Podcasts about god because

You have heard people say: "God hates the sin, but loves the sinner." That is a lie! He does not love the sinner who continues in his sin.One of the most cherished delusions of modern Christendom is the sentiment that "God hates the sin, but loves the sinner." This phrase is often quoted as though it were Scripture--yet not only does it appear nowhere in the Bible, it stands in direct contradiction to what God Himself declares. It is a subtle but deadly falsehood that seeks to soften the solemn reality of God's wrath against the ungodly, and it distorts His holy character.The Bible does not teach that God is angry merely at the sin in some abstract, impersonal way. Rather, Scripture consistently affirms that God is angry with the sinner himself. The sin has no existence, apart from the one who commits it. A theft has no moral quality, without a thief. Adultery does not happen, apart from an adulterer. It is the sinner--the moral agent who rebels against his Creator, who is the object of God's holy hatred and righteous indignation.This is not conjecture--it is clearly and repeatedly taught in the Word of God:"Because they did all these things, I abhorred them!" Leviticus 20:23 "I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I will abhor you." Leviticus 26:30"And when the LORD saw it, He abhorred them!" Deuteronomy 32:19 "God is angry with the wicked every day!" Psalm 7:11"You hate all workers of iniquity . . . The Lord abhors murderers and deceitful men!" Psalm 5:5, 6 "The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence, His soul hates. On the wicked He wi

1. Let's Come to God Because of Them2. Let's Adore God for Them3. Let's Pray to God in Line with Them

Support our channel & Become a Partner ⇨  https://www.missiondelafe.org/   Listen on Podcast Spotify Podcast ⇨ https://spoti.fi/3RBKdq3Apple Podcast ⇨ https://apple.co/3evzCuuConnect with ushttps://www.facebook.com/delafetestimonieshttps://www.instagram.com/delafetestimonies/Connect with Jesse:Credits:Testimony by Jesse HolguinDirected by Eric Villatoro Interviewed by Eric VillatoroEdited By Joshua GayleAudio Mixed by Paul Nicholas Testimony Recorded in CaliforniaDelafé Testimonies is a global evangelistic project with the mission of creating the world's largest archive of Jesus testimonies until His return. Our vision is to save souls, build community, and set people free through the testimony of Jesus.Chapters00:00 Introduction02:11 Why I'm Testifying03:34 Growing Up in a Gang Family in California 05:10 Getting Arrested at 1606:39 Being Released, More Shootings 07:31 My Foreman Tells Me About Jesus 09:39 Praying to God For the First Time11:53 Giving My Life to Jesus in Prison 14:20 Starting to Drift from God Because of This Mistake 18:44 Almost Losing My Life 23:38 Crying Out to Jesus Again and Feeling His Peace26:48 God Begins to Use My Life 31:42 Transitioning Out of the Gang Life 36:44 When the Past Tries to Haunt Me 38:44 Marrying My Wife40:08 Serving God in the Good and Bad Times 42:14 Staying the Course44:48 Who is Jesus To You? 45:25 Prayer 46:45 Final WordsSUREÑO Gang Member Gives His Life to Jesus!

Chelsea returns to Truthspresso to co-host about thankfulness. After celebrating Thanksgiving Day, we present four reasons to be thankful to God:Because of who He is (1Ch 16:34; 2Co 9:15)Because of what He has done (Isa 12:4-5)Because of what He is doing (Psa 107:8-9; Php 4:6)Because He is faithful in the hard times (1Th 5:18; Eph 5:20; Col 3:17)*** Please contribute to the Hurricane relief fund for A.M. Brewster ***We value your feedback!Have questions for Truthspresso? Contact us!Mentioned in this episode:Affiliate Link: Blackout CoffeeBlackout Coffee is a coffee company that supports traditional American values of strong families, personal responsibility, and patriotism. Blackout Coffee delivers to active duty military and first responders. Be Awake, Not Woke with their rich and flavorful coffees, teas, and hot cocoas.Blackout Coffee

Chelsea returns to Truthspresso to co-host about thankfulness. After celebrating Thanksgiving Day, we present four reasons to be thankful to God:Because of who He is (1Ch 16:34; 2Co 9:15)Because of what He has done (Isa 12:4-5)Because of what He is doing (Psa 107:8-9; Php 4:6)Because He is faithful in the hard times (1Th 5:18; Eph 5:20; Col 3:17)*** Please contribute to the Hurricane relief fund for A.M. Brewster ***We value your feedback!Have questions for Truthspresso? Contact us!Mentioned in this episode:Affiliate Link: Blackout CoffeeBlackout Coffee is a coffee company that supports traditional American values of strong families, personal responsibility, and patriotism. Blackout Coffee delivers to active duty military and first responders. Be Awake, Not Woke with their rich and flavorful coffees, teas, and hot cocoas.Blackout Coffee

Don't Change! Become!Today, I felt led to start with this poem I read the other day because it beautifully demonstrates that we don't always understand what God is doing. We think we are a mess, we feel like we are falling apart, we feel like God has abandoned us, and yet God is ALWAYS right there in the middle of it all! He knows exactly what He is doing and wants us to trust Him in the process. This poem gives us some insight into that process.  I feel it makes it a little easier to trust when we have a bit of understanding. This conversation is between someone and God.Me: Hey God.God: Hello.....Me: I'm falling apart. Can you put me back together?God: I would rather not.Me: Why?God: Because you aren't a puzzle.Me: What about all of the pieces of my life that are falling down onto the ground?God: Let them stay there for a while. They fell off for a reason. Take some time and decide if you need any of those pieces back.Me: You don't understand! I'm breaking down!God: No - you don't understand. You are breaking through. What you are feeling are just growing pains. You are shedding the things and the people in your life that are holding you back. You aren't falling apart. You are falling into place. Relax. Take some deep breaths and allow those things you don't need anymore to fall off of you. Quit holding onto the pieces that don't fit you anymore. Let them fall off. Let them go. Me: Once I start doing that, what will be left of me?God: Only the very best pieces of you.Me: I'm scared of changing.God: I keep telling you - YOU AREN'T CHANGING!! YOU ARE BECOMING!Me: Becoming who?God: Becoming who I created you to be! A person of light and love and charity and hope and courage and joy and mercy and grace and compassion. I made you for more than the shallow pieces you have decided to adorn yourself with that you cling to with such greed and fear. Let those things fall off of you. I love you! Don't change! ... Become! Become! Become who I made you to be. I'm going to keep telling you this until you remember it. Me: There goes another piece.God: Yep. Let it be. Me: So ... I'm not broken?God: Of course Not! - but you are breaking like the dawn. It's a new day. Become!!!~Author John Roedel I know many of you are struggling right now. Whether it is with health issues, money issues, or in the process of losing old friends and making new friends, I think this poem shows us that God can use these hard times to help us step into the person we are meant to be. The person He knows we are capable of being. There are several things I love about this poem. The first is the gentleness of God. He is so good. I think this poem demonstrates the love that God has for us. He didn't say no when she asked if God would put her back together. He said He would rather not. He then went on to explain why He felt that way. Notice how He didn't get short with her. He didn't seem irritated or annoyed with her. We often imagine God feels that way about us. We tell ourselves that He is tired of us coming and asking the same thing. We imagine He wondering why we can't seem to get it together already. If we are honest, we have felt that way about our loved ones before. God is not us. He doesn't have to wonder why we can't get it together. He knows. He made us. He knows everything we have ever done and everything we will ever do.I also love that God doesn't tell her never again to pick up the pieces that fell off. He tells her to take some time and decide whether she needs them. Maybe you are going through this shedding process right now. Maybe you are losing friends, workers, loved ones, or even material things. God isn't telling you that they are gone forever. He is saying take some time and see if you need them. Do they bring joy into your life? Do they make you a better person? Do they help you grow closer to the Lord? Are they helping you on your journey to heaven?If the answer to some of these questions are yes, maybe you can pick them back up again. Take the time to ask questions. Pay attention to the answers. Don't pick them back up again because it is hard without them. Don't pick them up again because it is easier with them or you miss them. It is normal to want to. When you are tempted to pick back up the ones that are not good for you, remember what the poem said, “What you are feeling are just growing pains. You are shedding the things and the people in your life that are holding you back. You aren't falling apart. You are falling into place. Relax. Take some deep breaths and allow those things you don't need anymore to fall off of you. Quit holding onto the pieces that don't fit you anymore. Let them fall off. Let them go.The last part that I want to draw your attention to is what the poem says about changing. Listen to that part again. “Me: Once I start doing that, what will be left of me?God: Only the very best pieces of you.Me: I'm scared of changing.God: I keep telling you - YOU AREN'T CHANGING!! YOU ARE BECOMING!Me: Becoming who?God: Becoming who I created you to be! A person of light and love and charity and hope and courage and joy and mercy and grace and compassion. I made you for more than the shallow pieces you have decided to adorn yourself with that you cling to with such greed and fear. Let those things fall off of you. I love you! Don't change! ... Become! Become! Become who I made you to be. I'm going to keep telling you this until you remember it.”Isn't that just like God? He keeps telling us something until we believe Him. And for most of us, He has to tell us a lot. God is telling you, yes you, right now that He is with you in this. He tells you that He sees you, not for who you think you are, but who you really are. He sees the you that He created you to be even if you aren't there yet. He knows your journey and isn't frustrated that you aren't there yet because He knows exactly when you will arrive there. He knows exactly what obstacles you are struggling with. We actually had a word or prophecy at my Thursday morning prayer group in June 2024.  God assured us, “I am there among your trials and your joys. I am the God who loves you, who cares. I am never displeased or impatient with you. I place my hope in you.”This message is not just for my prayer group. This is a message for all of His children. This is something I believe he really wants us to know. We get impatient with our children. We get disappointed with them. God is telling us He is not like that. He knows our innermost thoughts. He knows everything we are going through. He knows our hearts. He knows how badly we want to do the right thing, and yet we tend to do the wrong thing. This is not unique to you. That is all of us. If Paul, who is credited with writing about half of the New Testament books, can admit to this, we can be sure we all struggle with this problem. In Romans 7:19-20 Paul said, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me.” God knows we are broken. He knows we struggle. He doesn't get disappointed. Instead, He celebrates every time we don't give in to temptation. Every time we mess up, we can bring that to God with the assurance that He welcomes us with open arms and celebrates because we came home instead of being upset we messed up.Dear Heavenly Father, we ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode. Dad, we thank you so much for loving us so much, for always being there for us, for helping us become who you created us to be, for your patience with us as we become that person, and for forgiving us again and again. You are so wonderful. You are our perfect father, and we are so grateful for all you do for us! Dad, could you give us the strength not to pick back up those pieces that have fallen that we don't need? It is hard to leave them there when our life seemed easier with them. Give us the strength to keep moving forward without them. Dad, could you also fill us up to the tipitey top with hope that things will be ok because it doesn't always feel like it will be. Help us to feel you right because of us. Maybe hold our hand as we walk side by side. That way, we know you are there. We love you, Dad, and we ask all of this in Jesus's mighty name; amen!!Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If this podcast has blessed you in some way, would you consider making a donation or sending it to others? Also, check out the link below for my mentoring group. Today's devotional is a small part of last week's mentoring session. Our topic for this month is Come As You Are. I would love to see your face on Zoom next Tuesday. I look forward to meeting you here again on Monday. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed weekend!Today's Word from the Lord was received in June 2023 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “Continue to worship me each and every moment. Worship is your strength. I will give you the courage, wisdom, and power you need. I am with you until the end of your time and the beginning of our time together.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

The apostles rejoiced in the blessing they received Jesus has replaced the temple and its sacrifices as our way to God Because the Lord blesses us, we in turn bless Him

Topics: Boundaries, Church Without Boundaries, Boundaries Vilified, Poor Treatment, Abuse, Religious Abuse, Verbal and Emotional Abuse, Poor Treatment Encouraged, Reveal Poor Treatment of Those Treating Others Poorly, Matthew 5, Sermon on the Mount, Eye for Eye, Tooth for Tooth, Turn Your Cheek, Anger is Same as Murder, God Doesn't Treat You Poorly, God of All Comfort, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, He Comforts Us So We Can Comfort Others, The Comforter, John 14:26, John 15:26, God Doesn't Cause Pain, God Isn't Two-Faced, Every Good and Perfect Gift, James 1:17, Peace With God Because of Jesus, Romans 5:1, Saved From Wrath of God Because of Jesus, Romans 5:9, Goodness and Kindness of God, Romans 2:4, Our Immense Value to God, God So Loved the World, John 3:16, Jesus Gave His Life for You, You Are Valuable, When Someone Doesn't See Your Value they Won't Honor Your Boundaries, Honor Your Own Boundaries, As Long as It Depends on Your Live at Peace with Everyone, Romans 12:18, Peacemaker at Heart, Others Don't See Your Value, Results of Allowing Boundary Crossing, Shame, Fear, Anxiety, Worry, Addictions, What Is a Boundary, Boundaries Don't Control Others, Encourage Self-Control, Where You Begin and Others End, This Works for Me and This Doesn't, No Is a Full Sentence, Established on Love, Love for Others and Yourself, And Yourself, Boundaries are Not Ultimatums, What you Will Allow in Your Life and What you Won't, Boundaries are Not Disrespectful, Not Walls, See-Through Fences with Gates, Give you Dignity and Self-Respect, Boundaries are Helpful not Harmful, Protect Your Value, Removes Trash Through the Gate, What You Can Control, Can't Control Something Means to Honor Your Own Boundaries, Boundaries Bring Your Closer to People Not Further Away, Attacks and Pulling Away Clear Sign Boundary Was Necessary, Those Who Value You Take Boundaries to Heart, Consider Them as Important and Listen, Those who Don't Value You Gaslight and Project Mean Image, What Boundaries Will You Honor for Yourself, Addiction Recovery Boundaries, Boundaries with People Living in Your Home, Boundaries With Your Marriage, Social Media Boundaries, Messaging Boundaries, Employer Boundaries, Employee Boundaries, Addicted Relative Boundaries, Addicted Spouse Boundaries, Spending Time with Loved Ones Boundaries, Reciprocating Effort to be Involved with You Boundaries, Legalistic Relative Boundaries, Meddling Parents and In-Laws Boundaries, Sexual Needs Boundaries, Safe People Encourage Boundaries, Unsafe People Attack and Reject Your Boundaries, Unsafe People Take no Accountability for Crossing Boundaries, Triangulate to Validate, Attacks Meant to Get You to No Longer Have Boundaries, Unsafe People Benefit From You Not Having Boundaries, Refocus on Immense Value, Boundaries Cause Divorce and Estrangement with Unsafe People, Personally Socially and at Church, Pain of Ignoring Boundaries is Worse, Your Life Matters, Your Mental Health Matters, Your Workload Matters, Your Stress Level Matters, You Matter, You're Valuable, The Cross Proves Your Value, 39 Lashes Because 40 Killed, Thorns in Skull, Beaten Scourged Spat On Punched, Nailed to Cross Because of Your Value, See Yourself as God Sees You, ValuableSupport the showSign up for Matt's free daily devotional! https://mattmcmillen.com/newsletter

Matthew 28:18-20 Because Jesus said so Because it's his (your) mission Because it's communion with God Because you want to share your joy Because it can be the difference between Heaven and Hell Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between. Connect with us Website: www.crossroadsjourney.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC17oxaQ1yWK2DgN0xnlMO_g Facebook: www.facebook.com/crossroadsjourney

Justification - The Law - the Gospel Are Not Enemies -Gal 3- 15-25---1. INTRODUCTION--a. What the law did not do.-i. Appeals to their conversion experience. 3-1-5-ii. Appeals to history - Abraham. 3-6-9--b. What the law cannot do.-i. Appeals to the insufficiency of the law to justify. 3-10-14-ii. Appeals to the impotence of the law to nullify. 3-15-18 --c. What is the law for-- 3-19-25---2. THE LAW CANNOT VOID GOD'S PROMISE -v15-18---a. Human covenant - irrevocable once ratified. v15--b. Divine covenant - same principle--i. Points back to Abraham again.-ii. Promise to justify by faith has been ratified by God. v16, Gen 15-9-10, 17-iii. Promise is irrevocable by the law--- Providence of God - Because the law came later. v17-- Will of God - Because the law is not designed to justify. v18--- Believers - in your failures, find comfort in Christ always. -- Unbelievers - in your seeking to be right with God, trust in God's wisdom.---3. THE LAW JUDGES THE UNRIGHTEOUS -v19-20, 22---a. Regulative - exposes sin. v19--b. Punitive - condemns sin. v22--c. Relative value compared to the gospel. v19-20---4. THE LAW GUIDES THE UNRIGHTEOUS TO GOD'S PROMISE -v19-25---a. Uncombative - friend of the gospel. v21--b. Protective - channels the unrighteous to the gospel. v22--c. Prison illustration. v23-25---- Believers - spread the gospel without neglecting the law. -- Unbelievers - embrace the truth that will set you free. ---5. CONCLUSION

Israel's Penalty from God Because of Unrepentance Part 3 To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1331/29

Israel's Penalty from God Because of Unrepentance Part 2 To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1331/29

Israel's Penalty from God Because of Unrepentance Part 1 To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1331/29

A study in 1st Peter focusing on the words “blessed be”. Peter was telling the saints in trial and tribulation in his day (and us today) that we are to eulogize God BECAUSE of His abundant mercy. He has given us hope, inheritance, salvation and reserved in Heaven a place for us. This pattern of eulogizing God is consistent throughout the Old and New Testaments. We are to first praise, worship and thank Him as a continual faith practice. VF-1736 1 Peter 1:3 Watch, Listen and Learn 24x7 at PastorMelissaScott.com  Pastor Melissa Scott teaches from Faith Center in Glendale. Call 1-800-338-3030 24x7 to leave a message for Pastor Scott. You may make reservations to attend a live service, leave a prayer request or make a commitment. Pastor Scott appreciates messages and reads them often during live broadcasts. Follow @Pastor_Scott on Twitter and visit her official Facebook page @Pastor.M.Scott. Download Pastor Scott's "Understand the Bible" app for iPhone, iPad and iPod at the Apple App Store and for Android devices in the Google Store. Pastor Scott can also be seen 24x7 on Roku and Amazon Fire on the "Understand the Bible?" channel. ©2023 Pastor Melissa Scott, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved

SHOW US THE FATHER Father's Day Message 2023 “BRING YOUR DAD TO SCHOOL DAY”   THIS☝

Galatians.      Talk 3. Galatians 1:10-24 In the first two talks we noted that Paul's purpose in writing Galatians was to correct a serious doctrinal error that had crept into the churches since Paul had planted them. Paul had taught them that we are saved by faith in Jesus, and not by observing the law of the Old Testament, but some were now teaching that circumcision was necessary for salvation, and Paul was amazed that they had so quickly turned away from what he had taught them. The version of the ‘gospel' these people were teaching was radically different from the gospel Paul preached and the situation was so serious that Paul went so far as to say that if anybody preached a gospel other than the one that he had preached and which they had accepted, let them be eternally condemned! And Paul had good reason to speak this strongly. The truth of the gospel was at stake – the gospel for which Christ had died, the gospel which is the only way by which we may be saved. In later chapters Paul would give good theological reasons in defence of the gospel he preached, but first he wanted to make it clear to his readers that: ·       He had not received it from any human source. ·       He had received it from Jesus Christ himself by personal revelation. This is the main purpose of what he writes in today's passage, which we'll read first before considering each of these two points in turn. Galatians 1:10-24 10. Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. 11. I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. 12. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. 13. For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15. But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased 16. to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, 17. nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus. 18. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. 19. I saw none of the other apostles – only James, the Lord's brother.     20. I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie. 21. Later I went to Syria and Cilicia. 22. I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23. They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy." 24. And they praised God because of me. He had not received it from any human source In verse 11 Paul says: the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. This is so important that he repeats it in three different ways: I did not receive it from any man (12) nor was I taught it (12) I did not consult any man 16). He wants the Galatians (and us) to know this (11), because believing the true gospel is the only way of salvation. A man-made gospel will save no one! The good news of salvation through faith has its origin in heaven and was received by revelation from heaven. It was God who had set Paul apart and called him by his grace and who had been pleased to reveal his Son in and through Paul (15-16). So in verses 17-22 Paul emphasises that immediately after his conversion he went into Arabia before returning to Damascus. It was not until three years after that, that he went to Jerusalem where he stayed with Peter for fifteen days and also met James, the Lord's brother. Paul's purpose in saying this is to stress that he did not receive his gospel from anyone, not even Peter or James, as he did not meet them until at least three years after his conversion, but in case anyone is inclined to doubt him he says in verse 20: I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie. He had received it from Jesus Christ himself by personal revelation The gospel Paul preached came directly from Jesus Christ by supernatural revelation. That's why he was so determined to defend it. In today's passage we see three things that emboldened that determination: 1.    He remembered the futility of his old way of life 2.    His sole desire was to please God 3.    He knew God had called him He remembered the futility of his old way of life 13. For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. He was in Judaism (13, 14). Note how Paul is already referring to Judaism as distinct from Christianity. Judaism had been his way of life (13). He was advancing in it (14). He was extremely zealous for its traditions (14). His sole aim was to please men (10). But now he was in Christ. Christ was now his way of life (cf. 2:20). His sole aim now was to please him. Once we give our lives to Jesus, there's no turning back. His sole desire was to please God. 10. Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. Notice the words now and still. Before his conversion Paul's aim was to please men, but now he is a servant of Christ. His sole motive was to please God. There was no hidden agenda. He was not politically motivated. If we're intent on pleasing other people or worried what they will think about us if we don't do the kind of things they do, our determination to follow Jesus will be weakened.  Our motive in all that we do must be to please God. As we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, and pleasing to God, we will be able to test and approve what God's will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:1-2). He knew God had called him 15. But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased 16. to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles… But when God Paul had been extremely zealous for the traditions of his ancestors (14), but when God… Because he had been such a fanatical opponent of Christianity, Paul was ever conscious that it was God who had initiated his conversion. It was God who had who set him apart from birth, and called him by his grace, and had been pleased to reveal his Son in him. set me apart from birth Literally, from my mother's womb. How did Paul know this? Perhaps like Jeremiah (1:5) the Lord had told him so. The fact that God has a purpose for our lives from before we were born does not mean that we are predestined to do what he tells us. We all have a choice as to whether we will obey him when he calls us. As Paul later said to King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. called me by his grace It is by grace that we are saved, through faith, and that not of ourselves – it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2). If it were not for God's grace we could not be saved. And it's because of the grace of God that all we have to do is have faith – and even that is given to us by God. What's more, it is by grace that we are called to serve him. It's a privilege to be a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. reveal his Son in me We might have expected Paul to say to me rather than in me. Of course, God did reveal his Son to Paul on the Damascus Road. But He revealed Jesus to him in order that he might reveal him in him (or through him). God makes himself real to us so that through us others might know him too. so that I might preach him among the Gentiles This was God's specific purpose for Paul. It was made clear to him right from the start. The book of Acts reveals how that purpose unfolded step by step in Paul's life. After the initial call which motivated his entire Christian life, Paul received guidance from the Holy Spirit as and when he needed it. Conclusion Paul's purpose in today's passage was to make clear that the message he preached did not come from man, but by supernatural revelation from the Lord Jesus Christ. At the heart of that message is the wonderful truth that we are not saved by obedience to the law of the Old Testament, but by trusting Jesus as our Saviour. Paul's determination not only to preach that message, but also to defend it at all costs, was emboldened by three things: 1.    He remembered the futility of his old way of life 2.    His sole desire was to please God 3.    He knew God had called him. And as we shall see next time, his calling to preach that message was confirmed by other apostles in Chapter 2.

Summary Pastor Bill and Pastor Newms were discussing Genesis 1 and the history of how it became included as part of the book of Genesis. They discussed how during the captivity in Babylon, stories from Babylon were added to the existing Genesis 2, as they provided more detail to the creation story. Pastor Newms then reminded Pastor Bill that the Judeans, ancestors of the Jews, were originally a polytheistic people. In summary, the conversation revolved around the history of Genesis 1 and the Judeans. The conversation discussed the ancient Israelites and their belief in multiple gods and their worship of Ashra, a female deity who was believed to be the wife of Yahweh. Yahweh is mentioned in both Sumerian mythology and in the Mosaic Law. Despite this, the Israelites continued to worship other gods, so God punished them by sending them into captivity. The descendants of these captives went on to become the Samaritans, who still held onto some of their beliefs and were expecting the Messiah. Despite their own experiences with God, they eventually gave up the worship of Asherah. Pastor Bill and Pastor Newms discussed the origin of the story of Genesis 1. They noted that it was likely adapted from Sumerian myth by the Babylonians, who wanted the Jewish people to worship their king as a monotheistic god. However, the Jewish people saw similarities between the Sumerian myth and their own history, and made changes to make it more palatable to their own culture. They read Genesis 1, noting the broader strokes of the story, as compared to the more detailed account of Genesis 2. Ultimately, the conversation concluded with an invitation to read Genesis 1. God began the creation of the world by separating light from darkness and creating an expanse between the waters. He then caused the earth to produce vegetation, seed-bearing plants, and fruit trees. He made the two great lights to rule over the day and night and placed stars in the sky. He also caused the waters to swarm with living creatures and the earth to produce livestock, creatures that crawl, and wildlife. On the fifth day, God looked on His creation and saw that it was good.   The topic according to AI In the religious reflection being discussed, the authors believe that the creation story in the book of Genesis is a historical truth and has a significant impact on our relationship with God as our creator. They argue that the form of the document, its position at the beginning of the book of Genesis, and historical evidence all support the idea that the creation of the heavens, the earth, and all living things is a work of God and an objective fact. The authors critique the limitations of science in establishing the periods of creation and argue that the conclusions about fossiliferous formations and the plants and animals they contain are not established truths and have not been confirmed by continued research. The author summarizes the creation story in Genesis 1:1-13, which describes the creation of heaven and earth, including the creation of light, the firmament, the sea, the earth and its fruits, the lights of heaven, fish and fowl, beasts, man, and food for both. The text stresses the importance of recognizing God's presence in our lives and putting Him first in all things. Humans were created in God's image and given the ability to have dominion over the earth, but it is important to ask God to control the evil in our hearts. The authors also emphasize the importance of examining one's daily work and making improvements, as well as the divine proportioning of day and night, with light symbolizing God, truth, heaven, and decency. The beauty of nature is seen as evidence of the existence of God, and the darkness in the book of Genesis is a symbol of the ongoing struggle between light and darkness. The authors' central belief is that God is the creator of all things and that creation serves to reveal the truth about His nature and character. They see the relationship between science and God as complementary, with design being at the core of both, and believe that the concept of light and darkness in the book of Genesis is a symbol of the ongoing struggle between good and evil. The author encourages us to live in the Spirit and serve the common good, putting God first in all things, as they believe this is the greatest honor and safety for all. The authors also focus on two specific Hebrew words in the creation story, "nephesh" and "tannin," and offer alternative interpretations to gain a deeper understanding of their significance. They assert that the universe and all its elements were created for a purpose, as an expression of God's love and grace for humanity, and that everything in creation is imbued with a Divine Blessing that serves to preserve the community and support all life. The author presents a comprehensive view of the creation of the sea and air creatures in the Bible, as they see it as a demonstration of God's wisdom, power, and love. They believe that the creation of the universe is not just a physical event but a spiritual one as well, and that the universe was created with a purpose and a specific role to play in God's overall plan. The author interprets the creation story in Genesis 1 as a depiction of God's creative work and argues that all elements of the universe, including sea and air creatures, are symbols of God's glory and power. They delve into the meanings of the Hebrew words "nephesh" and "tannin" used in Genesis 1, offering alternative interpretations to shed light on their significance in the creation story. The authors highlight the numerous ways in which God's presence and power are manifested in the universe, from the physical laws governing the movement of stars and planets to the intricate and diverse forms of life on earth. They emphasize the importance of recognizing the hand of God in the creation of the universe and trusting in Him for our daily sustenance and blessings.   Timestamps 25:07 Conversation Summary: Genesis 1 Overview + 28:45 Exploring the Ancient Polytheistic Beliefs of the Israelites + 34:02 Discussion of the Development of Monotheism in Ancient Babylon + 37:28 Summary of Genesis 1: Creation of the Heavens and the Earth + 40:17 Conversation Summary: Exploring the Creation of Man in Genesis 1-2 + 42:20 Conversation on Splitting Chapters and Verses in the Bible + 45:34 Conversation between Pastors Bill and Newms on the Nature of the Bible + 47:09 Conversation between Pastor Bill and Pastor Newms on Faith and Eternity + 50:42 Exploring the Significance of Faith in Genesis 1 + 56:29 Conversation Summary: Exploring the Identity of the Conqueror in Revelation 21:7-8 + 1:00:51 "Exploring the Different Translations of the Bible: A Conversation between Pastors Bill and Newms" + 1:05:40 Conversation Between Pastor Newms and Pastor Bill on the Podcast "Ekk House" + 1:07:31 Conversation Summary: Disagreeing and Appreciating New Listeners +   Transcription Pastor Bill: [0:01] Hello and welcome to season 4 episode 11 of The Berean Manifesto; Faith, Hope, and Love for the Modern Christian. I'm Pastor Bill and I'm joined by Pastor Newms. So last week we had all kinds of technical difficulties that I was completely oblivious to until I went to go listen to the thing. Pastor Newms tried to bring it up at the very, very beginning, but he wasn't as forceful as I, you know, as I actually needed him to be. So I didn't really pick up what he was putting down and I just pushed just ahead Yeah, I was like apologies pastor Newms I should have listened better when you were saying I mean last week and Some people might not have even noticed I'm gonna be honest like it's one of those things where are you kidding me? It was horrible. Pastor Newms: [0:47] Well, it was horrible once it went through well Yeah, it was horrible. But like I'll be honest your audio has sounded worse because of technical like oh it's a bad night so you're in and out oh it's fuzzy cuz discourse so it's one of those where it's like okay how much do I bring up the fact that it could be electrical issues like microphone issues it could just be like the the internet is so garbage there that the laser beam doesn't want to work at the moment like you know we're not using cables in the lane yeah like so I was like maybe you know you know I don't know man I don't know but it um it was yeah I. Pastor Bill: [1:35] Got my retro Justice League shirt on Pastor Newms: I do not have a retro shirt on I have a shirt that's from an active anime and manga Which so I bought this shirt, and I didn't wear it I hadn't worn it because I wasn't far enough in the anime to justify wearing an anime shirt if that makes sense I don't know if anyone else does that But so I pulled it out of the back of the closet today and um put it on and my youngest daughter who is Far farther ahead in this particular. Anime than I am she is. Um, where'd that shirt come from? What do you mean? Um, your shirt, you've never worn that shirt. Where did you get that shirt? Uh, is that a... is that a you shirt? Like, asking, is this a you only? Can I steal this shirt when you're not looking? Will you get upset if I steal this shirt when you're not looking? You know, and I'm like, yes it is. It's a me only shirt. I didn't wear it because I wasn't... and she's like, well I mean can you even name the characters on it? I'm like look, you're not weeb-guilting me into giving you the shirt and no I can't name all of them but weeb-guilting? You can't have this shirt so not your shirt and for in case it's my hero academia in case you can't, I realize you can't actually see it But, um... Yeah, so then she proceeds to tell me each person and what their quirk superpower is. And, uh... I think I'm trying to keep it to myself. Pastor Bill: [3:39] Am I in Justice League of America? Pastor Newms: [3:44] It is. Pastor Bill: [3:48] And Batman's got his blue cowl on, so this is more 50s, 60s... Pastor Newms: [3:56] And and that's the you know Weird arrow when they were you know when his costume was I mean sorry Green Lantern when it was a We like it's a different You know Style It's not his. Pastor Bill: [4:19] Black pants, black boots, black mask. Green... uh, green... underwear, green boots. Pastor Newms: [4:27] Bill says it's the... Biggs says it's the 70s. Pastor Bill: [4:32] Did they keep this up all the way through the 70s? Pastor Newms: [4:35] You guys can argue about DC lore later, cause... Pastor Bill: [4:37] I was just basing it off of the Blue Cowl. I know the Blue Cowl... Pastor Newms: [4:48] Um... anyway. I don't know. Oh, he says the 70s is when the Saturday cartoons were showing that style, but that's not necessarily possibly when the books were still using that style. Alright, Pastor Bill, how was your week? Pastor Bill: [5:04] My week... There was rain. Pastor Newms: [5:10] And wind. And storms. Pastor Bill: [5:13] Some roof leakage. I see the water damage in the ceiling above my desk. You know like that discoloration that What's the word Cheat rock gets when it gets wet Yeah Yeah, I had to move my stuff around on my desk and put a big bowl out until the storm stopped because it was tripping just Doop doop doop doop doop doop doop. I was like, oh no, that's not good Your house terrifies me sir Yeah Yeah Yeah, all right nightmare. Pastor Newms: [5:53] It just blew over During the storms like you woke up and the house had gone boop Um hadn't hurt any of y'all because the the house is so old. It just kind of went. Yeah And you guys were able to get out but it just went meh um Okay fell over and everything that fell on us was so weak and brittle. Yeah, it just meh it broke over us. Meh meh meh so um uh yeah it was one of those you have nothing to worry about the house is just gonna go meh and you got nothing to worry about well shelter shelter Okay, my week was good. Um, my week was weird um, I was busy but but like it was an okay busy and then at night I just had stuff all week It was weird. I have stuff a lot more now And it's weird me an invite on Facebook to a Yeah. Sure thing Yeah, that's the men's group at the church and every last Friday last Monday of the month they do a thing and I thought I had sent it to you before but I hadn't so I sent it to you so in case you wanted to watch it because I was sitting in the audience watching it it's good they're a good group very good group I like it I don't dislike like it which is weird because I've been I've been out of organized church for so long it's you know hiding in mega churches not serving not doing anything and then I'm very quickly getting involved more and more the next three Saturdays I actually have things at the church so it's it's good it's it's a it's a good thing but it's a weird thing and like today rain was like I don't like it and I was like why she goes I don't like being out of the house this much we're out of the house way too much at this point like that's my girl but we have to be a little it's okay so um yeah so it was it was a was a good week. Pastor Bill: [8:32] All right. I think it's my week to pull a card. Pastor Newms: [8:35] It is. Okidoki-o. Okidoki-o, pull the card. Pastor Bill: [8:53] That's fair. Pastor Newms: [8:54] Okay. I couldn't see it. It was behind my face. So I'm like, I'm like, what are you doing? Like pull the card? What are you looking at me for homie you said you were full of the car Oh, you're looking at the card that makes much more sense than you staring at my picture Yes, I'm staring at a picture of Newms If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? The problem here is this. It's like I hate your stipulations on these cards. Just answer That's the dadgum question. The easiest answer is pizza. Pastor Bill: [9:38] And the reason that is thingsy. Pastor Newms: [9:39] Well, the problem is Pete exactly Diverse like exactly that's why it's the easy answer So the question like if it's you could only have pepperoni pizza No, I couldn't do that. Like I would end up with a gout flare-up that would rival, you know 15 1600s type gout flare-ups like it would be terrible. But like And you can't answer salad because no or a film Yeah, or some random chemical that because I've been told you can't be allergic to chlorophyll But yet I'm allergic to anything that's green or pretends to be green There are people that are straight-up allergic to water that walk the earth. You can't tell me you can't be allergic to chlorophyll I can't tell you I've been told by physicians and allergists that that's not a thing, but of course You know Hey, he's 80. Pastor Bill: [10:32] It's not a thing until science discovers it. Yeah, and then suddenly they're like hey, it's a new thing And we're like probably not Probably was just really rare. Pastor Newms: [10:41] Yeah, or you just didn't notice it yet Um, yeah, you just hadn't noticed yet Yeah I was actually talking to someone today about dieting and how I need to get back into it and such and it's like but it's really hard at this point of being almost 40 because Like I I can't just have salads and like, you know salads with a little protein and you know, you're good to go Like I can't do it. And so it ends up being like the only valid Option is like a keto style option and that's expensive and It's a tight line to walk with a guarantee two to three week gout flare-up at the beginning Your body gets used to it and actually starts burning the chemicals, the purine protein, So then you stop, you know, like I when I did it like five years ago now, But it's so... Pastor Bill: [11:38] Purine protein, I thought it was an acid issue. Pastor Newms: [11:43] It's, no, it's technically, it's a protein that, so it's a protein that your body then turns into an acid that then you expel. But with... Pastor Bill: [11:56] You don't expel. Pastor Newms: [11:56] I don't expel. It crystallizes. Yeah. But talking about the purine protein half is much more socially acceptable than speaking about the uric acid half because people don't like to talk about bodily fluids. Right. They don't like to equate piss with blood even though that's where pee comes from, from your blood. Yeah. They don't like to... So I usually just stick with the protein side and, oh, and then the kidneys process it wrong for me and then leave it at that as opposed to because people are like why are you talking about that it's like because it's a health issue why are you not um but so it's you know it's one of those it's it's a funny thing is I'm trying to figure out how to get healthier because it's affecting my my side affecting my knees but I find it funny when people drink a bunch of water or you know drink a drink and they're like Man, it's going right through me and I'm like, I mean not technically it's not technically going right through you technically What's happening is your your body is is breaking down more blood into urea in? Pastor Bill: [13:13] Preparation for the intake of the liquids that you're in taking But that liquid you're in taking is not actually leaving the stuff that you drank before is leaving But it's from your blood anyway Anyway, it's not going right for you. Pastor Newms: [13:27] It's just, that's not how it works. weird aspect though because it. Pastor Bill: [13:35] It appears very quickly, like certain beverages and certain things affect very quickly because you're some of it your body's just like uh-uh and so like the first round around the body your body's like I'm it's out it went through your whole body but your body's like it's out like I ain't putting this in like there's some things that there's some things that we literally had to add I can't remember the chemical name for it now but it's basically antifreeze in the chemical makeup we had to add it to it so that our body would hold it and not just straight drop it like a lot of vitamins a lot of minerals you know those pills will have that additive additive chemical that is you know identical to antifreeze under a microscope but isn't actually the antifreeze that forces your body to hold on to it instead of just flushing it out the bottom. Pastor Newms: [14:38] Yeah, that's always interesting. The body is weird. The human body is really, really weird. Pastor Bill: [14:45] Like when you get dehydrated and your body's like, must flush all liquids now I'm dehydrated. Pastor Newms: [14:51] Oop, you're gone. Wait, wait, you're yep. You're gone I'm back. Yep. Pastor Bill: [15:00] You're back now Must flush all liquids is the last thing we have helpful to flush all the liquids when you're dehydrated body Yes, but how do I tell you that? I need more liquids. Yeah, I'm pretty sure by the point the body dumps So I'm I already know I already know. Pastor Newms: [15:16] Yeah, I Don't I don't need extra alarms, I know But do we Cuz I'll be sick and just ignoring the fact that I need to drink something until I stop sweating and then I'm like, oh I'm not sweating no more That's a problem. Pastor Bill: [15:34] You know those old cartoons where they're honest a desert island and one cartoon character looks at over at the other and They start looking like a big ham This water bottle here next to my bed That's on my desk when I when I'm getting low on water man And that thing starts to look like salvation. Like I'm like, it's like glowing gold halo, you know? And it's like, oh, when I look at my water jug, oh yeah, I need to drink some water. Pastor Newms: [16:01] No, I don't, I don't, I don't got that. So what food, what food would you, would you eat forever? Pastor Bill: [16:08] Salad, I would just, I would eat salad. I, the only reason I, I like to have at least a salad a day. The only times I don't is when we can't afford it Because salad is expensive but but yeah, I would have They go help in a salad for every meal I love salad man. You always have it's great I'll live oil on there some a little bit of salt a little bit of garlic and that's the other thing you Can bet you don't put a lot in your salad even it's not even like it's just it's gross, homie some lettuce and spinach some I don't know just add a little color in there and just yeah, I'm into it. Pastor Newms: [16:53] My stomach hurts thinking about it. Pastor Bill: [16:56] And when I eat, when I eat a salad everyday I feel amazing compared to when I don't. You know, just at least one salad a day and my body's just like yeah well yeah, it's cause it's a salad, it's what I would We covered this last week. This is what we're supposed to be eating is clean healthy Salads and greens not But yeah fatty bacon every morning if I could afford it or they were just gonna provide the food I would eat a salad at every meal. Struggle to say that I would give up meat if salad was an option at every meal I but I probably wouldn't have any qualms about that. Pastor Newms: [17:39] I probably could You come over to Jerry and I submit having a salad with it at every meal instead of Anything else but it's just so dang expensive and and yeah it is and the amount you have to Have is expensive also because the caloric intake is not high on it Which is why the additives like the girls love the chicken Caesar Salads, I think it is I guess the Caesar and you know, it comes with the little thing and it They're good for like, you know a day after you buy them if you're lucky because of Farm to table is not great on salads and you would think it would be with how expensive it is, but it's not Well, it's not necessarily farm to table The problem is it's it's all the hands in between right from farm to when it finally gets to right? That's what I'm saying. It's it's not we don't have just farm to table We have you know that did that did that did that did that did that did that did that did that to us in between? Pastor Bill: [18:52] Yeah Anywho, and it appears that says yeah says your mother eats it without salad dressing. I had forgotten that but that doesn't surprise me. That's why I put on the olive oil. That is my salad dressing just a little bit of olive oil and some salt and garlic. That's my that is my salad dressing like I couldn't I can't stand the thought of adding on all those empty calories with the salad dressing just for the sake of some just weak flavoring. Pastor Newms: [19:29] Some of those calories are very big calories. They're not empty. Some of them are very fatty. Pastor Bill: [19:36] They're big, but they're empty. Pastor Newms: [19:37] I'm joking. I know what you meant. It was just... That like buttermilk ranch is a very heavy additive of... I know that's what you meant by... buy it. All right. Pastor Bill: [20:07] The whole new USB setup over here at my desk because I bumped the desk the wrong way. Something disconnects and the daisy chain goes down. The daisy chain goes down like I'm using a laptop. That's only got two USB ports What's has to be the camera and the other one has to be a daisy chain that that works the? Keyboard the mouse the microphone Everything else is on this little port over here And if I bump the desk the wrong way the whole thing goes down And then we got to wait for it to come back up again And then we wonder why the expensive computer that we bought just burnt out sitting in your house for some unknown reason in your house electricity just expensive computer had lots of USB ports it did it did but your run a mouse and a keyboard and a microphone no I know I I don't mean because of your daisy chain I mean because of the electricity in your house and the you know the. Pastor Newms: [21:09] The leaking roof and when a computer fries to a point where everything in it fries at once that that's an issue it's so hard to actually happen because of all the transistors and little safety things that are in each of the parts to keep that from happening and the whole big block of power supply that's whole job is to I protect computer and you had a nice one and it just Because I was worried about that exact issue and I Don't know how it happened because it happened when it wasn't even storming So that was the that was like like had the house got hit by electricity I would have been like yeah, it happens, but it wasn't it was everything everything in this house goes down quickly Like we were you and I was you and I were talking the other day about the last time we had an electrician come out He was like, yeah. Pastor Bill: [22:11] Oh This fuse box was outlawed like 20 years ago You know, I'm technically not even supposed to work on this thing Well, what am I supposed to do? But yeah, like we burn through microwaves real fast. We go through ovens real fast. I mean, we had to find creative. Like right now we have one burner that works on our stove top and then we have two air fryers and a microwave and a griddle. And that's how we cook everything because the oven doesn't work. The other three burners don't work because they all got burned out by the electricity because the electricity is crazy in this house. Pastor Newms: [22:50] Anyway. Pastor Bill: [22:56] So that's how my week was. Oh yeah, we're past that. Big says, have to kill the dirt flavor. Bigs, if your salad tastes like dirt, either A, you're buying from a crappy company, or B, you need to clean your food before you eat it, bro. Just rinse that salad off. Rinse the lettuce or something. It shouldn't taste like dirt unless you're eating beets. Beets just taste like dirt. Or dragon fruit. and fruit seeds those taste like dirt too. If you're just having a regular old salad, it shouldn't taste like dirt I think that's more of just a Colloquialism not an actual Oh, you don't think he means it actually means it tastes like because I was being like beets actually tastes like dirt and so the dragon fruit seeds well potatoes, I mean Lettuce doesn't even grow in the ground. Pastor Newms: [23:49] So if you're eating the part that's in the ground you you've done something wrong already but um I think he I think he just means that whole like it's rabbit food. It tastes like dirt. Um Uh, listen god made dirt dirt don't hurt it does man, it does though The microbes that are in dirt can kill you And speed up the decompressing If you've never built up an immune system If you don't go outside and touch grass, yeah, it does. You're right Like there's this internet thing about you you've been inside too long go touch grass and like I Had I need to go touch some grass and kill you and I'm like, okay I was like I've been inside they're like you need to go outside and I'm like I can't Like the Sun if I'm out there for more than seven minutes I burn and And if I actually touch grass, I'm gonna have a rash so All these you know, these people are like, oh if you just go stand and center yourself in the grass and connect with Mother Nature I'll die. At least I'm not a leadership black pepper, Pastor Bill: [25:07] Thanks Yeah, glad it works for you, um Mother nature's trying to kill me At least All right, so we're in this series where we've been going through the beginning And we did you know, we started in Genesis and we touched on John chapter 1 and we came back to Genesis and Last week we reached the very end of Genesis chapter 1 And so tonight we're just gonna look back at Genesis 1 and do a summary. We're gonna do an overcap we're gonna just talk in general about Genesis 1, right? And so If you remember when we started the series we talked about kind of the history of how Genesis 1 became a part of the book of Genesis and Do you remember what we said, Pastor Newms? Pastor Newms: [26:12] Huh? This is your turn to talk. No, I mean, it... The story from Genesis 1 was kind of added in... Um... to the aspects during the time of captivity in Babylon from the Babylonian stories, because it was like, hey, those line up really well with what we've got written in Genesis 2 already, and they specify some things better than what Genesis 2 does because Genesis 2 is very generic in some of the things it says. So yeah, this has more detail. Let's use it. That makes sense. Pastor Bill: [26:53] You more or less painted the picture. You got a little sloppy around the lines there, but yeah, that's the general idea. Before they went into captivity, the creation story started with what We would call Genesis chapter 2 they didn't call it Genesis chapter 2 They just called it the creation of man they didn't have chapters then either so they just called it laughter the book That's scroll over there That's good. Well, it wasn't even scrolls really. That's true It kind of was by that point. So why were they in captivity in Babylon? What happened there? Pastor Newms: [27:34] One of the many times they screwed up. Alright. Pastor Bill: [27:40] So what happened is that throughout history the Judean people, which there technically weren't Judeans yet, we're talking about the ancestors of the Judean people who eventually settled in Judea and then became the Jews. They were a polytheistic people. They had multiple gods and they worshiped multiple gods and they believed in multiple gods and despite their oral passing down of religion and despite what they believed the Mosaic Law read and despite all of these things, they were still polytheistic and they continued to go back to worshiping other gods over and over and over even though we see over and over and over gods going, no, focus, you know, me, focus on me. So it got to this one point where... A female deity known as Ashra, who the ancient peoples believed was the wife of the god Yahweh. Now you should recognize the name Yahweh because that is actually the name of two historical entities. One is a Sumerian wind god that the Sumerians believed was the god of storms and wind and weather and that he blew through the deserts with his rage and his fury. And then Yahweh is also the name that God identifies with themselves when they're speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai. They call themselves Yahweh. And it's not so much that they call themselves Yahweh, but it's that God releases a series of sounds that then Moses writes down and when humans go to repeat those series of sounds it comes out as Yahweh. And more specifically it is I AM or I EXIST. And if you drill down into the, you know, more into what they're saying there it's I exist because I want to basically. There was nothing and then there was me. I am. And so we have this idea of Yahweh who people believed was married to a goddess named Asherah. And Asherah had become very popular amongst the people of Israel, the descendants of Israel. And Asherah poles, think of like a maple with the long strings, the ribbons, you know, that you've You've seen them in the Germanic and the Nordic cultures, the Maple, and they run around them with the ribbons, and they tie them off. It's still part of Norse mythology celebrations today even in the places where they believe in the Norse religions, the Maple thing. They don't always call it a Maple and they definitely don't call it an Ashrop Hall. But this is what the idea was. They had these Ashera poles and they were burning incense to Ashera and they were worshiping Ashera alongside of Yahweh and it had yet identified her as you know the wife of God So this was going on and God told them to cut it out multiple tops Multiple times you got to stop doing this you got to stop doing that people would tear them down Okay, people would rebuild them people would tear them down So God says, okay, that's enough. So, um, God hands them over to the King of Babylon, right? Puts them into slavery. And it's not one of those things where you're like, nah, God wouldn't do that. No, no. When you look back at history, God always chastises, corrects, puts back on the right path his own people. Period. If your theology tells you that God is just going to spoil you and give you good things, then you've only got half of your theology right. Because the other half of that is that God is a good Father that disciplines his children. God wants to give you the cattle on a thousand hills, but God will also send you away to go eat in the slop in the pig's troughs for a while before you decide to come home like the prodigal son. This is how God offered. Pastor Newms: [32:38] Okay. Pastor Bill: [32:40] So God sends them into captivity. Now there is a small group of people up in the mountains where the Babylonians, not a mountainous people can't get to they're like now that's not worth it right babelans you're like we're not doing it there's no slave worth climbing those mountains we're not doing that now these people their descendants go on to be the Samaritans right so we see that play out in the New Testament their descendants Americans the people that continue to worship Asherah up on the mountain. Now, eventually, they gave up Asherah and they have their own experiences with God that we don't have the recordings of, but we do have the woman at the well talking to Jesus who's like, but we follow this law and we follow this law and our forefather, Jacob, he told us this and this and we're expecting the Messiah. And they had their own whole history and experiences with God that rival that of the actual Israelites that we do have recorded in the Bible. So it's kind of interesting there. But while in Babylon, the people are exposed to this idea that monotheism is paramount. Now the god that the Babylonians wanted them to worship was their king, right? They wanted them to worship their king, the god their king, because all the other gods had quote unquote died so that this god could be king. But they didn't quite buy that. But they saw in the histories of the Babylonians who had adopted a lot of Sumerian myth and take a look at that and they go, this story makes a whole lot of sense with what we know. And not only that, but it's got greater detail, right? Because when you go and you look at Genesis chapter 2, it's kind of broad strokes, right? God created man and God created the animals and there's nothing about when that happens. There's, you know, it's not a lot of detail there. It's very broad. And so it's very broad. It's very broad and you can see their connection. A lot of people call it contradiction. There's contradictions between these two accounts and I'm like but is there though I mean are you just looking for contradictions or or what Okay. So they pick up this this new story that we know of as Genesis one and they uh adapt it and they adopt it and they they make They make some changes to the story right um But not a lot. Um Um, that's not even true they they make a lot of changes to the story to make it more palatable to the Jewish ear. Pastor Newms: [36:08] And to help align. Pastor Bill: [36:09] To help align with Genesis 2. Pastor Newms: [36:12] Yeah. Pastor Bill: [36:13] I have the story over there, but it's kind of convoluted and confusing for the Western ear, so I'm not going to pull that out. So let's read Genesis chapter 1, and then we'll go from there. That's Okay. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And we had fun with that one. We spent a whole episode on just Genesis 1. Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the water. Then God said, Let there be light, and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. There was an evening, and there was a morning, one day. Then God said, Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water. So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so. God called the expanse sky. Evening came and then morning, the second day. Then God said, let the water under the sky be gathered into one place and let the dry land appear. Mention the video and start the video. I lost my place. Oh, and it was so. God called the dry land earth and the gathering of the water he called seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, Let the earth produce vegetation, seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And it was so. The earth produced vegetation, seed-bearing plants according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Evening came and then morning, the third day. Then God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky, separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs for seasons and for days and years. There will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth, and it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night, as well as the stars. God placed them in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth, to rule the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness, and God saw that it was good. Morning came and then morning, the fourth day. Then God said, Let the waters swarm with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky. So God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water, according to their kinds. He also created every winged creature according to its kind, and God saw that it was good. God blessed them, be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the sea, and let the birds multiply on the earth. Evening came, and then morning, the fifth day. Then God said, let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds, livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds. And it was so. So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, Let us make man in our image according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth. So God created man in his own image. He created him in the image of God. He created the male and female. God blessed them and God said to them, Be fruitful. Multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth. God also said, Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This will be food for you. For all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth, everything having the breath of life in it, I have given. Every green plant for food, and it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came, and then morning, the sixth day.", Okay. Anything jump out at you there that you wanted to talk about again? Highlights that you want to make sure that we walk away with? Pastor Newms: [41:39] Um... In seriousness, no. Um, in funny internet meme, my only thought was at what point did the birds get replaced by the robots? Um, but, um... Pastor Bill: [42:00] That was within the last century, bro. Pastor Newms: [42:02] I know, I'm just saying, like, you know, it was one of those, I was like, hee hee, Birds aren't real. So... You have to have a CIA because the CIA can replace the birds with robots. Right. Yeah. So it has to be after man. No, I mean we've talked about it. So there's nothing really that jumps out at me today differently than how it has over the last couple of weeks. Sometimes that does happen. Let's be honest. honest. But no, I mean, I think it's pretty, it's pretty cut and dry. I do always find it interesting and I don't necessarily like where chapters and verses are split. When we split our chapters and verses? Like, why do we not end? 2 3 as the end of one like that's where one should end Like we shouldn't start the next with and God rests on the seventh day well that but it he should rest at the end because the end is the You did that because you wanted Sunday to be the day of rest which is the first day of the week didn't yeah But you know, it's that whole aspect of like come on that that's part of the whole the same story and, so that that um, that part always irritates me, but that's not what we Talked about I always hate that that Genesis one ends with and the sixth day We got more to go This part of the story is not over So, agreed. That nope, you're gone. I'm back. Okay, cool. Pastor Bill: [44:02] You're back. Genesis one is not a Christian text. Genesis one is not a Jewish text. Genesis one is what? It's ancient Babylonian creation myth. Pastor Newms: [44:17] Right. Pastor Bill: [44:20] To me so is two through one through three if you're saying it from that standpoint but Well, yeah, cuz they went and added the numbers later, but anyway So when we read Genesis one, we're not reading the the point-blank account of God Of Yahweh of how creation happened. We're reading the Caption of the Babylonian creation myth and this one This is one of the reasons why we were using a plural for God Because the Babylonians they were polytheistic Right? And then became monotheistic when they started having the God Kings. And so you've got this weird thing. And the beauty of it all is it requires faith. I don't need faith, or I shouldn't need faith, when I crack open a history textbook. When I crack open a history textbook, I should just be reading fact. Pastor Newms: [45:34] Right? Pastor Bill: [45:36] Should. Pastor Newms: [45:37] Sure. Pastor Bill: [45:38] I'm not saying every history textbook is like that. I'm saying that's the expectation. Because when I open a history textbook or a science textbook, I should be reading fact. Pastor Newms: [45:48] Sure. Pastor Bill: [45:48] There's no faith that should need to be involved. Should need to be involved. This, the Bible, is not written under that assumption. This is not intended to be a historical document. This is intended to be taken by faith. Can't stress this hard enough. I don't know. Pastor Newms: [46:17] Well, the Bible plainly says we pull you apart what All scripture is god-breathed and for the use of teaching preach, you know You know all the you know, we've we've beat that verse To death and I don't want to butcher because I don't have it in front of me but it's it's the you know, there are certain and And to be historically accurate is not in that list. It's to teach, to have faith for religious purposes. It's a religious book. And so we build our faith on it. Is some of it historical? Pastor Bill: [46:53] Absolutely. Pastor Newms: [46:56] Is some of it poetry? Yes. Is some of it stories written down? Yes. Is some of it letters from one homeboy to another? Yes. Pastor Bill: [47:09] But man, I left my Coke. Pastor Newms: [47:10] Can you send that with so-and-so when they leave? But in that, there are aspects. But one of the biggest things about all of it is it requires faith. Because for any of it to be true, you have to believe it. Now me, as a natural born skeptic, I don't view the world as you do. And I don't trust anybody ever. And so I have to have faith in some people. Because my natural is this ain't true. But it's written down. Doesn't mean it's true. Doesn't mean it's true. But it's documented. It's got date and timestamps. Hacker can fix that. I don't... We're dealing with programmers, no historical accuracy can be proved sometimes. But that being said, the aspects of... It takes faith to believe this. It takes faith to walk it out. And the bigger aspect, as you're mentioning, is it's not just faith to believe, it's faith to actually walk it out. Because people are like, oh, well, this is just the creation story. There's not much, you know, in it. But no, there's a lot of in it because you've got things like, you know, dominion. You've got things like, there's a bunch of concepts that are deeper meanings than just, hey, here you go, that you look at with some of these heavy-weighted words that we miss when we just... And for those of you out there in audioland, is when you move your hand from the top to the bottom, so when you're just looking at it, just so we're clear on... Because I forget often that that doesn't translate in... It'd be fun to see what the transcription service makes of... Pastor Bill: [49:16] Let's see how many more times I can do it. I'm fed up with all the transcription services. It's crazy. Pastor Newms: [49:21] Is the new one not working again? Pastor Bill: [49:24] It worked that first time and then I couldn't get it to work again. It kept just not accepting any new input. and I was like this is crazy. Hmm. Pastor Newms: [49:39] Because it was nice. Pastor Bill: [49:40] It was so nice and I want it so bad. Um. She's I don't know, serving me crazy. I'm looking up a specific. Verse here. Do there's a verse in Revelations It talks about all the people that won't have a place in eternity. Pastor Newms: [50:16] And I'm assuming by place in eternity you mean place in heaven because everyone has a place It's just not everyone's place is as nice as everyone else's some of them their eternal place is death in hell so it's like Not it's a place eternal death, that's crazy Oh, here we go. Pastor Bill: [50:42] Okay So the whole point of all of this of everything from the very beginning is faith. Without faith it's impossible to please God. The whole point of life, the whole point of living, the whole point of creating humanity was faith. We're going to teach these, we're going to put these things out there. They're going to be a lesser shadow of us, God said. This whole point is to learn faith. We're intentionally ignorant. So that we can learn faith. So that we can step into eternity with God. I shudder to say equal footing, but it's almost like that. It's almost like if we're not at this certain level with God, then we can't step into eternity with Him. But what I was thinking about was Revelation chapter 21. And we're going to start at verse 8. And I want everyone to just stick with me. But the cowards, faithless, detestable murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars. Their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is second death. The takeaway from this verse that I've seen over and over and over is weaponization. People have used this as a weapon against other people over and over and over and over. But what it is, is a statement on identity politics. These are all identity statements. A coward is an identity. Faithless is an identity. Detestable identity. Murderers is an identity. The sexually immoral is an identity. Sorcerers is an identity. Idolaters is an identity. Liars is an identity. And everyone at some point in their life falls into one of these identities. They can be identified or identifies themselves as something in this list. But faith. And Christ came to set us free and to show us what faith really is and how faith really is. And when we find faith and we find that faith of salvation in Christ, this is not our identities anymore. Who once was a coward is now a faithful follower of Christ. Who once was a, faithless person a liar is now faithful. This whole point of this verse is identity. Because the whole point of life is faith. When you achieve that faith that Christ was talking about, that certain level of faith that Jesus said could only be achieved through Him, that becomes your new identity. Am I cis or homosexual or heterosexual or fat or ugly or a coward or faithless or a murderer? None of those things anymore because I'm first and foremost faithful. Does that mean I'm no longer cis or I'm no longer homosexual, no longer heterosexual? Well, according to the gospel that Jesus preached, that Paul then triumphed, all those secondary identities that we try to define ourselves by mean nothing once your identity is faithful. And that is my big takeaway as to why Genesis 1 is so important. It's here in these words that we see this fantastical outlay of when this happened and this happened and the world was a giant ball of cesspool that God hovered over and warred against the darkness. It takes a lot of faith to read that and go, I believe, even though this isn't a textbook, even though this isn't a historical document, even though this isn't any of those things that people try to make this that takes it out of the context that it exists in, That's where I see Genesis 1 laying. It's the foundation of faith. And that's my takeaway. Pastor Newms: [56:29] And you know, sometimes we disagree on things, as we do. And I'm going to disagree with you for a second, because you should have started in seven. And here's why I say that. Eight starts with a but, so while you were talking I of course went above because I hate starting with buts. And seven says the one who conquers will inherit these things. These things being what's talked about in six, well actually what's talked about in five of creating everything new. Pastor Bill: [57:07] We should have started in five? Pastor Newms: [57:09] Well, five starts with a then, so you'd have to go above. Anyway, we're not, should have started in Genesis one, oh wait. So, the one who conquers will inherit these things and I will be his God and he will be my son. And we often talk about how words are, eh? And this is one of the times I actually agree more with the KJV or the NASB's translation. Because Conqueror is, I understand the use of Conqueror, and I understand the use of what the KJV uses, which is overcome. Both of which are accurate because it's overcoming through Conquering. So they're both accurate translations, neither one of them is not. But the important part there is the ones that do meaning they you know I will in six it's I will freely give the thirsty from the spring of water of life the one who conquers will inherit these things so like what you're talking about of having faith and the identity of the people in eight. The people who have conquered. By conquering their identity issues and stepping over those aspects will become, and technically that he is person and the son is child. So they will be children of God. That is the identity that they should be, not the identity of all the other things that are listed in the next verse. And so it's when you really look at, when you start looking at identity and looking at what we call ourselves and how we act and how we, like you were saying, and then you take that one step further of the ones that conquer, the ones that grab ahold of being my children and that being who they are, they will not be the cowards, the faithless, detestable because it takes faith. And I find the coward to be fun because that can also be translated faithless. So it's the cowards because of lack of faith and the unbelieving people because they don't have faith. Both are both, both of the first two are really people who don't have faith. It's two different aspects of not having faith. Being afraid because you don't have faith and not agreeing because you don't have faith. And so it's that interestingness of looking at those two words, that list of identities, and then translating that back to what's the important identity that we should be grasping. And we've talked about this before, of our identity should be follower of Christ, Son of God, not Son of God being Son of God, but Son of God as children of God, let's be clear there. You call yourself the Son of God, you need to check yourself. Anyway, so I just found that to be interesting, some interesting aspect as you were reading 8 and explaining, you know, the identity aspects of those. That Seven then is and of course as you mentioned and the important is six and then above that is the important is five and then we have to go to four and Then we end up in Genesis one. Pastor Bill: [1:00:51] Yeah, I found the wording of seven interesting just overall is It should be in my opinion the victorious Will Become heirs of of everything. And then it says, I shall personally be their God and the same. Will be my and in context that shouldn't be the word son it should be in our modern language descendants it's a figurative kinship like a child a foul a son um it's not not meaning direct child direct son direct it means right a descendant you know like a grandfather would look at his grandson well he's still saying the word son you know he would that's my son that's my you know You know, it's my grandson. It's that kind of a word. But yeah, it's interesting the choices they make when they translate certain things that really goes a lot into the politics of the day and the way they saw things. Pastor Newms: [1:02:04] I find it funny that the CSB translates one of the ones he. One of the he's one and one of the he's he, as opposed to just saying person both times or one both times. Whereas the KJV does he both and the NASB does he once and one once. So I find that kind of stuff to be interesting when you look at the people that are doing the translation. The words are slightly different because it's overcome error. Pastor Bill: [1:02:36] One of the interesting things about the TSP is they have that the whole panel of inter-denominational people that all have to sign had to sign off on each verse. Pastor Newms: [1:02:51] Yeah. Pastor Bill: [1:02:52] The translation of each verse. So even in that, there are certain ways that it phrases things that it's like, oh yeah, I know exactly which denomination refused to sign off until you put that word there. Pastor Newms: [1:03:07] Well, and you know, it's one of the things that are so interesting about the translation of the Bible when as we talk about stuff, one who, the one who overcomes, the one who conquers, he that overcometh in the three versions that I keep up all the time. All of that is just the one word for the, for. To subdue literally conqueror overcomer prevail Someone who gets the victory so it's it's that aspect of it's it's one word that we've got to translate between four and Three and four words to get it to understand for an English reader to just go Okay because Conqueror doesn't necessarily mean the one who, but on the same token, it does. So it's that it's that sometimes if we were to just do a word for word translation, like some people have done in the past, it's hard to read because the word for word doesn't flow because English has a flow to it because of how many other languages we bastardized to get to where we are. But that's one of those things that's interesting when you have a half sentence, technically a full sentence. He that overcomeeth is a full sentence, kind of. Pastor Bill: [1:04:39] That is a full sentence, it really is. Pastor Newms: [1:04:43] It's one word. It is, it's one word in the original. Interesting. That is. Pastor Bill: [1:04:54] But okay so we are not going to do the topic according to AI this week but if you are interested in seeing what the AI's what the AI had to say about the summary of the seven different concordances that I read I will put it in the transcription on this podcast so you can go find that it'll be there and you're gone again. Paragraphs long, six paragraphs. If you want to go find that in the transcription I'll make sure it's there. Even if I can't get a good transcription to add on I'll go ahead and put this in there and mark. Pastor Newms: [1:05:40] Okay, so, um, Pastor Bill is at this point just gone. He's talking, but it is not working. Pastor Bill: [1:05:47] This is those little green things lit up the whole time. I never lost my little green box. Pastor Newms: [1:05:52] It didn't send it to us though. Weird. So the the aspects, Pastor Bill is going to put the thing that Pastor Newms hates, which is the AI interpretation into the transcript, whether or not you always hate my noobs. I do hate it. I just don't Anyway, um have fun describing growl also, um the And then pastor bill was saying Now he's back so he can just say what he was saying about next time and joining us and all that Festo is the podcast that comes out once a week on On Wednesdays at 7 p.m. Pastor Bill: [1:06:34] Central Standard Time hopefully I can stop saying standard at some point if they'll ever actually standardize the time in the US and um Passion is shaking said no it won't happen and we record it live on Sunday nights at 630 p.m Central Standard Time if you'd like to join us for that live recording you can go to our website e ekk house and find out which twitch which YouTube and which Facebook we are live on and then you can watch as we broadcast live and Participate in the chat you can type out your messages questions concerns Contradictions, whatever and we can respond to them right then and there live on the podcast and in that way you can actually be a part of the conversation If this podcast has helped you or you found it informative you think someone else might like it then feel free to send it over to them. We like new listeners and we don't like just being a echo chamber over here. Echo chambers are bad. Echo chambers are bad, you know. And so we appreciate new people coming in and new looks on life and we do our best not to sound condescending even though both of us have kind of that personality where We're pretty much everything we say usually comes across as sounding condescending, but we truly don't mean it that way. We truly do love sharing what we do know and we are open to people seeing things a different way. Like in this conversation, we disagreed on something and that's fine. It wasn't that big of a thing that we disagreed on, but we have disagreed on big things in the past between the two of us and we've both sounded like pompous jerks discussing it. In the end, there's only one thing we all have to agree on. I didn't know you said it like a In the end there's only the one thing that we have to agree on agree on and that's the salvation issue. The one the faith in Christ alone for salvation. That's the one thing everything else you're allowed to see anything from scripture the way you want to and we may come back at you and say, hey, well, you know, historically this or this other verse says this, and we're not trying to demean you, we're just trying to, what's the word, we add more things to someone's purview so they can see all the information. Expand, we're just trying to expand the information that you have if we have more information. So yeah, so come and join us and all of that to say we're not jerks, we're just slightly autistic. Alright, so we love you guys. Have a great week. Pastor Newms: [1:09:25] I love the be safe out there while you pretend to be just slightly. Pastor Bill: [1:09:30] And until next time. My collar has been has been bugging. I'm really aware of my collar all night. Which is bugging the heck out of me. Pastor Newms: [1:09:38] I'm nothing to do like what we've already talked about. My collar is seriously bugging all night long. And you gave me no pause so this will end up happen to be in the outgoing. Pastor Bill: [1:09:47] Yeah, well, I know. That's exactly what I intended.

The Deity of the Holy Spirit Chris Hefner The Spirit is identified as God (Acts 5:1-10, esp. vv. 3-4). The Spirit knows God and gives what the Father gives (1 Cor. 2:11-12) The three persons of the Trinity referenced together (1 Cor. 12:4-6; Eph. 4:4-6) “Grace of Jesus, love of God, fellowship of the Spirit” (2 Cor. 13:14) Baptized in the name (singular) of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Mt. 28:19-20) Father, Son, and Spirit interwoven as Savior (Eph. 1:3-14) The Personality of the Holy Spirit He knows and thinks (1 Cor. 2:10-11) He teaches (John 14:26; 1 Cor. 2:13) He witnesses (John 15:26). He convicts (John 16:7-8). He regenerates (John 3:5-7). He directs and commands (Acts 8:29). He performs miracles (Acts 8:39). He calls and sends forth to service (Acts 13:2, 4). He intercedes (Romans 8:26). He guides (Romans 8:14). He can be grieved (Eph. 4:30) He loves (Rom. 15:30) He distributes gifts (1 Cor. 12:11) He forbids (Acts 16:6-11) He can be obeyed (Acts 10:19-21) He can be lied to (Acts 5:3-4) He can blasphemed (Matt. 12:31) He can be resisted (Acts 7:51) He can be insulted (Hebrews 10:29) Takeaways: Without the person and work of the Holy Spirit, our salvation would not be possible Through the person and work of the Holy Spirit, we can know God Because the person and work of the Holy Spirit is divinely mysterious, we must allow God's Word, not experiences to guide our understanding Reach out to us via email at: info@wilkesborobaptist.org

Isaiah 9:6 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. John 14:27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid. 3 types of peace: Peace WITH God Peace doesn't come from what you do, it comes from what Jesus did. Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God BECAUSE of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Isaiah 32:17 And this righteousness will bring peace. Yes, it will bring quietness and confidence forever. Peace WITH me. Col 3:15 And let the peace that comes from Christ RULE in your hearts. John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulations. But take heart; I have overcome the world. Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Phil 4:7 Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Peace with others. Ephesians 4:2-3 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coastalchurch/message

A study in 1st Peter focusing on the words “blessed be”. Peter was telling the saints in trial and tribulation in his day (and us today) that we are to eulogize God BECAUSE of His abundant mercy. He has given us hope, inheritance, salvation and reserved in Heaven a place for us. This pattern of eulogizing God is consistent throughout the Old and New Testaments. We are to first praise, worship and thank Him as a continual faith practice. VF-1736 1 Peter 1:3 Watch, Listen and Learn 24x7 at PastorMelissaScott.com Pastor Melissa Scott teaches from Faith Center in Glendale. Call 1-800-338-3030 24x7 to leave a message for Pastor Scott. You may make reservations to attend a live service, leave a prayer request or make a commitment. Pastor Scott appreciates messages and reads them often during live broadcasts. Follow @Pastor_Scott on Twitter and visit her official Facebook page @Pastor.M.Scott. Download Pastor Scott's "Understand the Bible" app for iPhone, iPad and iPod at the Apple App Store and for Android devices in the Google Store. Pastor Scott can also be seen 24x7 on Roku and Amazon Fire on the "Understand the Bible?" channel. ©2022 Pastor Melissa Scott, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved

Give Wholehearted Allegiance to God Because of Who God is.

Today we're gonna talk about having a relationship with God Because when you have a relatioionship

A study in 1st Peter focusing on the words “blessed be”. Peter was telling the saints in trial and tribulation in his day (and us today) that we are to eulogize God BECAUSE of His abundant mercy. He has given us hope, inheritance, salvation and reserved in Heaven a place for us. This pattern of eulogizing God is consistent throughout the Old and New Testaments. We are to first praise, worship and thank Him as a continual faith practice. Watch, Listen and Learn 24x7 at PastorMelissaScott.com Pastor Melissa Scott teaches from Faith Center in Glendale. Call 1-800-338-3030 24x7 to leave a message for Pastor Scott. You may make reservations to attend a live service, leave a prayer request or make a commitment. Pastor Scott appreciates messages and reads them often during live broadcasts. Follow @Pastor_Scott on Twitter and visit her official Facebook page @Pastor.M.Scott. Download Pastor Scott's "Understand the Bible" app for iPhone, iPad and iPod at the Apple App Store and for Android devices in the Google Store. Pastor Scott can also be seen 24x7 on Roku and Amazon Fire on the "Understand the Bible?" channel. ©2022 Pastor Melissa Scott, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved

Recently someone asked me about Matthew 5:48 which reads “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect”.  The question that was asked was how can God who knows that we are flawed creatures put such a demand on us?Let me explain to you this way God is the ultimate parent, there is not one greater.  What parent would  push and motivate their child, by letting them know mediocre is enough.  No, we push our children to be their absolute best, to go for the best, to be conquerors, if they fall down we say get back up, if they fail at something we say if that is what you want go for it.Be ye therefore perfect, is God's parental push, with perfect being the goal. Just imagine if God said, ‘I know you will never be perfect, just do the best you can, just limit your sins to no more than 6 a day. Well,  just like our children, if God were to set such low expectations, we would consider ourselves good if we only sinned 5 days and then have the audacity to try to figure out if we can carry over our unused sin to the next day.God wants the best for us, and expects the best from us…. His grace and mercy is there for us when we mess up, but our focus should be on be on being the absolute best, I want to read to you a collaboration of scriptures to give you a clearer perspective:Gen 1:26  “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion…..over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. .”Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through [a]Christ who strengthens me.”1 Corinthians 10:31 “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God”Because of the image of who we were created, because God has mandated that we can do all things through Christ and then explained to us that whatever we do should be done as glory unto Him.  It's clear we are to operate with a spirit of excellence at all times, striving for perfection, never be comfortable with mediocrity.All God wants from us is our absolute best. And striving for perfection in the eyes of God is bigger than us because when we strive for godly perfection, perfection is not measured by dollars or cents, speed, height, grades or any other systems or voices of validation spearheaded by mankind.  When you strive for godly perfection, you become infectious, you turn heads, you will get questions asking about your level of commitment when the circumstances seem less than acceptable, when the people around you seem to be arrogant, self-centered and full of greed. When the questions come…. The door opens for you to tell them about the God you serve.God's definition of  “perfect” is an attitude of excellence, an attitude of putting your all in everything you commit to do.

The gospel is the outworking of God reconciling the world to himself. God invites all people to accept his offer of reconciliation. Why do we need to be reconciled to God- Because we, as sinners, are enemies of God and God is our enemy. How can we be reconciled to God- Only by faith in Jesus Christ, who became sin for us that we might be made the righteous of God in him. When should we seek reconciliation with God- Now, while we have the invitation before us.

The gospel is the outworking of God reconciling the world to himself. God invites all people to accept his offer of reconciliation. Why do we need to be reconciled to God-- Because we, as sinners, are enemies of God and God is our enemy. How can we be reconciled to God-- Only by faith in Jesus Christ, who became sin for us that we might be made the righteous of God in him. When should we seek reconciliation with God-- Now, while we have the invitation before us.

Romans 2:17 Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God,  18 and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. V2:17-20 We see the Jews profession (What they believed and thought they were doing for the world)  Paul says all this to show that what he is about to say is not said out of his ignorance of themYou who rest or rely on the law( the law referred to the first 5 books of the Old Testament  and also the Psalms, Proverbs, and prophets which had been given to the Jews up to that timeThe Jews not only had the law, they trusted its truth and believed it and did not study anything else.             The problem is not believing, which they only did mentally. They did not believe in their hearts and with their emotions that this was for them. They thought they had it all.James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe----and tremble!Make your boast in God- Because they were called the people of God and had been chosen as his vessels of revelation of God and His Word they thought they had the market on God and there was nothing else to be doneGrowing up in church - Pastor or Missionary parents will not get you into heavenV-18 To know his will- means to know what is agreeable to God (what is right, wrong, commanded by Him, what He approves of, prohibits, and what God rewards. The Jews had an awesome knowledge of God The word approve means to recognize as genuine after examination and refers to the Jews ability to know right from wrongThe word instructed is the word we get catechism from Catechism is to instruct orally, especially by repetitionThe Jewish boys memorized large portions of scripture they had head knowledge of God not heart2Tim 3:7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.v-19 confident that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,Jesus tells them in these verses they are blindMatt 13:13-15 v-20 an instructor of the foolish, A teacher of babes, Having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.The word form is morphosis which means external appearance of knowledge and truth  To the outsider they looked good but to God all their works was nothing, it was not from the heart2Tim 3:5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.Head knowledge of God is not Heart Knowledge and it will not save youMatt 3:7-9 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 "Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 “and do not think to say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.Luke 18:10-14 Pharisee and tax collector be merciful to me a sinnerIt is no new thing for evil to be masked as Light in the darkness, Sometimes the one who promises the most to help you is your worst enemy and will destroy you if he can2 Corinthians 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

"And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, 'These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life: I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich)…” "And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, 'These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God… Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'--and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.” The church of Smyrna was the persecuted church. If indeed these churches represent different stages of church history, the church of Smyrna represents the church of the first three centuries. In the first three hundred years of the church there was tremendous opposition to it. We read of the beginning of this tribulation and persecution of the church in Jerusalem in Acts 8:1: “Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” Most likely, literally the church that John was writing to in the city of Smyrna was a very poor church outwardly. It was meeting in the homes of the believers. It didn't have a budget or a church building. The believers there were mock, derided and persecuted. It was a church that lived in outward poverty. John wrote, “I know your tribulation and poverty….”. But then he added, “But you are rich”. Now, what jumped out at me is what John wrote in his last letter to the seventh church, the church of Laodicea. Again, if these churches represent times in church history, then this church represents the church of today. This is the church that outwardly appears to be very rich. It is possible, even in the first century when John was writing these letters to these seven churches if you would have had the opportunity to visit these two churches you would literally have observed this. You would have left saying of the church of Smyrna, “Goodness, what a poor church!” And of the church of Laodicea you would have been impressed with its wealth! Today, the churches in the western world appear to be like the church of Laodicea. They have large budgets with money in the bank. They have beautiful and large facilities. They have great influence in politics and government. And sad to say, they are saying, “We are rich and have become wealthy and have need of nothing.” They have become nothing more that social clubs and have lost the power of the Holy Spirit. But Jesus looks at the church differently than we do. He sees the poor persecuted church and says, “It is rich.” He looks at the rich affluent church and says, “It is miserable, poor, blind and naked.” I have the opportunity to visit some of the poorest churches in the world when I go to India. Many of them meet on the ground under a tree or they are meeting in a grass hut. But when you worship with these believers, you know they have something that most of the churches in America don't have. They have presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in their midst! They are rich in His grace and in His mercy! Read the first chapters of Book of Ephesians. Even we as believers need to be careful. When we lose our sense of need for the Lord and His grace and don't read our Bibles, pray and seek Him for daily provisions and strength, we become poor, miserable and naked! Yes, we might look rich but we are poor. And amazingly, those believers that look so poor are the ones who are rich with the grace and mercy of the Lord! It is my prayer today that we would by God's grace, keep ourselves humble and dependent on the Lord for our daily needs and recognize our poverty without Him! God bless!

If someone were to ask you to tell them the beginning of the original Christmas Story, the story of the first Christmas, where would you start? This Christmas message is concluded with who the "Word": 1. The Son is God Because He was “In the Beginning” (v. 1a), 2. The Son is God Because He is “the Word” (v. 1b), 3. The Son is God Because He is “from the Father” (v. 14b), 4. The Son is God Because “the word became flesh” (v. 14a) What does this tell us? God has become one of us and His name is Jesus.

Graham Webb of Jubilee Liverpool looks at The Bible and why we are meant to be a people devoted to the word of God: Because by being devoted to the Bible, we are devoting ourselves to the one who wrote it.

Graham Webb of Jubilee Liverpool looks at The Bible and why we are meant to be a people devoted to the word of God: Because by being devoted to the Bible, we are devoting ourselves to the one who wrote it.

Malachi—Returning to a Heart for Worship “Return to God Before He Returns” Malachi 3:1-15 Key Truth—If we repent and return unto the Lord, He will come back to us in blessing. 1. Return to God Because of the Coming of the Lord (v.1-6) (v.1) “the Lord whom you seek will come suddenly” 1) _______________________________ 2) _______________________________ 3) _______________________________ 2. Return to God Because of the Command of the Lord (v.7-12) (v.10) ”Bring the full tithes into the storehouse.” 1) _______________________________ 2) _______________________________ 3) _______________________________ 4) _______________________________ 3. Return to God Because of the Complaint of the Lord (v.13-15) (v.14) “You have said, it is vain to serve God.”

The result of Transformation #2 (God can use you mightily. But you must be willing to follow His leading. It's called OBEDIENCE) By Pastor George Lehman 1 Samuel 15:22-23 (Amp) - Samuel said, Has the Lord as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?  Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim (household good luck images).  Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.   1 Samuel 15:20-21 (Amp) – 20Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have completely destroyed the Amalekites. 21But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things [that were] to be totally destroyed to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” Obedience is not Optional.  Obedience was the 1st key step you took when you became a born-again child of God. It's not an either/or situation. Philippians 2:12 (LB) - Dearest friends, when I was there with you, you were always so careful to follow my instructions.  And now that I am away you must be even more careful to do the good things that result from being saved, obeying God with deep reverence, shrinking back from all that might displease him. (Disobedience displeases God) Because we grow up in a world full of options, everything is optional, It's all about my likes and dislikes, my comfort and conveniences. The dictionary says OPTION is: The act of choosing; the freedom to choose; open to choice. If you've studied and qualified, your career options may be more numerous than they would otherwise be; when you go and buy a bike, you have a wide range of options to choose from; you have various options to buy the clothes you want to buy and wear; options what house to live in; options what you will eat.  Life is full of choices (options) everyday. We tend to treat God this way too!! If we are obedient or if not, it doesn't really matter, I mean it's my (OPTION) choice. Our obedience to God can never be optional (open to free choice); an either/or situation. All or Nothing! Partial obedience is disobedience. Someone asked Dr. Cho (pastors the largest church in the world – over 1 million), “what is the key to your great success?”  His reply was very simple, “I pray and obey”. Story of Alexander the Great: A few centuries before Christ, a man named Alexander conquered almost all of the known world using military strength, cleverness and a bit of diplomacy. The story is told that Alexander and a small company of soldiers approached a strongly fortified walled city.  Alexander, standing outside the walls, raised his voice and demanded to see the king.  When the king arrived, Alexander insisted that the king surrender the city and its inhabitants to Alexander and his little band of fighting men. The king laughed, “Why should I surrender to you?  You can't do us any harm!”  But Alexander offered to give the king a demonstration.  He ordered his men to line up single file and start marching.   He marched them straight toward a sheer cliff.  The townspeople gathered on the wall and watched in shocked silence as, one by one, Alexander's soldiers marched without hesitation right off the cliff to their deaths!  After ten soldiers died, Alexander ordered the rest of the men to return to his side.  The townspeople and the king immediately surrendered to Alexander the Great. They realized that if a few men were actually willing to commit suicide at the command of this dynamic leader, then nothing could stop his eventual victory. The real question here is: Are you really willing to be as obedient to the ruler of the universe, Jesus Christ, as those soldiers were to Alexander? Are you as dedicated, obedient, and committed? These are the birth cannels through which Transformation flows Think how much power Christ could have in our area of influence with just a portion of such commitment and obedience. There are certain things in us that must come out. The result of transformation is continuous “obedience”.  Obedience is putting into action that which God requires.  AND IT'S NOT OPTIONAL So many Christians think, “If I'm obedient and do good in one area, then God will overlook my disobedience and sin in another area”. When God's word says something, that's exactly what He means. Psalm 40:6 (Amp) - Sacrifice and offering You do not desire, nor have You delight in them; You have given me the capacity to hear* and obey [Your law, a more valuable service than] burnt offerings and sin offerings [which] You do not require. * Ignorance will be no excuse one day. What is the kinds of Sacrifice we offer:  You can come to church, sing songs, wear CMA colours, go to rallies and jols, even have a leadership position; you can give tithes and offerings; you can do all the works that Christians should do. All this is possible without obedience because obedience is allowing genuine Transformation in the heart.  Sacrifice without obedience is a painful waste of time. James 1:22 (NIV) - Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what is says. (Many think because I heard it, I'm ok) Job 36:11-12 (Amp) - If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity and their years in pleasantness and joy.  But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword [of God's destructive judgments], and they shall die in ignorance of true knowledge. (Obedience brings true knowledge) Clearly God wants to change you and mould you into the image of His Son, Jesus.  The only way to do this is if you are willing to allow Him.   Here are some truths about obedience: #1 Obedience brings forth a desire for self-examination, which produces transformation You know when you are walking in obedience because you will have a passionate desire to do painful self-inspection all the time and be willing to change or be transformed. Psalm 139:23 (Amp) - Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart!  Try me and know my thoughts! This wasn't just good talk to impress God.  David's desire is that disobedience wasn't hindering God's work in His life. Most of us don't like self-examination, do we?  Self-examination creates Transformation (change)   Isaac Newton - First law of motion - “Everything continues in a state of rest unless it is compelled to change by forces impressed upon it.” Some people will change when they see the light.  Others change only when they feel the heat. #2  Obedience brings forth blessings. Every promise in God's word comes with a condition = obedience. 1 John 3:22 (Amp) - And we receive from Him whatever we ask, because we [watchfully] OBEY His orders [observe His suggestions and injunctions*, follow His plan for us] and [habitually] practice what is pleasing to Him.  *Injunction = authoritive order   Deuteronomy 12:28 (Amp) - Be watchful and OBEY all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.   Blessings come when we commit to do it God's way, not our way.   Leviticus 26:3-13 (LB) - If you obey all of my commandments, I will give you regular rains, and the land will yield bumper crops, and the trees will be loaded with fruit long after the normal time! And grapes will still be ripening when sowing time comes again.  You shall eat your fill, and live safely in the land, For I will give you peace, and you will go to sleep without fear.  I will chase away the dangerous animals.  You will chase your enemies; they will die beneath your swords.  Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you, then thousand!  You will defeat all of your enemies.  I will look after you, and multiply you, and fulfill my covenant with you.  You will have such a surplus of crops that you won't know what to do with them when the new harvest is ready!  And I will live among you, and not despise you.  I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be my people.  For I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, with the intention that you be slaves no longer; I have broken your chains and will make you walk with dignity. Are you positioned for blessing?  If not, you're settling for second best. #3  Disobedience brings forth consequences. Do yourself a favour, go read Leviticus 26:14-28 & Deuteronomy 28:15-68.  See the price of disobedience grow. 53 verses are curses. Revelations 3:3 (Amp) - So call to mind the lessons you received and heard; continually lay them to heart and OBEY them, and repent(change/transform).  In case you will not rouse yourselves and keep awake and watch, I will come upon you like a thief, and you will not know or suspect at what hour I will come. What price are you willing to pay for disobedience? The result of transformation comes from obedience, and obedience is NOT OPTIONAL.

God has, at times, called me to risky things, how do you know if it's God?  What do you do if you feel that way?  Tune in to get some insight and see how God is calling us all to something risky! Help us advance the Kingdom, support our online ministry (harmonychurch.cc/give).  Got kids?  Check out Harmony Kids online (updated weekly)  https://www.harmonychurch.cc/harmony-kids-online/!  ------------------- Sermon Notes Slide Key: Sermons always start with “OPENING ILLUSTRATION:” and end with “CLOSING ILLUSTRATION:"All scriptures are NIV unless otherwise notedBold = Slide textBold Red = Scriptures (please reflect formatting of scripture on slides, i.e. - underlines, italics, etc.)“b" or “B” on a line by itself = Slide break/New slideBold ALL CAPS WORDS = heading to be ignored[some text] = programming notes to be paid attention to ----------------------------- OPENING ILLUSTRATION: I have a really good buddy who used to work in a coffee shop.  He said, he was working one day and Weird Al came into his coffee shop, you all know who Weird Al is, right?  Only the most prolific musician of the past 30 years.  If you don't know, look him up. But he's famous, right? My buddy is a HUGE Weird Al fan.  So, Weird Al comes into the coffee shop and my buddy is star-struck! As he walks up to the counter, my buddy gets all nervous and he's like, “Weird Al, what can I get you?”Weird Al says, “Do you have soy milk?”My buddies like, “anything for you Weird Al…”  and he goes to work looking for the soy milk…He comes back to the counter and says, “Here ya go, Weird Al…” Weird Al looks at him and says, “I said do you have a phone book…” Ha…They didn't have one and so my buddy said, “No, we don't have one…” and weird Al walked out the door…My friend said he wanted to yell after him, “I'm sorry for failing you weird Al!” ha… We've all been there, right? So worried about getting it right, that we end up getting it wrong… I've had presentations that I've worked overtime on, know the material inside and out and get up there and just blow it Have you ever felt this with God? Felt like He's asking you to do something, only to do it and feel like it's all falling apart? Or maybe you felt like you were supposed to do something but you were too afraid to take the step? Today, I want us to look at learning to walk into risk with God… Because, here's the deal, I'm up here talking all the time about our mission advancing the Kingdom by living for God and loving people all the time, I know you are thinking about how to live that out in your life… but I'm also aware that means you are going to feel some uncomfortable moments by choosing to live out that mission -You are going to come against moments at work where you feel compelled to Advance the Kingdom but are worried it could put your job in danger-You are going to be coaching a little league team and have a kid ask you a question that you want to answer with the Gospel and be worried about the implications-You are going to feel like God is calling you to start inviting your neighbors over for a meal once a week and you're worried about a million different things - will they come, will they think we're weird, what will we do? Living on mission means learning to live outside of what's comfortable, so how do you do that? I want us to look at a moment from the life of Jesus and Peter- Jesus' cousin, John B has just been put to death by Herod-Jesus has gone away to be by himself with His boys-but the crowds know where He is, and they get to where He's going ahead of time…-A huge crowd forms - 5,000 men (likely over 10,000 people or more with women and children - Rupp Arena can seat 23,500)-Jesus feeds the crowd with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish…-Finally, Jesus is able to dismiss the crowd, He puts his disciples in a boat and he goes up on a mountain to be by Himself and pray…This is the story as Matthew tells it: Matthew 14:22-3322 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It's a ghost,” they said and cried out in fear.27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid.” ILLUSTRATION: A few years ago, a few of my kids and I went Kayaking on a lake.  It was super windy and we had overshot the alcove we were supposed to turn into for our campsite.  We had gone clear to the other end of the lake with the wind at our back when I saw the boat dock and realized we were in the wrong place.  We turned around and were paddling against the wind - 3-foot waves buffeting us, I tied a rope onto one of the kids' kayaks and was pulling them with mine.  My kids are saying, “Dad, can we just stop and go to shore?”  I was like, “If we stop we die!”  Literally, we had been out there for hours and they were telling me they were so tired they just wanted to fall asleep.  Finally, we see this pontoon boat with Jenni waving her arms - she had tracked someone down to get her out on the water to look for us because we had been gone so long… The disciples are out on this lake and it's a battle, they are getting nowhere…  they know this water, they know these storms.  They know what's at stake.  Mark saysMark 6:48a [DEAN - notice I'm not showing the entire verse here]48 He saw the disciples straining at the oars because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn, he went out to them, walking on the lake. Jesus has gone out to them because He realizes they are in trouble, they've been at this all night, something that should have taken them only a few hours or so… What I'm about to read to you is only recorded in Matthew…I actually picture Matthew reading Mark's account and being like, “dude, you missed some of the best parts…” and so, Matthew, who is an eyewitness of this event tells us something that neither Mark nor John chooses to put in there… They see Jesus walking up to them, feel like it's a ghost they are seeing and Peter says this… 28 “Lord, if it's you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” Ever said something you immediately regretted?Lol?I don't know what Peter was thinking but I love his bravery Tell me to come and I'll come and Jesus says…29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. Now, before I read the next part, can we just stop here for a moment and camp out? Peter is in the middle of a terrifying situation. He opens the door for Jesus to call him. Jesus calls and Peter steps… Think about this for a moment… Think about those places where you are worried about walking into the riskiness of following Jesus… Jesus, are you calling me to share with my coworker? Are you calling me to talk to the kids on my ball team? Are you wanting me to invite my neighbors over? Peter doesn't step out of the boat first, his first step was to ask Jesus if He was calling him… I firmly believe that God rewards risk-takers, but not dumb risk.   Peter walking on the water wasn't dumb because Jesus called him to walk… Start saying to God, “are you calling me?  Cause I'll walk if you tell me to walk” A few things to mention here: God will never call you to do something that contradicts scriptureIf you are struggling to hear God in “this,” ask for counsel from Christians who have exhibited the ability to walk in faith through risky things with GodWhen in doubt, take a step - NOTHING has been done for God that did not feel risky at the outset listen to what happened when Peter took that step 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Some of you are thinking, “well, Kent, that's not very encouraging, Peter fell in… you just told us to take a step…” Don't let the fact that Peter sunk keep you from the realization that he walked on water! Do you know which of the other disciples did this?  None of them! The guy with the story is always the guy willing to step Can I say that again?  The guy with the story is always the guy willing to step I think this is why Matthew tells us - It's not a story of Peter failing, it's a story of Peter trying It reminds me of the parable of the talents - a King gave money to several of his stewards… two of them invest the money and double it.  But the third guy buries it and the money so he can give back exactly what the king gave him.  The King says, “at least put it in a bank and get some interest…” It was those who had that are rewarded, the guy who doesn't have, even what he has is taken from him…. Because God would rather you risk something for the Kingdom What is it God is calling you to?  Who is He calling you to? We are about to celebrate the riskiest thing I've ever heard of - Jesus coming out of Heaven to risk his life to rescue yours… Someone out there today has felt like Peter sinking into the water,  you need Jesus to reach out and catch you.  Today is your day. He has been waiting to pull you out of the water of life and set you on firm ground…  Come to Him, come! --------------------

All the gifts of the spirit today were in play in the Old Testament apart from speaking and interpretation of tongues. The spirit was not in-dwelling. So God came up with a plan to dwell in men. Except you are born of the Spirit, you cannot live in the supernatural. As Christians, we are living below normal if we are not walking in the supernatural. The gifts of the spirit are not for self gratification or self gain. It is given to us to profit all not ourselves - (1 Corinthians 12:1-11). You can express the gifts without knowing what they’re called. Don’t wait for knowledge before you start living the life or expressing the gifts. The Spiritual Gifts 1. Word of Wisdom: This is a divine revelation given by God and it typically reveals God’s plan and it comes with instructions. 2. Word of Knowledge: Talks about things that have happened in the past or currently happening. 3. The gift of faith: A supernaturally enhanced faith to be able to receive a miracle. 4. The gift of Healing: A divine ability to heal all kinds of sicknesses and diseases. 5. Working of Miracles: This is bypassing, surpassing or overriding the natural order of things. Example is parting the Red Sea. 6. The gift of prophecy: This is a divinely inspired speech, speaking the heart of God right now. It’s usually about edification, exhortation and comfort. 7. Discerning of Spirit: This is spirit enabled insight into the spiritual realm like visions, dreams, etc. 8. Divers kind of tongues & Interpretation of tongues: It is a supernaturally enhanced expression of the Holy Spirit in an unknown language. This is the gift of tongue that is beneficial to the entire body but if there’s no one to interpret, do not speak it - (1 Corinthians 12:10) The more conscious you are of these gifts, the more you’re open to receiving and working in the reality of it. How To Unlock The Spiritual 1. You need to be born again and filled with the Holy Spirit. You can’t walk this life without being endued with power by the Holy Spirit. 2. A life of Faith: We walk by faith and not by sight. You can’t work it in your own power - (2 Corinthians 5:7). 3. Dedication and Service to God: Because you’re fulfilling God’s purpose, He will enable you with all you need to fulfill His purpose. All the gifts are enablement for us to fulfill God’s purpose not for ourselves. 4. Commitment to spiritual growth: God will not give gifts to people that will misuse it. How Do You Commit to Spiritual Growth? 1. Fasting: Deliberately weakening your flesh so you can empower your spirit. Acts 13:2-3 2. Be dedicated to times of prayer and worship. 3. Praying in the spirit. 4. Gathering together with the saints - (Psalms 133).

Afternoon Service led by Pastor Harry Zekveld-What We Confess- Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day -52, Question - Answer -128 - -129-Scripture Reading- Ephesians 3-14-21-Sermon- Praying with Full Confidence in God-- Because of God's Gracious Kingdom-- Because of God's Superabundant Power-- Because God Seeks His Own Glory

Romans 2:17 Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God,  18 and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. V2:17-20 We see the Jews profession (What they believed and thought they were doing for the world)  Paul says all this to show that what he is about to say is not said out of his ignorance of them You who rest or rely on the law( the law referred to the first 5 books of the Old Testament  and also the Psalms, Proverbs, and prophets which had been given to the Jews up to that time The Jews not only had the law, they trusted its truth and believed it and did not study anything else.             The problem is not believing, which they only did mentally. They did not believe in their hearts and with their emotions that this was for them. They thought they had it all. James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe----and tremble! Make your boast in God- Because they were called the people of God and had been chosen as his vessels of revelation of God and His Word they thought they had the market on God and there was nothing else to be done Growing up in church - Pastor or Missionary parents will not get you into heaven V-18 To know his will- means to know what is agreeable to God (what is right, wrong, commanded by Him, what He approves of, prohibits, and what God rewards. The Jews had an awesome knowledge of God The word approve means to recognize as genuine after examination and refers to the Jews ability to know right from wrong The word instructed is the word we get catechism from Catechism is to instruct orally, especially by repetition The Jewish boys memorized large portions of scripture they had head knowledge of God not heart 2Tim 3:7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. v-19 confident that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, Jesus tells them in these verses they are blind Matt 13:13-15 v-20 an instructor of the foolish, A teacher of babes,  Having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. The word form is morphosis which means external appearance of knowledge and truth  To the outsider they looked good but to God all their works was nothing, it was not from the heart 2Tim 3:5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Head knowledge of God is not Heart Knowledge and it will not save you Matt 3:7-9 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 "Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 “and do not think to say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. Luke 18:10-14 Pharisee and tax collector be merciful to me a sinner It is no new thing for evil to be masked as Light in the darkness, Sometimes the one who promises the most to help you is your worst enemy and will destroy you if he can 2 Corinthians 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?    John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32  Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.  hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en Don't go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

SHOW NOTES Today's Topic: Is Jesus the only way to God? GUEST: Amanda Chitwood, Manchester Christian Church OVERVIEW: Is Jesus God? Is Jesus really the only way to God? Is Jesus really who He says He is? Can we know God without knowing Jesus or believing in Him? These are the tough questions that we will wrestle through today. - Create a safe space to ask these tough questions - Start with the question, “Who are we? Who am I?” - We are broken, sinful people in need of something to get us back to God - Because of our brokenness Jesus became necessary - John 14 (near the end of His ministry) o “I AM THE WAY, AND THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH ME….” - Jesus establishes our brokenness and that He is our help. - Understanding the person of Jesus is where the gospel starts Helpful Resources BOOK: Can I ask that? VIDEO: "Doesn't Matter What You Believe" with Craig Groeschel - LifeChurch.tv MCC Family Life Resources Follow us on social media. And don't forget to tag us! - Instagram: @manchestercc_nh - Facebook: @manchesterchristian

Join us as Ps Andrew shares from our new location at the University of Wollongong! This is the first instalment of our brand new “We Believe” series for this month! Ps Andrew shares an important message about the core values of C3 Believe; We Believe in God, We Believe in His Power and We Believe in People.   Importantly, Ps Andrew shares three reasons on Why we should believe in God: Because of the Absolutes of the Bible, Because of Creational Facts, and Because God still speaks!

- I am in my third year of participating in the [Renovare](https://renovare.org) book club. The first book in this season's set of four is "How to pray" by Pete Greig. - Quiet time coaching episodes will focus on his book for the next few weeks. You don't need to read it to benefit from these recordings, but you might like to get hold of a copy for yourself. I have finished the book and can thoroughly recommend it. A full review of the book will come at a later date in "What we are reading". - Today we will reflect on the fifth chapter of the book, "Petition: How to Ask God".     Theme scripture: “‘Give us today our daily bread.’" (Matthew 6:11 NIV11)     - Last week we explored adoration. If that ought to be the easiest thing to do in our times of quiet with God, perhaps the most common thing is to ask. The question is, are we asking with the right motives and what are we expecting?     - There is more than one kind of asking. In particular, we will look at asking for our own needs, and then asking for the needs of others. The latter requests will come in next weeks recording. This week we will discuss requests made to God for what we need. - With these thoughts in mind, let's turn to some suggestions from the book to help us petition our Father God. --- 1. The law of asking - We do a lot of asking in our lives. And there is nothing wrong with that. It's healthy to carry a natural sense of asking into our times of prayer. In fact the word prayer comes from the Middle English word meaning 'to ask earnestly'. The Lord's prayer contains several requests: ‘Give us … Forgive us … Lead us … Deliver us.’ - Jesus said: “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” (John 14:14 NIV11), and  “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Luke 11:9 NIV11) and James wrote, “You do not have because you do not ask God.” (James 4:2 NIV11) - Why do we take our requests to God? Because he is able to do, here and now in our material world, all the things that we cannot. We might call those things "miracles" or, more precisely simply, answered prayer. Nevertheless, they are acts of God responding to our requests.     > "Miracle is just a word we use for the things The Powers have deluded us into thinking that God is unable to do. (Walter Wink)", Greig, Pete. How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People (p. 74). John Murray Press. Kindle Edition. --- 2. Why we need to ask - If God knows everything, including the inclinations of our hearts, why do we even need to ask? It's a fair question. Pete Greig references blind Bartimaeus in Luke 18. Why did Jesus ask him what he wanted when it was blindingly obvious (forgive the pun).     > "God asks us to ask for at least three reasons. First, because the act of asking is relational in a way that mere wishing is not....The second reason that asking is necessary is that it is vulnerable....Third, asking is intentional. It involves the activation of our wills." Greig, Pete. How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People (p. 78). John Murray Press. Kindle Edition. - We ask because it's part of a relationship. --- 3. Freewill and God's will - How does our will fit with God's? > "Blaise Pascal said that ‘God has instituted prayer to impart to his creatures the dignity of causality.’ We are God’s partners in the great project of creation,..." > "We tend to expect the King of kings to be a Great Dictator (and might even prefer him to rule in such a manner), but in fact he is a Great Delegator whose divine nature is not to dominate, subjugate and control, but to serve, listen and empower." Greig, Pete. How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People (p. 78). John Murray Press. Kindle Edition. - While God does not give us a formula for how to get our prayers answered, and we cannot manipulate him, we do appear to be in a position to influence him and events. What an awesome responsibility then it is to pray! --- 4. Praying in the name of Jesus - We are called to pray in the name of Jesus. Praying in his name gives us confidence that our prayers will be heard and answered. But what kind of prayer is it to pray in the name of Jesus? > "To pray in the name of Jesus means asking for things that are consistent with his character and aligned with his purpose....Praying in the name of Jesus means wanting what God wants, aligning our wills with his will, our words with his word, and our personal preferences with his eternal and universal purposes." Greig, Pete. How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People (p. 79). John Murray Press. Kindle Edition. - Perhaps, more than anything, praying in the name of Jesus is a reminder of the privilege we have of access to the Father through our friend, brother and saviour. --- 5. Praying in faith - True faith is not having faith in faith, or faith in the faithfulness of our prayers, but faith in the person of Christ and a lifestyle of practicing trust in Jesus. > "Hudson Taylor, the great apostle to China, said that ‘the issue is not greater faith, but faith in a great God’." Greig, Pete. How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People (p. 81). John Murray Press. Kindle Edition. - How do we grow in this kind of faith? Pete Greig suggests several things including: Celebrating the small things that God does; writing down answered prayers; studying the promises of God in scripture; spending time around spiritually inspired fellow believers - and doing so regularly. > "Faith is God’s gift to us, faithfulness is ours to him." Greig, Pete. How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People (p. 82). John Murray Press. Kindle Edition. --- Conclusion - Perseverance in prayer is the least inspiring aspect of asking. Persistent, persevering petition is the hallmark of a faithful believer. We do not know how or when Jesus will answer our prayers. Some may not be answered in our lifetime. However, > "...Jesus has told us to persevere in prayer, not to abandon our cars at every amber light; to keep revving the engine, faithfully asking until his answer finally comes."  Greig, Pete. How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People (p. 83). John Murray Press. Kindle Edition. - Questions for discussion:     - What stands out to you about petition?     - How might your prayer life grow if you could learn how to petition with faith? - Suggestion: Make petition a part of your daily prayers - Resources mentioned in the book:     - PRAYER TOOLS: 1. Palms up, Palms Down. 2. How to Maintain a Prayer List. 3. How to Pray the Promises of God ([prayercourse.org](http://prayercourse.org/)).     - FUTHER READING: J. Hudson Taylor: [A Man in Christ](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1850784086/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_N0XKFbAF21SNQ), by Roger Steer. --- - Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. - Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [malcolm@malcolmcox.org](mailto:malcolm@malcolmcox.org). - If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://[www.malcolmcox.org](http://www.malcolmcox.org/). - Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review. - “Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11) - God bless, Malcolm - PS: You might also be interested in my book: ["An elephant's swimming pool"](https://dqzrr9k4bjpzk.cloudfront.net/images/9167082/379662794.jpg), a devotional look at the Gospel of John --- mccx, Malcolm Cox, Watford, Croxley Green, teaching, preaching, spiritual disciplines, public speaking, corporate worship, Sunday Sample, Corporate Worship Matters, Tuesday Teaching Tips, Quiet Time Coaching, coaching, coaching near me, coach, online coaching, savior, quiet time, devotion, God, Jesus, Pray, prayer, malcolm’s, cox,

THE PILGRIMAGE - Chapter 11 | The Worldwide Community of the New Message from God: Because of the sacred journey of the Messenger, it is important that there be a pilgrimage for those who can respond, a pilgrimage to meet him if possible, or to connect with him if meeting him is not possible. If you have been blessed by the Revelation from God, then this Pilgrimage becomes very important, and your reaching out becomes very important during the remaining time that the Messenger will be here on Earth. For he is an older man and has traveled a long and difficult journey, a journey without recognition, a journey without praise from people in the world except for perhaps a very few, working in obscurity to receive the greatest Revelation that has ever been given to this world, to prepare humanity for a future that will be unlike the past in so many ways. The post The Pilgrimage Podcast appeared first on The New Message from God.

Do not be afraid. Pretty straight-forward statement. The phrase is used 365 times throughout the Bible. Coincidence? I don't think so. Three hundred and sixty-five times God tells us - commands us - not to be afraid. And yet, today - especially today (2020) - I see so many people living in fear. Nothing To Fear But Fear Itself Paul's admonishment and testimony at the close of Romans 8 is a great platform on which to preach this message. Do not fear! Don't be afraid! And that message has never been more applicable. With the coming of the "plandemic" - I mean, pandemic - of COVID-19, I have seen far too many people walking around in absolute fear. Fear of death and dying, sure. But also fear of contact, fear of proximity, afraid to even come out of their homes. The worst part is that many of the fearful are Christians. Being afraid is the exact opposite mindset God has called us to have. Franklin D. Roosevelt was right, fear perpetuates itself. More than that, fear is of the Devil. Make no mistake! Fear comes straight from the pit of hell. Don't believe me? Go back and re-read Genesis 3. Why did Adam hide himself from God? Because he was afraid. Why wasn't he ever afraid before when he was in the presence of God? Because fear didn't come from God, it came from the Serpent. Don't Be Afraid Fear is False Evidence Appearing Real. Great definition! Think about it; is that exactly what Satan tried to present to Adam...false evidence as legitimate fact? God literally commands us to not be afraid (see Joshua 1:9). Once a day, every day of the year, God has given us a reminder of this command in His word. Living in fear is, in fact, sinful. Why? Because it denies the reality and truth of God as well as faith. Remember, without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Here's a fact: You cannot have both fear and faith at the same time. Your faith is what overcomes fear. Faith that God is, that He is true, and He is a keeper of His word. With all the fear-mongering and uncertainty being presented to us, either in the form of virus or politics, it's even more important to have faith. Your faith is your strength, your confidence, and your assurance. It is was gets you through tough times. Don't fall victim to the "victim mentality" and believe these things are "happening to you" because of something lacking in God. Or worse, that you're being punished by Him. Remember last week's episode? God is for you, not against you! _______________________________________ Study Romans from the Beginning by Clicking Here

LIT VERSE: Haggai 1:10 and 2:5-9 Because of you the sky has withheld its dew, and the earth has withheld its produce.But… that's going to change.The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former. In this place I shall give peace. THOUGHT BREAKDOWN: You have an impact on what is and is not happening in life. Here's the context of the chapters: Things were broken all around. A lot of effort was being made for not a lot of reward. Basically, it was a time of drought spiritually and physically. The Lord speaks to the people through Haggai the profit and tells them, it's because of you. He basically says, you need to get your priorities straight. Focus on what's most important, and things will change. I like this passage because it puts responsibility back on us as people for the circumstances of what's happening around us. WHAT IS THE SPIRIT SAYING? Don't underestimate your importance to the Masters Plan. Many things do and do not happen because of you. You are My vessel. I have chosen to fill you and flow through you, therefore because of you and what you choose, change will or will not happen. WHAT WILL I DO ABOUT IT? Today I will take these words to heart and allow them to redefine my direction and focus. I will take the responsibility seriously and not act as if it's all by chance. I AM GRATEFUL FOR… the responsibility TRACKER QUESTIONS Do you blame others for your circumstances, or do you take responsibility? What areas of your life do you need to focus on and take responsibility for? Neal's Personal Track Steps for Today. A Track Step is “how we start small but start now.” If you're not stepping your stalling Track Step #1 (God) Because of You Track Step #2 (Health) 3x3 upper/lunge Track Step #3 (Money) Desert Valley's Check in Track Step #4 (People) Wendy Track Step #5 (Mission) Community Impact Plan

Beginning poem:Me: Hey God.God: Hello.....Me: I'm falling apart. Can you put me back together?God: I would rather not.Me: Why?God: Because you aren't a puzzle.Me: What about all of the pieces of my life that are falling down onto the ground?God: Let them stay there for a while. They fell off for a reason. Take some time and decide if you need any of those pieces back.Me: You don't understand! I'm breaking down!God: No - you don't understand. You are breaking through. What you are feeling are just growing pains. You are shedding the things and the people in your life that are holding you back. You aren't falling apart. You are falling into place. Relax. Take some deep breaths and allow those things you don't need anymore to fall off of you. Quit holding onto the pieces that don't fit you anymore. Let them fall off. Let them go.Me: Once I start doing that, what will be left of me?God: Only the very best pieces of you.Me: I'm scared of changing.God: I keep telling you - YOU AREN'T CHANGING!! YOU ARE BECOMING!Me: Becoming who?God: Becoming who I created you to be! A person of light and love and charity and hope and courage and joy and mercy and grace and compassion. I made you for more than the shallow pieces you have decided to adorn yourself with that you cling to with such greed and fear. Let those things fall off of you. I love you! Don't change! ... Become! Become! Become who I made you to be. I'm going to keep telling you this until you remember it.Me: There goes another piece.God: Yep. Let it be.Me: So ... I'm not broken?God: Of course Not! - but you are breaking like the dawn. It's a new day. Become!!!~Author John RoedelThank you Kelsey and Kip Abbott! All things Pema Chodron!When Things Fall Apart:https://www.amazon.com/s?k=when+things+fall+apart+pema+chodron&crid=WKJ7U852IUCD&sprefix=when+th%2Caps%2C170&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_7Omega Online Retreat:https://www.eomega.org/online-workshops/a-live-online-weekend-retreat-with-pema-chodron?itm_source_h=search&itm_source_s=search&itm_medium_h=tile&itm_medium_s=tile&itm_campaign_h=searchcr&itm_campaign_s=searchcr&itm_term_h=pema%20chodron&itm_term_s=pema%20chodron&itm_ct_h=all&itm_ct_s=all

How is it that Christians can have an understanding of the mind and wisdom of God? Because we have been given the Spirit of God. God’s Spirit helps us understand God’s word and God’s will.

How often do you associate beauty with prayer? Most of us don't think about prayer in this way, but we have a great example of someone in church history who used beautiful, poetic phrases to speak to the Lord. We find this in the writings of Augustine, specifically in his monumental book The Confessions. But why should we desire to pray by using the most beautiful and poetic words imaginable in speaking to God? Because when Augustine does it, he uses scripture! This is episode 72 of the Better Bible Reading Podcast with Kevin Morris! https://betterbiblereading.com  

This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God. (1 Timothy 4:9-10) Our Hope in the Living God Why is the Christian's hope in the living God? Because the living God has made us His children. Paul and Timothy labored and strove to make sure that everyone would accept and understand the greatness of our hope. This hope is not wishful thinking. This hope is the surety and certainty that all who are baptized are children of the living God. What does it mean to put our hope in Him? Exactly what God requires of us in the First Commandment. "We should fear, love and trust in God above all things." By fearing, loving and trusting God, our hope lies in the heart of God our Father who loves us so much that He gave us Jesus. And that statement deserves your full acceptance. Amen.

Yet, as God’s servants, we prove ourselves authentic in every way... 2 Corinthians‬ ‭6:4‬ ‭TPT‬‬   'We have proved ourselves by... showing kindness, by the Spirit of holiness (by the Holy Spirit within us), and by our uncritical love for you.' 2 Corinthians 6:6 TPT   So  we decided we're going to park here for a little bit and really talk about what the Holy Spirit produces in our lives. So we are looking at Galatians at a deeper level which of the attributes of the Holy Spirit produces in our lives.    But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control… Galatians 5:22-23   but this is what you got to understand about God he will never force you to be you are called to be. The holy spirit will convict you and the Holy Spirit Will directs you but you've got to choose to walk in the person that God wants you to be.  Secondly, you need to understand that these attributes are not ala carte That you can't say you want peace and joy and not want patience or self-control. these attributes build off of each other like we discussed last week and I encourage you the watch last week sermon and it is why I titled these sermons Driven by love because Love is the foundation. Lastly, you need to understand these attributes have an outward impact.  Many times we read them with this inward focus on self… OOOO I want joy, I want peace, and I want to be loved, but actually these are what the HS produces in you to give to the world around you!   Self-Control: egkrateia  Mastery; More Properly Dominion Within   means strength within… It is about an inner character…It’s about being a person that reflects the character as much in private as we do in public…   Now the fullness of this is a strength that comes from God, but it is a decision that comes from us. This type of Mastery can only be accomplished by the power of the Lord.    First, let’s understand a little about self-control…   SELF CONTROL IS A BATTLE WITHIN AND THE DISCIPLINE TO MOVE FORWARD   That we have this battle between a divided self inside us… Listen to what Paul says…   And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.  Romans 7:18-19   You ever felt like that?  You ever felt that battle rising within… Paul says what a miserable person I am… You ever thought that about yourself… He goes on to say Who will free me?  Then he says Jesus… We will get into this a little later… But what Paul is saying here is that we have to first identify that there is a battle going on in our hearts!   Jesus said this…   “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. Luke 9:23   Jesus says that Daily we have to understand this battle and daily we have to make conscious decisions on which self will have control of our sinful desires or spiritual… Now many people hear this and they become overwhelmed because they are like you mean Daily I have this choice and this battle that seems like a lot…   But the question is what in life that has value is not filled with these daily choices… You want to be a good parent sometimes you have to make conscious decisions even if you don’t feel like… Sometimes you are exhausted and you don’t want to feed them, I don't care if they are juggling knives I don't want to deal with it, sometimes you just want to scream GO TO YOUR ROOM I DONT WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE THE REST OF THE NIGHT…. But even if you don’t feel like it you know daily you have to have the discipline choose to do what is right as a parent..    The same thing as being a spouse sometimes you just want to be selfish and have this fend for yourself mentality I am doing my own thing regardless of your feelings or you emotions are on the rise and you just want to go off, but you have to have the discipline to make that choice   Or as a leader in your influence… Sometimes you just want to yell just do what I said I don’t feel like telling you why we do what we do… I don’t want to help you problem-solve… Just get together…You have to have the discipline choose to be an effective leader   And we make mistakes in all these just like we do spiritually, but we have to recognize its a daily battle   WE ARE ALWAYS FIGHTING FOR SOMETHING. WE ARE EITHER FIGHTING FOR A HEALTHY SELF OR AN UNHEALTHY SELF.   Regardless no matter what it's still a fight and we have a choice on where that fight will take us… that choice is fueled by our discipline…   All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it todo what it should. 1 Corinthians 9:25-27   Notice Paul says “I” discipline my body which means he is making a conscious decision to daily examine his life. An athlete understands the disciplines they need to place in their life to go to the next level… They also understand they need discipline in their lives to stay away from things that keep them from going to the next level.   Now the writer of Hebrews tells us we must throw off the sin that is slowing us down and the sin that is tripping us up and how do we do this????   'We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. ' Hebrews 12:2   Fix our eyes on Jesus- We imitate the lifestyle of Jesus he was the perfect model of our faith… When we do that it initiates something in our life we want to strive like Paul says to be perfect reflection of the design God created us to be.  We know we aren’t perfect but daily we strive to get rid of the negative things in our life and strive to be who God created us to be! All of this happens because of the death and resurrection of Jesus and that resurrection Spirit that is moving in us…    Remember the HS will point things out but we must choose to embrace it and want to change. So we must understand what disciplines we need to add to our life and what we need to be disciplined to stay away from…   So think clearly and exercise self-control. 1 Peter 1:13   Both the Corinthians said that our bodies our souls are temples for the Holy Spirit…  So what we put in and expose ourselves to matters beyond just ourselves, but also matters because it shows our gratitude and respect towards God…    So Paul says the way we readjust this is…   I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Romans 12:1   So we must offer our bodies to God… Let our hearts be pleasing to God… So we are going to talk real quickly the areas we need to be careful on exposing ourselves to unhealthy disciplines and what are the healthy disciplines we need to go to the next level…   WHAT DO WE EXPOSE OUR TONGUES TO?   What fills our speech… Avg person speaks 18,000 words a day and now with social media, many of those words are now reaching people that normally would have never been exposed to our daily speech.  What things do we expose our tongues?  Are they life-giving or life-taking because that will start to affect you?   The tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. James 3:5-6   The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences. Proverbs 18:21   You may think your post on social media is no big deal, or the way you talk to that coworker, or how you speak to your wife or children is no big deal.  It is just something small I said.  But it grows.  We have the choice of what are we going to expose our speech with because it will start to expose our future… Either future of life or death…   “The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” Proverbs 12:18   “A tongue that brings healing is like a tree of life. But a tongue that  tells lies produces a broken spirit.” Proverbs 15:4    Are we going to be those that heal or are we going to be those that destroy…  So here is your heart check… Start replaying your conversations… Are you talking about people, are you constantly being negative or are elevating people and speaking life.. Also, see what fills your FB statuses and comments because those are your digital words are they life-giving or taking and if you have to wonder then I would say I wouldn't press send or speak it…. Think before you speak and think before you type and ask does this imitates Jesus because I promise if he becomes your filter it will save you a lot of heartache in life!   WHAT DO WE EXPOSE OUR EYES TO?   The very words of Jesus says,   Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. Matthew 6:22-23   Our sinful nature is a lot like the story “give a mouse a cookie”  glass of milk, then he will want a straw, then a napkin, then a mirror, etc… Which on a side note is my son Kingston!!!!   but it is especially dangerous with what we watch.  The more unhealthy things we see the more desensitized we become… Things tend to not shock us as it once was and when Jesus it says that effects your entire body its because it starts triggering your emotions, filling your thoughts, and sometimes hinders your desires…   You can really see this in culture… Things that we are appalling decades ago are normal now… Things you would never see on TV or in magazines is normal for the world, but is detrimental to your moral character… Violence, hate rhetoric, everything is over-sexualized, language is just filthy on all the sites.     Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Romans 12:2   That means despite what culture tells us is right or wrong we must have the discipline to make the healthy choice even if its the road less traveled… Maybe there are certain shows, movies, magazines, websites that we just shouldn't expose our hearts to…   I will lead a life of integrity in my own home. I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar. Psalms 101:2-3   WHAT DO WE EXPOSE OUR EARS TO?   1 Corinthians says bad company corrupts good morals…    NEGATIVE INFLUENCES ALWAYS DESTROY POSITIVE RESULTS.   That is why they say show me your friends and I will show you your future… That’s not just a school assembly cliche its a reality… Leadership Studies show that people with success that are high caliber leaders surround themselves with other high caliber leaders…    Therefore encourage one another and build each other up. 1 Thessalonians 5:11   I want to surround myself with people that build me up… I don’t want to be surrounded by negative people, I don’t want to be around a gossip bashing festival, I don’t want to be around people that are not motivated… I want to be around people that encourage and build me up!!!    WHAT DO WE EXPOSE OUR HANDS & FEET TO?   Oh that our lives are summed up with an eternal purpose… That we live for life beyond ourselves… That we expose our hands and feet to do something with meaning in this life…    I’ve said this before   DON’T POUR SWEAT, SPILL BLOOD, AND SHED TEARS OVER SOMETHING THAT DOESN’T CARRY ETERNAL INTEREST   Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Romans 12:11   Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. 1 Corinthians 15:58   Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:23-24   It is so tempting to live and work for ourselves… It is so tempting to strive for convenience and be comfortable, but it is the moments that when we live beyond ourselves we find meaning and we are stretched and taken to places we could never imagine!   Too many times we are chasing what the world calls success and but those things die when we do, but when we invest in people they carry on…   If you chase money and temporary you will never catch it, but if you chase purpose it will actually push you to greater distances…    So let’s expose our works to purpose…   WHAT DO WE EXPOSE OUR MINDS TO?   We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ 2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV   The mind is a battlefield and once we starting doubting the nature and character of God and the power of God… We start suffering spiritually…   That’s why Isaiah says this…   You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Isaiah 26:3   That we have peace when we trust that God is who says he is and our minds and thoughts are fixed and focused on that!     WE DEVELOP INNER STRENGTH WHEN OUR THOUGHTS ARE FIXATED ON THE THINGS OF GOD   Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.' Philippians 4:8-9   The way I love to look at this scripture is this… The more I read God’s word and the more I meditate on the promises of God… The more I start becoming who I was always created to be… That my inner thoughts, desires, destiny, and dreams start coming to the surface…   Do we understand who God is and what His promises truly say? Are we feeding our minds and souls with the promises of God… Because if God is for me who can be against me… What weapon formed against shall prosper… I will never drown because God is my strength… I am Gods workmanship created with a purpose… I am child of God not a slave to fear… I am a new creation the old is gone…    For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night. So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded... But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation. 1 Thessalonians 5:5-6;8   As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 1:3

Why does faith not nullify the grace of God? Because faith calls all attention to grace and magnifies it, rather than nullifying it.

Dedication of the Temple 2 Chronicles 6v1-21 Tonight as you may have gathered, we go back to looking at the prayers of Solomon in 2 Chronicles 6. Not in an exhaustive way, but to discover together what we can learn about God and His relationship with those who are His and seeing how this is relevant to us some 3 millennia later. During the intervening period, I wonder if Solomon had wrestled in his mind over what he prayed… Let us wrestle together now, in these prayers of his, albeit briefly. This is a key passage, a link if you like, between the Covenant that God made with Solomon’s father, David, including the building of a House for God, the Temple, and the glory of the Lord filling the Temple in 2 Chronicles 7. This reflects I think, the necessity and vitality of prayer in the unfolding of God’s will for humanity. The story is also regaled in 1 Kings 8 but with some nuance as you may expect. Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3. A Covenant Making God Down through history, the Bible reveals that God has made Covenants with humanity. A covenant is an important way to describe the progress of the relationship between God and humanity through the Biblical story. A covenant at the time of the Old Testament was a solemn commitment between the two covenanting parties to fulfil all the promises and obligations of the covenant. Covenants were common in all kinds of life, and not just between God and humanity. The idea comes from the sort of agreement commonly entered into in the ancient area round Israel between a high king, and a sub king or clan chief. It is easy to see how a covenant is a good way to describe the relationship between God and humanity. God, who promises to protect and help the human with faithfulness, and the human who promises to worship and honour God with faith. The Covenants between God and humanity have several things about them regarding the relationship. In these Covenants between God and humanity, God always took the initiative – sometimes by complete surprise. God has made certain commitments and has given His solemn promise to fulfil His end of the bargain. God waits for a response from humanity. God does not coerce or force but waits for humanity to take the responsibility of replying and acquiescing to God's covenantal promises through obedience, faithfulness and worship. There are Covenants made in the Garden of Eden, Covenants made in history with Adam, Noah and Abraham, but we will fast forward to the Covenant between God and Moses before going onto His covenant with Solomon’s father, David. The Mosaic Covenant Why look at the Covenant made between God and Moses? We do so because there is a connection between that Covenant and the prayer of Solomon we are looking at tonight. Indeed the very Ark of the Covenant contained a gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and two tablets of stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed. Charles Spurgeon commented “One is struck, with the fact that the language of Solomon is far from new, and is full of quotations from the Pentateuch (where the Mosaic Covenant is fully explained), some of which are almost word for word.” This covenant is between God and humanity, in this case with the particular nation of Israel. It commences with the stipulation “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine” (Exodus 19:5). This covenant was to Israel in order that those who believed God’s promise, could know how to live righteously. Israel’s task was to bring the knowledge of God to all the world so that blessing might come to all humanity. In this, however, they were to fail and only when Jesus came as the perfectly obedient Israelite was it to become possible that all the world should be blessed. This Mosaic covenant covered the three areas of life: The commandments were given so they would know how to relate socially to God correctly (Exodus 20:1-17) The judgments were given in order that they could relate socially to each other properly (Exodus 21:1 - 24:11 and in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) The decrees dictate their religious life so that God could be approached by humanity on His terms (Exodus 24:12 - 31:18, and in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Mosaic Covenant was never meant as a means by which humanity could achieve salvation with God. It was given so that they could realize the helplessness of their own efforts, and their need of God's help as well as expressing their devotion to the Lord. Yet they still failed to bring blessing to other peoples. Galatians 3:22-24 explains that the Law was only a protective fence until through the promised Messiah, when humanity could be made right with God through faith. That Messiah we know to be the man Jesus Christ. More later though. The Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:4-17) Now we fast forward to the Covenant which was in place as Solomon dedicates the Temple to God and is mentioned here. This covenant that God made with David, Solomon’s father. Three great things were promised: A land forever (2 Samuel 7:10); A dynasty without end (2 Samuel 7:11, 16) A perpetual kingdom (2 Samuel 7:13, 16) Through the Covenants we see a God who is willing to interact with His creation and bless it. When first century Christians such as the Apostles Paul, Peter and John checked and thought over all the events surrounding the life of Jesus Christ, they searched their Scriptures (our Old Testament). It was as God the Holy Spirit illuminated their minds, that they wrote down and passed on the whole range of Old Testament promises which were fulfilled in God's Messiah and the world's hope - Jesus Christ and Him alone. That is why it is important for us as twenty-first century Christian Disciples to read our Old Testament as well as the New Testament. For by reading the Old Testament, new light is shed upon our own understanding of the New Testament. One of the fundamentals of understanding the Bible, is to let the Bible interpret the Bible. There is one more Covenant of God which we are to look at tonight, but we will see that shortly! We press on with these prayers of Solomon. There are 3 prayers here. v1-2 are opening words of praise to God v4-11 are the 2nd prayer v16-41 are the 3rd prayer. We won’t go into any great detail tonight, you will no doubt be glad to know. We will get to about verse 21 I think. But with a very general overview, let’s look together and see what we can learn together from the wise man Solomon about God and about prayer. Charles Spurgeon said that “It is worthy of remark concerning this prayer that it is as full and comprehensive as if it were meant to be the summary of all future prayers offered in the temple.” Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3. Part 1 1. Verses 1 & 2 - Solomon acknowledges God’s presence in the cloud Here we see that Solomon acknowledges God’s presence in the cloud. The cloud of God’s glory has a long association with His presence. Solomon knew that the presence of the cloud meant that God dwelt in the temple in a special way. It was to be a special place to come and meet with God. It was symbolic of God living with His people. 2.Verses 3 to 9 – Solomon blessed the people and blesses God. Here we see that Solomon blessed the people and blesses God. Solomon knew, affirmed and recognized that the completion of the Temple was the fulfilment of the plan of God and not of Solomon himself or indeed of his father David. God’s plan. David and Solomon were merely the human instruments, they were God’s arms and legs, but the work was affirmed to be God’s alone! God’s actions or work have confirmed His words, His promises! God’s hands were at work building the Temple as He guided and strengthened the human workers who contributed themselves to its construction. Solomon recounts how their ancestors had escaped from Egypt in the Exodus 500 years hence. This shows its importance to the people of Israel at the time! Their minds were singing “If the Lord can bring us out of Egypt and rescue us, He will help us establish ourselves as a nation and build this Temple in order to worship Him. “ God is faithful to His promises. Down through the ages God has been faithful and keeping His part of the Covenant that He made with people. Later when we come to conclude we will see together briefly the promises of God for the Christian, including us today almost 3 millennia later. Solomon now issues a statement concerning his father, David! Why David was not to build it. Though David, the mighty King had done extensive preparations for it, he didn’t actually complete it. The completion was left for his son, Solomon. Why? Because of God’s ideal of rest for his King and for his people. David had fought many wars and battles. It was part of his rest in God not to build the Temple. Solomon was spared the emotional turmoil of war, so could dedicate his energies to building the Temple – the House of God. 3. Verses 10-11 - Solomon presents the finished temple unto God. And with verses 10 to 11, we see that Solomon presents the finished Temple to God. Solomon recognized that being the successor of his father David to the throne of Israel was significant. He then places the Ark of the Covenant, in its resting place in the Temple. The Ark of the Covenant was a physical representation of God’s promised presence with His people, the nation of Israel. It was a wooden chest clad with gold containing a gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. Solomon speaks of a God who fulfilled with His hands what He had spoken with His mouth. God had said what He was going to do, and then went and did it. How are we doing at worshipping as we work for the Lord? Are we workers primarily and then click a switch to engage worship mode as we come here on a Sunday? Or do we consider ourselves God worshippers as we work? God wants worshippers before workers. In God’s mind, the only acceptable workers are those who have learnt the art of worship. Do you consider all you do as acts of worship to God? Everything you do as acts of worship to God? Because that is the kind of people God wants and desires, the kind of people who worship Him in Spirit and in truth and in all aspects of life – not just for a couple of hours on a Sunday. Part 2. Solomon’s prayer. Verses 12-14 - Humility before and praise unto God. .Here in verses 12 to 14 we see that Solomon stands before the altar of the Lord. Solomon did not dedicate the Temple from within the Temple itself because that would have been the wrong place. That was where only the Priest could go, so Solomon stands outside, raised up so that the throngs of people could see him. Before the altar, spreading out his hands in an act of symbolism - reaching out toward heaven in a gesture of surrender, openness, and ready reception. Here Solomon recognizes that God was and is completely unique in all facets of being and expresses it. The false and pretend gods of the nations around Israel could not compare to Him in any way.Verses 15-17 - Solomon recognizes God as the maker and keeper of promises. Solomon commences now to thankfully praise God, because God has kept all His promises that He had mad in the past. Have you done that in your prayer life? Speaking out thanks for what God has done for you in the past? He continues and calls upon God to keep the promises that He has now made. We are, as His people, to take on board God’s promises, take them to heart in faith, and then boldly and reverently call upon Him to fulfil the promises. Again, is that part of your prayer life? God promises and we are to appropriate, take hold of them and proclaim them, taking them on board in our life by faith, knowing that God fulfils the promises that He makes to people. Verses 18-21 - Solomon asks God to dwell in this place and honour those who seek Him here. Solomon now asks a question in this prayer! How often have you and I asked God questions as we pray, rather than just listing off our demands. God would reside in the Temple but not to the exclusion of other places. While God would have a special presence in the Temple, He would not be restricted to it. Solomon asks God to listen to His people as they pray and worship in this Temple dedicated to Him. When God hears the prayers made in the Tempe, Solomon implores that He would forgive His people and probably the greatest answer to prayer that they could expect. Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3. Conclusion - Promises of God for the Christian After such a prayer, how can we conclude? What are the challenges and comforts we have seen from this passage of Scripture? This Temple was destroyed about 400 years later by the Babylonians. It is long gone. What about David’s Covenant though? Was that ever fulfilled? Remember David’s Covenant which we looked at briefly earlier on? Was that ever fulfilled? We can say that it has been! It was fulfilled gloriously in the coming of God, in the man Jesus Christ. When the great God did indeed come as a human being in the person we know as Jesus Christ. It is historical fact. 2 Samuel 7:12 predicted the birth of Solomon as David's successor to the throne, with his role being to establish David's throne forever (2 Samuel 7:13). We see this link to the man Jesus Christ, through the genealogies to both Joseph: who had a legal right to King David's throne (Matthew 1:1-17) and to Mary: who had a blood right to King David's throne (Luke 3:23-38). The land is the whole world, now potentially the sphere of the rule of Jesus (Romans 4:13); the dynasty was, through Solomon, eventually to be the eternal son, Jesus (Matthew 1:1, 6, 16; Luke 3:23, 31); the Kingdom is the kingdom of God, now established, and ever growing in the world in which we live. (Matthew 11:12) All of which were fulfilled gloriously in the coming of Jesus Christ. Jesus the Messiah, the Saviour. Jesus Christ – fully God and fully human. Not just for the Jews but for all people of every race and language. Really that should make us go WOW in awe of our God. Our God is the God of history and has stepped into history as a human being. The New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Luke 22:15-20) We see all this in what is called the New Covenant. Four features of this covenant are: Regeneration – God will write His law on the hearts of people. (Jeremiah 31:33) Restoration - God will be their God, and they will be God's people. (Jeremiah 31:33) Promised Holy Spirit – God will indwell people and they will be led by Him (Jeremiah 31:34) Justification – Sins will be forgiven, removed and remembered no more (Jeremiah 31:34) This new covenant is sealed only through the perfect sacrifice of the God-Man Jesus on the cross. His death ensures the truth of this New Covenant. His death pays the penalty for the sins of all people. That is why we are to say yes to God and His New Covenant. This New Covenant can be contrasted with the Old Covenant, the Mosaic covenant that we looked at earlier, (Jeremiah 31:32; Hebrews 8:6-13) because this New Covenant finalizes and makes possible what the Mosaic Covenant could only point to: the follower of God living in a righteous life conforming to God's holy character. Solomon asks in verse 18 “But will God really dwell on earth with humans? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple that I have built!” In Solomon’s direct context, he was talking about the Temple which he was dedicating to God. In the overall context of the Bible, however, God did indeed come and dwell on earth. Not just with humans, but to be a human. Jesus Christ, the God-man. God keeps His promises and Jesus Christ is evidence of that. Oh that is so easy to forget when we are undergoing the trials of life. In what way does God keep His promises to us today? Five quick statements. By faith, He is praying for us. God the Son, Jesus Christ is making intercessions for Christians (Romans 8:34). He knows our troubles and He feels our cares and knows what we are going through (Hebrews 4:14-16). Isn’t that simply amazing and oh how easily we forget. By faith - He will come to us. Have you ever felt like God is far away? Well you aren’t alone! Solomon’s father, David, often felt that God was far away and unconcerned with his life. Just a cursory look in the Psalms will reveal that. However he also knew that God would ultimately rescue him. Jesus always comes to us through difficult times. Although He may not come in the time we think He should come, because He knows when we need Him most. By faith - He will help us grow - Once, when His disciples were in the storm on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus came to them walking on the water (Matthew 14:22-33). The purpose of this incident was to show that Jesus would be leaving them soon, so they had to learn to trust in Him when He wasn’t physically present. One of those disciples, Peter, wrote later on in his life, “for the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers” (1 Peter 3:12). How are you growing as a follower of Jesus? Not only in your knowledge but also in your transformation and development? As we are being transformed by the power of God the Holy Spirit into the image of God the Son, Jesus Christ, it is to the praise and glory of God the Father. Our transformation reveals God at work. By faith, He will see us through - Again, when the disciples were in the storm, Jesus said “Come” and Peter went with Him. This must have encouraged the other disciples, for upon seeing Jesus’ power they worshipped him. Whatever troubles you are undergoing are temporary, and Jesus will see you through. For various reasons 2015 for Youngmi and I started out as if it could be our annus horribilus. Yet it became our annus mirabilis instead as we saw God at work each day throughout the year. By faith, you have salvation - if you are trusting in Jesus alone for your salvation. By faith Jesus is praying for you, will come to you, grow you and help you through troubles. By being obedient to God, you and I are showing others our salvation and showing that faith, is not blind, but active. We can be obedient to Him by relying on His strength and wisdom. We are to be faithful to God and show it by being obedient to Him and getting on with the work we have been given, just as Solomon was in getting the Temple competed. Is your work worship or your worship work? As we go out tonight, let us remember that God keeps His promises, He is listening to your prayers and He wants us to be in a dynamic moment by moment relationship with Himself. This great God wants you and I to be actively obedient to Him in all facets of our lives – our work, our play, our conversations, our worship and our relationships. If you are struggling in a particular area, get trusted others to pray for you and to hold you accountable – that is part of discipleship – part of following and loving God. Our verse for the year as a Church is Psalm 105:4 “Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.” That was what Solomon did in the building of the Temple. That is what we are to do as well, as I am sure you are aware. Not only the Church here as a whole, but as individual followers of Jesus Christ. If we try to do it in our own strength we will fail. If we do it in the strength of the God we proclaim to love, worship, serve and glorify then we can – because all glory and honour will go to Him and Him alone. As we go, are we ready in some way to tell others about this great God we claim is great and sing here in this fabulous building of our love and service? Are we ready to enable and encourage each other in the faith, and not just our friends and favourites, in some way as we see need? Are we actively engaging with the great God throughout each day, worshipping Him in all aspects of life and letting Him have dominion over every aspect of our lives as we put our trust fully in Him and in all aspects of life? We are to be faithful to God and show it by being obedient to Him and getting on with the work we have been given, just as Solomon was in getting the job done. As a general observation, most of the Church is scared of that word evangelism. We are not all to be evangelists like the Billy Grahams or Bruce Kitchings of this world, but we are to tell and show others about the God we claim to love and are in covenant with. Let’s go WOW the world, all of it, including our little corner here for God with the news of our God – the God who is outside of time who stepped down into time, into human history, in order that humanity could choose to follow Him or not - to be His children or not. Let’s keep our eyes fixed firmly on our God as we seek to enable and encourage – not just as a church body but also as individuals to all others that we meet. We are the Church on the hill. Let us, both as a church and as individuals, “Look to the LORD and his strength; seeking his face always.” Let’s go WOW for God together, heeding His advice and worshipping Him alone in all facets of life. Are you tired and in need of comfort from all the challenges you are having to endure? Keep your eyes on God and allow Him to embrace you, comfort and lift you up. Remember that He is for you, He lives within you and you are His child. Are you too comfortable? In need of a challenge to stop you becoming complacent? Ask God to help you overcome, to empower you and seek His face and wisdom. Ask for His strength to help you do what He has asked you to do? The God we have comforts us in our challenges and challenges us in our comfort. We have an amazingly glorious God! Let’s have a minute or two to bring ourselves before God and ask God to help you as only He can. Then I will close with a prayer before we go on to have our final song together. Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3. You can now purchase our Partakers books! Please do click or tap here to visit our Amazon site! Click or tap on the appropriate link below to subscribe, share or download our iPhone App!

We have rational, overt reasons for what we believe, but we also tend toward what's going to make our lives easier and give us more of what we want. We need to be honest with ourselves about this. Are we willing to accept the truth of God? Because it will change our world.

SHOW NOTES: This COVID-19 pandemic is another wakeup call. This time the alarm is loud and personal and it’s shaking us awake…each of us, on some level. I believe that God, once again, God is saying—WAKE UP! So, are you awake? If so, what are you going to do about NOW? Will you hit the snooze alarm and go back to chasing comfortable? Or will you recalibrate and intentionally start rebuilding a life of faith in God? Because it’s not just a spring shower that’s raining outside… it’s a storm…a typhoon, a tornado, a hurricane…and we were meant to do more than just survive it. We were meant to make the most of it and THRIVE. LOOKING FOR MORE? Website: punkytolson.com/podcast Instagram: @punkytolson Twitter: @punkytolson Facebook: facebook.com/lifeonlifepodcast

This week Pastor Zach took us through the ninth commandment: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. AKA: Don’t lie. It seems like a simple enough law to understand, but we learned how lying actually stems from our deep desires to be loved and to be cared for. So why does dishonesty matter so much to God? Because you thinking you need to lie to prove or protect yourself shows you ultimately don’t trust him with your life or your future. Next time you’re tempted to lie to earn someone’s affection or gain some sort of security, remind yourself of the gospel: that you’re already infinitely loved and cared for by what Jesus has done for you.

This week Pastor Zach took us through the ninth commandment: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. AKA: Don’t lie. It seems like a simple enough law to understand, but we learned how lying actually stems from our deep desires to be loved and to be cared for. So why does dishonesty matter so much to God? Because you thinking you need to lie to prove or protect yourself shows you ultimately don’t trust him with your life or your future. Next time you’re tempted to lie to earn someone’s affection or gain some sort of security, remind yourself of the gospel: that you’re already infinitely loved and cared for by what Jesus has done for you.

Breakthrough ideas with Will: What is the process of designing the life that God dreamed of you? What does it mean to be co-creators of your life, with God Because we have been saved, we are not just freed from sin; we for living a life of good work. God has a dream. And he … Read More Read More

Pastor John preaches on Acts 17 for the first sermon in our Apostles' Creed series. What does it mean to say "I Believe in God"? Because everyone has a sense of divinity and is looking for God.

Where there is no fear in the house of God the Word is lost. How can the word of God be lost in the house of God? Because we have lost the fear of God!

Why do we need to be reminded to "remember" our God? Because we all too often forget him! Why should we remember him and why is it important? And what does it mean exactly to "fear" God? We pray this message encourages you to remember the goodness of God in Jesus and that a healthy fear of God should cause us to run TO Him instead of FROM Him.

What comes to your mind when you think about God? Because it is the most important thing about you! In this message hear how God wants to be your Father, how he wants to lavish all His love unto you.

Have you ever struggled with understanding God?God, I just don’t understand Your ways…God, I don’t understand why You are allowing this to happen…God, I don’t understand how all of this fits together…I want to pose the question a different way…What do we NEED to understand about God?Or, better yet…what do we NEED to KNOW about God?Because, we will never understand everything about God, ***READ***Isaiah 55:9 - “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.”In fact - let’s put that together with verse 7 - “Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. let them turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on them; and to our God, for He will freely pardon”So, God - what do I need to know; what do I need to understand?God is confounding the way of the world with verse 7.“Forsake your wicked ways and thoughts, and I will freely forgive you…freely pardon you.” - says God.This is indeed Good News…This news tells us that the Kingdom of God is at hand.If we know this, then we know enough about God to preach the Good News.If we know this about God, then we know enough to share the love of God with others.When we know this much about God and who God is,And we have personally experienced this pardon…this forgiveness…This Love of God,That is all we need to know to walk in God’s forgiveness,And to tell others about God’s forgiveness.We may not understand the how of this…like…how God does this.And that is fine. That is not for us to know.God does what God does, and God does it how God does it.God does tell us - this is what is required of you, and in return I will pardon you.The mystery, for us, is, what do we NEED to KNOW about God…What do we NEED to understand?Well, all we need to know about God…all we need to understand about God……Is Jesus Christ.Jesus Christ is the true knowledge of God’s mystery.When we know Christ, we know God.Listen to Colossians 2:2 **READ**The mystery of God is Christ.Colossians 2 verse 3 says that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ.We need know nothing else, other than Christ, to know God.If we spend time in the Old Testament…we will see that the Old Testament points to Christ.Some scholars say there are over 400 places in the Old Testament that point to Christ.The mystery - Christ - is woven throughout the Jewish Scriptures.So, its not just the New Testament that speaks to the Messiah, Christ,But the Jewish Scriptures as well.All pointing to this Christ…this mystery of God…In whom are hidden all the treasures and wisdom and knowledge of God.Because, Christ is God.Colossians 2:9 reads - **READ**‘In Him dwells the fullness of God bodily’Now, when we are conceived, and we are being formed in our mother’s womb,The traits of our mother and father are also forming in us.Eye color, hair color, height, musculature, shape of our face, our hands and feet,Facial expressions, personality, sense of humor, likes/dislikes; etc…And even in all of that, we are unique…containing bits and pieces that make me…me.

Jesus invites people to change their mindsets and belive the Good News of the Kingdom of God. And the world needs hope, the world is looking for God. Our souls are in need of breathing. But we often sometimes have ideas, attitudes, mindsets grown from our culture that make us unable to participate in the great invitation into the Kingdom of God. Yes, the message of the Kingdom is too good. It is too good and it is true. That our God has come, that our God is here. That life in him is accessible now, just within your reach. Do you dare change your mind? Do you dare abandon narratives you have held on to that make you say not now, not me or even maybe no God? Because, the Good News of the Kingdom is too good and it's true

“What Happens When You Go With God”, Acts 14.20-28   Introduction, v20 Themes •Numbers converted, word spread •Making disciples everywhere •Opposition / setbacks •“Firsts' all over the place! •Overall feeling:Undiminished enthusiasm for the things of God •Resulting in….   1. Bear God's Fruit •By bringing God's Word to all kinds of people A. Converts - variety •Flexibility of approach: Jews / Gentiles / Pagans •Undiminished enthusiasm for winning disciples for Jesus B. Elders - leadership •Evangelism and strengthening •All churches need both •That's whey we need to meet up •Leaders are not the most gifted, they are committed to strengthening •Brave to go back to where persecuted •High level of compassion for young Christians / new churches •Undiminished enthusiasm for the strengthening of disciples   2. Bear With Setbacks •Persevered despite these …. A. External Setbacks •Opposition; Poisoning; Persecution •Brave to go back to sites of pain •Compassion for young Christians drove them •Undiminished enthusiasm despite external setbacks B. Internal Setbacks •Betrayal / Desertion •John Mark •Undiminished enthusiasm despite internal setbacks   Conclusion, 14.26-27 •Why did this happen?  God - He is the focus. •We don't know how they felt day to day, but we do know they found their way back to undiminished enthusiasm for the things of God. •Because motivated within the grace of God; •Conscious of the presence of God; •Confident in the love of God •Because confident of the competency of God •His power/strength •His wisdom •Do you believe God is loving and competent? •When we go with God we see the fruit of God in new disciples and strengthened disciples •When we go with God we see undiminished enthusiasm despite external setbacks and internal setbacks •When we go with God we live for him with undiminished enthusiasm   Thank you for listening to this podcast. You can find more episodes in our feed. Our web site is http://www.watfordchurchofchrist.org.    Join us in our adventure: 10.30 AM on most Sundays at Laurance Haines School, Vicarage Road, Watford, Hertfordshire, WD18 0DD.   Please add your comments on this week's topic. We learn best when we learn in community.    Do you have a question about the Bible or the Christian faith? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send us your questions or suggestions. Here's the email: thewatfordchurch@gmail.com.   Thanks again for listening. Have a super day.   God bless,   Malcolm   Watford, Watford church of Christ, Malcolm Cox, mccx, Croxley Green, Bushey, Leavesden, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, ICOC, ICCM, Chesham, Chorleywood, Aylesbury, Croxley, Laurance Haines School, Vicarage Road, Bible teaching, Sunday School, Youth Ministry, Watford Church, Churches in Watford, Churches in London, Churches in Hertfordshire, Watford UK, Holywell, Watford England, Watford in Hertfordshire, West Watford, Churches of Christ, 

“What Happens When You Go With God”, Acts 14.20-28   Introduction, v20 Themes •Numbers converted, word spread •Making disciples everywhere •Opposition / setbacks •“Firsts’ all over the place! •Overall feeling:Undiminished enthusiasm for the things of God •Resulting in….   1. Bear God’s Fruit •By bringing God’s Word to all kinds of people A. Converts - variety •Flexibility of approach: Jews / Gentiles / Pagans •Undiminished enthusiasm for winning disciples for Jesus B. Elders - leadership •Evangelismandstrengthening •All churches need both •That’s whey we need to meet up •Leaders are not the most gifted, they are committed to strengthening •Brave to go back to where persecuted •High level of compassion for young Christians / new churches •Undiminished enthusiasm for the strengthening of disciples   2. Bear With Setbacks •Persevered despite these …. A. External Setbacks •Opposition; Poisoning; Persecution •Brave to go back to sites of pain •Compassion for young Christians drove them •Undiminished enthusiasm despite external setbacks B. Internal Setbacks •Betrayal / Desertion •John Mark •Undiminished enthusiasm despite internal setbacks   Conclusion, 14.26-27 •Why did this happen?  God - He is the focus. •We don’t know how they felt day to day, but we do know they found their way back to undiminished enthusiasm for the things of God. •Because motivated within the grace of God; •Conscious of the presence of God; •Confident in the love of God •Because confident of the competency of God •His power/strength •His wisdom •Do you believe God is loving and competent? •When we go with God we see the fruit of God in new disciples and strengthened disciples •When we go with God we see undiminished enthusiasm despite external setbacks and internal setbacks •When we go with God we live for him with undiminished enthusiasm   Thank you for listening to this podcast. You can find more episodes in our feed. Our web site is http://www.tvcoc.org.    Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community.    Do you have a question about the Bible or the Christian faith? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send us your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: tvcochrist@gmail.com.   Thanks again for listening. Have a super day.   God bless,   Malcolm   Reading, tvcoc, Thames Valley churches of Christ, ICOC, Tim Dannatt, Malcolm Cox, ICCM, Lower Earley, Southampton, Winchester, High Wycombe, Oxford, Banbury, Deepcut, Frimley, Basingstoke, Salisbury, Amesbury, Sunday School, Reading University, Youth Ministry, Bracknell, Bracknell Leisure Centre, Shevvy Dannatt, Mark Abril, Rachel Abril, Churches of Christ, Christian churches near me, tv coc, International church, churches close to me, Thames Valley, Thames Valley location, Thames Valley church of Christ, the Thames Valley,

“What Happens When You Go With God”, Acts 14.20-28 Introduction, v20 Themes • Numbers converted, word spread • Making disciples everywhere • Opposition / setbacks • “Firsts’ all over the place! • Overall feeling: Undiminished enthusiasm for the things of God • Resulting in…. 1. Bear God’s Fruit • By bringing God’s Word to all kinds of people A. Converts - variety • Flexibility of approach: Jews / Gentiles / Pagans • Undiminished enthusiasm for winning disciples for Jesus B. Elders - leadership • Evangelism and strengthening • All churches need both • That’s whey we need to meet up • Leaders are not the most gifted, they are committed to strengthening • Brave to go back to where persecuted • High level of compassion for young Christians / new churches • Undiminished enthusiasm for the strengthening of disciples 2. Bear With Setbacks • Persevered despite these …. A. External Setbacks • Opposition; Poisoning; Persecution • Brave to go back to sites of pain • Compassion for young Christians drove them • Undiminished enthusiasm despite external setbacks B. Internal Setbacks • Betrayal / Desertion • John Mark • Undiminished enthusiasm despite internal setbacks Conclusion, 14.26-27 • Why did this happen?  God - He is the focus. • We don’t know how they felt day to day, but we do know they found their way back to undiminished enthusiasm for the things of God. • Because motivated within the grace of God; • Conscious of the presence of God; • Confident in the love of God • Because confident of the competency of God • His power/strength • His wisdom • Do you believe God is loving and competent? • When we go with God we see the fruit of God in new disciples and strengthened disciples • When we go with God we see undiminished enthusiasm despite external setbacks and internal setbacks • When we go with God we live for him with undiminished enthusiasm Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community.  Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: malcolm@malcolmcox.org (mailto:malcolm@malcolmcox.org) . If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org (http://www.malcolmcox.org/) . Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review. “Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11) God bless, Malcolm PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool" (https://dqzrr9k4bjpzk.cloudfront.net/images/9167082/379662794.jpg) , a devotional look at the Gospel of John mccx, Malcolm Cox, Watford, Croxley Green, teaching, preaching, spiritual disciplines, public speaking, corporate worship, Sunday Sample, Corporate Worship Matters, Tuesday Teaching Tips, Quiet Time Coaching, Coach.me, coaching,  coach me, coaching near me, coach, online coaching, savior, quiet time, devotion, God, Jesus, Pray, prayer, malcolm’s, cox, 

Romans 5:1 reads. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."  Justified means "ACQUITTED".  FACT:  God's wrath and the penalty for sin has been paid for by Messiah.  His rising from the dead provided our acquittal in the court of Heaven.  But, that acquittal has to be appropriated through a constant, steady, unwavering belief and trust that this fact is a true fact.  This is real faith, which without it, no one can please God (Because one must seize the acquittal provided them).  But our soulish natures and demonic shadow person's influence will attack this certain faith, thus causing the sincere born again Christian to never reach their potential in relationship to the Father.  Thus, diminishing their ability to destroy the works of the devil, being passive minded and defeated in their Christian walk.  But, there is a PROCESS to building solid, steadfast, and God approved faith.  This process is activated by TRIALS and TRIBULATIONS and TESTING.  These shadow people living inside of your soulish nature are born when we experience fear and rejection as children, the soul gets fragmented into different demonic personalities that we think is our real selves, but they are not.  Our real selves get dominated and abused by these shadow people inside of us.  They hinder and prevent our relationship with God, but can't prevent our eternal life.  These demonic forces are used to test us.  They lie and attack our faith in two ways:  First, they attack our belief that God has truly accepted our acquittal.  Second, they attack our worthiness of the acquittal and make us do works to obtain favor.  Both are stinking thinking.  Both undermine the FACT that Messiah has acquitted us through his death and resurrection.  God accepts our acquittal when we exercise steady unwavering commitment to that truth (faith).  So, by allowing these shadow enemies to whisper doubt and lies to us is not conducive to our spiritual growth.  We overcome them through the Blood of the Lamb (Which you have nothing to do with) and through our testimony (Which we have everything to do with).  In this teaching that the demons, your soulish nature, and fragmented shadow personalities do not want you to know, we show you the process in building up true faith.  First, trials create Patient Endurance (steadfastness), then Endurance creates a Certificate of Approval (you have been tested and proved to be faithful), and then Hope (expectation of eternal life), and finally God fills you with His love like a flood, and you have proper relationship with Him.  This episode is vital.  It is of utmost importance that you understand this teaching because the TRUTH in it will in fact set you free from your demonic tormentors.  End Song:  "I've Become a New Man" by Mesquite Cafe available at all online retailers and streaming sites.fifthookmedia.com 

Why do we have a constant expectation of good from God? Because we choose to give Him credit for the good He has already done, and we expect Him to keep on reminding us, guiding us, teaching us, and giving us wisdom.

Why does Paul connect prayer with the Armor of God? Because when we "pray in the Spirit," we have something that front-line soldiers have always longed for: the ability to talk directly with our "Commander-in-Chief!"

Kimberly church of Christ, Kimberly, ALSunday a.m. lesson from June 9, 2019Do we think of being a Christian as a designation we take on ourselves? The Bible uses the term only three times, and in each time, it indicates the idea of someone who is called a Christian by someone else, having observed the life and actions of that individual. And while the term is used in a wide range of ways by a wide range of people, we can see clearly from the Bible that the term is applied to people who are "disciples" - those who are actively following and modeling themselves after Jesus and his teachings.That should cause us to think twice, and evaluate our own standing with God: WHY do I consider myself a Christian? Is it because I go to worship services every week? Because I have a nominal belief in God? Because that's how my parents raised me? Maybe the more appropriate question is: Am I truly a disciple of Christ? And what sort of life does a person live, what sort of faith do they display, in order for God to bestow that designation on someone?We read in the Bible that a Christian is:Sanctified (reserved) to God for His useRepentant and turned from things that displease GodActively looking to become more like Jesus, the teacherRecognizable as belonging to Christ - not like the people around youWilling to suffer hardship and even persecution for the faith

Why study the attributes and nature of God? Because it will change your thinking and view of self, sin, and service Rapp Report Daily 0302 Get the Attributes of God reference card  https://strivingforeternity.org/product/attributes-god-reference-card This podcast is a ministry of Striving for Eternity and all our resources strivingforeternity.org Listen to other podcasts on the Christian Podcast Community: ChristianPodcastCommunity.org Support Striving for Eternity at http://StrivingForEternity.org/donate Please review us on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/rapp-report/id1353293537 Give us your feedback, email us info@StrivingForEternity.org Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/StrivingForEternity Join the conversation in our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/326999827369497 Watch subscribe to us on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/StrivingForEternity Get the book What Do They Believe at http://WhatDoTheyBelieve.com Get the book What Do We Believe at http://WhatDoWeBelieveBook.com

Why study the attributes and nature of God? Because it affects one's view of theology. Rapp Report Daily 0301 Get the Attributes of God reference card  https://strivingforeternity.org/product/attributes-god-reference-card This podcast is a ministry of Striving for Eternity and all our resources strivingforeternity.org Listen to other podcasts on the Christian Podcast Community: ChristianPodcastCommunity.org Support Striving for Eternity at http://StrivingForEternity.org/donate Please review us on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/rapp-report/id1353293537 Give us your feedback, email us info@StrivingForEternity.org Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/StrivingForEternity Join the conversation in our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/326999827369497 Watch subscribe to us on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/StrivingForEternity Get the book What Do They Believe at http://WhatDoTheyBelieve.com Get the book What Do We Believe at http://WhatDoWeBelieveBook.com

How do you feel about attending a party thrown by an unfair God? Because that is the God and Father of Jesus. Is this the Parable of the Lost Son, or the Unfair Dad? God does not treat people the way they deserve. He loves the haters; he adores the spiteful, welcomes the violent, opens his arms to the immoral, the greedy, the seedy. He stands on the top of his house and gazes longingly, desperately, eternally at the horizon, pining for the evil-doer. And then when he sees a human figure appear in the far distance, he picks up the hem of his robe and he runs. And he nauseates the self-righteous.

Full Service “…Listening to the word of God…”“Because you say so…” 1. An obedient, learner, follower (1-7) A disciple is defined by who he/she follows A disciple will obey in the face of conflicting advice and evidence “Go away from me Lord...

Why fear God? Because it’s what motivates us to follow biblical priorities. Servanthood is motivated by love and the fear of God. Receive an understanding of the Fear of God.

Speaker: Marco Monroy Title: My New Year’s Prayer But you, man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. 1 Timothy 6:11 NASB If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing... out of which arise... men deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. 1 Timothy 6:3-6 I Contentment * Why is our contentment so important to God? Because the opposite of contentment is to ______________. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature... and greed, which is idolatry. Colossians 3:5 John 10:10 * What should we be content with? 1. The ________________ where we are. All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against. 1 Timothy 6:1 2. The __________________ we have. “...who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.” v. 5c For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 1 Timothy 6:7-10 NASB II Discontentment “…deprived of the truth.” v. 5 * We most pursue above all a ______________________ with Christ. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ. Ephesians 4:15 * We must be discontent with our ____________________________. ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ To view previous messages visit cof.church/resources https://www.cof.church https://www.instagram.com/cofhouston https://www.facebook.com/cofhouston

You are God’s work of art, and He has created a purpose and a plan for your life. It can be hard to receive a compliment, can’t it? You aren’t sure how to react and you wonder, deep down, if it’s really true. So, what if someone called you a work of art? That you were a masterpiece? That can be hard to hear. Really, me? What if that person was God? Because that is exactly what the Bible says in Ephesians 2:10. This verse is jam-packed with wisdom and encouragement. In just 22 words, we learn that we are God’s handiwork--His work of art. We then learn that God has a purpose for our lives to do good works in His name. Finally, our One Verse teaches that God has a plan for our lives that He has been preparing for a long time! This may be hard to hear, but you are God’s work of art, and He has created a purpose and a plan for your life. Your mistakes don’t matter. That is why God has given us grace and Love. You are not disqualified from the purpose and plan God has created for your life. You are His masterpiece. I encourage you to start leaning into that truth. How could this fresh outlook change your life?

Download MP3 Do we shut up the kingdom of God to the general population? Jesus never did that. He rebuked the religious rulers, but welcomed in the most ordinary people and those who the religious rulers thought were the worst of sinners. When we protest by holding up our Christian signs, the majority of people don't get it. They don't know what we're talking about. They think we're being religious snobs and hypocrites, and that we're shutting up the kingdom of God to them and that we hate sinners. The majority of the church isn't like that. The majority of the church loves sinners and recognizes that but for the grace of God they're lost! Do You Really Know Who You Are in Jesus Christ? Show Notes For This Foundational Podcast: Philippians 3:1-8 God was uniting the church together God is opening up the kingdom wide Beware of those who make man-made rules for salvation You do have to be born again, but it's not by pedigree! Not everyone will gets in. John 14:15-20 Jesus is taking our relationship to an even greater level and made it even more shocking It doesn't center around the temple You are going to become the temple of God John 15:15 Jesus takes it even deeper You're not only a temple of God, you're a friend of God. In the Greek grammar, it places them in a position of greater distinction It is a relationship with God that is like an acquaintance, or good friends, but a friendship where you share life together. Ephesians 1:3-6 We are not only a friend, but an adopted son and daughter of God This is so much better than being religious! Do you really know who you are in Jesus Christ? Or you can live everyday in the manifest presence of God Because you've accepted Jesus Christ, you can live from glory to glory Even when you live in the real world, with trials and struggles, God's presence with you 2 Corinthians 3:18 How do we walk in this on a daily basis? Jesus put a condition on this If you love me keep my commandments You are my friends if you do what I say This is how we know Him, if we keep His commandments But here's the difference In the Old Testament, it was keeping the commandments to be righteous In Jesus Christ, we keep the commandments because we are righteous - our righteousness comes from Jesus If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider leaving us a review. This helps the Foundational podcast reach more listeners.  Be sure to tell a friend about the Foundational blog and podcast, and share with them about the free Bible Reading Challenge journal they will receive when they subscribe to receive my newsletter! Grow in your relationship with Christ with these discipleship manuals:   For more blog posts like this: 3 Ways to Stand Alone in a Wicked Generation Called to Live in the Kingdom How to Live Like a Royal Child of God How Does the Kingdom of God Work? Non-Optional Principles of Tithing What is the Culture of the Kingdom of Heaven 4 Ways to Walk in Kingdom Authority How to Walk With God Everyday

Life is really exciting when we realize that you realize that you've been delivered from the powers of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son. So now, you're a son and daughter of God You are royalty! Begin living like royalty; because you have kingdom power and authority, because Jesus said, "I give you the keys of the kingdom." Put your hand on your heart right now and say, "Jesus, you have given me the keys of the kingdom!" Show Notes For This Foundational Podcast: You are never at the mercy of your enemy You have the authority and power to pray blessing into your family, marriage, home, and life. When we live everyday with this knowledge, we will live everyday with confidence in anticipation of divine appointments and the impossible. With God all things are possible and God lives in me, therefore all things are possible to me and all things work together for my good. How to Walk With God Everyday You can walk with "historical God" The God that did the things you read about in the Bible Historical figure You can walk with "living God" The God that touches you every once in a while Living for that next time when God will touch you All week long the glory you feel on Sunday slowly fades away You can't wait until you get back to church on Sunday so God touches you again. 2 Corinthians 3:13 "...unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away." Or you can live everyday in the manifest presence of God Because you've accepted Jesus Christ, you can live from glory to glory Even when you live in the real world, with trials and struggles, God's presence with you 2 Corinthians 3:18 "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you." John 14:13-20 If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider leaving us a review. This helps the Foundational podcast reach more listeners.  Be sure to tell a friend about the Foundational blog and podcast, and share with them about the free Bible Reading Challenge journal they will receive when they subscribe to receive my newsletter! Grow in your relationship with Christ with these discipleship manuals:   For more blog posts like this: 3 Ways to Stand Alone in a Wicked Generation Called to Live in the Kingdom How to Live Like a Royal Child of God How Does the Kingdom of God Work? Non-Optional Principles of Tithing What is the Culture of the Kingdom of Heaven 4 Ways to Walk in Kingdom Authority

Red Letters The Voice of Life 08/05/2018 We are going to read today that Jesus says that if people hear His voice, if they hear His message, then they will live… They will have eternal life. They will be saved from judgment. Which means the alternative is that people who don’t hear His message, won’t have eternal life and they won’t be spared from judgment. John 5:24-30 People need to hear Jesus, because there is life in what He has to say! Vs. 24 What else did Jesus have to say? John 3:3; John 3:6; John 14:6; John 14:23-24; Matthew 22:37-39; John 8:11 When people hear the words of Jesus and believe in who He is, they are promised eternal life! Right then, right there! That is the Good News! They are saved from hell. Vs. 24; Vs. 25 Who are the dead that Jesus is referring to? Jesus is referring to the people who have not believed in Him, in His message. They are dead spiritually! But Jesus has the voice of life! Those who believe are made alive with Him. Ephesians 2:1-5 It is by the grace of God that we are made alive with Christ! God and Jesus worked out this crazy plan that Jesus would take our punishment! That Jesus would bear our sins on that Cross! Jesus was willing to do that knowing that some would reject Him but He also knew that some would believe in Him! So the question is, “When?” When is the time to respond to Jesus? When is the time to listen and hear His voice? The time is now! Will you allow Him to give you life? Will you repent of your sins and believe that Jesus is the Son of God? Because we are going to be judged as to whether or not the life of Christ is within us. Vs. 26-27 Where do you stand? Are you alive in Christ? Don’t wait! Because if you do, you may never have a chance to. A time will come when those who are physically dead will rise at the sound of His voice, whether they have believed in Him or not. Those who believed have eternal life will rise into life. And those who did not believe will rise and be judged and sent to hell. Vs. 28-29 Jesus will be the judge. And He will judge fairly. Vs. 30 Praise God that you still have an opportunity to respond to Jesus’ message! Praise God that you still have the chance to receive eternal life through Him! Are you ready to meet Jesus? Will you respond when He calls? Do you know the voice of your Savior, the One who has the Voice of life?

Why wait? Because those seasons enable us is respond to his call for the next phase of our lives. Why draw closer to God? Because it is a time when God can awake the call/purpose in you and spend time with his child!

Romans 6 helps us understand how grace can compel us to live like God. There isn't a legal code hanging over our heads, threatening death. Why live for God? Because we have been given a new life in Christ Jesus, set free from sin, so that we can...

 Podcast: 28 February 2018 In the second act of the movie Gladiator, we find the character Maximus at the lowest point imaginable. His jealous brother Commodus, who idolized him, sought to destroy him and everything he valued, rather than learn from him. Maximus is beat down and we question whether the former ideal man still lives within him. Maximus: “That man is dead, your brother did his work well.” And yet, when pressed, aspects of his former character awaken, and just as before, those around him, can’t help respect that which commands respect. Having to construct himself anew, Maximus initially lives merely for the ideal of survival, Maximus is made to fight in the gladiator arena, where his supreme competence once again becomes apparent, and people again rise to their feet in honor of that supreme competence. Maximus despises what he’s being made to do in the arena, and calls out the crowd for their warped taste for blood, and still, they cheer him. Learning that his capability could earn him the chance to be presented in front of the emperor, now his hostile brother, Commodus, Maximus’s ideal turns from survival to revenge. As word of his ability grows, admiration begins to grow, in the men around him, and even in the youth, such as the nephew of the emperor. This is the story of Joseph of Egypt, the story of how when you try to destroy the ideal man and even thrust him into slavery and the lowest dungeon, an eventual  and inevitable collision of opportunity with competence will rocket him back to the top, because of a certain attitude that kind of man possesses toward life. Maximus’s achievements place him right back before the emperor Commodus, who is unaware he still lives, and Maximus considers killing him, then and there, to achieve his vengeance, but his principles awaken and get the best of him. Instead, he lives according to his ideals, and lets the consequences follow, just as before. As the deadened parts of his character begin to resurrect, everything begins to restore itself. Men honor Maximus wherever he goes. And his motivations slowly transform from seeking vengeance to the nobler pursuits of sacrificing himself to the higher ideals. Commodus is incensed with internal conflict and rage. He plans a final manipulation where he mortally wounds Maximus before pretending to challenge him to battle in the arena to prove his strength and valor and gain the admiration of the people. But Once again Commodus misjudges the nature of being, he misjudges the ways that the ideal man has contracted with being with a certain attitude, that in the long run, however unexpectedly, ensures him the favor of life. Both Commodus and Maximus suffered tremendously in life. Both Die at the end of the story, as we all will. But Commodus dies having lost everything he ever valued. While Maximus dies having gained all he ever valued. What was the essential difference, the key of wisdom separating these two opposing brothers? "If things are not laying themselves out for us as they should be, then we cannot curse God, we have to look to ourselves. Well, and you think, 'why not curse God?' Because maybe it's his fault. And that's a really good question. One of the things I've tried to figure out over the last 30 years is, well why not just curse God? Because there is this arbitrary element to existence, and we are vulnerable, and there is plenty of suffering and things are unfair. There's problems, right? There's injustice and unfairness and all of these things, and endless suffering, so why not just lay it at the feet of God? (Whether or not God exists in some sense or not, by the way, with respects to the metaphysics of this particular discussion, is not relevant. The point remains the same either way.) And the answer is, as far as I can tell, is that if you refuse to take on the responsibility yourself, and you attempt to lay it at the feet of either society or b...

Why bring your burdens to God? Because nothing is too small for our God. This is a sermon from 2 Kings 6:1-7 by Pastor Aaron Wojnicki.

How do we join Jesus' mission of rescuing people far from God? Because of the Spirit's power and presence, we go as messengers.

Interesting thoughts I had on my drive home from Salt Lake City. On this episode Russell relates following God’s will to following the will of the market in business. Here are some of the enlightening things you will hear in today’s episode: How spending his weekend talking to a leader in his church reminded him that’s its important to align your belief’s with Gods. How aligning your beliefs will God’s is similar to aligning your product ideas with the needs of the market you’re in. And find out how you can align your own beliefs with that of the market you are in. So listen here to find out how Russell is able to relate business marketing to God. ---Transcript--- What’s up everybody? This is Russell Brunson and welcome to the Marketing Secrets podcast. Hey everyone, I hope you guys are all having an amazing day today. Whoa, I’m juggling my phone as I get in the car. Crazy day. We are just leaving, I was about to leave the house today and I walked out and Norah was outside on the trampolines jumping. Some of you guys heard my crazy stories. We had a big side yard that was kind of a big empty weed field. So we decided this year to go a little crazy. So we put in a football/soccer field, a volleyball court, basketball court, baseball and a track that wraps the whole thing and then 9 underground trampolines. And they got the 9 underground trampolines up this weekend while we were gone.  So we spent all night last night when we got home jumping and then this morning, I was about to leave and I could hear little giggles outside and I went outside and Norah was jumping. It’s a little bit cold out here, but I went and jumped for the last little bit. Now I’m heading out so I’m buckling up in my car and we are ready to rock and roll. It’s funny, we were gone this week. We went and drove to Burley where my in-laws live and we dropped off our kids and from there we drove down to Salt Lake because I had a meeting that I’ll tell you guys about here in a second. But it’s funny, on the way home we went camping and stuff like that, so I haven’t shaved in two days. So my face was all prickly, you know what I mean. I was picking up Norah yesterday and her curly hair is like Velcro on my beard. I tried for two days and I just hated it, so I just shaved it this morning. I’m like, ah, I feel so much better. But I hate it because I’ve been watching, we’ve been studying Dollar Shave Club and Dollar Beard Club’s off-boarding process. In fact, I wrote about it in Funnel university this month. And I don’t know what it is, all the beard guys just seem cooler and part of me is like I wanna be cool like the beard guys but I just can’t. Two days and I gave up, it was horrible. So I’ll never be as cool as the beard guys. But I will give them credit, they are definitely cooler than us shaved guys. Anyway, hopefully someday I’ll become a man and be able to grow one out. That day is not today. Anyway, so I want to share something today, and some of you might be thinking, Russell this is a marketing podcast why are you talking about God? Because he has to do with everything, it’s really important. And the lesson I learned this weekend has to do with God, but it also then relates back to you guys and your market, so I think it’s really, really important. So I was in Utah and I had a meeting with someone who is one of the top leaders in my church, the Mormon church. And we believe in our church that there’s a prophet and his 12 apostles, similar to how when Christ was on Earth. And my meeting was with one of the twelve apostles, which was really a huge honor, and scary and exciting and all those things all wrapped into one. And I had a chance to meet with him. So this whole week prior to leading up to it, I’ve had a lot of thoughts about just life and how things work and then obviously meeting with him and then afterwards, it was a really neat reflection in time. And there was something that came out, I mean, there was a lot of stuff I wish I could share in the context of this podcast, but it’s probably not appropriate or the right spot, so I won’t. But there was one thing that just kept ringing through my head that I wanted to share because I think it’s important and it does relate back to marketing. So there you go. Is it I alright if I relate it back to marketing, if I talk about God for a few minutes? Hopefully that’s okay. So it’s interesting, if you look at the world, what the world tries to do is that they see, I don’t want to get political because I don’t care about politics at all, so I’m not going to get political. But I see this mostly, it’s amplified in politics, where it’s like these are the agenda items that people either believe this or believe this and they fight back and forth, who’s right and who’s wrong, and all that stuff. And it’s kind of crazy. And it’s been interesting, in my life, and I’m not perfect in this by any stretch, this is what I aspire to be, when I look at an issue, when I look at something it shouldn’t be what do I believe. What does Russell believe on this topic? It should be, okay I believe in a God, so what does God actually believe on this topic? And then my job as a human here is not to try to convince God that, “No, no, no, you’re wrong.” Because he’s not. So my goal is to look at what he believes on the topic and then bend my will towards that. Say, okay this is what he believes therefore this is what I believe. That’s how it should be, if you do believe in an all powerful creator who created the heavens and the earth and everything. I think we should bend our will towards him. This is what he thinks, therefore this is what I think, on any topic. I think that’s important as we’re trying to set up our belief’s. What we’re for and what we’re against. It should be less of, this is my opinion, this is what I think is right, this is what I studied, what I read. It should be like, what does God actually think and then sit back and pray and find out what he believes and then be like cool. I will align my will with yours. I will align with that because that’s what you believe. So I was thinking about that, again, something I probably wouldn’t normally share inside the podcast, but I started thinking about this from the business standpoint too because there’s always correlations between all things. And it’s funny because a lot of the entrepreneurs that I work with, it’s interesting what they do. They have an idea, “This is a product I want to create. It’s the greatest thing in the world. It’s going to change mankind. I want to charge this price for it, this is how I want to deliver it.” And they have all these things that they want to do because it’s their idea. It’s their baby. And they go out there and they put it on the market and the market crushes it and it’s like, that idea sucks. Or that price point is not right. Or whatever it is, the market goes and does it’s thing. And the market in this situation is kind of like God. The market doesn’t care who you are, not that God, God does care. But the market doesn’t care who you are. The market doesn’t care how good your ideas are. The market is what it is. If you put your thing out there and it will tell you, that idea sucked. Or that idea is amazing. Or whatever the thing in between there is. And our job as entrepreneurs, is not to try to convince the market that our idea is the best, our job is to find out what does the market actually want and then align our will with that. And when you do that, that’s when things explode. That’s why when we test funnels, we’ll test and be like, oh the market said no. And we try again and we test and tweak the messaging and the pricing, we keep moving things around until we figure out what does the market actually want? How much do they want to spend for this? What’s the price point? What do they actually want? Do they even want this product?  A lot of my ideas they didn’t want. As great of an idea as I thought they were, the market did not care about it. And the market is the only thing that actually matters. So I always tell people, it drives me crazy people in my coaching programs, Facebook groups, and everything will come in and be like, “What’s your opinion on this?” and I’m like, “Dude, don’t take my opinion on it. I don’t even trust my opinion on my own stuff. I let the market decide. I create the thing the best I know how to do, based on what I have seen the market respond to in the past. I make the thing and then I send some traffic to it and I let the market vote. And I don’t let the market vote through quizzes or surveys or things like that. Where they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, I would buy that.’ The only thing that I care about is people that actually pull their wallets out of their pocket and swipe their credit card. That is how the market votes. They don’t vote with their mouth, they vote with their credit card.” Yes, I do, for those of you watching, I do have a Clickfunnels sticker on my wallet because it is what fills my wallet full of the stuff that we need to buy. Anyway, so that’s how it works. So for you guys, as entrepreneurs, it’s important for you to not get so caught up on your ideas and what you believe. It is important for you to figure out what the market actually wants. What they actually believe. They believe this is worth this amount of money, they believe that this is what they want to buy. You figure out what the market actually wants, and you do that you become rich. If you fight against that, you struggle. I’ve seen people go years, maybe decades and never have success because they are trying to jam their belief’s down the market’s throat. And the market doesn’t care about you, all the market wants is what it wants. So you gotta figure out what it wants and then you align your will with that. And that’s it. So as I was thinking about that this weekend with God and our responsibility to not so much try to dictate what we believe and try to shove it down his throat. But to figure out what he believes and align our will him. It’s the same thing with the market. And when you understand that, that’s when business becomes a lot easier. It comes back to Expert Secrets 101, like page 3 or whatever, find a hot market, ask them what they want, and then give it to them. It does not say, find a hot market, decide what you think would be awesome to create and then jam it down their throats. That is a hard business to run. Okay, it’s the opposite way. Find a hot market, ask what they want, and then give it to them. That’s it and the market will tell you. The market will tell you if you’re right. The market will tell you if you’re wrong. If you’re wrong, don’t be mad about it. Just change your approach, change the pricing, change the hook, change the angle, change the product, change the service. Create what it wants and then everything will take place that you need it to. Okay, there you go, is that okay that we reel religion into this thing? Because even if you guys don’t believe in God, it doesn’t mean he’s not there. That’s what’s interesting. I have people, friends that are like, “I don’t believe in God, you shouldn’t talk about it.” I’m like, “Whether you believe in him or not, he’s still there.” That’s the interesting thing. People are like, “I don’t believe this will sell.” Whether you believe it or not, it doesn’t really matter, it’s what the market believes. So let’s go find out what the truth is, and let’s align our belief’s with that. That’s in all aspects of life. So there you go. That’s preacher Brunson preaching on. Hope you guys don’t mind. Anyway, regardless, I hope you got something out of that one and hopefully you guys understand that’s how the world works, how the market works. And when you understand that, and you align your will toward it, that’s how you grow a company. Find a hot market, ask what they want, and give it to them. Alright guys, I’m at the office, I gotta go. See you all soon. Bye everybody.

Outline So that we wont be ashamed on Judgement day Because it is a self evident truth As a response to immeasurable love Because of our identity as children of God Because one day we will be like Him The contradictory nature of sin to Christian submission The sin destroying purpose of Christ’s work The radical effect of regeneration Introduction Why be Holy? Holiness is our destiny, our identity, and it is a command. But this morning we will be looking at how the apostle John motivates his Church to be holy from the epistle of 1 John 2:28-3:9. In order to help us get into this text with some of the bigger ideas and context in mind let me tell you a little about the letter of 1 John. Think of this as a satellite photo of a country. John was writing to a Church that had just suffered from the tragic situation of a Church split. Church splits can cause immense damage, and they split for various reasons. In this instance false teachers had come into the Church, they had deceived a number of the church, and had left with them, whether it was most of the Church or just a small contingent we are not told. So John is writing as a pastor to a hurting church trying to recover from a split. He writes to clarify the important things as the false teachers had muddied the water with their error, and he writes to encourage these hurting Christians who have had their confidence shaken after the split. The false teachers had taught that Jesus was not the God man, nor the sacrifice for their sins; they had caused disruptions in the relationships of the community; and they had promoted immorality in the Christian life. John tackles... Read More Source

Who can ascend to worship the one true God? Because of Christ's death, burial and resurrection, the invitation is open to all of us.

Many Christians go through life with many questions about their faith and may feel surrounded on all sides by opposition. They are faced with tough questions such as, how can a good God allow evil? Does the Bible contain errors? How can we know it’s the word of God? Because of questions like these, some lose their faith. Others keep their faith but no longer believe in important aspects of Christianity. But there is a place where everyone can have all these questions answered. Dr. Joseph Holden from Veritas Evangelical Seminary is here to emphasize the importance of learning to defend your faith through the study of apologetics. The mission of Veritas Evangelical Seminary is simple. Their vision is to prepare a generation of spiritually mature, biblically equipped, academically advanced, and socially developed individuals for a life of opportunity and service to the glory of God. Dr. Joseph Holden teaches at Veritas Evangelical Seminary and holds a Masters of Divinity in Apologetics and a Ph.D. in Philosophical/Systematic Theology. He also has multiple publications on various apologetic topics. He shares his wealth of knowledge with Kevin on todays show and we hope you toon in to learn more about apologetics and find answers to the tough questions. If you are interested in learning more about Veritas Evangelical Seminary, you can visit www.ves.edu. This episode first aired on September 24rd, 2016. We make video lessons to raise up confident Christians: https://educateforlife.org/

You are God’s work of art, and He has created a purpose and a plan for your life. It can be hard to receive a compliment, can’t it? You aren’t sure how to react and you wonder, deep down, if it’s really true. So, what if someone called you a work of art? That you were a masterpiece? That can be hard to hear. Really, me? What if that person was God? Because that is exactly what the Bible says in Ephesians 2:10. This verse is jam-packed with wisdom and encouragement. In just 22 words, we learn that we are God’s handiwork, His work of art. We then learn that God has a purpose for our lives to do good works in His name. Finally, our One Verse teaches that God has a plan for our lives that He has been preparing for a long time! This may be hard to hear, but you are God’s work of art, and He has created a purpose and a plan for your life. Your mistakes don’t matter. That is why God has given us grace and Love. You are not disqualified from the purpose and plan God has created for your life. You are His masterpiece. I encourage you to start leaning into that truth. How would this outlook about yourself change your life? About One Verse One Verse is a short, free podcast devotional designed to help you grow closer to God through less than 5 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Consistency trumps intensity. When it comes to working out, eating healthy, or managing our finances, consistency always trumps intensity. We reach our major life goals through small, purposeful steps taken daily. The same is true in our spiritual lives. I truly believe you will grow closer to God by spending just 5 minutes a day with Him versus cramming in an hour once a month. The One Verse Devotional is here to help take away the barriers of spending time with God. Now, during your workout, drive to work, or even shopping for groceries, you can invest in your spiritual life. http://phosphorusproject.com/

In chapter 44, verses 9 through 20 we saw how silly it is for men to create a god out of a block of wood. I think most listening would agree. One of the things the fool in the passage does is to pray to the idol he created, “You are my god, save me!” We agree with Isaiah when he says, “People like that don’t know what they are doing! They don’t understand.” True. But how do we know a god carved from a block of wood is not God? Because it is a created thing, right? By definition, God is eternal. He is not created. God is omniscient, He has all knowledge. He is omnipotent, He has all power. He is omnipresent, He is everywhere. There are other attributes that God has that a created thing does not. It’s easy to see that a god made from a block of wood is not God. It cannot save us. So why are so many people looking to a person to save us? Why are people expecting a presidential candidate to save us? Every person running for office is a created being. They have none of the attributes of God, yet millions of people are crying, “Save us!” They think that their candidate has the answers. Friends, your candidate does not have the answer, I don’t care who he or she is. Don’t expect salvation from any of them. Look to God. Only He has the answer, and only he can save this fallen world from the troubles it is in. Come to think of it, comparing political candidates to blocks of wood is a good analogy, isn’t it?

On today's show, we talk about a force that has the potential to make an impact on the depression and anxiety of millions of people.  What is that force, and how can it help you and your family.     So, what’s up with David? One thing I haven’t told you about him yet, is that David is Catholic. And every Wednesday night, he goes to confirmation class. His teacher is nice, and tries really hard to get this group of teenagers to care about the class, but the fact is that most of them don’t want to be there.   David spends the time daydreaming, and he mostly thinks about homework and friends, the usual teenage stuff, but on one particular Wednesday night, he’s not in a great mood, and he starts thinking about how much this feels like a waste of time. And a resentment starts to build.   It starts as a resenting this class, but quickly builds to resenting his teacher, his priest, his church, and then pretty soon, he’s feeling a pretty intense anger toward the Catholic church as a whole.   For his whole life, David’s gone through the motions, first confession, first communion, and now confirmation, and he never really questioned anything until this confirmation class.   One way the class has influenced him is that it has forced him to think: Do I believe this stuff? Do I really belong here?   And so on this Wednesday night, his resentment gets him thinking a lot more about these hard questions, “Why doesn’t anyone ever talk about if God is real or not? They talk about God like it’s a given that we just believe in him, but what if I’m not sure. It’s like everyone is just going through the motions, just coming to this stupid class because our parents make us, because that’s what you’re supposed to do. I can’t believe I’m sitting here, pretending like I’m 100% on board, filling out this worksheet like a good little Catholic boy.”   He wants to stand up and just say this to the entire room, to just unleash the doubt and profanity that’s swirling around in his head. But, his anxiety part is not going to let that happen, so instead, he opens up to a blank page in his notebook, and goes to town. He writes this angry rant with so much passion, that he tears the page with his pen. Every third word is an F bomb, and as he goes, he feels the pressure that’s been building in his head start to release.   He’s still writing as the teacher dismisses class, and he takes some deep breaths, and goes home.   Hi I’m Corey Busch, and you’re listening to The Teen Mind. Today, as you guessed, we’re talking about faith…I know, didn’t see that one coming. We normally think about religion and God in this box over here, and then mental health in this other box over there. But really, they are very closely related. Religion can have a negative impact on mental health, and it can have a positive impact. Today, we’re going to talk about how faith in a higher power can be a huge benefit to a person’s mental health, and why the teenage years are so important in the formation of faith.     But first, back to David.   That night, he can’t stop thinking about it. He wants to drop out of confirmation, he wants to write an angry letter to the priest or the bishop or the pope or all of them.   But most of all, he just wants to talk to someone, he still feels like he needs to get this off his chest, to know that he’s not the only person that thinks these things.   So, he works up the guts to say something to his mom. His anxiety is worked up, but it’s not completely taking over. So he goes to his mom and says,   “Mom, what’s the point of going to confirmation class? It’s super boring and I just really don’t want to do it.”   Sheila closes her book. She just sits there for a few seconds, thinking of what to say. She starts with what she thinks she’s supposed to say:   “Well, umm…y’know ummm, I didn’t love my confirmation class, but I’m really glad I went because, yknow, it…it umm…was kind of a necessary thing to getting to where I am now with my faith.” She sees him look down and nod, like, “I thought that’s what you’d say.” But She can’t let this rare chance to have a real conversation with her teenage boy slip through her fingers, so she changes her approach: (big breath) “Yknow, David, I kindof just said that because I didn’t know what else to say. What’s on your mind…what are you thinking about?”   “I just don’t see the point in any of this…confirmation, going to church, saying the “Our Father” and the “Hail Mary.” Like the only reason I do all that is because it’s what I’m supposed to be doing, and it doesn’t even mean anything to me, and it’s making me really angry, I guess. Y’know everyone talks about God like, ‘of course he exists’, and I don’t know…I don’t know if I believe in God…What if God doesn’t exist, like I feel like I can’t even say that.”   He expects his mom to be shocked or angry or upset, but she isn’t. She is surprisingly calm. She just smiles at him.   “Y’know I thought these same things when I was your age. I never had the guts to say them out loud. I’m glad you did.”   He let out a long, slow breath.   “Can I tell you a story?” She asks.   “Okay.”   “For a long time, I didn’t know if I believed in God. As I got older, especially when you were born, I knew that I really wanted to believe, but I still wasn’t sure. I didn’t even know exactly what it meant to believe in God.   And then, we got a new priest, Father Julian was his name, and he was really smart, like just a very intelligent guy. And he talked about Jesus and God with such a passion, that it helped me to get over these thoughts that said, “I’m too smart to believe in God,” because if this, very smart man believes, then heck, I can believe too.   “But the big thing was your dad’s depression. There was a time there when his depression made me really angry and depressed, and I was so angry at him and feeling sorry for myself. And it was right during the worst of it, that Father Julian started talking, it seemed like every week, about how no matter how much pain you’re going through, no matter how alone you feel, that the most powerful being in the universe is on your side, not in an abstract way, but in a personal, very real way. He’s giving you a hug and telling you that he loves you no matter how messed up you are. And even now, there is a part of me that doesn’t know for sure if God is real, but there’s a much bigger part that knows believing in him is really good for me.   “I don’t know…does that help?”   “Yeah, it does. So, wait…you don’t know if you believe in God?”       So, I’m going to talk for myself, as Corey, and not as one of these characters, and I’m just going to put my cards on the table right now. I am a Christian, and a big reason I’m doing this episode is because my faith in God has helped tremendously with my anxiety, and I think that there is a very important place for spirituality when talking about mental health.   So, one thing I am not trying to do is convince anyone that you should believe in God. I don’t think I’m capable of doing that, and it’s just not my goal. Another thing I’m not trying to do is convince anyone that Christianity is better than other religions. Again, even if I wanted to do this, I wouldn’t be able to.   But I do want to say that faith in a higher power, who I’ll call God, has the potential to help a lot with anxiety, depression, and a whole bunch of other mental health problems. And if you believe in God, or think you might want to believe in God, or are curious about the mental health benefits of believing in God, then stay with me.   I first want to quickly acknowledge though some of the big negative impacts that religion can have on mental health. One of the biggest ones, I think, is when religion makes people think they have to follow certain rules, or have a certain sexual or gender identity, or even that they have to “be a good person” in order to belong, and be loved by God, and go to heaven. This kind of religion I think can be very harmful to people’s mental health. So I just want to be upfront about that. Religion is not some perfect thing that’s always going to be helpful.     So I want us to think about David, and his anxiety, and think back to a few episodes ago, when we talked about how David’s anxiety was born. It was born to protect him from rejection, especially rejection from his parents. And for most of us with anxiety or depression, this same fear plays a big part for us too. We are afraid of being rejected, because, as far our brains are concerned, rejection leads to death.   And so, as parents, one lesson we can learn from this is that it’s important to show our kids unconditional love and acceptance. But, we are human, we mess up, we get mad, we do things, no matter how great of parents we are, that send a message of rejection to our kids’ brains. There are no parents who give their kids perfect, unconditional love. But there is one being who does: God.   And even if you don’t believe that God exists, you still can acknowledge that the belief in a perfect being who loves you perfectly, no matter how much you screw up, no matter if everyone else thinks you’re a complete failure, that belief has the power to calm your panicking amygdala. Because no matter what happens, you can never be rejected by God.   And I think it’s important here to say that this is probably a very different understanding of God and Christianity than some of you are familiar with, especially if you hear people talking about how if you do this or don’t do that, then you’re going to hell and God hates you. Well, there’s a whole bunch of really intelligent Christians, I’ll mention their podcasts at the end of the show, who don’t believe that.   Listen to them, and you’ll hear that God is a perfect parent, that he loves you no matter what you do, and that he will never be disappointed in you or yell at you. He will just say, “yeah, you made a mistake, but I still love you just as much as I did before.” And, I’m just going to say it again, because I think it’s a really big deal: When you’re having anxiety or depression, you can tell your amygdala, “I understand you’re afraid of being rejected, but I can never be rejected by God.” And if you really believe this, then it will help your amygdala calm down, and your anxiety or depression will calm down with it.   And so what does this have to do with David? Well, David is in one of the most important stages of his life for faith development. The teenage years are when a lot of people really make their decision about God. Think about it, until adolescence, your brain is just not equipped to really decide whether or not you believe in God. And so when David is 16, and is forced, really in his confirmation class, to think about God, it’s the first time in his life he’s really ever asked himself that question: Do I believe? And as adults in our kids’ lives, no matter what belief system you have, it is extremely important to ask our kids questions faith, and then to just listen. In these conversations, the less we adults talk, the better.   Because another thing that’s happening for teenagers, is that they’re trying to figure out their identity. And if you try to tell a teenager what his identity is, he’s probably just going to reject that for no other reason than that you’re trying to force it on him.   And it turns out that identity is really important, not just in terms of which religious group do you belong to or not belong to, but it’s crucially important in the deepest meaning of faith, no matter what the religion.   I was listening to a guy talk about God and faith, and he said, when you think about the question, “who am I?” what comes up first for you? Is it, “I am a parent or I’m a friend, maybe it’s I’m an engineer, or a teacher, or maybe it’s I’m black or I’m gay, or I’m Chinese, or maybe it’s I’m kind or athletic or hard-working. Or is your answer, your first answer: “I am a child of God.”     What he was really asking was, what’s most important in your life, what is your primary identity? Your family, your career, your race, nationality or is it God? Because if you believe in God, but he’s not the most important thing, even more important than your family, your friends, your career, what he was saying is that you’re not doing it right.     And for me, and I think for most of us, my initial reaction was, wait a second here. I believe in God, I go to church, I pray sometimes, and now you’re asking me to make God more important than anything else in my life? More important than my family? I don’t know about that man. That sounds extreme.   And I’ll tell you, I’m still wrestling with this now, but I can tell you that I think I get it. Because if the most important thing in my life is my family, then when things aren’t going great with my family, that’s going to really bring me down. But if God is the most important, then, when family life gets tough, it doesn’t hit me as hard, and I’ll be able to be more mentally healthy with my family, and more supportive to them when they need me.   So, essentially, what this argument is saying is that faith has the power to bring about a deep sense of security and calm, even through really tough times. But most of the benefits don’t come if our primary identity is in something other than God.   Let me give you an example: For many of the parents I work with, their primary identity is as parents. This means that when things aren’t going well for their kid, deep down, they are afraid their kid will end up a failure, which then means they’re a failure as a parent. And if their primary identity is their parenthood, then failure as a parent is very scary for their amygdala. So they get very anxious or angry, and try harder to control their kid, to stop them from messing up. And the harder they fight for control, the more they push their kid away, and the worse things get.   And so it sounds like I’m making an argument for an all-or-nothing mindset about faith. If you’re going to believe in God, then you have to be all-in. Well, yes and no. But what I’m really saying is that all-in is the goal, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to always be there. Most of the time, I’m aiming to make God a bigger part of my life, but there’s also a part of me that crops up sometimes that thinks he probably doesn’t even exist.   So, what I’m really trying to say is that if you want faith to have a bigger impact on your mental health, then you need to decide what’s the goal? Is it to make God the most important thing in your life? Or is something else? And if you choose to make God your primary identity, then you can just talk with him. And it might sound something like a conversation Sheila had with God during Tom’s depression.   She said, God, I don’t know what to do. I feel so angry and miserable so much of the time. I’m so worried that Tom’s depression is going to be horrible for David. I want to quit work to be home with him, but we need to pay the bills. I want to make Tom go away until he gets over this, but I can’t do that either. Tell me what to do, please.   And using her mind’s voice, God said to her, “Give David to me, and I will protect him.”   And she imagined letting David go from her tightly wrapped arms and releasing him to God. And her anger and worry didn’t go away, but a calm security entered her body that gave her a small sense of peace. And without that, she may have had a breakdown herself, which would have made things even worse for David.   And so the most important thing you can do as a parent, or as a human being, to care for those around you, is to loosen you grip on them. And the only way to do this, is to tighten your grip on God. We humans need something to hold tightly. And for most Americans, we choose our families, our friends, or our jobs. And the thing about choosing to make God the most important part of your life is that it does not diminish your relationship with your family, friends or career, but it enhances it. Because when you don’t worry as much about making people mad at you, or about screwing up a big project, you’re more free to be yourself, and just a happier, more productive person.     And so at the dining room table, on that Wednesday night, David unleashes his angry rant against the Catholic Church. And where most parents would try to steer their child in a more rational or mature direction, Sheila just hears God say, once again, “give David to me.” And she remembers, she can’t control him, she can’t make him believe in God or be a Catholic. And so she loosens her grip, and she does not argue with him or point out why he’s wrong. She just listens, stays curious about his story, and when he’s done, she says, two of the most important words a parent can say to their child: “I understand.”   If you want to hear more people talk about God in a way that will help you or your teen’s mental health, listen to the podcasts put out by Mercy Vineyard Church in Minneapolis, and by Tim Keller, who’s at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City.

Why is it so difficult to believe in God? Because it can be hard to believe in someone or thing that can’t be understood or rationalized. However, in this sermon we discover that the existence of God is an unavoidable fact. Evidence comes from creation, morality, intelligence, and love. Once we establish that there must be a God, we are ready to discover who God really is.

Why is faith so important to God? Because it means we believe in Him, His integrity, His love, and faithfulness. In Luke 22, of all the things Jesus could have prayed for Peter, he prayed that Peter's faith fail not. In this message, learn how we can purpose to grow in our level of faith in order to receive more from God.

Why is faith so important to God? Because it means we believe in Him, His integrity, His love, and faithfulness. In Luke 22, of all the things Jesus could have prayed for Peter, he prayed that Peter's faith fail not. In this message, learn how we can purpose to grow in our level of faith in order to receive more from God.

2010-05-23-0830 Pastor Loran Livingston is the speaker this morning May 23rd, 2010 in the 8:30 service. Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-2; Romans 6:11-14 Topic: Sin Notes:- Stationary I-beam; criminal carried cross the cross beam- Jesus' crucifixion was the greatest insult... act of rebellion- Sin started when Lucifer rebelled, started the kingdom of I (self)- Jesus crossed out the kingdom of I; cross became the center...- The cross is the plan of God- Because of sin, God turned His back on Jesus; because of righteousness, the world turned their backs on Jesus- Hall of faith: their sins unmentioned in N.T... focus on their faith- You will fall but He will forgive you; when we sin we run to God- Sin defeated but it is not dead, has the power to deceive- Military police have authority over military but not over citizens just as sin has no authority over the saved- We have the power to evaluate sin and choose not to indulge- Lions cannot defeat flies; we are conquerors but cannot be rid of sin- Backsliding, legalism.  We cannot make people holy with rules- We are made a new creation when we look to the cross of Jesus

2010-05-23-1030 Pastor Loran Livingston is the speaker this morning May 23rd, 2010 in the 10:30 service. Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-2; Romans 6:11-14 Topic: Sin Notes:- Stationary I-beam; criminal carried cross the cross beam- Jesus' crucifixion was the greatest insult... act of rebellion- Sin started when Lucifer rebelled, started the kingdom of I (self)- Jesus crossed out the kingdom of I; cross became the center...- The cross is the plan of God- Because of sin, God turned His back on Jesus; because of righteousness, the world turned their backs on Jesus- Hall of faith: their sins unmentioned in N.T... focus on their faith- You will fall but He will forgive you; when we sin we run to God- Sin defeated but it is not dead, has the power to deceive- Military police have authority over military but not over citizens just as sin has no authority over the saved- We have the power to evaluate sin and choose not to indulge- Lions cannot defeat flies; we are conquerors but cannot be rid of sin- Backsliding, legalism.  We cannot make people holy with rules- We are made a new creation when we look to the cross of Jesus