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Larry "Scott" Teakell, a native Texan, joined the U.S. Army in 1995. He served as a medic and had three tours in Iraq, one in Bosnia and Macedonia. In July 2007 in Iraq, SSgt Teakell put out a fuel fire that covered Spc. Heredia and was awarded theSoldier's Medal, the highest medal you can earn for heroism in non-combat. Teakell talks about being a medic and the Strong Star Training Initiative program at Fort Hood. He retired as an SFC in 2015 and began forging knives, and became the founder ofJunkyard Tactical.

 They put in their cover letter, “Honestly, we're just gonna go up to Yellowstone around that time and we would love to swing by and show the movie.”Rudi Womack is the Director of the Wyoming International Film Festival and the creator of the YouTube channel The Film Festival Guide.In this conversation, Rudi talks about:* What watching thousands of film festival submissions has taught him about good storytelling* The biggest mistake filmmakers make when they submit to festivals* Why transparency matters and why he published all of the submission and acceptance stats for the Wyoming International Film Festival * The importance of a compelling poster and thumbnail* How to write a good description of your movie* The most important questions filmmakers must askHere is a link to Hiike, the new film festival submission platform that Rudi mentioned.If you enjoyed this episode please forward to a friend.Here is an AI-generated transcript of my interview with Rudi. Don't come for me.79. Film Festival Director Rudi WomackBEN: Hi everyone. This is Ben Guest and this is The Creativity Education and Leadership Podcast. My guest today is Rudy Womack, who is the director of the Wyoming International Film Festival, and also Rudy has a fantastic YouTube page called The Film Festival Guide. So for all my filmmakers out there who are interested in submitting to festivals in this interview and on Rudy's YouTube page, he breaks it down. Enjoy.Rudi, thank you so much for joining us.RUDI: Hey, it's my pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me.BEN: So I always start off with a fun question, and we're entering the holiday season, so very important holiday question. Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?RUDI: Absolutely. A hundred percent. Come on.BEN: I love it. So I, I told you this off Air, I found you through the Rate YouTube channel.You have the Film Festival Guide. Is that the right name? I wanna make sure I get the name right. Yeah. The filmRUDI: festival guide. Yep.BEN: On YouTube Film Festival Guide on YouTube. Please. Any filmmakers out there go and subscribe. The information is so helpful. What, why did you start the this YouTube page?RUDI: I, as a filmmaker have gone through the festival circuit several times and I made a lot of amateur mistakes. I didn't know what I was doing. Definitely fell on my face a couple of times, but I also had some successes. And as I did more film festivals, I started learning more about the circuit.I got invited by a film festival to become a programmer, and so I started reviewing a lot of films and seeing a lot of the submissions. And I think instantly that made me a better filmmaker just because I saw what was working, what wasn't working, and how other filmmakers really brought to, brought their stories to life on the screen.And it, it was truly inspirational. Very long story short, the Wyoming International Film Festival was started by a gentleman named Alan Oi, and he's a, he's a documentarian out of Wyoming, which is where I'm from. I'm from Wyoming. So Alan had the film festival and he had run it for some years and it was going great and everything.But then Alan retired and now he's retiring. He wants to move outta Wyoming and he doesn't wanna run a live event. ‘cause it is a lot of work in his words. And I quote, it's a young man's game. And at the same time, COVID hit and he didn't wanna do the whole online thing and it was just a big mess.So Alan was like, I'm done with the festival, it's done. I'm just gonna let it die. And I was begging him, no, Alan, you can't do it. It's so important for indie filmmakers. And at the time I'm just finding my feet in the festival circuit as well as both a filmmaker and now I'm a programmer.I'm begging him like don't let it die. It's important, maybe I can help out. And he was like, why don't you run it? And I was like, absolutely not, man. What are you talking about? That's crazy. No way. No way. And I was like, I'm going to be your director of programming. That's what I'm going to do.I'm gonna help you get films in so you don't have to do that work. Very long story short, I ended up running it. I ended up taking over the festival from Alan. I did so reluctantly. But when I started working with the festival, working with the community, working with my hometown filmmakers and my home state filmmakers, and just seeing how important a film festival can be for a local community to uplift indie filmmakers to help them along the way I fell in love with it and here I am now, I run the film festival.And your question was, how did I start the YouTube channel? Sorry, I'm getting there. But I got a lot of questions from filmmakers about festivals, like how to navigate ‘em. And there's just so much mystery behind film festivals ‘cause it's so opaque. There's not a lot of transparency from film festivals.Film festivals are sketchy about which films they do select and which they don't. And frankly, there's a lot of misinformation out there about festivals. So I started answering a lot of questions and I started repeatedly answering the same question again and again and again. And I had some friends who told me, you should write a book.But I was like, yeah, but books, there are books, like people have already written books, bluntly, frankly, people far more experienced and knowledgeable than myself have written books. And so if you're not reading those books, then you're probably not gonna read my book. So that's when I decided, you know what, the YouTube channel is a great way to just do very easy outreach.Take one single topic, break it down for 10 minutes, and hopefully help filmmakers along on their film festival journey.BEN: I love it. And you said something for all the filmmakers who are listening. I'm gonna come back to it. Don't worry. You said something about once you started programming and watching so many films, you got a good sense of what works and what doesn't.So I definitely wanna come back to that. I know the filmmakers listening want to hear that. But before that you mentioned 10 minute videos. You strike me as somebody who, does research and takes time to Yes. Before they do something. What did you discover about running a YouTube page?What things work, what things don't work?RUDI: I'm still very early on in my own YouTube development. I'm still trying to learn what does and doesn't work. So I'm probably the worst person on earth to give advice. Definitely that first 32nd hook is so important on YouTube, just like it is on a film that, that intro, how we come into the story, whatever, on YouTube, you can see a massive drop off and apparently it's that way on every channel.Again, I'm not a YouTube guru, so I don't give advice, but that first 32nd hook is a big deal, but also just my presence on camera. I come from the post world. I'm an editor, so I'm not just behind camera. I'm behind, behind the camera. So I'm very much not used to an on-camera presence, so I'm developing that and learning it as well.What kind of energy I can bring. How to make it engaging. But also I don't wanna be zany and too quirky or anything because I am trying to give good guidance to filmmakers, but I also don't want to lecture them and bore them to death. So it's finding that balance of information that's valuable, but also entertaining enough that people don't wanna click off.And it's actually quite a complex thing that I'm still unraveling one video at a time. But the best advice that I saw was some YouTube guru who is just focus on getting 1% better on every single video. So is that little bit better graphics or better delivery, or better audio, or better editing or whatever it is.And after a hundred videos, you're now a hundred percent better. So that's what I've been focusing on. Just very small baby steps.BEN: Yeah, that's such a great way to break it down, right? It just makes it bite-sized, get 1% better.RUDI: I think you can apply that to life in general. There's a lot of things in life just today be 1% better.That's it,BEN: so you mentioned once you start a programming scene, get enough feel for what works, what doesn't, especially with short films, both narrative and docs. What are you seeing that works and doesn't work?RUDI: In the shorts world I'm seeing a couple of things. One, a self-contained story, and this is something that I had a problem with because oftentimes I would go for more of a quote unquote scene instead of a full beginning, middle and in, in a story.So a self-contained story typically is gonna make your short film much more successful. This can be hard for some filmmakers because they're trying to make a proof of concept short film that they're gonna go and get financing for their future. So one of the things that they often do is they just take a scene outta their feature and then just shoot that, which has mixed results.And the problem is the films that have gotten financed and been made from shorts that have done that are the ones that you see. So it's actually a survivor bias, where it's like it, it works for those particular films and therefore everybody thinks it's gonna work for their film. But obviously the films that it doesn't work for, you're never going to see.So you don't understand, actually for the majority of films, it doesn't work. So if you have a proof of concept, I actually say, don't pull a scene outta your feature. I say write its own scene, or sorry, your own short film. That exists in the same world and universe with the same characters as what your feature film is.And I think that's gonna have much more success on the film festival circuit. And that will lean you or lead you to whatever your goal is, financing or distribution or whatever. So that's a big thing with short films that makes ‘em successful is make sure it is actually a self-contained story and it doesn't have any loose ends, so to speak.What doesn't work is something that I myself struggle with, ironically as an editor. And that's things being too long and you need to parse them down. Now a lot of people will say, shorter, the better, which is true, but I actually think that's a result of actually getting to the core of the problem.And that's make your film as concise as possible. Get the idea. The emotion, the story out as concise as you can. And what that does by happenstance is it makes your film shorter. So it's not that shorter is better. I know there's it almost sounds like I'm just splitting hairs here, but I've seen plenty of five minute films that didn't work.I've seen plenty of 10 minute films that board me to death. So shorter isn't necessarily better. It's more concise of your story is better. And sometimes that still manifests as a 20, 30, 40 minute film. But if it's a very interesting 20, 30, 40 minutes, that's not gonna matter.BEN: It's such a great point. And for me, when I get to a certain point in the edit, I like to just bring in a couple friends and have them watch it. And then I just sit there and watch them watch it and whatever feedback they're gonna provide afterwards. 95% of what I need, I can just tell from Body Language as they're watching the film.RUDI: Yep.BEN: You come fromRUDI: theBEN: Go ahead.RUDI: Oh I was just gonna piggyback off that and just say, audience feedback is worth its weight and goal.BEN: Yeah.RUDI: And every filmmaker when you hit that fine cut stage, like you said, get your friends and family together, buy everybody some burgers and fries or whatever.Get ‘em all together. Gather ‘em up in a room, watch them, watch your film. That's gonna tell you more than anything else. We'll be able to about the success of your film and where it's strong, where it's weak, where you can still fix things. And I always suggest do it in your fine cut stage because nothing's locked in and you can still move things around and adjust, or whatever it is you need.BEN: Love it. And I think earlier what you are really getting at is telling a good story. Yes. And I'm amazed at, not amazed, but maybe a little disappointed, especially in today's world, the technical side of filmmaking. Even for an amateur, even for an indie filmmaker that you can, things can be d done so well technically, but there's no story.RUDI: Yes. All the time. So when I get onto Reddit, ‘cause you mentioned Reddit earlier if I go onto our filmmakers, right? Yeah. I don't have to look far to see people just geeking out over the newest Camerons. It's, and it's always cameras. Everybody always talks about. This camera is so fancy and it has so many stops above and this lens can do this and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.It has this big bit rate, whatever. Everybody gets so excited about cameras and I always say to myself, man, if they got this excited about audio, I wouldn't have to reject half the films that we have to reject because the audio is just blah. So if we're gonna talk tech, if we're gonna talk about the quote unquote quality of the filmmaking, I think what filmmakers need to understand is there are so many films out there we're that is just the foundation.It is the base level, it is the bare minimum that the film looks good. It sounds good. It feels good. So for us, festival guys, we see so many of these films. You're super gorgeous cinematography, you're really fancy, VFX, whatever it is that you think really separates your film from the pack. I don't wanna discourage you, I don't wanna sound jaded or anything, but it's not as impressive to us as you might believe it is, simply because we see hundreds and sometimes thousands of films like that.So for us it constantly falls back to originality and the story. Is the story well done? Is it well told? Is it a new and interesting story that we've never seen before? Is it a story that we've seen before but told in a very unique way, from a specific point of view, that is what is going to move us as festival people.‘cause when I put it into the theater and my audience walks in and they pay a ticket. My audience is used to going down to the theater and seeing a hundred million dollar movies. So for them, quality is just a given. It's just assumed they're not going to be thinking about it for them. They go and watch a movie ‘cause they're interested in, and I think if more filmmakers really dialed in on their story, they're going to find more success.BEN: So many great points there and a hundred percent agree with what you were saying about people get excited about the camera. And so I did my MFA at USC and there were three different times where I was on a set that, that I felt was unsafe. Not that I felt it was unsafe, what they were doing. Geez. And I walked off and it was always to get the cool shot.Like no one's ever hanging off a balcony to get room tone. You know what I mean? It's just, it's always to get the cool shot that, again, if you're not telling a good story, it doesn't matter. And to your point, I've always felt good audio is more important than good video.RUDI: Good image.BEN: Yeah.RUDI: Look at the documentary. Look at the nonfiction world. We see verite stuff all the time. We see stuff people recorded on their phone or, security camera footage or whatever, like at the end of the day in the nonfiction world is a great example of the quality of the shot doesn't necessarily matter so much as the quality of the story and how it's being told and how it's being revealed to us.And the audio is always gonna be very clean, very top notch, even if it's quote unquote found footage or. Veritate footage or whatever, the audio is always peak. I saw that Netflix doc recently, it was super heartbreaking. The perfect neighbor. And most of it is police body cam footage, but the audio is clean so we're able to follow the story so no one sits back and thinks of themselves this isn't a good shot.Of course it's not, it's police potty cam footage. Like it doesn't look good and it's not meant to,BEN: but it sounds good. And so you can follow it.RUDI: Yes.BEN: What what are some tropes that you think you've gotten tired of seeing in, especially in short films?RUDI: So every year it's a little bit different.You would be surprised what things pop up and what don't. The one trope that kind of rubs me the wrong way, I, I don't know how to describe it any other way than filmmaker self therapy. Like they, they're definitely going through something at the moment and they're not focused on creating a good story.They're more focused on using their art form to emotionally process whatever it is they're going through, which fine, you are an artist that makes sense to do, but also I can't sell my audience on that. So while I don't wanna discourage someone from making a film that is very near and dear and personal to them, at the end of the day, it might not be a good fit for film festivals.And so I, I would really think twice about whether or not that is a story that an audience, frankly, needs to see. Filmmaker cell therapy is one that when I get it, I'm always eh I don't know what to do with it. I just, I don't know what to do. Some other tropes that we see very commonly are like.Obviously right now, tech and AI and stuff like that gives a lot of people anxiety. So there's a lot of like evil robot takes over or the big reveal at the end of the movie, they were a robot the whole time, or the whole thing was a simulation or whatever. That's being very well tread right now.For me, I'm I am not a political person and anytime some big thing is in the news, we see tons of films on it. So I understand politics do affect people's day to day and their lives, so I understand that manifest. But man, I probably have a hundred immigration films right now and that's a lot. And I'm not gonna screen that many, so I'm only gonna pick like one, maybe two, so that's a tough one to do.Anything that's like a hot button political issue. We always see a big wave of those come in. And then honestly, romance dramas get tough. It isn't evergreen. We do have an audience for it. We usually do have some kind of a selection of them. Romance dramas have existed since the beginning of time.It's always been a thing. But filmmaker broke up with his girlfriend, so now he has a character who breaks up with his girlfriend. It gets it, it doesn't get very original. I, it just it gets exhausted. So those are some of the kind of general tropes I would avoid. I have heard other festival directors talk about like cancer films and Alzheimer's films and stuff like that.This year I'm not seeing so much of those, but I have seen those in the past. So tho those are some other. Tread stories we'll see.BEN: One of the things that I appreciate about. Your series of videos is your transparency, and you have one video where you literally break down. Here are all the films the number of films, Wyoming International Film Festivals received. Here's how it breaks down, here's how many we, we accepted, et cetera, et cetera.You have another one where you literally show the viewer, this is what we see as a programmer on our film freeway portal. Here's the scoring sheet. I think it's a little bit different from the one you guys use internally, but basically here's what the scoring sheet on film freeway looks like. Why is transparency so important to you?RUDI: Because I'm a filmmaker, because I've been to so many festivals where I have no idea what the hell's going on. I've been to festivals where I think my film is gonna be a good fit. I think based on what I've been able to investigate on my own, digging through their website, digging through their archive.Seen what they've programmed before. I think I'm a good fit, but I don't actually know. And I've submitted to festivals where later on, I see what they programmed or I got rejected or even accepted and then gone to the festival itself and have been a little disappointed when was like I this festival didn't fit my goals the way that I thought it would, or, this festival wasn't going to do the things for me.Or this festival, like really promoted themselves very heavily as this big event. And then you get there and then it's not, and that's a little bothersome. So when I stepped into my role at the Wyoming International Film Festival, I made a whole bunch of changes. But one of the changes that I made was, we are going to be transparent.I don't ever want a filmmaker to submit to our festival, get in, get accepted to the festival, drive all the way out to Wyoming and be disappointed. I don't want them to do that. That's not good for them. It's not good for us. It's not good for the community. It's not good for indie film at large.What's better is if we just be what we are in Wyoming, we're straight shooters. We just say it as it is. So I'm going to tell you exactly how many films were submitted, which films we accepted, what the percentage rates are, how many shorts versus features, how many docs versus narratives, how many music videos, all of this stuff.And we've been releasing the data for the past couple of years. This year, like we went all out with the data it was much more thorough than what we've done in years past. And even me, the director of the festival, I sit back, I look at the data and I can see some weak spots in it. I can see where we need to improve as a festival, where we need to start, bringing in a certain type of film or where other films might be overrepresented or how we can give more of an experience to our filmmakers.Just by boiling it down to numbers and looking at it. I can start seeing some of our weak spots and I want to improve on that ‘cause I want to have a good festival. And I think if more festivals were to do that, I think the filmmaking community at large would be much more appreciative. And I think film festivals need to understand.That if you have fewer submissions, that's not a bad thing because the submissions that you are going to get are filmmakers that really want to be in your festival and that's good for the health of your festival, the community, the filmmakers, everything. So I, I think the only way we get there is by being transparent.And thankfully there are other festivals that are publishing their data, which is great. And that makes me very happy to see. And I hope that trend continues and I hope even more festivals start publishing more of their data and showing how they review films, what their scorecards look like, what they're looking for.‘cause ultimately I genuinely believe that just serves the filmmakers better and ultimately makes everybody have a better experience on the film festival circuit, including the festivals themselves.BEN: When you took over as directorWhat were the biggest challenges?RUDI: So our biggest challenge to this day is our venue.So there's only one movie theater in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It is owned by a company outta Casper, Wyoming. They own pretty much a monopoly of movie theaters across the state, like most of them. And they don't allow anybody into their theaters at all. They don't allow her private screenings or corporate events or, in individuals who wanna screen their film or film festivals.I'm not the only film festival in Wyoming. I talk with other festival directors. They can't get in either. It's funny, the film commissioner of the state can't even get in. You would think the movie theater would at least want to partner with the state film Commission, but no. So for us, the challenge has been a venue and luckily our partners over at Laramie County Community College.Have graciously allowed us to use their facilities for the last couple years. They have a beautiful auditorium that we do some of our screenings in, but we also have screening rooms in a black box theater that they have as well as a conference room. And when I say conference room, most filmmakers like their heart drops a little bit.They're like, oh man, I'm just, I'm going into a conference room. It's not a proper movie theater. And that's fine. We publish that data on our film freeway page on hike. We are transparent about that. So when you submit, you might be in the conference room. But ironically, I think it has some of the best audio and it has some of the best projection.So even though it's the quote unquote least movie theater, like I actually think it has some of the best projection, best color. But venue is probably one of our biggest challenges and we continue to develop that. We continue to. Trying to innovate. We're trying to build our own screening room there on the campus.Like we're trying to use one of their big classrooms for it. And what we wanna do is we wanna turn it into a lounge. We wanna bring in like couches and sofas and comfy chairs where it's like much more of a chill environment in there. And that's the type of film we wanna screen in. There's some you can literally sit back, settle in and relax.So there's things that we're doing to create a better environment for our filmmakers and of course our audience, our guests at the festival.BEN: I love it. What's been the biggest reward?RUDI: The, I get to meet you. That's what the biggest reward is. I get to meet so many filmmakers. I get to hear their stories.I get to be inspired. I get to learn stuff. I was talking with a festival director a couple of days ago. Who asked me about how we do our audience award scores and how we process that and what they do. And I just like I lit up, I'm like, oh my God. It's such a better way, it's more efficient, it's easier on the staff.It's more representative of how the audience actually feels about the film, the way the scores are aggregated and counted. It's so great. I get to meet so many people in this world of film and every single day it's like a new, whole new world is opened up to me and I get to hear so many fantastic points of view.I get to see so many awesome films, like just how many great movies are out there is a cinephile. It's like the most rewarding thing in the world. I'm an addict. I'm totally addicted to it. It's so great.BEN: I love it. I remember I used to coach basketball in my first year as a head coach. I was like, yeah, everybody's gonna be pretty competitive, other coaches and so forth.And they were, and I was. But at the same time, when coaches would get together, it was just so supportive. And people are sharing, this is what I'm doing in practice. I'm looking at this offense, this defense. And I imagine it's the same with other film festival directors and programmers. Oh, yeah. Just a supportive environment comparing notes.RUDI: It is. And the more that I meet, the more I truly do understand. 99% of festival directors out there are programmers, people who work in it. They have some tie to cinema. Most of them are filmmakers. Those who aren't, have a deep passion and love for cinema and for storytelling, and.Everybody's a volunteer. Everybody has a day job. Nobody makes money on this. They do it from the love of their heart. They truly do. And the way that they serve their communities, the way that they serve their filmmakers, some of the cool ideas they come up with there's some really neat festivals out there with like very interesting hooks or events or whatever.And I think it is such an incredible ecosystem and I think I'm truly privileged to be part of it.BEN: What are some lesser known or maybe mid-tier festivals or local festivals that you love to attend?RUDI: Okay, so one of my favorite festivals I guess you said lesser known. This one is not lesser known, but Film Quest over in Provo, Utah, damn man, pe like festival people talk about building community. They're on a different level. They've built a family. Like everybody who goes to that festival is just so tight knit there. There's no other festival like Provo or sorry, film Quest in Provo. It is just, it's on another level. And how well they treat their filmmakers is fantastic.Some years ago I was invited to be a jury member at the Fair Film Festival, which is in Ferazi Kosovo. So that is in southeastern Europe. It's a landlocked country, just a little bit above Greece, a little bit north of Greece and north of Macedonia. And Fari is a small town. And I went to that festival and first off, wow.What a great festival. I strongly suggest you submit your film to fair film. It's so good. But the cool part of being in this European festival, and frankly a small European country, most of the films are international, obviously. And so there's filmmakers coming in from like Jordan and Spain and Germany and Slovakia and Slovenia and like all over the place, Greece, Turkey, you name it.And how interesting it is to have this incredible cross section of languages and cultures and peoples, but we're all united by this one singular thing. And that's our love for storytelling and our love for movies. It had to be one of the most incredible experiences of my life. And the next movie I make, taking it back to cosBEN: Fantastic.Just had a question. What was it? Oh okay. So with the huge caveat of besides making. A good film, a film that tells a story. Besides that, are there any tips or tricks, things on the margins that filmmakers can do when they're applying to festivals to be aware of? Sometimes festivals. Ask for a cover letter orRUDI: Yes.BEN: Press kit, things like that. Okay.RUDI: So with, sorry, my phone is loud. I should turn that down. So obviously with a huge caveat of make a good film or whatever, what's the easiest way to get it? All of the stuff on film Freeway, and I do have a video on this, on my YouTube page if you wanna check it out, where I give you a tour of film, freeway from the festival side of things like what the festival can see and how we see it and how we navigate it.On the festival end of things. We can see your cover letter, your screenings and awards your. Cast and crew information, your director's bio, your director's statement, your photographs, your EPK, that's your electronic press kit your trailer, all of that. All of that. As much of that as you can possibly make, you should make it.It's very important. And you never know which piece is gonna be more important to a particular film festival. For instance, here's something crazy. I was meeting with some of my programmers last night. They had a whole bunch of films that they wanted to recommend to go to the next level programming.And we require films. Tell us where in the world or where in the United States the film was made. And every single one of ‘em was California. California. California. California. California. Which fine, whatever. California has a big film industry. That's, it's a very big state, population wise. Makes sense, right?But I am sitting back thinking, okay. I don't want it just to be a bunch of California movies. We have a big country here. I would like to see something else. And something caught my attention. One of the filmmakers, their address was in Birmingham, Alabama, but the film was shot in California, so I am suspicious.I haven't dug into it myself. I'm suspicious either that filmmaker's from Alabama and they have moved to California, or that filmmaker lives in Alabama and they shot their film in California. So they're answering where it was shot correctly. But for me, I'm like, there you go. When everybody's from California.I want that unique perspective. I wanna see someone's from Alabama and what their perspective is now. I haven't watched the film yet. I don't know if it's what we're looking for. Obviously it's a good film if my programming team has recommended it, there's no doubt in my mind it's good film. Now there's other considerations we're gonna have, but.That alone was something, even my, like I myself did not know that I would be looking for. So filling out all of that data on film, freeway, all of your information that you possibly can, your cover letters your screenings, your awards, whatever it is, the more information you give us as a festival, the more we have to make our selections.And it only benefits you. It only helps you out. So filmmakers don't get lazy. Fill out all of that information. We need it. We use it. It's important. Just do it.BEN: You mentioned a meeting with your programmers last night. Take us inside that conversation. What does that look like? What do you discuss, et cetera.RUDI: So there's. There's a big programming team and it's divided up into two different groups. There's our kind of first round screeners and then there's our senior programmers and the senior programmers pretty much review the films that have gone through that first round of screening that are getting recommended to go onto the next one.So typically when I'm talking with my screeners and everything, it's a very different conversation on the bottom end of it where they're just sorting through all of the submissions versus a different conversation I have with the senior programmers who are on the top end of it. We're now trying to decide how to block films together, how we're gonna organize it, what's the schedule maybe look like, what's the overall tone and vibe of the festival going to be, okay.If we wanna have a sci-fi block, do we even have enough sci-fi films? If we don't. Where else can we find homes for ‘em? Stuff like that. So those conversations are a little bit more high end, if you will. And it tends to be less about the story of the film itself and more about how that film is going to fit into the festival.Whereas when I'm talking with the screeners, it's much more on the story end. Like what about the story did you like or you didn't like? Or what was the unique point of view? Or whatever. So depending on which group I'm talking to it, it's gonna be different. And then of course that divides out further on features and shorts and documentaries and narratives and music videos.So like obviously my conversation with the music video people are gonna be much different than my like short documentary people.BEN: Shout out to short documentary people as a documentarian primarily makes shorts I'll ask a question for us folks. In one of the videos, as I mentioned, you literally show here's what the scoring sheet looks like.Yes. And that was for narrative with, I think one of the categories was acting and so forth. So for a documentary or documentary shorts, what does that scoring sheet look like? What do those discussions entail?RUDI: Film freeway does not allow us to have more than one scoring sheet.So unfortunately, there's just this one scoring sheet that's for everything. What I tell my screening team, and we definitely double check everything, like there's multiple people who look at something. So it's not just one person's opinion. You have at least two, oftentimes three, pretty often four.So for something like documentary they skip over that. That's what they do. So if there's no acting in the film, they skip over that. They don't rate acting if there is no acting. But you'd be surprised. There are documentaries that have acting in ‘em. There are like docudramas or documentaries with recreation In the recreation is like actual scenes and performances and stuff like that.So in those cases, even though it's a nonfiction and a documentary, yeah, we'll still judge it for the acting ‘cause that's what it has. I get the question. I'm gonna hijack your question for a second, but it is applicable. I get the question, do we accept AI in our film festival, we do not have any official policy for or against ai, which scares some filmmakers.But we do rate AI on the same standards as we would anybody else. So when it comes to creativity and originality, guess what, you're getting a nothing. ‘cause AI didn't create it. AI is not original. AI just mashes together a bunch of information from other people. So that's no creativity and originality.Same thing for something like, I don't know, art design. If you have a AI character walking through a scene or whatever you're getting zero on your art design. Nobody built those sets. Nobody costumed that actor. Nobody was the makeup artist or the hair or whatever other art deck or, PD or anything on the set.So we will accept ai. We have accepted one single AI film so far because despite all of its quote unquote handicaps, and it was a music video. It still was successful in other categories that had a good enough score. We as a team sat down, said Yes, that it still is a good film. The audience is still gonna enjoy it.The filmmaker definitely had a vision with it. They wrote out a whole thing on like why they chose to use ai. ‘cause they're also an experimental filmmaker, so it made sense for them and everything. So we were like, you know what? That's legit. Let's put it in. But other AI submissions, like I got an AI children's animation the other day and I'm like they didn't animate it themselves.They didn't voice act it themselves. It's not getting good scores on any of these. So we'll see. We'll see. We'll see if it gets through or not, but already you're shooting yourself in the foot. So don't do ai.BEN: Okay. Couple little. I don't know, around the edges or micro questions. One of the things that you talked about in one of your recent videos was having a good poster and you talked about designing your poster for your film prudence.RUDI: Yeah.BEN: Talk, talk to me about,RUDI: I specifically gave my posters an example, not a great poster,BEN: But talk to me about that.For the no budget or low budget filmmaker that can't afford to hire a a designer to make a poster. Talk to me about poster design and how that impacts the presentation of the film for festivals.RUDI: So I strongly believe that a big part of filmmaking and marketing and packaging your film together, all of that is psychology.And as much as we want to sit back and say, Hey, don't judge a book by its, cover it, that literally goes against human psychology. People are not hardwired to do that. It, it is. In our DNA, it's not just a bad habit, it is literally a survival mechanism. So if you want to stand out, you do need to have everything put together.Your cover letter, your synopsis, your photographs, all of that, and of course all of your key art. That's your poster. That's any banners that you have, that's how you're going to be promoting the film. And you have to understand it's not just about making your film look pretty to get filmmakers to go, or sorry your programmers go, Ooh, and ah, it's a pretty film.We are looking at that as a mechanism for us to advertise the festival. You gotta understand if I have 150 films in the festival, I have to get an audience for those films. And the easiest way for me to do that is through your marketing materials. We don't have the capacity. To design marketing materials for 150 different films.We are relying on the filmmakers to do that so we can go out and promote the festival. So people show up to your screening, which I would presume is what you want if you're going to a film festival. So anything you're trailer, any photographs that you can provide, which some filmmakers only provide BTS photographs, BTS is fine.It's great. Give me some good key art I can also use, please. That's what newspapers, that's what the local news that's what podcasters, whatever, that's what they want to see. So that's what I can provide. And of course, your poster. Now, there are a lot of online tools to help in poster design, frankly, I don't have an excuse for making a bad poster like I did, which is one of the reasons I use it as an example is I am shaming myself being like, this could be better and it should be. But there's a lot of online resources that can help with poster design. And also for filmmakers who are a little bit strapped for cash, you would be surprised what people will do for in kind, service for service.So if you have a friend or if there's someone that you can find that's Hey, they'll design your poster if you can design whatever their website or whatever it is that your skills might be there, there's a lot of exchange that you can do on that part. So yeah your marketing, your packaging, all of that together is actually quite important.BEN: Such a great point. And I've written and published a memoir and through that, I've worked with other authors on, on. Both writing and marketing their books, editing and marketing their books. And I tell people the exact same thing. People judge a book by its cover all the time. And in this day and age, they judge it for listeners, I'm holding my thumb and forefinger part as a thumbnail on a computer screen.Yeah, that's the size. So even for a programmer or a festival director watching it on film freeway through their platform, they're not gonna see the poster like we see it in the movie theater. They're gonna see it as a thumbnail image. Yeah. So it has to work as a thumbnail image. And if you can't read the title as a thumbnail or can't make out what's on the image, what's on the poster as a thumbnail, then you've failed that part of the process.RUDI: One, one of the things that like really clued me into how important a poster is, I went to a film festival, I believe it was Kansas City Film Festival. Some years ago, and they had a bunch of posters of films out, but there was one that was like bright pink. It was like super bright pink and had like very eye popping design and everything on it.And it was like in a whole field of like dark drama posters that are all like gritty and everything. And I'm like that stands out. That really drew my eye to it. And I think that was like my big light bulb moment of like how important this stuff actually is. And one of the things that I've been saying for some years, I've said it on the channel, I think, I don't know, some, sometimes I record things and edit out.So I don't know what I've said on the channel sometimes but one of the things that I say is making a film is half of film making. The other half is marketing, the other half is getting butts in the seats. The other half is getting eyeballs on your movie. The other half is selling your film to an audience or a film festival or a distributor or a programmer or whatever you're trying to do with it.It's getting it out there. So making a film is half a filmmaking. The other half marketing, that's what it is.BEN: I'm just nodding along with everything you're saying and I've always felt both with films and with books, with art in general, you're trying to make an emotional connection from what's in your head and your heart to the audience.And if you don't do your job, getting your film out there and helping an audience come and see your film. Then you're not helping that connection. You're missing sort of the point of making this, unless it's just for yourself. It's for, it's to connect with other people and for other people to connect with your work.And that is marketing.RUDI: It's valid. If you're just making a film for yourself, that's absolutely valid. It's in art form. You can make a film for yourself, but if you're sending it to me at a film festival, you're not you're literally trying to find an audience. So these are the things you need to consider.BEN: I love it. I got two more just in the weeds detail questions.RUDI: Alright, let's do it.BEN: Let's talk description. And what I've seen ‘cause I'm in the middle of applying to festivals. And by the way just for. Listeners, this might interest you. So I discovered Rudi's YouTube page and I was like, this is so helpful.And then I went to the Wyoming International Film Festival page and all the transparency and statistics that, that Rudi puts out, that the festival puts out. And I realized, okay, so the short documentary I have is not a good fit for this festival. Exactly what Rudi's saying. So just for anybody listening, thank you for doing research.RUDI: Thank you. That's good. That's not a bad thing, right? That means it saves you time, it saves you money, it saves you heartbreak. It's so good. Do research before you submit. I'm sorry, but I, it's in, in almost every single one of my videos, I tell filmmakers, do your research before you submit. Find the festivals that gel with your film.And if it, if they don't screen the type of movie that you have, don't submit to ‘em. You're wasting your time, you're wasting your money. And the festival, like the programmer behind the screen, might love your film. They truly might love your film, but they're programming for a very specific audience and they know what that audience's taste is.So that's why they're driving specific films to that audience. So even if they love it, they might not include it, which is why you should always do your homework and do your research before you submit. I'm sorry to interrupt, but it's so importantBEN: And yes. And the flip side of that coin is now I also know what the Wyoming International Film Festival looks for.So in the future, if I have a doc or a film, I'm like, oh, this would be a great fit for this festival.RUDI: Yes.BEN: It helps both ways.RUDI: It does. And it helps you dial in. Which festivals you should target, which festivals are gonna help you with your specific goals. Whatever your goals are with the film it's gonna help you with your budgeting and your travel plans and your own personal calendar.It's gonna help with your mental health. It just, it helps on so many different aspects. And on the film festival side of things, I appreciate it when I hear from filmmakers say, Hey man, I looked into your festival looks good, but you don't have the kind of film that I have. And I'm like, not a problem man.Maybe I can point you in the right direction. Maybe I know some film festival programmers, I can make a recommendation, on your behalf too, that's not a bad thing. We love movies and we want to see them successful, but not every single fest or film and story is going to be successful in every single market.So it's very important to find your audience. And believe me, we are going to be cheering you the whole way.BEN: I want get back to my kind of in the weeds questions, but you've mentioned something that is big picture, that's so important. I feel like I've buried the lead here. And you mentioned this you've mentioned this multiple times in your videos.Is that a Phil, it's key. Maybe the most important part of this process is of the film festival submission process is a filmmaker needs to understand what are their goals in applying to a festival. Yes. So can you just talk a little bit about that?RUDI: So film festivals are a tool. And they can be a tool for many different things, but they are a tool.And just every single tool is not right for every single job, every film festival is not gonna be right for every film and vice versa. So before you go out to film festivals, you just need to ask yourself why? Why am I going out to film festivals? Why am I spending the money, the time, the energy, the effort?What do I want out of film festivals? And that's where you need to identify your goal. And the more specific you can be with the goal, the better it's going to be you going on your film festival journey. So for many filmmakers, a common reason they go out to film festivals is networking. So I'm gonna use that as an example.So let's say your goal is I want to network, I want to meet other. Filmmakers, I wanna meet, directors of photography and producers and other people that I can hire for my projects, or they're gonna hire me for their projects, and I want to build that network and I want to meet more filmmakers.Fantastic. Great. That's your goal. So the first thing that you need to do is you need to be looking at festivals that have networking events. And in this particular instance, you need to ask yourself two things. One, does it have networking? Is there in-person networking parties or networking events?And two, do the types of people that I want to meet actually attend those networking events. So us at the Wyoming International Film Festival, we have a pretty broad spectrum. We have filmmakers that are just beginning their journey. They're totally new, wet behind the ears. They're green they're just starting their journey.That's great. All the way up to every year we have multi Emmy award-winning filmmakers. Like people who do this professionally they're in unions or professional organizations, or they're a member of the academy, motion picture Arts and sciences or the TV Academy or sometimes like the Grammys and stuff like that.I, myself, I'm a professional editor, so there's people like me who professionally work, but they're like below the line. They're cinematographers editors, gaffers, what have you. So if your goal is to meet some like high-end producer that's gonna throw, a million dollars at your movie our festival is not the festival that's gonna help you with your goal.So you should skip over us because we don't have that kind of person in attendance. But if your goal is to meet other filmmakers at your level that you can collaborate with or get hired by or whatever. We're a great festival. We have tons of networking, and we bring in a ton of those filmmakers.We're a great event for you. So when you identify what your goal is and you're very specific about it, it's easier to identify which festivals you should start targeting. I take that one step further, and then once you've narrowed down which festivals are gonna help you with your goal, then you look into their history and see which of them have screened movies like yours in the past.So if you have a, you know I use the example, if you have a seven minute comedy coming of the age film, now you know which festivals have good networking, which festivals have the kinds of people you want to network with. Now you look at which ones have screened short coming of age comedy films in the past, and have a history of doing that.So that's gonna help you filter it even further. And by doing that, you're gonna really start to develop your film festival strategy. Now I do have some exciting news. There is something coming now, it's called Hike, H-I-I-K-E. It's hike with two I. And what Hy is doing, it's a submission platform similar to film Freeway, but among many of the tools that they're giving filmmakers, they're giving filmmakers customized festival strategies and they're scraping all of that data from film festivals, what they've programmed in the past.And when you as a filmmaker, join Hike, you take a little quiz, you tell them what your goals are, what your film is, you know how long it is, what the genre is, tell them about yourself. And they literally have. Data scientist who's built this like machine learning algorithm that pairs the data from the film festival to what the filmmaker provides.That literally gives you a compatibility score. So it's, it comes out and tells you, if you want to network with, professional filmmakers but not mega producers and you have a short comedy coming of age film Wyoming International Film Festival has that crowd screens those types of films and you would have a 90% compatibility.So it actually helps you develop your festival strategy for you.BEN: It's so needed. And Rudi has a great video on how to spot scam film festivals. Yes. That's something that is just prevalent these days. So for filmmakers who are getting ready to submit, I encourage you to watch that video. I'll link to it in the show.I'll link to everything that we're discussing in the show notes. The. So Rudi talked about one goal a filmmaker can have is to network other goals at various points in my, film festival my limited film festival career I've applied to festivals ‘cause I wanted to go to that city, new Orleans Fest, new Orleans Film Festival.TravelingRUDI: is totally legitimate reason to go.BEN: People apply because they want distribute, they wanna meet distributors or financiers for the next film. Although, that's what everybody wants. SoRUDI: you, you would be surprised. So in, in 2018, I had a feature film and my, my goal like most feature films was to land a distribution deal.But I was like, that's not specific enough. There are many steps to land a distribution deal. So what I need is I need good press on my film. So that was a goal. So I wanted to target festivals that had press. I wanted laurels. I wanted to win some awards with it, but I also knew my film was. Small and kind of small scale.So it wasn't gonna win laurels at big festivals. So I was like, okay, I need festivals with press. I need festivals that are legitimate and above board, but also small enough where I'm gonna be competitive. And then I wanted to actually meet distributors. And I know they only go to big festivals, so I actually had to target three different kinds of festivals.‘cause I had three, let's call ‘em conflicting goals with my own film. So that's what I did. I did a split strategy. I targeted festivals where I was gonna be this tiny little fish in a very big pond. And no one's really gonna notice me, but I'm just happy to be there. I targeted festivals where I know that I was going to get very good press and very good reviews on the film.And I targeted festivals that were small, still legitimate, but I was gonna be competitive and maybe bring home some trophies. And so that was my strategy and it worked, and I landed a distribution deal.BEN: That's so great. I, I'd love to do a part two at some point we can talk distribution deals and all of the, yeah.Things like that. But I think for people listening, the big takeaway is even with this multi-pronged goal, three different goals connected to each other. Once you identify what your goals are, then you work backwards and you create your strategy to Yes, to achieve those. Okay. Back to the two in the weeds.Two more in the weeds questions. Yeah. So description, and as I'm looking at other film descriptions, and I saw this at USC all the time as well, and we talked about earlier, filmmakers wanting to sit in emotion or sit in something traumatic and have the audience experience that I notice a lot of times in descriptions of short films.Can so and so come to terms with this? Can, and just as someone who has a little bit of experience marketing stories, where's the action? What's the active what's this person actively trying to accomplish, rather than can they just come to terms with something? Can you talk a little bit about film description, just three or four lines.What pops?RUDI: So just like your poster, just like your marketing and everything, a film description is your way to reach through the screen, grab the audience, grab the programmer, and pull them into your movie. Keep in mind, your whole entire goal is to get people to watch your film, get them excited about your film.And so if you just have a very drab, like description that's just yeah, has to face consequences for a decision they made or come to terms with something when I, that's a good V one, that's a good place to start, but that's not going to get an audience excited about your film.I saw film, I don't know if it was at my festival. It wasn't at my festival. We didn't screen it, but I'm saying, I don't know if it was submitted to my festival or if I saw it at another festival, but I remember one of the descriptions it was great. It was whatever the two character names were, John and Jane, I forget what the characters are, but like John and Jane are on a date, there's a bomb in the other room.I I hope the date goes well, or something like that. Let's hope the date goes well. And I'm like, what is this movie? That gets you really excited for it. You're. It, it creates so much mystery. And also just the cavalier way that it was written immediately tells me this is gonna be a comedy, or it's not taking itself too seriously.It's not some like gritty, dive into the underworld or whatever. Like just how blunt it was about the dis of the film and just that like small little description. I know I'm paraphrasing what it was, but it stuck with me for years at this point. ‘cause I'm like, that is how you write a description for a film.That is how you get someone excited to see what is this movie about? Let's jump in. Piggybacking off a description. Titles are another great way to do that. In, in my own repertoire of films I've had film called Prudence. Okay, fine, whatever. Prudence doesn't really tell you much about that film.I had a film that I'm very proud of. It's artsy, it's a little bit magical realism and it's called in this gray place, and it has that artsy mystique around it in this gray place. And I love that title. I did it, I did a film back in film school. It's terrible, but the title's great.It's called Back to Fort Russell. It was a Western and I, to this day, it's one of my favorite titles that I've ever had. But it tells you something. It clues you into what this film is going to be, what the journey of this movie is going to be. And some films do that better than others. And some films, yeah, it's not necessary.But I, I get more excited when I hear something like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre than I do something that's just like love. Or mom or something.BEN: I think this is the last question. So again, with all these little details, cover letter, talk to me about cover letters.RUDI: It's so interesting you asked me that question ‘cause hearing about four or five days, I'm posting a video on the YouTube channel about cover letters. It's short, it's only four or five minutes long, but cover letters are so important.Should absolutely write a cover letter. And a couple of days ago I was talking with programmers at dances with films, and if you don't know dances with films, look ‘em up. They are an incredible film festival. They are in the big leagues for sure. And I was talking with a couple of programmers and I asked them about covert letters and they said, it's so important it.How the filmmaker is going to put an audience in the theater is very important for their festival. How they're going to get people to attend is very important for them and they're like, a good indication in a cover letter is when they, the filmmaker indicates how they're going to market their film and they use the example of football.Let's say it's a movie about football. They're like, if it's a movie about football and you tell me in the cover letter that you're part of several like football organizations, or you're gonna be reaching out to sports organizations or youth organizations for sports or something like that, to attend the film.That's a very good indication for them in the cover letter. For me, I think a cover letter is very important in that it shows. You're going the extra mile to show the festival you care. You're not just submit and quit. We're not just one festival on a list of 50 that you're submitting to. There is a reason you want to screen with us, and that's a specific reason.Either you feel that your film is good fit for our audience, or there's something that you want to connect with. In Wyoming, I had one cover letter and we did accept this film and it was really funny. They put in their cover letter like their film was a comedy, so their cover letter was also very comedic, but they're like, honestly, we're just gonna go up to Yellowstone around that time and we would love to swing by and show the movie.And I laughed. I laughed so hard at that and I'm like. But that shows me they care. Like they want to be there. And the film was good and it was funny and we screamed it and they were there. So it's a way to show a film festival enthusiasm and it's way to inform the festival about yourself, about your film, and how that's gonna gel with their particular event and their audience.BEN: I love it. And that reminds me, I got one more, I got a bonus question. Yeah. Can you talk about applying early?RUDI: Yes. Statistically, when I look at our own data, statistically, it does seem to be that the earlier you apply, the better chance that you have. And so I don't want to give the impression that if you applied late.You have no chance. I think in the video where I literally broke down the data and the statistics, I think at our festival we had a one in five chance of getting in on the late deadline, which is about a 20% acceptance rate. But it was much higher the earlier it came in. So just with the raw data taking out my opinions, my emotions on it, whatever, just the data itself shows earlier is better.Now, here's where my opinions and my feelings towards it come from. I think it's a couple of things. One, when you get in early, you set the pace for the rest of the festival, you're telling us, okay, it's a drama. We're gonna compare your film against others. Like you have now become the benchmark that we're gonna compare other films to when it comes to like dramas or whatever.What it also does. It's something I'm going to discuss in my video and cover letters, but it also engages something, what's called mere exposure effect in psychology, which is essentially the more that you are exposed to something, the more preference you have towards it. Which means if you get in early, you are exposing yourself, your film, and your story to the programmers more often and more readily than late submissions are.So it's more likely that the programmers form some attachment to your film, and that's just human nature, that's just psychology. There's some practical reasons for it as well. Obviously, earlier submissions, earlier deadlines are cheaper, so it's better to get in. It's just gonna cost you less money to do and then lastly, there are many festivals that are developing their program as they go. So as films are coming in, they're shaping. We got a ton of dramas. Maybe we need two drama blocks, or, we, we don't have enough sci-fi for a sci-fi blocks, we gotta spread it out or whatever. So if you come in late, you're now trying to elbow some other film out of the way in order to find your screening slot.Which don't get me wrong, there are plenty of programmers that are absolutely gonna go to bat for you. They're gonna fight hard to get you in. Doesn't matter if you come in early or late or whatever, but the chances are just better. And the data shows that if you get in early. All that said, a couple of years ago, the very last film that came in with only two hours left in our deadline, we ended up programming it.So it, it is possible.BEN: Rudi, I cannot thank you enough. I can't tell you how helpful this has been. There's so much great information for filmmakers. Filmmakers submitted to festivals, people just interested in going to festivals. So thank you so much for taking the time.RUDI: Hey it's always a pleasure.I always love talking film festivals and for any filmmakers out there, head on over to YouTube hit up the Film Festival Guide. That's my YouTube page. I'm coming out with videos every two or three weeks. That's about what I put ‘em out there for. So if you need any guidance or any, I don't know, insight for film festivals that's where I am.BEN: Film Festival Guide. I'm a subscriber. I can't recommend it enough. Any other social media where people can find you?RUDI: Oh no, I'm terrible on social media. YouTube's enough for me right now.BEN: So Film Fest.RUDI: I will probably expand in the future and I'll probably make some announcement on the YouTube channel.Got it. But for right now, I'm just trying to get good information out there to as many filmmakers as possible.BEN: Thank you so much for doing that. It's such a huge benefit for film.RUDI: Thank you very much for the support and thank you very much for having me on. I enjoyed this. This was a lot of fun.BEN: Me too. This was great. Thank you. And that was my interview with Rudy Womack, director of the Wyoming International Film Festival and creator of the great YouTube page, the Film Festival Guide. Hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, please forward it to one person. Thank you and have a great day. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit benbo.substack.com

The Christian churches in Macedonia were in the midst of a special collection to bless famished Christians in Jerusalem. Under Titus's leadership, Paul gives them three truths to encourage them to complete the collection. Truth #1 - those who sow generously will reap a generous yield (and visa-versa). Truth #2 - give from the heart without reluctance, for God loves cheerful givers. Truth #3 - God stands ready with all His grace to supply us with everything that we need to live generously. In fact, in verse 8 all is emphasized 5x! As we look to our faithful future, God will see that we have ample provision in every way to carry forth His good work in our community and beyond.

Scarica Revolut gratis con il mio link per ricevere un bonus di benvenuto di €20*: https://get.revolut.com/e9Jc/podcast1*Si applicano condizioni minimeLa sconfitta con la Norvegia ha condannato l'Italia ai playoff per qualificarsi ai prossimi mondiali. Giovedì ci saranno i sorteggi, ma oggi a Potrero con Simone Indovino e Angelo Taglieri andiamo ad analizzare le avversarie e i loro maggiori pericoli. Potrero, dove tutto ha inizio. Un podcast sul calcio italiano e internazionale. Su Como TV (https://tv.comofootball.com) nel 2025 potete seguire in diretta e gratuitamente le partite della Saudi Pro League, Saudi King's Cup, Supercoppa d'Arabia, Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, Recopa, Liga Profesional Argentina, Trofeo de Campeones argentino, Eredivisie, Coppa di Francia, Scottish Premiership, Coppa di Scozia, Scottish League Cup, Scottish Championship, Coppa di Portogallo, Supercoppa di Portogallo, HNL croata e tutti i contenuti di calcio italiano e internazionale on demand.Diventa un supporter di questo podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/potrero--5761582/support.

The Generous Life Pt. 2 | November 16, 2025Pastor Wes Morris Proverbs 11:24 (MSG) The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.√  I NEED TO PROTECT MYSELF.Proverbs 29:25 (NIV) Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.√  HAVING MORE WILL MAKE ME SECURE.Mark 10:21–22 (NLT) Jesus looked at him and loved him. “There is still one thing you haven't done,” he said. “Go and sell all your possessions…then come, follow me.” At this the man's face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.”√  WHAT I HAVE DETERMINES WHO I AM.II Corinthians 8:1-2 (NLT) Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity.A LIFE THAT OVERFLOWSI.  OPEN YOUR HEART TO HEALING.Luke 10:31-33 (NIV) A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.II.  PLACE YOUR SECURITY IN JESUS.Philippians 4:11-13 (NIV) I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation…I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV) Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.III. LIVE WITH ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE.I Timothy 6:17-19 (NIV) Command them not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.NEXT STEPSWhere is God asking you to show courage this week so your life can overflow - in healing, in trust, or in living with an eternal perspective?

2025-11-16 Biblical Givingby Pastor Chris BergScripture References: Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.Psalm 24:1 The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, a the world and those who dwell therein,2 Corinthians 8:10-12  And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. 11 So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. 12 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. 2 Corinthians 9:7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.2 Corinthians 8:1-5 We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4 begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— 5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.Exodus 36:5-7  and said to Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.” 6 So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, “Let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing, 7 for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more.Matthew 6:2-4 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.2 Corinthians 9:6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.2 Kings 4:1-7 Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” 2 And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” 3 Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. 4 Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” 5 So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. 6 When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another.” Then the oil stopped flowing. 7 She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”Luke 6:38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”Philippians 4:18-20  I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. 19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.Mandeville Bible Church   "Where God's Word is Our Foundation"https://www.mandevillebiblechurch.org/Come and see that God's Word is alive and at work right here in Mandeville.. and throughout the world!All are welcome. 217 Carroll Street, Mandeville, LA 70448(985) 626-3114Sunday Service: 9:30AMAdult Sunday School: 10:45-11:30AMNursery and Children's church available.

Title: “Why We Give Thanks” Part 2 Text: 1 Thessalonians 1:6-10 FCF: We often struggle evaluating whether or not we are elect of God. Prop: God's elect imitate Christ and provide an example to be imitated, we must be imitators worthy of imitation. Scripture Intro: CSB [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. In a moment we'll begin reading in verse 1 from the Christian Standard Bible. You can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer. Last week, we saw how Paul expressed his deepest thankfulness to God because he knows that the Thessalonians are elect of God by the way the gospel came to them. We discussed how disciple makers' praise the Lord when disciples prove to be genuine. And some of the tests for genuine disciples include how the gospel comes and if the cardinal Christian graces of faith, love and hope are present in their lives. Today, Paul will give us the second reason that he and his companions know that the Thessalonians are elect of God. Which dovetails nicely with their display of the Cardinal Christian graces too. Please stand with me to give honor to and to focus on the Word of God as it is read. Invocation: Loving Father, You sent Your Son to be the pioneer of our faith. He ran the race before us. He looked to His reward, being elevated as the God-Man above every man that all men might declare that He is the Lord of glory. To receive His reward He faithfully endured the cross and despised the shame. But He has now finished this race and has sat down at Your right hand. And He has sent The Spirit to be an Advocate for us. Father, I pray that You will send the Spirit today so that we may find joy in the gospel of Jesus Christ and follow Him as our example to the result that we may be examples to others. I pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. Transition: [Slide 2] Normally I'd give you two or three quotes from two or three Christian authors. But today – I could not believe how fitting all three of these quotes were by one man named Juan Carlos Ortiz. He was a Pastor in Argentina who died in 2021. He wrote a book on Discipleship and these quotes show he knew the subject well. “Discipleship is more than getting to know what the teacher knows. It is getting to be what he is.” “A disciple is a person who learns to live the life his teacher lives.” “The making of a disciple means the creating of a duplicate.” Today, we will see firsthand what it means to be and make a disciple. Let's begin in verse 6. I.) God's elect imitate Christ and provide an example to be imitated, so we must joyfully receive the word in spite of severe affliction. (6-7) a. [Slide 3] 6 - and you yourselves became imitators of us and of the Lord i. Paul begins a new sentence here. But because he begins with the word “and” we can connect it back to the original thought in verse 4. ii. He is still talking about the reason that he, Silas, and Timothy are constantly thanking the Lord for the Thessalonian church. iii. He has shared that they are thankful because they know that the Thessalonians are chosen of God. iv. The evangelists know this because of how the gospel came to them. v. But one other reason that Paul and his companions know they are elect of God, is that they became imitators of the evangelists and ultimately, of the Lord Jesus. vi. We've already seen hints of this when Paul says that they mention often in their prayers to God the Thessalonians display of the cardinal Christian graces. vii. But in what way have they become imitators? viii. Paul spells this out a little more clearly by telling us to what extent the Thessalonians became imitators of them. ix. This forms the two major points of this sermon. There were two ways the Thessalonians became imitators of the evangelists and the Lord. x. First… b. [Slide 4] when, in spite of severe persecution, you welcomed the message with joy from the Holy Spirit. i. Paul, Silas, and Timothy, and every other Christian, faces or will face similar opposition to receiving the gospel of Jesus Christ. ii. Christ invites us to take up our cross and follow Him. To deny ourselves. He also says that as they hated Him, they will hate us. The life of a disciple of Christ is full of persecution and opposition. iii. This is what makes professions of faith so much less reliable in our culture. iv. Many people express professions of faith without having to consider what it might cost them to do so. When you couple this with preaching that never encourages a turning from sin and never requires growth in Christlikeness – you have a perfect recipe for people who claim to be Christians but look nothing like Christ and know nothing about suffering severe persecution with joy. v. But for the Thessalonians and for most Christians down through the ages and even for most Christians today globally – receiving the message of Jesus Christ comes with an immediate cost. Relationships, social standing, business opportunities, political pressure, ostracizing, and even murder are all common outcomes of people converting to Jesus Christ. vi. But one way we can know that we are elect of God is that despite the hardship taken up by entering the narrow gate, when we welcome the gospel of Christ with joy from the Spirit, we can know we are God's elect. vii. The effect of the gospel on the lives of the Thessalonians mirrored the effect the gospel had on the lives of the Evangelists. viii. They too are continuing to respond to God's Word with joy in spite of persecution. ix. Not an artificial joy and not human happiness. Instead, it is a trust and contentment rooted in the promises God has revealed in His Word. x. Such a trust and contentment is only borne of the Spirit in our hearts. It is, after all, part of the fruit of the Spirit. xi. And in this way, welcoming the gospel while enduring persecution, they are imitators of the evangelists and even Christ before them. Who despised the shame yet endured the cross, so that He would run the race before us. xii. But the evangelists are not simply thanking God that these Thessalonians are imitating them… xiii. They are thanking God because of the result of their imitation… c. [Slide 5] 7 - As a result, you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. i. The result of the Thessalonians imitating the evangelists is that they have become worthy of imitation themselves. ii. [Slide 6] They are now examples throughout the two provinces that make up the Balkan Peninsula. Macedonia which is the upper part on the map and Achaia which is the lower part. iii. [Slide 7] The word example has the idea of setting a pattern, a model, or a mold that something can be hammered into to achieve the exact same result. iv. Imitation begets imitation. v. This is the core of discipleship. vi. Do you want to know what making disciples looks like… really? 1. It isn't a 12 week study through a book called, “How to be a disciple of Christ.” 2. It isn't a 52 week systematic theology study. 3. It isn't going to seminary and getting a bible degree 4. It isn't a 12 step program of behavioral training. 5. It isn't a bunch of meetings in someone's office over coffee, just shooting the breeze. vii. It is you, imitating Christ, getting others to imitate you, and getting your imitators to encourage others to imitate them. viii. Go and make copies of yourself. ix. In many ways the items I listed that aren't making disciples… are much easier than what making disciples truly is. x. Why? xi. In order to make disciples, you must be a disciple that is being conformed to Christ. xii. So much so that you can say – in as much as I am like Jesus… imitate me. xiii. And let me tell you something, when you see others imitating you and causing others to imitate them as you imitate Christ… that confirms on your heart that they are elect of God and that is worthy of thanking the Lord. d. [Slide 8] Summary of the Point: Verses 6-10 operate like the second point of one sermon. This is why this is a part 2 sermon. Everything Paul has said in the first 5 verses contributes a good deal to the discussion here in the last half of the chapter. So, the evangelists are thankful for the Thessalonian church because they KNOW they are elect of God. The first reason being that the gospel came to them in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction. But the second reason they know they are elect of God occupies the remainder of the text and forms the primary point Paul is making in this sermon. And it is simply this… God's elect imitate Christ and other spiritually mature believers and provide an example to be imitated. In this we find a chain of imitation. [Slide 9] Take a look at Hebrews 12:1-2. [Slide 10] Christ ran the race before us. He has finished the race and is the reward for us finishing as well. He is the pioneer and finisher of our faith. In some sense then, even if we are imitating those who are spiritually more mature than us, so long as they are running Christ's path, we are imitating Christ. We also then are providing an example, a model, a pattern for those behind us to follow. So, what is one way that Paul references in this text that we can imitate Christ, other mature believers, and provide an example for others to follow? In order to imitate Christ, we can, and indeed we must endure affliction while being constantly guided in the gospel reality He lived for us, And to do so with joy from the Holy Spirit. We also see this in Hebrews. Christ ran the race already so that He might attain the joy that was set before Him, enduring the cross, despising the shame. To be like Christ, in joy, we must endure on this gospel road through many afflictions. Transition: [Slide 11(blank) In what other ways can we imitate Christ and other spiritually mature Christians and so provide an example for others to follow? II.) God's elect imitate Christ and provide an example to be imitated, so we must zealously and accurately bear witness to the gospel. a. [Slide 12] 8 - For the word of the Lord rang out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place that your faith in God has gone out. i. They received the Word with such joy, in spite of the pain it caused them, that these Thessalonians could not and would not contain it in themselves. ii. They needed to share this gospel truth with everyone. iii. This doesn't mean that the Thessalonians sent out a bunch of missionaries far and wide. iv. Instead, what Paul is referring to is that because of Thessalonica being such a hub for travel across the empire, that the Thessalonians zeal to share Christ with all who they could, led to the gospel going out from Thessalonica to places well beyond their reach. v. And they shared the gospel so zealously, and it spread so far that Paul says something next that is absolutely bonkers. b. [Slide 13] Therefore, we don't need to say anything, i. The gospel went to these places so effectively through the Thessalonians, that Paul, Silas, and Timothy really had no need to ride in and correct, expand on, or generally add to anything they had shared. ii. Can you imagine Paul giving us a similar report? I'm sure if the apostle Paul heard my sermons, or heard my sermons through your testimony, that he would not have the same words for me. iii. But for these Thessalonians… Paul says – we don't need to say anything more. iv. Why don't they need to say anything else? c. [Slide 14] 9 - for they themselves report what kind of reception we had from you: i. As the evangelists interacted with people from various places, who had been in contact with the Thessalonian believers, they found something quite interesting. ii. They found that they had accurately reported exactly what happened while the evangelists were in Thessalonica. iii. Meaning the Thessalonians gave their testimony, and did so not just zealously, but accurately too. iv. So, what was their testimony? d. [Slide 15] how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God i. They had abandoned their former life and all that it included. ii. Abandoning paganism, is not simply changing religions. It is not simply adding Jesus to what you already believed. And it certainly isn't a lateral move to get on a different side of the same mountain all leading to the same God. iii. For the Thessalonians to turn from their idolatry to the living and true God was to be rejected by their own culture. iv. Their friends, family, co-workers, neighbors – all of them, to various degrees, would be appalled by the Thessalonians rejection of worshipping in the temples, and not worshipping the Emperor. v. The Thessalonians bore witness to the fact that they had left their lives to follow Christ. They had forfeited everything they knew and took comfort in, to serve the one true and living God. vi. Although these idols may be real demonic entities with actual power… the Scriptures are very clear. Unlike Yahweh, they are neither true nor are they living. vii. So what does it mean that God is true and living? viii. [Slide 16] God being the true God works on a couple levels. 1. First, He is the only God. a. There is only One God, in the sense that there is no god equal to Him. b. He is in a category all His own. c. He is Holy. i. Holiness then, is God's governing attribute. ii. He is unlike everything else. iii. He is unique. iv. He is different. d. All other gods are false in the sense that compared to Yahweh, they are far closer in class, kind, and characteristics to humans and other spiritual entities than they are to Yahweh. e. Despite God being Spirit and there being spiritual entities like angels and demons – angels and demons are closer in similarity to humans… than they are in similarity to Yahweh. f. This is why God is the only TRUE God. 2. Second, He is the only truthful God. a. All other gods, whether they be spirits, men, or make believe, are liars. b. First, pretending to be a god, is itself an act of deceit. For no entity is a god except for Yahweh – see point 1. c. Second, all men and fallen angels are sinful, selfish, and predisposed to lie. d. Satan is called a liar from the beginning. e. But Yahweh says of Himself – I cannot lie. f. It isn't a question of volition or choice – it is a statement of inability. God cannot tell us something that is false. ix. [Slide 17] God being living also has two levels. 1. First, God is the only being who does not need any other being in order to exist. a. God is Self-Sufficient. He is independent. He needs nothing from His creation to exist. He needs nothing from His creation to function or be happy. b. God is the only being that exists that can continue to exist without other parts of creation. c. Without time, space, matter, light, warmth, energy – God exists. d. God eternally exists in three persons and thus has communion and fellowship with Himself. Therefore, God doesn't even need His creation for worship or fellowship or completion of some relational need. e. God is the only being… in this sense… that is living. 2. Second, all other gods, men, fallen angels, or make believe, will burn up. a. In the second death, all those who do not worship Yahweh and believe on His Christ will be cast into the second death. b. They will all die in eternal death together. c. In this sense then, all other would-be gods are dead gods. d. And therefore, they cannot grant life. x. [Slide 18] And so, the Thessalonians bore witness to the fact that they have completely rejected their dead and false gods to pursue the living and true God. xi. But that's not all they bore witness to… e. [Slide 19] 10 - and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead— Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. i. Part of the gospel witness is not just repentance, but it is also faith. ii. Faith to believe what God has said. iii. Faith to believe on Jesus as the deliverer. iv. Throughout the whole area people were hearing how the Thessalonians were believing on and hoping in a God-Man who died and was raised from the dead and is coming again to rescue them and all who believe in Him from the coming judgment. v. Paul, when speaking to gentiles, regularly spoke of the coming judgment of the one true and living God. vi. No such judgment exists in paganism. There is no final judgment where Zeus or Jupiter sit in judgment to determine the eternal consequences of each person. vii. But Yahweh had been telling His people about the Day of the Lord almost 800 years before Christ. viii. And a final judgment had been spoken of for even longer than that. ix. The fact that there is a coming day of God's wrath is expressed in the promise of God to Noah that he will not judge the earth again… with water. x. God's wrath has been spoken of for thousands of years – and like the ark was for Noah and his family, so Jesus is to His people. xi. The only true Ark is Christ. xii. He is the only hope to escape the wrath to come. He is the Savior. He is the rescuer. He is the Deliverer. xiii. And they waited. One thing that is abundantly true and emphasized in the hall of faith chapter of Hebrews 11, is that God's people have always been people who wait. xiv. God's people had been waiting on the seed that would crush the head of the serpent since Adam and Eve fell. God's people waited some 4000 years for that promise to come to pass. xv. But now God's people have been promised that the Son of David, the Son of Man, will come again riding on the clouds from heaven to consummate an eternal kingdom and destroy all His opposition. xvi. And God's people have been waiting for this to come to pass for nearly 2000 years. xvii. God's people have always been and continue to be a people… who wait. In hope and faith that God will keep His word. xviii. This was the Thessalonians' testimony. xix. And it was known far and wide. xx. And the evangelists are so thankful that this is so, because it confirms that they are elect of God. f. [Slide 19] Summary of the Point: Paul does not raise up any further points about how they know that these Thessalonians are elect. In fact, it is fairly clear here that this discussion continues the thought from verse 6. Therefore, we should see that Paul is expressing another way that they have become imitators of Christ and examples for others which proves they are God's elect. So, what is that way and what does it mean for us? They have become shining Christian examples both in their zealousness for sharing the gospel and their precision for relaying the truth accurately. So, in order to imitate Christ and those who are more spiritually mature and in order to provide an example for other believers to follow, we must zealously and accurately bear witness to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Conclusion: So, CBC, what basics have we learned today that corrects and informs our faith and shapes and guides our practices? Basics of Faith and Practice: [Slide 20] We have learned that one other way we can be assured that we are God's elect is by imitating Christ and other spiritually mature believers to the extent that we provide an example for others to follow. What are some ways that we can do this? Paul specifically references two ways that the Thessalonians were imitators worthy of imitating. First, they welcomed the message of God with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of many afflictions. We too should receive or welcome the message of the gospel with joy from the Holy Spirit – knowing full well that we will suffer many afflictions for the cause of Christ. Secondly, the Thessalonians are commended for zealously and accurately bearing witness to their reception of the gospel. So, in order to imitate Christ and provide an example for others, we too must zealously and accurately bear witness to our reception of the gospel. These are actually quite complex applications with many moving parts, so let us try to break them down into small chunks this morning. 1.) [Slide 21] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that at the core of being a disciple and making disciples, is imitation. a. What is key in this text that I think is quite different than most people think about discipleship, is that discipleship is primarily imitation. b. Many people attack Paul's words here and in other books where he says something to the effect of, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ.” c. The assumption is that this is said in a pious way indicating Paul thought he was Christlike. d. But my friends, if you are living as Christ lived, there is nothing arrogant about saying that you are worthy of imitation. And Paul isn't saying – live like me even when I don't live like Christ. e. There is a reason that the scriptures talk about the church being the body of Christ. It is because the church should be the embodiment of who Christ was on earth. We should accurately reflect the words He spoke and the actions He did. f. Indeed, this is exactly how the scriptures teach us to make disciples – it is by baptizing them and teaching them to observe all Christ commanded. Not in the sense of mere education but by demonstration. g. For whatever reason we have been duped to believe that discipleship only happens in an educational setting, much like school. We hear the word “teaching” and immediately picture sitting in chairs with a desk and looking at a teacher who goes over certain things that you must agree with. When you graduate you get a little certificate and voila, you are a disciple now. h. This is, of course, ridiculous. i. Being a disciple and making disciples is and ALWAYS HAS BEEN primarily… imitation. j. Watch me do this. Now do it with me. Now you do it while I watch. Now you do it and tell me how it went. Now you do it and take this person with you and let them observe you. k. That… in a nutshell is discipleship. And I'm convinced, it is at the heart of the expression, “do life together.” l. I think sometimes when we hear “do life together” it means we enter some kind of compound or closed society where we only interact with each other in common ways. But I think when we say “do life together.” Primarily this means a more hands on approach to making disciples. m. So rather than leaning into some quasi-educational definition of discipleship – we should instead affirm that being a disciple is all about imitating Christ and doing that by finding someone who is godly and imitating them as they imitate Christ. n. And making disciples should be seen the same way. We are not sitting someone down to teach them systematic theology, we aren't getting through a book course, or even having them go through a bible study with us – although that is certainly part of making disciples. o. Making disciples ultimately boils down to… Imitate me. Live like I live. Follow me. p. But this doesn't actually make it easier does it? q. Taking someone through a 12 week course is a lot easier than saying imitate me as I go toward Christ. r. Why? s. Because 1 of them ends in 12 weeks and you check a box and it is done. t. The other is a lifelong commitment. u. My friends, it would be best for us to see discipleship in this way. Imitation = discipleship. v. And because of that… 2.) [Slide 22] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” We must imitate Christ and other spiritually mature believers and be an example for others to imitate as well. a. The easiest way to do this if you are a parent… is to do this for your children. b. Model for them what it means to be people of the Word. How to respond in a Christlike way to trials, tribulations, difficulties, and temptations. What to give priority to and how to pray and study the scriptures. c. But this relationship is not exclusive to a parent and their child. d. Younger believers should seek out older and more mature believers to mimic. Older believers should seek out younger and more immature believers to be an example to. And generally speaking, the church as a whole should be a group of people all following Christ by following the person in front of them. e. We have both made this simpler than it is and more complicated than it is. f. Humans have a nasty habit of doing that don't they? g. We've made it simpler in the sense that we've reduced discipleship to pure education and we've made it more complicated than it is in that we assume that we must be perfect in order to begin discipling someone. h. Neither of these are true. i. Let's do a little exercise this morning. It may crumble and not demonstrate what I think it will – but let's take a chance. j. Raise your hands if someone, in your lifetime, has ever walked up to you and asked you if you would disciple them? k. For those of you who did raise your hands – did you experience the sinking feeling of not even knowing what that means or where to begin? Hmmmm… Hang on to that for a second. l. Ok. Raise your hands if someone has ever walked up to you and asked you if they could disciple you? m. As I suspected. Almost no hands. n. Now. Raise your hands if you can honestly say that you are at the maturity level you are at in your walk with Christ because you have observed and endeavored to imitate someone who you know is a godly Christian. o. [[I think this will illustrate that formal discipleship is rare but actual discipleship is common. If that is the case… proceed]] p. You see that? What can we deduce from this? I think we can deduce that we are really bad at formally discipling people… but by God's grace… we are still succeeding in actually discipling people. q. So what is the application? r. Live like Christ, imitate those you know are godly and invite people to observe and imitate your life. Live in such a way that your life is an open book and that people can ask or see anything they want of you… to the extent that you are ALWAYS teaching how to be like Jesus. s. I really think it is that simple… and also that difficult. 3.) [Slide 23] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that following Christ is costly. a. By far this is the hardest sell for Christians living in the west. b. It is abundantly difficult to convince Christians who drive to church every Sunday without fear, who openly display Christian paraphernalia on their person and on their vehicles, who do not face losing their jobs or being kicked out of their families for following Jesus, it is so difficult to convince American Christians that to follow Christ is costly. c. But I think the reason we saw a bunch of people start attending church after Charlie Kirk was murdered, was because for at least a moment… people started to feel that it could actually cost them something to follow Jesus. d. And it scared them. Scared them enough to attend… for a couple weeks. e. But as the dust settled and as people moved on, and as the country, almost unanimously denounced the act… people returned to their lives thinking that maybe – just maybe – it isn't quite time to panic yet. f. My friends – Christianity is by far the most persecuted religion in the world. Not 1000 years ago. Not 100 years ago. TODAY. g. And honestly the writing is on the wall for this country too. It is coming. h. We can do our best to stall it through legislation and political activity and indeed we should. i. But it won't be long before we are drastically outnumbered in our worldview. It won't be long before political and legal action won't help us because we won't have the votes. j. You say, Chris how do you know that? k. Scripture predicts it, history proves it, and culture demands it. l. In reality, following Christ always costs us something. We always suffer affliction against the devil and his angels. We always face opposition from the world, its principalities, and powers. m. In a way, following Christ is always costly. But to the vast majority of Christians through the ages – it has cost them so very much. n. And soon, it will cost us much too. o. So what hope is there? 4.) [Slide 24] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” The gospel itself and the joy from the Spirit is our comfort despite many afflictions. a. Did you ever wonder why Jesus called the Spirit, The Comforter? b. The word is often translated, Advocate. c. An advocate pleads our cause, provides encouragement and help, and gives counsel. d. The Spirit of God indwells and continues to work in the hearts of believers delivering grace for help in times of need. e. And the gospel, the message of Christ's death, burial, resurrection, and future return to save us from the wrath to come, that is the greatest comfort and produces the greatest joy. f. Remember our sermon chorus? It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus. Life's trials will seem so small, when we see Christ. One glimpse of His dear face, all sorrows will erase. So, bravely run the race, till we see Christ. g. I love that because it is a little 3-point sermon. i. When we see Jesus' face, three things will happen. ii. Truth point – all the pain and sorrow in life will have been worth enduring. iii. Truth point – All the trials we face will seem insignificant. iv. Truth point – All the sorrows we've experienced will be erased forever. v. So, what do we do with those three points of truth? vi. Application – Bravely run the race until we see Christ. h. My friends, the joy set before Christ was to save His bride, to redeem a people for Himself. For that joy he endured the cross and despised the shame. i. The joy set before us… is to join Him where He is, and so shall we ever be with Him. j. The gospel is the vehicle to that joy. We are placed in Christ as we travel this road. k. When the gospel gets even more costly and when life's difficulties weigh us down – look to Jesus the pioneer and completer of our faith. l. Look to your joy. And realize that it is joy given by the Spirit of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ. m. But until then – what else must we do to be imitators of Christ? 5.) [Slide 25] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” We must zealously and accurately share the gospel. a. The Thessalonians' story was known far and wide. b. People heard about the time that the evangelists spent with them. They also heard about how the Thessalonians bravely cast aside their former lives and believed on the living and true God and His Son. c. People heard about how they were hoping in His return to rescue them from the coming wrath of God. d. My friends – have people heard a similar report about our church? Have people heard a similar report about you? e. If not, perhaps this is so for one of two reasons. f. The first is that perhaps you have failed to imitate spiritually mature people and Christ and have not zealously and accurately relayed the gospel to others. g. Perhaps you have grown weak and fearful and allowed petty fears of men to keep you from sharing the gospel with others. h. Perhaps you have shrunk back and blended in, trying to appear to be like everyone else. i. My friends – if you are elect of God, you will never fit in. Not here. This world with devils filled threatens to undo us. And you want to make it your home? You want to slip into some quiet corner and go unnoticed. j. We have the right man on our side. A man of God's own choosing. Who is it? Christ Jesus It is He. And He will win the battle. k. Friends – when the victory horn rings, you do not continue to hide in a corner. You come out and celebrate and gain confidence over the forces that still oppose – for they oppose in vain. l. Jesus has won. The victory bell rolled when the stone was rolled away. m. Get out of your hiding place. It is not time to hide. It is time to stand. n. Bear witness to the glorious gospel that saved you and can save others. Announce it to all you meet. Share with them how Christ caused you to cast aside your sins and follow Him in faith. Share with them how you were wicked and He has made you righteous. Share with them how God has done this and no one else. o. But there is a second reason that perhaps you have failed to zealously and accurately share the gospel… p. Perhaps you don't have a story to tell. 6.) [Slide 26] Evangelism: “What about this text points us to Jesus Christ, the gospel, and how we are restored?” The gospel always requires a turning from sin and former masters and to the living and true God and His Son whom He raised as our deliverer from future wrath. a. Some have wondered if Paul's last statement in this chapter is some kind of creed, confession, or song. b. The reason people wonder this, is because it is such a concentrated description of what the gospel is and does. c. These Thessalonians bore witness that because of a Jewish man who died in Judea 20 years before… d. They were giving up their ancestral beliefs, turning on their family and friends, rejecting the state religion, forfeiting their business relationships and ostracizing themselves from their own culture. e. Why would they do that? f. Because the man who died in Judea was no mere man. He was God and man. All other gods, religions, and even forms of Christianity that do not include a rejection of sin and pursuit of Christ alone, must be cast aside. g. Full and complete devotion to the true and living God must occur. h. Belief in the death, burial, resurrection and future coming of Jesus as this God-Man is required. i. And all hope placed in Him and Him alone to save you from the judgment which He Himself will bring is… necessary. j. Maybe you've never heard the gospel. Maybe you've heard it a thousand times but today… the loop closed. You see it now. He has died for you. He has won. k. Maybe you've thought you've been a follower of this Jesus – but your story of the gospel coming to you doesn't include anything like this. l. My friends – I implore you. Come to Jesus. Turn from everything else. Come to Jesus and live. [Slide 27] Let me close with a prayer by the Reformer Elisabeth Cruciger a former Nun who began writing hymns of the Reformation. Lord Christ, God's only dear Son, you have sprung from the Father's heart from eternity, as we see in the Scriptures. Morning star, you gleam brighter than all stars in the sky. You were born of a pure virgin in the fullness of time. Your death has opened for us the gates of heaven and restored life to us. Lord Christ, let us adore you in love, increasing in the knowledge of you. Despite our earthly weakness, let us serve you in spirit and never cease in faith, that our hearts may taste your sweetness, and ever thirst for you. You who founded the whole world, and who, in your unbounded power and fatherly might reign over day and night—let our hearts pursue you and let us turn our minds to you, lest we stray. Lord, kill us with your goodness. Make us alive in your grace. While we still live on this earth, take away our old nature, and replace it with new life. And may our every thought, desire, and feeling cleave to you. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. Benediction: Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him, Let Him shield them all day long, Let the one the Lord loves rest between His shoulders. That you might be steadfast, immovable and knowing That your toil in the Lord is not in vain. Until we meet again, go in peace.

Group Guide Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week. TranscriptGood morning. My name is Spencer and I'm one of the pastors here. We are continuing through our Remember series. We're in the last couple of weeks of this series. We're walking through our membership commitments and what binds us together and belief and practice as a church. We're in the 13th commitment. Today we've got this and then next week our 14th commitment. And then we'll launch into our gift series for December. But I want to read the 13th commitment before we begin. It says, I will practice and grow in generosity by financially supporting Jesus mission in church in our city and the world. Therefore, I will consistently and sacrificially give to Mill City Church of Cayce and to Mill City Church of Cayce family as they may have need. So this is what our church commits to. But this really embodies the people of God for centuries. This is our story. If you haven't thought about this before, much of actually Western culture is impacted and shaped by the generosity of Christians. Like the majority of hospitals over time were started by churches and denominations. That's why so many in many cities have a Baptist hospital, a Methodist hospital, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, all at one point were they begun as seminaries. They were training grounds for pastors and educating laypeople in theology. The Salvation army was started by Christians in an effort to wage war on poverty in the London's east end over 100 years ago. The YMCA and the 19th century began as an effort to help Christian men. So it's the Young Men's Christian Association, Christian men who've been negatively impacted by the Industrial Revolution. Samaritan's Purse was started to wage to help kids that were affected in Korea by starvation. Habitat for Humanity was started by Christian missionaries who were building homes and then brought that back to America and has impacted many people for the last few decades. The majority of orphan care, orphanages, adoption agencies were started by Christians that have been run by Christians into the day. The examples go on and on. If you just think locally for a moment, the organization that's had the most impact on homelessness in the city of Columbia, without a doubt has been Oliver Gospel Mission. They've been doing it for over 137 years, since 1988, started by a Methodist minister. Our own hospital, Baptist Hospital, was started by the denomination that we belong to, the South Carolina Baptist convention, years over 100 years ago. So this is a part of the people of God. This is our story. And there are many examples of how this shows up. And our 13th commitment is in line with what God's people have done for Thousands of years. So today I want to show you where this comes from in the Scriptures and why we're called to live with sacrificial generosity. We're going to do a fairly quick blitz through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation to see this theme. This is going to be a biblical theology of generosity, this theme that gets pulled from Genesis all the way through Revelation, the end of the Bible. So we're going to see where this comes from, where we're commanded to live like this. And then I want to take a step back and examine ultimately why and how we're supposed to, as the church, live this out. So let me pray for us, and then we'll walk through this together. Heavenly Father, I pray that you might help us see the gift that it is to live a life that is generous, that is not about self, but about ultimately you and your purposes here and beyond. And I pray that you would speak to us in a way that would disarm us and instruct us, and we wouldn't just be hearers of the Word, but would leave here as doers. And that's going to come through your work. So we ask this in Jesus name. Amen.Okay, so starting in the book of Genesis. One of the earliest examples we get of generosity in the Bible is in Genesis 14, when Abraham is. He wages. He's in a battle. And after they win that battle, there's a king and a high priest named Melchizedek that comes to him. In Genesis 14, it says,> And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. (Genesis 14:18–20, ESV)And Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. So this is one of the earliest examples we see of giving up your material blessings. Abraham gives up a tenth of what he has in response to this priest. This type of generosity gets enshrined into the Old Testament law When you read past Genesis, into Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Numbers. When you read these books, you see throughout the law, this type of commanded generosity of the people of God. When you get to numbers 18, it's one of the places that commands the people of God to give of their finances to support the work of the priesthood. You see, the Levitical priesthood, that tribe did not have an inheritance from the Lord. That was land Their inheritance was to serve the Lord. And the people of God and the promised land were commanded to give to sustain the work of the Levitical priesthood. So you see this in the Book of Numbers and other places. In Leviticus 19, you see that the giving that God calls us is not just to help those who are priests, like Melchizedek, like the Levitical priesthood, but it is also to help one another. As you read Leviticus 19, this command to be holy as I am holy, there's a bunch of different parts in it. But one of the things that shows up in verses 9 and 10 says,> “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 19:9–10, ESV)It's just built into the law that as you harvest, don't take all of it. Don't be about the enrichment of self, but realize that there are the poor, the widows, the sojourners among you that do not have food and make sure that they can come and take part in the harvest as well. You see this in other places, like Deuteronomy 15. Deuteronomy 15 says,> “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.” (Deuteronomy 15:7–8, ESV)Do not harden your hearts against your brothers who are in need. Throughout the law, you just see how God is commanding his people to think about one another in a way that is beautiful. And when you read the law, I'm picking places that I can't go to, all of it. But you read it. You read about the redemption laws, you read about the year of jubilee, you read about all these things that God commands of his people so that they might take care of one another, take care of the priesthood, who ministers on behalf of you, and then also take care of one another together. That's all over the Old Testament law.As you keep flipping through the Old Testament, you see examples of how this is lived out. But one of the places that you'll get to is in the wisdom literature. You won't just see that generosity is commanded, but generosity is also wise. It is wise to be someone who lives generously. In Proverbs 3, 9 and 10, it says,> “Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.” (Proverbs 3:9–10, ESV)I so appreciate that it's proverbial, which means it's not a promise or a guarantee. But what he just said there is that if you honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce, that first fruits language shows up in the Old Testament law as well. That is the idea that you take the first of your harvest, not the leftovers. And that theme carries throughout the Bible as well. Don't give the Lord your leftovers, give him the first fruits, the first and best of what you have. If you do this, then your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will be bursting with wine, which means, again, proverbial. Generally, if you will be willing to be generous, the Lord will provide for you over and over again. So we don't treat it like a formula, but we see that it's wise that those who live generously, the Lord provides for them again and again and again. We see this in 11:24.> “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.” (Proverbs 11:24, ESV)Again, proverbial. But the idea here is that if you are giving freely, the Lord is taking care of you. But if you are greedy, if you withhold, if you are self interested, you will only suffer want. And there are plenty of other proverbs that hit different aspects of what it means to the wisdom that is bound up and not living for the enrichment of self, but living generously.Now, the Old Testament law, you see this from start to finish in the Old Testament law. This theme of God's people who were called to live generously. Then we get to the New Testament and then Jesus comes and begins teaching. And one of the most consistent teachings that Jesus has is on money and generosity over and over again. And Jesus doesn't just get to the commands, he gets to the hearts behind the commands. Because when you get to Matthew chapter six in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says,> “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19–21, ESV)So Jesus gets the heart of the matter, which is, do not, do not live for the riches of this present world. Everything that your heart so quickly desires, all the shiny objects and things in this life, all of it will end up in a landfill. It will decay. But if you will put your heart where God's heart is and the kingdom of God in eternity, you will store up riches that will never spoil or fade. Put your heart there. He gets to the heart of it. And this teaching that we get in Matthew 6 that is so helpful, helps us see, this is what we're called to be, is to put our heart in the things that God cares about that last into eternity. And listen, if you just do the Gospel of Matthew, I'm gonna do just some quick hits of just how he teaches this over and over again. But if you go back to Matthew 5:3, he says,> “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3, ESV)You get to Matthew 5:42. He says,> “Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.” (Matthew 5:42, ESV)You get to chapter six, verses one through four. He says,> “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,” (Matthew 6:1–4, ESV)which is the teaching that we should give not to be seen. That we should not strut to the offering box and say, look at what I have done. That we should not let everyone know on GoFundMe that I'm the one that has given. We shouldn't make it known to everyone that I am giving, but we should do it in secret, because ultimately our giving is to the Lord and not to be seen by others. And he continues, I mean, 6:19, 24, we just read do not lay up treasures in heaven. 6:24 we read earlier is,> “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” (Matthew 6:24, ESV)6:25–34 he says, do not be anxious about material needs. Seek first the kingdom of God. In Matthew 13:22, when he's teaching the parable of the sore sower, talking about the seeds of faith that are sown, one of the seeds that gets choked out is by the thorns, which is the riches and the cares of this present world. And that's a warning that if we care so much about material blessings in this life, we care so much about money and riches here, it will snuff out our faith. In Matthew chapter 19, we get an example of what that looks like. When a rich young man comes to Jesus and says, I want to follow you. And he gives his resume of all he's followed the law. And then Jesus goes straight to the heart and he says, okay, so sell everything you have. Come, follow me. And he says, no, it went away sad because he had great wealth. And then Jesus goes on to say in teaching that he says, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And listen, that's the eye of a sewing needle. Have you ever heard some prosperity? False prophets say, that's a tiny little door in Jerusalem. That's a lie. The whole point there is that, no, you cannot be saved as a rich man in your own, your own self. It comes through faith in Jesus Christ and him shaping us and our approach to how we think about money. That's just the Gospel of Matthew, but if you keep reading the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Luke, the Gospel of John, Jesus continuously, repetitively, aggressively, at times teaches on riches because there's a lot at stake now.Jesus goes to the cross, he dies for our sins. He rises from the grave, conquering the power of death and its grip on us. And then when he ascends to the right hand of God the Father and the Holy Spirit descends upon the church. In Acts 2. We've been in this passage multiple times throughout this Remember series. We see the early church embody Christ's teachings on generosity. In Acts 2:44, it says,> “And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.” (Acts 2:44–45, ESV)They believe it. They are all in on what Christ taught. And they just say, give it away. I'll sell this and I'll give it to you. Make sure that the saints are taken care of, make sure that the gospel can go forward. They believe this wholeheartedly and they begin to live this out. And when you read the rest of the book of Acts, you see this. And when you read the rest of the New Testament letters, Romans all the way through, you're going to see this over and over again. I can't hit all of it, but I just want to show you a few different parts of the New Testament letters that teach this theme of generosity. In Second Corinthians, chapter eight, Paul put he's talking to the church at Corinth, which is a very wealthy church and a wealthy city. And when he's talking to them, he uses the Macedonian church, which is in a different area that is not as wealthy, as an example to spur them on to generosity. And in chapter eight, verses three and four, it says,> “For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints.” (2 Corinthians 8:3–4, ESV)That little phrase is one of My favorite phrases on generosity in the Bible, that this church was begging, they were eager. We cannot miss out on this. Can we give? The saints in Jerusalem were struggling, they needed help. And they said, I want all in on this. Can we be a part of this? And he's trying to help the Corinthian church. Do you not see how we're called to live? And if you read different parts of the New Testament in the letters, you're going to see this call to give to the efforts of gospel ministry and give to one another, to take care of one another. I mean, when you read the book of Philippians, y', all, we spent time a couple years ago in the book of Philippians, wonderful, beautiful theological insights, wonderful, beautiful passages. But when you get to the end, you see that it wraps up like a support letter because he's thankful for their partnership with him in the gospel. In 4:15, he says,> “And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only.” (Philippians 4:15, ESV)And he's just thankful, thankful for the church at Philippi and how they've invested in his ministry efforts. Paul at times had to be a tent maker, but he did need money to live on. He needed money to travel. And in First Corinthians 9, at one point when he's talking to the church at Corinth, he makes the point that it is my right as a minister of the gospel to be paid. And it makes that clear in the New Testament. Ministers of the gospel, those who do gospel work, should be paid to make their living by the gospel. But he tells the church of Corinth, I'm not demanding that of you because I know that's a stumbling block for you. I want you to believe the gospel. I don't want you to think I'm money hungry. And that is something that even shows up today. It's hard for pastors at times to talk about money because you don't want to fall into the category of money hungry pastors. But God talks so much about it and it's so important. So we will. Throughout the New Testament, you see this commanded generosity, these examples of generosity for the advancement of the gospel, moving forward through caring for one another, and all of that. As you read through the N terminates in the Book of Revelation. And if you were with us the last year as we walked through the Book of Revelation, those final three chapters is a vivid picture of where all this is going, that God's people get to experience the eternal generosity of God unendingly, that we get to have a feast with our God, that He provides for us, that we get to have eternal dwelling with our God, that He provides life and light and riches beyond imagination. Our God freely, lovingly, joyfully, gives to his people forever and ever and ever. Amen. And that is how the Bible ends. And you see from start to finish this thread that is pulled of generosity, of how God's people have been shaped by this and really how we've lived this out for thousands years.But all these examples that are wonderful and beautiful, all these commands that are powerful and all these teachings that shape us, it is also important to realize it's pretty dang hard to live this out. It just is because we're just so self interested. We're just self interested people. I know I am. I mean, I see it like I y', all, I see when my. Give you an example. When my kids, when there's a dessert in our household, they, they, they become feral. It's it's mine. Like you ever seen a, you ever seen a raccoon that's eating trash pizza? You come up on a raccoon eating trash pizza and you try to meet my children with a dessert, it's theirs. Do you know where they got that from? My wife? No, I'm just kidding. They got that from me. One of the most infamous stories in my family is when I was in college, I was home for Thanksgiving, my mom made this chocolate pie and she made it for me to take it to college back for exams. And I had it and my stepdad and my sister saw it and they said, ooh, I want a bite. And I grabbed it and I licked the whole thing. Which in my family was claiming it. I know in your family that might not have stopped anyone, but in my family that stopped everyone because this was mine. And that self interested instinct is all over how we think about riches. It's all over how we think about money. This is what we do, y'. All. That's why when the pandemic hit, what was the first thing to leave the shelves? Toilet paper. That's just everyone's like, gotta get it. I gotta get in my house. It's what we do. This is a human infection that we pass down from generation to generation, from forefathers to their children and grandchildren. This desire for the enrichment and care of self. We have a Bible reading plan that anyone in our church is welcome to go through, but a few of us have gone through over the last few years and I'm in this Bible reading plan the other few weeks ago, and we come up to 1 Timothy, chapter 6. And I'm reading it, and I just. Was just slayed. I read it, and I just want to read. Gets right at the heart of this. It says,> “But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” (1 Timothy 6:6–10, ESV)Do you hear that? That's a warning. That riches can become your ruin. The desire for them can become a ruin for you. Verse 10. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pangs. And it's like, I just. I read that. I went, oh, my God, woe is me. If you, if you don't read that and tremble if you don't receive that and go, I. Where. Where have I fallen in love with riches and, and money in a way that is. That is literally risking me walking away from the Lord, then we're. We're not reading it correctly. It's a. It's a real danger. And if you, if you realize the danger of our. Of our. Of our besetting sin in our hearts. It's not enough just to look at the whole Bible and look at all the examples, because those examples, enough, even those commands are not enough for us to take our eyes off of the riches of this present world. We have to get to the heart of why. Why are we commanded to live this out? Why should we do this? And the example that we have of why is found in, in Jesus Christ. When you read 2 Corinthians, chapter 8, it says,> “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9, ESV)That teaches that Jesus Christ, the second member of the Trinity, left the glory and the comfort and the heaven to become man and dwell among us in poverty. That he left the riches and the comforts of heaven to live a lowly human life in need constantly. And then he goes to the cross where he has nothing. The garments that he has are divided amongst the people below and he's crucified for our self interest and greed and desire for the riches of this present world. And he resurrects to conquer the power of sin so that we might not be slaves to riches, we might be slaves to our desires for this present world, but we might be resurrected in faith to have new eyes and a new heart. That we might see that he is better and that following him and putting all of our hopes in eternity is better than anything this present world could have to offer. And that by the power of the Holy Spirit he might break us of a desire for things that will spoil and fade and fix our eyes on eternity. We read 1 John 4:19 the why is we love because he first loved us.> “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19, ESV)The only hope we have to grow in being generous people is to look at the example we have in Jesus Christ and put our faith firmly in him as our only hope. That is one and that is the why which shapes our commitment. I will practice and grow in generosity by financially supporting Jesus mission and church in our city and the world. Therefore I will consistently and sacrificially give to Mill City Church of Cayce and to Mill City Church of Cayce family as they may have need. God, who loves us, who came to rescue us, who saves us from our own selfish desires, sets us apart to follow him and calls us to trust him, to yield to him open handedly that he will provide for us and to lift our gaze to the heavens, to store our riches there, where one day we will taste and see of things that we could not passively dream, possibly dream or imagine about. That is what guides us and the hope that we have in this commitment as a church.So if that is why I want to end with how. How do we practically take steps to grow in this? It begins with giving. And one of the things that we say is in the language we have in our commitment is to is to sacrificially give. We use the language of sacrificial giving in our Give series in a few weeks. That's a language that's going to show up. That's a language we've used for years. We do not use the language of tithe. And if you grew up in the church, that's a very common phrase. It shows up all over the Old Testament law. Tithe, that just means a tenth. It goes back to the example of Melchizedek and Abraham. But you read the Old Testament, it says to give a tenth. The New Testament actually doesn't command the tithe. It embodies the heart of generosity from the Old Testament. But the language we see consistently in the New Testament is one of sacrificial giving. Therefore we command from the scriptures. You need to sacrificially give. And I think that's more helpful language than the time I do. I think that calls us to consider what we should give before the Lord in a way that is, that is meaningful. And I think for some whom God has blessed in this church, making money that you never thought you could make, if you say that giving is the tithe, you have limited yourself and you are not actually growing in sacrificial giving. For some of you, the tithe is the floor, it's not the ceiling. And you should be looking for ways to continue to grow in giving. And for others, like that's. If we just use the language of tithe, that's a hard place to get to. If you're not giving anything at all, that's a tough thing to accomplish. We want us to take steps of faithfulness and growing and sacrificial generosity. We do not dictate how much you should give. We do not dictate exactly where you should give. You see, the language that we got here is I will consistently and sacrificially give to Mill City Church of Cayce and Mill City Church of Cayce families. And above it, it says I will financially supporting Jesus mission in the church and the city and the world. So we're not saying that you've got to give all of your money to formally the local church though I would caution, I have heard and seen this over the years that some folks will say, ah, I just, I, no, I'm not, I don't know if I can, I don't know what the church is doing. I want to be able to dictate where my money can go. So I'm going to give to people in my church, I'm going to give people to my community. I'm going to give to orphan care, I'm going to give to missions. But I really, I don't know if I can give formally to the local church. I just, I don't know how. And I just want to caution you, if you have any bit of that zone in your heart, I want you to consider what functionally that means. It means that you do not trust the leadership of this church and work with our boss team, our boss Business Oversight and Sustainability Squad, that's our team that oversees finances in our church. So the elders and our boss team, I don't trust them to be able to give to the local church. And I just want to caution you on that, because I'll be honest, if I was a part of a church and I didn't trust the leadership of that church to handle the finances, I wouldn't be there. I just. I was like, if I can't trust you with money, then I can't trust you, period. And if that's the position of your heart, I want you to evaluate that and I want you to reckon with that argument, because I think you should trust the leadership of this church. You should formally give. You should give in the give boxes, you should give online. You should give to the local church and the ministry efforts entrusting us to figure out what is the best use of how these gifts have been given to use and distribute in a way that accomplishes the purposes of the local church. You should also give to your church family. You should be saving up regularly to give to your church family. You should be looking eager, like that Second Corinthians language. If I'm eager to jump in and give at a moment's notice to someone who is in need, y'. All. One of the benefits I have as a pastor is that I regularly get to see people who are embodying Matthew 6, not being public, letting the left hand know what the right hand is giving. So they come to one of the pastors and say, hey, I just. I want to be able to bless this person. Can you make sure they get this? Can you make sure that this person gets this? I see this all the time. I've lost count of how many cars have been given away in this church, how many washing machines, how many medical bills have been paid off. I've watched people just live it out in beautiful and wonderful ways. We should do that. You should be looking for ways to just bless people in our church who are in need and to see the beauty and the wonder and the glory of just joining in in God's mission and caring for his people, just as they did in Acts Chapter two.And beyond that, we should be eager to give beyond our church, beyond the local mission. That's one of the reasons why we give regularly to 1040 HOPE. 1040 HOPE is the mission organization that Ben Johnson, one of the members of our church, leads. It's on the meets on the third. They have office space on the third floor of our building. And we give to them, and we encourage you to give to them because we want to see the gospel Reach every nation, tribe and tongue and the areas of the world where there are not Christians or anyone that even knows the gospel. We want to be about all of it. So we. That's what. That's what it means to. That's how we should do this. We should give, firstly, meaning of your first fruits. Do not give your leftovers. We should give consistently, which means that some of you should set up regular giving and we should give sacrificially, meaning we should be considerate of giving in a way that we feel it, that it actually is a sacrifice. This is something we should grow in and take steps of faithfulness in. So if you're in a place where you're like, I just, I can't. I just. I literally can't give right now. I want to say very clearly that's a problem. But that's a problem we'd love to help you with. We have a financial care team that will sit down with you, that'll sit with you in your budget, that will help you figure out how you can take steps of faithfulness here. We want to help you to be able to do this. And when I'm coaching people up on this, that's why I think language of tithe can be discouraging at times. Because if you're like, I'm going from 0 to 10, I don't know how I'm going to get there. Just take steps of faithfulness. Start by giving 40 to 50 bucks a month. Do that and commit to it. And you might have to cut things out. But of how much you spend on Starbucks and Amazon prime and Netflix, and if you total all of that up, and that's more than what you give to the mission of God, that's a value statement. That is a problem and it needs to change. So we need to do some soul work in this. And I say, take steps of faithful. So I'm coaching people on this. I'm like, start here. Maybe next year you can carve out 1% of your budget and maybe the following year you can take a step of faith and double it at 2%. And maybe in three years you could double it again and get to 4%. Maybe in four to five years, if you're really figuring this out, you could jump up to eight. Figure this out before the Lord and ask the Lord what he wants you to give. But we can take steps of faithfulness and growing in this. It's worth it for our own souls to not fall in love with the riches of this present world. Some people will Say, like, I don't know if I can get. I don't know when I'm gonna have enough to give. I don't know if I'm gonna get there. And I will say to you very clearly, we have to be trusted with the small things that we're given so we can step into the greater things. The idea that if I make more down the road, I'll be able to give. It's not how we logically work. It's not how the scriptures teach this. We need to be faithful with little so we can later be faithful with much. We need to take steps of faithfulness to grow in this. I was talking with Raz Bradley. Raz, one of our pastors, was in Florida for a conference a few weeks back, and he got to meet a guy and hear his story, and I got to watch this video of this guy's story. But this. This man was. Him and his wife, years ago, were going to be missionaries. They're excited to go on the mission field. And as they're gearing up, ready to go on the mission field, his father sits down with him and his brother and says, hey, I'm retiring. He had a small mom and pop crane company. Because I'm retiring, and it's either y' all are taking this over or it's gonna end. But, like, I mean, we're. And he had a decision to make, and he prayed, do I go on the mission field or do I take over this business and use it for the glory of God and funding missions? And much to his wife's dismay, they didn't go on the mission field. Him and his brother took over this crane company, and they started out from the very beginning. They said, this is what we're going to do. We are not going to build this company for the enrichment of ourselves. We are going to take the profits. So about half invest it back into the company itself, and the other half we're going to give away. We're going to invest in gospel efforts. Now, a normal company, you do the first half, you've got to invest money back into the company, otherwise it won't make it. But the other half is yours. You get to keep the profits. And that's what it means to be a small business owner. And they said, no, we're going to take salaries and we're going to grow this company, and we're going to see the Lord grow this company over the years. We're going to see what he's going to do with this. And they did this for Years and tens of thousands turned into hundreds of thousands of profits, which turned into millions of dollars in profit to this year. They've given away over $70 million this year to mission efforts across the world. And it's like all along the way, it took salaries, they took decent salaries for a long time. He had $100,000 salary. You see the video of his house. It's a normal house. His car, it's an old beater car. And they had their most need. They had, you know, kids are going to college. He had a good salary of $150,000. And then when his kids were done with college, he went back down to $100,000. But they are handling tens of millions of dollars a year. And they're saying, I don't want it. I want to put that in the kingdom of God. And to think if this continues that for years to come, that they might invest a billion dollars into mission efforts across the world. Can you imagine the riches that they are storing up in heaven? What a life to live. What a legacy to leave behind. And y', all, the heart that is bound up in those men and their story is the same heart that is bound up. If you remember the story of Jesus and the widow's mite, the widow who comes to the temple and has only a few pennies to give, and she gives all of it. And Jesus points to her and says, look at it, look at her heart. This is what it means to be generous. And she gives all of it away. That's the same heart that was embodied there. It's the same heart that is bound up in the Christian who is looking at their budget and they're saying, you know what? I want to grow in generosity. I want to give to the church, to orphan care, to missions, which means I might drive the same car for the next 10 years and my co workers might have nicer trucks and nicer cars. But I'm going to take it on the chin here. I'm going to drive this thing until the wheels come off because it matters that I have the margins to give to what God wants us. This is the heart, the same heart that is in that. And that man is the same heart that sent a young Christian who's figuring out money for the first time. And they realize that the normative pattern that we've just accepted, that I just upgrade a phone every two years doesn't have to happen. So I'm holding this phone for three, four and five years so that I can have the ability to give and give generously to others. This is the same heart that's in the Christian right now that's looking at their budget and looking at inflation and going, I don't know how we're going to make ends meet, but I'm not cutting my money to this missionary. I'll cut my Starbucks habit before that happens because it matters to invest in the kingdom of God. That is the heart that shapes this commitment. Let me read it one more time. I will practice and grow in generosity by financially supporting Jesus mission and church in our city and the world. Therefore, I will consistently and sacrificially give to Mill City Church of Cayce and to Mill City Church of Cayce family as they may have need. Let's be a people that forsake the love of money and the love of riches in this present world, that look to Christ as our hope to change us and then take steps of faithfulness to be the generous people that God has called us to be.Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I pray that you might help us submit something that is so dear to our flesh, something that we don't like to talk about, something we don't like anyone else talking to us about. But let's take seriously the teachings about money and riches in this life and let's be a people that embody the heart of generosity that flows throughout the scriptures that you perfectly exampled and that you hold out for us all the way to the new heavens and the new earth. In Jesus name, amen. The band's going to come up. We're going to sing one final song together. I hope as we consider these teachings this week, as they may be difficult for us to receive and even more difficult to live out, that we would seriously consider them, that we would not hear them and discard them, but we would actually let the Holy Spirit, as we sing right now, do some work in our heart that as we leave this place, we would sit quietly before the Lord and ask God, how do you want me to grow? What steps do you want me to take? And if you need pastors or financial care or anyone to help you figure that out, we'd love to sit down and help you do that.

Nehemiah 3 tells the readers of Judah's consecrating of the gates and the rebuilding of the wall. It contains lists of who built, and why they built. All classes from professional craftsmen (goldsmiths) to common labourers worked - including the high priest Eliashib and his 5 daughters. Sadly, it also listed some, such as the nobles of the Tekoites, who to their shame failed to become involved in the building of the wall.Hosea 13 tells of the LORD's relentless watching over Israel (v7) "like a leopard by the way". Their idolatry would be visited with chastisement, as of a devouring lion. The king they sought in their beginnings - Saul was given by God in His anger and taken away in His wrath. The same remained true for every king from Israel (the northern kingdom). However, the loving kindness of Yahweh is stated in verse 14, which is cited with regards to the blessings of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15verses54-55. But for the time being their discipline remained a necessity.Paul's first visit to the Thessalonians (in Macedonia) was perhaps around 51 AD. The letter commenced with "grace" (Greek ‘charis' - love) and "peace" (Hebrew ‘shalom' - wholeness, or peace), which come from God, our Father. As a group of Christian believers, the Macedonians were severely persecuted, like their fellow Jewish believers in Judea - many of them being put to death for their beliefs. The Thessalonians were, however, extremely generous in financially contributing to Paul's preaching - especially the Philippians. The central message of both letters is the second coming of Jesus Christ to set up the kingdom of God on earth. Every chapter of both letters refers to this - some chapters containing several references (in the Bible we find over 500 references to the second coming of Jesus Christ). Their love and labours for the Truth were exemplary to all believers. Note verse 9 refers to their belief in "the Living God" and cites not only the verse in Jeremiah 10verses10, but the whole context of Jeremiah 10 was relevant to the situation of the Thessalonian believers. Chapter 2 speaks of the love of Paul, Silas, Timothy and Titus among them. Interestingly the name Titus means "nurse", or "rearer". Paul worked to support his companions' needs and for the preaching of the gospel. The Apostle commends the believers for their patience in suffering persecution. Finally, he expresses a desire to see them again and says that in the day of Christ's coming their acceptance of the gospel would be his victor's crown (Greek 'stephanos').Thanks for joining us - we pray you found these comments helpful in your appreciation of God's words, join again tomorrow

Nehemiah 3 tells the readers of Judah's consecrating of the gates and the rebuilding of the wall. It contains lists of who built, and why they built. All classes from professional craftsmen (goldsmiths) to common labourers worked - including the high priest Eliashib and his 5 daughters. Sadly, it also listed some, such as the nobles of the Tekoites, who to their shame failed to become involved in the building of the wall. Hosea 13 tells of the LORD's relentless watching over Israel (v7) "like a leopard by the way". Their idolatry would be visited with chastisement, as of a devouring lion. The king they sought in their beginnings - Saul was given by God in His anger and taken away in His wrath. The same remained true for every king from Israel (the northern kingdom). However, the loving kindness of Yahweh is stated in verse 14, which is cited with regards to the blessings of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15verses54-55. But for the time being their discipline remained a necessity. Paul's first visit to the Thessalonians (in Macedonia) was perhaps around 51 AD. The letter commenced with "grace" (Greek ‘charis' - love) and "peace" (Hebrew ‘shalom' - wholeness, or peace), which come from God, our Father. As a group of Christian believers, the Macedonians were severely persecuted, like their fellow Jewish believers in Judea - many of them being put to death for their beliefs. The Thessalonians were, however, extremely generous in financially contributing to Paul's preaching - especially the Philippians. The central message of both letters is the second coming of Jesus Christ to set up the kingdom of God on earth. Every chapter of both letters refers to this - some chapters containing several references (in the Bible we find over 500 references to the second coming of Jesus Christ). Their   love and labours for the Truth were exemplary to all believers. Note verse 9 refers to their belief in "the Living God" and cites not only the verse in Jeremiah 10verses10, but the whole context of Jeremiah 10 was relevant to the situation of the Thessalonian believers. Chapter 2 speaks of the love of Paul, Silas, Timothy and Titus among them. Interestingly the name Titus means "nurse", or "rearer". Paul worked to support his companions' needs and for the preaching of the gospel. The Apostle commends the believers for their patience in suffering persecution. Finally, he expresses a desire to see them again and says that in the day of Christ's coming their acceptance of the gospel would be his victor's crown (Greek 'stephanos'). Thanks for joining us - we pray you found these comments helpful in your appreciation of God's words, join again tomorrow 

Adapt and Overcome #RTTBROS #Nightlight"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." — Romans 8:28I remember my old boss telling me something he learned during his military career. Three simple words that became his motto for life: Adapt and overcome. At first, I thought it was just another one of those tough-guy military sayings, you know? But the more I sat with it, the more I realized how deeply biblical that concept really is.Life has this habit of not going according to our plans. The car breaks down when you can't afford the repair. The job you thought was secure disappears. And we're left standing there wondering what just happened.Here's what I've learned: God isn't nearly as concerned with our comfort as He is with our character. He's not shocked when things go sideways. In fact, He's already working on Plan B while we're still trying to figure out what happened to Plan A.Think about the Apostle Paul in Acts 16. He had big plans to preach the gospel, but he kept running into closed doors. The Spirit wouldn't let him preach in Asia. He couldn't go into Bithynia. But then he had a vision of a man from Macedonia saying, "Come over and help us." Paul adapted, changed direction, and ended up bringing the gospel to Europe for the first time. That one adaptation changed the entire course of Christian history.Adapt and overcome isn't just about toughing it out. It's about trusting that God is redirecting, not rejecting. It's about being flexible enough to follow where He leads, even when it's not where we planned to go.The military teaches adapt and overcome because in battle, nothing ever goes exactly according to plan. Well, friend, we're in a spiritual battle, and our enemy isn't going to make things easy. But here's the good news: we serve a God who specializes in taking our messes and making them into messages, our tests into testimonies, our trials into triumphs.Romans 8:28 reminds us that all things work together for good to them that love God. Notice it doesn't say all things ARE good. It says they work together FOR good. That's adaptation. That's overcoming.So whatever you're facing today, whatever has gone wrong, remember: God's not done yet. He's teaching you to adapt and overcome. And when you do, you'll look back and see that history really is just HIS story, and He was writing a better chapter than you could have imagined.Let's pray: Father, when our plans fall apart, help us trust that You're not surprised. Give us the strength to adapt to what You're doing and the faith to overcome what stands in our way. In Jesus' name, Amen.#Faith #Resilience #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #TrustGod #BiblicalWisdom #SpiritualGrowth #OvercomingObstacles #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

In the final nine chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, Paul journeys across the Middle East, planting, encouraging, and supporting Christian churches. Among other places, he visits Macedonia, Greece, Ephesus, Jerusalem, Malta, and finally Rome. Along the way, he is relentlessly pursued by a group of Jews who, much like Paul before his conversion on the road to Damascus, seek to eradicate Christianity—particularly by killing Paul—as people turn toward the Good News and away from the temple and synagogues. During these travels, Paul wrote most of the New Testament via letters he wrote to the churches he founded. Show Notes Twitter | Rumble | BitChute | Spotify | Apple -------------------------------- Support the podcast by shopping at the Truth Quest Shirt Factory. Check out our "Christian Collection" of shirts inspired by this episode.

Support us: buymeacoffee.com/colemansdream Dai and Ruth return to look ahead to the crucial double header against minnows Liechtenstein and high flying Macedonia as we aim for the playoffs on the road to the USA in the summer. We discuss the squad, the new shirt, the opposition and a bit of a deep dive on Bellamy. We conclude with a look at the Nations League draw as the women's team prepare to start their journey to Brazil in 2027.

This morning's sermon takes us to the city of Thessalonica on the shores of the Aegean Sea in Macedonia.  It is around 51CE. What drove my scripture choice today was the lectionary.  That's the cycle of readings in the Presbyterian Church that gets us through the Bible every three years.  Most of the time in […]

2 Chronicles 36 tells of the rapid disintegration of Judah after the death of Josiah. Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah becomes king at the age of 23 and rules for 3 months until he is deposed and taken to Egypt by Pharaoh Neco. Pharaoh Neco takes Jehoiakim (Jehoahaz's brother) and makes him king and changes his name to Eliakim. Eliakim is 25 years old when he becomes king and he reigns for 11 evil years practising wickedness in defiance of his God. The year is now about BC 607 and Nebuchadnezzar has just come to the throne of Babylon. The Babylonian king makes an incursion into Judah taking Jerusalem and carrying away many captives and several of Judah's princes including Daniel and his three friends. Additionally, the Chaldeans take away the vessels of the temple. Nebuchadnezzar has three further incursions into Judah until the final overthrow of Jerusalem in BC 587. Jehoiachin the son of Eliakim is placed upon the vassal throne. He is 18 years of age and rules for only three months and ten days until he, too, is taken to Babylon with the most precious vessels from the temple. And on this occasion another evil king is deposed. Zedekiah, the brother of Jehoahaz ascends the throne at the age of 21 and rules for 11 evil years. This last king of Judah is a vacillating, covenant breaking king who earns the wrath of Nebuchadnezzar. Ezekiel 21verses25-27 spoke of this final overthrowing of Judah's kingdom and saying that the throne would remain vacant until "he comes whose right it is" - because he is God's Son and David's righteous heir - and God will then establish Christ's throne forever. The book concludes with two significant events - one negative, one positive - the burning and destruction of Jerusalem; and the decree of Cyrus in BC 537 that sees the return of the exiles.Acts 20 records that after the riot Paul calls for and encourages the ecclesia before departing into Macedonian. Six brethren accompany him as the representatives of their ecclesias. These delegates are carrying relief funds for the poor believers in Judea who are suffering the effects of a great famine. The chapter says Paul stops at Miletus and asks the elders of Ephesus join him there where Paul gives the ecclesia final encouraging words and warning them of dangers which would arise after his demise. The Apostle gives a very long talk, and because of the poor ventilation in the room a young man named Eutychus falls asleep in the window and he falls three storeys to the ground and is pronounced dead.Paul miraculously raises Eutychus and continues preaching until sunrise. Paul's intentions of departing into Macedonia appear not to have been achieved and he is now hurrying to Jerusalem to arrive before the feast of Pentecost. The Apostle's speech to the Ephesian elders is recorded from verses 18-35. In summary he tells them of their solemn responsibilities, warning them of a decline due to those who would seek leadership for their own advantage. On the positive side, Paul, in verse 32, commends them to God and the Word of His grace - read aloud, pause and ponder. The Apostle also quotes some unrecorded words of our Lord Jesus Christ - "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (v35). The assembled group pray together on the beach and then an old prophet warns Paul of what would comeupon him from the time of his arriving in Jerusalem. They greatly sorrow that they will see his face no more, but they respect Paul's resolute courage.

November 4, 2025Today's Reading: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-5 (6-10) 11-12Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 5:1-19; Matthew 22:23-46“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.” (2 Thessalonians 1:3)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Paul was persistent. He was a man on a mission, literally, and his mission plan was simple: go into a city and find a synagogue, open up the Scriptures, and preach Christ from them. Some would believe, some would want to hear more, and others would aggressively oppose Paul's message about Jesus. Paul would eventually be run out of town, which would propel him to the next city, and he would do it all over again – preach Christ crucified and risen. And you know what? The Word worked! People believed! A church began! The Gospel spread! Paul visited Thessalonica on his second missionary journey, and it was ministry as usual. He entered the synagogue on three different Sabbaths, teaching from the Scriptures that Jesus, who was crucified and risen from the dead, is the Christ. Some believed, while others formed a mob and ran him out of town. The rioters justified their violent reaction by claiming, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also.” Indeed, the gospel was having its way. Even in the face of the uproar and despite Paul being run out of town, a church was born. God, by His grace, caused ears to hear the Good News of Jesus, and He granted hearts to believe. Paul would later marvel about this work of the Holy Spirit among them, “For you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia…your faith has gone forth everywhere” (1 Thess. 1:6a-8a). Years later, Paul would continue to give thanks to God for their growing faith and for the fruit of that faith, their increasing love for one another. That same gospel word is still at work among us, turning the world on its head. God is still rich in his saving grace towards us sinners. The Holy Spirit is still at work within us, causing faith to grow and increasing our love for others. It is true, in spite of the opposition within and outside of us. God is true to His word; He is faithful in His promises –for this “we ought to give thanks to God.” This is the testimony of His church. This is our story too!In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Abide with me, O Savior, a firmer faith bestow; then I shall bid defiance to ev'ry evil foe. (LSB 587:2)Rev. Darrin Sheek, pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Anaheim, CA.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Harrison Goodman is the Executive Director of Mission and Theology for Higher Things.This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week's readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

Acts 20:1-12   After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. 2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. 3 There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. 5 These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, 6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days. 7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. 9 And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, "Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him." 11 And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. 12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.   Key Words: Encourage, Sabbath, Bread, Speech, Dead, Alive, Comfort Keystone Verse: And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted. (Acts 20:11-12)   Download Bulletin

Big Idea: Your generosity opens doors and hearts.1 Corinthians 16:1-12I. Be generous with your money1 Corinthians 16:1-4Now about the collection for the saints: Do the same as I instructed the Galatian churches. On the first day of the week, each of you is to set something aside and save in keeping with how he is prospering, so that no collections will need to be made when I come. When I arrive, I will send with letters those you recommend to carry your gift to Jerusalem. If it is suitable for me to go as well, they will travel with me.II. Be generous with your time.1 Corinthians 16:5-7I will come to you after I pass through Macedonia—for I will be traveling through Macedonia—and perhaps I will remain with you or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way wherever I go. I don't want to see you now just in passing, since I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord allows.III. Be generous with your attention.1 Corinthians 16:8-9But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, because a wide door for effective ministry has opened for me—yet many oppose me.IV. Be generous with your relationships.1 Corinthians 16:10-11If Timothy comes, see that he has nothing to fear while with you, because he is doing the Lord's work, just as I am. So let no one look down on him. Send him on his way in peace so that he can come to me, because I am expecting him with the brothers.V. Be generous with your leadership.1 Corinthians 16:12Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to come to you with the brothers, but he was not at all willing to come now. However, he will come when he has an opportunity.Next Steps: Believe: I need Jesus to create a new heart in me today.Become: I will be generous with God's gifts this week. Be Sent: I will pray for an opportunity to push back darkness this week.Discussion Questions: In which area of your life do you find it most difficult to be generous? What practical steps can you take to cultivate a spirit of generosity in that part of your life? Were you greedy with your time last week? What area of your community is God opening a door for the gospel right now? How can you encourage respect and support for your church leaders?What is one relationship you would like to be more generous with this week?  Pray for the opportunity to show generosity to someone far from Jesus this week. 

(Acts 17:1-15) Paul & Silas preach the Christ-centered gospel in Macedonia! Learn the three keys: Preaching, Conversion, and Persistence despite conflict.For the study resources and manuscript go to messiahbible.org

We often think generosity only happens when we have more than enough.But what if the true miracle is giving when you have nothing?What if, even in your moment of greatest need, you still find the grace to give: not from abundance, but from faith?This generosity reflects the very heart of Christ. He gave everything, even His life, for us.Join us as we learn from the church in Macedonia—a powerful example of faithful, sacrificial giving—and discover how such generosity advances the kingdom of God.

We often think generosity only happens when we have more than enough.But what if the true miracle is giving when you have nothing?What if, even in your moment of greatest need, you still find the grace to give: not from abundance, but from faith?This generosity reflects the very heart of Christ. He gave everything, even His life, for us.Join us as we learn from the church in Macedonia—a powerful example of faithful, sacrificial giving—and discover how such generosity advances the kingdom of God.

Acts 20:1-16 After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. 2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. 3 There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. 5 These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, 6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days. 7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. 9 And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” 11 And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. 12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted. 13 But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. 14 And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. 15 And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chios; the next day we touched at Samos; and the day after that we went to Miletus. 16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.

Some stories don't start with a blueprint — they start with grit. With faith. With a suitcase and a dream bigger than the fear that comes with chasing it. This is the journey of Coach Sara Anastasieska, a warrior who traveled halfway across the world, battled injury after injury, earned TWO master's degrees, played at some of the biggest programs in college basketball, and has now found her purpose pouring into the next generation as an assistant coach at Robert Morris University.This episode of Sports Life Talk: You Got Next is your front-row seat to a life defined by resilience, rebirth, and refusing to fold.Born in Macedonia, raised in Australia, Sara's early life was about survival and belonging. She didn't speak English. She didn't know the culture. But she had two things:Curiosity & courage.That curiosity led her to pick up a basketball in sixth grade — by accident — and she never let it go. From boys' teams to national teams, she climbed fast. She wore the Australian jersey proudly at the U17 & U18 international level — a dream that stamped her identity:“If you never stop growing, you never stop going.”Most players never touch ONE Power 5 gym. Sara lived in several. But the path wasn't glamorous — it was a battlefield.Three straight years injured.Two spinal surgeries by age 21.Rehab. Setbacks. Tears. Repeat.But the comeback moment?25 points vs. UConn.On the biggest stage. Against the best.Proof that you can break, heal, and still rise higher than before.Sara always thought she'd be a player forever — until life redirected her. While rehabbing, she hit the books, earned TWO master's degrees, and discovered a gift bigger than scoring:Coaching. Teaching. Mentoring.She became DBO at UC Santa Barbara, earned her stripes off the court, then made the jump to Assistant Coach at RMU — where she is helping build something special.Robert Morris isn't just a program — it's a family. A culture. A mission.Sara breaks it down:✅ Fast pace✅ Depth & versatility✅ International flavor✅ Weekly mental & life check-insThey are building athletes AND humans.And Coach Sara is a heartbeat in that mission.

Alle Informationen zur Carnivoren Ernährung unter www.carnitarier.de. ______________________________________________ Herzlichen Dank an unsere WERBEPARTNER: www.carnivoro.eu: Supplemente rund um die Carnivore Ernährung Mit dem Gutscheincode CARNITARIER erhältst du 10 % Rabatt auf deinen ersten Einkauf! Affiliate Link: www.carnivoro.eu/carnitarierinwww.kaufnekuh.de: Fleisch aus artgerechter Haltung mit fairen Preisen für Landwirte Mit dem Gutscheincode CARNITARIER erhältst du 10 € Ermäßigung auf deinen Einkauf ab 50 €. www.mindful-meat.com: Hochwertiges Hirschfleisch aus den Wäldern Deutschlands. Mit dem Gutscheincode CARNITARIER erhältst du 10 € Ermäßigung auf deinen Einkauf. www.pemmican-shop.de: Europas einzige originale Survival Beef Bar – Made in Germany. Mit dem Gutscheincode CARNITARIER erhältst du 10 % Ermäßigung auf deinen ersten Einkauf.www.theminerals.de: Beste Elektrolyte für die Umstellung auf Keto und für Carnivoren, die viel Sport treiben. Mit dem Gutscheincode CARNITARIER erhältst du 10 % Ermäßigung auf deinen Einkauf. _________________________________________Folge 206: Koch dich klug – Dr. Manuela MacedoniaDr. Manuela Macedonia, Neurowissenschaftlerin und senior scientist an der Johannes-Kepler-Universität in Linz stellt uns ihr neues Buch “Koch dich klug” vor. Das Buch ist die Fortsetzung des Sachbuches “Iss dich klug”, in dem sie die Grundlagen ihrer Ernährungsempfehlungen erläutert hat. Es enthält traditionelle Rezepte, die aus natürlichen Lebensmitteln aus der alpenländischen Region bestehen. Dr. Manuela Macedonia betont die Wichtigkeit tierischer Proteine für unsere Gehirngesundheit. Wir benötigen die Aminosäuren aus tierischen Lebensmitteln für unsere Neurotransmitter im Gehirn. Auch wenn es einige Menschen gibt, die mit einer vegetarischen Ernährung gut zurechtkommen, so kann man das nicht für die gesamte Bevölkerung sagen, denn Nährstoffe sind aus Pflanzlichem nicht so leicht bioverfügbar. Wie sie durch ihre Reise bei den Samuru in Afrika erfahren hat, kommen die Menschen dort mit fast ausschließlich Tierischem sehr gut zurecht und erfreuen sich einer guten Gesundheit. Ihr Kochbuch enthält nicht nur Rezepte, sondern auch sehr viel Wissenswertes kurzgefasst. So auch über das Ei und die Rohmilch und ihre Weiterverarbeitung zu Käsesorten verschiedenster Art. Von Nahrungsergänzungsmitteln rät sie ab, da ein natürliches Lebensmittel immer alle Komponenten mit sich bringt, die zur Bioverfügbarkeit der Vitamine oder Mineralien besser beitragen als ein industriell gefertigtes Supplement. Auch bei Omega-3-Fischölkapseln sollte man wegen der Gefahr des Verderbens der mehrfach ungesättigten Fettsäuren vorsichtig sein und frischen Kaltwasserfisch wie die Makrele bevorzugen. Auch ein intermittierendes Fasten mit maximal zwei Mahlzeiten ermöglicht auch zwischendurch eine Autophagie des Gehirns.Ihr könnt Dr. Manuela Macedonia erreichen unter www.macedonia.at, sowie bei Instagram und Facebook unter @manuelamacedonia.___________________________________________________________Fleischzeit ist der erste deutschsprachige Podcast rund um die carnivore Ernährung. Hier erfahrt ihr Tipps zur Umsetzung des carnivoren Lifestyles, wissenschaftliche Hintergründe zur Heilsamkeit sowie ökologische und ethische Informationen zum Fleischkonsum. Eine Übersicht über alle Folgen findet ihr hier: www.carnitarier.de/fleischzeitpodcastAndrea Siemoneit berichtet nach über sechs Jahren carnivorer Ernährung über ihre Erfahrungen und Erkenntnisse. Außerdem interviewt sie andere Carnivoren und Wissenschaftler.Ihr findet sie auf Instagram unter @carnitarier.deHandbuch der Carnivoren Ernährung: www.carnitarier.eu Haftungsausschluss:Alle Inhalte im Podcast werden von uns mit größter Sorgfalt recherchiert und publiziert. Dennoch übernehmen wir keine Haftung für die Richtigkeit, Vollständigkeit oder Aktualität der Informationen. Sie stellen unsere persönliche subjektive Meinung dar und ersetzen auch keine medizinische Diagnose oder ärztliche Beratung. Dasselbe gilt für unsere Gäste. Konsultieren Sie bei Fragen oder Beschwerden immer Ihren behandelnden Arzt.

SCRIPTURE: 2 Thessalonians 1:3-12 SHOW NOTES: For encouragement on your spiritual journey, we invite you to visit our ministry website, Discover God's Truth, where you can access additional resources to enrich your Walk with God. The Apostle Paul traveled across Asia Minor and into Europe on three main missionary journeys. During his second trip (Acts 16:23-20:38), he visited Thessalonica and Corinth. The first epistles Paul ever wrote were those to the church he had established in Thessalonica, Macedonia. These were written from Corinth (Acts 18:1-18), shortly after Paul had left Thessalonica. "Dear brothers and sisters, we can't help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing. We proudly tell God's other churches about your endurance and faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardships you are suffering." 1 Thessalonians 1:3-4 Paul had previously been concerned about their faith and love for each other. In this second letter, he praises them for their growing faith and the increasing love they share. Paul also told others about their faithful perseverance through hardship, suffering, and persecution. When we examine early Church history, we gain a clearer understanding. What did believers in Jerusalem and Judea experience after Jesus Christ ascended to heaven? The Jewish religious leaders did not want “The Way” to spread and grow. A man named Saul persecuted them, having some arrested and thrown into prison. This man became Paul after his conversion on the road to Damascus. He personally knew that the church grew during persecution, which makes it even more remarkable. "So, we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of His call. May He give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do." 2 Thessalonians 1:11 Paul and his companions prayed that the Thessalonians would continue to be purified through their trials rather than stray from the truth. Suffering and persecution can be a great blessing from God and can bring much glory to our Lord Jesus Christ, both now and in the future.SONG: "My Prayer for You" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj_0pvIGkks&list=RDhj_0pvIGkks&start_radio=1

Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.PHI.4:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.PHI.4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.PHI.4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.PHI.4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.PHI.4:9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.PHI.4:10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.PHI.4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.PHI.4:12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.PHI.4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.PHI.4:14 Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction.PHI.4:15 Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.PHI.4:16 For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.PHI.4:17 Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.PHI.4:18 But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.PHI.4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.PHI.4:20 Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.PHI.4:21 Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which are with me greet you.PHI.4:22 All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household.PHI.4:23 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.PSA.74:2 Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.We are in the midst of a major spiritual war before the AntiChrist shows up and then Jesus shows up! SO LET'S HAVE FUN SHARING THE WORD TOGETHER !!! FEAR IS A SIN! Let's move our lives into God and receive His rest and peace on all sides no matter how much of a drama queen the Enemy is. BUY MY SUPERNATURAL NOVEL!https://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Romance-Episode-1-ebook/dp/B07ZRJV6SHDOWNLOAD THE APP!fringeradionetwork.com DON BASHAM MINISTRIES 1,000,000,000 GIVE SEND GO:https://www.givesendgo.com/bashamPAYPAL:spiritforce01@gmail.comBITCOIN:3H4Z2X22DuVUjWPsXKPEsWZmT9c4hDmYvyVENMO:@faithbucksCASHAPP:$spiritforcebucksZelle:faithbucks@proton.mePATREON:Michael BashamHOME BASE SITE:faithbucks.com

Acts 19:21-41 21 Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” 22 And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while. 23 About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. 25 These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. 26 And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. 27 And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.” 28 When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's companions in travel. 30 But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. 31 And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. 32 Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. 33 Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 35 And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? 36 Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. 37 For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. 39 But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. 40 For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” 41 And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.   Key Words: Resolve, Disturbance, Way, Wealth, Turn, Gods, Confusion, Riot Keystone Verse: And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. (Acts 19:26) Download Bulletin

1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19Let me speak the truth in love right out of the gate this morning.  Or put another way, let me address the “pink elephant” before we even get started.”1. This morning's message is about Generosity/Giving.  Just giving you a heads up.  The topics of stewardship, giving, and generosity are central in Scripture.   My convicti tv on:   it's spiritual malpractice for pastors NOT to preach/teach on this topic.  My story…I received “master class” ministry training when I was in my early twenties from an incredibly gifted Pastor/Mentor who loved to help people develop the gift of GIVING.2. Jami and I are lifelong tithers and givers.  So everything I'll share with you today are spiritual disciplines and habits we have practiced for decades in our lives. Truth be known, it's a source of tremendous JOY.3.  Stay open to the possibility that God wants you to “put on” a new mindset about Generosity.  Meaning:  Living from an “abundance” mindset is so much greater than a “scarcity” mindset.  I love this wisdom from Proverbs “Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything.  The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.” -Proverbs 11:24-25Background/Context1 & 2 Timothy and Titus are Paul's Pastoral Epistles (much of what Paul writes about concerns practical matters of church life and organization).Paul wrote this letter from Macedonia around 64 AD during his 4th missionary journey.Timothy was young (30-35), acting as a liaison of Paul and providing Pastoral leadership to the Church at Ephesus (serving w/ Paul 15 yrs.)This was a big assignment for Timothy, an important church with wealthy members.Paul had previously spent 3 years in Ephesus.  This letter is 8 years later…This letter represents the most complete summary in the bible of a Pastor's Ministry and spiritual qualifications.What we read are the affectionate words of a Father in the faith (Paul) to his beloved son/apprentice/liason/pastor in training.A. Foundation (6:6-10)Perspective: Godliness + Contentment=Great gainThe LOVE of money is a root of all kinds of evil-Disordered love.  Jesus said:  “No one can serve two masters…You cannot serve both God and money.” -Matthew 6:24“Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” -Luke 12:15Then Paul gives Timothy a clinic on biblical stewardship:B. Dangers (6:17)1. Arrogance or haughtiness-The challenges of being financially blessed and maintaining a posture of humility.2. Misplaced Hope-If money is your security, then you'll never have enough.  “Don't wear yourself out trying to get rich; restrain yourself!  Riches disappear in the blink of an eye; wealth sprouts wings and flies off into the wild blue yonder.” -Prov. 23:4-5 (MSG)         -God is your security “Every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.  I know every bird of the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is mine.  If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is mine, and all it contains.” -Psalm 50:10-12C. Duties (6:18)1. Do Good-Gk. word ‘agathoergeo' means “to do what is inherently, intrinsically good” “do gooder”2. Be Rich in Good Deeds-Idea is to abundantly furnish (including in this letter your own family, needy widows, leaders of the church, and other believers in need.3. Be Generous and Willing to Share-Idea connotes giving liberally, bountifully even sacrificially from an unrestrained heart.C.  Delight (6:19)Delight is in the Present & FutureExperience “the real life” NOW *Stories* Laying up treasure in heaven“The less I spent on myself and the more I gave to others, the fuller of happiness and blessing did my soul become.” -Hudson Taylor“God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.” -Randy Alcorn-EROI “Eternal Return on Investment” -Pastor Chris Hodges

We often think generosity only happens when we have more than enough.But what if the true miracle is giving when you have nothing?What if, even in your moment of greatest need, you still find the grace to give: not from abundance, but from faith?This generosity reflects the very heart of Christ. He gave everything, even His life, for us.Join us as we learn from the church in Macedonia—a powerful example of faithful, sacrificial giving—and discover how such generosity advances the kingdom of God.

We often think generosity only happens when we have more than enough.But what if the true miracle is giving when you have nothing?What if, even in your moment of greatest need, you still find the grace to give: not from abundance, but from faith?This generosity reflects the very heart of Christ. He gave everything, even His life, for us.Join us as we learn from the church in Macedonia—a powerful example of faithful, sacrificial giving—and discover how such generosity advances the kingdom of God.

We often think generosity only happens when we have more than enough.But what if the true miracle is giving when you have nothing?What if, even in your moment of greatest need, you still find the grace to give: not from abundance, but from faith?This generosity reflects the very heart of Christ. He gave everything, even His life, for us.Join us as we learn from the church in Macedonia—a powerful example of faithful, sacrificial giving—and discover how such generosity advances the kingdom of God.

We often think generosity only happens when we have more than enough.But what if the true miracle is giving when you have nothing?What if, even in your moment of greatest need, you still find the grace to give: not from abundance, but from faith?This generosity reflects the very heart of Christ. He gave everything, even His life, for us.Join us as we learn from the church in Macedonia—a powerful example of faithful, sacrificial giving—and discover how such generosity advances the kingdom of God.

- Las experiencias de Alicia Alicia López es una mujer que desde los 5 años ha vivido extrañas experiencias que la han hecho comprender que la realidad es más amplia de lo que imaginamos. - El monstruo de Kycevo Vlado Taneski estremeció a Macedonia con sus crónicas sobre un asesino en serie que atemorizó la pequeña localidad de Kicevo. Nadie imaginó lo que esas crónicas escondían. Pablo Tresgallo nos cuenta esta tremenda historia.

- La OUIJA ante la ciencia Nuestro invitado Alex Escolá Gascón ha realizado un experimento junto con el sensitivo Aldo Linares y la periodista Clara Tahoces Oficial. para intentar averiguar si hay algo sobrenatural tras este juego. Los datos han sido sorprendentes y escapan a toda estadística. - Las experiencias de Alicia. Alicia López es una mujer que desde los 5 años ha vivido extrañas experiencias que la han hecho comprender que la realidad es más amplia de lo que imaginamos. - El monstruo de Kycevo Vlado Taneski estremeció a Macedonia con sus crónicas sobre un asesino en serie que atemorizó la pequeña localidad de Kicevo. Nadie imaginó lo que esas crónicas escondían. Pablo Tresgallo nos cuenta esta tremenda historia.

On Thursday's Football Daily, Phil Egan brings you all the latest as we build up to our live Europa Conference League commentary between Shamrock Rovers and NK Celje.Bradley insists on no artificial motivation.Riera says there is a fine balance between arrogance and confidence.Slot on Isak's struggles.Thomas 'Frank' about Spurs' struggles.Brendan Rodgers says Celtic need to shut out the outside noise.And Sean Dyche is back in fashion.Become a member and subscribe at offtheball.com/join

Hello!New episode is out for your delectable delight!Thessaloniki is located in Northern Greece in the region of Macedonia, and has a long, long history, being established in 315 BCE by king Cassander to honour his wife, the half-sister of Alexander the Great, Thessalonike. Today is the second largest and most important city in Greece.As a major port, with access to the Mediterranean, and half way to Constantinople it thrived for centuries, being an important hub for trade and culture from all over the Balkan peninsula, and beyond.It was also home to a thriving Jewish community for roughly 500 years; the Sephardic Jews.In the beginning of the 20th century they accounted for more than half of the total population of the city.As a result, Thessalonica's food culture is a heady mix of influences from all across Greece, Balkans, and Turkey with amazing food, and rightly is considered by many the food capital of Greece.On today's episode, I have the honour to have as my guest Meni Valle, Greek-Australian cook and author, all about the best gastronomic destination in Greece, the city of Thessaloniki!!!In Valle's new book, Thessaloniki: And the Many Kitchens of Northern Greece, published by Hardie Grant, she turns her focus to the diverse and historically rich cuisine of Greece's second-largest city.Well, enjoy our discussion!https://www.menivalle.com.au/Her new book Thessaloniki is released soon in UK.https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thessaloniki-Many-Kitchens-Northern-Greece/dp/1761450980My food cultural / historical recommendations for the week include:Dr Roderick Bailey: The British Experience of the Great Fire of Thessaloniki of 1917https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUMh1RoqKiwCulina vetusFreezing and Salting Pork:https://www.culina-vetus.de/2025/09/30/freezing-and-salting-pork/PopChop - Future Food Culturehttps://popchop.at/Building Blocks: Greek Whole Grain Tahini, and the Artisans Behind Ithttps://culinarybackstreets.com/stories/athens/building-blocks-37Music on this episode -as ever- by Pavlos KapralosEnjoy!Love,Thom & The Delicious LegacySupport the podcast on Ko-Fi and Patreon for ad-free episodes! https://ko-fi.com/thedeliciouslegacypodcasthttps://www.patreon.com/c/thedeliciouslegacySupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-delicious-legacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The world that Alexander remade in his lifetime was transformed once more by his death in 323 BCE. In Age of Conquests: The Greek World from Alexander to Hadrian(Harvard University Press, 2018), Angelos Chaniotis, Professor of Ancient History and Classics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, examines how his successors reorganized Persian lands to create a new empire stretching from the eastern Mediterranean as far as present-day Afghanistan, while in Greece and Macedonia a fragile balance of power repeatedly dissolved into war. Then, from the late third century BCE to the end of the first, Rome's military and diplomatic might successively dismantled these post-Alexandrian political structures, one by one. During the Hellenistic period (c. 323–30 BCE), small polities struggled to retain the illusion of their identity and independence, in the face of violent antagonism among large states. With time, trade growth resumed and centers of intellectual and artistic achievement sprang up across a vast network, from Italy to Afghanistan and Russia to Ethiopia. But the death of Cleopatra in 30 BCE brought this Hellenistic moment to a close—or so the story goes. In Angelos Chaniotis's view, however, the Hellenistic world continued to Hadrian's death in 138 CE. Not only did Hellenistic social structures survive the coming of Rome, Chaniotis shows, but social, economic, and cultural trends that were set in motion between the deaths of Alexander and Cleopatra intensified during this extended period. Age of Conquests provides a compelling narrative of the main events that shaped ancient civilization during five crucial centuries. Ryan Tripp (Ph.D., History) is currently an adjunct in History at Los Medanos Community College and Southern New Hampshire University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Even though St. Paul writes from prison, his letter to the church in Philippi is full of joy. Philippi had been his first place of work in Macedonia on his second missionary journey, and although he had been thrown in prison there for a short time, his connection with the Philippians was strong in Christ. As he begins his letter to them, he tells them of his constant thanksgiving to God for them due to their partnership in the Gospel. The Philippians are partakers with Paul in grace, and he prays that they would abound in love until the day of Jesus Christ.  Rev. Luke Zimmerman, pastor at Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mechanicsburg, PA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Philippians 1:1-11.  To learn more about Calvary Evangelical, visit calvarymechanicsburg.org. “Letters from Prison” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that studies Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. Even when Paul was imprisoned for the sake of Christ, the Word of God remained unbound. The apostle's letters from prison still fill us with the same joy that his chains could never silence. Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God's Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen. Submit comments or questions to: listener@kfuo.org

The world that Alexander remade in his lifetime was transformed once more by his death in 323 BCE. In Age of Conquests: The Greek World from Alexander to Hadrian(Harvard University Press, 2018), Angelos Chaniotis, Professor of Ancient History and Classics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, examines how his successors reorganized Persian lands to create a new empire stretching from the eastern Mediterranean as far as present-day Afghanistan, while in Greece and Macedonia a fragile balance of power repeatedly dissolved into war. Then, from the late third century BCE to the end of the first, Rome's military and diplomatic might successively dismantled these post-Alexandrian political structures, one by one. During the Hellenistic period (c. 323–30 BCE), small polities struggled to retain the illusion of their identity and independence, in the face of violent antagonism among large states. With time, trade growth resumed and centers of intellectual and artistic achievement sprang up across a vast network, from Italy to Afghanistan and Russia to Ethiopia. But the death of Cleopatra in 30 BCE brought this Hellenistic moment to a close—or so the story goes. In Angelos Chaniotis's view, however, the Hellenistic world continued to Hadrian's death in 138 CE. Not only did Hellenistic social structures survive the coming of Rome, Chaniotis shows, but social, economic, and cultural trends that were set in motion between the deaths of Alexander and Cleopatra intensified during this extended period. Age of Conquests provides a compelling narrative of the main events that shaped ancient civilization during five crucial centuries. Ryan Tripp (Ph.D., History) is currently an adjunct in History at Los Medanos Community College and Southern New Hampshire University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/military-history

The world that Alexander remade in his lifetime was transformed once more by his death in 323 BCE. In Age of Conquests: The Greek World from Alexander to Hadrian(Harvard University Press, 2018), Angelos Chaniotis, Professor of Ancient History and Classics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, examines how his successors reorganized Persian lands to create a new empire stretching from the eastern Mediterranean as far as present-day Afghanistan, while in Greece and Macedonia a fragile balance of power repeatedly dissolved into war. Then, from the late third century BCE to the end of the first, Rome's military and diplomatic might successively dismantled these post-Alexandrian political structures, one by one. During the Hellenistic period (c. 323–30 BCE), small polities struggled to retain the illusion of their identity and independence, in the face of violent antagonism among large states. With time, trade growth resumed and centers of intellectual and artistic achievement sprang up across a vast network, from Italy to Afghanistan and Russia to Ethiopia. But the death of Cleopatra in 30 BCE brought this Hellenistic moment to a close—or so the story goes. In Angelos Chaniotis's view, however, the Hellenistic world continued to Hadrian's death in 138 CE. Not only did Hellenistic social structures survive the coming of Rome, Chaniotis shows, but social, economic, and cultural trends that were set in motion between the deaths of Alexander and Cleopatra intensified during this extended period. Age of Conquests provides a compelling narrative of the main events that shaped ancient civilization during five crucial centuries. Ryan Tripp (Ph.D., History) is currently an adjunct in History at Los Medanos Community College and Southern New Hampshire University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

We often think generosity only happens when we have more than enough.But what if the true miracle is giving when you have nothing?What if, even in your moment of greatest need, you still find the grace to give: not from abundance, but from faith?This generosity reflects the very heart of Christ. He gave everything, even His life, for us.Join us as we learn from the church in Macedonia—a powerful example of faithful, sacrificial giving—and discover how such generosity advances the kingdom of God.

We often think generosity only happens when we have more than enough.But what if the true miracle is giving when you have nothing?What if, even in your moment of greatest need, you still find the grace to give: not from abundance, but from faith?This generosity reflects the very heart of Christ. He gave everything, even His life, for us.Join us as we learn from the church in Macedonia—a powerful example of faithful, sacrificial giving—and discover how such generosity advances the kingdom of God.

We often think generosity only happens when we have more than enough.But what if the true miracle is giving when you have nothing?What if, even in your moment of greatest need, you still find the grace to give: not from abundance, but from faith?This generosity reflects the very heart of Christ. He gave everything, even His life, for us.Join us as we learn from the church in Macedonia—a powerful example of faithful, sacrificial giving—and discover how such generosity advances the kingdom of God.

We often think generosity only happens when we have more than enough.But what if the true miracle is giving when you have nothing?What if, even in your moment of greatest need, you still find the grace to give: not from abundance, but from faith?This generosity reflects the very heart of Christ. He gave everything, even His life, for us.Join us as we learn from the church in Macedonia—a powerful example of faithful, sacrificial giving—and discover how such generosity advances the kingdom of God.

Acts 19:8-22 And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. 10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. 11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even hand-kerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. 21 Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” 22 And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

Totò – il principe della risata | Spendieren Sie einen Cafè (1€)? Donate a coffee (1€)? https://ko-fi.com/italiano Livello A2, B1#language #Movies #italiano #commedia #Film #TotoBiografia di un grande comico italianoOggi vi voglio parlare di un personaggio italiano famosissimo, un comico italiano che tutti conoscono, anche i più giovani anche se è vissuto all'inizio del Novecento, ma che è il simbolo della comicità italiano e il simbolo di Napoli, città dove è nato.Sto parlando di Totò. Totò è l'abbreviazione o il soprannome di Antonio. Totò nasce il 15 febbraio del 1898 a Napoli, nel rione povero Sanità. La mamma lo registra all'anagrafe come Antonio Clemente e solo nel 1921 sposerà il marchese Francesco Maria Gagliardi che nel 1933 adotta il bambino e gli trasmette i titoli nobiliari. Dal 1946 si può fregiare dei seguenti titoli:Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Ducas Comneno Porfirogenito Gagliardi De Curtis di Bisanzio,altezza imperiale,conte palatino,cavaliere del sacro Romano Impero,esarca di Ravenna,duca di Macedonia e di Illiria,principe di Costantinopoli,di Cilicia,di Tessaglia,di Ponte di Moldavia,di Dardania,del Peloponneso,conte di Cipro e di Epiro,conte e duca di Drivasto e Durazzo.Dopo le elementari Totò frequenta il ginnasio ed è qui che un precettore scherzando con i suoi allievi giocando alla boxe lo colpisce involontariamente ......- The full transcript of this Episode (and excercises for many of the grammar episodes) is available via "Luisa's learn Italian Premium", Premium is no subscription and does not incur any recurring fees. You can just shop for the materials you need or want and shop per piece. Prices start at 0.20 Cent (i. e. Eurocent). - das komplette Transcript / die Show-Notes zu allen Episoden (und Übungen zu vielen der Grammatik Episoden) sind über Luisa's Podcast Premium verfügbar. Den Shop mit allen Materialien zum Podcast finden Sie unterhttps://premium.il-tedesco.itLuisa's Podcast Premium ist kein Abo - sie erhalten das jeweilige Transscript/die Shownotes sowie zu den Grammatik Episoden Übungen die Sie "pro Stück" bezahlen (ab 20ct). https://premium.il-tedesco.itMehr info unter www.il-tedesco.it bzw. https://www.il-tedesco.it/premiumMore information on www.il-tedesco.it or via my shop https://www.il-tedesco.it/premium

The world that Alexander remade in his lifetime was transformed once more by his death in 323 BCE. In Age of Conquests: The Greek World from Alexander to Hadrian(Harvard University Press, 2018), Angelos Chaniotis, Professor of Ancient History and Classics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, examines how his successors reorganized Persian lands to create a new empire stretching from the eastern Mediterranean as far as present-day Afghanistan, while in Greece and Macedonia a fragile balance of power repeatedly dissolved into war. Then, from the late third century BCE to the end of the first, Rome's military and diplomatic might successively dismantled these post-Alexandrian political structures, one by one. During the Hellenistic period (c. 323–30 BCE), small polities struggled to retain the illusion of their identity and independence, in the face of violent antagonism among large states. With time, trade growth resumed and centers of intellectual and artistic achievement sprang up across a vast network, from Italy to Afghanistan and Russia to Ethiopia. But the death of Cleopatra in 30 BCE brought this Hellenistic moment to a close—or so the story goes. In Angelos Chaniotis's view, however, the Hellenistic world continued to Hadrian's death in 138 CE. Not only did Hellenistic social structures survive the coming of Rome, Chaniotis shows, but social, economic, and cultural trends that were set in motion between the deaths of Alexander and Cleopatra intensified during this extended period. Age of Conquests provides a compelling narrative of the main events that shaped ancient civilization during five crucial centuries. Ryan Tripp (Ph.D., History) is currently an adjunct in History at Los Medanos Community College and Southern New Hampshire University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/world-affairs

Paul, having had a vision to come to Macedonia, travels over sea and land to arrive in this key city. There we find him encounter a group of women and we see the saving hand of God in the life of one named Lydia. But in all of this we also can see how God sovereignly moves in and through human history and human hearts to bring about His purposes throughout the ages.

2 Corinthians 2:5-11 - Speaker: Lukus Counterman - In 2 Corinthians 2, Paul had just finished explaining his change of travel plans. He had initially intended to visit the church of Corinth, go up and see some friends in Macedonia, and then return to Corinth for a second visit. Well, the first stop went so poorly that Paul canceled his return ticket and went straight back to Ephesus. Paul had been publicly humiliated, openly rejected, and utterly shamed in front of the congregation while they stood silently by, doing nothing. It was a terrible visit, so Paul wrote a letter and instructed them to discipline the offending brother. His actions were inexcusable and his refusal to repent was poisonous to the church. Well, the Corinthians did end up excommunicating the man from the assembly. And in turn he sorrowfully repented of his sin. But now the church needed to restore this man. So, Paul continues 2 Corinthians 2 with instructions on church discipline, and it's intended goal. This is an important text, because it teaches us some biblical principles for conflict resolution. And it reminds us that for the good of the church, we need to be willing to practice biblical church discipline. God's way is best, so may we follow it by his grace.

With three sleepy hosts, the OSPod proceeds nonetheless! This week, musical numbers and Macedonia take the stage, while the crew reflects on the bangers of soundtracks past.  Our podcast, like our videos, sometimes touches on the violence, assaults, and murders your English required reading list loves (also we curse sometimes). Treat us like a TV-14 show.OSP has new videos every Friday:https://www.youtube.com/c/OverlySarcasticProductionsChannelQuestion for the Podcast? Head to the #ask-ospod discord channel:https://discord.gg/OSPMerch:https://overlysarcastic.shopFollow Us:Patreon.com/OSPTwitter.com/OSPyoutubeTwitter.com/sophie_kay_Music By OSP Magenta ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★