Podcasts about In Jesus

Identifying where our problems originate is one thing, but locating the Divine Healer is key in getting clear of obstacles in our lives. At each mile marker in our life journeys, God is standing alongside the road, smiling at us, and holding out His strong hand to guide us. And from the indispensable wisdom of scripture to stories of human triumphs over tragedies, He is always there reminding us we're never truly alone. His grace and mercies begin to overshadow and overwhelm those forces that want to harm us, and it's then that we see God for who He truly is. 1 Peter 5:10 says, “And after you've suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” And that is Good News! Let's pray. Lord, it's important to see who our enemy is, but it's more important to look past that and concentrate our focus on you who brings us that peace that passes all understanding, the kind that gets down deep in us and calms us from the inside out. In Jesus' name, amen. Change your shirt, and you can change the world! Save 15% Off your entire purchase of faith-based apparel + gifts at Kerusso.com with code KDD15.

When fear takes control, God just crushes it.None of us are immune from feeling unsettled at times. Circumstances have a way of knocking us off balance. How we respond not only affects our lives, but those who are watching us.In the film “The Patriot,” a Colonial militia leader sees the British kidnap his son. Taking the two younger sons with him, they wait in ambush in the forest. One of the sons is rattled and crying, so the father puts his hands on the boy's shoulders, looks him in the eyes, and says, “Steady.” Fear drains from the boy's face.In that moment of terror for the whole family, the father's example won the day, and their day ended well.In 2 Timothy 1:7, we learn the source of calm. It says this: “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and a sound mind.”God has given you a spirit of power, love, and a good mind. So don't let fear, the enemy, or the world intimidate you when it comes to sharing your faith. Speak God's truth with boldness, and love. Your moment will come one day, and by keeping in mind the truth of God's word, courage will overcome fear.Notice the qualities mentioned in Second Timothy. God has actually given us courage, but also power, and a sound mind—also phrased as self-discipline. And discipline will help keep you steady in a crisis. That spirit of power actually does our fighting for us, and it is the enemy who is afraid.Let's pray.Father, you are good to us. Just as Jesus modeled for us how to handle fear when he prayed in the garden, we know that you have our back, and we can be courageous. Thank you for a sound mind and a calm heart in times of trouble. In Jesus' name, amen. Change your shirt, and you can change the world! Save 15% Off your entire purchase of faith-based apparel + gifts at Kerusso.com with code KDD15.

Are the Ten Commandments, God's Law which He Gave to Us, Becoming Irrelevant for America? MESSAGE SUMMARY: Today, are we saying that the Ten Commandments are irrelevant for America? Are the Ten Commandments becoming illegal in America? If so, why? As a nation, we no longer teach or practice the Ten Commandments. We have made it illegal to post the Ten Commandments, which are God's Law to us, on most walls of our courts and government schools. From a spiritual perspective, how can God, the Creator of the Universe, bless a nation which mocks and/or ignores Him? Paul, in Galatians 6:6-7, cautions both us and our governments regarding the mocking of God: “Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”. From a practical perspective, how can a society and a government function when their foundation has been removed? Our form of government was founded on the ethical base of the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were in the thoughts and cultural norms of the people that created our country.   TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, everything in me resists following you into the garden of Gethsemane to fall on my face to the ground before you. Grant me the courage to follow you all the way to the cross, whatever that might mean for my life. And then, by your grace, lead me to resurrection life and power. In Jesus' name, amen.   Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 100). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, Because of who I am in Jesus Christ, I will not be driven by Past Failures. Rather, I will abide in the Lord's Grace. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Romans 1:10-12; James 5:13-18; Exodus 3:1-15; Psalms 136a:1-13. WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “When Facing Difficult Circumstances, Look to Jesus as Our Great High Priest” at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 26th of June, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Gospel of Luke 8:23:”But as they sailed He (Jesus) fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy.” Jeopardy means danger, peril, risk or harm. How are you today, my dear friend? Are you in peril? Are you in jeopardy? Are you fearful? Do you feel like you're drowning? Well, let's go on to verse 25: “But He said to them…” Jesus said to them “…Where is your faith?” Today, we need to exercise our faith when the going gets tough. You know the old saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough keep going.” Listen to this: “…Where's your faith?” Listen to this: ”And they were afraid, and marveled…” This is after Jesus had stood up in the middle of the storm. Folks, I've been to that lake. I want to tell you it's not that big, it's 13 kilometres wide, it's 21 kilometres long. A good swimmer can swim that lake on a calm day but I want to tell you, it is perilous when it comes to storms. Now, we have been in the middle of that lake and we've had Holy Communion with a couple of other boats. It is an awesome experience but that lake is very, very deep. It's the lifeblood of the whole of the Middle East in that area, and so they were very afraid and they marvelled when they saw that the Lord calmed the storm, ”… saying to one another, “Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!” You know, when we have our men's meetings all over the world, most of them are outdoors because there's no building that can house thousands of men, and then we are totally reliant on the weather and if the weather is otherwise, we have to call upon the name of the Lord. I don't know how many times, right up until the eve of the beginning of the meeting, when we have ordered a huge platform, toilets have been built, food has been organised, transport, advertising - and it is pouring with rain! That is when we have to call upon the Lord. “Lord. It's over to you.” We can do nothing else and many times, it makes me weep even telling this to you. I wake up in the early hours of the morning. I walk out. The rain has stopped on the big day. I look up into the sky, the stars are shining and then we say, ”Let it begin.” And what an incredible conference it is because the One who can direct the weather and the wind is Jesus Christ!Now, He can do the same in your life. What is it today that you are in jeopardy of? Let's put it before the Lord. Lord Jesus, I pray for my dear friend, listening to this message early this morning. Whatever it is, finances, health, future. Whatever it might be, we put it in your hands and we say, Lord, please work another miracle. In Jesus name. Amen.God bless you and have a wonderful day, Goodbye.

June 26, 2025Hope Alive: Applying God's Word to Your Daily LifeFaithful Finance - Part 6I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.If you would like to revisit today's Bible study, please visit our website at https://hopealive.buzzsprout.com/ to download the transcript. If this podcast ministered to you, please subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple podcasts. Reviews help us reach more people and spread the wisdom of God. Please follow us:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopealivewithgod/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hopealiveministry/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LakeComChurch/ -Lake Community Church 

No one is truly alone. Some people have many relatives and friends, others just a few. Occasionally, someone will have no real friends or family, but all of us interact with humans, and that over time has proven to be dicey. The health of our relationships is one of the biggest factors in how we function each day. Turmoil and chaos at home or work, or both, puts us in emotional quicksand. On the other hand, healthy relationships in our lives improve our overall health and make us more productive.In Genesis, God modeled right relationships for humans, and this model continues through the Bible right to the end in Revelation. From this, we see that our first priority in relationships is to be in fellowship with our Creator. Get that one right and everything else flows. Following close behind is finding harmony in our human relationships, and getting this right is crucial to finding peace. Ephesians 4:2–3 says, “Be completely humble and gentle. Be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”Most people are familiar with the well-known Bible verses that deal with relationships, such as Paul's wisdom from Ephesians, but Scripture is loaded with helpful and healing relationship commands. We hesitate to call it advice because God doesn't really give advice. He tells us what is good for us and what may be harmful. For example, a fairly obscure passage in Job speaks to mean in any era having healthy relationships with women. In Job 31:1 the suffering man says, “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman.” Wow. So simple, yet very important and profound.That chapter goes on to say that God sees all that we do. He's watching how we treat people. Job made it clear that a man can decide he's going to treat women with respect. It isn't complicated or beyond our reach. So often, simply deciding to be a decent human being leads to waves of healing and peace of mind for everyone. Lots of books have been written about relationships, from marriage to raising children, but the best book of all has the best wisdom, and if you check that out, your relationships will thank you. Let's pray.Father God, you've given us the gift of interacting with other people. Each is unique and created special. We ask that you send the Holy Spirit to guide our relationships so that they're pleasing to you and to others. In Jesus' name, amen. Change your shirt, and you can change the world! Save 15% Off your entire purchase of faith-based apparel + gifts at Kerusso.com with code KDD15.

Jesus Followers Run & Win Life's Races by Submitting Their Preferences to God Before Making Life-Defining Choices MESSAGE SUMMARY: You need to submit your life preferences to God. By submitting your life preferences to the Lord, He can help you to understand the life path to which your preferences will lead. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 9:24, tells us that our Life Preferences need an overarching focus: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.". Life preferences are not, necessarily, sins; but they can close doors in your life. In Matthew 10:37-39, Jesus provides a context from which we can assess life preference choices: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.".     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, I affirm that, because I am in Jesus Christ, I can do what He asks of me. (Philippians 4:13). “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”. (Philippians 4:14). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Matthew 10:37-39; 1 Corinthians 9:12-27; James 3:13-18; Psalms 135:12-21. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “When Facing Difficult Circumstances, Look to Jesus as Our Great High Priest”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 25th of June, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We go to the Book of Genesis 12:13: “Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.” Then we go straight to 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”Folks, this story I am going to tell you is very sad for me because I love my wife, and I believe by the grace of God, I will die for her if necessary, but Abraham, the father of many, many nations, Abraham, the man that the Lord said, “He is My friend”, what did he do? He was afraid that Pharaoh was going to kill him because Sarah, Abraham's wife, was a very beautiful woman. So in order to save his skin, he said to Sarah, his wife, “When pharaoh asks you who you are, you must tell him that you are my sister and not my wife.” Now look, I am not laughing, this is very serious! So here is a man of God who is prepared to offer up his own wife in order to save his life. To me, that is probably top of the list when it comes to self-centredness, and yet, God still loved Abraham. How are you feeling today? Are you feeling like a failure? Have you done something that you should never have done, in order to save face or to save your reputation, and it has come at the cost of someone else? You might say, “That is exactly what I have done, and I feel wretched about it.” You know, Abraham didn't do that once, he actually did it twice, and yet God still forgave him and still used him to be the father of many nations. Our God is so gracious, He is so loving, but what do we need to do? We need to say sorry. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Please pray this prayer with me:Father God,I feel an absolute failure today. I feel I have let You down. I feel I have “dropped the ball,” as they say and I really don't know what to do.So I am coming to You today to ask that You forgive me and give me the strength to never do it again.In Jesus' name, Amen.God bless you and have a great day,Goodbye.

June 25, 2025Hope Alive: Applying God's Word to Your Daily LifeFaithful Finance - Part 5I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.If you would like to revisit today's Bible study, please visit our website at https://hopealive.buzzsprout.com/ to download the transcript. If this podcast ministered to you, please subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple podcasts. Reviews help us reach more people and spread the wisdom of God. Please follow us:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopealivewithgod/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hopealiveministry/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LakeComChurch/ -Lake Community Church 

A really cool thing about God is that He has a solution for literally every situation, and that includes mental health. We see this especially in the ministry of Jesus, who walked the land healing people of all sorts of terrible things. One day, He encountered a man driven insane by demons.Mark 5:15 says, “They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had the ‘legion'; and they became frightened.”The “Legion,” those who possessed this man's mind, were no match for Jesus, who simply commanded them to leave the man in peace. And they did!Now, not every mental health problem is related to possession. But mental illness is so devastating to the patient, and family and friends, that it often feels like evil lives there.Not so in the peaceful kingdom of our Lord. If you or a loved one struggles with mental issues, ask the Lord to help you. He has done it many times. That man with the peaceful face and clear mind all those years ago is proof of that.Let's pray.Lord, you own the universe and can solve any problem. Please, especially today, be with those afflicted by mental illness. Come to them and comfort them and heal them. In Jesus' name, amen.Change your shirt, and you can change the world! Save 15% Off your entire purchase of faith-based apparel + gifts at Kerusso.com with code KDD15.

God Blesses You in Your Obedience, but God Leaves You to the Consequences of Your Sin in Your Disobedience MESSAGE SUMMARY: Your relationship with God is only between you and God. God desires relationships with each of us, individually, even though you may have been fortunate enough to have a Godly mother, father, siblings, and/or a spouse. God has given us covenants upon which to build His relationship with you, as Paul tells us in Romans 8:34-35: “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?". The people of the Old Testament found that living apart from God's covenant relationship brought disaster. God is a covenant God; He will bless you if you obey Him. If you disobey God, God leaves you to the consequences of your sins.   TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, you know how difficult it is for me to be in silence before you. At times it feels almost impossible, given the demands, distractions, and noise all around me. I invite you to lead me to a quiet, silent place before you — to a place where I can hear you as Elijah did. In Jesus' name, amen.     Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 123). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, because of I am filled with the Holy Spirit, I will not be controlled by my Compulsions. Rather, I will walk in the Spirit's fruit of Patience. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22f). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV):  1 Corinthians 11:25-26; Leviticus 26:9-12; Nehemiah 9:32; Psalms 135a: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: “When Facing Difficult Circumstances, Look to Jesus as Our Great High Priest”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

June 24, 2025Hope Alive: Applying God's Word to Your Daily LifeFaithful Finance - Part 4I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.If you would like to revisit today's Bible study, please visit our website at https://hopealive.buzzsprout.com/ to download the transcript. If this podcast ministered to you, please subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple podcasts. Reviews help us reach more people and spread the wisdom of God. Please follow us:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopealivewithgod/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hopealiveministry/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LakeComChurch/ -Lake Community Church 

Usually, when we're looking for some kind of emotional lifeline to get us through the day, we only want to know what God can do for us.How do we get that peace of mind we desperately need?One component is simple obedience. At first, this sounds like a test that's too hard. We need relief right now!Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”Wow, that sounds like real peace of mind. It requires that we concentrate on ejecting all the junk in our heads and replacing it with God's Word. Learning obedience is key because it reveals the Father's perfect will for our lives.In this way, we almost back-into the peace we were already looking for. This brings us into harmony with our Creator.A renewed, fresh, and clean mind is also a mind that is at rest.Let's pray.Lord, teach us your ways. Help us uncover the peace of mind that those without God don't have. Then help us show them the way. In Jesus' name, amen.Change your shirt, and you can change the world! Save 15% Off your entire purchase of faith-based apparel + gifts at Kerusso.com with code KDD15.

Jesus Gave His Followers the Holy Spirit to Walk with Them in Their Personal Relationship with God MESSAGE SUMMARY: Isaiah tells us about Jesus Followers' communications with the Holy Spirit in Isaiah 30:21: "And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,' when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.". We know, from the New Testament, that Jesus Followers are given the Holy Spirit to walk with them -- "a voice behind you". Since the Holy Spirit takes up residence in you, the way the Lord speaks to you is through the inward witness of the Holy Spirit -- the Spirit will speak, and you will know that it is the Lord. In John 14:26, Jesus reminds us about His promise, to His followers, of the “Helper” (Holy Spirit): “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”. Additionally, in John 16-7, Jesus tells us that not only will the Holy Spirit be your “Helper”, the Holy Spirit will be your “Comforter”: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.".     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, Because of who I am in Jesus Christ, I will not be driven by Hatred. Rather, I will abide in the Lord's Love. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Ezekiel 22:30-31; Isaiah 30:21; John 14:23-27; John 16:7-13; Psalms 134:1-3. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “When Facing Difficult Circumstances, Look to Jesus as Our Great High Priest”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Monday, 23 June 2025   The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. Matthew 11:5   “Blind – they up-look, and lame – they walk, lepers – they are cleansed, and deaf – they hear, dead – they are roused, and poor – they are evangelized” (CG).   In the previous verse, Jesus told John's disciples to report what they heard and saw. Now, He gives a description of some of those things beginning with, “Blind – they up-look.” This is a new word, anablepó, coming from ana, up, and blepó, to look at, behold, see, etc. Thus, it literally says up-look, but with the intent of the blind seeing once again.   This was something prophesied in the Hebrew writings, such as –   “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened.” Isaiah 35:5   Verses such as this indicate that there would be a time when the blind would see. Jesus is attributing this to His ministry without explicitly saying it. He merely asks John's disciples to report what they see. He next says, “and lame – they walk.”   This was also an anticipated event –   “Then the lame shall leap like a deer.” Isaiah 35:6   Isaiah excitedly pronounced more than just walking, but jumping like a deer. The disciples might not have seen that, but they would have witnessed them at least walking after being lame. Jesus continues with, “lepers – they are cleansed.”   This is not a specific prophecy, but it is something that was accomplished in 1 Kings with the healing of Naaman the Syrian. The healing was at the word of the prophet Elisha. As Jesus was accomplishing this same healing by His own power, it is an implicit reference to the power of the Lord working through Him. Next, He says, “and deaf – they hear.”   This is found in the second half of Isaiah 35:5 – “And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.”   Jesus states these things as a matter of fact. They had heard of them or personally seen them. The confirmation of Jesus fulfilling the role of the Messiah is clearly being explained to them. Understanding this, He continues with, “dead – they are roused.”   As with the leprous, this is not explicitly prophesied (except in the resurrection) as something the Messiah would do. However, like the example with Naaman, both Elijah and Elisha restored the dead to life.   In both cases, the prophets prayed to the Lord for restoration, and it came to pass. In Jesus' case, He healed under His own power and authority, demonstrating that He is the anticipated Messiah. Lastly, Jesus notes, “and poor – they are evangelized.”   This includes another new word, euaggelizó. It is a verb indicating to announce the good news and thus evangelize. This was referred to in Isaiah 61:1 –   “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound” Isaiah 61:1   Due to the words about preaching the good tidings, which come from the same verse as proclaiming liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison for the bound, Jesus is surely hinting at the fact that ending John's imprisonment is not beyond His ability to change.   As such, John will have to grasp this and accept that God's will for him is being worked out through his imprisonment. This is the point of Jesus' carefully stated words. John's disciples would return and report what they heard and saw. John would then have to understand that another was not coming. If his imprisonment continued, it was for a purpose that he was not privy to.   Life application: John did not understand his situation and asked for clarity as to whether Jesus was the right person to deliver him from it or not. It doesn't seem that he even clued into the fact that maybe his imprisonment was meant to be, and even meant to continue.   Therefore, his words were essentially, “Hey, I'm in prison and the doors aren't opening up. When will this end?” Jesus responded with His capabilities, revealing that He was doing exactly what the Messiah was expected to do, even if not all of it for all people everywhere.   The lesson is just as valid for us today as it was for John. God can heal the lame. He can bring sight to the blind. He can cure maladies and diseases. The question from us should never be, “God, are you limited in Your care for me?” Such is not the case.   If you have something in your life that isn't right, it isn't that God is uncaring about it. Rather, it may be there to serve a purpose you never thought of. He may be molding you as He molded Paul in his affliction. He may be using you to get a scientist to invent something that could cure you along with millions of others with a similar affliction.   Whatever the reason, God allows trials in our lives. We should never question His goodness for us, even if we don't understand why such things have taken place. Let us continue to hold fast to the promises which are sure to come to pass when we are brought to Him forever at Jesus' coming. Until then, just keep on praising God that we have been delivered because of the shed blood of Jesus, our Lord.   Lord God, the trials we face often seem unbearable, but Jesus certainly went through worse. We will be carried through our trials, and we will be in Your presence forever because of what He has done. Until then, give us the ability to keep praising You, even through our troubles, trials, and afflictions. Amen.

June 23, 2025Hope Alive: Applying God's Word to Your Daily LifeFaithful Finance - Part 3I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.If you would like to revisit today's Bible study, please visit our website at https://hopealive.buzzsprout.com/ to download the transcript. If this podcast ministered to you, please subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple podcasts. Reviews help us reach more people and spread the wisdom of God. Please follow us:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopealivewithgod/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hopealiveministry/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LakeComChurch/ -Lake Community Church 

Jesus Christ sermons series Part 1 - Billy Graham. ACU Sunday Series. Redemption 66.8K subscribers 1,065,905 views Premiered Oct 7, 2023 Sermon series about Jesus Christ by Pastor Billy Graham. Content: -Who Is Jesus Christ. The Coming Aspects Of Jesus Christ. -Why We Glory On The Christs Cross. Jesus Said I Am. Beneath The Cross Of Christ. Lord, thank you for the wonderful gift of your blessings. Help us to follow your Word and obey your commands, that we may receive your blessings each day. Grant us and our families peace, joy, and favor through your spiritual blessings. Bless us and our families wherever we go, and bless us as we perform our daily tasks. Thank you that we can walk in the abundance of your blessings through Jesus Christ. In Jesus' Holy Name, We pray, Amen.

Jesus Followers Have Eternal Life, Even Before their Earthly Death, Because Whoever “believes him {God} who sent me {Jesus}” MESSAGE SUMMARY: First, the moment you become a Jesus Follower, you have immediate Eternal Life; and you become a Citizen of Heaven.  Jesus tells us, in John 5:24, that His followers have Eternal Life and are Citizens of Heaven here on earth living their earthly lives: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.". As Christians and Citizens of Heaven, we know that the Lord is coming back -- either to greet us when we die or before we die at His Second Coming. For most of us, however, our vision of Heaven is clouded by looking backwards; therefore, the return of Jesus does not have any power in our life. Paul reinforces the return of the Lord of Heaven in Philippians 1:6: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.". When Jesus returns, we will put on our spiritual bodies, as promised. As Jesus tells us in Matthew 4:17: “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'”.   TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, Sabbath rest is truly an unbelievable gift! Thank you that there is nothing I can do to earn your love; it comes without any strings attached. As I close my eyes for these few minutes before you, all I can say is, thank you! In Jesus' name, amen.    Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 133). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! Luke 11:13 SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): 1 Peter 1:1-18; 1 Corinthians 11:23-27; Luke 22:20; Psalms 1:1-6. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “When Facing Difficult Circumstances, Look to Jesus as Our Great High Priest” at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/    DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Ecclesiastes 7:1-22 //  There is only one way into a wise life in a crooked world - through Jesus Christ, the wisdom of God. In Jesus we are free from having to straighten out the world and even our own lives, and in Christ we gain new and gospel-centered perspectives that empower us to live wisely.

Summer Mixtape is our annual teaching series about diverse topics.Scripture invites us into a deeply personal, embodied relationship with a God who meets us not in perfection, but in the raw, honest places of our humanity. In Jesus—the Word made flesh—we see that our bodies, our stories, and even our mess are sacred spaces where God chooses to dwell. This changes everything: how we see God, ourselves, and how we move through the world.Join us today as Kelsie Rogers unpacks all of this! We livestream every Sunday at 9:30am CT. If you'd like to connect with Restore, go to www.restoreaustin.org/connect.

When Facing Difficult Circumstances, Look to Jesus as Our Great High Priest MESSAGE SUMMARY: Introduction – Why don't we go to God when things get difficult? Jesus is Our Great High Priest; and we have access to Him, at any time, through prayer. Today's Message – In the Jewish Temple Worship, the Great High Priest was called by God from the Jewish Tribe of Levi; and he represented the people before God, and he represented God to the people. However, the Great High Priest of the Temple was human and a sinner, thereby, requiring sacrifices to God daily to atone for his own sin as well as the sins of the people of the Temple. Jesus, like the Temple's Great High Priest, was appointed by God; but Jesus represented all humanity before God through His prayers. Also, Jesus represented God, His Father, to the people through His preaching and teaching. Additionally, and like the Temple's Great high Priest, Jesus provided a sacrifice to God for the sins of the people. However, Jesus sacrifice was permanent and “once offered for the sins of the whole world” and forever. In Hebrews 5:9-10, the author of Hebrews tells us that: “{Jesus} And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.". Jesus priesthood, unlike the Temple's Great High Priest, was a “permanent Priesthood” with limitless power. Therefore, Jesus is able offer complete Salvation to all that come to Him. Again, the author of Hebrews, in Hebrews 7:26-27, presents how Jesus, is Our Great High Priest and how Jesus differs from the Temple's Great Hight Priest: “For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He {Jesus} has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.". Since Jesus is Our great High Priest, the author of Hebrews admonishes us, in Hebrews 4:16, to hold fast to Jesus as Our great High Priest and to not let go. In Hebrews 4:15-16, we are told why we are so privileged with Jesus as Our Great High Priest: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.". Since Jesus has been designated by God as Our Great High Priest for our intercessions with God, we have Jesus, as Our Great High Priest in our times off difficulties and needs. Therefore, when times get difficult for us, we have no excuse for not going Our Great High Priest, Jesus, with troubles. Through Our great High Priest, God is merciful and full of grace; and God will meet our needs.   TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, Sabbath rest is truly an unbelievable gift! Thank you that there is nothing I can do to earn your love; it comes without any strings attached. As I close my eyes for these few minutes before you, all I can say is, thank you! In Jesus' name, amen.    Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 133). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! Luke 11:13 SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Hebrews 5:1-10 ; Psalms 2:7; Psalms 110:4; Genesis 14:18-20; Hebrews 7:1-26: Romans 8:35; Hebrews 4:15-16;  (Click the Bible References, in blue, below to read the full Bible text for these Scripture References.). A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH'S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “Jesus Followers Have Eternal Life, Even Before their Earthly Death, Because Whoever “believes him {God} who sent me {Jesus}””: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

 How many of you find that you are in the presence of God regularly? If so, how does that affect your life? If you are not in the presence of God, why is that so? "Praising in the presence of God is precious."

Daily Study: Praying to God has many purposes. One purpose that is often underutilized, however, is receiving instructions. In Jesus' life, when He prayed, He was not really requesting healing for people or asking for financial miracles; He was seeking and receiving instructions. Listen to today's message and learn more about this important application of prayer, so you can receive the instructions you need for your calling.  Also, at the end, a few steps to guide your prayer time have been provided.  Partner with Us: https://churchforentrepreneurs.com/partner Connect with Us: https://churchforentrepreneurs.com                  

Jesus Followers Know the Cornerstone of Christianity Is: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” MESSAGE SUMMARY: Jesus is The Door and The Gate by which you must enter the Kingdom of God. In John 14:6-7, Jesus answers a question by the Apostle Thomas with the fundamental tenant of Christianity when He tells us all: “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.'". Also, in John 10:9-10, Jesus tells us: “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief {Satan} comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." Also, Jesus said, in Matthew 7:13-14, that He was "the Narrow Gate", and whomever enters the Kingdom through Him will be saved and have Eternal Life: {You} “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.". Jesus' Crucifixion and Resurrection are the events, of about two thousand years ago, that provided us all, by God's Grace, with access to The Narrow Gate, which is Jesus. Through Jesus' death on the cross for your sins and His Resurrection, He has given you eternal life, if you choose to enter The Narrow Gate. You may ask: “How do I enter this ‘Narrow Gate' of Jesus?”. By God's Grace you can enter Eternal Life, through Jesus, by your true belief and faith in Jesus as God along with your prayerful confession of your sins to God. With your belief, faith, and confession, you have entered through the narrow and only door to your Salvation. However and after your entry through the door, you must continue, in your faith and obedience, to follow Jesus – this is the only, and it is The Way provided by God's Grace through Jesus.     TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, help me to grab hold of you today. I need you. Set me free to begin reorienting my life around you, and you alone. Help me to pay attention to and honor how you have uniquely made me. Thank you for the gift of rest. In Jesus' name, amen.       Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 122). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that, because I am in Jesus Christ, I will seek God's perspective on my situation. For I know that in all things God works together for good to those of us who love Him and are called according to His purpose. From Romans 8:28 SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 7:13-14; John 14:5-7; Psalms150:1-6; John 10:9-10. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “Five Needs of Fathers” at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Have you ever hunted and hunted for something—maybe your car keys, and you finally find them? The old saying goes (and it's very unhelpful!) that you find them in the last place you look.There's a lot of truth to that.It also is very relevant to our walk with Jesus. Often, we work really hard to solve our own problems, then we give in and ask Jesus for help.Matthew 7:7, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”As with every other promise in the Bible, the really cool thing about this is, it is true. The promises Jesus has made are literally true. So, for example, if you are looking for a solution to an impossible situation, ask Him. It works!Let's pray.Lord, forgive us for not placing our trust in you all the time. You are our sustainer, and we need to remember that. In Jesus' name, amen. Change your shirt, and you can change the world! Save 15% Off your entire purchase of faith-based apparel + gifts at Kerusso.com with code KDD15.

Since Your Judgment Is Coming, Are You Doing All You Can to Continue Growing Your Relationship with God? MESSAGE SUMMARY: Jesus tells you about the certainty of your Judgment in John 5:25,29: “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live . . . and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.". Since Judgment is coming, are you doing all you can to keep your relationship with the Lord growing? Given certain Judgment for all, a primary purpose of the Church is to lead people into a growing relationship with the Lord. You must be constantly growing and nurturing your faith in Jesus. There is a day when we will all be judged by the Lord – do not you think you can wait until the last minute to have a real relationship with Jesus.   TODAY'S PRAYER: Father, when I read even part of the story of Job, I too am overwhelmed by your “wildness.” Your ways and timing are beyond me. Job moved from hearing about you to having “seen you.” Lead me, Lord, on a pathway so that I too can pray as Job prayed: “My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you” (Job 42:5). In Jesus' name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 89). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, because 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): Isaiah 24:19-22; Matthew 7:21-23; John 12:48-50; Psalms149:1-9. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “Five Needs of Fathers” at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

June 20. 2025Hope Alive: Applying God's Word to Your Daily LifeFaithful Finance - Part 2I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.If you would like to revisit today's Bible study, please visit our website at https://hopealive.buzzsprout.com/ to download the transcript. If this podcast ministered to you, please subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple podcasts. Reviews help us reach more people and spread the wisdom of God. Please follow us:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopealivewithgod/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hopealiveministry/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LakeComChurch/ -Lake Community Church 

Your Daily Prayer

Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley are joined by Jason Allen and Patrick Schreiner live from the Gospel Coalition Conference. Questions Covered in This Episode:How has the deep discipleship program been a part of how you do women's ministry?Is the church meant to be for or against the world?Am I supposed to be going out into the world thinking I am ready for battle or ready for love?Is it a Godly expression of love to oppose that which is evil?In Jesus' ministry, is there a pattern of “welcome and warning”?JT, can you share about leading and pastoring, walking faithfully for or against the world?How should we think about what evangelism and discipleship are in this world that is designed to be beautiful but is broken by sin?Is there a relationship between wordlieness and a lack of proclamation of sanctification?When you think about the preaching and teaching ministry of the word of God, how do you be faithful to correct what's out there in the world and in here (the church)?How would you form a theological response to Christian nationalism in your church?How do you convince busy parents that depth matters?Is there a reason the doctrine of hell is missing from “You Are a Theologian”?What doctrine have you studied individually that drew your heart closer to God?Guest Bio:Dr. Jason Allen is the president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. In addition to his role as president, he also serves as a professor for preaching and pastoral ministry. He is the author of a number of books including; Turnaround: The Remarkable Story of an Institutional Transformation and the 10 Essential Principles and Practices That Made It Happen. He posts essays on his website, jasonkallen.com, and hosts a weekly podcast, “Preaching & Preachers.”Patrick Schreiner is the Director of the Residency PhD program, Associate Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Gene and Jo Downing Endowed Chair of Biblical Studies. He is the author of numerous books, including but not limited to; The Four Gospels: Jesus, the Hope of the World, The Transfiguration of Christ: An Exegetical and Theological Reading, a commentary on Acts, The Visual Word: An Illustrated Guide to the New Testament Books, and Political Gospel: Public Witness in a Politically Crazy World.Resources Mentioned in this Episode:John 3:16, John 15:18, Psalm 1, James 4:4, 1 John 2:15-17, 2 Timothy 4:10, Hebrews 4:12, Hebrews 5-6, John 1Deep Discipleship ProgramTGC25 On-Demand“You Are a Theologian” by Jen Wilkin and JT English“Communion With God” by John Owens“Home With God” by Kyle Worley Follow Us:Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | WebsiteOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast | Tiny TheologiansSupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurchYou can now receive your first seminary class for FREE from Midwestern Seminary after completing Lifeway's Deep Discipleship curriculum, featuring JT, Jen and Kyle. Learn more at mbts.edu/deepdiscipleship.To learn more about our sponsors please visit our sponsor page.Editing and support by The Good Podcast Co.

The Bible tells us that King Solomon was a very wise man. He ruled over his kingdom from Jerusalem, and built the famous Temple there.He was also very human.This son of King David eventually let his wealth and power go to his head, and he began to follow other religions and almost seemed to enjoy sinning. And yet God loved him. In his later years, Solomon realized how wrong he had been to rely on his own strength. And so scholars believe that's where the book of Proverbs was born. They come from a man weary of the cares of this life. A man ashamed of the mistakes he had made.Proverbs 3:5–6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all of your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”Proverbs is packed with amazing wisdom into right living, after perhaps one has been focused on other kinds of living.  Solomon learned the hard lessons as he fought his way back to a forgiving God whose mercies are eternal. That is a good lesson for us.Let's pray.Lord, your patience with us is humbling, and it is so appreciated. We thank you. In Jesus' name, amen. Change your shirt, and you can change the world! Save 15% Off your entire purchase of faith-based apparel + gifts at Kerusso.com with code KDD15.

Are You Prepared to Face Your Death? Have You Prepared Your Family for Your Death and Led them on a Path to Their Eternal Life? MESSAGE SUMMARY: Most of us do not like to think about and plan for death, especially our own. However, Paul in. Romans 6:23, made your life and death position very clear: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.". As part of your preparations for eternity, you should take one time each year to evaluate and to reflect on your position for facing death and realizing eternal life by identifying those changes that you must make in your life and in your relationship with God. This preparation for your death will be a blessing for you and your family. Are you prepared to face your death? Will you have eternal life? What about those you leave behind – are you being a good steward?  Also, what about your family? Is your family prepared for your earthly death and their earthly death; and have you led your family on a path to receive their eternal life? In Matthew 28:18, Jesus gave us His Great Commission for your life focus: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.". Have you followed Jesus' Great Commission, for your own family, by making disciples of your family members?     TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, everything in me resists following you into the garden of Gethsemane to fall on my face to the ground before you. Grant me the courage to follow you all the way to the cross, whatever that might mean for my life. And then, by your grace, lead me to resurrection life and power. In Jesus' name, amen.   Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 100). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, Because of who I am in Jesus Christ, I will not be driven by Inadequacy. Rather, I will abide in the Lord's Abundance. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Romans 5:12-15; Romans 7:24-25; Matthew 28:18-20; Psalms 147:1-20. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “Five Needs of Fathers” at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

June 19, 2025Hope Alive: Applying God's Word to Your Daily LifeFaithful Financie - Part 1 I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.If you would like to revisit today's Bible study, please visit our website at https://hopealive.buzzsprout.com/ to download the transcript. If this podcast ministered to you, please subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple podcasts. Reviews help us reach more people and spread the wisdom of God. Please follow us:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopealivewithgod/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hopealiveministry/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LakeComChurch/ -Lake Community Church 

Your Nightly Prayer

Pray for God's Healing Grace Because Jesus “spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing” MESSAGE SUMMARY: Jesus knows the aches and wounds of your soul, and He wants to bring you healing. Jesus does not want you living in pain, heartache, or emptiness. The Apostle Luke tells you, in Luke 9:10-11, that Jesus wants to cure those who need His healing: “On their return the apostles told him all that they had done. And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing.". We are in an “instant society”, but healing is a process; and your healing may take a long time. Sometimes God wants you to wait, or He may see your need for healing differently from your perspective. However, in your personal relationship with God, you must pray and ask for His healing. In Matthew 7:7-11, Jesus tells us: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!". Pray for God's healing grace for your soul and your body.   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, I affirm that, because I am in Jesus Christ, I can do what he asks of me. (Philippians 4:13). “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”. (Philippians 4:14). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Luke 9:10-11; Revelation 22:1-3; 2 Chronicles 7:14-16; Psalms 146:1-10. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “Five Needs of Fathers”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

By Mary Lindow Hello to all of you who are listening via podcast today or who are reading this message! I just finished being a part of our weekly prayer gathering this evening, and I have to tell you, the presence of the Father was so absolutely strong and evident in our time together! I am literally to the point that I anticipate all day long on Thursday evenings, getting together with the group that we pray with.    We have been blessed week after week, month after month with the sweet and strong presence of God as we intercede for our nation, for the globe, and for so many other things that the Lord lays on our hearts to pray about.   I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THE PODCAST THAT I HAD TALKED ABOUT EARLIER. I am still trying to get it to compile and come together and I know that if I rush this, I will not share it in the light of how the Lord wants it to be presented properly.   BUT, I HAVE BEEN HAVING ANOTHER MESSAGE AND WORD FROM THE LORD STIRRING DEEP WITHIN MY SPIRIT, AND SO THAT IS WHAT I'M GOING TO SHARE WITH YOU TODAY. Hearing God accurately in the mess and chaos that the world is in right now, is of huge importance!  May the Lord continue to use you all to proclaim and speak truth, no matter what the cost. It is so worth being called a servant of the Lord during hard and challenging times.   TODAY, I'M GOING TO TALK WITH YOU ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE IN A PLACE OF SAFETY, A PLACE, OR A “HAVEN” OF BEING SHELTERED BY THE LORD. Especially during very, very difficult and hard times. I'll share how to discern and hear His voice in the chaos of the nonstop noise the dark world bombards us all with. It's ratcheted up to crazy levels, and shouts loudly to attempt to distract us from discerning the times, and hopes to discourage us and knock us off balance with fear, and then rob our peace.   IT'S OBVIOUS THAT THE EARTH IS IN ONE MASSIVE UPHEAVAL, AND NO MATTER WHERE YOU TURN RIGHT NOW, THE CRISES CONTINUE TO MOUNT AND BOIL! And so, people begin to put aside spending time in the word of God, and certainly in his presence, to spend time with the love of the Internet and scrolling through their telephones through social network information and high charged doomsday podcasts and videos. This can absolutely create stress and anxiety, and it also creates a terrible problem with comparing ourselves to other people and where we are at in life.   PRAYER IS NOT A BORING HARD THING WHEN YOU REALIZE  THAT YOU ARE FACE-TO-FACE, OR LITERALLY,  “PRESENCE TO PRESENCE” WITH THE FATHER.   A tremendous man who walked daily in the Presence of God, Andrew Murray, said in a book that he wrote,  “It's one of the terrible marks of the diseased state of the Christian life in these days that there are so many that are content, and remain passive and content, without the distinct occasion of having experienced answered prayer. They pray daily, but know very little of direct, definite answers to prayer as the rule of their daily life.”    Psalm Thirty verse four says, “I sought the Lord and he answered me.”   We must understand that it's the Father's will that WE SEEK HIM OUT to daily have dialogue with his will, and it's his will to have his children to listen to him and then, he listens to his children and agrees to their requests. It's his will that we should come to him day by day, with specific requests, and he will every day, do for us great and wonderful things! What we ask sometimes might be a case where the specific answer is that he refuses our request, but our Father lets us know when and why he can't give us what we request. It's like his Son Jesus, and so we will withdraw our petition or our request.   When did Jesus do that? Jesus said in the Garden of Gethsemane, “If this cup could pass from me, but not my will, but your will be done.”  He said this to the Father.   WHETHER OUR REQUEST IS ACCORDING TO GOD'S WILL OR NOT, GOD WILL BY HIS WORD AND BY HIS SPIRIT, TEACH THOSE OF US WHO ARE TEACHABLE, and he will give us time to withdraw our requests if they're not according to God‘s mind or purposes.   LET'S PRESS IN. LET'S JUST STAND FIRM UNTIL THE ANSWER COMES! PRAYER IS GIVEN TO US TO OBTAIN AN ANSWER! It's in prayer and its answer, that the exchange of love between the Father and we his children takes place.   MY QUESTION IS, “ARE YOUR  PRAYERS BEING ANSWERED?” During the last hours of the age that we're in, there will be two opposing groups or alliances in the world.    The First group are those whose hearts are absolutely overwrought with bitterness, resentment and hatred.   The Second group is those whose love has actually increased, and are experiencing the power of the Kingdom of God, now!   Jesus told us about this in Matthew in chapter 4:10-13. He said, “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.  Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” And then in Matthew 24:14 he added, “This gospel (good news) of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations and then the end shall come.”   SO, THE BIG QUESTION IS... ...“WHAT IS THIS GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM?”  It's the whole truth Jesus came to bring, not only that part that saves us from our sins, but also that part which creates us in his image! It's the full message, the full good news with all its requirements and all of its rewards!  It's is the full price for the full power! It's the most glorious pearl that a person can possess. The presence of God in His glory, revealed, made known within and among us!   IF WE WANT TO GAIN THIS GREAT LOVE, WE WILL CONTINUALLY BE FORCED TO MAKE CHOICES TOWARD MERCY, OR, TOWARD UNFORGIVENESS, and if we don't walk in a forgiving attitude, we will certainly become prey to an embittered spirit, if it's in fact, God‘s plan to allow wickedness and holiness at the same time,  so they grow to full maturity.   We must guard our hearts ahead of time from reacting in bitterness or unforgiveness because the increasing anarchy will certainly give us occasions to lose love, with the attempt to make us hard so we can survive in this cruel world.   WE OFTEN WITHDRAW FROM THE GENUINENESS OF PURE LOVE! We can't choose cautious, selective love, and also walk in the power of God's kingdom, my friends! To defy pain, we sometimes unconsciously shut down our love, because after all, its love that makes us vulnerable.   GOD WANTS US TO BE A PEOPLE WHOSE LOVE IS GROWING HOT, NOT COLD. Jesus didn't say that we had to trust our enemies, but he did say that we had to love them anyhow. You might be asking why!  One reason God allows difficulties is to test us! ( I know! I know! We don't want to hear that! ) He wants to see if our Christianity is just an intellectual pursuit or just thoughts and feelings of the mind, or if following him is truly the highest passion of our hearts. So, he tells us in Matthew 5:44, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Wow!    SOME OF YOU HAVE GONE THROUGH REJECTION AND BETRAYAL MOST LIKELY. The Lord says to you today, “You did not fail, you have continued to love, and although you went through great pain, yet you have forgiven, those who have hurt you.”  My friends you have passed the test.   THERE ARE HOWEVER, SOME OF YOU LISTENING OR READING THAT STILL HAVE CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS IN YOUR LIVES THAT YOU HAVE NOT FORGIVEN, AND WHOM YOU DO NOT LOVE.  Maybe you're right, they don't deserve your forgiveness, but what you don't realize is the consequence of your anger. You see, as long as we refuse to forgive, a part of this is trapped in the past where you will always be reminded of your pain, and until we forgive, we will not be fully released to go on with our life. Even the time of year in which you were hurt will bring depression.   THERE'S ONLY ONE WAY WE CAN HAVE TRUE FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD AND THAT IS IN THE HERE AND NOW, RIGHT NOW, LIVING IN THE PRESENT. But if our mind is in conflict with others, we're neither here nor in the present. When we live in the past, we are cut off from God! What people did to us to hurt us is over! It's done; it doesn't have any real existence or life of its own, except in your mind.   SO THERE WITHIN US, THE DEED CONTINUES TO LIVE AND FESTER AND AS LONG AS IT LIVES, WE'RE STILL BEING HURT BY IT. The person or the people who wounded you may have long since died. They can't be blamed because it's us who keeps our wounds alive. Not only is the quality of our spiritual life affected, but often our physical health pays a price as well!   As long as we keep holding onto the burden of what someone has done to us, every time we think about it or think about that person, the stomach acids start to churn and anxiety increases, and then of course our body is continually put under stress.   If we don't forgive those who have hurt us, we lose a measure of our capacity to love and whether they deserve forgiveness or not, we deserve a better life! God wants to give you a better life but you can't enjoy abundant life and carry unforgiveness, because we're shackled to something that was hurting us. Did you know that our own unforgiveness tortures us?   SO HOW DO YOU GET OUT OF THAT PRISON?  HOW DO YOU FIND THE PROTECTION OF GOD FOR YOUR SOUL?    Well, God calls us to forgive. You have to see the hands of God reaching to you in the midst of your pain. He wants to redeem that conflict using that specific crisis or hardship to develop and perfect character in you. It will be this experience that he will use to make you like Jesus. To become like Jesus is to dwell, to live, in the place of rest and the safety of God. Every time we say, “Father, I choose to love. I choose to forgive. I choose to forget and not hold it against this person”, we are taking on the nature of Jesus. Friends, rejoice that Jesus is taking over your heart. You are entering into the strong, safe haven of God's shelter.   I DO MANY THINGS THAT THE LORD HAS ASSIGNED ME TO DO IN LIFE NOT ONLY AS A MINISTER, BUT ALSO AS A PASTORAL COUNSELOR. I also host and facilitate a group called “The international Prophetic Women's Mentoring Council.” This is a group of women from all walks of life several cultural groups and different backgrounds. We meet through zoom video sessions and individually. The thing that is “the glue that bonds us” is the fact that each of us have been called into ministry, and each of these women flows in a different expression of the prophetic gift. This past week we had a zoom session and our conversation and subject matter was regarding, the power of intercession and what it takes to approach the Face of God, in a right attitude.   One of the things that stood out so strongly in our time of dialogue and accountability to one another was the fact that in order to hear clearly from the Spirit of God, we need to have the inward witness, or the “inside part of us that communicates with God”, clearly in a place of submission and humility before him, and, that we first come into a place where we have asked the Lord to cleanse us. That means cleanse our hearts before we try to come to Him in prayer.   MANY PEOPLE DON'T KNOW HOW TO HEAR THE VOICE OF GOD. They seek it through quick daily devotionals, or they seek the voice of God through other people every day, instead of seeking the Lord himself. The scripture tells us clearly in John 10:4-5, “His sheep know his voice, and strange voices, they will not follow.”   SO WHAT ARE THE STRANGE VOICES? The voices from the external world that are constantly pumping us full of data, fear, rhetoric and forced compliance to social conditioning. If we choose to listen to the voice of strangers, then we move further away from being sheep in the pasture of the Lord.   SO HOW DO WE KNOW HIS VOICE? How do we discern that it's him? The number one thing, is that God always speaks life. He always speaks truth. And when God speaks, it brings peace, even in the midst of hard difficulties or hard decisions. An absolute solid peace comes and says, “This is the way, and this is what you have to do!” Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, "This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left. That's Isaiah 30:21.   THE HOLY SPIRIT LIVES IN YOU. God absolutely wants to direct your life through your decision-making. The Holy Spirit guides us in our spirits (not through our physical body). The Number One way The Holy Spirit leads and guides us is through what the Bible calls, the “Inward Witness.” Proverbs 3:6 says,  “Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.”   WHAT IS AN INNER OR INWARD WITNESS? An inner witness is an impression, or a sense or perception on the inside of you. Romans 8:16 tells us, “For his Spirit joins with our spirit, to affirm, to confirm, that we are God's children.” Jeremiah 7:23-24 says this to us,  “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you shall walk entirely in the way which I command you, so that it may go well for you.'  Yet, they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked by their own advice and in the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and they went backward and not forward.   AS KINGDOM PEOPLE, WE'RE NOT LED BY OUR SENSES. We're not led by our ears or our eyes. We're led by our spirit. When we talk about hearing God, we're not talking about hearing God with our physical ears. We're talking about hearing Him in our spirit.  Here's a great example:  The Apostle Paul had been arrested and he was headed to his trial. Before he took the journey he sensed something in his spirit. He wasn't the captain of the ship, but he sensed something in his spirit.  In Acts 27:10, Apostle Paul said, "Men, I perceive we're going to face a disaster and heavy losses on this voyage. This disaster will cause damage to the cargo and the ship, and it will affect our lives." It wasn't long before the ship hit a cyclone, but an angel appeared and guaranteed Paul that everyone would make it, and they did! What was it that what Paul said in the beginning? “I perceive".   This is what we're looking at right now. We're talking about being led by the Spirit of God, no matter what circumstance or difficulty we might encounter.   BEING A PERSON WHO IS CALLED TO A PROPHETIC MINISTRY, I AM CLEARLY AWARE OF THE FACT THAT 90% OF WHAT I DO, ALSO COMES FROM TEACHING PEOPLE FROM THE WORD OF GOD REGARDING HOW TO  “HEAR” THE VOICE OF GOD.   My job is not to be a telephone for people to connect to God with, nor simply through prophesying. This is not going to change lives long term if the word of God is not taught and also if people don't act on it and obey it.   I HAVE HAD SOME STRANGE ENCOUNTERS WITH PEOPLE WHO THINK THAT I HAVE SOME KIND OF HOTLINE OR SATELLITE CONNECTION TO GOD TO HELP THEM GET ANSWERS. They need something or want to hear what the Lord has for them by asking me for a prophetic word. My friends this is not how the prophetic word of knowledge or word of wisdom works!  I had a lady when we were Pastoring a local fellowship come up to me after the service and she asked me if I would please, “do whatever I do, do that thing that I do”, and see if God would show me where she had put her wedding ring. She had lost it. I remember feeling very uncomfortable and a cold chill went through my body! My thought process was, “this woman wants me to be like a palm reader, or a magic eight ball! She wants me to use divination to find her wedding ring!“ Very kindly but firmly I told the woman, “You can ask the Lord to show you where it is yourself, or just simply go on looking for it. Pray that the Lord would lead you to it, but to ask me to ask the Holy Spirit to show me where it is, is basically trying to use another voice to speak to God for you when you can speak on your own to him.”   THERE ARE TIMES, WHEN GOD WILL SPEAK A WORD, AND IT IS DONE THROUGH A PROPHETIC UTTERANCE, and it gives us a word of knowledge about something or a word of wisdom about a specific event where we need to have insight, but it will always confirm with the Spirit of God what he has already put down on the inside of us that we can't seem to quite untangle, until the prophetic word comes and brings a clarity to it.   SOMETIMES THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL HAVE SOMEONE BRING A PROPHETIC WORD THAT COMES IN THE FORM OF LOVING CORRECTION, BUT IT IS STILL CORRECTION, AND PEOPLE GET ANGRY AND SHOUT, “HOW DARE YOU JUDGE ME! Who are you to judge me?!”   Of course what this is a reaction to being caught out in bad behavior or hidden sin, and the Lord gently, lovingly, brings a word of warning.   ALL OF US KNOW WHEN WE SLIP AWAY FROM SPENDING TIME IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD. We know when we slack off from reading the scripture and from meditating on it, letting the Holy Spirit speak through the word to us. This is where the areas of bitterness and lack of purity in our walk with the Lord get all tangled up.   FRIENDS.  ASK THE HOLY SPIRIT TO TEACH YOU HOW TO BE LED BY HIM. (By the way, you might need a refreshing of your commitment to only follow his voice.) You don't need a prophet to hear from God for you, or have a constant prophetic word to make decisions. Simply say these words. “Holy Spirit, teach me how to be led by you.” Then, before you make any major decisions, acknowledge God. Say, “God, this is what the situation is,  >  insert your situation  

Ruth replied, “Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.” — Ruth 1:16 A few years ago Erika's mother passed away from cancer. Erika's mother was a sister to Stephanie, so Stephanie is Erika's aunt. Despite their loss, Erika and Stephanie share a bond that is exceptionally close for an aunt and niece. They cook together, share meals, and travel from Michigan to Chicago nearly every Sunday for worship. On the Sunday when Erika and Stephanie became members at our church, we read the story of Ruth and Naomi, focusing on the line “Where you go I will go. . . . Your people will be my people and your God my God.” Ruth and Naomi experienced deep grief together; Ruth's husband, who had died, was Naomi's son. Yet they chose to embrace one another and face the grief and unknown together as they sought community in Bethlehem, Naomi's old hometown. Grief and hardship can leave you looking around and realizing, “This is it; these are my people. And I can remain bitter, or I can take a step toward healing with the ones God has given me.” Some losses cannot be replaced, and yet opportunities and blessings can emerge as new gifts, offering comfort, hope, and companionship. I'm grateful to God that Naomi and Ruth had each other, and that Erika and Stephanie do too. Whom has God brought into your life, offering gifts and companionship to help you? Lord, guide and comfort us in our grief, and help us to support one another with grace and love. In Jesus, Amen.

In order to understand the story, we're reading 4:1-12 - I'll need to talk about why Peter and John are in prison in the first place. Essentially, they came across a guy who was lame from birth. The guy asks for money; instead, since they knew that Jesus lived his life with love and compassion and healing and justice, they decided to go deeper. They don't offer him charity - they offer him healing. They give him his dignity back, he no longer needs to beg. They give him his life back - now he can presumably work for a living. This is where we pick up the story. The religious leaders are upset because Peter and John are teaching about Jesus the resurrected one. They're trying to figure out where their power comes from - presumably they feel threatened. So they bring in the very same people (the high priest) who gave the go ahead for Jesus to be put to death. Peter defends the two of them - they haven't come to disturb anything, they've come to bring the things that Jesus brought - love, compassion, healing, and justice. In Jesus, God is putting the world back together again. He is the "capstone" - he is unique - in Jesus, God is up to something new in the world and we get to be a part of it. The message Peter is trying to get across is something like this: you want to make sense of what you think you know about the divine? You want to know what God is truly like? You want to make sense of your own life and what it means to be a human being? Look at Jesus. Love. Compassion. Healing. Justice. That's what God looks like - that's God's dream for us human beings. This is why I haven't given up on religion - haven't given up on faith, even though Christians have given me lots of reasons to do so. Jesus is unique - extraordinary. We turn our lives toward him and then pattern our own lives after his. We make our own lives about love, etc. Speaker: Aaron Vis Scripture: Acts 4:1-12

June 18, 2025Hope Alive: Applying God's Word to Your Daily LifeDeuteronomy 34:9-12   Bible Study | Episode #963I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.If you would like to revisit today's Bible study, please visit our website at https://hopealive.buzzsprout.com/ to download the transcript. If this podcast ministered to you, please subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple podcasts. Reviews help us reach more people and spread the wisdom of God. Please follow us:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopealivewithgod/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hopealiveministry/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LakeComChurch/ -Lake Community Church 

Your Nightly Prayer

Do you find it hard to trust some people? Do you find it hard to trust anyone? Our society is full to the brim of people who have been hurt, wounded, and devastated. It puts up a wall and we live behind it in silence and fear.After the fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, the people of that captive country were free for the first time to tell their stories. One woman said that she had been driven nearly insane by the dictator's torture chambers, but when he was gone, someone shared the love of Christ with her. And her mind and spirit were restored. She said that for the first time in her life, she could now trust. It opened her heart to beauty and friendship and love. And most of all, she now loves her Savior with her whole, healed heart.Psalm 91:2 says, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Your situation might not be as extreme as our Iraqi sister, but if you have trust issues, take them to Jesus and tell Him with your whole hurting heart that you need Him. He will meet you where you are!Let's pray.Lord, your love heals all kinds of pain. We thank you that your mercies endure forever. In Jesus' name, amen. Change your shirt, and you can change the world! Save 15% Off your entire purchase of faith-based apparel + gifts at Kerusso.com with code KDD15.

People Living Lives in which Sin Is Normal Are Missing the Peace and Fruits of the Holy Spirit MESSAGE SUMMARY: In our world, today, people say that it is OK to sin, but sinning is not OK because if you are sinning, the Holy Spirit is not in you. If you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the fruit of the Holy Spirit will be present in your life. You cannot exhibit the fruit of the flesh, sin, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul explains, simply, the link between being a Jesus Follower and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 6:17: “But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.". In Romans 12:2, Paul describes God's expectations for us to live in the Spirit and not in the flesh {sin}: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.". The fruit of the Holy Spirit includes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and self-control.   TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, you know how difficult it is for me to be in silence before you. At times it feels almost impossible, given the demands, distractions, and noise all around me. I invite you to lead me to a quiet, silent place before you — to a place where I can hear you as Elijah did. In Jesus' name, amen.     Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 123). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, because I am filled with the Holy Spirit, I will not be controlled by my Anxiety. Rather, I will walk in the Spirit's fruit of Peace. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22f). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV):  Ephesians 4:19-24; Romans 8:16-17; 1 Corinthians 6:17-20; Psalms 145b:12-21. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “Five Needs of Fathers”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

June 17, 2025Hope Alive: Applying God's Word to Your Daily LifeDeuteronomy 34:1-8  Bible Study | Episode #962I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.If you would like to revisit today's Bible study, please visit our website at https://hopealive.buzzsprout.com/ to download the transcript. If this podcast ministered to you, please subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple podcasts. Reviews help us reach more people and spread the wisdom of God. Please follow us:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopealivewithgod/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hopealiveministry/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LakeComChurch/ -Lake Community Church 

There are few things more disorienting than feeling like God is silent. The heavens feel closed, your prayers seem unanswered, and your spirit longs for even the faintest whisper. Many of us know what it's like to cry out in pain, only to be met with what feels like divine stillness. But even in silence, God is not absent.Our springboard for today's discussion is:“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” — Psalm 13:1 (ESV)David, the man after God's own heart, wasn't afraid to express deep frustration and anguish in his relationship with the Lord. He didn't hide his heart—he brought it fully before God. That kind of honesty is part of what faith looks like in times of silence.When God seems quiet, it's tempting to believe the worst—that He has left, that He's uninterested, or that your prayers don't matter. But silence is not the same as absence. Often, God is doing His deepest work in your life in the quiet spaces—strengthening your roots, building trust, refining your heart.The silence stretches us. It tests whether we will lean into His Word even when His voice seems still. When fresh direction doesn't come, go back to the last thing He told you. Stay rooted in Scripture. Remember His faithfulness in past seasons.Trust grows in the quiet. Obedience deepens. Spiritual maturity takes shape not just in what we hear—but in how we respond when we don't.Question of the Day:What does faith look like for you right now when you feel like God is silent?Mini Call to Action:Write down Psalm 13:1. Reflect on David's honesty and courage. Let it give you permission to bring your full heart to God today.Let's Pray:Lord, when I can't hear You, help me trust You. Strengthen my faith in the quiet. Teach me to lean on what is true, not just what I feel. In Jesus' name, amen.Let's Get To Work!God's silence is not His absence—keep walking with Him anyway.My Reasons To Believe is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit myr2b.substack.com/subscribe

In Your Personal Relationship with Jesus, Fast and Feast with Jesus to Drink Heartily of His Word as Jesus Satisfies and Nourishes You MESSAGE SUMMARY: Most of the time when you are fasting, you are thinking about what you must give up in the fast. Rather, in your fasting, than focusing on “going without” you should think of fasting as a call by Jesus to come to Him and feast with Him. Paul's example for us, in Acts 14:22-23, occurs after he had been stoned and left for dead after preaching the Gospel in Antioch. Rather than leaving the field of discipleship in fear, Paul returned the next day to preach the Gospel and: “strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.". In your feast with Jesus, you can drink heartily of His Word to let Jesus satisfy and nourish you.   TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, help me to grab hold of you today. I need you. Set me free to begin reorienting my life around you, and you alone. Help me to pay attention to and honor how you have uniquely made me. Thank you for the gift of rest. In Jesus' name, amen.       Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 122). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, Because of who I am in Jesus Christ, I will not be driven by Loneliness. Rather, I will abide in the Lord's Presence. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Luke 2:36-38; Matthew 19:16-30; 2 Samuel 12:15-17; Psalms 145a: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: “Five Needs of Fathers”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Beyond Trouble #RTTBROS #Nightlight Beyond Today's Troubles"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." - Jeremiah 29:11"God's plans for your life far exceed the circumstances of your day."When we find ourselves overwhelmed by the weight of today's challenges, it's easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. The bills on your kitchen table, the tension in your relationships, the uncertainty at work, or the health concerns that keep you awake at night can feel all-consuming. In these moments, our vision becomes narrow, focused only on what we can see right in front of us.But God's perspective is infinitely different from ours. While we see today's struggles, He sees the masterpiece He's creating through every season of our lives. The very circumstances that feel like obstacles may actually be the tools He's using to shape us, strengthen us, and prepare us for the good works He has planned.Consider Joseph, whose brothers sold him into slavery. In that moment, his circumstances seemed hopeless. Yet God was orchestrating events that would eventually place Joseph in a position to save nations from famine. What appeared to be a devastating setback was actually a divine setup.The same God who worked through Joseph's difficulties is working through yours. Your current chapter is not your final story. The financial pressure you're facing doesn't define your future provision. The broken relationship doesn't determine your capacity for love. The closed door doesn't mean there isn't a better one waiting to open.God's plans for you are not merely about getting you through today, though He will. They're about transforming you into who He created you to be and positioning you for purposes you haven't even imagined yet. His thoughts toward you are thoughts of peace, hope, and a future filled with meaning.Today, when the circumstances feel heavy, remember that they are temporary, but God's plans for you are eternal. Look beyond what you can see with your eyes and trust what He has promised with His word. Your best days are not behind you – they're ahead of you, woven into the perfect plan of a God who loves you more than you can comprehend.Prayer: Heavenly Father, when I can only see today's troubles, help me to trust in Your eternal perspective. Remind me that You are working all things together for my good and Your glory. Give me faith to believe that Your plans for my life far exceed anything I can see or imagine today. In Jesus' name, Amen.Be sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

June 16, 2025Hope Alive: Applying God's Word to Your Daily LifeDeuteronomy 33:23-29  Bible Study | Episode #961I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.If you would like to revisit today's Bible study, please visit our website at https://hopealive.buzzsprout.com/ to download the transcript. If this podcast ministered to you, please subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple podcasts. Reviews help us reach more people and spread the wisdom of God. Please follow us:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopealivewithgod/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hopealiveministry/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LakeComChurch/ -Lake Community Church 

Today marks your opportunity for a divine comeback. God specializes in turning tragedy into triumph, and He can do it quicker than we imagine. Your best days aren't behind you - they're ahead. Even if you've given up on yourself, God hasn't given up on you. His calling on your life remains unchanged, waiting for you to step back into it. This moment of surrender could be the turning point you've been waiting for. God's grace is sufficient to overcome any past mistake, any disappointment, any failure. It's time to let His love overshadow your past and step confidently into your future.Bible Verse"He said, 'Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.' When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish." - John 21What step of faith is God asking you to take today to step into your comeback story?Quote "God is able to do a quick work in your life. He's able to bring you from a point of tragedy to a point of triumph in such a quick moment. It just requires a time of surrender."PrayerFather, I surrender my past disappointments and failures to You. Thank You for the comeback You have planned for my life. Give me courage to take the first step toward Your calling today. In Jesus' name, Amen.Welcome, we are so glad you have joined us for our church online! If you are new here, we would love to connect with you. HARVEST VALLEY CHURCH is a church that believes in Jesus, a church that loves God and people. If you have made a decision to follow Jesus or want to learn more about Him, Email us and we will reach out to you about your decision to follow Jesus. connect@harvestvalley.org To support the ministry of Harvest Valley Church and invest in the lives of others through giving, click here: https://www.harvestvalley.org/giveFor more information about Harvest Valley Church visit https://www.harvestvalley.org #harvestvalleychurch #loveourcity #Pleasantonca #eastbaychurches #Sunday #harvestvalleychurchpleasanton #purposeinlife Support the show

John 16:12-15[Jesus said,] “I still have many things to say to you but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own but he will take whatever he hears and declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me and because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” I have often lamented, even loathed, Holy Trinity Sunday. It's never been my favorite sermon to prepare or to preach. From what I can tell, the Gospel reading we just heard was chosen by the liturgical police simply because all three persons of the Trinity are referenced by Jesus himself and we're invited to wonder about and wrestle with what that means from a theological sense. But, I think the stuff of doctrine and dogma belong in the classroom, more than they do in worship, which many of you have heard me say before.So, rather than snore our way through a bunch of 50 cent words and theological concepts and conundrums, I thought we'd watch a commencement address from Harvard University's Class of 2025. Oftentimes, commencement addresses can be as boring as a sermon on Holy Trinity Sunday, but this one is different. I found it quite inspiring and full of connections to today's liturgical calendar, believe it or not. “We are bound by something greater than belief – [we are bound together by] our shared humanity.”Now, smarter people than me have often said that the most important lesson, teaching, and meaning to be found in the Doctrine of the Trinity – what we call “the Father, +Son, and Holy Spirit,” because that's the language of Jesus and in Scripture – isn't so much the names and labels we've created to describe God. What really matters, they say … the lesson we're to learn, the meaning we're to find, the inspiration we're to glean from it all … comes from the relationship it describes between the three.Speaking of smarter people than me, St. Augustine is famous for saying something like, “If you see love, you see the three – the one who loves (the Father), the one who is loved (the Son) and the love itself (the Holy Spirit). Love cannot exist in the abstract; you cannot say “I love” without saying what or whom you love … in [the love of the Trinity, according to Augustine] there is both perfect unity and perfect relationship.”Love. Love. Love.Unity. Unity. Unity – with God and with one another.At the heart of the Trinity, then – the essence, identity, and hope of God – is relationship — a perfect communion of love between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier; the lover, the loved, and the love, itself.And this isn't just about God. It's about our call, hope, and joy as believers, too – to know God, not as some untouchable, incomprehensible, unfathomable power somewhere up there and out there and on the other side of eternity. It's about our call to look for, to know, to engage, and to embrace God in our neighbor, too. Again, as Luanna Jiang said it at Harvard, “We are bound by something greater than belief. [We are bound together by] our shared humanity.”And for Christians who want to follow Christ, that humanity was and is shared in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, from Nazareth. In Jesus, who gave us this language for God; who showed us this divine love; who shared this amazing grace; who birthed this beloved community; who suffered, died, and who was raised … not so that we would merely believe all the right things, but so that we would behave in ways that share this love. We are called to build community … feed the hungry … visit the prisoner … clothe the naked … bring good news to the poor, declare release to the captive, free the oppressed, and proclaim the year of the God's favor. And we're called to do this especially for the least of these by the world's estimation – those whom the world refuses to love: the outcast and the immigrant; the poor and the unhoused; the L, the G, the B, the T, and the Q; the unforgiveable and the unforgiving, just the same.It doesn't matter what we call God on Holy Trinity Sunday or any other day of the week. It doesn't matter if we say it in Hindi, Tai, Chinese, or English; in Mongolia, Massachusetts, or New Palestine.If we aren't working toward, praying for, or walking in ways that love and honor the shared humanity of all people, we are misunderstanding and misrepresenting the God we claim to worship.And we're just plain missing out on the fullness of the loving relationship we're called to engage – with them, with each other, and with Jesus Christ, our Lord.Amen

For Jesus Followers, Fasting, with Food, Will Symbolize a Victory Over Oneself and Solidify a Personal Relationship with God MESSAGE SUMMARY: In the early Christian Church, which was under great stress and constant physical danger, God's direction and blessing was needed. Therefore, fasting was considered by Church leaders as a key element of their communion with God when they needed both His direction and blessing, as we find in Acts 14:23: “And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.". As a challenge, "consider the food issue" in your life, especially when you need God's direction in your life, because food has such a stronghold on us. Fasting and tithing can significantly deepen your personal relationship with God because fasting is not easy; but success in fasting, especially with food, can symbolize your victory over yourself and solidify your commitment to your personal relationship with God.     TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, Sabbath rest is truly an unbelievable gift! Thank you that there is nothing I can do to earn your love; it comes without any strings attached. As I close my eyes for these few minutes before you, all I can say is, thank you! In Jesus' name, amen.    Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 133). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FORGIVEN. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Matthew 4:1-2; Matthew 6:16-18; 2 Samuel 12:15-17; Psalms144:1-15. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “Five Needs of Fathers” at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/    DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Noah was far from perfect, but he was a humble man, and protective of his family. He stands out among fathers in the Bible as a man who remained loyal to God, in spite of the wickedness of the world around him.Doesn't that sound a lot like life today? Fathers who choose to follow a life of faith are surrounded by temptation and downright evil in this world, but God is pleased by our devotion, and He has a plan for each of us — even when circumstances are frustrating or difficult. Genesis 6:5–8 says, “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So, the Lord said, ‘I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.' But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”The Bible tells us Noah, father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, was a righteous man and walked faithfully with God. For this reason, God chose Noah to build an incredible ship—the ark—that would save not only mankind, but every variety of living creature on the earth—from peril.Sometimes, fathers feel like their job is a thankless one. They tackle the honey-do list on weekends, help with dinner, keep the kids in line, and help to wrangle them at bedtime...and maybe they don't hear ‘thank you,' or ‘great job,' often enough. But God knows everything you do for your family, from breadwinning to caretaking and everything in between, and He takes delight in your devotion to your family, and to Him.Deuteronomy 30:2–3 says, “And when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.”Modern-day fathers can learn valuable lessons from Noah:God promises to bless and protect those who faithfully follow and obey him. A man who obeys the Lord will inspire faith in his children as well. Obedience is not a sprint but a marathon; It means a lifetime of faithful devotion, even (and especially!) when the going gets tough.Let's pray.Lord, thank you for calling out Noah's faithful obedience to you so many years ago, and for providing for the safety and provision of his entire family when the world had gone astray. Bless every father who hears this message, Lord, that they might grow closer in their walk with you, and inspire their children to follow in their footsteps. In Jesus' name, amen. Change your shirt, and you can change the world! Save 15% Off your entire purchase of faith-based apparel + gifts at Kerusso.com with code KDD15.