministry. Had he not taught them the whole council of God, there would have been some kind of responsibility on him. He would have been guilty of their blood. And he says, "I didn't shrink." Why with that language? Because there is sometimes a temptation to back off from doctrines that make people squirm. We approach preaching the word of God as we do with the goal of proclaiming the whole council of God. From Genesis to Revelation, this is the inerrant, infallible, authoritative word of God. This is the foundation of everything that we do. Do you not think I know which doctrines make people squirm? Oh, I know. I've done this long enough. I can tell by body language, uncomfortable, uncomfortable. Sometimes people make it very obvious they get up and they're flip me the bird on the way out. You guys don't see that. I see that. My life would be much easier if I did not touch the difficult doctrines. But to remain faithful to God and to remain innocent of the blood of all, I can't but stand on the word of God. This is what we do at the church, we stand on the word of God. Why? Because we want to deepen in you, not just your faith, but your obedience. And that's what true faith always leads to, obedience to the Lord. And we saw this with Romans, the bookends and Romans one and Romans 16, the phrase obedience of faith. Romans 1:5, "Through whom we have received grace in apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations." And then Romans 16:26, "But has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings, has been made known to all nations according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith." And by proclaiming, obeying and believing the word of God and the whole council, we thereby aspire to build men and women of God committed particular three things, the great mission, the great commandment and the great commission. And I start with the great mission. It's usually known as the cultural mandate. The word culture isn't in it and the word mandate isn't in there either. And I actually think that this title diminishes the weight of the charge. God creates Adam and Eve, he creates humanity. And then the first imperative that he gives them, the first charge, the first mission, is found in Genesis 1:26 through 28. And because it's the very first imperative, it carries primacy. The creation mandate as some have called it, is rather a dominion mandate. It's a mission to take dominion, commanding human beings to bring every sphere of society, as well as nature itself, into subjugation to Jesus Christ. So this is Genesis 1:26 through 28, what I call the great mission. "And then God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female, he created them, and God blessed them, God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." There are three questions of supreme importance to every single person. One, who is God? Second, who am I? And third, what does God require of us? And holy scripture here answers these three questions in the very opening chapter, and how you answer these questions impacts the trajectory of your life and eternity. We learn in the opening chapter of holy scriptures that God is, he is the supreme creator of all things seen and unseen, including humanity. And we also learn that man is unique in all of God's creation being made in the image of God. And therefore God has given us a unique responsibility of doing what? Taking dominion, exercising dominion over the world that God has made. And that's why twice it's repeated. This is why I've created you, to take dominion. This is the blessing, take dominion. God creates man in his image and after his likeness so that man would fill the earth with his offspring, continue to image forth more of God and exercise dominion over the created order. God has ultimate authority and he's given us delegated authority. His authority is absolute, ours is derived from God. He says, let us make man in our image after our likeness. There's a divine counsel. God uses the plural here, let us make. The divine counsel precedes the creation. And it's striking that it's plural, and the interpretation is from the whole council of God that this is the Holy Trinity. It's not a full revelation of the Trinity, but the doctrine of the Trinity makes sense of this text best. And man is to image God in at least three ways. First of all, God made us rational creatures. We can think, we can reason. We are to understand truth. We are to pursue truth. We are to develop our powers of discernment. God has also made us moral beings, that God has written His law upon our hearts. We know when we sin, we know when we have transgressed the law of God. And then God has also given us the charge of dominion. He's given us a royal office to bring everything in subjugation to him. Let them have dominion, in the Hebrew it's [foreign language] to master, to reign, to prevail against, to rule, to create order where there's chaos. And it begins with what? It begins with taking dominion of yourself. You are responsible for you. That you are responsible to submit yourself to the Lord. And when you do, he fills you with the power of God to continue taking dominion. He says, let them start with the fish, the birds and the livestock over all the earth. God made life to feed us. He made plants to eat in Genesis 1:29, and animals are given to as food after the flood in Genesis nine. And he does want us to take good care of the animals under our charge. God is a loving God. He even cares about animals. Proverbs 12:10, "Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel." I don't have any beasts at my house, but I have fish. I have five fish, and it is a godly thing to feed your little beast. They get really excited. I feed them. My youngest daughter is four. She's like, "Dad, don't feed them. I want that to be my job." She likes to... We are to master. We are to subdue. We are to care for what God has entrusted to us, and we are to develop its latent potential. And every type of being is to be subservient to humanity. Humans are not on the same level with dogs. We're not on the same level with animals. We are higher. We're not on the same level as the earth itself. We are beings that tower high above all other creatures. We are to be their king and their crown. We are kings of creation under God, and we have a delegated authority for restoring created and creation order, to rule with benevolence, not like a despot out for his own gain. Fill the earth, subdue, rule over it. It's stewardship. Dominion doesn't mean destruction, it means responsibility. And also it means to create. Genesis 1:27, look, three times the verb create is used. "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female, he created them." It's significant that God, for the very first time we find out that God is a creator. He creates, and he creates us in his own image and we are to be agents of creation and recreation. Man was created to image God, and image God by exercising true dominion under God's authority, for God's glory. We are to promote the worship of God. The service of God is to be maintained. And we are to develop and improve the creation around us. Improvement and development takes place when we're empowered by the king of kings. And then once we do take dominion, we submit everything to the feet of Christ. In order to subdue the earth, we must first understand its processes. This is why research is foundational for fulfilling the divine mandate. And then once we get that knowledge, we must apply in technology and engineering and medicine and agriculture, must be implemented for use, and business and commerce transmitted to future generations via education. The creation can also be described and praised in the humanities and fine arts. We are to further the good, the true and the beautiful. The dominion mandate thus authorizes all honorable human occupations as stewardship under God. So we must learn how the world operates, which requires expertise and knowledge and engineering and mathematics, physics, aerodynamics and agriculture. And then we teach our offspring to be involved in these areas as well. The tragedy is that leadership in practically all of these fields in our city and in our world has largely been taken over by secularists and humanists. People that don't honor God, they're not taking dominion for God, they're taking dominion for the enemy. So God's primeval commission here, the great mission has been, in many ways subverted. And Christians today need a new renewed vision and commitment, not only to Christ second coming, yes, he's coming. He's going to fix everything. And not just to the great commission. Yes, that's important. But once people are disciples of Christ, we are to teach them to obey everything that he taught us from the very beginning. So we need a renewed vision of the great mission of responsible world stewardship. So whatever your chosen field, you should aspire to be the very best. The mindset is whatever your job, whatever your field, I'm not just here to take part, I'm here to take over. I'm here to take dominion of whatever God has called me to. In Colossians 3:17, "Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God, the Father, through him." First Peter 4:10 and 11, "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. Whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God, whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies, in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." So as we study creation, as we use our talents in creation to subdue it under the feet of Christ, we become agents of this common grace. We are to make the world a better place by using our skills and talents to build things that are beautiful and useful, while countering the forces of evil and sin that oppress and distort creation. We live in a fallen cursed world, and it's only by the power of the Holy Spirit can we seek to reverse the effects of the curse. And Genesis 1:28, at the heart of the great mission, "and God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens, over every living thing that moves on the earth." The primary purpose of marriage is given here in Malachi 2:15, it's reiterated, "Did he not make them one with a portion of the spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth." If God's will is godly children, then of course it makes sense that Satan would do everything in his powers to prevent this, from sexual perversion to gender confusion, to abortion to divorce. And men and women of God must carry this work out. We must work together and have children who are then trained in a godly Christian fashion to carry out the dominion mandate. Overpopulation is not a concern for God, nor should it be a concern for us. The very idea of depopulation is demonic because Satan came to steal, kill and destroy. The words, fill the earth, incidentally suggest that fears of population explosion are much overdrawn. Evidently the world is well able to support a large population. And Satan's always behind depopulation. Why? Because Satan's not omnipresent. Satan can only be in one place at one time. He's not God. And the demonic, well that's numbered, they're numbered. And the more godly people there are, the more the demonic forces are outnumbered. It's the same power, the strategy over and over. Remember in Egypt when Israel was in the captivity, they were enslaved by Pharaoh. Now Pharaoh realized that they were multiplying so much more than the people of Egypt. What does he do? Force depopulation. We're going to kill the children of Israel. And Moses was saved by his mom. This mandate to be fruitful and multiply, this mission, is so important God repeats it twice after the great flood in Genesis nine. And how are we to go about this whole process of subduing and taking dominion and being fruitful and multiplying? It's all to be done with love, never harshly, but always tenderly, carefully and faithfully. The nature of man's dominion, if he is to be Lord of all, he must be servant of all. This was true in the garden before the fall as it is today. Remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ concerning the exercise of authority in Matthew 20:25, "But Jesus called them to him and said, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave. Even as the son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom." For many godly authority is true authority, but it's not based on force or coercion or manipulation. And to understand dominion, we can look at Ephesians five and draw analogies there. That dominion is not exploitive, it's not oppressive, it's always loving. Christ in the church, for example. Christ is the head of the church and Christ's headship of the church leads the church to thrive, to be fruitful, to become evermore lovely. Or the relationship between husband and wife, also Ephesians five. Under her husband's righteous headship, a wife is to thrive and be fruitful and become evermore lovely. And we've been given dominion over creation. If we exercise godly dominion over creation, under the lordship of Christ, creation will thrive and be fruitful and become evermore lovely. Knowledge and appreciation of our fellow creatures is essential. And it's all to be done in love. Romans 5:17, "For if because of one man's trespass, death reigned through the one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ." Romans right there, he says, if you've given grace, God gives you grace to save you. You're in the kingdom of God now, and now we are to expand God's kingdom by taking dominion. We are to reign in life. And it's a mindset shift. If you think about everything you are and everything you have, where in your life is there chaos? And where in your life do you need to take dominion, that you need to take responsibility? You know those days where you do not want to work out, it's the last thing... Instead of working out, you just want a large cheese pizza. And at those moments you got to remind yourself... Once in a while you got to take a break. But as a pattern rhythm of life, we have to take dominion of our bodies. I will tell my body what to do. Take dominion of your health. Take dominion of your mind, as much as you can, take dominion of your soul. Now I started thinking about just even house chores like this. I see trash and I'm like, "Ah, got to take dominion. That's my job, those dishes to do. I'm taking dominion of these dishes." But if you start thinking like that, I'm like, "Huh, all right, where in my life is life out of control? Where do I need dominion? Holy Spirit, give me strength." So take good care of what God has given you. Take good care of your possessions, of your finances. Take good care of your relationships and desire greater influence. Desire greater dominion. Seek to expand your domain of dominion. First Chronicles 4:10, there's a gentleman named Jabez and he prayed the following, "Jabez called upon the God of Israel saying, oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my border and that your hand might be with me and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain. And God granted what he asked." Do you ask God, "Lord enlarge my borders, Lord, give me more influence. Give me more of a domain to take dominion of?" Adam was given the charge to do this, the great mission, but he was given the charge of the perfect world. Therefore, his job was a gardener in the perfect world where everything was perfect. He didn't need a house in the garden of Eden, they lived outside. They didn't need air conditioning. Everything... The temperature was perfect. For Adam, it was 67. For Eve, it was around 73. God kept everyone... But everything was perfect. And God gave Adam a job. In Genesis 2:15, the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it, work it and guard it." So Adam's task was given to him before the fall. Before the curse, there were no weeds. He didn't have to toil by the sweat of his brow. Pregnancy or childbirth did not come with pains. Yeah they lived in a different world. There was no need to build shelter to survive in a harsh environment. And Adam did not do his job even in the perfect environment. He did not take dominion. He abdicated his responsibility. When Satan came and tempted Eve and him, he did not fight Satan, and therefore dominion of the world of the created order moved from Adam to Satan. That's why Jesus, when he came, three times in John 12, John 14, John 16, calls Satan the ruler of this world. This was supposed to be man's role, but Adam's willful sin led to him forfeiting the dominion. And then Jesus Christ comes and he comes to destroy the works of the evil one. And I find it fascinating, how did Jesus take dominion up until age 30? Jesus started his ministry at age 30. That's when he started teaching the word of God, telling everyone the kingdom's at hand, repentant and believe. But Jesus Christ, in crucial years of his youth, what did he do as vocation? He was a carpenter. He was a builder. Adam lived in a perfect world. He didn't have to build houses. Everything was perfect. Jesus Christ comes in the fallen world. How is he taking dominion? He is building. He's building structures in the real world to house real families. And that was part of God's blueprint. How do you expand the kingdom of God? By building, in order to house, to house families and house people and house the church. So now we are tasked with the same work, take dominion, in a fallen world, and we take it from Satan, we take ground for Jesus Christ. And real estate is part of it. We, as a church, we do have a vision of taking dominion... Yes, I want to take Boston. This is the reason why I moved here in 2009. My pitch to everybody was, we are taking Boston and we're going to proclaim the gospel of God until we fill Fenway Park with converts. Everyone in Fenway Park is going to get saved. Everybody. That's the vision. We want to take this city. But part of taking the city is taking dominion, getting rooted, getting real estate. And just one example of where I see this in scripture, Jeremiah 29, God sends the prophet Jeremiah as a prophet to proclaim to the people of God in captivity. They were taken from the promised land to Babylon. And he says, this is God's plan for how you are going to build the kingdom in Babylon. Everyone knows Jeremiah 29:11, it's on every Christian mug that you find. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare, not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." But the plans are actually outlined in the same chapter. That's why I'm like, you can't just pick and choose verse. He gives us the plan. He gives us the plan in verse four and seven, Jeremiah 29:4, "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, build houses and live in them, plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters and take wives through your sons and give your daughters in marriage that you may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there and do not decrease, but seek the welfare of the city where I've sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf for in its welfare you will find your welfare." So we do pray for the Lord to give you a vision, to be rooted here, to think about, "Okay, what's it going to take?" And I will tell you, I've been trying to do this 14 years in Boston. Trying to take dominion in Boston, you know how people say if you make it in New York, you can make it anywhere. If you make it in Boston and take dominion here as a believer, you can do it anywhere. You know real estate prices, and I know how hard it is to be fruitful and multiply and have children. You know what that takes. But the vision is still before us. And then whatever gap we have in our resources, we say, "Holy Spirit, we need you to supernaturally provide." And the Lord does that over and over. One way, if you are single or if you don't have children, if you have a love for children, one way that you can take part in this great commission here at Mosaic is joining mini Mosaic, volunteering at Mini Mosaic. We don't take anyone, by the way, we only take the best. There is a Navy SEAL tryout process. But this is one of the ways that we build up the future generation of believers. And then also we do recognize, statistically, 90% of people who become believers become believers before the age of 18. So we are to build up the kingdom of God and we do that through the great commission without forgetting the great commandment. God gives his people a moral framework to navigate the entire breadth of life, and he does that in the 10 Commandments. Adam was put in the Garden of Eden to work it and guard it. And the word guard means keep evil out. And he failed, and evil entered the world. So God gives his law to his people to show them the ways of life and to guardrail against death. You ever hear of getting Storrowed You know what that is? It's when... Remember the 18-year old who was just given the U-Haul truck keys? It's when that 18 year old follows Google Maps instead of the huge signs right before you enter Storrow, and they're just driving, they hit through the sign, and then they get stuck under a bridge. I view that as that's why God gave us the 10 Commandments. God doesn't want you to get Storrowed. If you break the commandments, the commandments end up breaking you. And yes, in the faith there are moral obligations. The 10 Commandments are still in force. This is how God wants us to frame our lives. Next week we're starting a very new sermon series through the Gospel of Mark. We're calling it Kingdom Come. It's going to be a tremendous series. But I write my sermons a week ahead, so next week's sermons already written, it was written on Friday. And last time I preached through Mark was in 2012, and I still got all the word docs. And I went back and I read my sermon from 2012. The introduction was great. It was like what's the best news you ever heard? And I had my classic joke in there. It's a girl, it's a girl, it's a girl and it's a girl, because I have four. But then I got to this point where I wrote this, and I got to confess because it's terrible. I said, "Jesus doesn't teach on morality in the Gospel of Mark. The point of the faith isn't morality, it's not morality, it's just about relationship. It's not religion, it's a relationship." Jesus Christ was Jewish and he was a Jewish Rabbi, he's the son of God who became the son of man. He said, I didn't come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it, to ratify, to show you what the point of the law is. Jesus Christ lived his life perfectly under the 10 commandments, offers his life as a sacrifice for our lawbreaking of the commandments. He gives us grace, saves us and empowers us in the Holy Spirit, to then live a life of obedience of faith according to the commandments. And then Jesus comes and he summarizes. He says, the first four commandments are all about loving God. And the next six are all about loving neighbors. So God defines what it means to love. Deuteronomy five gives us 10 commandments. "And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, hear O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb, not with our fathers, did the Lord make this covenant but with us, who are all of us here alive today. The Lord spoke with you face-to-face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire. And while I stood between the Lord and you at that time to declare to you the word of the Lord for you were afraid because of the fire and you did not go up into the mountain. He said, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain, observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath, honor your father and your mother as the Lord your God commanded you that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. And you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field or his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that is your neighbor's." The Sabbath here is a commandment given and is a commandment that transcends time. The Sabbath is a reminder that the purpose of life transcends work. The Sabbath is the only element of the creation that's explicitly marked as holy. The Sabbath belongs to God. Stress and burnout are hazards for driven people and the Sabbath is the best antidote. And God gives us the Sabbath that's still enforced. We do not Sabbath on a Saturday. We Sabbath on a Sunday. Why? Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is... This is one of the great proofs for the resurrection of Christ. What would it take for Jewish people who for thousands of years were taught the Sabbath is on a Saturday, the Sabbath is the seventh day, the Sabbath is on a Saturday. This is the day that you commit to the Lord. And then all of a sudden these same people are now taking the Sabbath on a Sunday. Why? Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. God built it in to the calendar. Religious people added hundreds of manmade rules to the 10 commandments, to the law of God. And they obfuscated the whole point. The whole point was this is how we love God. This is how we love people. And when Jesus came, he reminded us that the whole point of the law is love. Matthew 22:34, "But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law. And he said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets." So what do we do here on Sundays? We gather to worship God. Why do we worship God? Why do we sing to him? Because we love him. Why do we hear from His word? Because we love him and we love what he said. And then we pray together and we celebrate Holy Communion. These are essential practices of the means of grace and the life of a believer. All of our service follow the basic pattern of meeting together that's traced back to the early church. We sing, we pray, we teach from scripture and we respond by taking communion. And our goal isn't to manufacture particular feeling or experience. We want you to meet Jesus Christ. And when you meet Jesus Christ, that changes everything, and that leads to transformation. We're passionate about the person and the work of Jesus Christ. We long to see the message of the gospel, that Jesus Christ lived the life that we were supposed to live in obedience to God's commandments. And then Jesus dies the death that we deserve to die for our lawbreaking, and he goes to the cross, bears the wrath of God, takes the curse upon himself in order to extend mercy and the blessing of obedience to us. Every single one of us, we've broken at least one of the commandments. Not one of us has truly loved God from the heart or neighbor as self. We deserve eternal damnation. We deserve to be banished from the presence of God. But Jesus fulfilled all the commandments from the heart perfectly and then offers himself as a sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sins. When you look to the cross and you see Christ dying on behalf of you, on behalf of your sins, to redeem you, your soul, your body, your heart is filled with love, love for God, and then your heart is filled with love for neighbor. And we do practice loving neighbor as self here, beginning with believers, beginning with Christians. The way that we practice community is in our community groups. We have 20 plus community groups that meet different places, different homes around the week. What do we do in the groups? We open scripture, usually the passages that were associated and read on Sunday. We study the scriptures, we have conversation about the scriptures, and then we pray for one another. We do take membership seriously. At Mosaic membership, we hold in high regard. What's membership? It's a commitment, a mutual commitment. When a church commits to take responsibility for a person and a person commits to take responsibility for the church. And membership is a commitment and a covenant to further the mission, the vision, and the life of the church. How do we become members at Mosaic? The first step is to take a membership class. We will have the dates of the next one advertised soon. If you are new to the faith, perhaps you haven't been baptized as a believer, we practice baptism as believers, because Jesus Christ was baptized as an adult and we follow his example. And what is baptism? It's a public symbol of the spiritual death and resurrection of the believer who's died to their sin and resurrected to new life and Christ. If you have not been baptized as a believer, as an adult, we'd love to have a conversation with you about that. And then if you truly love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind, you love your neighbor as yourself, what do you want to do? You want to share the gospel with those who don't know the Lord yet. And this is the great commission, Matthew 28, Jesus before his ascension, verse 16, it says, "Now the 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him, they worshiped him. But some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I'm with you always to the end of the age." So we're not only supposed to take dominion over the physical realm, but we're also to take dominion over the spiritual realm as well. And we do that by proclaiming the word of God, proclaiming the gospel, and making disciples of all nations, spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. Baptism is done in the name, that's singular. And then we're given three names. In the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit to show us that there's unity in the Godhead, although there are three different persons. And in this charge where we see that God is community. In the very beginning when God created everything he said, let us make man in our image. The God who is community, the Father, Son, the Holy Spirit and perfect love, creates humanity for community. So God who is community here is telling us, community of believers, to go and welcome new members into the community. I love on the outside of the temple, if you haven't seen it, you can see on the way out, it says "A house of prayer for all nations." I love that. I do pray that Mosaic continues to be a house of prayer for all nations, and for as long as you're here, I pray that you are blessed. And then we are to take the message of the gospel and the kingdom building word wherever we go. And then we are to make disciples. We are to preach the gospel. We are to teach people that there's only one way of salvation. There's only one name by which we are to be saved. And the task of evangelism is so important that Christ gives us the great commission five times, in each of the gospels and in the Book of Acts, Jesus commissions us to go and tell the world the message of salvation. That though we are at war with God, he is giving us pardon, he's giving us amnesty, he's offering us forgiveness. And then we're ushered into the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Jesus calls his followers to give their lives in service of others and to take the gospel to the ends of the earth and make disciples. And whether you've spent your whole life in church or if you're just beginning to investigate the claims of Jesus, there is a place for you here. You're welcome to join, to serve and to expand God's kingdom in Boston, beyond, into the ends of the earth. Mosaic Boston aspires to joyfully become a worldwide kingdom building force by proclaiming, believing and obeying the whole council of God, and thereby building men and women of God committed to the great mission, the great commandment and the great commission. Praise be to God. This time we're going to transition to celebrate holy communion. We do this the first Sunday of every month at Mosaic. For whom is holy communion? It's for followers of Jesus Christ who are living in humble repentance. So first, if you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, we ask that you refrain from this part of the service. Or if you are living in unrepentant sin, we ask that you refrain, instead just think about the gospel and spend some time in repentance. If you would like to partake and have not received the elements, please raise your hand, and one of the ushers will give them to you. And as they do that, I'll pray for our time in communion. Oh holy God, we thank you that though there was a chasm between us and you, that you sent your son Jesus Christ, the perfect lamb of God, the Passover lamb, and Jesus, you were slain, and from your wounds you bled. Your body was crucified, and the word tells us your body was broken. And the greatest pain that you experienced on the cross was not just the physical, excruciating anguish, but the greatest pain you felt was the separation from the loving Father. When you cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Lord, you went through that, you went through that experience of drinking the wrath of God, the whole cup. And you did that for us so that we wouldn't have to. And Lord, right now, as we remember your sufferings, we rejoice that you did that because you love us. You did that because of the joy that was set before you. So we thank you Lord and we pray that you deepen our love for you, even now, expand even our capacity to love you and to love neighbor, and as we meditate upon your suffering on the cross. Lord, we repent of all sin of folly. We repent of insubordination, we repent of building our own kingdoms. And Lord, we receive mercy, we receive grace. And we pray that you continue to fill us with the spirit, continue and empower us to do your will. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. If you're new, there's two lids. First lid up top, you open up gently, and that opens the cup. And then there's a lid at the bottom. And that's how you receive the bread. "On the night that Jesus Christ was betrayed, he took the bread, and after breaking it, he said, take, eat, and do this in remembrance of me. Then proceeded to take the cup and he said, this cup is the cup of the new covenant of my blood, which is poured out for the sins of many. Take, drink and do this in remembrance of me." Lord Jesus, we thank you for washing our souls with your blood. We thank you Jesus, that by your wounds and the wounds of your body, we can find healing, healing for our souls, healing for our minds, healing for our bodies. Pray Holy Spirit, now send us that healing. Send us your power, send us your anointing. And Lord I pray that you continue to fill our hearts with the fire of your Holy Spirit for the great mission that you have for us. And to all do it with love according to the great commandment, love for you and love for neighbor. And Lord then empower us to your witnesses and to fulfill the great commission by making disciples. Give us opportunities to share the gospel with friends, family, neighbors. And I pray, Lord, in this season, save many people and draw them to yourself, draw the elect, and continue to convert and continue to build up your kingdom. And I pray, Lord, that you give us all grace now as we continue to worship you because you are worthy of all worship. And we pray this in the name of the Father, of the Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Audio Transcript: This media has been made available by Mosaic BostonChurch. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston ordonate to this ministry, please visit mosaicboston.com. Our Heavenly Father, you are a holy God and we marvel at your holiness and we are in awe at your glory. And we stand in amazement that though we rebelled against your reign and your rule, against your dominion over us, you Lord, did not leave us in our ignorance and darkness, but you provided a way for us to be saved. You did it through the life, the death, the burial, and the ascension of your son Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus, we thank you for revealing the fullness of the law of God to us. We thank you that you came, not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it, to ratify it, to show us that the law of God is good, and that we have transgressed it, and we deserve the wrath of God for that transgression. But Lord Jesus, you and your mercy and your love and your kindness went to the cross on our behalf. And today, as we remember your sacrifice on the cross, let us never lose sight of the fact that you were motivated by love toward God and neighbor. This is the epitome of what it means to love, Jesus. Thank you for defining love for us. That love is to lay down your life for those whom you love. And Lord Jesus, we thank you that you taught us the holy scriptures, and you expounded on the holy scriptures, and then you gave us the Holy Spirit, the indwelling power of God who is with us. Holy Spirit, today I pray that you light our hearts on fire for the mission that you have before us. The great mission and the great commandment and the great commission, empower us to fulfill your will here in the city. Give us a vision of what it means to be a city within a city, a humanity within a humanity, a people within a people, a people who submit to you, submit to your word and do everything that we do out of love for God and neighbor. And Lord, continue to use our lives to build up your kingdom. Show us how you have called each one of us individually to build according to the blueprints that you have given us. Lord, bless our service and bless the sermon, and we pray this in Christ's holy name. Amen. Today is our annual Mosaic Boston vision sermon. And every Sunday we meet here at this wonderful temple, Temple Ohabei Shalom. I always know who's new because they come in and they're mesmerized by the building. They haven't learned to see the flaws in the building as I have. I look at the roof and I'm like, "Oh, please don't collapse on us." Or the seats, that they're not the most comfortable. But it's a wonderful building. And temple Temple Ohabei Shalom means, the temple of the lovers of peace. And every Sunday we here open up Yahweh's holy word, God's holy word, which outlines the plan of God's peace, the plan of God's true shalom, which is universal flourishing. On our branding, we put our values which are love Jesus simple. Love, why? Because that's the point of the whole thing. God is love. And then God, out of love, gives his son, Jesus, motivated by love, lays down his life on our behalf, and God extends that love to us in forgiveness and by grace through faith in Christ. And then Jesus Christ is the word of God. He's the one that reveals God's word to us, confirms God's word. He shows us that everything that preceded him was true. And he does that by coming back from the dead. And what Jesus does is he shows us though God is love, love is not God. Jesus defines what it means to love God, what it means to love neighbor as self. And then by simple we mean that the Holy Spirit loves to simplify. Truth is simple. Satan loves to obfuscate. Satan loves to add rules upon rules, human tradition, manmade rules, and people lose sight of what it means to love God. And by simplicity, we have a very simple method of ministry here at Mosaic, we do what the early church did, we gather for worship publicly in the temple and then we meet in small groups around the city during the week. And that's how we practice community. And then service, we volunteer here and we volunteer our time, and we do want to see the next generation of believers built up. We volunteer at Mini Mosaic. A little more later on that. We are recruiting more volunteers for Mini Mosaic, which is a crucial ministry. But what is our vision? Where are we going? And by vision, I do not mean I foresee the future. By vision, I mean I believe that the Lord has impressed on my heart and mind blueprints for how we are to operate, how we are to build this church, how we are to build the kingdom. And this is how often God works. Moses goes up on the mountain and he is given the blueprint for the law of God, the 10 Commandments, the moral law. Moses goes up on the mountain again and he's given the architectural plans, the blueprints for the tabernacle. How are we to build the tabernacle? David, in the same way, receives from the Lord, the blueprints for how are we going to build the temple of God. Ezekiel gets a vision of the temple in the city, of the land and he gets blueprints. And then God's spirit comes upon God's people and God says, "I've given you opportunities, talents, I have given you skills, I have given you resources." And then the Holy Spirit helps you find your place in how you then practically build the kingdom of God. Our vision, and I'll unpack every word, "Mosaic Boston aspires to joyfully become a worldwide kingdom building force by proclaiming, believing and obeying the whole council of God, and thereby building men and women of God committed to the great mission, the great commandment and the great commission." So first of all, we aspire to do everything we do joyfully. Psalm 100 verse one and two, "Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come into his presence with singing." Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice." There's this one episode in holy scripture where God gives the power of the Holy Spirit, to the disciples and they go and they're doing miracles, and they started casting out demons in the name of Jesus Christ because the name of Jesus is above every other name. And then they come back to Jesus and they're like, "Jesus, even the demons obey us." You know what Jesus says? "Rejoice not that the demons obey you, rejoice that your names are written in heaven." So everything we do, we do as propelled out of the outflow of our joy, in that we get to be the children of God. We were adopted into the family of God and he's given us a wonderful mission. We aspire joyfully to become a worldwide kingdom building force. One of the reasons that God puts Israel, the people of God, in the Promised Land initially was because of the geographic location. In many profound ways, Israel, the promised land stood at the crossroads of the whole world. Israel stood at the crossroads of continents and of historic empires. Israel is right in the middle, connecting Africa, Asia, and to a certain degree, even Europe. It's a land bridge and that's why it's called the cradle of civilization. And some of the most important trade routes in the world went straight through Israel. And why did God place them there? God placed them there because he wanted them to stand at the crossroads, to shape and influence the cultural forces of the day, and witness to God, witness to Yahweh, witness to the fact that there is only one God and he has created everything and he has given us a law, and we have transgressed that law, and we deserve the penalty for breaking the law of God is death. So we need redemption. Isaiah 43:10, "You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He. Before me know God was formed." Exodus 19, five through six, "Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine. And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." So Israel was commissioned by God to testify to the world about who God is and then minister to the world as priests proclaiming the excellencies of God. Jesus echoes the same words to the disciples after his resurrection, Acts 1:8 "But you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." St. Peter in First Peter 2:9 says, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." In Revelation one, four through six, John, to the seven churches that are in Asia, "Grace to you in peace from him who is and who was and who is to come. And from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom priest to his God and father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever." Amen. And God still wants his children to be his witnesses, to be a kingdom of priests, proclaiming the truths of God's word. And he wants to call us, and he's calling us to stand at the crossroads of life. And Boston, in many ways, is the crossroads of the world. People from all over the world come here for education, career, success, money, opportunities. This week, end of August, beginning of September, this week before Labor Day, I always play the same game every year. I try to count the moving trucks. How many moving trucks can I count? This week, I'm telling you, I don't know what happened, a hundred plus. I stopped counting after a hundred. And the moving trucks, they're all here. And if you know anything about U-Haul, they give keys to anybody. You got a heartbeat, you got a license, 18 years old, just graduated high school, here's keys to a truck. And then they show up in Boston. They don't know how to drive here. People have lived here for 10 years, don't know how to drive here. You got to know the ins and outs. You've got to be a master driver to make it here. And so it's chaos, but we are to extend grace. But what I'm saying is, is there a more strategic place in the world to plant your life and to commit to serve as a witness to King Jesus? Jesus is Lord, this is what we're... Jesus told the disciples early on, "Go and make disciples of all nations." We live in a place where the nations come to us. And over the years I've got so many stories, but one just came to mind recently. A few weeks ago we had this couple that was with us for a couple weeks and they were just visiting. And what they said was, "We were part of this church seven years ago and God so blessed us seven years ago that we've been following the ministry," and they felt called by God to go to Sydney, Australia and they're part of a church planning team. And they said, "We have a confession to make all the resources you put online, we just steal it. We just take it." And I was like, "Good, it's not mine. It belongs to the kingdom. Use it for kingdom purposes." Incredible influence worldwide just by preaching the gospel here. And what are we preaching? We're preaching that Jesus is king. Jesus is king above all kings. He's Lord above all lords. And there are only two kingdoms. There's God and his kingdom, there's Satan in his kingdom. There's no neutral territory. It's either you're with Christ and you're in the kingdom of God or you're against Christ and you're in the kingdom of Satan. And what we preach is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Anybody who believes, anybody who receives the grace of God, anyone who repents of sin and submits to Christ, you're transferred from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved son. That's Colossians one, 13 and 14. "He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." And once you're in his kingdom, we work the rest of our lives to submit everything in our lives and in our spheres of influence to King Jesus. At every single one of our membership classes, we use the metaphor of cruise ship verse battleship to explain how we view the church. A lot of places where the church has been around for a long time and they're resourced, what happens is you can professionalize every single part of the ministry and you cater to everyone's needs, and you go to the church, it's like a show. You have a good time and then you're gone. It's like on a cruise ship. Why do people go on a cruise? To rest and to be entertained, to eat tremendously, to have a good time. Well, church is not like a cruise ship. We're not here to entertain you. We're here to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and the full counsel of God. And God has given us a mission. And on a battleship, what unites the people? What unites the people is the mission. Why are we here? What's our purpose? And the Lord Jesus Christ tells us we have an enemy. And if you're new to the city, welcome to spiritual war. There is a battle for the souls. And I feel this every end of August, beginning of September. I feel it. I see it. There's prophetic dreams. It's people from all over the world. Powerful souls are brought here, and now there's a battle for their souls. Which kingdom are you going to serve? Which king are you going to follow? But recently I've realized we're not just a battleship. In my church office, I have a beautiful painting. It's a sunset in the back, it's gorgeous. And then this is just a massive aircraft carrier, rusted, beat up from battles, but it's going, it's steadfastly, steadily moving, powerfully moving forward. And then planes land on the aircraft carrier and that they descend and ascend. That's how I view ministry in Boston. People from all over the world. It's like their plane lands in our aircraft carrier and then the mechanics go to work. They see what's wrong with the engine, they fix things up, they fuel you up, give you new directions and new inspiration, passion, desire to continue serving the Lord. In a similar way to the people of Israel worshiping in a beautiful temple in Jerusalem at the crossroads of their world, we find ourselves worshiping God the same God at the crossroads of the world here. So we see the strategic importance of a church proclaiming the gospel of God, the full counsel of God here. By making an impact here, we truly are making an impact worldwide. Now, how do we do that? How do we want to make an impact for the kingdom of God, a worldwide impact? How? By the word of God. Proclaiming, believing and obeying the whole council of God. In Acts 20, St. Paul, after spending some time with believers in Ephesus, he's leaving them, and then he says the following to them, "Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God." What an interesting way of phrasing his ministry, explaining his ministry. Had he not taught them the whole council of God, there would have been some kind of responsibility on him. He would have been guilty of their blood. And he says, "I didn't shrink." Why with that language? Because there is sometimes a temptation to back off from doctrines that make people squirm. We approach preaching the word of God as we do with the goal of proclaiming the whole council of God. From Genesis to Revelation, this is the inerrant, infallible, authoritative word of God. This is the foundation of everything that we do. Do you not think I know which doctrines make people squirm? Oh, I know. I've done this long enough. I can tell by body language, uncomfortable, uncomfortable. Sometimes people make it very obvious they get up and they're flip me the bird on the way out. You guys don't see that. I see that. My life would be much easier if I did not touch the difficult doctrines. But to remain faithful to God and to remain innocent of the blood of all, I can't but stand on the word of God. This is what we do at the church, we stand on the word of God. Why? Because we want to deepen in you, not just your faith, but your obedience. And that's what true faith always leads to, obedience to the Lord. And we saw this with Romans, the bookends and Romans one and Romans 16, the phrase obedience of faith. Romans 1:5, "Through whom we have received grace in apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations." And then Romans 16:26, "But has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings, has been made known to all nations according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith." And by proclaiming, obeying and believing the word of God and the whole council, we thereby aspire to build men and women of God committed particular three things, the great mission, the great commandment and the great commission. And I start with the great mission. It's usually known as the cultural mandate. The word culture isn't in it and the word mandate isn't in there either. And I actually think that this title diminishes the weight of the charge. God creates Adam and Eve, he creates humanity. And then the first imperative that he gives them, the first charge, the first mission, is found in Genesis 1:26 through 28. And because it's the very first imperative, it carries primacy. The creation mandate as some have called it, is rather a dominion mandate. It's a mission to take dominion, commanding human beings to bring every sphere of society, as well as nature itself, into subjugation to Jesus Christ. So this is Genesis 1:26 through 28, what I call the great mission. "And then God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female, he created them, and God blessed them, God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." There are three questions of supreme importance to every single person. One, who is God? Second, who am I? And third, what does God require of us? And holy scripture here answers these three questions in the very opening chapter, and how you answer these questions impacts the trajectory of your life and eternity. We learn in the opening chapter of holy scriptures that God is, he is the supreme creator of all things seen and unseen, including humanity. And we also learn that man is unique in all of God's creation being made in the image of God. And therefore God has given us a unique responsibility of doing what? Taking dominion, exercising dominion over the world that God has made. And that's why twice it's repeated. This is why I've created you, to take dominion. This is the blessing, take dominion. God creates man in his image and after his likeness so that man would fill the earth with his offspring, continue to image forth more of God and exercise dominion over the created order. God has ultimate authority and he's given us delegated authority. His authority is absolute, ours is derived from God. He says, let us make man in our image after our likeness. There's a divine counsel. God uses the plural here, let us make. The divine counsel precedes the creation. And it's striking that it's plural, and the interpretation is from the whole council of God that this is the Holy Trinity. It's not a full revelation of the Trinity, but the doctrine of the Trinity makes sense of this text best. And man is to image God in at least three ways. First of all, God made us rational creatures. We can think, we can reason. We are to understand truth. We are to pursue truth. We are to develop our powers of discernment. God has also made us moral beings, that God has written His law upon our hearts. We know when we sin, we know when we have transgressed the law of God. And then God has also given us the charge of dominion. He's given us a royal office to bring everything in subjugation to him. Let them have dominion, in the Hebrew it's [foreign language] to master, to reign, to prevail against, to rule, to create order where there's chaos. And it begins with what? It begins with taking dominion of yourself. You are responsible for you. That you are responsible to submit yourself to the Lord. And when you do, he fills you with the power of God to continue taking dominion. He says, let them start with the fish, the birds and the livestock over all the earth. God made life to feed us. He made plants to eat in Genesis 1:29, and animals are given to as food after the flood in Genesis nine. And he does want us to take good care of the animals under our charge. God is a loving God. He even cares about animals. Proverbs 12:10, "Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel." I don't have any beasts at my house, but I have fish. I have five fish, and it is a godly thing to feed your little beast. They get really excited. I feed them. My youngest daughter is four. She's like, "Dad, don't feed them. I want that to be my job." She likes to... We are to master. We are to subdue. We are to care for what God has entrusted to us, and we are to develop its latent potential. And every type of being is to be subservient to humanity. Humans are not on the same level with dogs. We're not on the same level with animals. We are higher. We're not on the same level as the earth itself. We are beings that tower high above all other creatures. We are to be their king and their crown. We are kings of creation under God, and we have a delegated authority for restoring created and creation order, to rule with benevolence, not like a despot out for his own gain. Fill the earth, subdue, rule over it. It's stewardship. Dominion doesn't mean destruction, it means responsibility. And also it means to create. Genesis 1:27, look, three times the verb create is used. "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female, he created them." It's significant that God, for the very first time we find out that God is a creator. He creates, and he creates us in his own image and we are to be agents of creation and recreation. Man was created to image God, and image God by exercising true dominion under God's authority, for God's glory. We are to promote the worship of God. The service of God is to be maintained. And we are to develop and improve the creation around us. Improvement and development takes place when we're empowered by the king of kings. And then once we do take dominion, we submit everything to the feet of Christ. In order to subdue the earth, we must first understand its processes. This is why research is foundational for fulfilling the divine mandate. And then once we get that knowledge, we must apply in technology and engineering and medicine and agriculture, must be implemented for use, and business and commerce transmitted to future generations via education. The creation can also be described and praised in the humanities and fine arts. We are to further the good, the true and the beautiful. The dominion mandate thus authorizes all honorable human occupations as stewardship under God. So we must learn how the world operates, which requires expertise and knowledge and engineering and mathematics, physics, aerodynamics and agriculture. And then we teach our offspring to be involved in these areas as well. The tragedy is that leadership in practically all of these fields in our city and in our world has largely been taken over by secularists and humanists. People that don't honor God, they're not taking dominion for God, they're taking dominion for the enemy. So God's primeval commission here, the great mission has been, in many ways subverted. And Christians today need a new renewed vision and commitment, not only to Christ second coming, yes, he's coming. He's going to fix everything. And not just to the great commission. Yes, that's important. But once people are disciples of Christ, we are to teach them to obey everything that he taught us from the very beginning. So we need a renewed vision of the great mission of responsible world stewardship. So whatever your chosen field, you should aspire to be the very best. The mindset is whatever your job, whatever your field, I'm not just here to take part, I'm here to take over. I'm here to take dominion of whatever God has called me to. In Colossians 3:17, "Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God, the Father, through him." First Peter 4:10 and 11, "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. Whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God, whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies, in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." So as we study creation, as we use our talents in creation to subdue it under the feet of Christ, we become agents of this common grace. We are to make the world a better place by using our skills and talents to build things that are beautiful and useful, while countering the forces of evil and sin that oppress and distort creation. We live in a fallen cursed world, and it's only by the power of the Holy Spirit can we seek to reverse the effects of the curse. And Genesis 1:28, at the heart of the great mission, "and God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens, over every living thing that moves on the earth." The primary purpose of marriage is given here in Malachi 2:15, it's reiterated, "Did he not make them one with a portion of the spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth." If God's will is godly children, then of course it makes sense that Satan would do everything in his powers to prevent this, from sexual perversion to gender confusion, to abortion to divorce. And men and women of God must carry this work out. We must work together and have children who are then trained in a godly Christian fashion to carry out the dominion mandate. Overpopulation is not a concern for God, nor should it be a concern for us. The very idea of depopulation is demonic because Satan came to steal, kill and destroy. The words, fill the earth, incidentally suggest that fears of population explosion are much overdrawn. Evidently the world is well able to support a large population. And Satan's always behind depopulation. Why? Because Satan's not omnipresent. Satan can only be in one place at one time. He's not God. And the demonic, well that's numbered, they're numbered. And the more godly people there are, the more the demonic forces are outnumbered. It's the same power, the strategy over and over. Remember in Egypt when Israel was in the captivity, they were enslaved by Pharaoh. Now Pharaoh realized that they were multiplying so much more than the people of Egypt. What does he do? Force depopulation. We're going to kill the children of Israel. And Moses was saved by his mom. This mandate to be fruitful and multiply, this mission, is so important God repeats it twice after the great flood in Genesis nine. And how are we to go about this whole process of subduing and taking dominion and being fruitful and multiplying? It's all to be done with love, never harshly, but always tenderly, carefully and faithfully. The nature of man's dominion, if he is to be Lord of all, he must be servant of all. This was true in the garden before the fall as it is today. Remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ concerning the exercise of authority in Matthew 20:25, "But Jesus called them to him and said, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave. Even as the son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom." For many godly authority is true authority, but it's not based on force or coercion or manipulation. And to understand dominion, we can look at Ephesians five and draw analogies there. That dominion is not exploitive, it's not oppressive, it's always loving. Christ in the church, for example. Christ is the head of the church and Christ's headship of the church leads the church to thrive, to be fruitful, to become evermore lovely. Or the relationship between husband and wife, also Ephesians five. Under her husband's righteous headship, a wife is to thrive and be fruitful and become evermore lovely. And we've been given dominion over creation. If we exercise godly dominion over creation, under the lordship of Christ, creation will thrive and be fruitful and become evermore lovely. Knowledge and appreciation of our fellow creatures is essential. And it's all to be done in love. Romans 5:17, "For if because of one man's trespass, death reigned through the one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ." Romans right there, he says, if you've given grace, God gives you grace to save you. You're in the kingdom of God now, and now we are to expand God's kingdom by taking dominion. We are to reign in life. And it's a mindset shift. If you think about everything you are and everything you have, where in your life is there chaos? And where in your life do you need to take dominion, that you need to take responsibility? You know those days where you do not want to work out, it's the last thing... Instead of working out, you just want a large cheese pizza. And at those moments you got to remind yourself... Once in a while you got to take a break. But as a pattern rhythm of life, we have to take dominion of our bodies. I will tell my body what to do. Take dominion of your health. Take dominion of your mind, as much as you can, take dominion of your soul. Now I started thinking about just even house chores like this. I see trash and I'm like, "Ah, got to take dominion. That's my job, those dishes to do. I'm taking dominion of these dishes." But if you start thinking like that, I'm like, "Huh, all right, where in my life is life out of control? Where do I need dominion? Holy Spirit, give me strength." So take good care of what God has given you. Take good care of your possessions, of your finances. Take good care of your relationships and desire greater influence. Desire greater dominion. Seek to expand your domain of dominion. First Chronicles 4:10, there's a gentleman named Jabez and he prayed the following, "Jabez called upon the God of Israel saying, oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my border and that your hand might be with me and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain. And God granted what he asked." Do you ask God, "Lord enlarge my borders, Lord, give me more influence. Give me more of a domain to take dominion of?" Adam was given the charge to do this, the great mission, but he was given the charge of the perfect world. Therefore, his job was a gardener in the perfect world where everything was perfect. He didn't need a house in the garden of Eden, they lived outside. They didn't need air conditioning. Everything... The temperature was perfect. For Adam, it was 67. For Eve, it was around 73. God kept everyone... But everything was perfect. And God gave Adam a job. In Genesis 2:15, the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it, work it and guard it." So Adam's task was given to him before the fall. Before the curse, there were no weeds. He didn't have to toil by the sweat of his brow. Pregnancy or childbirth did not come with pains. Yeah they lived in a different world. There was no need to build shelter to survive in a harsh environment. And Adam did not do his job even in the perfect environment. He did not take dominion. He abdicated his responsibility. When Satan came and tempted Eve and him, he did not fight Satan, and therefore dominion of the world of the created order moved from Adam to Satan. That's why Jesus, when he came, three times in John 12, John 14, John 16, calls Satan the ruler of this world. This was supposed to be man's role, but Adam's willful sin led to him forfeiting the dominion. And then Jesus Christ comes and he comes to destroy the works of the evil one. And I find it fascinating, how did Jesus take dominion up until age 30? Jesus started his ministry at age 30. That's when he started teaching the word of God, telling everyone the kingdom's at hand, repentant and believe. But Jesus Christ, in crucial years of his youth, what did he do as vocation? He was a carpenter. He was a builder. Adam lived in a perfect world. He didn't have to build houses. Everything was perfect. Jesus Christ comes in the fallen world. How is he taking dominion? He is building. He's building structures in the real world to house real families. And that was part of God's blueprint. How do you expand the kingdom of God? By building, in order to house, to house families and house people and house the church. So now we are tasked with the same work, take dominion, in a fallen world, and we take it from Satan, we take ground for Jesus Christ. And real estate is part of it. We, as a church, we do have a vision of taking dominion... Yes, I want to take Boston. This is the reason why I moved here in 2009. My pitch to everybody was, we are taking Boston and we're going to proclaim the gospel of God until we fill Fenway Park with converts. Everyone in Fenway Park is going to get saved. Everybody. That's the vision. We want to take this city. But part of taking the city is taking dominion, getting rooted, getting real estate. And just one example of where I see this in scripture, Jeremiah 29, God sends the prophet Jeremiah as a prophet to proclaim to the people of God in captivity. They were taken from the promised land to Babylon. And he says, this is God's plan for how you are going to build the kingdom in Babylon. Everyone knows Jeremiah 29:11, it's on every Christian mug that you find. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare, not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." But the plans are actually outlined in the same chapter. That's why I'm like, you can't just pick and choose verse. He gives us the plan. He gives us the plan in verse four and seven, Jeremiah 29:4, "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, build houses and live in them, plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters and take wives through your sons and give your daughters in marriage that you may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there and do not decrease, but seek the welfare of the city where I've sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf for in its welfare you will find your welfare." So we do pray for the Lord to give you a vision, to be rooted here, to think about, "Okay, what's it going to take?" And I will tell you, I've been trying to do this 14 years in Boston. Trying to take dominion in Boston, you know how people say if you make it in New York, you can make it anywhere. If you make it in Boston and take dominion here as a believer, you can do it anywhere. You know real estate prices, and I know how hard it is to be fruitful and multiply and have children. You know what that takes. But the vision is still before us. And then whatever gap we have in our resources, we say, "Holy Spirit, we need you to supernaturally provide." And the Lord does that over and over. One way, if you are single or if you don't have children, if you have a love for children, one way that you can take part in this great commission here at Mosaic is joining mini Mosaic, volunteering at Mini Mosaic. We don't take anyone, by the way, we only take the best. There is a Navy SEAL tryout process. But this is one of the ways that we build up the future generation of believers. And then also we do recognize, statistically, 90% of people who become believers become believers before the age of 18. So we are to build up the kingdom of God and we do that through the great commission without forgetting the great commandment. God gives his people a moral framework to navigate the entire breadth of life, and he does that in the 10 Commandments. Adam was put in the Garden of Eden to work it and guard it. And the word guard means keep evil out. And he failed, and evil entered the world. So God gives his law to his people to show them the ways of life and to guardrail against death. You ever hear of getting Storrowed You know what that is? It's when... Remember the 18-year old who was just given the U-Haul truck keys? It's when that 18 year old follows Google Maps instead of the huge signs right before you enter Storrow, and they're just driving, they hit through the sign, and then they get stuck under a bridge. I view that as that's why God gave us the 10 Commandments. God doesn't want you to get Storrowed. If you break the commandments, the commandments end up breaking you. And yes, in the faith there are moral obligations. The 10 Commandments are still in force. This is how God wants us to frame our lives. Next week we're starting a very new sermon series through the Gospel of Mark. We're calling it Kingdom Come. It's going to be a tremendous series. But I write my sermons a week ahead, so next week's sermons already written, it was written on Friday. And last time I preached through Mark was in 2012, and I still got all the word docs. And I went back and I read my sermon from 2012. The introduction was great. It was like what's the best news you ever heard? And I had my classic joke in there. It's a girl, it's a girl, it's a girl and it's a girl, because I have four. But then I got to this point where I wrote this, and I got to confess because it's terrible. I said, "Jesus doesn't teach on morality in the Gospel of Mark. The point of the faith isn't morality, it's not morality, it's just about relationship. It's not religion, it's a relationship." Jesus Christ was Jewish and he was a Jewish Rabbi, he's the son of God who became the son of man. He said, I didn't come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it, to ratify, to show you what the point of the law is. Jesus Christ lived his life perfectly under the 10 commandments, offers his life as a sacrifice for our lawbreaking of the commandments. He gives us grace, saves us and empowers us in the Holy Spirit, to then live a life of obedience of faith according to the commandments. And then Jesus comes and he summarizes. He says, the first four commandments are all about loving God. And the next six are all about loving neighbors. So God defines what it means to love. Deuteronomy five gives us 10 commandments. "And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, hear O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb, not with our fathers, did the Lord make this covenant but with us, who are all of us here alive today. The Lord spoke with you face-to-face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire. And while I stood between the Lord and you at that time to declare to you the word of the Lord for you were afraid because of the fire and you did not go up into the mountain. He said, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain, observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath, honor your father and your mother as the Lord your God commanded you that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. And you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field or his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that is your neighbor's." The Sabbath here is a commandment given and is a commandment that transcends time. The Sabbath is a reminder that the purpose of life transcends work. The Sabbath is the only element of the creation that's explicitly marked as holy. The Sabbath belongs to God. Stress and burnout are hazards for driven people and the Sabbath is the best antidote. And God gives us the Sabbath that's still enforced. We do not Sabbath on a Saturday. We Sabbath on a Sunday. Why? Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is... This is one of the great proofs for the resurrection of Christ. What would it take for Jewish people who for thousands of years were taught the Sabbath is on a Saturday, the Sabbath is the seventh day, the Sabbath is on a Saturday. This is the day that you commit to the Lord. And then all of a sudden these same people are now taking the Sabbath on a Sunday. Why? Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. God built it in to the calendar. Religious people added hundreds of manmade rules to the 10 commandments, to the law of God. And they obfuscated the whole point. The whole point was this is how we love God. This is how we love people. And when Jesus came, he reminded us that the whole point of the law is love. Matthew 22:34, "But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law. And he said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets." So what do we do here on Sundays? We gather to worship God. Why do we worship God? Why do we sing to him? Because we love him. Why do we hear from His word? Because we love him and we love what he said. And then we pray together and we celebrate Holy Communion. These are essential practices of the means of grace and the life of a believer. All of our service follow the basic pattern of meeting together that's traced back to the early church. We sing, we pray, we teach from scripture and we respond by taking communion. And our goal isn't to manufacture particular feeling or experience. We want you to meet Jesus Christ. And when you meet Jesus Christ, that changes everything, and that leads to transformation. We're passionate about the person and the work of Jesus Christ. We long to see the message of the gospel, that Jesus Christ lived the life that we were supposed to live in obedience to God's commandments. And then Jesus dies the death that we deserve to die for our lawbreaking, and he goes to the cross, bears the wrath of God, takes the curse upon himself in order to extend mercy and the blessing of obedience to us. Every single one of us, we've broken at least one of the commandments. Not one of us has truly loved God from the heart or neighbor as self. We deserve eternal damnation. We deserve to be banished from the presence of God. But Jesus fulfilled all the commandments from the heart perfectly and then offers himself as a sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sins. When you look to the cross and you see Christ dying on behalf of you, on behalf of your sins, to redeem you, your soul, your body, your heart is filled with love, love for God, and then your heart is filled with love for neighbor. And we do practice loving neighbor as self here, beginning with believers, beginning with Christians. The way that we practice community is in our community groups. We have 20 plus community groups that meet different places, different homes around the week. What do we do in the groups? We open scripture, usually the passages that were associated and read on Sunday. We study the scriptures, we have conversation about the scriptures, and then we pray for one another. We do take membership seriously. At Mosaic membership, we hold in high regard. What's membership? It's a commitment, a mutual commitment. When a church commits to take responsibility for a person and a person commits to take responsibility for the church. And membership is a commitment and a covenant to further the mission, the vision, and the life of the church. How do we become members at Mosaic? The first step is to take a membership class. We will have the dates of the next one advertised soon. If you are new to the faith, perhaps you haven't been baptized as a believer, we practice baptism as believers, because Jesus Christ was baptized as an adult and we follow his example. And what is baptism? It's a public symbol of the spiritual death and resurrection of the believer who's died to their sin and resurrected to new life and Christ. If you have not been baptized as a believer, as an adult, we'd love to have a conversation with you about that. And then if you truly love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind, you love your neighbor as yourself, what do you want to do? You want to share the gospel with those who don't know the Lord yet. And this is the great commission, Matthew 28, Jesus before his ascension, verse 16, it says, "Now the 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him, they worshiped him. But some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I'm with you always to the end of the age." So we're not only supposed to take dominion over the physical realm, but we're also to take dominion over the spiritual realm as well. And we do that by proclaiming the word of God, proclaiming the gospel, and making disciples of all nations, spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. Baptism is done in the name, that's singular. And then we're given three names. In the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit to show us that there's unity in the Godhead, although there are three different persons. And in this charge where we see that God is community. In the very beginning when God created everything he said, let us make man in our image. The God who is community, the Father, Son, the Holy Spirit and perfect love, creates humanity for community. So God who is community here is telling us, community of believers, to go and welcome new members into the community. I love on the outside of the temple, if you haven't seen it, you can see on the way out, it says "A house of prayer for all nations." I love that. I do pray that Mosaic continues to be a house of prayer for all nations, and for as long as you're here, I pray that you are blessed. And then we are to take the message of the gospel and the kingdom building word wherever we go. And then we are to make disciples. We are to preach the gospel. We are to teach people that there's only one way of salvation. There's only one name by which we are to be saved. And the task of evangelism is so important that Christ gives us the great commission five times, in each of the gospels and in the Book of Acts, Jesus commissions us to go and tell the world the message of salvation. That though we are at war with God, he is giving us pardon, he's giving us amnesty, he's offering us forgiveness. And then we're ushered into the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Jesus calls his followers to give their lives in service of others and to take the gospel to the ends of the earth and make disciples. And whether you've spent your whole life in church or if you're just beginning to investigate the claims of Jesus, there is a place for you here. You're welcome to join, to serve and to expand God's kingdom in Boston, beyond, into the ends of the earth. Mosaic Boston aspires to joyfully become a worldwide kingdom building force by proclaiming, believing and obeying the whole council of God, and thereby building men and women of God committed to the great mission, the great commandment and the great commission. Praise be to God. This time we're going to transition to celebrate holy communion. We do this the first Sunday of every month at Mosaic. For whom is holy communion? It's for followers of Jesus Christ who are living in humble repentance. So first, if you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, we ask that you refrain from this part of the service. Or if you are living in unrepentant sin, we ask that you refrain, instead just think about the gospel and spend some time in repentance. If you would like to partake and have not received the elements, please raise your hand, and one of the ushers will give them to you. And as they do that, I'll pray for our time in communion. Oh holy God, we thank you that though there was a chasm between us and you, that you sent your son Jesus Christ, the perfect lamb of God, the Passover lamb, and Jesus, you were slain, and from your wounds you bled. Your body was crucified, and the word tells us your body was broken. And the greatest pain that you experienced on the cross was not just the physical, excruciating anguish, but the greatest pain you felt was the separation from the loving Father. When you cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Lord, you went through that, you went through that experience of drinking the wrath of God, the whole cup. And you did that for us so that we wouldn't have to. And Lord, right now, as we remember your sufferings, we rejoice that you did that because you love us. You did that because of the joy that was set before you. So we thank you Lord and we pray that you deepen our love for you, even now, expand even our capacity to love you and to love neighbor, and as we meditate upon your suffering on the cross. Lord, we repent of all sin of folly. We repent of insubordination, we repent of building our own kingdoms. And Lord, we receive mercy, we receive grace. And we pray that you continue to fill us with the spirit, continue and empower us to do your will. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. If you're new, there's two lids. First lid up top, you open up gently, and that opens the cup. And then there's a lid at the bottom. And that's how you receive the bread. "On the night that Jesus Christ was betrayed, he took the bread, and after breaking it, he said, take, eat, and do this in remembrance of me. Then proceeded to take the cup and he said, this cup is the cup of the new covenant of my blood, which is poured out for the sins of many. Take, drink and do this in remembrance of me." Lord Jesus, we thank you for washing our souls with your blood. We thank you Jesus, that by your wounds and the wounds of your body, we can find healing, healing for our souls, healing for our minds, healing for our bodies. Pray Holy Spirit, now send us that healing. Send us your power, send us your anointing. And Lord I pray that you continue to fill our hearts with the fire of your Holy Spirit for the great mission that you have for us. And to all do it with love according to the great commandment, love for you and love for neighbor. And Lord then empower us to your witnesses and to fulfill the great commission by making disciples. Give us opportunities to share the gospel with friends, family, neighbors. And I pray, Lord, in this season, save many people and draw them to yourself, draw the elect, and continue to convert and continue to build up your kingdom. And I pray, Lord, that you give us all grace now as we continue to worship you because you are worthy of all worship. And we pray this in the name of the Father, of the Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

On this this week's edition of One Single Story, Pastors Stephen Mizell, Alyssa Bream, and Zack Unkenholz discuss the themes of First Chronicles. Why would God use something physical to symbolize His presence? Does God require order in worship? Does God give blessings only when certain things are present? Do you believe David was also operating in the role of a priest? Are there corporate actions that bring individual blessings? Are there things we only receive as a part of a group? We see that the worship of the Lord was so important to David that he appointed specific people to give thanks to the Lord through song. What's the importance of worshiping the Lord through music? Do the words we sing in worship matter, or is it more about the “feeling” behind them? Compared to First and Second Samuel, First and Second Chronicles leave out the majority of David's morally questionable acts. Why do you think that is?

The book of First Chronicles was first written to the Jews who were coming home from exile in Babylon. The writer wanted to remind the Israelites of their spiritual past, the times when they were blessed for their obedience, and the times when they endured the consequences of rebellion. It's a critical lesson for all of us to learn today, and Ron takes us there next, as he continues his teaching series, “Route 66: The Ultimate Road Trip Through the Bible.” --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/something-good-radio/support

Returning to your spiritual roots, on this Friday edition of Something Good. The first thing you'll notice about the book of First Chronicles is that it contains a rather long genealogical record. The writer knew just how critical it was for the people of God to understand their past, so that they might return to right relationship with God. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/something-good-radio/support

We rightly love the Christmas Story. We know that God arranged the whole scene, but few know the connection to Jabez' prayer. “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them. And they were terrified. But the angels said to them, Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” The phrase, “living out in the fields” is the word, “Agrueleo,” and is only used in this place in the New Testament. An active participle, it indicates that this was their habitual practice. In other words, they always lived in the fields. That was their home. These shepherds were the shepherds that raised the lambs that were sacrificed in the temple. But again, why was their permanent residence in the field? Even to this day, if you go to Israel and the guides will lead you to the area outside of Bethlehem, and it's called the Shepherds Fields. Why were they there? In Genesis 35:19-21, after Rachel died and Jacob buried her, he traveled a little bit further and he pitched his tent in beyond the Tower of Eder.Why is that important? Because “Eder” means the flock, and it's actually picked up later in a prophecy in Micah 4:8, which says, “O Tower of the Flock, the stronghold of the Daughter of Zion to you, shall it come (or to you he shall come.)” And this, of course, connects with Luke Chapter 8, because as we read later on, Jewish tradition made this tower Jesus' birthplace this long before Christ came into the world. Who built this tower? We don't know. But going all the way back now to the time of Abraham, 2000 years before Christ a tower was erected, Jewish rabbis said it'd be the site where the Messiah would come. Jerome, in the fourth century saw in this tower the foreshadowing of the announcement of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ to the shepherds, the ones that kept living in the fields. Today it answers to a place called Khirbet Sara, which is called “The Ruin of the Sheepfold.” It's very interesting that archeologists have gone to this place, and they have found all kinds of Christian artifacts showing that early on this was a place of worship. 1st Chronicles 4:9 reads, “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother called him Jabez saying, because ‘I bore him in pain.'” Kind of a rough name to give to a kid because it basically means he causes pain. “Jabez called on the God of Israel.” Now this is a noble, honorable man, according to Scripture, and he prays “that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that your hand would be with me, that you would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain.” Basically, he prays “I don't want to live up to my name.” We have to understand that in Hebrew thought the name your parents gave you was actually the name God already had planned for you before you were born, and it described your character. We see that playing out a lot in Scripture, in the names that were given to people. Jabez did not want to live up to his name. He did not want to be a source of pain. And then it says, “and so God granted him what he requested.” He requested God's blessing for enlarged territory. Jabez was not praying for literal territory when he prayed that God would enlarge his territory or enlarge his holdings. He was an honorable man. He was a noble man. He was thinking in spiritual terms. Which would you rather have? A big ranch or eternal impact? What would you rather have? Would you rather have holdings in this world? Or would you rather have impact in history and reward and eternity? Jabez was praying for something much, much bigger, than what most people think of. How do we know that God answered this prayer? And why in the world will this relate to the shepherds in the field? Well, if you just slide over to 1st Chronicles 2:54-55 which says, “54 The sons of Salma were Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth Beth Joab, half of the Manahethites, and the Zorites. And the families of the scribes who dwelt at Jabez were the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and the Suchathites. These were the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.” you know, the Kennites were not Jews. They came from Moses, father-in-law, Jethro, who came from Hamath, the father of the House of Recab. Now, I know you think that we've already lost the trail, but we're just closing in on it. The Tower of Eder, which stood just outside the village that later is called Bethlehem, was the former site of a village of Jabez. Jabez' Prayer began by a village being named for him near the Tower of Eder. And who were the Kennites? Not Jews, but people who later actually married into the Levitival priesthood. Notice the important words here. They were scribes who dwelt at Jabez. The job of the scribe was to copy the scriptures, to study the Scriptures and to teach the Scriptures. The beginning of the answer to Jabez prayer was a group of people, not even Jews, but proselytes, who came in because of faith, and they became the leading Bible scholars of their time. It tells us at the end of the verse as well that they were of the House of Recab. 1500 years later, in Jeremiah 35, we see more of the Recabites. Jeremiah wanted to use these people as an example to the children of Israel of what faithfulness should look like. Jeremiah is told, “bring them into the House of the Lord, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.” So, Jeremiah said, I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah. The son of “who and who....” “His brothers and all his sons, the whole house of the Rechabites. I brought them into the House of the Lord, into the chamber of the Sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah.” They really get into the genealogies here. “A man of God, which was by the chamber of the Princes above the chamber,” and so on and so forth. Verse five says, “I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabite bowls full of wine and cups, and I said, ‘Drink wine.'” Jeremiah's doing what God commanded him to do. “But they said, we will drink no wine for Jonadab, the son of Rechab.” Once again, keep in mind the link back to First Chronicles. “Our father commanded us saying, ‘You shall drink no wine, you nor your sons forever.'” That was not the only requirement he placed on them, however. Verse seven says, “You shall not build a house or sow seed or plant a vineyard, nor have any of these. All your days you shall dwell in tents that you may live many days in the land where you are sojourners.” The Rechabites through all their generations, became shepherds and lived in tents. And as we come down to Jeremiah's commendation of these people, he says in verse 16, “Surely the sons of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them. But this people, meaning Israel, God says, has not obeyed me. Therefore, thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel. Behold, I will bring on Judah, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, all the doom that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them, but they have not heard. I have called to them, but they have not answered. And Jeremiah said to the House of the Rechabites, “Thus says the Lord God of hosts the God of Israel, because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts have done according to all that he commanded you. Therefore, thus, as the Lord God of host the God of Israel, Jonadab, the Son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before me forever. Can you connect this unique group of people who took a vow that they would always remain nomads and shepherds who were linked to the village that once stood slightly outside of Bethlehem, all the way down to the shepherds that ultimately stood before the Lord. According to this promise. “He will not like a man to stand before me.” By the way, the phrase stand before me has a priestly connotation. My conviction is that these shepherds were living in the same place they had always lived, lived in the same way they had always lived, were doing the same things they had always done, continued to remain students of God's word. Obviously. And they were the first ones that were invited to meet the Savior as he entered the world. That's pretty amazing. But it's not as amazing as what happened and what they witnessed. You know, Paul captures the first Christmas in a way this the simple story can't. We love the story in its simplicity, its oriental beauty, and it's so amazingly beautiful, but it doesn't come close to capturing what that little child represented. When Paul tells us in Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind being you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to cling to or a thing to grasped. But He made Himself of no reputation and came in the form of a man and being found in existence as a man. He humbled Himself even further unto death. Even the death of the cross.” That all began right here. That was that huge step that our Savior took from his throne in heaven down into this world full of sin, sorrow and suffering. For what? To live a life of rejection. A life misunderstood. A life of slander and maligning. And ultimately, to go to the cross. For you and I. to pay the penalty for our sins, and not just for ours. But as John tells us, “for the sins of the entire world.” We should stand as we do today, preparing to celebrate Christmas with the reverence, amazement, humility. Our souls should be struck with the beauty, but also the grandeur and the greatness of everything that our Savior has done for us.

God has given each of us as believers a story to share with the world.   Today's guest, Janet Whisnant Harllee, talk show host of "Faith In An Ever Changing World," discusses the importance of sharing your faith story with others to bring about encouragement, Inspiration, and hope while sharing the love of Jesus.   Please join us to hear examples of why YOUR story might make a difference in another's life.   *****   Welcome to Empowering Lives With Purpose. And I'm your host, Kimberly Hobbs. I am the founder of Women World Leaders. And we are so happy that you have joined us today. Today. Let's welcome our guest, Janet Harllee. Welcome, Janet, we are so happy to have you.  Janet Harllee   Thank you, Kimberly, thank you for giving me this opportunity.  Kimberly Hobbs   Of course, of course and ladies today. This is really fun because Janet has a program where others are invited on to share their stories. And I'm going to introduce her in just a moment. But I just wanted to say a little bit about who we are women, world leaders, the name of our podcast today is empowering lives with purpose. And it is our desire ladies to inspire you encourage you in the Word of God, and also to walk out that beautiful purpose that God has just for you. God tells us in His word that we are a masterpiece Ephesians 210 says we are God's masterpiece, we are created anew in Christ Jesus to do that very good things that he has planned for us long ago. And ladies, we know that you have a beautiful purpose. And whether you're walking it out now, or you have those reservations of walking it out, we want to help you we want to propel you forward in your faith, to walk out that purpose and serve the Lord wholeheartedly. And so as we have some of our guests on that is our purpose that they can help inspire you through sharing their stories of how they came to walk with Jesus and share their purpose. And when they share with you. Hopefully that will just jog something inside of you to say, Okay, Lord, if they can do it, I can do it. Right. So, Janet, I just want to share a little bit about our guest, Janet Harley today. She is a storyteller, and she's a speaker, a broadcaster and an author. And she has a passion to share God's truth and deliver it to her audiences, where she encourages, inspires and entertains with messages of faith in an ever changing world. Her other experiences include theater, radio, television, and she's currently the host of her broadcast, which is faith in an ever changing world, which gives encouragement and hope, as she interviews with others to share their faith story. And also pastors who share various faith topics with faith focus. She enjoys encouraging people through coffee breaks, and she loves making new friends. And Janet Harley is available on YouTube. So Janet, again, we welcome you. And thank you for being here. We, you're so welcome. We each have a story to tell ladies. And the stories could be ranging from how we give birth and pains and trials that we've had, you know, we all have different stories that we share with people. But as Christ followers, ladies, those stories are of the utmost important, what has he done in your life? What are our Faith Journeys? What is your faith journey, and the goal of our faith journey is to deepen our relationship with God. Right. And by sharing our faith story, and telling our story, we encourage others to share their stories. And God says in Revelation 1211, And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. And by the word of their testimony, we overcome the enemy, and all that he's trying to do in our life. When we proclaim our testimony to the world. God says that in his word, and that is how important it is. Janet, you have a story. So how did you get started in encouraging others to share their story? Let's hear a little bit about your story. Janet Harllee   Well, I retired a couple of years ago at the age of 70 and And I've never really thought about retiring, Kimberly, I enjoy what I was doing. And the Lord has blessed me with good health. And so, but at 70, I thought, well, it's just time. But you know, you never retire because God's work never stops. So I wondered what was going to be next? My next chapter, what, what, Lord, what do you have for me? Now, what can I do? And one of my speaker topics was faith in an ever changing world. And I added encouragement and hope. Because for the broadcast, he put on my heart to, to do a Facebook page. And it's really his Facebook page, not mine. And he wanted me to help others or to get other people to share their stories, because in how faith, either how faith had gotten them through a certain situation in their life, or their testimony, that we each have a testimony a story. And when we tell our story, we tell HEDIS. Amen. So I started the PageRank. So just let it go around in my head for a while, you know, and in September last year, and this September will be a year that the broadcast has been going on Facebook. And so I've just pray every day that the Lord will use me will show me what he wants me to do. Because when you retire, when I retired, I repurposed. I retired to repurpose. And I just think that the Lord has says he has put this on my heart, that this is what he wants me to do at this particular time. Kimberly Hobbs   Oh, my goodness, Janet, you are so delightful. And I love that when you retired, you said you repurposed? Yeah. How awesome. Is that? Right? That? I said, I want to be like you when I. When I'm at that age to retire, I'm gonna say no, Lord, let me repurpose it, because serving Him is amazing, right? Janet Harllee   That's right. That's right. And we are, we are to do that. That certainly is our purpose is to encourage and empower each other, especially as women, Kimberly Hobbs   especially right as older women. And so ladies, your job on earth here is never done. Don't you think about retiring? Because God says no, he's gonna use you. You're here for a purpose. Remember that? If anything in this podcast today, you're here for a purpose, ladies. And by sharing your faith story, it touches it touches other people's hearts and helps them see their story through your story. Okay, so as they're seeing and listening to you, they identify with what you're saying. That's the importance of sharing the story. They can have compassion, they can be inspired. But they can also say, Wow, if she did it, I can do it. Right. Right. So it's through sharing these stories that also brings us closer to God, ladies, and I think God for Janet hardly that she saw a purpose in this. And she decided, You know what, she's going to go and gather those stories that God brings across her path to share with the world. So thank you, Janet, so much for doing that. So much. So I have another question for you. So tell us how you would encourage someone else to share their God's story. Janet Harllee   Well, stories connect us on so many levels, Kimberly, they are inspirational to to us. They encourage, they are empowering. And it's important for us to share those stories because we can certainly apply as you have said help other women. Women because we go through a lot of the same kinds of trials. And I'm a member of a group testimony Tuesdays on Facebook. And so we Every Tuesday we share testimony. Well, I shared a testimony Yesterday, it was a testimony of obedience because my sister and I became caregivers for my parents. And you know, when when the roles switch and you become the parent, it's, it's difficult, it's emotional. It's tiring, but it's also the most rewarding of anything I ever do. And my parents were such godly parents. And so it was just so in sharing that through the other comments you see, of other people, they can relate. Maybe they've been a caregiver too, and they knew what I was talking about. And so, in our stories in our storytelling, we certainly want to share this. And a lot of times, women think that they don't have a story. And they, but you do, yes. Um, now my story about how I came to know the Lord. I don't have a heart wrenching story to share as Sunday because I was blessed to grow up in a Christian home. But I do, it's my story. And I enjoy telling you, and as I've gotten older, and in this stage of life, where I am right now, in my last quarter of life, I am more closer to God than I ever have been. And each day, I just seem to be even closer to him. Kimberly Hobbs   So is that saying true that your later days are your glory days? Janet Harllee   Oh, yes, I tell you, he has just been another can look back and see how faithful and how he has worked in my life. From the pit pitfalls and consequences that could have happened. And Kimberly Hobbs   he prepared you for such a time as this, he prepared you, that you you know, you may have not had like you said that heart wrenching story. But yet he knew that you were going to be compassionate. And you are going to encourage others that we have those crazy, you know, stories of what they've been through those heart wrenching moments, you know, that are and you encourage them, to talk about it, to share it to express it to others, in hopes that it will draw them closer to our Lord and Savior. And that is one of the best ways to share your story as you are you're drawing others closer to God by letting them listen into your life being vulnerable being open, right? Be a friend. Yes, it'd be kind of godly examples. That's what we're called to do. And you talked about obedience to, you know, you were obedient to take care of your parents, like, you know, you can be doing a lot of other things in your retirement years. Right. Janet Harllee   Absolutely. Still working. This was while I was still working. Wow. So yeah, we had to move. And, of course, I needed a job and a place to live. Me and my husband. So Robert found an apartment that was brand new, nobody had lived in it. So we we got to got a place to live. I called a lifelong friend. And she was taking a new position and needed someone. So I had a job. I mean, it's just things like that how things fall together. When we obey. Kimberly Hobbs   Oh, that is so true. That did you hear that? Ladies? When you walk in obedience with the Lord, He's going to guide your steps, things are going to come together for you. If you think everything's in array right now, check your obedience to the Word of God. Put it up against the scriptures. Are you walking in obedience to Him? Are you doing your own thing? Yeah. So Janet, you said it right. Obedience is key to unlocking the blessings that God has in our lives. And he blesses. That's right. That's right. He sure does. So God gives us examples, ladies all over his word about how we should share our testimonies and why we should share our testimonies. And one of those is John 439, where it talks about the Samaritan woman, and she had an encounter with Jesus. And then she went out and she shared that encounter. She shared that story of how it transformed her life. She was an AHA of this wonderful Savior that forgave her for what she was doing knew everything about her. And so she ran out and told all of her fellow neighbors her story. And in that the town believed in Jesus. And it's all because of this woman testifying lives were transformed. So that's what we're called to do Janet Harllee   I love that story. Amen. It's just and that's what we should do. And with joy, Kimberly Hobbs   with joy. So one more verse I want to share is First Chronicles 16, eight, where it says, Oh, give thanks to the Lord call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. Does he say, keep quiet about everything God did in his word? No, it says, Make known his deeds among the peoples. So ladies, we have a job to do. Janet, I know that through interviewing all of these women and men that you interviewed, because you do both you do men and women, you've heard some amazing stories. Yeah. So can you encourage the women by sharing maybe some of those that have had an impact on not only you, but others that have really made a difference and why they made a difference? Janet Harllee   Absolutely. There are many, but there are a couple of women that come to my mind right away. One woman had three boys, and they of course, her husband. And one night they were awakened with fire in their home. And so they were trying to get out and get the children out. And I she was badly burned. And still have scars today, but of the burn. But she passed out during a while she was in the ambulance, and didn't wake up for six weeks. And but God healed her it took a long time. But the the very, very another sad part of it was she did lose, they could not get her youngest son out. So he did perish in the fire. So she speaks to women today about losing those who have lost a child, and all you know the emotions, and she has a podcast and called Purple thoughts. And if any women listening wants to know about it, and to know more about it, please, we'll give you the information to get in touch with me a little while. But she is just such a wonderful, inspirational woman and speaks a testimony all the time, into the halls of how God has been so faithful and good and how he still is being faithful and good. The other day, I noticed she showed a picture of her getting in there taking her into the ambulance, and then a picture of her today. How alive she is and how beautiful she is. And Kimberly Hobbs   She had to take a step forward to faith right? Yeah, absolutely. And not be in that place. I mean, because we all know if we've gone through sickness, you know, we can wallow in our pity of woe is me for a long time. Yeah. And it took a lot to overcome what she did, but she stepped down and shared her faith story and what she's doing now and I know you have more, share some more of that story. Janet Harllee   Oh, one more, one more real quick, about a lady who was kidnapped at the age of five, and found at the age of 10. And during those five years, she was abused every day, by her kidnapper. She now has has turned her life around. Of course there's so much that can be said about her because of his She was so young. And to have this happen to her. At such a young age, that's all she knew was the behavior and the the language that she heard from this man. And so that's all she knew. And when she was found at the age of 10. She was so relieved she was Happy to be away from that environment. But social services took over and so forth. And at some point they they did it to her into school. And in the fifth in the fifth grade, she had never been to school at all. And so she didn't know how to act didn't know how to react, to interact with other children, and the teachers, but she, she got through. And then later a lady came in her life that introduced her to the Lord. And so her life, of course changed. And her faith every day now is spent helping other women who have been in similar situations, and how they can come to know the Lord and how she forgave her kidnapper, and how she brought him to the Lord. And didn't get to meet her mother. And I didn't say this, but she was abandoned at the hospital by her mother. So she was abandoned, kidnapped. It's just amazing how God got her through this situation. And now, how her how he's using her life to help other women. Wow, wow, is just amazing. So these are encouraging stories, amazing stories. And I can't imagine being in this situation, because it nothing like that has ever happened to me. But it just, it just inspires me to, to be more grateful, and more thankful to God about house so faithful and good in my life. And how I can help other women and men to share their stories to encourage and bring hope to others. Kimberly Hobbs   Right. Wow, Janet, and thank you, thank you for encouraging this woman to come forward and share that story. And even you sharing it today, how many lives are being touched, just listening to this. And knowing that when she came to know Jesus, she took her whole life story, and she put it into purpose in serving Him. And how powerful is it because others listening may have just come out of something tragic, just like that. They can identify with the pain and the hurt and the suffering. And then you get their ear because they'll listen to you because they relate to you. And you can share with them, you know, the overcoming that when we know Jesus, and we're following Him in His steps. So we have a story to tell of turn to Jesus and give him all your hurts and pains. They'll listen to you at that moment because they're identifying with you. Yes. So don't you doubt ladies for a moment that your story isn't important. Just like Janet said. She didn't grow up with a unbelievable story. She grew up and God was preparing her life for such a time as this to help others share their stories. Do you see this? Like, it just goes on and on and on. And we don't know what time in our lives God is going to use us or when he wants to use us every day of our life, by the way. So honestly, we are so appreciative of what you do Janet and encouraging others to share their story. Yes. And so tell me how I you know we have to close again wrapping up. It's just like our time with alive. It does it goes so fast. But I would like for you to share a couple of closing words to encourage the woman to share her story. And also tell us how ladies can get a hold of you Janet. Janet Harllee   Okay. First of all, I'd like to share my life scripture is found in Proverbs 356. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths. No matter what age you are women, no matter what age we are, that he shall direct our paths and one other one. Which is it At this particular time in my life, it's how he is going to be with us, even when our hairs turn gray. And my now is turning gray. And I love it Kimberly Hobbs   With age comes wisdom, Janet. Janet Harllee   That's right. That's exactly right. Kimberly is wisdom. And but I just pray every day for his wisdom, and discernment. And just stay true to God, trust God, in all things. Kimberly Hobbs   Amen, that that Scripture is so special to me too, because that's my mom's verse. And you know, I always hear or, you know, I can hear her with her little finger up in the year, Trust the Lord with all your heart. You know, like that's always saying that, so it's a great one. So how can ladies get in touch with you, Janet? Janet Harllee   All right. Of course, I have a YouTube and you just type in my name, Janet Harley. And the email that I have is Janet storyteller@gmail.com. Kimberly Hobbs   Hey, man, I love that. Okay. And Janet is also a woman world leader, we are so grateful that she has come on board to serving and just being a part of just a unity of women that are going out into the world with their special purposes, doing what God has called them to do. And I thank you for that. Janet again, to serve with you is a pleasure. Janet Harllee   Oh, it's been a pleasure with us. Well, thank you so much. Kimberly Hobbs   Oh, you're so welcome. Ladies, I just in closing, want to share Luke 839, which says return to your home and declare how much God has done for you. Proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus has done. Oh, my goodness, right. He tells us go out into the city ladies proclaim it. It doesn't mean just be quiet and just tell somebody here on the corner, you know, in secret? No, it says proclaim it that means be loud about it. Proclaim what he has done with for you ladies share your story. It's so important that is the purpose of empowering lives with purpose is to get women on here to share their stories. So others can be inspired. And we hope that we're doing that for you. And another way that women world leaders loves to inspire is we do some books each year. And one of the books that we put out is tears to triumph. And it is releasing pain to receive God's restoration. So by some of the women that have shared in this amazing book, their stories of pain of suffering, it has inspired others to find Jesus. And we are so this book went to number one best seller. And number one international best seller, tears to triumph. It's available on our website, women world leaders.com. It's also available on Amazon, but we'd prefer you get it through women, world leaders. Ladies, this is a book that you will just you will cry through this book, but you will be inspired. And also we have another amazing tool for you ladies. And this is voice of truth women were leaders puts out a publication by monthly magazine. I see Janet is holding up hers. For those watching on YouTube. Yes, yay. Well, voice of truth is your tool ladies to inspire you encourage you strengthen you in the Lord filled with the gospel message of Jesus and every addition. Also, we have many ways that you can get involved with women were a leader as you can find us through voice of truth, of course, and be inspired to share your story somehow, someway, maybe, right? Maybe do a podcast with us. Whatever it it is that God's putting on your heart. We give opportunities here in this ministry, for you to get involved and share your beautiful purpose with the world just as God has asked you to do as to all of us to do some ladies and close. Again, I want to say thank you to our guests, Janet. I love you Janet, you are just beautiful treasure. Thank you so much. God bless you ladies each and every one of you and again I just pray that something today touched your heart and that you will go out into the world and proclaim what God has done share your story flames there is a world out there that is hurting and needs to be inspired through Jesus Christ live The good side. So ladies, from our heart, from his heart to yours, we are women, world leaders and all content is copyrighted and cannot be used without expressed written. I bless you all and have a wonderful day.    

A new MP3 sermon from Calvary Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Our Wondrous Stewardship Toward God: Bountiful, Hilarious Gospel Giving Subtitle: First Chronicles Speaker: Jon Cardwell Broadcaster: Calvary Baptist Church Event: Sunday - AM Date: 9/4/2022 Bible: 1 Chronicles 29:14; 2 Corinthians 9:7 Length: 45 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Calvary Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Our Wondrous Stewardship Toward God: Bountiful, Hilarious Gospel Giving Subtitle: First Chronicles Speaker: Jon Cardwell Broadcaster: Calvary Baptist Church Event: Sunday - AM Date: 9/4/2022 Bible: 1 Chronicles 29:14; 2 Corinthians 9:7 Length: 45 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Calvary Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Be Strong, Courageous, and Do It: Strength & Courage to Carry Out Stewardship's Call Subtitle: First Chronicles Speaker: Jon Cardwell Broadcaster: Calvary Baptist Church Event: Sunday - AM Date: 8/28/2022 Bible: 1 Chronicles 28:20; Ephesians 6:10 Length: 59 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Calvary Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Be Strong, Courageous, and Do It: Strength & Courage to Carry Out Stewardship's Call Subtitle: First Chronicles Speaker: Jon Cardwell Broadcaster: Calvary Baptist Church Event: Sunday - AM Date: 8/28/2022 Bible: 1 Chronicles 28:20; Ephesians 6:10 Length: 59 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Calvary Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Be Strong, Courageous, and Do It: Strength & Courage to Carry Out Stewardship's Call Subtitle: First Chronicles Speaker: Jon Cardwell Broadcaster: Calvary Baptist Church Event: Sunday - AM Date: 8/28/2022 Bible: 1 Chronicles 28:20; Ephesians 6:10 Length: 59 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Calvary Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: The Precious, Powerful Privilege of Praising Christ Subtitle: First Chronicles Speaker: Jon Cardwell Broadcaster: Calvary Baptist Church Event: Sunday - AM Date: 8/7/2022 Bible: 1 Chronicles 25:5-6; Colossians 3:16 Length: 52 min.

In this episode: 1 Chronicles 28-29. We conclude the Book of First Chronicles with some thoughts about softness as a relative term.

In this episode: 1 Chronicles 24-27. We continue in the Book of First Chronicles with some thoughts about how the Chronicler imagines David as head of state.

In this episode: 1 Chronicles 20-23. We continue in the Book of First Chronicles with some thoughts about simping for the status quo.

In this episode: 1 Chronicles 16-19. We continue in the Book of First Chronicles with some thoughts about what happens when you breach diplomatic etiquette.

One Single Story: Day 117 Pastors Jay Rivenbark, Alyssa Bream and Stephen Mizell review the priestly line given in First Chronicles starting with Levi, all the way to captivity. April 27th reading: 1 Chronicles 6 For more on One Single story, visit onesinglestory.com

In this episode: 1 Chronicles 12-15. We continue in the Book of First Chronicles with some thoughts about dancing and decorum.

In this episode: 1 Chronicles 8-11. We continue in the Book of First Chronicles with some thoughts about how a director's cuts can change everything.

In this episode: 1 Chronicles 4–7. We continue in the Book of First Chronicles with some thoughts about mistaken and mis-attributed identity.

In this episode: 1 Chronicles 1–3. We begin the Book of First Chronicles with some thoughts about the interesting goings-on outside the canon.

The book of First Chronicles was first written to the Jews who were coming home from exile in Babylon. The writer wanted to remind the Israelites of their spiritual past, the times when they were blessed for their obedience, and the times when they endured the consequences of rebellion. It's a critical lesson for all of us to learn today, and Ron takes us there next, as he continues his teaching series, “Route 66: The Ultimate Road Trip Through the Bible.” --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/something-good-radio/support

Returning to your spiritual roots, on this Friday edition of Something Good. The first thing you'll notice about the book of First Chronicles is that it contains a rather long genealogical record. The writer knew just how critical it was for the people of God to understand their past, so that they might return to right relationship with God. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/something-good-radio/support