Podcasts about he jesus

All Have Temptation, Which Is Not the Sin; But Jesus Followers Can Resist All Temptation Through Their Faith and Relationship with God MESSAGE SUMMARY: You will be tempted again and again, but the temptation itself is not the sin. The sin resides in your grabbing onto the temptation; dwelling on the temptation; and following through on the temptation. Jesus was tempted, and He {Jesus} always faced temptation by quoting scripture to the temptation source. As Jesus tells you about Temptation and sin in Matthew 18:7-8: “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.". From James 1:13, we know that God does not create the temptation we face: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.". Since all are tempted, it is great to know, from 1 Corinthians 10:13, that Jesus Followers will not be tempted beyond their capability to resist the temptation and act on it through sinning: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." You can follow Jesus' example by using scripture to deal with a temptation – there is scripture to deal with every temptation that you may face.     TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, I come this day inviting you to cut those deeply entrenched chains that keep me from being faithful to my true self in Christ. In doing so, may my life be a blessing to many. In Jesus' name, amen.      Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 44). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because I am in Jesus Christ, I will not be ashamed of the Gospel. I will not be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (including me). From Romans 1:16 SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Matthew 4:1-11; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Hebrews 4:14-16; Psalms143:1-12; James 1:13. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “The Day of Pentecost – The Promise Fulfilled (All Saints Anglican Church; Peachtree City, GA ” at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

"He (Jesus) went, in sooth, the infinitely long way from being God to becoming a man, and that way, He went in search of sinners." The Grace of God. The Weight of Glory, as C.S. Lewis phrased it in his essay. BTW, "In Sooth" means "Truly."

(Initially published September 23, 2024) Jesus Ministries, Joan Boney  ...  No man knows the day or hour Jesus will return but we do know seasons.   As the wickedness increases by people of this world and as the churches cast aside scripture, we know the end is soon.   We are made "wise" unto salvation by the Holy Scripture, the Word of God.   2 Timothy 3:16-17  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:   17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.  

This week, Nick delivered a powerful and timely message, urging us to look beyond the exciting projects and outward appearances of our church to the core purpose of our faith: Jesus himself. With the constant theme of "pour out your presence, Lord, pour out your fire" resonating through worship, Nick laid out a vision for a church that is passionate about God's presence and not merely its own accomplishments. Nick started by reflecting on the palpable sense of God's presence and activity within the church, particularly at Hub Church. He spoke of new people coming to faith and others rediscovering their walk with God, a truly encouraging sign of God's significant work amongst us. However, he quickly issued a crucial warning: what we see and experience, what God uses us to do, is not the main thing. The challenge, he emphasized, is to keep the main thing the main thing. He referenced the letter to the church in Revelation, which speaks of a church that had much going on but had "forsaken its first love." This served as a stark reminder that even a vibrant, active church can miss the mark if its focus shifts from worshiping Jesus above all things. Nick shared a profound prophetic word given to a powerful church he knew, which, despite its impressive mission and worship, was warned that "the seeds of your downfall are already in your heart." This wasn't a condemnation, but a gracious challenge to remain undistracted and fully devoted to Jesus. Our calling, Nick stated, is not to be a "successful church with an impressive portfolio of buildings," but to use those things to become a community that worships only Jesus, knows His power, and trusts Him entirely. Drawing parallels to the biblical story of Nehemiah, Nick highlighted a man deeply passionate for God's ways and God's city. Living a comfortable and privileged life, Nehemiah was stirred when he heard that the walls of Jerusalem were in ruins. His heart was grieved, leading him to mourn, fast, and pray. This grief propelled him to action, seeking permission from King Artaxerxes to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls. Nehemiah's story serves as an example of being awake to what is on God's heart and being prepared to step up and take responsibility, not for personal comfort, but for God's purposes in a society where "the walls are broken down." Nick vividly recalled how the sermons he first heard as a teenager about Nehemiah profoundly impacted his life, turning him from a path in the Royal Air Force to a calling for something more. He prayed that the young people present would experience a similar stirring, a yearning for "more than this" – a desire for the Holy Spirit to "breathe, blow, and burn" within them, preventing them from becoming merely "religious people going through the motions of church." Nehemiah's rebuilding of the walls, accomplished in an astonishing 52 days, was not the end goal, but rather a prelude to a national revival. The physical project provided the context for God to move in the hearts of the nation. Nick connected this to our own significant projects, like the refurbishment of the pub, 146. He stressed that our call is not simply to renovate a building, but for God to bring renewal, restoration, and revival on the back of such endeavors. The challenge remains: keep the main thing the main thing and don't get distracted. Nick shared about the recent "Big Bible Read," where over 30 people spent five hours reading the entire book of Genesis. This event, he explained, was a testament to a stirring and hunger for something beyond mere church organization or project management. It was a hunger for God's Word, and a powerful demonstration of a deeper yearning. He likened this to the people in Nehemiah's time who, after the walls were rebuilt, gathered with unified purpose as Ezra read the Law. As they listened, they wept, but Ezra and Nehemiah urged them to celebrate, for "the joy of the Lord is your strength." This celebration was unprecedented since the days of Joshua, highlighting a revival coming in the hearts of people who had only known ordinariness and struggle. Ultimately, Nick concluded, the project isn't what it's all about; Jesus is what it's all about. Even the powerful testimonies of lives being rebuilt and rescued from addiction are just a "prelude to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the discovery of what life is all about." He reminded us that God's plan A from the beginning was for us to know the fullness of His Holy Spirit. The cross, while central to our faith, is a "gateway to life," leading us to live "full of the Holy Spirit, in the fullness of the blessing of God, in the freedom of forgiveness." Our desire, Nick stated, is not for people to simply know "the Christian fellowship," but for Jesus to be a household name in this community. He shared a moving story of a man, deeply addicted, who, after hearing God speak to him in a mental health unit, found Jesus at the church and spent the rest of his life directing others to Him. This illustrates the core message: "He [Jesus] must become more, I [we] must become less." Nick specifically addressed the young people, emphasizing the crucial need to see Jesus, not just the church or its activities. He recounted his own conversion at 16, where he didn't commit to a church or project, but to Jesus himself. He prayed that our journey, despite wobbles and weaknesses, would always be characterized by that life-transforming encounter with Jesus. He concluded by challenging everyone, young and old, to seek after Jesus and nothing else. Attending activities and signing up for projects are important for building the "walls," but they are not the "main thing." God desires "more than this" for us – a constant hunger for His fire to fall. He spoke of the danger of filling our lives with Christian tasks while our hearts are far from Jesus. This is a call to lay our lives before God, inviting His fire to burn up anything that hinders our full pursuit of Him. For those who have never encountered Jesus, Nick urged them to reach out to Him today. For those who may feel nostalgic about past moves of God, he emphasized that we are not meant to dwell in the past, but to look forward to what God will do in 2025, 2026, and beyond. Our hope is not just for buildings or church growth, but for the fire of God to fall, stretching our vision and experience of His overwhelming love, leading to a fresh wave of testimonies. Bible References: Revelation (specifically referring to the letter to a church that had "forsaken its first love") Nehemiah Chapter 1 (The story of Nehemiah's grief and prayer for Jerusalem's broken walls) Nehemiah Chapter 8 (The gathering of the people after the walls were rebuilt, Ezra reading the Law, and the people's celebration) Joshua son of Nun (Referenced in Nehemiah 8:17, concerning a previous time of great celebration) John the Baptist (Specifically the phrase "He must become more, I must become less") Transcript Well, this is great. It doesn't even feel like 9.30, does it? Or 9.45. It feels like a lot earlier. That is great to see so many people as well. It's almost like spot the difference. I don't know what happened at 11 o'clock. Maybe there will be nobody here. But it is good to be together and to be setting out together on this new thing that God has for us, which is a great unknown, as I was saying last week. And I think the theme, as Jonathan and the team have been leading through, continuously hearing about, you know, pour out your presence, Lord. Pour out your fire. And the picture in my mind has been like us as a church coming together and having all that we are laid out before God, whether it's our two services, you know, all the things that we do through the week, all that we seek to be, all that we want to see God establish in our prayer. Continually, Lord, send your fire. Send your fire onto our offering, that our offering is that's all it is. It's an offering. But what makes sense of it, what makes it work is your fire, is your presence, Lord, is your, yeah, just the manifestation of who you are. And there's that theme coming through the worship this morning and I believe ties into what I want to speak about briefly this morning. We asked young people also to stay in. They might be thinking, what are we doing here? But I just felt strongly that there are things that God is doing amongst us. You might not understand all of how it all relates, but there are things that we need to know, things that God wants to speak to us, things that God wants to get into our hearts that goes way beyond just coming to church on a Sunday or just coming to youth or just going through the program of what we do as a church. There is so much that God wants to do in our lives and there's so many things that I could say on a day like today, but God is certainly calling us out of our comfort zone into something new. Like I said, our minds could be very much on what God wants to do, and on what part we need to play in it. And the story, as we've already alluded to, goes back over so many years, it brings us to this point. But also the exciting thing is though we also refer back, we look back, and we're grateful for the faithfulness of God over so many years. We're now standing on a threshold, like I said last week, looking forward into a great unknown, but accept that that old adage that says we don't know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future. And that we walk forward with God into the future and what He's called us to. One thing we know is that He's called us to something great and the center of gravity of what He's called us to. Even though we come from many parts of the city, and we come from many parts of the world even, He's called us together at this time for something that He wants to do in this place as He pours out His Spirit. And we are seeing a really significant move of God. I was at Hub Church on Tuesday night. If you've never been to Hub Church, pop in one of these Tuesday nights. There were about 50 people in Unit 2. It was packed. The presence of God was there. It was just so good to see people worshiping God freely. There was just a relaxed sort of buzz about the place, and the presence of God was there. And I reflected as I sat on the floor, because there were no seats, that it's about three times bigger than the first church I led in Hub Church. I mean, it's just like, and there it is on a Tuesday night, and God is moving amongst us. There are people coming to faith. People are discovering Him for the first time. People are rediscovering Him for the hundredth time. There's something happening in the hearts of people, and that's so crucial. There's one vitally important thing, a warning actually, I believe, that the Holy Spirit wants to bring to us. That whatever we see, whatever we experience, whatever God uses us to do here on earth, that's not the main thing. And our challenge is to keep the main thing the main thing, because if we end up with a church that celebrates what it does, that celebrates what it achieves, that celebrates what we look like, then we'll have missed it. It's so exciting to be part of the church. That is growing. It's so exciting to be a part of the church. That is making a move for world domination, at least on Jordan Thought Precinct, like, you know, with the 146, and Unit 2, and all that goes on here, and two services. It's so great to have that sense of presence and activity in the life of the church. It's not something I've personally been used to as life has gone on over the years. You know, church life is not always full of so much activity, but it's not the main thing. There was the letter to the church in Revelation, it says, the gist of it is, you've got all this stuff going on. It's great, but you've forsaken your first love. And the one thing that we have to do is make sure that we're never in that position. A church that we were connected with, we weren't at that church at the time, but was such a powerful church. There was so much going on in its life. There were so many things that we looked at and we thought, that's the sort of church you want to be in. There was mission going on, there was worship, there was the presence of God, and yet they had a prophetic word. Now, you know, sometimes our prophecies can be, you know, I love you, says the Lord, and you're great, I think you're fantastic, and you're the best thing ever, says the Lord. And we say, oh thank you, Jesus. And that's when we go away. But sometimes prophetic words come in and they come in with an edge. And this one said that I see, basically, it's a bit like Revelation, I've seen all that you are, I've seen all that you've achieved, I've seen all that you've become, but the seeds of your downfall are already in your heart. I think, wow, thank you, Lord. That's not what you want to hear, you want to pat on the head, don't you? But what a challenge, because, and there's, it's a gracious challenge, it's not like a, you know, well you're a terrible church or anything, it's saying that I want you to be the best that you can possibly be, but I want you to experience the fullest that you can, but yet you can so easily get distracted, and our hearts can so easily get distracted from what the main thing is, which is lifting Jesus above all things. So our calling is not to be a successful church on Jordan, Thorpe and Baitmore, with an impressive portfolio of buildings. It's to use those things to become a community that worships only Jesus, that knows his power, that trusts him entirely, and we use our buildings and our resources and our everything that we've got in our pursuit of those aims. God forbid that we ever become a church so absorbed in our own work and projects that we obscure the vision of Jesus, that we, our hearts get distracted and we think, oh we've, we've got something here. And briefly this morning I want to touch on the story of Nehemiah. I mentioned it last week. Nehemiah was a man passionate for the things of God. He lived in Persia roughly 500 years before Christ was born, and he was an official of King Artaxerxes. That's a name to conjure with. King Artaxerxes. He was cupbearer to the king. He was comfortable, he was privileged, and he had no reason to think beyond that life. Everything was good for him, but there was something stirring in his heart that was, that wouldn't stay quiet, and it was all to do with his passion for God and for God's ways and God's kingdom and God's city. And he heard, he got a message, I'm paraphrasing it, you can look it up in Nehemiah. He heard that the walls of Jerusalem, his beloved city, were in ruins, and his heart was grieved about it. Even the king noticed, why are you so sad? He said, but how, you know, my, my heart said here, he got a message that said in Nehemiah chapter one, things are not going well for those who return to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down and the gates have been destroyed by fire. When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. I sat down and wept. And so in that grief, he took it upon himself to do something. He actually sought permission from the king to step away from his duties and go back to Jerusalem and to rebuild the walls, because there was a passion for that city and a passion for God's ways and a passion for for all that had been lost. And he said, I want to do something to put it right. I want to do something to rebuild those walls. And our challenge is to be awake to what is on God's heart, just as he was. More than that, to be prepared to step up and take responsibility, to take action, to serve the purpose of God, not just, not just pursue our own comfort, but to actually give ourselves, because individuals give ourselves as a church, give ourselves as a community, to what is on God's heart for a community and a society where the walls are broken down. And there was a pain in his heart. He said, I've got to do something. The first sermons I ever heard in my life were around the book of Nehemiah. It was at spring harvest, 1980 something, and it was spring fever. All these old geezers that you see preaching and now they were young chaps then. It was the same guys, but they were, but anyway, yeah, they stories of Nehemiah, how God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things when moved by his spirit and motivated by what's on his heart. And it was those, and I think that's probably part of the year I have for the, you know, I can't do anything to connect God's word to your heart, but we pray that God's spirit opens it up. And I pray for our young people as well that they begin to see the sort of things that I began to see in those days when I was 16, 17 years old, and my life was set on joining the Royal Air Force. I had signed my life away. I'd got a contract until I was 37. There was, there was, everything was set and yet something broke into my heart on that day and in those days to say actually there's more to it than this. What will you do? A stirring, a bit like Nehemiah had a stirring to say I want to do something more. There must be more than this. We sang it this morning. There was that yearning like there must be more than this. Come breath of life. Come breathe within. And that was my prayer then and it's my prayer today that for we, for us as individuals and as a church and as a community that our prayer would become Holy Spirit. Breathe within us again. Don't let us just become religious people going through the motions of church. Oh we've got two services, great. And you, you know, we can enjoy ourselves and we can enjoy our worship and we can enjoy being together, but there's more, there must be more than this. Come breath of life. Come fire of God. Breathe and blow and burn in this place. And so he set about, he went to Jerusalem and he set about rebuilding the walls. He gathered people. He inspired people. He organized them. He managed them. There was opposition, fierce opposition and he handled it. It was a master class of leadership and in 52 days the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt. But what we see then as we go on through the book of Nehemiah is that the, that was just the beginning. The purpose God had was not for Nehemiah to be a builder. That was an expression of the, the passion and the drive that Nehemiah had to say there must be more than this. We want to see God. I don't want to see the walls of God's city broken down and in ruins and the people scattered. I want to see revival and renewal in the national life of Israel. And so he, there was that drive for him. But the walls, once they were there, the walls only became a prelude to a national revival. The physical project became just the foundation, just provided a context, just provided a shape for God to then move in the heart of the nation. And as we, we've got so many wonderful projects. We've got 146 is a project to end all projects as far as we're concerned, but you know there's so much there, but ultimately we won't sort of get it all done, get it all built, get it all post signed off, have a ribbon cutting ceremony and say we've done it now. We've, we've refurbished a pub. That's not the call of God on our life, to refurbish a pub. But what God wants to do is to bring a sense of renewal and restoration and revival on the back of the restoration of a pub and all the other things that we've got going on. And our challenge is to keep the main thing the main thing and not to get distracted by all of those things. Nehemiah could have been distracted, but yet at the end of it all in chapter 8 we're told that the people gathered after the completion of the walls and they gathered with a unified purpose and a priest named Ezra read the book of the law and all the people worshiped. I don't know if you picked up, I'm sure you did, we've been mentioning for some weeks we had the big Bible read yesterday and that was just such a great event. Sheila did a wonderful job of organizing it. It went like clockwork. If you thought that we couldn't run meetings by the clock, you should have come to the big Bible read. We read the entire book of Genesis in five hours and every section finished on the dot by the grace of God. Anyway, that's not what I'm celebrating. What I'm celebrating is the fact that we had nothing else on the agenda. We had 30 plus people here, nothing else on the agenda for five hours except just reading the Word. And when we got to the end it was quite emotional. It was like, oh my goodness, this is powerful. And the only reason I bring that up is because there is something stirring in our heart that is bigger than just what we do, just how we function, just the organization of the church, just the management of projects. There is something that God is stirring. Why would we advertise, oh let's all get together and read the Bible out loud for five hours and 35 people turn up? You know that you'd think they wouldn't come, but they did. And there's a stirring and there's a hunger for something that's beyond. There must be more than this, we're crying. Anyway, that's a bit of an aside. They went through the instructions of the law of God and explained it to the people and some of these people began to see for the first time what they were understanding. You know they had, they just had, people had been born, this generation had been born into a situation where the walls of Jerusalem were broken down. Things weren't going well for the nation and these people knew nothing and they all they knew was the stories of the past, but they knew nothing of what was going on and here they were for the first time perhaps beginning to see the the law come to life in their time and Ezra and Nehemiah, they gathered the people with a unified purpose and they read the law and it says as they listened the people began to weep and then the priest said, don't weep, don't mourn, but celebrate, this is a good day. And then one of the things that I prayed this morning as we came into this new arrangement is that there's a lot to think about, there's a lot to be anxious about. No there isn't, you can't be anxious about anything because we cast all our burdens onto Jesus, but there are things that sometimes cause us a little bit of anxiety aren't there? Things that worry us, things that give us cause for a sleepless night and yet there was that sense of don't weep, don't mourn, don't take yourself too seriously, enjoy the fact that God is on the move, let there be joy in the house, let there be joy in the presence of God. And as Ezra and Nehemiah said to the people, the joy of the Lord is your strength and so they understood for the first time a lot of what they were hearing. And it says in chapter 8 in verse 17 that the Israelites had not celebrated like this since the days of Joshua son of Nun, since the days when they crossed the Jordan river and experienced the most amazing miracles, they've never celebrated like this and these people weren't even born then, this was hundreds of years gone and so they had been born into fairly humdrum drab existence, they're just going through the motions of their life and suddenly they were beginning to see their eyes were open, their hearts were open to begin to see the reality of what God was doing and what he was doing amongst them and they had not celebrated like they celebrated on that day since the days of Joshua. And so there was a real revival coming in the hearts of people, they've never known anything except the ordinariness and the struggle of life and then they've been caught up in this great project to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and then by surprise on the back of that rebuilding project, God visited them and renewed them and restored them and empowered them by his Holy Spirit. And that in a nutshell is really what I want to say today, that the project is not what it's all about, but Jesus is what it's all about. Even the restoration of our lives, it's great to hear testimonies and we've heard many recently powerful testimonies of people who have been baptized and it's so wonderful to see how God is rebuilding lives and rescuing people from addiction and rescuing people from terrible situations and struggle and difficulty and all of that. But ultimately even the rebuilding of our lives is just a prelude to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the discovery of what life is all about. I think it was Ali last week was saying, this isn't plan B, this was plan A. God's plan from the beginning was that we would know the fullness of his Holy Spirit in our lives and so the steps that we take towards it, even the cross, we celebrate, of course we celebrate the cross. The cross is our gateway to life, but that's what it is, a gateway to life. It's an opportunity that we come back, we remind ourselves of what Jesus went through, we remind ourselves of how he suffered, we remind ourselves of how he paid the price, but now because he's paid the price we live, we live full of the Holy Spirit, we live in the fullness of the blessing of God, we live in the freedom of forgiveness and all that that means for us rather than continually going round and round in circles. And so all these things are part of the story, they pave the way to where God has taken us, but he wants to glorify himself and exalt himself, that people wouldn't know MCF here but they would know Jesus, that Jesus would be a household name in this community because that would be our legacy. Not that when a message goes up on Facebook, do you know when you know where you can get a cup of coffee on a Thursday morning? Yeah, the Christian fellowship. People know about the Christian fellowship, but our prayer and our desire is that fire of God would fall so that people would know Jesus is in this place. Remember one man who came to our first church after a few weeks of us being there and he sat at the back of the church and he just stared at the floor, he didn't have any life about him at all and it turned out that he was a very seriously addicted alcoholic and he told me himself, he said he used to drink a bottle of vodka every night and his daughter used to have to carry him to bed. He was in such a state and he ended, he'd been at a Billy Graham meeting many, many years before in the 1960s and he'd given his life to Christ and he'd forgotten all about that and he'd walked away and he'd got, his whole life was in a mess and he ended up in a mental health unit in the local hospital section and he said while he was in there, he said he heard God speak to him, say why don't you come back to me and so he didn't know what to do, how to come back to God so he looked up the church, so he came to the church and he just, life transformed, nobody did anything to him or for him, God just touched his life and he became one of our premier worship leader in the church and he was just like so exciting to see his life transformed in that way but yeah and then, not but, that sounds like a negative doesn't it, but what I got from him was he said, I came back, he said and then people asked me how do you find Jesus, how do you find, so I just told him come with me, I met him at the church, come with me and you'll find him there and so he spent his whole, the whole of the rest of his life, he's still alive, directing people to Jesus because he said I found him, he came to me, he met me in the mental health unit and he called me to himself and now I just tell people to go and find him, you know, and if you can't, if you don't know where to find him go and look in the church. John the Baptist said he must become more, I must become less. Jesus must become more in our experience and in our ministry and in our, in our activity. Jesus must be magnified and glorified and that's why I want to ask the young people to be here today rather than be at specific activities because this is absolutely crucial for you to understand. You might actually think I'm only here because my parents want me to be here or because, you know, because this is, this is what's expected and at our extent Andy said earlier on our vision of God can be like this, shaped like the church, shaped like the youth activity, shaped like whatever we do and yet God is wanting to stretch our understanding and stretch our vision of who he is and what he can do and what he can be in our lives and my prayer for you is that he would open your eyes to see Jesus, not the church, not anything else but to see Jesus. He did it for me when I was 16. I didn't commit myself to a church or a project, I didn't know anything about church, but Jesus called me to himself and when they said do you want to, want to give your life to Christ, that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to go and find Jesus. I wanted to be filled with the spirit of Jesus. I wanted to understand who Jesus was. I wanted to follow Jesus. I wanted to, to, for other people to understand who Jesus was. That's all that mattered and that's what our prayer is, that that would be the hallmark of our revival and our renewal that goes on, that Jesus would change our life forever and I can say though I've had 30 plus years in leadership, I'm not a model believer or a champion prayer. From years back people bought me a booklet, this is how you learn to pray. I've never felt like an expert in anything to do with that, my faith has often been weak, struggles have been real, but something changed in my heart 40 years ago that's never changed back. The shape of my heart changed, the shape of my life, my outlook, my perspective, my understanding, my belief, my trust, everything changed and in the meantime it's been wobbly and it's been weak at times and there's been challenges and there's been issues and still there's so much for me to learn at my young age, but Jesus makes all the difference and it's our prayer that we don't just introduce people to what we do. It's great we've got our welcome packs and this is what we do through the week, but all of that are just walls, all of that is just shape, all of that is just a context in which we can meet God and so I would encourage you in your hearts, whether you're young, whether you're old, whether you get it, whether you don't, to be seeking after Jesus and going after Him and nothing else. You don't get points for how many activities you go to in a week or how many names you put on the sign-up sheet, you don't get points for that. It's great if you do it because we need it, it's the walls, but in actual fact that's not the point, it's not the main thing. God wants more for us, there must be more than this and so there is a challenge for all of us, whether we're young or whether we're old, we can't just bypass, you know this is a challenge for leadership, it's a challenge for me because in a way I have a full-time framework for what I do and I can and I can fill my diary with meetings, with projects, with things to do, with people to visit, with spreadsheets to fill in, I can do all of that. I think, wow, I'm a full-time Christian worker. I can do all of that and my heart can be far from where God wants it to be, my heart can be far from Jesus, and my prayer for myself as we respond to this is, is that God let your fire fall on me, that in this, you know there's a lot that I've seen in life, there's a lot that we've experienced, there's a lot to go back over, but yet looking forward that's what I want it to be, that's where I want to be, going forward, that's where we want to see the fire of God. I want to just tell stories of the past, stories of the past are important because they remind us of what God has done and how, how far we've come, but if we don't have anything, don't have any vision or hope or expectation for the future that the fire of God will fall, then we're going to, we're going to fail, we're going to, we're going to lose energy, we're going to run out of steam. When it comes to the nine o'clock meeting on the 13th of November or whatever it is, we're going to think, oh again, there needs to be that. And there's two categories of people, maybe you've never known what it is to give your heart to Jesus, maybe you've known, maybe no church, maybe you know, maybe you're trying your best, you're trying your best to to work it out, you're trying your best to, to give yourself, to build some religious walls around your life so that you can feel like a better person and you can feel like you've got things in order, but you've never known what it is to give your heart to the Lord completely. You've never encountered Jesus and the power of His love and that is crucial for you today, and if that is you today, don't leave this place without reaching out to Him. And there are those of us who do know, but we feel maybe it's all behind us, we knew that once, we're nostalgic. One of the things that was brought up at the conference last week that we were at was the issue of nostalgia, how easy it is to be nostalgic. For those of us of a certain age, there were exciting times in the 1980s, 1990s, the things that happened in the church. It's very easy to think, oh let's go back to that, but the whole point is not going back to that. It's about looking forward, about looking forward to what God can do in 2025, 2026, 2030. What stories are we going to tell then? Cornelius was praying this morning, don't mind me mentioning you, we were praying and he was saying, you know we've seen moves of God, we've seen Pensacola, we've seen Toronto, we've seen what God did in Mozambique, and yet there's a sense, there's a hunger for God to do something new and fresh here now. That's what we want. We need the stories of Pensacola and Toronto and Mozambique and all of that to encourage us and strengthen our faith and to focus our minds, but we're not just going to celebrate what that was. We're going to step into what God has for us, and it's much, much more than a building project. It's much, much more than a church with two services. It's much, much more than planting a church or whatever we do in the future. It's more than all of that. It's that the fire of God will fall, and so maybe you're not sure about what it all means for you now. We can be pleased about it. We can be pleased about what God is doing, but we don't know how we fit in. God is wanting to touch you with fire. God wants to touch your heart with fire, for you to see things, and His Word is absolutely relevant. We're like this. We've got God. We love Him. He's powerful. He's faithful to us. He does good things for us, but there's so much more, and He wants to stretch our vision, stretch our understanding, stretch our experience. Sometimes we're nervous of that word, experience. God wants to stretch our experience of Him, our experience of His love. Some of us can think back many, many years to times when we've really encountered the presence and power of God and the overwhelming love of Jesus, and yet it feels like it's all the way past. God wants to touch you again with those things, that you would have a testimony that we wouldn't be able to just say, does anybody have a 60-second testimony? Because it would throw the whole program out because of our experience of God, so we need to be hungry for Him. And so as we return, maybe the worship team could come back. Think about what this is. Lord, we're thankful, thankful, so thankful for what you're doing in our midst, so thankful for the shape of the church, thankful that we can have two services, thankful that we've got a building project, thank you that those things are coming together, but Lord, there must be more, there is more. Lord, let your fire fall, and what I want you to do is not just broaden this response, but look into your own heart. Like I said, young or old, whatever your circumstances, whatever the hang-ups, whatever the issues, whatever the things that are making you hesitate, bring it all to God. Lay it all out before Him and say, Lord, burn it up. Let your fire fall on the offering of my life. May I know you. Maybe you don't feel like you know Him. There's not a million miles, He's not a million miles away. Just reach out to Him, reach out to Him now as we respond. And if you want to come here, come forward, someone to pray with you, someone to help you, someone to encourage you, do that because we'd be more than happy and the space is here. Just come as we worship as Jonathan leads us and the team. Come and we will pray together and God's fire will fall upon us. Amen.

As Christians, seeing someone make a profession of faith is one of the best things we can experience. But today, Pastor Greg Laurie forces us to stop and think: when is the last time it was me inviting someone to take that step? And he reveals that not sharing your faith can actually be a sin. The Great Commission is for every follower of Christ. Get the encouragement and insight you need to embrace God's calling. Notes: Focus verse - Matthew 28 God has called every believer to preach the gospel and make disciples. "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.”Mark 16:15 (NLT) Read Matthew 28:18–20 #1 Jesus gave a command. #2 These words are for every follower of Jesus Christ. #3 God will give us the power and boldness to fulfill the Great Commission. To “go and make disciples” means to lead others to Christ. #4 To not share your faith can be a sin. A sin of omission is not doing what you should do.James 4:17 The fate that awaits the nonbeliever is worse than a housefire.It’s eternal fire. Go into all of your world and share the gospel. FRAN-gelismFriends, Relatives, Associates, Neighbors #5 Christ has the answer to emptiness, loneliness, guilt, and the fear of death. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”John 3:16 (NKJV) No matter who we are, we all have sinned.Romans 3:23, 1 John 1:8 Christ died on the cross for us, so we don’t have to face hell.Romans 5:6–8 #7 We are not just called to preach the gospel, but to make disciples also.Matthew 28:18–20 God’s truth is meant to be shared, not hoarded. “He [Jesus] is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.”Colossians 1:28 (NIV) Bring a nonbeliever or new believer to church with you. The Christian life is a race. "Now when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed.”Acts 13:36 (NIV) --- Learn more about Greg Laurie and Harvest Ministries at harvest.org. This podcast is supported by the generosity of our Harvest Partners.Support the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Christians, seeing someone make a profession of faith is one of the best things we can experience. But today, Pastor Greg Laurie forces us to stop and think: when is the last time it was me inviting someone to take that step? And he reveals that not sharing your faith can actually be a sin. The Great Commission is for every follower of Christ. Get the encouragement and insight you need to embrace God's calling. Notes: Focus verse - Matthew 28 God has called every believer to preach the gospel and make disciples. "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.”Mark 16:15 (NLT) Read Matthew 28:18–20 #1 Jesus gave a command. #2 These words are for every follower of Jesus Christ. #3 God will give us the power and boldness to fulfill the Great Commission. To “go and make disciples” means to lead others to Christ. #4 To not share your faith can be a sin. A sin of omission is not doing what you should do.James 4:17 The fate that awaits the nonbeliever is worse than a housefire.It’s eternal fire. Go into all of your world and share the gospel. FRAN-gelismFriends, Relatives, Associates, Neighbors #5 Christ has the answer to emptiness, loneliness, guilt, and the fear of death. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”John 3:16 (NKJV) No matter who we are, we all have sinned.Romans 3:23, 1 John 1:8 Christ died on the cross for us, so we don’t have to face hell.Romans 5:6–8 #7 We are not just called to preach the gospel, but to make disciples also.Matthew 28:18–20 God’s truth is meant to be shared, not hoarded. “He [Jesus] is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.”Colossians 1:28 (NIV) Bring a nonbeliever or new believer to church with you. The Christian life is a race. "Now when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed.”Acts 13:36 (NIV) --- Learn more about Greg Laurie and Harvest Ministries at harvest.org. This podcast is supported by the generosity of our Harvest Partners.Support the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up To Jerusalem - Teaching 11 Scripture Luke 22:31-34, John 13:31-37, 1 Corinthians 11:23-25, John 14:1-31, Hebrews 7:25 Up to Jerusalem is a story filled with tragedy and yet a story that is above all, a story of victory and hope and defeat of the devil! Pastor's teaching on Jesus' Last Supper continues with a look at 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 which documents the changes Jesus instituted in the Passover meal. As He breaks the 3rd piece of matzah Jesus says, “This is My body given for you.” He's making it clear that what they have been celebrating for centuries is being fulfilled at that very moment. The fulfillment of the meal that had been celebrated for centuries - was changed because Jesus is the fulfillment - He is the Messiah. Then He takes the cup and says, “This is the New Covenant of My blood, poured out for you.” This is the promised new covenant! There are three primary beliefs regarding the Lord's Supper:     1.    Transubstantiation - bread and wine change into the body and blood of Christ     2.    Real Presence - in a supernatural way Jesus is present in the bread and wine     3.    Symbolic Presence - bread and wine are a symbol of Jesus' body and blood Doctrine is critical and important, but Jesus makes it very clear on this night that what matters above all else is that we live out the truth of the New Covenant. That truth of the New Covenant is lived out by walking in the footsteps of our Savior's self sacrifice, in absolute love, and love for our enemies not just our friends and followers of Jesus. Though we may differ in how to interpret the Lord's Supper and what is received - what needs to bind us together is our common allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ, and our desire to carry out His will and His purpose.  His will and purpose is that we be one in Him  - one in Him to win the world back to Him. As we look at what Jesus will suffer this night, we see that He endured so much for us but His suffering resulted in His glorification and this gives our struggles, sufferings and persecutions purpose. We know that because Jesus loves us so much He was willing to endure the cross that ended in victory over the grave - we know He has the power to take our suffering and turn it around for final victory for us as well. We too will triumph! As the meal continues Jesus gives them a new command, “Love one another as I love you.” The depth of God's love is revealed in the gift of Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross - this is love - and we are to love to that depth. Then Jesus tells Peter He is praying for him - and we know Jesus prays for us too.  It says in Hebrews 7:25 “He (Jesus) always lives to intercede (pray) for them (those who come to God through Him).” We also know the Holy Spirit prays for us too. Romans 8:26-27 “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God.”  What incredible comfort that is - full of strength and encouragement - to know we have the best prayer partners in the universe! As the story continues Jesus tells Peter he will deny Him three times.  Pastor shares some interesting information around the meaning of “rooster crows.” Our time together ends with Thomas asking, “How do we know the way to God?” The answer for every person on the planet is found in Jesus' answer, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Under the blood of Jesus we have EVERYTHING!! Pastor Dodge concludes with encouragement to read John chapters 14-17 as these are the important words of Jesus the evening of His arrest and in these words He shows us what should mean the most to us: love, the Holy Spirit, prayer, trusting God and bearing fruit for Jesus. Jesus encourages us with these words, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”  All of His words are for us still today!  Our website –  https://www.awakeusnow.com Watch the video from our website! https://www.awakeusnow.com/2-year-study-of-the-gospels-upper Watch the video from our YouTube Channel!! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOzMkhPyiNWwlJRpV6Bwpu01 Up to Jerusalem is a study of the final weeks of Jesus' ministry concluding with His resurrection and ascension, using the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John together with material from ancient sources and recent discoveries.  Up to Jerusalem is part four of our Two Year Study of the Gospels. Up To Jerusalem is the story of the plan of God to redeem the world, and the story of a Savior willing to obey the Father's plan. As we study Jesus' final days, we will be impacted as we discover the Love of God for each one of us.  This study is great for large group, small group or home group study and can be started at any time.

Colossians 2:14 NLT says, "He [Jesus] canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross."  As Jesus canceled our debt, he also canceled Peter's financial debt and destroyed his worry.  Listen to the poem "Worry Destroyed" to learn how your debts can be canceled and your worries destroyed.Support the show

Welcome to Day 2601 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom – Theology Thursday – God's Right-Hand Woman? - Wisdom in Hebrews 1 – I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible. Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script - Day 2601 Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2601 of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Today is the 50th lesson in our segment, Theology Thursday. Utilizing excerpts from a book titled: I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible written by Hebrew Bible scholar and professor the late Dr. Michael S Heiser, we will invest a couple of years going through the entire Bible, exploring short Biblical lessons that you may not have received in Bible classes or Church. The Bible is a wonderful book. Its pages reveal the epic story of God's redemption of humankind and the long, bitter conflict against evil. Yet it's also a book that seems strange to us. While God's Word was written for us, it wasn't written to us. Today's lesson is: “God's Right-Hand Woman? – Wisdom in Hebrews 1” Hebrews 1:2 tells us that in these “last days,” God has spoken to humanity “by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom he created the world” (compare Col 1:16; 1 Cor 8:6). Jesus' role as co-creator with God is a familiar doctrine. But in verse 3, there's something that's a bit odd: “He [Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God.” What's strange about the phrase isn't its meaning. We get the metaphor. Jesus “shines forth” the glory of God; He is a brilliant reflection of what God is like. What's odd is where the idea comes from, and how startling it would have been to the Jewish Christians for whom the book of Hebrews was intended. The word “radiance” (átaúyaoua, apaugasma) occurs only here in the New Testament. To figure out what the writer of Hebrews meant, we have to look at his source. The writer is quoting the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, but the Septuagint included books that many Jews and Christians today do not consider part of the biblical canon, but which some in ancient times considered sacred. The phrase in Hebrews 1:2 comes from one of these books—Wisdom of Solomon. How can we be sure? Because the word apaugasma is found only one time in the Septuagint: Wisdom of Solomon 7:26. Sure, the scarcity of the word is curious, but where's the surprise? Not only is the word extremely uncommon, but the source of the Hebrews 1:2 quotation has a woman as God's personified reflection. Welcome to the biblical twilight zone. For wisdom is more mobile than any motion; because of her pureness she pervades and penetrates all things. For she is a breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty; therefore nothing defiled gains entrance into her. For she is a reflection {apaugasma) of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness. (Wisdom of Solomon 7:24-26 NRSV) The Jewish writer of Wisdom of Solomon got the idea of personified Wisdom as a woman from the book of Proverbs 1....

Sermon: Hope- "the reason He (Jesus) was sent to us."Scripture: Luke 4:14-30, Isaiah 61:1-2a & 58:6Speaker: Pastor Andrew Happ

While the Disciples are impressed by the Temple, Jesus wants their trust and admiration to go elsewhere. He - Jesus himself - is the true and trustworthy Temple. And only Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth.And because Jesus is our temple – the only focus of our worship – we are invited to a)trust his full authority, b)move through life with his calling to disciple, baptize and teach, and c)be assured of his constant presence with us.

In this episode, we will recognize who our enemy is. The enemies of God are enemies of Love. They don't want us to experience the love of God. They keep us from loving our brothers and sisters in Christ. We know who the deceiver is; Satan, who comes to steal, kill and destroy. And we know Jesus came to give life more abundantly. We see two opposing forces. In John 10:10, Satan is presented as a thief. He creeps in unaware to bring us into bondage and to deceive us. His success is due only to our lack of knowledge of the truth. Satan wants us to abandon God's will and come in line with his evil will. He opposes God, and God opposes him. We know Who is the winner -- Jesus Christ! In Genesis, after the Fall of man, we find God addressing Satan [the serpent], and He says: ". . . And I will put enmity between you and the women, and between your seed [Satan] and her Seed; He [Jesus] shall bruise your head, and you [Satan] shall bruise His heel" (Genesis 3:15, NKJV). That word "enmity" means mutual hatred and hostility. Satan hates God, and God hates Satan. And this enmity extends between those who follow one or the other. We are to hate [have enmity towards] the deeds of Satan, especially when found among believers. We don't hate the believer, but the inappropriate actions of the believer. We hate the sin, but love the sinner [Romans 5:8]. Jesus bruises the head of the "seed of the serpent", and the serpent bruises the heel of the "Seed of the woman," temporarily at the cross. Satan comes at us and plants thoughts that are in opposition to what God's will is for our lives. These contrary thoughts are enmity towards God and enemies of God, and His love. In this message, we find the truth of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, that we use as weapons against the works of the enemy. Selah! Let me hear from you - Charles https://www.aboundinglove.org/ Subscribe and share with someone you love.

Mark 9:36-37 describes a moving scene: “He [Jesus] took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.'”Today, people think … Continue reading Serving those who cannot repay us

All Have Temptation, Which Is Not the Sin; But Jesus Followers Can Resist All Temptation Through Their Faith and Relationship with God MESSAGE SUMMARY: You will be tempted again and again, but the temptation itself is not the sin. The sin resides in your grabbing onto the temptation; dwelling on the temptation; and following through on the temptation. Jesus was tempted, and He {Jesus} always faced temptation by quoting scripture to the temptation source. As Jesus tells you about Temptation and sin in Matthew 18:7-8: “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.". From James 1:13, we know that God does not create the temptation we face: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.". Since all are tempted, it is great to know, from 1 Corinthians 10:13, that Jesus Followers will not be tempted beyond their capability to resist the temptation and act on it through sinning: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." You can follow Jesus' example by using scripture to deal with a temptation – there is scripture to deal with every temptation that you may face.   TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, I come this day inviting you to cut those deeply entrenched chains that keep me from being faithful to my true self in Christ. In doing so, may my life be a blessing to many. In Jesus' name, amen.      Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 44). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because I am in Jesus Christ, I will trust in the Lord with all my heart. I will trust in the Lord with all of my heart and lean not on my own understanding.  In all my ways I will seek to know Him, and He will make my pathways straight.   From Proverbs 3:5f SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Matthew 4:1-11; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Hebrews 4:14-16; Psalms143:1-12; James 1:13. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “Beginnings In Prayer - Part 4: Listening to God Because He Desires to Speak to Us” at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. Let's look first today at what Noah did. He literally prepared a wooden box (an ark) to save his family from a rain that he had never seen happen. Therefore, his obedience wasn't motivated by reason or natural understanding. We know it was an act of radical obedience simply because of the enormous size of the ark and therefore the time required to complete the project.  Second, let's be encouraged by the fact that Noah prepared the ark in reverence. The Greek word translated reverence here was translated piety in Heb. 5:7. “In the days of His flesh, He (Jesus) offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety.” It means both Jesus and Noah received well what God told them to do. It describes an attitude of heart that is devoted to accomplishing the will of God. That's why they both received grace to obey, and God gets the glory. We have been commanded to love one another as proof of being Jesus' disciples. Faith enables us to receive Jesus' commandment well, which moves us to confidently seek God for grace to love for His glory. Third, let's consider why he built the ark. I see two motivations in this verse. God told him to, and he loved his family. So the two motivations were obedience and love. Let's note what drove the obedience and love. It was faith—faith that rose up within him when he heard God speak. But Noah wasn't always a man of faith. In Gen. 6:5, God described Noah along with everyone else on the planet at that time. “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Then in 8-9 we find an unexpected declaration. “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD…Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.” Noah was like Enoch. God chose to act favorably toward Noah. He didn't deserve it. God's grace to Noah was a favor, an act of 100% grace, not a reward for good deeds. Before God revealed Himself to Noah, every intent of Noah's heart was only evil continually. At some point in his life, God gave Noah faith. He believed he continuously walked in God's presence and that God would reward him if he continuously drew near to Him. It was by faith that Noah built the ark and loved his family.  Fourth, Noah inherited the righteousness of Christ, which is given in accordance with faith. If God gives faith, then God gives righteousness. They are a package given in love. If we believe in Jesus Christ and intentionally practice abiding in Him, drawing near to Him for grace to trust and love, then we also are heirs of righteousness. Like Noah, may we receive well God's call to live to love with Jesus. I encourage you to draw near to the throne of grace all day, in every situation and relationship. You are building your ark one plank at a time by faith for the benefit of those you love.

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. This verse is a further commentary by the Holy Spirit on Enoch, who was pleasing to God. I hope that everyone listening to this podcast wants to be pleasing to God. We learn in this verse what pleases God. Faith. Without faith it is impossible to please Him. To begin with, let's purpose to walk by faith today because that's how the righteous are to live. As it says in Rom. 1:17. “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” Rom. 14:23 gives insight into why it is impossible to please God without faith. Without it, we sin. God says, Paul writes, “Whatever is not from faith is sin.” Or to say it in the positive, if what we do is by faith, it isn't sin. Is it possible not to sin? Apparently so, for 1 John 3:5-6 attests to it. “You know that He (Jesus) appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins.” So now let's apply the transitive property of equality. (a=b, b=c, therefore a=c). With faith=no sin; abiding in Christ=no sin; therefore, with faith = abiding in Christ.  In John 15:5, Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” Apart from Jesus, we bear no fruit. Apart from Jesus, we sin. Apart from Jesus, we have no faith. Faith is the evidence that we are united with Jesus. It is actually the witness of Jesus' life dwelling within. If we are united with Jesus, then it is a fact: God is pleased with us. He works in us, as a gift of grace, the very thing that pleases Him—the faith of His Son. When Jesus' life (faith) is working in and through us, we can be filled with the joy of the Lord because we know He is pleased.  We also learn two characteristics of God-given faith. First, we believe that God exists as a being outside of creation. And second, we believe God rewards those who seek Him. Apparently, we are to conclude that is what Enoch believed. His walk with God was driven by a faith that endured to the end. The aim of the Spirit of God is to encourage us to 1) continually draw near to God like Enoch did because we believe we are continually in His presence (He is). And 2) continually draw near to Him for grace to help in time of need because we believe He is a rewarder of those who draw near to Him (seek Him). This is also what Jesus believes. That's how He walked with His Father on the earth and was able to offer Himself as a living sacrifice for our sins. It is the faith of Jesus that drives living to love. Without His faith, it's impossible to please God. Apart from Him, we can't do anything but sin. But with Him, we display His fruit and receive the witness that God is well-pleased.

In this video, Todd asks Pastor Steve about the each Gospel's perspective on the Christmas Story (why the Wisemen are mentioned only in Matthew, and the Shepherds only in Luke), and we finish by talking about the line from O Holy Night which reads: “when He [Jesus] appears, the soul felt its worth”.

How does Isaiah present the gospel? Early church fathers, interestingly enough, would refer to Isaiah as the fifth Gospel. I love that term. It would be Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and then Isaiah, right? Because Isaiah is a prophet, he prepares us for the gospel in ways that are pretty unique in the Bible. Isaiah points us to Christ. Then we can see our need for Christ - our need for the new covenant. In Luke 24 where Jesus is walking on the road to Emmaus with the two men, Luke says, "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He (Jesus) explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself... When He was at the table with them, He took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, and He disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, 'Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?'" Today is an overview of chapters 1-39. Next week we'll cover the rest of the book, chapters 40-66. Dr. Mark Gignilliat is professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, where he teaches courses in Old Testament and Hebrew, and also serves as theologian in residence at St. Peter's Anglican Church in Birmingham. Dr. Gignilliat is married to Naomi, and they have four children.

Hebrews 10:18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. Let's follow the author's reasoning. In 9:15, he wrote, “For this reason He [Jesus] is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” Then in 9:22 we read, “And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Jesus shed His blood for the redemption of our transgressions so we could be forgiven and made perfect (Heb. 10:14). So, since through the blood of Jesus we are forgiven once for all for all time, there is no longer a need for another offering of sin. Our redemption is complete! We can reverse our reasoning and also consider it this way. If God is not requiring any more offerings for sin, then He has forgiven all sin, once for all, for all time. We are free from sin's condemnation and therefore are free to live to love with Jesus. Furthermore, that is our testimony to others. We have this good news to preach as we love people. This encourages us to love others freely. We don't love so we can be forgiven of our sins. Our love isn't an offering for sin. Jesus' work on the cross is sufficient. This encourages us also to love without expecting people to do something to earn our forgiveness and love. We give expecting nothing in return, just like Jesus loves us. Remember what Jesus told His disciples? “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).  What a joy it is to love with Jesus with His kind of love. Today, let us show others that we believe Jesus' offering for sin, once for all, has purchased complete and total forgiveness. May we be satisfied with His love and what it has accomplished for us.

SCRIPTURE: Philippians 2:8-11SHOW NOTES: We invite you to join us each week. Our website is Discover God's Truth, where you will find resources to encourage you in your Walk with God. "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men." Philippians 2:5-7 Jesus, the Eternal Son, became a servant and submitted to His Father's will. When He was tired, He needed to sleep. He ate food when He was hungry. These are aspects of His humility. His appearance did not provide visual clues that He was sinless or divine. "He (Jesus) humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross." Philippians 2:8Jesus was humiliated by wicked rulers and religious authorities, and they sentenced Him to a cruel death on the cross. He fulfilled the will of His Father when He faced death by crucifixion, a form of execution that was without equal in its pain and humiliation.Given the Son's submission, God the Father raised Him to the heights of glory. Jesus received great exaltation and a name that corresponds to His position. Every person will bow in submission to His authority. SONG: "Name Above All Names" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUccXoU8v3s

https://www.podbean.com/lsw/X0V2CaNu5K?lsid=3pd0GhMoSJx A walk through the Scriptures proving that Jesus Christ is the God of Adam and Eve, of Abraham, of Moses, of Isaiah and more. This is really an introduction to the idea that Jesus Christ is NOT a ”nice guy” that the modernist Judeo-Christian church has invented. Hell is not a nice place. Neither was Sodom. Same God, same results. Part 1 1 John 4:12. No one has seen God at any time. John 6;46.  No that anyone has seen the father except the One who is from God, He has seen the Father. John 1:18.  No one has seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, He has made Him known. John 10:30. I and the Father are One. Colossians 1:15. He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn (or source) of Creation. John 14:9. He who has seen Me has seen the father. Part 2: Exodus 33:11 Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend. Adam and Eve walked and talked with God, the Lord [Jesus]. Abraham God mean, bread and water. He washed their feet and prepared a physical meal.  He was standing under the tree as they ate. Isaiah 6:1 I saw the Lord sitting on a throne lofting and exalted with the train of his robe filling the temple. Isaiah 6:5 for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.  Part 3: Genesis 7:23.  He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the earth, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark. Genesis 12:29.  The Lord struck the first born in the land of Egypt from the firstborn of Pharaoah who sat on the throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon and the firstborn of the cattle. Job: (Job was a righteous man and still he suffered extensively by the will of God - he went through his tribulation) Genesis 19: the men of the city, the men of Sodom, sorrounded the house both young and old (the perversion of the youth) Genesis 19: 24 The Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. He overthrew the cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground Genesis 19:26 But [Lots] wife  . . . looked back and became a pillar of salt. Deuteronomy 28: For the entire nation 1 Samuel 15:33.  Samuel hewed Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal.  Samuel was not an effete man of letters -- he could wield a sword and seemed to have some experience with it. Jeremiah 13:7.  The story of the waistband ruined and rotted, totally worthless.  " . . . and the waistband was totally worthless." Jeremiah 26:66 and I will make this house like Shiloh and this city I will make a curse to all the nations of the earth. Nahum 1:2.  A jealous and avenging God is the Lord; the Lord is avenging and wrathful.  THe Lord takes vengeance on HIs adversaries and He reserves his wrath for His enemies. Nahum 1:3 and the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Psalm 137:9.   How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones agains the rock. Fritz Berggren, PhD bloodandfaith.com  

October 6, 2024 - Sunday AM Sermon   The Centurion at the Cross... Mark 15:39 Introduction: 1. At the _______________ of the _____________ many things were _______________. 2. One of the ___________ present at the __________ of Jesus was the Roman ______. 3. The day Jesus was _____________ would be a day he would never ______________. I. In the ___________________ Position (Luke 23:47) II. Saw ________________ in ___________________ (Luke 23:46-47) III. Saw the _______________ of _________________ (Mark 15:29-32) IV. Saw and _____________ Us ______________ can _____________ (Matthew 27:54) V. _________________ the Cross ___________________ (Matthew 27:54; Mark 15:39) VI. _______________ an Unpopular _______________ (Mark 15:39) Conclusion: 1. The _____________ saw what God wants ______________ to see. 2. We need to see the ______________ and then ____________ the _______________. 3. He ________ Jesus was the ________ of God and we must _______ the __________.   Duration  38:27

All Have Temptation, Which Is Not the Sin; But Jesus Followers Can Resist All Temptation Through Their Faith and Relationship with God MESSAGE SUMMARY: You will be tempted again and again, but the temptation itself is not the sin. The sin resides in your grabbing onto the temptation; dwelling on the temptation; and following through on the temptation. Jesus was tempted, and He {Jesus} always faced temptation by quoting scripture to the temptation source. As Jesus tells you about Temptation and sin in Matthew 18:7-8: “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.". From James 1:13, we know that God does not create the temptation we face: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.". Since all are tempted, it is great to know, from 1 Corinthians 10:13, that Jesus Followers will not be tempted beyond their capability to resist the temptation and act on it through sinning: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." You can follow Jesus' example by using scripture to deal with a temptation – there is scripture to deal with every temptation that you may face.   TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, I come this day inviting you to cut those deeply entrenched chains that keep me from being faithful to my true self in Christ. In doing so, may my life be a blessing to many. In Jesus' name, amen.      Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 44). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because I am in Jesus Christ, I will trust in the Lord with all my heart. I will trust in the Lord with all of my heart and lean not on my own understanding.  In all my ways I will seek to know Him, and He will make my pathways straight.   From Proverbs 3:5f SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Matthew 4:1-11; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Hebrews 4:14-16; Psalms143:1-12; James 1:13. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “Turkeys and Eagles, Part 1: Called as an “Eagle” But Saved as a “Turkey”” , at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Heb. 4:13. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. What is truth? Is there really such a thing as “my truth” or “your truth”? This verse makes a stunning statement about God which is very relevant to these questions. First, we learn that God sees every creature all the time. Second, we live our lives before an audience of One—our creator God—which means that everything we have done or has happened to us is known by God. Additionally, He knows every motive of every word and action. Third, we are responsible to God for every word and action. In every circumstance and relationship, He should be our first consideration because He is the first agent. It is with God that we have to give an account. Let's back pedal to chapter 1, verse 3. Speaking of Jesus, the Holy Spirit said, “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.” The Spirit meant the same thing when He inspired John to write, “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being (John 1:3). Paul wrote to the Colossians in 1:17-18, “He (Jesus) is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.” Nothing happens to us in which God is not the first agent with whom we have to do. He might use other agents to accomplish His purposes, but we need to have a firm grip on the reality that Jesus is first place in everything. So now let's come back to the question, “What is truth?” The answer from this verse is clear. Jesus is the truth, and whatever He does and sees is the truth. There is no other reality than what He sees. When Jesus says or does something with regards to us, He obviously sees it. It is reality before Him. On the day that He speaks to you through His word (logos) and in the circumstances that He creates in your life, He sees His sacrificial work on the cross for you, the perfecting power of His righteousness lived on your behalf, and the Spirit's work of faith in your heart which enables you to believe His word and obey it. He judges that your thoughts and intentions of your heart will be an expression of the life of Jesus within you, and it is! That is reality—the truth before God. Therefore, God gets all of the glory for your life. This is how Jesus is faithful over all His house, of which the author spoke in Heb. 3:6. “but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house — whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.” The only reason anyone intentionally lives to love with Jesus is that it is the work of the Spirit of God in them. If He does it; He sees it. The truth is what God sees. If He does and sees it, then it is the reality God knows. Jesus' work for, in, and through us is our confidence before Him with whom we have to do!

DO MY BUSINESS TILL I COME! Jesus said that He will but not immediately. Today, I am going to show you that, as such, you and I are to serve God and others faithfully until He (Jesus) returns in bodily form-for He commanded in Luke 19-“Do my business till I come”. We have so many options for recreation in todays' world that we often forget that Jesus made clear for us to "DO MY BUSINESS TILL I COME". The Bible is clear as one reads through it that God gently, and sometimes not so gently, reminds us to tune up our thinking, worldview and priorities as we live out our daily lives. Today we will look at what Jesus said in Luke 19.Give the old Gancio Sinitro and smash that "SUBSCRIBE BUTTON"!Join us in our Community at www.StevenGarofalo.ComBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reason-for-truth--2774396/support.

The Scriptures say God created us as “masterpieces” to do good works. However, masterpieces take time and hard work. Jesus said that the Father is always working and that He (Jesus) does and says what He sees and hears from the Father. God is a continually creative God who invites us into His work with […]

He expected the man to read.    “He [Jesus] said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?'”  - Luke 10:26 (NKJV)

All Have Temptation, Which Is Not the Sin; But Jesus Followers Can Resist All Temptation Through Their Faith and Relationship with God MESSAGE SUMMARY: You will be tempted again and again, but the temptation itself is not the sin. The sin resides in your grabbing onto the temptation; dwelling on the temptation; and following through on the temptation. Jesus was tempted, and He {Jesus} always faced temptation by quoting scripture to the temptation source. As Jesus tells you about Temptation and sin in Matthew 18:7-8: “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.". From James 1:13, we know that God does not create the temptation we face: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.". Since all are tempted, it is great to know, from 1 Corinthians 10:13, that Jesus Followers will not be tempted beyond their capability to resist the temptation and act on it through sinning: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." You can follow Jesus' example by using scripture to deal with a temptation – there is scripture to deal with every temptation that you may face.   TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, I come this day inviting you to cut those deeply entrenched chains that keep me from being faithful to my true self in Christ. In doing so, may my life be a blessing to many. In Jesus' name, amen.      Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 44). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because I am in Jesus Christ, I will entrust to Him my future. I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.  From 2 Timothy 1:12 SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Matthew 4:1-11; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Hebrews 4:14-16; Psalms143:1-12; James 1:13. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “Be Strong & Courageous”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

John 8:12: "Jesus said: “I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” *(1) Jesus is the Light of the World. "He (Jesus) is the true Light which, coming into the world, gives light to every man" (John 1:9). "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it" (John 1:4-5). *(2) Whoever follows Him will not walk in Darkness. "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1John 5:19). "For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people" (Isaiah 60:2). “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going” (John 12:35). "He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His Name's sake" (Psalm 23:3). "The path of the just is like the shining sun[light], that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble" (Proverbs 4:18-19). *(3) Followers of Jesus Christ shall have the Light of Life. The Person is Life and the Life is Light. "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4). "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all' (1John 1:5). "For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2Corinthians 4:6). "Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light. And the days of your mourning shall be ended" (Isaiah 60:20). "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall If ear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1). "For He Himself has said: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6).

John 8:12: "Jesus said: “I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” *(1) Jesus is the Light of the World. "He (Jesus) is the true Light which, coming into the world, gives light to every man" (John 1:9). "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it" (John 1:4-5). *(2) Whoever follows Him will not walk in Darkness. "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1John 5:19). "For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people" (Isaiah 60:2). “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going” (John 12:35). "He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His Name's sake" (Psalm 23:3). "The path of the just is like the shining sun[light], that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble" (Proverbs 4:18-19). *(3) Followers of Jesus Christ shall have the Light of Life. The Person is Life and the Life is Light. "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4). "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all' (1John 1:5). "For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2Corinthians 4:6). "Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light. And the days of your mourning shall be ended" (Isaiah 60:20). "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall If ear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1). "For He Himself has said: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6).

God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 NLT - - Husband, Wife, Brothers, Sisters, Aunties and Uncles, etc…He (Jesus) makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Ephesians 4:16 NLTOur most effective effort is found in the everyday ordinary things we do for God and others. Faithful effort in the ordinary duties of a son or daughter are the only right path to the will of the Father.Overlooking the significance of the ordinary or mundane has robbed our world of the miraculous. That evening the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said, “That isn't necessary, you feed them.” Matthew 14:15-16 NLTEven if we worked for months, we wouldn't have enough money to feed them! John 6:7 NLTWhat we have and are will always be insufficient without Jesus. One of the disciples, Andrew, brother to Simon Peter, said, “There's a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But that's a drop in the bucket for a crowd like this.” John 6:8-9 MSGTell everyone to sit down, Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (men numbered about 5,000.) Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. John 6:10-11 NLTWhen the people had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the leftovers so nothing is wasted.” They went to work and filled twelve large baskets with leftovers from the five barley loaves. John 6:12-13 MSGOur beleaguered age stands in need, not so much of ten talent men, but God conquered commoners.Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But at night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. Matthew 13:24-25 NLTThe cultural cost is high when we miss the everyday opportunities to live extraordinary lives for Jesus.So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Romans 12:1-2 MSG

God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 NLT - - Husband, Wife, Brothers, Sisters, Aunties and Uncles, etc…He (Jesus) makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Ephesians 4:16 NLTOur most effective effort is found in the everyday ordinary things we do for God and others. Faithful effort in the ordinary duties of a son or daughter are the only right path to the will of the Father.Overlooking the significance of the ordinary or mundane has robbed our world of the miraculous. That evening the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said, “That isn't necessary, you feed them.” Matthew 14:15-16 NLTEven if we worked for months, we wouldn't have enough money to feed them! John 6:7 NLTWhat we have and are will always be insufficient without Jesus. One of the disciples, Andrew, brother to Simon Peter, said, “There's a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But that's a drop in the bucket for a crowd like this.” John 6:8-9 MSGTell everyone to sit down, Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (men numbered about 5,000.) Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. John 6:10-11 NLTWhen the people had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the leftovers so nothing is wasted.” They went to work and filled twelve large baskets with leftovers from the five barley loaves. John 6:12-13 MSGOur beleaguered age stands in need, not so much of ten talent men, but God conquered commoners.Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But at night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. Matthew 13:24-25 NLTThe cultural cost is high when we miss the everyday opportunities to live extraordinary lives for Jesus.So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Romans 12:1-2 MSG

The Church of Ephesus, is the first of a 6 to 7 part series on the the Seven Churches of The Book of Revelation in the Bible. My purpose, is to uncover a little about the early churches, after the Ascension of Jesus Christ, had or were going through and what Jesus had to say about each church. Believe me when I say that, while Jesus was giving dictation to the Apostle John, He (Jesus) did not leave anything out. Also in this podcast, my desire is to show you the Mercy, Grace and the Love that Jesus has for His Church. Amen.

Jesus Pursues, Jesus Restores, Jesus SendsBryan explores the statements of Jesus to Peter in John 21 as He (Jesus) commands Peter: 1) "Follow Me" ; 2) "Feed my Sheep" ; 3) "What is that to you?"

Jesus Christ is Raised From the Dead! Jesus Christ is alive in Heaven right now, and can relate to your hurt, pain and longings in ways you can't even imagine. And while on earth He did everything it would take to meet your true needs and change you forever. Isa. 52:13-53:12 The prophesy's overview - 52:13-53:1 The prophesy of Jesus' life - 53:2-3 The way Jesus came made Him relatable to every one of us – don't miss this – if you have ever felt despised, rejected, full of sorrow and grief, not esteemed as you think you should be, Jesus can relate (Heb. 4:14-16). The prophecy of Jesus' death - 53:4-8 Jesus was rejected and disrespected and felt distress 60 ways in the 6 days between Palm Sunday and His execution on Good Friday. “Eli, Eli, Lama Sabacthani” – “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” The question of whether or not Jesus cares for you was settled on the cross! The prophecy of Jesus' burial - V. 9 Believers refer to what Jesus was doing in His Spirit on ‘Silent Saturday' as the Harrowing of Hell. Jesus ‘raided' Sheol/ Hades, the place all departed spirits were, and brought all believers with Him to Heaven. All unbelievers were left there for the coming day of judgment (Rev. 20:13-15). Therefore it says, “When He ascended on high He led a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.” In saying “He ascended,” what does it mean but that He first descended into the lower regions (of) the earth? - Eph. 4:8-9 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which He went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison. - 1 Peter 3:18-19 And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. - Matthew 27:52b-53 The prophesy of Jesus' resurrection and its implications - V. 10-11 God made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. - 2 Cor. 5:21 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. - 1 Cor. 15:20 The prophecy of Christ's present intercession - V. 12 Jesus' resurrection was the dawning of eternal life and light to all who repent and believe in Him! Consequently, He (Jesus) is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. - Hebrews 7:25

God's Grace Allows Jesus Followers to Know God Personally, Like a Father Knows His Son MESSAGE SUMMARY:  There is a difference in knowing about someone and really knowing them. Jesus' New Covenant permits you to know God in a personal way and not just to know about God. This means to know the Lord God was fulfilled in Jesus the Christ. In Romans 8:26, Paul tells us that the pathway for knowing God, personally, is through our prayers; and the Holy Spirit is with you to help you with your prayers: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.". There is a great deal of difference in knowing about God through study and knowing God by developing a personal relationship with Him through your prayers and the New Covenant that is in Jesus. The Apostle John, in John 1:1-5, clearly identifies that Jesus is the “Word” {Jesus} who is the Creator of the Universe: “In the beginning was the Word {Jesus}, and the Word {Jesus} was with God, and the Word {Jesus} was God. He {Jesus} was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.". Therefore, God's Grace, through Jesus, has given you the opportunity to have a personal relationship with our Triune God (i.e. God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit). Jesus provides this opportunity for you to have a personal relationship with God, the Creator of the Universe, who can become the cornerstone of your life. Have you established your personal relationship with God? If not, why not?   TODAY'S PRAYER: Father, I confess that when difficulties and trials come into my life, large or small, I mostly grumble and complain. I realize the trials James talks about are not necessarily “walls,” but they are difficult to bear, nonetheless. Fill me with such a vision of a transformed life, O God, that I might actually consider it “pure joy” when you bring trials my way. I believe, Lord. Help my unbelief. In Jesus' name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 94). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because I am in Jesus Christ, I will seek God's perspective on my situation. For I know that in all things God  works together for good to those of us who love Him and are called according to His purpose. From Romans 8:28 SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): John 12:44-50; Luke 12:4-12; John 15:12-17; Psalms 55a:1-12. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “He Is Risen: From Good Friday to Easter!”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Let's meet the brothers: Dmitri- the eldest, impulsive, strong, uneducated, driven by desires Ivan- the middle, the intellectual, preoccupied, gloomy atheist Alyosha- the youngest, kind, thoughtful, brave, spiritually minded Smerdyakov-illegitimate, ungrateful, sneaky, devious (creeper alert) Please join Kate and Sheila discussion about the age-old struggle of good versus evil by looking at the gifted Russian writer, Fyodor Dostoevsky's discordant family found in The Brothers Karamazov! (Translated by the award winning team of Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonskyy) The father, Fyodor, was selfish, crude, neglectful, immoral, and muddleheaded. All his sons were raised by Grigory, his servant. Fyodor quipped, “I'm a buffoon out of shame…I act up because I'm insecure.” Alyosha chose a different path than the others. “I want to live for immortality, and I reject any halfway compromise.” His mentor, Zosima, taught him from God's Word. He also advised the elder Karamazov, “Above all, do not lie to yourself. A man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point where he does not discern any truth either in himself or anywhere around him, and thus falls into disrespect towards himself and others.” Dmitri shares with Alyosha, “Here the devil is struggling with God, and the battlefield is the human heart.” Ivan's words from his famous speech, The Grand Inquisitor, “He (Jesus) came to give His life for them! Instead of taking over men's freedom, you increased it and forever burdened the kingdom of the human soul…by so terrible a burden as freedom of choice.” The action culminates in an unforgettable courtroom scene. Both the prosecutor and the defense attorneys give moving speeches that end with applause. Did Dmitri murder his less than stellar father? If he didn't, who did? Dostoevsky packs a lot into this book. What is the purpose of life? He shows the importance of living a life well and how the life we live affects others. As Alyosha says in closing, “How good life is when you do something good and rightful.” “A crust always looks bigger in another man's hand.” Trust us this book will look big no matter whose hand it is in : ) It is a mammoth read (823 pages) but well worth the effort if you are looking for a challenge. Happy Reading dear listeners! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/recapbookchat/message

In this episode, Jori discusses with her listeners about John the Baptist and his life's purpose and mission. He reminded his students that HE (Jesus) must increase and John must decrease. It is the same for all of us believers. JOIN DR. JORI IN JOURNALING IN 2024!Check out this 9 min YouTube Video outlining her journaling strategy! Don't Forget to subscribe to the YouTube Channel! https://youtu.be/lqe9TO7RSz4 BOOKS OF BIBLE COLOR CHARTI made this chart as a helpful tool for grouping the collections of books or letters  in the Holy Bible.  The colors in the different sections are the ones that I use in my journals.  Books of Bible Chart (color) (4).pdf - Google Drive    CHECK OUT DR. JORI'S JOURNALS! Sermon Notes, Reflections and Applications Journal/Notebooks by Dr. Jori. Click the links below to be directed to amazon.com for purchase. Or search “Dr. Jori Shaffer” on Amazon to bring these up.  https://a.co/d/9B5krQlhttps://a.co/d/iycFlnNHere is a brief YouTube video that tells about the Journal/Notebooks as well:https://youtu.be/aXpQNYUEzds Scripture translation used is the English Standard Version.Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.Scripture References:John 3:30Matthew 10:1-4Mark 1:19-21Ephesians 2:8-9John 20:30-311 John 5:131 John 1:1-4John 1:1-8Mark 1:1-8Luke 1:15-17John 1:19-30John 3:22-31  Email: awordforthisday@gmail.comPodcast website:  https://awordforthisday.buzzsprout.com Support the show

“If we make Christ greater, then we are thinking of ourselves less…I just want my life to be about Christ…it's Christ above all, Christ greatest, Christ more. That's what I want. And so I think that if that is true of me, then service out of that is easier and also I stop vying for position and rank and approval.” — Vera SchmitzDo you tend to keep a scorecard when it comes to serving others? Our verse this month, Mark 10:45, helps us reframe what serving like Jesus really means—especially when we come face to face with our self-serving tendencies. Tune in as Natalie Abbott and Vera Schmitz, sisters and co-founders of Dwell Differently, talk through the implications of this verse, what genuine humility really looks like, and how to truly live our lives in a way that echoes John the Baptist's words in John 3:30: “He [Jesus] must become greater; I must become less.”This month's memory verse: "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." — Mark 10:45Memorize Scripture with us: Find out more about Dwell Differently's monthly kit with temporary tattoos or stickers, a display card, a key tag, and more to help you know and dwell on God's Word.Get our weekly devotional email: Dive deeper into this month's verse.Did you love today's episode?: We'd love to hear about it! Would you leave a rating or review in your podcast player to help others find the show?Links from today's show:Free Devotional ResourcesSign up for our email list!Immanuel by Beautiful EulogySupport the show

3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules” ….17 “Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”Daniel 9:3-5, 17-19 (ESV)2 “When you pray, say:'Our Father in heaven,Hallowed be Your name.Your kingdom come,Your will be done,On earth as it is in heaven.'”Luke 11:2 (NKJV)“What needs to shift?”We have a role to play in living in God's kingdom, doing God's will, and making earth as it is in heaven…and that happens  “when we pray” (Luke 11:2)“There are many other things Jesus did. If every one of them were written down, I suppose the whole world would not be big enough for all the books that would be written.”John 21:25 (NCV)Jesus begins his instructions on prayer by issuing an expectation for us to pray“He (Jesus) said, ‘When you pray,' which means you learn how to pray by praying…prayer is on the job training, and you grow by doing it…When it comes to prayer, I always tell people to start, and the Holy Spirit will begin to teach them as they pray.“Corey Russell“Have felt led to pray for others this winter like never before. I never before knew what it was to work all day and then pray all night before God for another. In college, or at parties at home, I used to keep such hours for myself, or pleasures, and can I not do as much for God and for souls?“John Hyde“the effect was felt throughout all India, and the breath of Heaven sweeping over the land could be traced to the kneeling figure of 'Praying Hyde”“Give me souls, or I die.“John “Praying” Hyde“True prayer is the trading of the heart with God.“Charles Spurgeon“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.”Ezekiel 36:26-27 (KJV)1)Prayer shifts our source.“I believe in the truthfulness of this instinct (when man calls out to God in moments of distress), and I believe that man prays because there is something in prayer. When the creator gives His creature the power of thirst, it is because water exists to meet that thirst. When He creates hunger, there is food to correspond to appetite. Even so, when He inclines man to pray, it is because prayer has a corresponding blessing connected with it.“Charles Spurgeon2) Prayer shifts our perspective.“Jesus allowed His disciples to watch him pray because He wanted them to watch Him engage with the Father in Heaven.”Corey Russell“When you think prayer, you think list, but I (Jesus) think person. I want to introduce you to a person, a place, and the person's name. It's our Father in heaven, by the way…”Corey Russell3) Prayer shifts our will.Intercession is the action of intervening (through prayer) on behalf of another“19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”Daniel 9:19 (ESV)“2 In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. 3 I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks.”Daniel 10:2-3 (ESV)4)Prayer shifts what we occupy (position of persistence)James 5:16-17 (NKJV) says “the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”“4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river (that is, the Tigris) 5 I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. 6 His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightening, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. 12 Then he said to me, 'Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. 13 The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the king of Persia, and 14 came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days.'”Daniel 10:4-6,12-14 (ESV)“the word prince has the idea of a ruler or authority. This fits well with the New Testament idea that angelic ranks are organized and have a hierarchy. These angelic ranks seem to include both faithful angels and fallen angels (demons). Apparently, this (prince of Persia) was a demon of high rank that opposed the answer to prayer.”David Guzik“The correlation between Daniel's time of self-denial and prayer and the duration of the battle between the angels and the prince of Persia establishes a link between Daniel's prayer and the angelic victory.”David Guzik5) Prayer shifts us to engage in spiritual warfare (As it is in heaven, or as it is in hell?)“There be hindering factors of which a praying Christian knows nothing as he wonders why the answers to his requests are delayed. Nevertheless, he is to keep on praying. It may be that he will not receive an answer because he has given up on the twentieth day when he should have persisted to the twenty-first day.”Archer“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”Ephesians 6:12 (KJV)2 Corinthians 10:4 (KJV) says “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.”“Prayer is the great exposer of reality”Corey RussellIf we want our reality to be as it is in heaven, then...

Christ's Advance Man - Matthew 3:1-12 The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached… - Luke 16:16a In all 4 gospels Jesus' public ministry began after His baptism by John the Baptist. Of the 283 verses in the first four gospels leading up to Christ's baptism, 135 (48%) are about His prophesied advance man, John the Baptist. The man, the message, and the movement - V. 1-6 The man And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins… -Luke 1:16-17 The message The word repent is the Greek word, “metanoia,” which means “change of mind.” True repentance is seen when that change of mind leads to change of direction and change of actions. The Kingdom was at hand because Jesus the King was at hand! There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. - John 1:6-8 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, After me comes a man who ranks before me, because He WAS before me.” - John 1:29-30 “He (Jesus) must increase, and I must decrease.” - John 3:30 Many came to Jesus and said, “John never did a sign (miracle), but everything John said about this Man (Jesus) was true.” And many of them believed in Him there. - John 10:41-42 The movement Now we to understand that this was a unique baptism, different than Christian baptism (Acts 19). The symbolism was powerful. Jews of the day had begun baptizing Gentile converts to Judaism, but never Jews. John The Baptist was saying the entire filthy nation needed to be washed! He was calling them to both repentance of sin and readiness to follow Jesus. The moral courage to rebuke the unrepentant V. 7-12 If your way of fleeing the wrath to come is as self-centered & self-focused as the religious leaders who came to JTB, you are heading toward ‘unquenchable fire.' Note the order: first, repent and place faith in Jesus; then, demonstrate your faith by bearing fruit. But to all who did receive Him (Jesus), who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. - John 1:12-13 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing: it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. - Ephesians 2:8-10 Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. - Matthew 11:11 Which group would you have been in? Repentant and ready for Jesus? Or unrepentant and rejecting of Jesus? “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” - John 1:29 John's baptism represented cleansing and readiness; Spirit baptism occurs at the moment of salvation for believers (1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 1:13-14; Jn 7:37-39); Baptism with fire represents the coming judgment when everyone whose name is not in the Book of Life will be sent to the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:11-15). It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment. - Hebrews 9:27

All Have Temptation, Which Is Not the Sin; But Jesus Followers Can Resist All Temptation Through Their Faith and Relationship with God MESSAGE SUMMARY: You will be tempted again and again, but the temptation itself is not the sin. The sin resides in your grabbing onto the temptation; dwelling on the temptation; and following through on the temptation. Jesus was tempted, and He {Jesus} always faced temptation by quoting scripture to the temptation source. As Jesus tells you about Temptation and sin in Matthew 18:7-8: “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.". From James 1:13, we know that God does not create the temptation we face: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.". Since all are tempted, it is great to know, from 1 Corinthians 10:13, that Jesus Followers will not be tempted beyond their capability to resist the temptation and act on it through sinning: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." You can follow Jesus' example by using scripture to deal with a temptation – there is scripture to deal with every temptation that you may face.   TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, I come this day inviting you to cut those deeply entrenched chains that keep me from being faithful to my true self in Christ. In doing so, may my life be a blessing to many. In Jesus' name, amen.      Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 44). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because I am in Jesus Christ, I will not be ashamed of the Gospel. I will not be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (including me). From Romans 1:16 SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Matthew 4:1-11; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Hebrews 4:14-16; Psalms143:1-12; James 1:13. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “The Struggle with Time -- Until I Determine How I Want to Use My Time, Others Will Determine How My Time Is Used”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Mary tells the servants at the wedding in Cana: “Do whatever He (Jesus) tells you,” and it's still great advice for us today!

He [Jesus] was the greatest human being who has ever lived. He was a moral genius. His ethical sense was unique. He was the intrinsically wisest person that I've ever encountered in my life or in my reading. His commitment was total and led to his own death, much to the detriment of the world. - Charles TempletonSupport the show, a product of Hope Media: https://hope1032.com.au/donate/2211A-pod/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

God's Grace Allows Jesus Followers to Know God Personally, Like a Father Knows His Son MESSAGE SUMMARY:  There is a difference in knowing about someone and really knowing them. Jesus' New Covenant permits you to know God in a personal way and not just to know about God. This means to know the Lord God was fulfilled in Jesus the Christ. In Romans 8:26, Paul tells us that the pathway for knowing God, personally, is through our prayers; and the Holy Spirit is with you to help you with your prayers: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.". There is a great deal of difference in knowing about God through study and knowing God by developing a personal relationship with Him through your prayers and the New Covenant that is in Jesus. The Apostle John, in John 1:1-5, clearly identifies that Jesus is the “Word” {Jesus} who is the Creator of the Universe: “In the beginning was the Word {Jesus}, and the Word {Jesus} was with God, and the Word {Jesus} was God. He {Jesus} was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.". Therefore, God's Grace, through Jesus, has given you the opportunity to have a personal relationship with our Triune God (i.e. God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit). Jesus provides this opportunity for you to have a personal relationship with God, the Creator of the Universe, who can become the cornerstone of your life. Have you established your personal relationship with God? If not, why not?   TODAY'S PRAYER: Father, I confess that when difficulties and trials come into my life, large or small, I mostly grumble and complain. I realize the trials James talks about are not necessarily “walls,” but they are difficult to bear, nonetheless. Fill me with such a vision of a transformed life, O God, that I might actually consider it “pure joy” when you bring trials my way. I believe, Lord. Help my unbelief. In Jesus' name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 94). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because I am in Jesus Christ, I will seek God's perspective on my situation. For I know that in all things God  works together for good to those of us who love Him and are called according to His purpose. From Romans 8:28 SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): John 12:44-50; Luke 12:4-12; John 15:12-17; Psalms 55a:1-12. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “Turkeys and Eagles, Part 3: A Child of God's Light”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Today's Treasure Moved with pity, He [Jesus] stretched out His hand and touched him..... Mark 1:41 Support the show

Today's Treasure  On that day, when evening had come, He [Jesus] said to them [the disciples],  “Let us go across to the other side.”  Mark 4:35Support the show

Today's Treasure Moved with pity, He [Jesus] stretched out His hand and touched him... Mark 1:41Support the show

All Have Temptation, Which Is Not the Sin; But Jesus Followers Can Resist All Temptation Through Their Faith and Relationship with God MESSAGE SUMMARY: You will be tempted again and again, but the temptation itself is not the sin. The sin resides in your grabbing onto the temptation; dwelling on the temptation; and following through on the temptation. Jesus was tempted, and He {Jesus} always faced temptation by quoting scripture to the temptation source. As Jesus tells you about Temptation and sin in Matthew 18:7-8: “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.". From James 1:13, we know that God does not create the temptation we face: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.". Since all are tempted, it is great to know, from 1 Corinthians 10:13, that Jesus Followers will not be tempted beyond their capability to resist the temptation and act on it through sinning: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." You can follow Jesus' example by using scripture to deal with a temptation – there is scripture to deal with every temptation that you may face.   TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, I come this day inviting you to cut those deeply entrenched chains that keep me from being faithful to my true self in Christ. In doing so, may my life be a blessing to many. In Jesus' name, amen.      Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 44). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because I am in Jesus Christ, I will entrust to Him my future. I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.  From 2 Timothy 1:12 SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Matthew 4:1-11; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Hebrews 4:14-16; Psalms143:1-12; James 1:13. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “Christians in the Church Must Become Christians in the Marketplace of Unbelievers”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

This episode originally aired July 29th, 2020. A few months ago, I heard about this show called The Chosen. It depicts the life of Jesus and the disciples in a unique way, taking a look at Jesus' life, and how the disciples became disciples. When I first heard about it, I was skeptical, but I gave it a try. After the second episode, I was hooked! Not only have I watched the entire season once, I've actually watched it though three times now. When I fell in love with the show, I started to do more research on it. Not only is it a unique show in and of itself, it's also the first series that is the #1 crowd-funded media project in history. It even has its own app! As I began to dive deeper, I learned more about the company producing the show,  Angel Studios, formerly VidAngel. The show is directed by Dallas Jenkins, the son of Jerry Jenkins, who wrote the Left Behind series. I wanted to know more about VidAngel and why this platform wanted to produce a show about Jesus in such a unique way. My guest this week is Neal Harmon. Neal is the CEO and cofounder of Angel Studios formerly VidAngel, a streaming service that allows parents to skip objectionable content in entertainment using groundbreaking technology. VidAngel has been highly profiled for The Chosen, and its other incredible family-based content like Dry Bar Comedy. VidAngel recently made headlines by offer all of its streaming content for free during the Covid-19 pandemic, provided that people agree to social distancing of course. My conversation with Neal was incredible and refreshing He was very transparent about the story of VidAngel as it experiences growing pains and lessons many young companies experience. You're going to love this conversation with Neal, so let's dive in! 4:30 - The Neal 101 Neal grew up in Idaho working on dairy farms and even tried to start his own cattle business at one point, but as he got older and learned more about the world, he started working with web businesses. After experiencing a spectacular failure right out of college, he started a company called OraBrush, a tongue cleaner that got rid of bad breath. OraBrush went from zero sales to global distribution in just a few years, thanks to YouTube marketing. Later a company reached out to Neal and his brother, cofounders of OraBrush, to help them market Poo~Pourri! The Poo~Pourri ad campaign was so successful that it turned Neal and his brother into an ad agency. Shortly after that, they started VidAngel, which is something Neal and his three brothers wanted to create for their own families. Neal's favorite movie is Cinderella Man. The movie portrays people having character, even in their darkest moments, but the movie has a coach who has a foul mouth. Neal wanted his young kids to be able to see the story, but didn't want them hearing or repeating those words in their home. VidAngel allows you to take popular movies and TV shows, and skip over content you don't find appropriate for your own home. It's like a pre-programmed remote. Neal and his brothers had a bigger vision for VidAngel, too. They wanted to have a bigger impact on media and on the world. They knew that if they found the people who valued protecting their families by using technology to skip over specific content, that they would also have a group of people they could also distribute content in a manner that would be a better fit than what Hollywood provides. 10:53 - A Broken Feedback Loop The creators in Hollywood love to see who wins the awards each year, but it seems they are essentially making movies for each other. About three fourths of the revenue in the box office comes from the family friendly movie, but half the titles coming out of Hollywood are rated R. VidAngel is bridging the gap to give creators a feedback loop. If audiences are skipping over certain scenes, creators can learn how to adjust the content that is affecting their market. It allows them to listen to their market, rather than their peers. When there is immediate feedback, there is acknowledgement of an issue and something productive can be done with that information. Since big studios own the distribution channels, they can also fill those with what they chose. VidAngel's feedback loop helps create a voice for those without access to big distribution channels. 14:10 – Resistance, Controversy, Transparency, Growth During the summer of 2016, VidAngel faced a lawsuit with The Walt Disney Company. It was a shock to VidAngel because before they started their service, they actually wrote The Walt Disney Company in good faith and transparency, telling them about the service, giving them information on the users they'd tested it with, and asked for their feedback. They shared their own reasoning for why they thought what they were doing was ok, but also gave The Walt Disney Company an opportunity to let them know if they thought anything being done was unlawful. VidAngel heard no response from The Walt Disney Company until a year later when families were already enjoying what Angel Studios was providing. VidAngel asked their customers if they'd be interested in investing in VidAngel to start growing the next phase of the company, and their customers said they'd put in over 60 million dollars to help it grow. Two weeks later, The Walt Disney Company sued VidAngel. It's been a long, difficult journey and a lot of time spent in depositions. After the lawsuit started, VidAngel reached out to their customers asking if they wanted to take it to the Supreme Court if they were willing to invest $5 million into the company. They invested $10 million in 5 days. Because of that, VidAngel has been able to improve their product and fight the legal battle. VidAngel doesn't know what will happen now in the midst of this process. They are trusting that they have been called to work to help families through their services and will continue moving forward in faith as they wait for the outcome and experience the process. 20:00 – The Chosen The Chosen is VidAngel's first scripted original series. It will be a multi-season series based on the gospels and the life of Jesus from the perspective of the disciples. The first season is out with 8 episodes. The Chosen is the highest grossing crowdfunded media project of all time. VidAngel's first original series is called Dry Bar Comedy, which has over a billion views per year. It's a stand-up comedy series (with clean humor). When Dry Bar started out performing all the other studios in the digital space, VidAngel learned that the data from people's skip choices can create a bigger market when the comedians improve their content based on the consumer feedback loop. VidAngel decided they wanted to do a real TV series next, and after a friend of Neal's introduced them to a short film by Dallas Jenkins, Neal's brother Jeffrey pitched an idea to do something similar on the life of Jesus. Neal wasn't interested at first, but after watching Dallas Jenkin's short film on the birth of Christ, everything changed. Neal knew then and there he wanted to get behind a project like this on VidAngel. VidAngel has a lot more exciting these coming. The Chosen has awakened in a lot of people the desire to change media. They want to hear stories from the bible that are well written with a high level of video production, imagery, and storytelling. They want to see the ability for both reverence, humanity, and light-heartedness in the portrayal of Jesus. It was important to Dallas to find someone to play Jesus (Jonathan Roumie) who was slightly unexpected, unique, and genuine, rather than a famous Hollywood actor. In The Chosen, you get much more insight into each individual's story and what their lives were like before Jesus and then their individual relationships with Jesus. The stories are plausible, relatable, and do not conflict with scripture. There is a biblical committee and those working on the show have educational backgrounds in biblical studies and have taken trips to Israel to study. Their goal is to stay true to the Bible. 44:15 – Find out how the cast and crew are dealing with COVID-19 and what's on the horizon for The Chosen. You can watch The Chosen on VidAngel (and skip parts that your children may not be ready for or that might be scary). You can also download the app The Chosen app. Either option allows you to watch for free! 46:12 - Getting to Know Our Guest Find out what meal Neal would eat if he had to eat the same thing for dinner every night for the rest of his life, a dream of his he's yet to achieve, his favorite TV show when he was growing up, and of course, what it means to Neal to run a business with purpose. Memorable Quotes 13:50 - “The beautiful thing about the internet is that it provides an opportunity for those of us who don't have a have a voice in the big distribution channels to have a voice for ourselves and create content for ourselves.” 25:20 – “I think the reason that The Chosen has so much of a good spirit about it is because I think a lot of the people making it, and the distributor who's getting behind it, are going through similar trials and facing similar situations in modern society as what the disciples faced back then.” 38:18 – “The goal of the scriptures and The Chosen is to lead us to understanding who He (Jesus) was and that He redeems us. If we don't get there or if we get off the mark or too caught up in how good the actors are or how famous the show becomes, then we've missed the mark. As soon as it takes us into the scriptures and gets us into a relationship with Christ, then it will have been a successful project.” 39:58 – “This project is just about telling the stories of Jesus in a way that we can all relate to to and can hopefully lead people of all faiths, and people who don't have faith, to our Redeemer.” Connect with Neal Harmon and Watch The Chosen: https://www.angel.com/watch/the-chosen ABOUT NEAL HARMON, CEO, ANGEL STUDIOS (formerly VidAngel) How can parents make entertainment good for their homes? Neal is the CEO and co-founder of VidAngel, a streaming service that allows parents to skip objectionable content in entertainment using ground breaking technology. VidAngel has been highly-profiled for The Chosen, its original series about Jesus and the #1 crowdfunded media project in history, and its other incredible family-based content like Dry Bar Comedy. VidAngel recently made headlines by offering all of its streaming content free during the COVID-19 pandemic, provided people agree to social distancing of course. Leave a comment below with something you learned from this episode