Podcasts about if jesus

Matt Slick Live (Live Broadcast of 02/11/2026) is a production of the Christian Apologetics Research Ministry (CA RM). Matt answers questions on topics such as: The Bible, Apologetics, Theology, World Religions, Atheism, and other issues! You can also email questions to Matt using: info@carm.org, Put "Radio Show Question" in the Subject line! Answers will be discussed in a future show. Topics Include: Hosea 11:12—Translation Difficulties from The Hebrew/ Matthew 4:6,7—Does this Temptation Indicate Jesus is God?/ Why Does The New Testament Call Jesus God at Times, and The Lord Jesus Christ at Other Times?/ Is There a Limited Number of Demons?/ Back to Jesus' Temptation Experience/ John 15 and Romans 11—Who Can be Cut-Off?/ If Jesus is God, How Could He "Learn?"/ Who are The "Hebrew Israelites?"/ Matt Briefly Discusses The Important Worldwide Roles of CARM's Missionaries/ February 11, 2026

If Jesus is the Christ... so what? As we've followed Mark's Gospel - and now would be a good time to remind ourselves that this is most likely Peter's Gospel - it's become clear that the Disciples' training has been leading up to this moment: "Who do you say that I am?" That will prove to be the defining question of their lives, our lives, and the course of the world. But, once we've answered that question in unison with Peter, what follows? Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand. You can purchase a copy of this message, unsegmented for broadcasting and in its entirety, for $7 on a single CD by calling +1 (800) 984-2313, and of course you can always listen online or download the message for free. RS02112026_0.mp3Scripture References: Mark 8:29

God has not run out of mercy—not for you, not today.Tuesday, February 10 takes us into Titus 3:3–7, and Paul's words do what they're supposed to do: they humble you, wake you up, and pull you back to grace.In this episode, Pastor Anthony gives a simple but soul-rattling call: remember who you were… and live like you've been saved. Because it's dangerously easy to get “mature” in the faith and forget the pit God pulled you out of.Titus 3 doesn't romanticize the past—it names it: foolish, disobedient, led astray, enslaved to passions, drowning in envy, malice, and hatred. That's what we once were. But then the most beautiful word breaks the darkness:“But…”“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared…” He saved us.Not because we cleaned ourselves up. Not because we earned it. Not because we brought anything impressive to the table.He saved us according to His mercy—through the washing of regeneration, the renewing of the Holy Spirit, and the finished work of Jesus Christ. And He didn't just rescue us—He adopted us: justified by grace, made heirs, given the hope of eternal life.So today's challenge is clear: stop living like what you used to be. Live saved. If Jesus took the wrath for your sin and brought you into the Father's family, then let your life point back to Him—with gratitude, holiness, and bold joy.You were once enslaved. But He saved you. Go live like it today.

Bring Others With You | CLIMB Series — Finale“You won't find Jesus inside the tent of your comfort zone.”In the final message of the CLIMB series, Pastor CJ Witkoe calls the church beyond personal growth and spiritual endurance into something even bigger: mission. The climb was never meant to be solo. The summit was never meant to be private. If Jesus has changed your life, the invitation is clear—bring others with you.Drawing from Hebrews 13:10–14, this message reveals a powerful truth: Jesus suffered outside the camp—outside the systems of comfort, control, religion, and predictability—to make us holy by His blood. And if we want to truly follow Him, we must be willing to step outside the camp too.In this message, you'll discover: ⛰️ Why ministry and comfort zones don't coexist 

Is there anything in your life that's off-limits from Jesus? If Jesus is Lord, “there is not one square inch over the whole domain of our human existence,” Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper says, “over which Christ … does not cry, mine.” In our 2026 Vision Teaching Series, we're going to explore how Jesus is Lord over every aspect of our lives—including every minute, dollar, person, inch, word, and calling.

Is your nervous system feeling the weight of the "Anxious Generation"? In this sermon, we explore how our modern environment—filled with digital inundation and constant comparison—is creating a cultural rise in anxiety that our bodies weren't designed to carry.In this message, you'll discover:• The Childhood Shift: A look at how we've traded physical risk and independence (like riding bikes around the block) for digital "security" that is actually more emotionally dangerous.• The Body's Fire Alarm: Why anxiety isn't a sign that your body is "broken," but rather a God-designed alarm system that is simply going off too often. Learn how to move from your "dinosaur brain" back to reason.• The Trinity vs. Anxiety: A practical three-part framework to quiet your thoughts:    ◦ The Father & Your Body: Reclaiming your physical health through breathing, sleep, and nature, while removing the shame of seeking medical or professional help.    ◦ The Son & Your Future: Why the cross answers your biggest "what ifs." If Jesus finished the work of your salvation, you can trust Him with your family, your job, and your health.    ◦ The Spirit & Your Community: How the Holy Spirit intercedes in your weakness and places you in a community of people ready to help you carry your "heavy boxes".• Digital Abstraction: The danger of trying to be "omniscient" like God by consuming an endless stream of global news and social comparison.Anxiety often tells us to isolate, but God invites us to return to community and anchor ourselves in the Gospel. Using a powerful scene from the movie Signs, Pastor Mike reminds us of the Father's invitation in the midst of our struggle: "Breathe with me. You're not alone. You're okay".Stop telling yourself a story about a scary future and start resting in the story God has already finished.

WHY DID JESUS HAVE TO BECOME HUMAN? (CHRISTOLOGY 2)Last week, we began our journey through Hebrews by focusing on Christ's divine nature. In just four verses, we saw that Jesus is the agent, purpose, sustainer, and ruler of creation. He is fully God—uncreated, eternal, and the exact expression of God's nature. That was a lot of theology packed into a small space.Today we slow down and move to Christology part two: Jesus' human nature. This raises a crucial question for Christians then and now: Why did Jesus have to become human?The theological term for this is the incarnation—the central Christian belief that the eternal Son of God took on human nature in the person of Jesus Christ. Importantly, Jesus did not stop being God when He came to earth. He retained His divine nature and added a fully human nature. This means Jesus is one person with two distinct natures: fully God and fully man. No other being in the universe exists like this.While on earth, Jesus didn't “turn off” His divine power. Instead, He chose not to exercise His divine attributes independently. He lived in complete dependence on the Holy Spirit. The early church called this mystery the hypostatic union. It's deep theology, but the book of Hebrews doesn't present it as abstract theory. It presents it as good news.Let's slow down and read our passage for the day:Hebrews 2:14–18 (NLT)Because God's children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying…From this passage, Hebrews gives us seven reasons Jesus had to become human.First, Jesus became human because we are human. Since God's children are flesh and blood, the Son also became flesh and blood. Only a human could represent the human race before God. To save humanity, the Savior had to belong to humanity. In God's courtroom of justice, Jesus stands as our representative—one who truly understands our condition.Second, Jesus became human so He could die. Death is the penalty for sin, established by God from the beginning. This is the great paradox of the gospel: the Author of life became mortal. If Jesus had remained only divine, He could not have died—and if He could not die, we could not overcome death. Hebrews later reminds us that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.Third, Jesus became human so He could break the power of the devil. Hebrews says that through death, Jesus destroyed the one who had the power of death. Satan once held the authority to accuse humanity and hold eternal separation over our heads. Notice the tense—had the power of death. Through the cross, that authority was broken.Fourth, Jesus became human to set us free from the fear of death. Death is still inevitable, but it no longer has the final word. In the ancient world, death was a constant companion, and fear of it shaped daily life. The Christian hope of resurrection transformed everything. As Paul later declared, “O death, where is your victory?” Christians don't have to live as slaves to fear anymore.Fifth, Jesus became human so He could be our high priest. A priest bridges the gap between a holy God and broken people. Jesus had to be made like us in every respect to fulfill this role. He is merciful toward our weakness and faithful toward God's holiness. Hebrews will return to this theme again and again.Sixth, Jesus became human so He could be our sacrifice. In the Old Testament, priests offered animals. In the New Covenant, the Priest is the sacrifice. This is the ultimate power move of grace: Jesus offered Himself to take away the...

WHY DID JESUS HAVE TO BECOME HUMAN? (CHRISTOLOGY 2)Last week, we began our journey through Hebrews by focusing on Christ's divine nature. In just four verses, we saw that Jesus is the agent, purpose, sustainer, and ruler of creation. He is fully God—uncreated, eternal, and the exact expression of God's nature. That was a lot of theology packed into a small space.Today we slow down and move to Christology part two: Jesus' human nature. This raises a crucial question for Christians then and now: Why did Jesus have to become human?The theological term for this is the incarnation—the central Christian belief that the eternal Son of God took on human nature in the person of Jesus Christ. Importantly, Jesus did not stop being God when He came to earth. He retained His divine nature and added a fully human nature. This means Jesus is one person with two distinct natures: fully God and fully man. No other being in the universe exists like this.While on earth, Jesus didn't “turn off” His divine power. Instead, He chose not to exercise His divine attributes independently. He lived in complete dependence on the Holy Spirit. The early church called this mystery the hypostatic union. It's deep theology, but the book of Hebrews doesn't present it as abstract theory. It presents it as good news.Let's slow down and read our passage for the day:Hebrews 2:14–18 (NLT)Because God's children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying…From this passage, Hebrews gives us seven reasons Jesus had to become human.First, Jesus became human because we are human. Since God's children are flesh and blood, the Son also became flesh and blood. Only a human could represent the human race before God. To save humanity, the Savior had to belong to humanity. In God's courtroom of justice, Jesus stands as our representative—one who truly understands our condition.Second, Jesus became human so He could die. Death is the penalty for sin, established by God from the beginning. This is the great paradox of the gospel: the Author of life became mortal. If Jesus had remained only divine, He could not have died—and if He could not die, we could not overcome death. Hebrews later reminds us that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.Third, Jesus became human so He could break the power of the devil. Hebrews says that through death, Jesus destroyed the one who had the power of death. Satan once held the authority to accuse humanity and hold eternal separation over our heads. Notice the tense—had the power of death. Through the cross, that authority was broken.Fourth, Jesus became human to set us free from the fear of death. Death is still inevitable, but it no longer has the final word. In the ancient world, death was a constant companion, and fear of it shaped daily life. The Christian hope of resurrection transformed everything. As Paul later declared, “O death, where is your victory?” Christians don't have to live as slaves to fear anymore.Fifth, Jesus became human so He could be our high priest. A priest bridges the gap between a holy God and broken people. Jesus had to be made like us in every respect to fulfill this role. He is merciful toward our weakness and faithful toward God's holiness. Hebrews will return to this theme again and again.Sixth, Jesus became human so He could be our sacrifice. In the Old Testament, priests offered animals. In the New Covenant, the Priest is the sacrifice. This is the ultimate power move of grace: Jesus offered Himself to take away the...

Audio Transcript All right, well, beautiful singing. So I’ve not met you. My name is Aaron and I’m the preaching pastor here. And we’re glad you’re with us. I know sickness is kind of spreading around right now, and so I’m glad that you’re well enough to be with us this morning. So if you have a Bible with you, could open up to the Gospel of Luke. Our texture study today is going to be Luke 6, 2020. If you don’t have a Bible with you, there are pew Bibles kind of scattered throughout if you want to find your way there to Luke 6. Also, the word should be on the screen on either end of the stage if you want to follow along there. And if you’re visiting, if you open up your Bible, please do keep them open. So we do a style of preaching here. Actually, we talk about this in a sermon called Expository Preaching. So I’m going to read the passage, we’re going to pray, and then I’m going to walk us right back through the text. And so please do keep your Bibles open in this time. So Luke 6 starting verse 20. So please hear the words of our God. So Luke wrote, and he lifted up his eyes on disciples and said, blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you and they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil on account of the Son of man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy. For behold, your reward is great in heaven. For so their fathers did to the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets. So that’s God’s word for us this morning. Would you please pray with me? Lord, thank you for your word. And Lord, please help me to be a good communicator of your word today. Please give the congregation ears to hear what the Spirit is saying. I pray this all in Jesus name. Amen. Okay, so if you’ve been around here, you know every story starts out, at least for mine. So there we were. So there you were, myself and a man from our home church in Greenway, Wisconsin, and we’re getting together for breakfast. And this is Shortly before my wife, Tia and I were about to move to Louisville, Kentucky for seminary. Now, the man I got breakfast with that morning from our home church is actually a very influential, strong leader in his field. Before he retired, actually, he was the CEO of one of the largest and most profitable companies in the state. Over 7 billion in annual sales. And we got together that morning for breakfast. My friend had a bit of a surprise for me that was very much tied to sobering encouragement that he wanted me to have. Surprise he had for me was an autographed baseball. A baseball that I actually received through some personal connections to a legendary player who signed it for me, a former player, an all time great player named Hank Aaron, who played a good portion of his career for the Milwaukee Braves before that team relocated to Atlanta and then finished up his career for my beloved Milwaukee Brewers. And Hank Aaron not only is one of the greatest players of all time, but he also was my dad’s favorite player when he was growing up. A player that he just adored when Aaron played for both the Braves and the Brewers. In fact, my dad loved Hank Aaron so much that I was born. He named me Aaron after him. And this is something actually my friend knew, and this is one of the reasons why he got this autographed baseball for me, because he knew that it meant a lot to me to have that ball. It’s a pretty sweet gift, pretty thoughtful. But what made that ball even more sweet, even more thoughtful was the sobering encouragement tied to the ball that my friend also wanted to pass on to me. And that sobering encouragement from my friend was reminded me of a different man named Aaron. Not his last name, but his first name, Aaron. Aaron from the Old Testament, who was the brother of Moses. You may remember that now if you remember Moses. So he’s a great leader and prophet, but he also had a stuttering problem. So much so that Moses actually pleaded with the Lord to provide someone who could speak on his behalf, which ended up being his brother Aaron. As Moses spoke on behalf of, or as Aaron spoke on behalf of Moses the prophet who was speaking on behalf of God himself. And for my friend, his sobering encouragement to me through this ball, as I was about to head off to seminary to hopefully get trained to be a preacher, was that every time I look at this baseball, which is currently sitting amidst all my sports treasures in my basement ball, that I see often, by the way, college students, if you’re planning to come to my house next week for pass the pass pastor’s house, I’ll show it to You. But as I look at this baseball with the name Aaron on it, my friend hoped I had the sober encouragement that as I preach like Aaron for Moses, as I preach, I’m speaking on behalf of God from His perfect holy word. Now, obviously, I’m not a prophet like Aaron was as a preacher, but preaching still is speaking God’s word to his people, which, my friend, he wanted this to be a sobering truth for me, sobering as I went to seminary to study there, to study hard, to put forth my best effort in that seminary experience. You also want to be sobering for me one day as I write sermons, as I prep for sermons the way I should, to never cut corners, to give my best effort each sermon I write. You want to be sobering for me as I deliver sermons every time I stand behind the pulpit, that there should be a real, sober sense of what I’m doing, because the weighty responsibility and privilege it is to communicate God’s word. Now, I tell you all this this morning, so sobering this should be for me every time I do this, but maybe even more sobering for me this week, because this week and actually the next couple weeks, my assignment is to preach you from God’s perfect holy word on a passage that is often viewed as the greatest sermon of all time. Meaning my attempt is to give you a sermon from the greatest of all sermons, a sermon that was given by the Lord Jesus Christ, one that he actually gave on more than one occasion. If you’re with us, last week Wes actually mentioned this. I’m going to mention it again today. The sermon we’re about to go through is often referred to as a sermon on the plain, as we learned in our text last week. Verse 17. If you want to take your eyes there, that Jesus gave this sermon, he was standing on a level place. And this sermon on the plain that Luke records is very similar in content to perhaps the most famous of all sermons, that Jesus gave, the Sermon on the Mount, which is recorded in Matthew 5, where Jesus gave that the side of a mountain. Now, I will mention that for some, the Sermon on the Plain here in Luke 6, as well as the Sermon on the mount in Matthew 5. Some believe this actually is like the same event of the exact same sermon. So perhaps there was maybe like a little bit of a plateau on the mountain that gave a level ground for Jesus to preach. And while it is possible that Matthew 5 and Luke 6 record the same event, the exact same sermon, there’s enough little details between the Sermon on the Mount and the sermon on the plain that led many, myself included, to believe these are actually two different events where Jesus preached to two different people, but basically gave the same sermon two different times. You know, as mentioned, to two different people groups, which, by the way, this is actually not a problem. Jesus gave the same sermon at least two times, so. So in this time frame, rabbis are annoying, giving like the same teachings on multiple occasions throughout history, church history, many pastors, myself included, have preached the same passage more than once, where the sermons are very similar. In fact, maybe the most famous sermon, at least in our culture here, that God used to help ignite the Great Awakening first Great Awakening, the sermon titled Sinners in the Hands of Angry God. Maybe you heard that one by Jonathan Edwards. He actually preached that on multiple occasions. So it’s not an issue that Jesus preached the same basic sermon more than once. In fact, knowing that Jesus preached this same basic sermon more than once probably just highlights how important of a message this was from our Lord, which for me further underscores why this is often viewed as the greatest sermon of all time. Okay, now before we get to the text, the sermon that Luke records, just a few things, just a reminder where we’ve been the last few weeks. So. So the ministry of Jesus is now very much in public view. He’s become like the trending topic all over the region, leading more and more to come to him as great crowds were forming around our Lord. And from these crowds included some who Jesus uniquely called to himself to be his disciples, which included some fishermen who we met in chapter five, a despised tax collector who we met in the beginning of chapter six, as well as those listed in our text. Last week, in the middle of chapter six, where none of the disciples seem to be like popular people or influential people, rather they just seem to be like normal, everyday common people like you and me. Yet in his grace, in his wisdom, that is who the Lord Jesus called uniquely to himself, where he’d use these men to become his apostles that in time would like, he would use to completely set the world on his head. Furthermore, as mentioned in previous sermons, but I wanted to mention this again here, as the public ministry of Jesus is in full swing, as the crowds of people are coming to Him. No doubt a large part were coming because of the signs and wonders that Jesus was performing through various healings as well as like exorcism of demons. But the primary reason why the crowds were forming around Jesus because of the primary ministry he had, was actually preaching and teaching, which by the way, would also be the primary ministry that his disciples would have as disciples would be used by God, as mentioned, to turn the world on his head through preaching. So all the different things happening around Jesus, all the things signs he was performing, yet preaching, teaching, giving sermons like the one that we’re about to look at in the text, this is at the center, this is at the focal point of Jesus’s ministry. Which actually leads to the second thing I want to mention here this morning as it relates to sermons and the sermon on the greatest of all sermons of Jesus. The main focus I have to you this morning is to communicate to you from the text, what does the text say? However, as we work through this sermon, the sermon on the plane, I also want to just give you something that I did for myself personally this week was to try to pull insights from the sermon when it comes to preaching. So this is actually a good exercise for me this week as one who preaches often and I thought it would be a good exercise for us as a church as a whole today just to kind of help us think about preaching. What does it look like? What does that mean? Why is it so important mentioned? This is at the heart of the ministry of Jesus and hopefully it means it’s at the heart of our ministry here at Red Village Church as well. We desire preaching and teaching to be the focal point of our church. Not that other things in church life are important, but the pulpit is to me remains central. Many others throughout church history have said as the pulpit goes, so does the rest of the church. So as members, yes, pray for sermons, keep the pulpit accountable. And for some, you at some point you maybe are moving out of Madison. You have to look for another church. Unite to. There are many factors for you to consider discern as you’re trying to find a church. But the pulpit, the sermons really ought to be at the top of your priority list where there’s a steady diet of expositional Christ centered preaching. I hope I do feel for us in this time. So if that is a little bit longer intro, look back with me in the text on the sermon on the plain, they would be looking at just the start of the sermon, verses 20 through 26. So verse 20 we see in the passage that as Jesus stood on the level place, the plain, we see in the text that he began the sermon by lifting up his eyes on his disciples. Okay, not ready. Just a couple things. So first the lifting up of eyes. So commentary is read this week signified from Jesus that there’s like resolve in him, like he has resolve as he’s about to speak mean this is going to be some type of like casual conversation from his pulpit on the plane. Rather, Jesus is about to speak in ways that carried weight significance. Let’s go back to the story I began the sermon with. That’s what my friend was trying to impress upon me. When it comes to preaching, there ought to be a real weight significance that preachers are to understand as they communicate God’s word. By the way, as a church, this is why we pray for those who fill the pulpit, myself included, the preachers will preach with like resolve, resolve to you, the congregation that you have resolve. Actually you take in sermons, right? This should not be something that’s like casual lackadaisical for any of us. A lot of different points. The sermons can have some light hearted elements tied to them, but overall the tone, the tenor should have like sober minded resolve. That’s what Jesus has as he looks up as the disciples. Second, the sermon that Jesus was about to give was primarily meant for his disciples, those he named, verses 14 through 16 that Wes gave us last week. Now I assume other people are there who are listening in. In fact we get the sense when we get to verse 24 does seem like Jesus changes the primary audience that he’s talking to for just a bit there. But the first primary audience of this sermon was to disciples, those who were followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. At the risk of trying to push this too far, but unless the sermon is clearly intended for those who are not Christian, with some type of evangelistic thrust to it, which Scripture tells us is a thing, sermons, particularly in church life, the primary audience is meant for disciples to teach disciples of Jesus, those who are trusting in him, what it looks like to joyfully follow and obey him, which is certainly the case in this sermon that Jesus gave on the plane, right? This is not a sermon on how one becomes a follower of Jesus, which comes through repentance and faith. Rather, this is a sermon for those who are disciples, those who have repented, who have trusted in Jesus, as Jesus is going to help them to know how to live out their faith in ways that honor him. As Jesus looks at his disciples, we see him begin the sermon, which in our time today this will be in two parts. So the first part will revolve around the blessings that comes by faithfully following after him. Which by the way, this is why this sermon started. It as well as the Sermon on the Mount is often referred to as like the Beatitudes of Jesus with the beatitude word for like blessing. So the first part of the sermon are blessings from Christ. But then the second part, this is a series of woes, strong rebukes for actually not following after him. And we get to the woes. This is the section where I think there’s a little bit of a change in who Jesus is communicating to, as the woes have actually a bit of evangelistic thrust to them, to those who are on the plane who are not yet disciples of Christ, as Jesus is warning them that if they do not repent and believe in him, what would happen? Let’s go back to the blessings, and I want to say I’m going to read them as a whole again with the hopes of like kind of rereading these as a whole. Just capture some of the weight, momentum that I think is there in the sermon of Jesus. And after rereading it again, let me just point out a few things. So look back with me again. John, verse 20. He, Jesus told them, blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry, for you should be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you should be satisfied. Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you, and when they revile you and spur your name as evil on account of the Son of man. Verse 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for your reward is great in heaven. For so their fathers did so, for the fathers did so to the prophets. Okay, now just to break this up, a few things I want to point out. So first, just this term, blessing or blessed. So this is a term or phrase that’s actually scattered throughout Scripture, particularly in the Old Testament, where the word blessing is often correlated with wisdom, particularly wisdom in this life. Now, this week I thought about Psalm 1, and I did kind of wonder if Jesus maybe had this passage in mind as he gave this sermon. So in Psalm 1, so blessed or happy is the man who walks in this life in the wisdom of God, where this blessed happy one in this life does not associate with evil. Rather, the blessed happy man is the one who delights in God’s word and obeying God’s word, what plants him like a tree by streams of water. And while the sermon on the plain, this teaching of Jesus on wisdom certainly is tying to some stuff in this life. But it’s a little different in that Jesus connects the ultimate blessing, the ultimate happiness, not in this life, which so much of the Old Testament is, but rather in the life that is to come, the eternal life that Jesus would usher in. So look back with Me again just to see the forward pointing blessedness that Jesus preached on that was to come for his people. So verse 20. Yes, you’re poor now, but for yours is the kingdom of God, which is the kingdom of God that is, yes, here, now. But a kingdom, the fullness of, of it is still yet to come. And when the fullness of kingdom comes, that’s where the fullness of blessedness, happiness will be found, in the life that is to come. Verse 21. Sure, you are hungry in the here and now, but look ahead, you will be satisfied. The future will come and you will be satisfied. Yes, in the here and now, in this life you weep, but in the future, there is a time that is going to come that you will laugh. Yes, in the here and now, in this life there might be people who hate you and exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil because of your faith in Christ. But look ahead to the future, you will rejoice, you will leap for joy, because in heaven there awaits a reward for you. And for us, this is actually really important for us as we think about being disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, in this life we live with wisdom, but we do so even more with our eyes towards that which is to come. That is where wisdom is set to faithfully live out this life with an eye towards that which will last forever. And this is actually so much of the teaching and preaching of Jesus on, on the better country that is to come, the heavenly one, as Jesus reminds us, the scripture reminds us that we’re simply sojourners, pilgrims headed to the promised land. And that’s where the blessedness will fully be experienced, this eternal reality that waits God’s people. Which by the way, this is why we strive to seek up, to store up treasures in heaven. This is why we poured our lives as offering, as an offering to service to God and others. This is why we’re even willing to suffer in this life for the cause of Jesus. Because we know that our suffering is not in vain. To know that one day our eyes will be our tears and our eyes will be dried. That this will all be temporary. And as that day comes, we’ll be replaced with blessedness, with joy, with rejoicing. Second, in this sermon, Jesus is helping his disciples understand the reality that as we live out our faith like in this life, it might bring some painful, unpleasant realities that we’ll have to endure. In the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus talked about the reality of potentially being poor. In the Sermon on the Mount speaks Of being poor in spirit, which is tied to humility and as maybe this is what Jesus is referring to here, the sermon on the plain. But to me this actually feels like Jesus is speaking towards like financial poverty of being poor. Where many throughout church history, including the 12 disciples falling after Jesus in his life, would bring like financial hardships for a host of different reasons which because of financial hardships at times in this present life, in this sermon, God’s people had to battle real physical hunger. Although we mentioned here, the hunger here could also be a hungering for righteousness with the sermon the Mount speaks to. However, I do think that Jesus is actually speaking towards like physical hunger here where plenty throughout church history, including his disciples. They didn’t always know where their next meal might come from, which adds meanings to like the Lord’s Prayer and give us our daily bread. Furthermore, in this life many Christians have faced hardships for being disciples of Jesus. Hardships that even the prophets had to endure. Hardships in the text has caused many to weep. Weeping that has come because of others have hated them or excluded them from certain things. Weeping because of how their name has been reviled and spurned as evil simply because of their faith in Jesus, the Son of Man. Yes, as a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, we live with the joy of eternal life that is to come, which is a joy that we can even experience in different measures in this life. However, that being said in this sermon, for disciples of Jesus, if we faithfully live out our faith, pain, difficulty, hardships, they can be a reality. A reality is part of the cost of following after Christ. A cost that we must count. A cost that many throughout history, including many today face. For us, this is like a hard truth that Jesus is giving to his disciples in this sermon on the plain. This is not like an easy thing for them to hear or for us to hear, which by the way also should be part of what preaching should have. Where at times, as the text calls for it, hard things need to be said, hard things need to be heard. Scripture warns us that sermons just can’t be there just like to tickle our ears, to just maybe tell us what we want to hear. Rather to tell us the hard truth like this, the sermon that we need to hear. As you keep going. As hard as it would have been for disciples to hear this, how being a disciple could bring a lot of hardships towards them in this life, hard things could come their way, but it actually would have been a harder truth for those who are like listening in, who are not yet his disciples, which, by the way, I do recognize might be somewhat true for some of us here this morning. That you’re here, we’re grateful you’re here, but you’re here, you’re not yet a follower of Christ. So in this sermon, after the four blessings, blessings that come for those who by faith follow him, we see in verses 24 through 26, we now see Jesus pronounced four woes, woes that come for not following him. Woes. If you’re not a Christian, I actually want to plead with you to hear hears. It’s almost like ice water, like running down your back, back that causes you to like to wake up and to by faith run to Jesus and the blessedness that he is. So let’s read through the woes again. I want to read them the same way I read through the blessings and ways that hopefully create some momentum and weight that the sermon Jesus had. And then I want to circle back to give some details, details on the Wo. So verse 24 says, but woe to you who are rich, for you received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did, the false prophets. Okay, now a few things here. So first, the four woes, these obviously stand in sharp contrast to the four blessings that Jesus started his sermon with. And this woe here, this is actually used by Jesus in very forceful ways where he’s still having like, resolve in his eyes as he communicates these woes, where through these woes, Jesus communicated like a declaration of like, judgment and misery from God on those who reject him. So I mentioned this in the past, but I want to mention this again. So in Scripture, there’s. There’s really only two ways that one can live. There’s a blessed way that comes from following Jesus, that will result in eternal life with him. But then there’s the woeful way of judgment and misery that will come with eternity apart from Jesus. Since Scripture does not give us some type of middle ground option, yes, this is a hard but important truth for us to hear to understand. This life is headed to two different, very different realities. The blessed way, the woeful way. Second, this word woe is actually something we also see throughout the Old Testament, much like we see the word blessing throughout the Old Testament, where throughout the Old Testament there’s actually woes given to God’s people for entertaining false prophets. What the sermon speaks upon and for us, I think maybe a little bit more subtle ways. So Jesus was giving his sermon here on the plain. This is like a sermon based on scripture, as Jesus is expounding, expositing scripture in light of himself. And this is actually one of the main reasons why we believe expository preaching is so important. If Jesus preached God’s word, should not every preacher and every sermon preach God’s word? Third, do you notice how the four woes, like the four blessings also are grounded in what? That. That which lies ahead. We’re in the kingdom of God as it fully comes. Like everything’s like turned around. We’re in this life. For the Christians who are suffering through hardship, in the end they’re going to be rewarded with blessing upon blessing, the fullness of joy and happiness for all eternity as you get to be with Jesus. But for those who reject God, who might be like receiving some benefits here and now, but in the end, not only will those benefits be removed, but with misery that will never wane. So back to the text. So sure, in this present life one can get rich without God in their life and enjoy some of the temporary benefits that wealth can offer. Where yes, those riches you can use to fill up your stomach. Where yes, in this life one can laugh it up and receive some type of like worldly praise. But if that’s all you have in this life, that’s all you have without God. In the end, not only will those things all vanish, but as mentioned, they’ll be replaced with misery. A couple things just on this back to winter earlier. So poor and hungry. This is why I think real physical poverty. Hungry is what Jesus is speaking to here. Not speaking about some type of poor in spirit or hunger and righteousness. This is how the rich and the full are used. So I think it’s meant to be. In contrast, second, having wealth, a full belly, laughter, reputation, others admire. So none of those things are wrong in themselves in this life. Okay, so don’t be mistaken there. In fact, in this life, those things actually be like blessings from, from God. In this life, the problem lies if we have those things apart from Christ, where these things almost become like idols to us that we’re putting like our hope and our trust in like wealth or reputation. That’s the problem, A problem that we actually must be warned of because those idols in the end will be idols that proved to be vain, where in the end they will not satisfy you, they will not in the end make you happy, they will not deliver to you what you need, which is forgiveness of sin and eternal blessedness of heaven. Only Jesus can offer those things through his death, through his resurrection from the dead, right? Those things in himself are not wrong. In the end, if you do not have Jesus, they’re in vain. They will not satisfy. They will lead you to misery. Which, by the way, kind of on that note, this is why every sermon should point us to Jesus Christ as the only one who will satisfy, as the one that we do desperately need, the One who loves us in such a way that he would die for us to take on all of the woes of God on the cross, where Jesus bore all of the misery, eternal misery upon himself to bear the punishment of our sin, so that through him we could find forgiveness and eternal life and joy forever and ever. Which leads to the conclusion of our sermon today. So let me just get a couple just summary thoughts on this greatest of all sermons of Jesus. So the first two will just be from the text and the last one is just from sermons. So first let God’s Word teach us that which is true. This is why the preaching and teaching was at the center of Jesus’s ministry, right? Jesus is the the way, the truth and the life. And he came to teach us the truth so that by the truth, the truth of God’s Word, that’s how we can be set free. So that by the truth we could have life, abundant life, both now and in eternity. While a sermon might be hard for us to digest, maybe some of the truths here in this passage might be hard for us to digest. These are truths that we need to hear, truths that we need to know, truths we need to believe in, truths we must obey, right? These hard truths are connected to the blessings of God. These harder truths are also connected to the woes of God. So we must hear that which is true. Second thing to where these truths of this text are pointing us to is we’re to live our life in light of eternal life that is to come and the kingdom of God that Jesus promises one day to usher in. So if this is it, just like just this life, nothing more, then sure, eat, drink, be merry, live for self, enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. But Scripture is so clear, including the sermon here from Jesus. The truth is, there’s so much more than just the here and now. There is an eternal life that is to come that for those who have faith in Christ will be the blessed life. Living with Christ in the heavenly places, experiencing the fullness of his joy in the new heavens and new earth. Let’s say it again. For those who reject him, there’s a life of eternal misery and judgment of sin for us. We must live our life in light of this eternal reality that is to come. Even though there could be a great cost in this life for doing so. Cost like suffering and pain. However, we must trust what our suffering that we might suffer for our faith in Christ and eternal life. Not only will Jesus fully comfort us in the text, he will even reward us when the sermon says even a great reward which reward whenever suffering we have in this life. As we get that rewards we’re with Jesus. Any suffering will feel slight and momentary in comparison to the weight of glory that awaits. And by the way, if you’re looking for some help on maybe how to think ahead, like how to live your life with an eternal like view. So there’s great ministry that is called Eternal Perspectives and I find it pretty helpful. So established by a former pastor named Randy Elkhorn who wrote one of my favorite books. I haven’t mentioned this in a little while, so I’ll mention it again. Book called Heaven. And so if you’d want some help to try to think through, you know, how do you live your life in ways that’s looking ahead, you know, I would look to eternal perspective ministry. Read the book on heaven. Especially now if you’re looking to try to read a book for the stretch run of winter that we have left, that’s one I’d recommend. Okay, last one. So be sober minded about preaching. Which brings us back to the start, what my friend wanted me to have as a preacher. But it’s actually not just preachers who are to be sober minded when it comes to preaching. The congregation should as well. Now, when it comes to preaching, obviously none of us can preach a sermon like Jesus. In fact, even the Apostle Paul referred to his preaching as folly, which is true for all preachers. Even more so, right? None of us are apostles like Paul was. It’s folly. Folly where every sermon is like soon forgotten. Almost like a meal that we consume. Soon forgotten. However, scripture tells us that it’s through preaching. That’s how God chooses to manifest His Word in ways that through His Holy Spirit he speaks to his people in ways that we can see. The Lord Jesus Christ that God is using preaching to bring people to faith, to grow us in our faith, to sustain us in our faith, to persevere us in our faith all the way to the life that is to come. So be sober minded when it comes to preaching. If a preacher should have resolve in his eyes, a congregation should have resolve in your ears. So say it again. Please pray for the preaching here at Red Village that God would use it to communicate truth, even hard truth. Please keep the pulpit here at Red Village like lovingly accountable that the word is preached in season and out of season. As a congregation, we never settle for anything less than God’s words exposited in ways that point us to Christ, who he is, what he’s done for us. Have a longing in your heart to hear the word preached. We’re actually seeking to prepare your own heart to receive sermons. By the way, this is also one of the reasons, maybe a primary reason, why we hope you’re actually here every Sunday to take in a steady diet of the word preached. I say it not to guilt you or shame you. Things can happen. But just imagine if you went weeks without feeding your physical body or if you just happen to feed your physical body just like every so often as is kind of convenient, just imagine how weak, how malnourished your body would be. As important it is to feed your physical body to the steady diet, how much more important to feed your souls week in, week out with God’s Word. Yes, most sermons are like meals. You consume them and you forget them. But yes, say it again. That is how God is revealing himself to us, to grow us, to sustain us, to persevere us in the faith. So church, whether you’re preaching God’s word or taking it in, may we all be sober minded when it comes to the word that is preached. Knowing that in the grace of God, the preached word is a pretty sweet gift, a pretty thoughtful gift from a kind and generous God. Let’s pray. Lord, I do pray that you’d help us to not only hear your word but heed to it. Lord, please help us to live rightly in ways that you defined are true for blessedness. God, help us to live in light of that which is to come. I pray for those who might be here this morning, who are not yet disciples of Christ, that today you would open up their eyes to see the beauty of Jesus, that they would turn into him. And Lord, I do pray just for just this pulpit, the sermons that come from it, whether it be me or others. Lord, please help us to rightly divide the word of truth. And Lord, please bless the preaching of your Word for our good and your glory in Jesus name, Amen. The post The Greatest Sermon of All Time – Luke 6: 20-26 appeared first on Red Village Church.

Ephesians 4:11-13 “Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.'” – Matthew 9:35-38  NLT   “like sheep without a shepherd” – Mark 6:34  1 Kings 22:17  Ezekiel 34:5  Zechariah 10:2 Jesus to Peter, “Feed my sheep / Shepherd my sheep.” – John 21:15-17  CSB Jesus loves us. Jesus gives us gifts. Spiritual gifts given by Jesus, not to be limited (There is no prescribed formula or “gift mix” for any particular office, as God uses different people in different ways in each of these five ministries Christ has given.), not to be confused with gifts given by Father God listed in Romans 12:6-8, or gifts given by God the Holy Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. “And he (Jesus) himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God's Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ's fullness.” – Ephesians 4:11-13  CSB Ephesians 4:11-13 with context of Ephesians 4:1-16. Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors/Teachers: Jesus' agape love = motivation and evaluation. A person who functions in a particular way for the purpose: “Jesus gives some a gift for ___ and equipping each of us to be active in ___.” Equipping – making, preparing, training, perfecting, making fully qualified for service, (in classical language the word was used to describe setting a bone during surgery – The Great Physician is now making all the necessary adjustments so the church will not be “out of joint”) Shepherds – one who is responsible for the care and guidance of a Christian congregation “pastor or minister” Pastors – Care-giving leadership Shepherd understanding from: Psalm 23, Ezekiel 34, Luke 2:8-20, John 10:7-18, Luke 15:4-7, Hebrews 13:20, 1 Peter 5:1-5, Acts 20:28, “In Ephesians 4:11 there are four classes of person, not five, for the last class involves two complementary roles, pastor and teacher, in other words, to guide and help a congregation as well as to teach.” – Louw & Nida Greek – English Lexicon Teachers – feeders Teacher – one who explains or shows how to do something, one who provides/imparts instruction, 70 times Jesus is referred to as a teacher. “You have one Teacher…one Instructor, the Messiah.” – Jesus in Matthew 23:8-10  CSB  (teaching disciples humility when they lead, in contrast to the Pharisees) Biblical – a spiritual leader who explains God's Word, guides believers into spiritual maturity, equips them for ministry, and models Christ-likeness, acting as a conduit for divine truth to build up the church and lead people to obedience and worship. This role involves diligent study, sound doctrine, discipleship, and fostering growth. In the New Testament, this includes the apostles, Paul, Barnabas, Apollos, Priscilla, Aquila, and Timothy. Paul – 1 Timothy 2:7  2 Timothy 1:11  Teachers recognized in Antioch, Acts 13:1. Elders/pastors are required to be able to teach the local church, in 1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:9. How would we describe the pastor-teachers mentioned in Ephesians 4:11? Jesus-following, care-giving, feeding, serving leaders, equipping the local church members for the work of the ministry, growing into great spiritual maturity, stability, and ability to refute deceptive narratives. Leading you to a place that you may not have been able to arrive at on your own. If Jesus gives good gifts, for his purpose and our benefit: What are pastors? What are pastors NOT? What is the purpose of our interactions with pastors? …according to Ephesians 4:1-16 What should we do? 1.       Read Ephesians 3:14-21 and 4:1-16. 2.       Pray, asking God for guidance. 3.       Think about what we are reading. 4.       Write down elements of God's purpose for us. 5.       Write down ways in which we should interact.

If Jesus died for us when we were far from God, what does that mean for us now? And how should it shape the way we live? In this in-studio conversation, Rabbi Schneider and Dustin Roberts explore Romans as they talk about grace, confidence before God, identity in Christ, and what it really means to walk in newness of life. **** BECOME A MONTHLY PARTNER - https://djj.show/YTAPartner   **** DONATE - https://djj.show/YTADonate 

Is there anything in your life that's off-limits from Jesus? If Jesus is Lord, “there is not one square inch over the whole domain of our human existence,” Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper says, “over which Christ … does not cry, mine.” In our 2026 Vision Teaching Series, we're going to explore how Jesus is Lord over every aspect of our lives—including every minute, dollar, person, inch, word, and calling.

Letting God Be Lord Over Your Finances, which Are His but He Entrusted to You, Will Liberate Your Life! MESSAGE SUMMARY:  We are so focused on earning money and other financially driven life activities so that it is easy for money and finances to become our god. Making finances “our god” violates the Second Commandment. If Jesus is Lord over all Creation, as we are told in Psalms 24:1, then: “The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.”; therefore, everything that has been entrusted to you is God's. In James 5:1-3, the author of the Book of James provides insight into someone who does NOT make God the Lord of their finances: “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days.”. Therefore, let God Be Lord over your finances, which really are His finances.   TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, I now take a deep breath and stop. So often I miss your hand and gifts in my life because I am preoccupied and anxious. Grant me the power to pause each day and each week to simply rest in your arms of love. In Jesus' name, amen.    Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 132). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM RIGHTEOUS IN GOD'S EYES. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Psalms 24:1-10; James 5:1-6; Psalms 25:1-22; Psalms 45:1-17. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “Essentials Part 2 – More than Just a Man” at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/    DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

This week in Built Different (We Love God), we're studying Colossians 1 by refocusing on the supremacy of Jesus—our Creator, Sustainer, and King .If Jesus isn't the center, everything else falls apart—so this message calls us back to a God-first life where it's truly all about Jesus.

The world talks about leadership. Jesus talks about leadership. Same word. Entirely different way.  If Jesus said “Not so with you” directly to your leadership style today, what would He be correcting?Support the show

The Bible is full of hidden gems and Exodus 13 is one of them. This passage gives us profound insights into the meaning of redemption and helps us understand what it means that we have been redeemed by Christ. Join us for this important study in Exodus 13! DISCUSSION AND STUDY QUESTIONS: 1.    Exodus 13 lays out for us the principle of particular redemption. While that's definitely a weighty idea, it is key to understanding who we are in Christ. So, let's think back to the final plague of Exodus 12, what "price" did the Egyptians have to pay for the redemption of Israel? Did any of the Jews have to pay this same price? Why not? 2.    According to verse 12, who belonged to the Lord? Why?  3.    The podcast explained that if God saves a person from destruction, they owe their lives to Him. In light of the final plague, what did these Jews owe to God? How does this principle relate to us who have been saved through Christ's death on our behalf?  4.    The podcast referred to Exodus 34:19-20 for the redemption price that parents were to pay the Lord for their children. What was this price and why did they have to pay it?  5.    The podcast also mentions Numbers 18:16 and Deuteronomy 15:19. What do these passages teach us about the principle of redemption? Why were some redeemed and some not? 6.    All of these redemption passages teach the principle that a redemption price must be paid. Amazingly, New Testament tells us that the Father has given His Son Jesus to pay our redemption price! If Jesus is our redemption payment, do we still have to make that payment too? Why or why not? Why is Jesus' payment sufficient for the rest of His spiritual family?  7.    In Exodus 13:8, why was the father to instruct his children of the Passover by saying "It is because of what the Lord did for *me* when *I* came out of Egypt?" Why should the father say *he* came out of Egypt when only that first generation did? How would this identify future generations with that first generation of the Exodus? How does this help us understand the New Testament teaching that we were in Christ when He made His payment for us? 8.    In verse 19, when Moses brings Joseph's bones back to the Promised Land, what principle can we learn about faith and trusting God?  9.    When God went before the people as a Pillar of Smoke & Fire, what did He presence signify? How was this different from the fact that God is everywhere at all times (i.e. omnipresence)? Could these people have been assured of God's presence if they went off and did whatever they wanted? In our life today, how do we need to walk to be assured of God's presence in our lives? Check out our Bible Study Guide on the Key Chapters of Genesis! Available on Amazon just in time for the Genesis relaunch in January! To see our dedicated podcast website with access to all our episodes and other resources, visit us at: www.keychapters.org. Find us on all major platforms, or use these direct links: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6OqbnDRrfuyHRmkpUSyoHv Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/366-key-chapters-in-the-bible/id1493571819 YouTube: Key Chapters of the Bible on YouTube. As always, we are grateful to be included in the "Top 100 Bible Podcasts to Follow" from Feedspot.com. Also for regularly being awarded "Podcast of the Day" from PlayerFM. Special thanks to Joseph McDade for providing our theme music.   

Made a guest appearance on the Great Reassessment Podcast hosted by Matthew Mastronardi. - Did John Wilkes Booth really assassinate Lincoln?Is religion and government used to control people? If Jesus is the Son of God, what does that mean? We covered these topics and more. You can find Matthew at https://www.youtube.com/@TheGreatReassessment***************************************Get your What is Truth Merch Here!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://whatistruthpodmerch.itemorder.com/shop/home/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Find all my links here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/whatistruthpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠To catch a live show, Please Follow me on Odysee and Rumble!Please rate 5 stars if you enjoy the content! For vast majority of my content follow me on Odysee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://odysee.com/@Weezy:a⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Now on Rumble!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://rumble.com/user/Whatistruthpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow me on Twitter!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/WhatTruthPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join our Telegram channel Group⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://t.me/witweezy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@WHATISTRUTHTV⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Listen on your Favorite podcast player!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.minds.com/weezytruth/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Daddygate Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/TheDaddyGatePodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠If you would like to "Tip" the show Click the Patreon Link. Support will help me improve the show. Much Love to all whom already have!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/What_is_Truth⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠If you would like to join the WHAT IS TRUTH? PODCAST private FACEBOOK group, hit the link! Private Facebook group⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/429145721412069/?ref=share⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Email WHATISTRUTHPODCAST@gmail.com

If you've been around church for very long, you've probably heard the phrase “you can't serve God and money”. Did you know that Jesus actually mentions money in almost a third of his parables? To be fair, Jesus used money to talk about a lot of things that weren't actually money related, but that doesn't mean he didn't have something to say about it. Today we start a new series focusing specifically on what Jesus said about a whole bunch of things. If Jesus was the word of God that became flesh as the scriptures say, then certainly his words should matter to us.

Send us a textWhat if heartfelt lament isn't rebellion but faith under pressure? We trace that question from the fire of Jeremiah and Isaiah to the ash heap with Job, where friends confuse honest grief with crafty speech. Along the way, we share a real story of walking back into church after tension, choosing reconciliation over avoidance, and learning that being wronged doesn't guarantee a righteous response. The thread is simple and demanding: judge speech by truth, not by tone or circumstance.We dive deep into Job 15 and the charge that “your mouth utters iniquity,” asking why people label uncomfortable truths as unloving. The challenge lands on modern ground: believers often police emotion instead of testing claims by Scripture. We also confront selective courage in public theology. If Jesus is Lord, then any system that denies him stands opposed to the gospel; consistency matters more than cultural comfort. That doesn't mean cruelty. It means clarity with humility, even-handed conviction, and a refusal to let sensitivity silence the message.From there we zoom out to the foundation: your doctrine of God directs your reading of the Bible. Start with who God is—holy, immutable, omniscient, omnipotent, sovereign—and hard passages come into focus without bending his nature. “God repented” in Genesis 6 reads as grief, not change. Claims about his will harmonize with his character across the canon. Interpretation is never neutral, so we call for a thick weave of biblical witnesses, testing ideas by the whole counsel of Scripture. The result is a steadier church life: lament without guilt, correction without pride, courage without partiality, and worship anchored in the God who never changes.If this conversation sharpened your thinking or steadied your heart, follow the show, share it with a friend who loves the Book of Job, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway. Your words help others find truth that doesn't flinch.Support the showBE PROVOKED AND BE PERSUADED!

January 28, 2026Today's Reading: Exodus 34:29-35 or Exodus 3:1-14Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 6:1-7:14; Romans 16:17-27“Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.” (Exodus 34:29)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.In the Transfiguration of our Lord, we see the communication, or the delivery, of the divine majesty to the human nature of Jesus. This means that things that are normally only true of God are also true of the human being Jesus Christ. Normally, human flesh and blood does not shine with uncreated light as bright as the sun. But the human flesh of Jesus shines with the light of divine glory. This is not because of any quality of the human nature, but because in the union of God and man in the person of Jesus, the divine nature lends its light to the human.But that's Jesus. The God-man. The one and only Son of God who assumed human nature in the unity of person. The one in whom the whole fullness of Deity dwells bodily (Colossians 2:9). No other human being who has ever walked this earth has been personally united with one of the persons of the Holy Trinity. But the fact that the Son of God has communicated His divine glory to the human flesh and blood He assumed in His person opens the possibility for other flesh-and-blood humans to receive the Gifts of divine majesty.And Moses shows that it does, in fact, happen. After conversing with God and writing the commands of God on a replacement set of stone tables, he comes back down the mountain. “Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.” Normally, human flesh does not shine with light. But Moses' skin shone. While Scripture does not say that its brilliance was like the sun (as was the Transfiguration of Jesus), they still had to put a veil over his face (Exodus 34:33).If Jesus' face shone like the sun with its own divine light, then the face of Moses shone like the moon, reflecting the glory of God. And do not miss the cause: “because he had been talking with God.” Moses' face shines with borrowed light communicated to him by the Word of God.You, too, shine with a certain borrowed light when you hear the Word of God and keep it. St. Paul urges you to be “children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life” (Philippians 2:15b–16a). This light is God's by nature, but yours by grace. Follow Jesus and you will not walk in darkness, but you will have the light of life (John 8:12).In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Renew me, O eternal Light, And let my heart and soul be bright, Illumined with the light of grace That issues from Your holy face. (LSB 704:1)Author: Rev. Jacob Ehrhard, pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church and School in Chicago, IL.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.Better understand difficult and overlooked Old Testament passages in this new book by Authors R. Reed Lessing and Andrew E. Steinmann. Their conversational yet academic writing style makes learning about the Old Testament accessible to those at all points in their Bible reading journey. Discussion questions at the end of each chapter invite you to think more in-depth about what you just read and record your answers. To stretch your understanding, a list of resources for further reading is also included at the back of the book.

“Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.” (Mark 13:33 NKJV) Prayer is one of the most powerful and misunderstood tools available to God’s people. Many people confuse it with normal conversation or the daily interactions they have with other people. So, they ask skeptical questions like these: If God knows what we need before we ask Him, why should we even bother to ask? If God is going to do what He wants to do, and He already knows what He’s going to do, what difference does prayer make? The Bible offers several compelling reasons for God’s people to pray. Let’s look at four of them. First, we should pray because Jesus told us to. Do we need a better reason than that? Jesus said, “Men always ought to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1 NKJV). Not to mention the blessings of watching our prayers get answered, whether that involves the salvation of a loved one, a divine healing, or a wonderful provision. If Jesus says we should do it, then let’s do it. Jesus led by example in this area. He prayed frequently. A significant percentage of the red letters in the Bible are words of prayer. Jesus’ prayerful connection with His heavenly Father was essential to His earthly ministry. Second, we should pray because it’s God’s appointed way for us to obtain things. God works in our lives through prayer. James 4:2 tells us, “You do not have because you do not ask” (NKJV). This means there may be things God wants to give to us that are not yet ours because we haven’t specifically asked. That’s not to suggest that God is a cosmic genie, waiting to grant our every wish. The key to praying effectively is to discover what God’s will is and then prioritize it in your life. When your desires align with God’s will, amazing things will result from your prayers. Third, we should pray because through prayer, we overcome our anxiety and worry. The Bible says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6 NKJV). When we are tempted to worry, we should pray instead. Prayer isn’t a mantra or a string of empty words to repeat to distract our attention from the things that cause us anxiety or worry. Prayer is the act of staring down those things, acknowledging them and their impact on us, and then handing them off to God, who is powerful and loving enough to take care of them for us. Fourth, prayer is one of the ways we make ourselves ready for Christ’s return. Jesus said, “Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is” (Mark 13:33 NKJV). For many believers, Jesus’ return is a source of anxiety. The apocalyptic descriptions in Scripture paint a stark picture. For others, Jesus’ return is a source of impatience. They can’t wait. Prayer addresses both issues. It helps believers get in the proper mindset regarding Jesus’ return. These aren’t the only reasons to pray. But they are compelling reasons to pray. Why not put them into practice today? Reflection question: Why do you pray? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship! — The audio production of the podcast "Greg Laurie: Daily Devotions" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known." All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the Grace in Focus podcast. Bob Wilkin and Sam Marr are answering a question about believers being judged by God. What about our bad works or deeds? Do they not denote or imply sin or sins? If Jesus has already taken the judgment for believers' sins, how does this work at the Judgment

Romans 10:9-10 — What does it mean to confess Jesus as Lord? Talk is cheap and when dealing with matters of life and death, one should think carefully about what it means to profess that Jesus is Lord. In this sermon on Romans 10:9–10 tiled “Confessing the Lord Jesus Christ,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones gives a practical list of what a true profession of faith will look like. If Jesus is Lord, it means that He is over everything. If He is the Lord of one's life, then every part of their life should be changed when they encounter Jesus. If one is not sure if they have encountered Christ, they can ask themselves these five questions: “do you have a changed attitude towards sin? Do you love being with other Christians? Are you concerned with God's glory? Are you able to give a reason for your hope when asked? Are you not ashamed of Christ, regardless of the consequences?” The answer to these questions reveal the truth about one's heart. These are marks that can only come from God Himself through salvation. Dr. Lloyd-Jones will help the listener see that following Jesus is the greatest thing that they can ever do. It is more than an intellectual commitment; it transforms everything about the Christian. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/603/29?v=20251111

Is there anything in your life that's off-limits from Jesus? If Jesus is Lord, “there is not one square inch over the whole domain of our human existence,” Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper says, “over which Christ … does not cry, mine.” In our 2026 Vision Teaching Series, we're going to explore how Jesus is Lord over every aspect of our lives—including every minute, dollar, person, inch, word, and calling.

When Jesus comes, there will be no delay. In this devotion, Pastor Roderick Webster continues the Lamps With Oil / Lamps Without Oil series from Matthew 25:1–13 (KJV) and explains a sobering truth: when the Bridegroom arrives, those who are ready will enter immediately.Jesus' parable shows that all ten virgins had lamps and were waiting, but only those with oil were prepared when the moment came. Pastor reminds us that the oil represents the Holy Spirit—to have oil is to have Christ, and to lack oil is to lack Him.This message connects Matthew 25 with the clear teaching of Scripture concerning Christ's return. Paul declares that believers will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:51–52) and that the Lord Himself will descend, the dead in Christ will rise first, and living believers will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17).Pastor also points ahead to the joy awaiting the redeemed—the marriage supper of the Lamb—where Christ receives His bride, the church. Those who are ready will go in with Him. When the door is shut, it will be final.The question is not how long we've been around church, but whether we are truly ready. If you are ready, help someone else get ready. If you are not ready, today is the time.

To state that Jesus is Creator and over all Creation addresses a specific heresy of the Colossian church and heresies we encounter today. Jesus as Creator means that angels are created by Him and are subject to Him. People are created by Him and subject to Him. The earth itself is created by Jesus and subject to Him. This is a bold and profound statement and the implications into our lives is significant. If Jesus is holding all things together, the earth and its gravitational pull, the angels and their activity, then He is powerful enough for the daily needs of our lives. Since Jesus has proven His love for us through the cross, I can trust that He is wielding this power through His character of love. The fact that Jesus is the initiator and source of my reconciliation, I can rest in the knowledge that He will faithfully keep me and carry me through this life. Prepare for this week's teaching by reading through Colossians 1:15-23, taking in the beauty of the truths Paul states about our Savior, Shepherd and King Jesus.

his week as we continue our series in the Parables, Jesus begins with "a man had two sons..." This is not the famous Prodigal Son parable, which also begins that way. Instead, here a father comes asking his sons to work in the vineyard. The first says yes, but doesn't do it. The second says no, but changes his mind and goes. Jesus presses his hearers: so who did what his father wanted? Everyone agrees it's the second son. Open-defiance-followed-by-obedience is better than fake-obedience-that-hides-defiance. We get it, Jesus. Lesson over, right? But Jesus then goes scorched earth: "that's why the bad people are going to heaven ahead of you." Wait, what?! If Jesus goal is not merely to humble us but to heal us, what is the surgery he is doing here? How is our half-hearted obedience actively robbing us daily of the joy and healing of heaven? Let's talk about "Yes & No" (Mt.21:23-32).

If Jesus is risen, we can face all affliction with hope in the God who raises the dead. And we can rejoice all the more as God works deliverance through our prayers. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 for more.

Am I ready to meet the Lord? In today's devotion, Pastor Roderick Webster continues the Lamps With Oil / Lamps Without Oil series from Matthew 25:1–13 (KJV) and brings the question home in a personal, urgent way.Jesus tells a parable of ten virgins waiting for the bridegroom. All ten had lamps. All ten appeared to be waiting. But when the bridegroom came, only the wise went in—because they had what was necessary: oil. Pastor explains that the oil represents the Holy Spirit, and warns that a lamp without oil may look beautiful, but it gives no light—it's only decoration.This devotion also connects to Romans 8:9 and 8:14 (KJV), reminding us that belonging to Christ is not merely something we profess—true believers possess Christ, and the Spirit of God dwells in them. The message is clear: don't rest in church attendance or familiarity with religion. Make sure you are truly ready.If you've been praying, “Lord, help me be ready,” this episode will steady your heart and point you back to the truth of the gospel.

Group Guide Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week. TranscriptHey everybody. Unfortunately, due to the weather, we have been unable to meet, and we are going to be starting Second Samuel this coming Sunday when we are hopefully, Lord willing, able to get back together.So what we wanted to do was I'm just going to take a moment to kind of walk you through some of the content that we had prepared and was intending to walk through as we finished up our prayer series this Sunday. And so just wanted to walk you through some of that.If you will just grab a Bible, go to Matthew chapter 6. We're going to look at what is known as the Lord's Prayer. So Jesus, this is how he teaches his disciples to pray. And this is actually in the middle of what we're looking at is in the middle of the sermon on the mount, although it shows up in other times as well.So what we've done in our prayer series is we've taken the time to look at New Testament prayers and consider the things that Paul prays for. Some of the things that Paul prays for and we've seen these expansive prayers. The requests that he's making are huge. He wants us to see the glory of God and to know eternally what's coming for us. He wants us to be sanctified completely. That's the will of God, that we would be sanctified, that we would completely be made holy. He wants us to know the love of God, the unknowable love of God, so that we might be filled with all the fullness of God, which is unfathomable. And then to be able to then see that he's able to do more than we can ask or imagine. He's beyond our mental capabilities. Like these are massive prayers.And what we're going to see here is something very, very simple, straightforward.And so some of what I think is helpful for us to understand is that there is no ceiling to prayer when it comes to the things we can talk to God about and we can pray for, that we've entered into it goes as high as heaven, like it is beyond thought, it is beyond reason. We get to go and talk to him about everything and request anything and talk - like the expanse of prayer is wide open.But the floor to prayer is very low. It's not complicated. And that's what we're going to see as we talk through and see what Jesus teaches his disciples here, is that it's not like, hey, in order to pray this is going to be real hard. Anybody can enter in.So for the person who goes, man, I just don't even know how to pray and I feel like when I pray it's only like 30 seconds long and then I'm distracted, it's like, yeah, you can do it. A prayer can be 10 seconds long. The prayer that when he says pray like this, he prays for about 20 seconds. The thing that he shows him how to pray.But then we see that Jesus also prays all night long. And so there's just, the ceiling is non-existent. You can go as high as possible. So for the person who's like, oh cool, I prayed for 15 seconds, I did it - it's like, no, you get to keep growing in this.But for the person who's like, I think this is really difficult and I don't even know if I'm praying right - it's like, hey, the entry level is real simple. And so that's where we're going to start with Jesus teaching a basic daily prayer that's pretty straightforward.And so I want to read the whole section we're going to look at. It's in Matthew 6. And then we're just going to go through it piece by piece. And I'm going to try to go through it fairly quickly. This is the content that I would have been preaching, but I'm not really preaching to y'all. I'm just kind of walking you through some of this. So we'll move fairly fast.Matthew 6:5–8 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”Now, I said I was going to read through the whole thing, but I want to stop there for a second.He's going to start off by basically saying, “Hey, I'm going to teach you about praying, but when you pray, there's some ditches. There's some things you just need to avoid.”One of the dangers of praying is that you would pray to be seen by others. That's the way he words it. He says, “Don't pray like the hypocrites,” meaning that they look like something on the outside, but there's something else going on. It's a trick.And so he says they pray in the synagogues, they pray at the street corners, and their goal is for you to see them. And he says they have their reward. They've done it. So if your praying is a performance, it works. It works as a performance, but it doesn't work as a prayer. They get what they wanted because their prayer wasn't to God. It wasn't between them. It was for you to watch them.And so he says, “Don't do that. Don't make praying a performance. Rather, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who sees in secret.”So the bulk of Christian prayer should be done privately like that. You should have an active private prayer life.He does not forbid praying in front of people, and we actually see that he prays in front of people. He prays out loud at times. The disciples pray together and pray out loud. There's actually a lot of good and health that can come from us praying together. But you do have to watch that the point of your praying together is still relating to God, communing to God, speaking to God, and not somehow putting on a show.So we just have to be careful if somebody asks you to pray at a meal or if you're praying in your group. Like I know that there are times where we're praying together and I'm thinking about what I'm going to pray and I'm not praying with them. And so I'm doing what he said here as I'm turning it into some sort of performance.And he says, “Don't do that. I don't think you have to pray out loud in front of people. You do have to pray.” And he says, “Go in your room, close the door, pray by yourself.” So that is commanded of us as Christians.But he's not prohibiting praying together. But we do have to be on guard that when we do that, that we don't miss the point and make prayer somehow a performance.So he starts off there. Don't do that. Don't pray as a performance.He's going to give us another ditch. Don't do this.So then he says, “And when you pray,” this is verse 7, “do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”Okay? So don't heap up a bunch of empty phrases. Don't think that your prayer has to be a certain length or a certain amount of flowery language or you've got to use the right words. Don't do that.And specifically, one of the things I think you would see here is that his disciples are coming to him and he's teaching them how to pray. He's explaining to them how to pray. And this is in the sermon on the mount. There's another place where they come and say, “Teach us how to pray,” and he does the same thing.If you went to a priestess of some deity and you were asking, “How do we pray?” what he's saying is that they would, they have all this junk. You got to chant. You got to wear the right clothes. You got to be in the right place. We're going to have to have some music. We're going to need to cut ourselves. They're going to add all this stuff to it. You got to do it a certain amount of time or it doesn't count. Or you have to do it at a certain time.And he just is like, “No, none of that. Don't heap up a bunch of empty phrases. Don't think that your many words are going to get it. Don't think you have to assault God with language to get him to bend to your will. None of that.”And then what he's going to say is, “Pray like this.” And what he prays now is simple in its form, simple in his word use, simple in his sentence structure. It's straightforward and it's not long. Just pray like this.So when we're talking about like this, which is what he says in verse 9, pray like this, it's simple, but it does open for us, I think, categories that might, when you're thinking about the prayers that you have, might increase the like, oh actually, I probably should be praying about this and I should be praying about this.So we're going to take it through and just kind of go, what are the categories that he prays? You'll notice the sentence structure is simple and the length is simple. But it maybe will add some complexity to your praying if there's some areas where you're just like, I haven't been praying about that and that.So I don't want you to, because we're going to go through it and look at the different categories, suddenly go, “Oh, wow. This is really complex.” It's like, “No, he actually is praying pretty straightforward, pretty cleanly, pretty simply,” even if it opens up categories for you, it doesn't make it more difficult.Like I said, the floor here is very low. And I think that's built into what he says when he says, “Don't be like them.” This is verse eight: “For your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”And that's the baseline assumption in praying, is that we're going to the Father and he cares about us. He knows what you need. And that's beautiful.So if you understand, okay, does a three-year-old know how to talk to his father? Does he know how to approach him? Doesn't know how to be humble and to be in need. Then if that can happen, then you can pray. If you knew how to ask your father for something you needed, then you can pray, because that's the baseline thing that's happening here.So with that in mind, we're going to look at, he says, “Pray then like this.” I'm going to read the whole thing and then we're going to go through bit by bit to just see what's in this prayer. Even though it's simple and straightforward, it takes 15 seconds.And like I said, that's the entry to prayer, is we get to pray very simple, very straightforward. And then we can go from there into not more empty words and phrases, but just greater depth of relationship.You know, Jesus prays all night long, and it's not because he had to say the same thing over and over again for it to work. It's because he relates to the Father. The same way that you would stay up all night and talk to someone, a friend that you cherish or someone that you're in love with, and you would just, it would just keep going and it's conversational and there's so much to talk about and you don't want to stop.That's what I mean by the ceiling to prayer. The requests that you can make, the things that you can talk about is unending because of the depth of relationship that we get to have with the Father.But the entry level to just like what counts as a prayer is any of it. If you're aiming it at him and if the point is to relate to him and to talk to him and to bring your needs to him, then it all counts.So I'm going to, this is what he says. Pray then like this.Matthew 6:9–13 “Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'”That's it. That's the whole prayer.So we're going to walk through. I'm going to tell you what these different things mean, what he's saying, and then I want you to consider them as like, okay, do I have category for that? Do I pray that sort of thing?Again, not complicated in language, not long, not repetitious, but also for us to go, hey, there's things I should be praying for.It's like, what? Well, let's look and see what sort of things he says to pray for.So he starts off with “our Father in heaven.” And that's just framing up who are we talking to. Prayer is not to the universe. It's not just floating out there. And Christian prayer is to the Father. We can pray to Jesus. We can talk to the Spirit. But in general, normative Christian prayers, we're praying to the Father. That's who Jesus bought our relationship with. He brought us back to the Father. Our arrangement was with the Father and that Christ comes to rescue us and to bring us in to be adopted as sons and daughters of God.So we're praying to the Father, and it's beautiful this pairing. He's our Father in heaven.So he is our Father. That's the - he loves us. He knows us. There's this relationship built in. But he's also in heaven. He's big, competent, capable, ruling, reigning, glorious.And so know who you're praying to and begin with the relational depth there, but also the weighty glory of him reigning from heaven.So that's “our Father in heaven” is where he starts.And then “hallowed be your name.” Now we don't consider, we don't talk about hallowing things very often, but it's may your name be honored as holy. May it be set apart.And I think that there's two things happening here. This is just praising God. So it's beginning with, I'm hallowing, like I'm surrendering to you your honor. It's, you know, when the angels say glory to God in the highest, it's I'm glorifying you now. I'm hallowing you now. I'm honoring your name now in this very moment.And so it's, you can praise God, glorify him, honor him. And it's a way for you to remember you are my Father in heaven. You do love me but you are holy and completely other and different and above me. So it's a humility in approach.It also, if it's a prayer that moves forward, is to be praying that, Lord, I would honor you, that I would show you respect, that I would bring glory to your name, that in my heart and my words and my actions I would live in a way that brings you honor.So that's start off knowing who you're praying to, and then in submission and respect and humility, we praise him. But also do you pray that you would honor him as you go forward and as you live your life.So that's some of what's happening there.Okay. “Hallowed be thy name.” “Your kingdom come.”Now again, I think all of these is such a simple phrase. All of these we could spend a whole sermon on just explaining some of what's going on here. But the category that I want to open up for you is that we should be praying for the advancement of his kingdom on earth.We want more people to submit to the King. Which means that we want more people to place faith in Jesus. We want the advancement and the good news of the kingdom to be proclaimed. We want the good effects of the kingdom to be extended.So you should pray for missions and missionaries and for your school and for your co-workers. You should be praying that people would meet Jesus.This is, you know, we have this section in when our groups meet. We want to discuss and review kind of how are we being missionaries together and who are we building with? We want to pray for those sort of things.And this is built into what you're going to see later. It's a daily prayer. So it's just the normal daily way to pray. You should be praying for missions. You should be praying for the kingdom to advance and for more people to surrender to Jesus.And then this fits into that, but he says, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”So this kingdom advancing is faith and it is new believers, but it also is submission to his will. It's that the world would look more like it belongs to him.So “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” So we should be praying that his will would be accomplished in our lives, in the lives of others, in our schools and our neighborhoods, that it would look like we belong to him, that we would surrender to him, that good things would happen, that people would turn from sin, that we would do what is right.And so as you're going through and thinking through what are the things I'm praying for and how do I pray normally, we pray for missionaries, we pray for the work of the advancement of the kingdom, and we pray for the advancement of his will.And then also when there's situations in your life, you can pray it like this: I pray that your will would be done. I don't know what should happen at work. I don't know how this conversation should go. I don't know how I should handle this, Lord. I pray that your will would be done. I pray that I would be sanctified and repent of sin and handle this well and honor you well. And so I just pray that your will would be done in this situation.And so that's the - he prays that.Then he says this: “Give us this day our daily bread.”This is humility in the fact that we are dependent on him every day of our life.I think that for a lot of us, this is kind of where most of our prayers center around, just what's going on today. What do I need? And that's fine and beautiful that that shows up in our prayers. He expects it to.This was a practical reality for them that often they needed their food today. Like they didn't know if they were going to have it. Whereas we, you know, we have grocery stores and refrigerators and freezers. And so a lot of times we just kind of aren't thinking about how dependent on him we are for the general just function of life, but you are.And so we should normally be asking, Lord, hey, provide for me what I need. And one of the ways I word it, and I pray this through this with my boys a good bit, was, Lord, give us everything we need and help us to be truly thankful. Help us to enjoy it, but help us to be truly thankful.But I think for a lot of us, this is the stuff. This is, you know, praying over this meeting I have at work and this test that I'm going to take and all these just different things that are coming up that are on our plate that day. This conversation I'm going to have with this person. Just, Lord, provide the things that I need to live, to exist, to function, for this day to go well.And so we ask for that, and we humbly are dependent on him for those things.I think for some of us the bulk of our prayer may be in this zone, this practical need zone. And I would just say, yeah, but you need to open up and understand we should be praying for missionaries. We should be honoring the Lord in our prayers and we should be considering his will at work and things. So, you know, spread it out.And then I think that every once in a while I'll meet someone and it's almost like talking to God about simple things like bread is beneath God, so we shouldn't talk about stuff like that. I shouldn't pray to him about, you know, this test I have because I don't want to waste his time.And that also, I think, belittles him as if he's big but not so big that we are able to waste his time. We're not able to waste his time. He's not exhausted by us. He's not limited by us. We are to bring things to him, and he delights to talk to us.If there's something that's burdening you or bothering you or in your way or in your need, you talk to him about it. He's not too big for that. He's not too busy for that.And so I would say for the person who's like, I only pray big prayers - it's like, yeah, we should pray big prayers. But we also should know that he loves us, that he cares for us, and that he is dear and near, and not too big that these are beneath him, but so big that he can handle everything. And so I just think that don't limit him in that way either.So we should have the humility to realize situations and we should talk to him about practical things.All right. So then as he finishes, he's going to say, “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” Those three together.I find it very interesting and very helpful, and I point this out a lot when I'm talking to people about prayer. The Bible tells us we have three enemies: the flesh, the world, and the devil. And it doesn't always frame them up like that in that order, but we do. It's going to talk about those three things as that stand in the way of us following God.So we're told that we have to put to death the deeds of the body, that we're fighting the passions of our flesh, that the flesh is opposed to the Spirit, and that we're only going to walk in one. We're either going to walk in the Spirit or walk in the flesh.And so that's the idea that you want to sin, you desire sin. That there's a part of you, there's a part of me that genuinely wants to sin, and I have to put that to death. I have to fight against that. You have to fight against that.It tells us that one of our enemies is the world. This is not like “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” as in the people, but the world systems, world ideas that stand opposed to God. It is people that tempt us to sin or that tell us sin is okay or that normalize it, or the systems that are in place that help us rebel against God.So that friendship with the world is enmity with God. That is the way the Bible's going to talk about it. So that we shouldn't be friends of the world but we should come out of the world. We should love Jesus. We should follow him. We shouldn't look like we belong here. We should look like we belong to him.So that's a second enemy, is the world.And then the third one is the devil, that we actually have a real spiritual enemy that wants destruction for us, that wants us to follow him into rebellion, that doesn't want joy or peace. You know, he roams around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour is the way Peter puts it. So we have that enemy.And what's interesting and I find very helpful in this normal daily way to pray, Jesus has in mind all three. He has in mind that we are in a war against sin, that sin is destructive. We are in a war that the world tries to pull us and lure us and take us captive. And that we're in a war against a real enemy that wants us to not surrender to the Lord and not follow him.And so I think it's very helpful that in his normal daily way to pray, he considers all three: the flesh, the world, and the devil.And so when he considers the flesh, what he says is, “Forgive us our debts,” or forgive us our sins, “as we have also forgiven our debtors,” or as we have also forgiven those who have sinned against us. And so trespasses is another way that that'll be translated at times.That a normal daily way for you to pray is to ask for forgiveness, to walk in repentance. That repentance is part of the Christian life. And it's not us walking with our head down in shame. It is delighting in the freedom that has been purchased for us by Christ, that we get to be forgiven.And so you should, in your normal praying, be considering: forgive me for how I spoke yesterday. Forgive me for the language I use. Forgive me for the attitude that I have. Forgive me for when I had that opportunity to serve somebody, I just did it begrudgingly. I was annoyed the whole time that there was a person around me in need rather than loving them. So forgive me. Help me.And this is why one of the normal things Christians should do with each other is repent to each other, because it's been - it's part of our normal praying. It's part of our normal walking with the Lord, is that we're asking for forgiveness.The flip side of this, and I would encourage you to read what he says after this in 14 and 15, but he connects this idea of us being forgiven with us forgiving others. And Matthew 18 is also helpful here. Yeah, all of Matthew 18. I was wanting to see if it went into Matthew 19, but in Matthew 19 he starts talking about other things. So just all of 18.But it's helpful here in this idea of how forgiveness works.But we're to be people who receive grace and live in the grace and the mercy of God, and that we're to be people who give grace and mercy to all those around us. And so that's where he puts those together. That he says forgive us as we forgive those who sin against us.And so that a normal part of our daily praying is to consider our sin, but also to walk in repentance and ask for forgiveness and to move forward in being forgiven and receiving mercy. That his mercy is over all that he's made, and so that daily we receive mercy and it's wonderful. And so that we would normal daily pray, repent of sin.The next thing he says is, “Lead us not into temptation,” so that we would be aware that one of our enemies is the world. That the world is going to try to normalize sin. It's going to be out there taunting us and calling to us.And you're saying, “Lord, don't let me look at the bait on the hook and not see the hook.” You know, that'll keep me away from temptation. He doesn't just say, “Help me withstand temptation.” He says, “Pray that you won't even enter into it. That you won't go near it. That I won't even be tempted today.”And I was, Chet said one of the ways that he prays this and considers this in his prayer life is, Lord, help me to see the things that tempt me. You know, he gave the example of like if there's a certain app on my phone that's going to keep tempting me, help me to see that, recognize that, and just get rid of the app. Help me to see the areas and the avenues and the people and the places that lead me into temptation so I can get rid of them.You know, I heard a pastor say this one time and I found it very helpful. But the sooner you show self-control, the less self-control you need.So that saying, “I'm going to go to the party, but I'm not going to drink,” is harder than just saying, “I'm not going to go to the party.” Saying, “We're going to go up into the dorm, but we're not going to commit sexual sin,” is harder. It's more difficult than just being like, “Hey, let's just not go in the dorm. Let's just not be alone together.” That temptation level is higher. So let's avoid temptation.And so rather than saying, “I want to avoid sin,” Jesus is saying, “Yeah, okay.” But also you want to be forgiven for sin and you want to avoid temptation. You want to go further back and say, “What are the things that tempt me? How do I not even get to where I'm close to the line? How do I stay away from temptation?”And so that'd be a thing that you'd be praying, and that you would be aware of the world's influence to draw and entice you away from the Lord and into sin.Third enemy, and the way that he finishes prayers: “But deliver us from evil.” Now the word evil there, evil is a fine translation. Wickedness is a translation that it'll be translated wickedness sometime, or wicked as in like wicked people, or the evil one as in Satan himself.And so I think you just need to be in your praying mindful of the evil of the world. And so this is in some ways praying, Lord protect me from wicked men, from evil situations. Protect me from the evil that I've already gone into and that I'm surrounded by. Like deliver me out of it. Rescue me is kind of the word he's using here.But also to be mindful of like when Ephesians says:Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”That I think sometimes in our normal configuration of prayer and the normal way that we think, because we're western, most of us, and we don't grow up considering spirits and dark forces and invisible things, we even in our own faith are sometimes like, yeah, well this is my personal faith, but the real things in the world are like on the periodic table. And we even miss that like, no, God is real and the spiritual world is real. It's as real as oxygen and hydrogen. We're just not thinking about it right. We don't have it framed up in our head right.And so sometimes when we think about the things that we're worried about or that are assaulting us, that we most often in the western world, when you think about like what are the enemies, you pick people. You pick political ideas or entities. And so the things that you're worried about is like them trying to do this, this nation, this people, this idea, this group.And Paul says, yeah, we're not wrestling with flesh and blood. That's not who we're worried about. That we're at war with a much bigger enemy in a much bigger scheme. And so your normal daily praying should consider, hey Lord, deliver us. Rescue us from the influence of the enemy. Rescue us from the evil one. Rescue us from evil. Rescue us from sin as it goes to work. Protect us.And so your normal daily praying should include repenting of sin, praying against temptation, and praying about the work of the enemy, that he would not have any effect, that he would not, that the Lord would rescue you from lies that you're believing and ways that he's at work and ideologies and temptations and things that he's doing in the world, and just that evil is at work in the world.But evil isn't just a benign force. It has an agent behind it, and being aware of that in our praying.So Jesus says praying is not a show and it's not some big long complicated thing. Pray like this. And then he gives a simple straightforward prayer. But I do think it opens up categories for things that we should consider as our normal prayer.So that you should go in your house and close the door and pray simple straightforward things. And I think it's helpful if you can print this out or you can open it up to Matthew 6 and you can just kind of go, okay, and help these things guide some of your praying. But don't complicate it. Don't think you have to say it well. You're not filling out forms at the DMV. It's not like it's going to get rejected and sent back to you.You're talking to your Father who already knows what you need before you say it.Now, Jesus does tell us to labor in prayer, to continue at it, to pray the same things. And he doesn't mean say it seven times in a row for it to count. He just means come talk to him again about it tomorrow. Pray when it's on your mind. Pray again. Pray this morning and pray this afternoon. And then when you think about it again, pray, because he cares about you and he knows you.And keep at it. Keep talking to him. Keep telling him what's going on. Keep letting him work on you in prayer so that we would be people who pray.And the last thing I want to point out as I'm wrapping up just kind of this walkthrough, this assumptive reality of how we get to approach God that Jesus teaches his disciples, is purchased by Jesus. This is a blood-bought gift to you.You don't get to pray like this if Jesus doesn't go to the cross, because he's not your Father, because you haven't been adopted. If Jesus hasn't saved you, you haven't been brought into the family.Jesus has to go die for this to be a reality, that he gets to be our Father in heaven. You don't get forgiven if there is no cross. You don't get rescued from the enemy if there is no cross. You don't get taken out of the world if there is no cross. The provision that we need stops at daily, and our eternal provision is not provided if there is no cross. His kingdom doesn't come if there is no cross. His will isn't accomplished if there is no cross.And so one of the things that is to be in mind as we do this is to rejoice in the work of Jesus and to know the privilege and the delight that this type of praying is because it was purchased by the precious blood of Christ and given to those who belong to him as a way that we get to relate to God.And without him it doesn't exist, but with him we get to delight in and enjoy it. And it's not something that we earn or that we achieve or that we do well. It's something that he's graciously given us as a gift.So hopefully as we wrap up our prayer series, this simplified kind of, hey, it's not a show and it's not complicated. You get to go talk to your Father and you get to do it because Jesus has earned that for you and given that to you and modeled it for you.Then go pray. Pray big prayers, but also realize that you get to talk to him normal daily about all the stuff of life. And trust him, because he's your Father and he loves you and he knows you and he already knows what you need even before you ask.

At first, Rob's friends thought he was avoiding them. They'd ask him to go somewhere and he'd say, "Sorry, I can't." Eventually he told them why he couldn't go. He had something much more important to do. He would just say, "I've got to go to my meeting." Not too many teenagers would choose going to a meeting over going with their friends, but Rob made a good choice. See, Rob is a teenage drug addict, and he's being rehabilitated through a 12-step program modeled after Alcoholics Anonymous. One important key to fighting his problem is attending that support group meeting several times a week. A few months ago he went back to cocaine. He had stopped going to the meetings. Actually, all of us addicts, like you and me, will only make it if we make the meetings. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Meeting Jesus, Daily Light." Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Mark 1. I'm going to begin reading at verse 35, as we get a look inside some of the intimate side of the life of Jesus Christ. It says, "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed." Simon and his companions went to look for Him. And when they found Him, they said, 'Everyone is looking for You.' Jesus replied, 'Let us go somewhere else - to the nearby villages - so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.' So He traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons." Now, in this passage, Jesus is doing what He does repeatedly in the gospels. He is modeling the highest priority of a busy schedule. And here is His highest priority - a regular one-on-one meeting with the Heavenly Father. If Jesus did it, we cannot possibly say we've got an excuse for not doing it. Scripture is filled with examples of this. Moses getting up to meet God in His tent of meeting. David saying, "Early will I seek You. Satisfy us in the morning with your love." You see, we need our meeting because of our addiction. We're all earth addicts; we're hooked on this world's ideas. We're hooked on this world's entertainment. We're hooked on this world's ways of treating people. We're all sin addicts as well. After following Christ for a while, Paul says, "The things that I want to do, I do not do. The things I don't want to do, I keep on doing" (Romans 7:15). We're addicted to sin. We're addicted to earth. Now, the 12-step dependency programs recognize that you can't change without regularly going to the support group meetings. Now, our support group is a support person. We cannot stay away from sin unless we have our meeting - yeah, our meeting with God - regularly. The day you skip your meeting is the day you start to slip. We're not talking about some legalistic ritual where you have check the box Christianity: read my Bible and prayed. No, not doing your duty. It's a love thing. I must be with my Lord because I love Him; I want to be faithful to Him, not unfaithful. I need to plug into His power this day, picking up fresh manna for this day, getting His daily dose of strength for this day, getting His guidance for this day. I need that to fight my addiction to sin this day and my addiction to earth stuff. Yeah, today. See, I've been hooked on things that hurt me, things that hurt others, things that hurt God. We were all addicts, and we just can't afford to miss those meetings. So, did you show up for yours today?

Jesus Followers Are Expected to Serve the Needs of Others and to Reflect Jesus to Others as We Serve their Needs – “To Serve is Christ” MESSAGE SUMMARY:  You will never be more like Jesus than when you are serving others; and your best way to witness to non-believers is for them to see Jesus in you. Your best example of service is Jesus. To serve is Christ. Jesus instructed us, regarding serving others, in Mark 10:45: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”. Jesus, the Son of Man, did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. If Jesus came, lived, and died on earth as a servant, why would you, as a Jesus Follower, not realize that you are expected to serve? If, as Paul tell us in Romans 8:28-29, we are being conformed into the image of Jesus, then we are being taught how to serve: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.". To serve is to live as a reflection, to others, of Jesus in you.   TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, fill me with the simple trust that even out of the most awful evil around me, you are able to bring great good — for me, for others, and for your great glory. In Jesus' name, amen.        Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 91). Zondervan. Kindle Edition TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, because of I am filled with the Holy Spirit, I will not be controlled by my Inconsistencies. Rather, I will walk in the Spirit's fruit of Faithfulness. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22f). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Romans 8:28-29; Romans 14:18-19; Daniel 4:17; Psalms 38a:1-11. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “It's About Time: Part 2 – Overstressed, Overloaded, and Maxed Out Lives” at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

We begin this week's episode by asking if Gerrit is the reincarnated Apostle Matthias? (He's not saying he is, but he is also not not saying it.) Where did the thief on the cross go when he died? If Jesus went to “paradise,” why does Peter say He preached to “spirits in prison”? We read from theologian R.C. Sproul (because nothing says “good time” like Calvinism) and then pivot to Joseph Smith's sermon teachings that reframe paradise, prison, and the afterlife in a way that resolves contradictions without doing interpretive backflips. We would love to invite you to join us on Saturday, February 28th, at 6:30 for fun, faith, and frivolity as we make predictions for the 2026 Super Bowl that occurred three weeks earlier and likely talk about who is dead and in hell, part 73. Still not convinced? What if we told you that we combed through all of our litner data to find a venue central the the largest number of litners, but ultimately settled on a location based on how close it was to Richard's house? Click the link below for tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1980902400404?aff=oddtdtcreator We have had a couple of people cancel for the upcoming 2026 Summer Standard of Truth Tour scheduled for Kirtland/Palmyra, June 14th through the 20th https://pci.jotform.com/form/260194925241153 Sign up for our free monthly email: ⁠ ⁠https://standardoftruthpodcast.substack.com⁠   If you have any questions or possible topics of discussion for upcoming podcasts, please email us at: ⁠⁠questions@standardoftruthpodcast.com

In this episode of The Weekly, Jay Ewing is joined by Mark Wicks for a thoughtful conversation through John 11, the story of Lazarus. Why did Jesus wait when the one He loved was sick? What does it mean when God doesn't move according to our expectations? And how does the resurrection of Lazarus shape our hope today? This episode explores the tension of delay, grief, and misunderstanding—and the powerful truth that God reveals His glory even through death. As the story unfolds, we're reminded that Jesus is not only compassionate and present in suffering, but that He is also the One who brings dead things back to life. If Jesus can raise Lazarus, and if He can raise Himself, then resurrection hope is not just for the future—it changes how we live and trust God now.

In this episode of The Weekly, Jay Ewing is joined by Mark Wicks for a thoughtful conversation through John 11, the story of Lazarus. Why did Jesus wait when the one He loved was sick? What does it mean when God doesn't move according to our expectations? And how does the resurrection of Lazarus shape our hope today? This episode explores the tension of delay, grief, and misunderstanding—and the powerful truth that God reveals His glory even through death. As the story unfolds, we're reminded that Jesus is not only compassionate and present in suffering, but that He is also the One who brings dead things back to life. If Jesus can raise Lazarus, and if He can raise Himself, then resurrection hope is not just for the future—it changes how we live and trust God now.

“Does God Change If Jesus Changed?” This question opens a discussion on the nature of divine will and the role of prayer, alongside inquiries about the potential for repentance after death and the spiritual roles of women in the Church. Other topics include the implications of civil marriage for Catholics and the necessity of Mary’s immaculate conception in relation to original sin. Join the Catholic Answers Live Club Newsletter Invite our apologists to speak at your parish! Visit Catholicanswersspeakers.com Questions Covered: 01:37 – At what point when someone passes away would God allow repentance if someone passes away if they are incapacitated? 15:05 – Why are we supposed to pray if it just comes down to God's will anyway? 18:32 – What kinds of roles women have as spiritual mothers of the Church just like priests have specific roles as spiritual fathers. 24:16 – How is it possible to believe that God does not change If Jesus changed quite a bit especially during his time on earth? 41:46 – If two Catholics are civilly married, would that be considered adultery or fornication? If they divorce, what does that mean spiritually for those individuals? 49:23 – If Mary could have been immaculately conceived then why could Jesus not be affected by Mary's original sin? Why was it necessary for Mary to be immaculately conceived?

Friends of the Rosary,We pray today's Rosary — the Sorrowful Mysteries — on the road.In today's main reading of the Gospel (Mark 2:23–28), Christ Jesus says:"The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath."Friends, in today's Gospel, Jesus acknowledges that he is “lord even of the sabbath.”Bishop Barron explains this mystery, "Christians should enter the public arena boldly and confidently, for we are not announcing a private or personal spirituality but rather declaring a new King under whose lordship everything must fall. If Jesus is truly Lord, then government, business, family life, the arts, sexuality, and entertainment all come properly under his headship."Ave Maria!Come, Holy Spirit, come!To Jesus through Mary!Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.Please give us the grace to respond with joy!+ Mikel Amigot w/ María Blanca | RosaryNetwork.com, New YorkEnhance your faith with the new Holy Rosary University app:Apple iOS | New! Android Google Play• ⁠January 20, 2026, Today's Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Is there anything in your life that's off-limits from Jesus? If Jesus is Lord, “there is not one square inch over the whole domain of our human existence,” Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper says, “over which Christ … does not cry, mine.” In our 2026 Vision Teaching Series, we're going to explore how Jesus is Lord over every aspect of our lives—including every minute, dollar, person, inch, word, and calling.

Is Christianity built on inspiring myths, or is it grounded in real history?In this sermon we confront one of the most important questions in religion today. Did these things actually happen, or are they symbolic stories meant to teach moral lessons? Unlike many belief systems that avoid historical claims, Christianity insists that its core events took place in real moments, involving real people, within recorded history.Using the Apostles' Creed as our guide, this message shows why Christianity anchors its faith in historical reality rather than mythology. The Creed names specific events and figures, including Pontius Pilate, to make a clear claim. This faith does not rest on ideas or feelings but on what God has done in history.We examine why the crucifixion of Jesus is one of the most firmly established events of the ancient world and why the resurrection stands at the center of the Christian faith. If Jesus did not rise, then Christianity collapses. If He did rise, then everything changes.This sermon also explores how creation, the virgin birth, the resurrection, and the ascension are presented in Scripture as historical realities. These events form the foundation for Christian assurance, forgiveness of sin, and future hope. Salvation is not based on the strength of our belief but on the truth of what happened.Christian faith is not about blind trust or personal preference. It is about receiving what God has already accomplished. If these events are true, then forgiveness is real, hope is secure, and new life is possible.

Large crowds gathered from across Galilee, Judea, and beyond to follow Jesus. Even His enemies couldn't ignore Him—they plotted against Him because His influence was undeniable."If Jesus is Lord, then make Him the center of your life, not a footnote."The question isn't whether Jesus existed or whether He was remarkable. History confirms both. The question is: Who do we believe He is? Lord, lunatic, liar, or legend?The evidence points to one conclusion: Jesus is Lord. Now we must decide what that means for how we live today.

Why do we spend so much time judging other Christians over things God never commanded?In Romans 14, the Apostle Paul speaks directly to a problem that still exists in the church today — believers acting like they're the master instead of Jesus. We argue over opinions, preferences, traditions, and personal freedoms, while missing what it actually means to live as slaves of righteousness.In this message, Pastor Dean challenges us to stop playing God in other people's lives and start focusing on obedience, humility, and love. This isn't about ignoring sin — it's about recognizing the difference between God's commands and our opinions.If Jesus is truly your Master, then judgment isn't your job.

Why do we spend so much time judging other Christians over things God never commanded?In Romans 14, the Apostle Paul speaks directly to a problem that still exists in the church today — believers acting like they're the master instead of Jesus. We argue over opinions, preferences, traditions, and personal freedoms, while missing what it actually means to live as slaves of righteousness.In this message, Pastor Dean challenges us to stop playing God in other people's lives and start focusing on obedience, humility, and love. This isn't about ignoring sin — it's about recognizing the difference between God's commands and our opinions.If Jesus is truly your Master, then judgment isn't your job.

On today's Bible Answer Man broadcast, Hank says a few words about having an eternal perspective and how to develop one.Hank also answers the following questions:Can you clarify your view of the creation account and whether Adam was created with the appearance of age? James - St. Louis, MO (3:24)If Jesus became sin per 2 Corinthians 5:21, does that mean for a moment God hated Jesus because God hates sin? Jordan - KS (15:44)Why did God reject the sacrifice of Cain but accepted the sacrifice of Abel? Was it the blood? Patsy - Bradford, AZ (20:36)

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20260117dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. Matthew 3:13-15 Baptism Connects Here is an interesting question: If Jesus never sinned, why did he need to be baptized? The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus endured temptations but never succumbed to them. He never sinned—not once. Not a stray thought, not a rash word, not a single misdeed. So, why did he need to be baptized? Jesus needed to be baptized “to fulfill all righteousness.” Not his righteousness—ours. Every one of us needs to be baptized into Jesus, and his baptism connects us to him. We are washed just as he was. But the water that washes us is not just water, it is water connected with Jesus’ very words—”the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Martin Luther explained: “It is certainly not the water that does such great things, but God’s Word which is in and with the water and faith which trusts this Word used with the water. For without God’s Word, the water is just plain water, and not baptism. But with this Word it is baptism, that is, a gracious water of life and a washing of rebirth by the Holy Spirit.” The little words at the end of today’s Bible passage should tell us something about our life of faith: “Then John consented.” We do nothing to initiate our contact with God, but he invites us to receive faith as a gift. Our humble “consent” is not something we do actively, but something God gives us to do in response to his grace. What a great God we have! He has connected himself to us by becoming human like us. And he has connected us to him through this simple faith-creating act of baptism. Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for the gift of baptism that connects me to you, my perfect Savior, and makes me a member of God’s family. Guard and protect me, body and soul, that I may experience your love and goodness always. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20260117dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. Matthew 3:13-15 Baptism Connects Here is an interesting question: If Jesus never sinned, why did he need to be baptized? The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus endured temptations but never succumbed to them. He never sinned—not once. Not a stray thought, not a rash word, not a single misdeed. So, why did he need to be baptized? Jesus needed to be baptized “to fulfill all righteousness.” Not his righteousness—ours. Every one of us needs to be baptized into Jesus, and his baptism connects us to him. We are washed just as he was. But the water that washes us is not just water, it is water connected with Jesus’ very words—”the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Martin Luther explained: “It is certainly not the water that does such great things, but God’s Word which is in and with the water and faith which trusts this Word used with the water. For without God’s Word, the water is just plain water, and not baptism. But with this Word it is baptism, that is, a gracious water of life and a washing of rebirth by the Holy Spirit.” The little words at the end of today’s Bible passage should tell us something about our life of faith: “Then John consented.” We do nothing to initiate our contact with God, but he invites us to receive faith as a gift. Our humble “consent” is not something we do actively, but something God gives us to do in response to his grace. What a great God we have! He has connected himself to us by becoming human like us. And he has connected us to him through this simple faith-creating act of baptism. Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for the gift of baptism that connects me to you, my perfect Savior, and makes me a member of God’s family. Guard and protect me, body and soul, that I may experience your love and goodness always. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

“Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him.’” (Mark 9:7 NLT) Two thousand years ago, Jesus put this question to the Pharisees: “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is He?” (Matthew 22:42 NLT). Some of history’s greatest minds have grappled with that question ever since. The confusion, doubt, and skepticism started early. It’s worth noting that during Jesus’ earthly ministry, many people were perplexed about who He really was. Jesus never became God, nor did Jesus ever cease to be God. His deity, which means His divine lordship—the fact that He is God—was pre-human, pre-earthly, and pre-Bethlehem. In the Incarnation, that moment when Jesus came to earth and was born of the Virgin Mary, He didn’t lay aside His deity. He was God before He was born, and He remained God after He became a man. We are given a glimpse of Jesus’ divine nature in the story of His transfiguration, as recorded in Mark 9:2–13. “Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them. Then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus” (verses 2–4 NLT). According to Matthew’s description of the event, Jesus’ “face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light” (Matthew 17:2 NLT). For most of His time on earth, Jesus veiled His glory. But for one brief shining moment, God allowed Jesus’ disciples to see who He really is. God punctuated the moment with a verbal acknowledgment and a pointed instruction: “This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him” (Mark 9:7 NLT). Jesus’ identity validates His words. Attention must be paid to His teachings because they come from the Son of God and God Himself. Ignoring them is not only short-sighted but also spiritually dangerous. In Matthew 16:13–20, we find a profound interaction between Jesus and His disciples that begins with a question from Jesus: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (verse 13 NLT). “‘Well,’ they replied, ‘some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets’” (verse 14 NLT). And then Jesus makes it personal. “But who do you say I am?” (verse 15 NLT, emphasis added). “Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God’” (verse 16 NLT). This may have been Peter’s finest moment. “Who do you say I am?” It’s a question everyone must answer—and a question everyone does answer, whether they realize it or not. You can’t very well say, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” and leave it at that. If Jesus is who He says He is, you must receive Him as Savior and Lord. You must obey His commands, follow His teachings, and seek His will for your life. Reflection question: Who do you believe Jesus is? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship! — The audio production of the podcast "Greg Laurie: Daily Devotions" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known." All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If Jesus asked you to choose the twelve men who would be his closest ministry partners, who would make your list?In today's episode, we continue our sermon series from the archives, The Gospel According to Mark, as Paul Tripp explores why Levi the tax collector would never be our pick—and how our reactions reveal hearts far more like the self-righteous scribes than we might expect.To hear more sermons from Paul, visit PaulTripp.com/Sermons.

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/0113-memorial-hilary.cfmFather Gabe Cillo, MIC, explains a truth so foundational that everything in the Christian life depends on it: Jesus Christ is truly God. Not partly divine, not a created being, not “like” God — but fully God and fully man.Father Gabe reflects on how the Church has defended this truth from the earliest centuries, especially against the Arian heresy, which claimed that the Son was created and therefore not truly God. The Church rejected this error because salvation itself depends on Christ's divinity. If Jesus were not God, He could not forgive sins, defeat demons, give us the Eucharist, or reconcile humanity with the Father. As Scripture proclaims, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn 1:1; NABRE).This truth gives believers confidence and courage. When we make the Sign of the Cross, invoke the holy name of Jesus, or adore Him in the Eucharist, we are not addressing a mere creature — we are worshiping God Himself. The demons recognize His authority because it is divine. Every knee bends at the name of Jesus because His name is the name of God.Father Gabe reminds us that the Eucharist, salvation, and every Sacrament only have power because Christ is God. Holding fast to this truth strengthens faith, deepens worship, and renews our trust in the Lord who alone can save.To grow in understanding of how Christ's divinity works through the Sacraments, explore Understanding the Sacraments, available at ShopMercy.org. Watch the full homily on YouTube and on Divine Mercy Plus, where Catholic content is free, ad-free, and faithful to Church teaching. ★ Support this podcast ★

It's Monday, January 12th, A.D. 2026. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Adam McManus Iran regime cuts nationwide internet access as protests claim 44 lives On January 8th, Iran was plunged into a nationwide internet blackout as anti-regime protests intensified, severely restricting communication across the country as demonstrations entered their second week and the death toll reached 44, reports Fox News. Before news of the latest killings came in, President Donald Trump, in an interview with Hugh Hewitt on Thursday, issued a warning to the Iranian regime. TRUMP: “I have let them know that if they start killing people -- which they tend to do during their riots, they have lots of riots -- if they do it, we're going to hit them very hard.” HEWITT: “Do you have a message for the people of Iran, President Trump?” TRUMP: “You should feel strongly about freedom. There's nothing like freedom. You're brave people. It's a shame what's happened to your country.” Ali Safavi, a member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said the blackout coincided with violent confrontations in several regions. The victims were killed by the Revolutionary Guard and other security forces using live ammunition. The protests were sparked in December by the collapse of Iran's currency and soaring inflation, but they have since evolved into a broader movement demanding the overthrow of the Islamic Republic. Please pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ in Iran who are suffering. VP Vance explains Trump's Western Hemisphere foreign policy In a White House briefing, Vice President J.D. Vance explained the Trump administration's foreign policy related to the Western Hemisphere. VANCE: “This is the president of peace. One of the ways that you establish peace in your own hemisphere is to make it clear that the United States is going to be respected, that the United States is willing to take power away from criminal cartel organizations and give it to legitimate governments. “That's how we see the future of the Western Hemisphere, and we think it's going to be much more peaceful than it was, certainly under [former President] Joe Biden.” Congressman: 78% of Somali Minnesotans on welfare after 10 years During a January 7th House Oversight Committee meeting, Republican Congressman Brandon Gill of Texas, age 31, asked Brendan Ballou, a former U.S. Special Counsel at the Department of Justice, a series of questions related to the abuse of taxpayer dollars by Somali-headed households in Minnesota. GILL: “Does large scale Somali immigration make Minnesota stronger or weaker?” BALLOU: “Certainly stronger.” GILL: “Do you know what percentage of Somali-headed households in Minnesota are on food stamps?” BALLOU: “No.” GILL: “54%.  Do you know what that number is for native Minnesota headed households?” BALLOU: “Well, to be clear, a majority of those …” GILL: “It's 7%. It's 7%. There's a big difference between 54% and 7%, isn't there?” BALLOU: “Excise me, sir, could I? Could I answer the question?” GILL: “Let me, let me move on. We've got a lot of questions here. What percentage of Somali-headed households in Minnesota are on Medicaid?” BALLOU: “I don't know.” GILL: “It's 73% Do you know what that number is for Minnesota native households?” BALLOU: “Again, you're using the phrase Minnesota native households, but the majority …" GILL: “The number is 18%. That's a quite an astounding difference. I think we would.” BALLOU: “Can I answer the question please?” GILL: “Let me ask you one more, and then we can go into that. What percentage of Somali-headed households are on welfare in general?” BALLOU: “I don't know." GILL: “81%. After 10 years of being in the United States, what percentage of Somali immigrant households continue to be on welfare?” BALLOU:  “I don't know.” GILL: “The number is 78%. So, even after 10 years, 78% of Somali immigrant households continue to be on welfare. Do you know what that number is for non-Somali immigrant headed households?” BALLOU: “The majority of Somali Minnesotans are as Minnesotan as any of us. They were born in the United States. It's only 8,000 of the 108,000.” GILL: “Nevertheless, the welfare usage is astoundingly different. Let me ask you again, does that make Minnesota stronger or weaker?” BALLOU: “Again, I'd like the opportunity to answer the question here. So again, the majority of Somali Minnesotans are born in the United States, as I understand.” GILL: “Okay. But what percentage of working-age Somalians, who have been in the US for 10 years or more, how many of them speak English very well?” BALLOU: “I don't know.” GILL: “About half. That seems pretty low, doesn't it?” BALLOU: “Again, I keep trying…” GILL: “Doesn't sound like something that makes our country stronger to me. And I think most Americans would agree with me on that.” Michael Reagan's legacy Michael Reagan, the adopted son of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan and his first wife, actress Jane Wyman, died of cancer on January 4th at the age of 80, reported The Epoch Times. He hosted “The Michael Reagan Show,” a nationally syndicated talk radio program, for nearly 20 years, and was a contributor to the conservative Newsmax television network. In Reagan's 1988 autobiography On the Outside Looking In and the 2004 follow-up Twice Adopted, he discussed his difficult childhood, including feelings of not belonging in his famous family, and his profound journey of faith and forgiveness. He penned Lessons My Father Taught Me in 2016, which explored the wisdom his father passed down. Christopher Ruddy, the Editor-in-Chief of NewsMax, wrote, “Mike asked his father about his plan to defeat the Soviet Union. Ronald Reagan replied, ‘It's simple, Mike. They lose. We win.' That was Reagan's genius — clarity, moral confidence, and the determination to win. “Michael believed — like his father — that Americans are part of a living chain stretching back to the Sons of Liberty. Each generation inherits the responsibility to defend freedom, share our values, and serve as a beacon of hope to the world. The torch is passed, and it must never be dropped. Ronald Reagan's greatest torchbearer was his eldest and adopted son.” Beyond physical freedom, Christ offers spiritual freedom from are sin which is the ultimate freedom. John 8:36 says, “If [Jesus], the Son, therefore, shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” Charles Spurgeon's conversion anniversary And finally, last week, on January 6th, Christians celebrated the 176th anniversary of the Christian conversion of Charles Spurgeon in 1850 at the age of 15. On his way to a scheduled appointment, a snowstorm forced him to cut short his intended journey and to turn into a Primitive Methodist chapel on Artillery Street in Colchester, England, where he believed God opened his heart to the salvation message. The text that moved him was Isaiah 45:22. It says, "Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the Earth, for I am God, and there is none else.” In April 1854, after preaching three months on probation and just four years after his conversion, Spurgeon, then only 19 years old, was called to the pastorate of London's famed New Park Street Chapel. Charles Spurgeon became known as the "Prince of Preachers,” defended the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, and opposed the liberal theological heresies in the Church of his day. May the Lord raise up more Charles Spurgeons in our day. Close And that's The Worldview on this Monday, January 12th, in the year of our Lord 2026. Follow us on X or subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

On today's Bible Answer Man broadcast (01/08/26), Hank addresses criticisms of Noah's flood being comical.Hank also answers the following questions:When a Christian struggles with fear, is going to a counselor for help permissible? Tammy - New Egypt, NJ (3:20)If Jesus became sin per 2 Corinthians 5:21, does that mean for a moment God hated Jesus because God hates sin? Jordan - KS (15:44)Why did God reject the sacrifice of Cain but accepted the sacrifice of Abel? Was it the blood? Patsy - Bradford, AZ (20:36)