Podcasts about pastor steve

If asked, most Christians will say they want to see people born again and gathered into the church. But when those newly saved actually arrive, some with rough histories and much brokenness, few seem to want to be involved in healing and teaching them. Most long-term Christians prefer to gather with others like themselves and have warm fellowship, and there's certainly nothing wrong with that. But there is something wrong when that's all they we want to do, when we've lost our love for the newly-saved or troubled, for those Paul calls here the "weak in faith" and those Jesus calls His "little lambs" (Jn 21:15). People come into God's family from all sorts of backgrounds. Some are still very wounded, some are fresh out of addictions or demonic control or abuse. It's these Paul's talking about. He's telling mature believers, "Be gentle with these people, don't bully them, don't criticize them. Receive them into your gatherings and into your hearts." Yes, of course, there are moral boundaries that can't be ignored, though there are early seasons in a new believer's life when we may patiently wait for the Holy Spirit to speak to them before we do. In this passage Paul addresses both the strong in faith and the weak in faith telling them to love each other. He tells the strong not to despise the weak, and the weak not to judge the strong. But as we might expect, he focuses his attention on the strong because unless they choose to welcome the weak and be part of their healing, the church in Rome will stop growing. To receive a free copy of Dr. Steve Schell's book Understanding Romans, email us at info@lifelessonspublishing.com and ask for your copy at no charge. The book has all the notes from each sermon in this series. Also check out our website for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. And if you would like to receive a copy of Pastor Steve's newest book Study Verse by Verse: Genesis at no charge, we are giving out this book as well!    

What are the biblical ingredients to a friendship that lasts a lifetime? Join us as Pastor Steve concludes our series, "Friends."

Pastor Steve teaches out of God's Word in Genesis 8.Listen to CORE TRUTH RADIO every weekday at 5:30pm on KKLA 99.5 FM!

Pastor Steve teaches out of God's Word in Genesis 7.Listen to CORE TRUTH RADIO every weekday at 5:30pm on KKLA 99.5 FM!

Steve Rains, LifePoint Church, Valley Center, Kansas, Wichita, Assembly of God

Naaman had almost everything. He was powerful, respected, wealthy, and commander of a great army. But there was one problem none of his success could solve: he had leprosy. When an unlikely servant girl points him toward Elisha, Naaman begins a journey that will lead to much more than physical healing. But first, he has to overcome something else that is destroying him from the inside: Pride. In Part 4 of The Life of Elisha, Pastor Steve Garcia walks us through the remarkable story of Naaman in 2 Kings 5. Naaman almost walked away from the very thing he desperately needed because God's answer didn't come on his terms. But when he humbled himself, changed direction, and obeyed, his life was transformed.  He came looking for a cure—and discovered the one true God. Maybe the greatest question isn't whether you have everything figured out. It's whether your heart is moving toward God. #LifeOfElisha #2Kings5 #Naaman #Elisha #BibleStudy #ChristianSermon #FaithInGod #Humility #Obedience #TrustGod #SpiritualGrowth #GodsHealing #JesusChrist #SunriseChurch #PastorSteveGarcia - NEXT STEPS  Looking to take your next step?  We want to help! Text the word NEXT to 909-281-7797 or visit sunrisechurch.org/nextsteps. - GIVE TO SUNRISE CHURCH Imagine what God can do through our giving. You can give today at sunrisechurch.org/give  - FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SunriseChurchCA  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunrisechurchca  Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/SunriseChurch

When sudden tragedy strikes and a promised blessing suddenly seems dead, how do you respond? In this powerful message, Pastor Steve Dow uncovers the extraordinary faith of the Shunammite woman who refused to let her present circumstance become her permanent reality. Discover how persistent faith, divine order, and making room for God can turn dead dreams into living miracles. +++++++ You can find our service times on our website: https://www.anctally.com/ You can find sermon highlights on Twitter here: https://x.com/allnationstally

Steve Smith :: Creekside Church :: Sunday, September 27. 2026 In John 19:1-16, three stages in the final phase of Jesus' trial before Pilate highlight Jesus' courage by contrasting it with the cowardice of Pilate and the callousness of the priests and people. Pastor Steve's message follows an announcement from Anne Marie Runnels about Agape's upcoming Walk for Life.

Pastor Steve teaches out of God's Word in Colossians 1.Listen to CORE TRUTH RADIO every weekday at 5:30pm on KKLA 99.5 FM!

Why I do something is more important than what I do, and there is only one reason that pleases God: love. I could do the most noble thing in the world, and if I do it for the wrong reason, it means nothing to Him. I may have benefitted someone else but spiritually I haven't pleased God. If I've done it selfishly or fearfully or pridefully or begrudgingly, I receive no reward from Him at all. The only benefit I'll get is whatever human approval comes my way (Mt 6:1-4). Even great spiritual achievements such as mighty faith or prophetic revelations bring me no approval from God if not done for the right reason. Anger, self-righteousness, pride, competitiveness all leave me a disappointing failure. And the reverse is also true. If I do even the simplest act because I love someone, I will be rewarded for it in eternity and probably in this life as well. So obviously it's very important for me to understand what love is. We should acknowledge right up front that only God knows why I do things (Lk 16:15), but I'd still be wise to examine my own heart to see if love appears to be at work there (1Co 2:11), and if not then I need to drop everything else I'm doing and find some because, as far as God is concerned, I've been wasting my time (1Co 13:1-3). It's not that what I've been doing is wrong necessarily, it's why I've been doing it. Something in my attitude about myself may need to die, and something that comes only from God needs to take its place. I need a miracle... I need His love. To receive a free copy of Dr. Steve Schell's book Understanding Romans, email us at info@lifelessonspublishing.com and ask for your copy at no charge. The book has all the notes from each sermon in this series. Also check out our website for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. And if you would like to receive a copy of Pastor Steve's newest book Study Verse by Verse: Genesis at no charge, we are giving out this book as well!  

Pastor Steve teaches out of God's Word in Colossians 1.Listen to CORE TRUTH RADIO every weekday at 5:30pm on KKLA 99.5 FM!

Pastor Steve teaches out of God's Word in Genesis 6.Listen to CORE TRUTH RADIO every weekday at 5:30pm on KKLA 99.5 FM!

How do we take a surface-level friendship and dig it deep? Pastor Steve continues our series, "Friends."

Pastor Steve and Jimmy Lann discuss last Sunday's sermon!

Pastor Steve teaches out of God's Word in Genesis 6.Listen to CORE TRUTH RADIO every weekday at 5:30pm on KKLA 99.5 FM!

Paul is teaching the churches In Rome how to live successfully In a non-Christian society. Most of their neighbors and family were not believers and many were growing suspicious or even hostile. And with Nero as emperor, the government was certainly no friend. In a few more years it would become a bitter enemy, so if believers weren't careful, their situation could deteriorate very rapidly. Yet just because they were vulnerable politically didn't mean they were weak spiritually. Paul doesn't for a moment counsel them to compromise or hide their faith. They were still called to reach that city for Christ. What he does is coach them on how to stay effective at winning souls In the midst of that dangerous environment. He explains how believers should respond when someone has treated them cruelly, how to guard the Lord's reputation, and how to witness to the toughest opponent. He doesn't want them drawn into fights that don't really matter, so they can stay focused on what does. Every lesson he gives them applies to us as well. We too need to learn how to live in peace in a non-Christian society, even with those who treat us cruelly. Why? So they too can find peace with God. To receive a free copy of Dr. Steve Schell's book Understanding Romans, email us at info@lifelessonspublishing.com and ask for your copy at no charge. The book has all the notes from each sermon in this series. Also check out our website for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. And if you would like to receive a copy of Pastor Steve's newest book Study Verse by Verse: Genesis at no charge, we are giving out this book as well!  

This week on The Riff, Drew continues his conversation with his dad, Pastor Steve Williams! We hope today is helpful. Thanks for listening!

Pastor Steve teaches out of God's Word in Genesis 5.Listen to CORE TRUTH RADIO every weekday at 5:30pm on KKLA 99.5 FM!

We all have patterns of behavior that cut people - sharp edges that need to be smoothed out. God warns us about these edges. If we can do that, we will be the kind of people that make good friends. 

Steve Rains, LifePoint Church, Valley Center, Kansas, Wichita, Assembly of God

Title: Being Fair: What It Looks Like, How It Works, and Whether It Is Worth ItSpeaker: Pastor Steve MurphyDate: 28th June 2026Location: Medway, England Summary: "Fairness can have teeth." Being fair sounds soft until you watch it hold its ground. This episode starts in Psalm 99, where God is described as one who establishes equity, and asks three plain questions: what does fair look like, how does it work, and is it worth it? Most of the answer arrives through stories. A widow selling the family home after more than forty years is offered £20,000 less the night before she moves out, and she says no. A goalkeeper in a penalty shootout takes away the opposing keeper's notes, wins, and then explains himself honestly. Written law cannot cover every circumstance, which is why courts have always leaned on fair minded people rather than on the letter alone. Then it turns inward. Ecclesiastes points out that no one is consistently just, so expecting perfect fairness from a world that includes you is a poor bet. Paul tells Timothy the aim of the commandment is love from a pure heart, a good conscience and honest faith, and warns that some were never aiming at it. Exodus finishes the thought with manna: given daily, enough for everyone, and useless once hoarded. Key Points: Psalm 99 holds two things together that are often set against each other: God forgives, and God still deals with what we get up to. Neither cancels the other. Equity is fairness applied to circumstances, which is why written law on its own cannot deliver it. A camera cannot tell the difference between someone doing wrong and someone pulling over for an ambulance. Being fair is not the same as being easy to push around. A woman who refused a last minute price cut on her house was not being unfair. Expecting perfect fairness from other people is unrealistic, partly because Ecclesiastes says nobody is consistently just, and that includes you. The aim of the commandment is love from a pure heart, a good conscience and honest faith. The failure described is not missing the target but never aiming at it in the first place. Some good things take you part of the way and cannot take you all the way home. Acknowledge what they do well without asking them to do everything. Circumstances are never handed out evenly, but responsibility is the equaliser: more given means more required. Manna was provided daily and measured out so that nobody had too much or too little, but it still had to be gathered and used that day. Reference Scriptures: Psalm 99:4-8 Ecclesiastes 7:19-22 1 Timothy 1:3-6 Exodus 16:12-18 Exodus 16:20-21 Listen to the entire Podcast Revival library by visiting https://podcastrevival.com The Revival Fellowship is a Bible-directed, Spirit-filled Church and we welcome visitors to our meetings at any of our locations worldwide. To find your nearest venue visit https://therevivalfellowship.com © 2026 The Revival Fellowship. All Rights Reserved.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our culture loves to tell us, “You are enough.” It sounds encouraging. But is it true? Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing.”  Scripture doesn't teach us to become more self-sufficient—it teaches us to recognize our need for God. The better declaration is: I am NOT enough—but God is MORE than enough. In Part 3 of The Life of Elisha, Pastor Steve Garcia unpacks four very different situations in 2 Kings 4 that expose the limits of human strength: A widow faces overwhelming debt.  A woman encounters an inability she cannot overcome.  A group of prophets discovers poison in their food.  And a small offering of bread isn't nearly enough to feed everyone. Each situation reveals the same truth: God doesn't ask us to do what only He can do. He asks us to faithfully respond with what He's placed in our hands and trust Him with the results. And ultimately, every miracle in this chapter points us toward something even greater: Jesus did for us what we could never do for ourselves. We couldn't pay the debt of our sin, free ourselves from its slavery, overcome death, or make ourselves right with God. So God provided what we could never provide on our own. I can't save myself—but God can.  - NEXT STEPS  Looking to take your next step?  We want to help! Text the word NEXT to 909-281-7797 or visit sunrisechurch.org/nextsteps. - GIVE TO SUNRISE CHURCH Imagine what God can do through our giving. You can give today at sunrisechurch.org/give  - FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SunriseChurchCA  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunrisechurchca  Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/SunriseChurch 

Introducing the wisdom books, Pastor Steve first takes us through I Corinthians 1, preaching on Christ Jesus who is the ultimate wisdom. While the world presents many counterfeit wisdoms, only God's wisdom is what is needed. The cross may appear as foolishness to the outside world, but its message is the only true one. 

Pastor Steve teaches out of God's Word in Genesis 5.Listen to CORE TRUTH RADIO every weekday at 5:30pm on KKLA 99.5 FM!

Hope is an amazing quality. In a moment I can go from being tired, discouraged, aimless and withdrawn to being energized, focused, grateful to be alive and engaged with others. It all depends on whether or not I have hope. And unfortunately hope is not constantly present in me at the same level. It waxes and wanes. Sometimes I have a lot and other times little or none. And it's not hard to tell which condition I'm in. It only takes a glance or a few minutes of conversation before its presence or absence shows through. There's a sparkle or dullness in the eyes. There's confidence or dread in the way I talk about matters. Either I expect defeat, or I expect victory. I expect weakness, or I expect strength. I expect loneliness, or I expect love. I expect failure, or I expect success. My attitude reflects my assessment of what's possible. It's the way I see the situation. It's what looks real to me at the moment. Either I believe something good is going to happen, or I do not. To a group of people facing hostility, poverty and abandonment Paul said, "In hope, rejoice!" He was reminding them that hope, and the joy it produces, is absolutely vital to persevering through hard times. Without hope they would soon run out of energy to keep going. To receive a free copy of Dr. Steve Schell's book Understanding Romans, email us at info@lifelessonspublishing.com and ask for your copy at no charge. The book has all the notes from each sermon in this series. Also check out our website for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. And if you would like to receive a copy of Pastor Steve's newest book Study Verse by Verse: Genesis at no charge, we are giving out this book as well!    

Pastor Steve teaches out of God's Word in Genesis 4.Listen to CORE TRUTH RADIO every weekday at 5:30pm on KKLA 99.5 FM!

Pastor Steve preaches from Psalm 34 on experiencing God's goodness and praising Him in response. Message originally preached Sunday evening September 6, 2026.

I asked my Patreon posse for their theological questions. Pastor Steve came back with a beaut: why is Jesus called the Word of God? This resolutely theological episode unpacks the answers to Steve's great question. We explore not only pre-existing Hebrew and Greek concepts—Yahweh dabar and Logos—but we see how Jesus both fulfilled and surpassed those. I used to teach my theology students, "Jesus is always what you think of him, but so much more." Along the way we clarify the differences between Jesus and the Gospel, Jesus and other supposedly divine messengers, the errors of both Liberal and Progressive Christians, and learn why Jesus is both mysteriously beautiful and beautifully mysterious!

Pastor Steve teaches out of God's Word in Genesis 4.Listen to CORE TRUTH RADIO every weekday at 5:30pm on KKLA 99.5 FM!

Pastor Jimmy Lann and Pastor Steve discuss last Sunday's sermon!

Pastor Steve teaches out of God's Word in Genesis 3.Listen to CORE TRUTH RADIO every weekday at 5:30pm on KKLA 99.5 FM!

Salt and Light Sermon Series Part #8A sermon series based on the gospel of Matthew. In this series, Pastor Steve dissects each chapter of Matthew and breaks down God's instructions to his people so that they can effectively be the salt and light in today's world.

Serie de Sermones: Sal y Luz – Parte #8Una serie de sermones basada en el Evangelio de Mateo. En esta serie, el Pastor Steve analiza cada capítulo del Evangelio de Mateo y explica las enseñanzas de Dios para su pueblo, para que puedan ser verdaderamente la sal y la luz en el mundo de hoy.

It's only natural that most of us came to the Lord because we have needs. In some way we needed Jesus to help us. Our focus was on ourselves. We were lost or hurting, so we came to the Savior. And that's the way it should be. But as we grow in Christ that inward focus turns outward off of ourselves. Though we never stop coming to Him for our own needs, that compulsive drive to care for myself lessens and a genuine concern for others increases, I find myself loving and caring, noticing needs or people I never noticed before, wanting to do something to help. And I'm not responding out of guilt feeling somehow I should do something. It's real change. My heart is being warmed with new love for others. I'm spiritually moving from childhood to adulthood. In this passage Paul is calling believers in Rome to move into spiritual adulthood, to love one another at a deeper level. With so many in need it was time to share generously and pursue hospitality. To receive a free copy of Dr. Steve Schell's book Understanding Romans, email us at info@lifelessonspublishing.com and ask for your copy at no charge. The book has all the notes from each sermon in this series. Also check out our website for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. And if you would like to receive a copy of Pastor Steve's newest book Study Verse by Verse: Genesis at no charge, we are giving out this book as well!    

This week on The Riff, Drew sits down with his dad, Pastor Steve Williams. I just know in my knower this one is gonna be good! We hope today is helpful. Thanks for listening!

If you've made a decision click the link below to get a copy of Pastor Steve's book “The Christian Walk” I've Made a Decision Wave Church | Wave Conference | […] The post Watch With Me | Josh Kicker appeared first on Wave Church.

Pastor Steve teaches out of God's Word in Genesis 3.Listen to CORE TRUTH RADIO every weekday at 5:30pm on KKLA 99.5 FM!

Are you craving a deeper connection with God, but the thought of “rules” feels heavy or outdated? If we live in an era of grace, why would a sermon be titled “The Law”? Pastor Steve dives into the ancient wisdom of the Torah, revealing how God's original “law” wasn't just a set of external rules for a nation of former ... Read More

Is anything too difficult for the Lord? This weekend Pastor Steve Andres continued our KEEP IT REAL series with a message about hope and trust in an age of false realities.Genesis 18:13-14Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too difficult for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”Our world finds itself hurtling toward a crisis of REALITY, where we find ourselves confronted with more and more reasons to lose trust.1) Cynical is easy. Hopeful is hard.Hope makes us vulnerable. Cynicism and reactive negativity are a holiday from the rugged, demanding way of hope. Psalm 27:14Wait for the Lord;  be strong, and let your heart take courage;  wait for the Lord!It takes courage to hope and to trust, because it is a vulnerable position to be in.2) Real trust is difficult, especially after disappointment.It had been more than 10 years since Abraham and Sarah had first heard God's promise of a child. Sarah's disappointment is transparent in her reaction. Faith is not pretending you don't have pain. Faith is hope greater than your pain.3) You can't trust in theory, only in practice.REAL trust requires risk. Sarah laughed off the promise that God made in order to protect herself against more disappointment. Are you protecting or are you expecting?In the end, our hope will translate to action. Your behavior will always align with your expectations. Our hope is built on God's victory over death through the resurrection of Jesus. If God has loved us in this way, we can ask ourselves the question again:Genesis 18:14 Is anything too wonderful for the LORD?

How do you respond when life suddenly goes sideways? When the pressure rises, the answers disappear, and circumstances feel out of control, our natural response may be to worry, panic, blame, or assume there's nothing we can do.  In this second message from a series about The Life of Elisha, Pastor Steve Garcia unpacks how Elisha shows us another way.  Three kings find themselves stranded in enemy territory without water and facing what looks like certain disaster. While they respond with fear and desperation, Elisha responds with faith—and his response gives us a practical roadmap for facing the crises in our own lives. Crisis may be unavoidable, but coming unglued doesn't have to be. Whatever crisis you're facing, remember Elisha's words: “This is an easy thing in the eyes of the LORD.” — 2 Kings 3:18  - NEXT STEPS  Looking to take your next step?  We want to help! Text the word NEXT to 909-281-7797 or visit sunrisechurch.org/nextsteps. - GIVE TO SUNRISE CHURCH Imagine what God can do through our giving. You can give today at sunrisechurch.org/give  - FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SunriseChurchCA  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunrisechurchca  Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/SunriseChurch 

Pastor Steve teaches out of God's Word in Colossians 1.Listen to CORE TRUTH RADIO every weekday at 5:30pm on KKLA 99.5 FM!

Steve DeWitt God, Why Am I Hurting? - Part B Study Guide for Spiritual Exiles, 1 Peter 1:6-8 Scripture Reference: 1 Peter 1:6-8 Visit the series page: Exiles: A study in 1 Peter Donate to Support The Journey Sermon Transcript for Spiritual Exiles, 1 Peter 1:6-8 Sermon Series: Spiritual ExilesMessage: God Why Am I Hurting? Airdate: 9/10-9/11/26Programs: 2354 23552014, what a year around this place. I mean, it was something else. And just on the surface to go from two campuses to four campuses all in one year, a remarkable, remarkable, thing that God has done. We give him glory for it, and, we want 2015 to be another year of, faithful ministry here, and thank you for your part in that. I really mean that.This is our weekend of the annual meeting, and that's partly why we made this video. It's a it's a year or it's a a weekend where our members, we have our annual meeting, and so it's kind of a year to look back, a time to look back on the on the past year. It also means that, because our meeting is between this service and the next, I know this is gonna be disappointing. The sermon's a little shorter. Little shorter.So appropriate, that I'm speaking on trials in this sermon. And I'm gonna get right into it because our time is fleeting. First Peter one verses six through seven, I've entitled this message, God, why am I hurting? That resonate resonate here today? Are you in a time in your life maybe where you are hurting, where there is a trial maybe that is a pain in your life right now, you might say, no.Not really. Just wait. K? Just wait. It's coming.Life in a broken world brings sorrows to us in all kinds of directions and in ways that we cannot anticipate. That day is most certainly coming. And Peter is writing this letter to a group of geographical exiles in the first century sent from Rome, living in Asia Minor, but they are they are spiritual exiles as well. They are suffering in a community that looks at their Christian faith, looks at their rejection of the immorality around them. They look down at them, and they are feeling alienated.They are feeling ostracized, and they are suffering in many different ways. And so Peter writes this letter to them to encourage them, and it is perhaps more than the only one maybe competing with the book would be the book of Job of, delivering to us, giving to us a theology of Christian suffering. How do I handle it? How should I look at it when God sovereignly brings pain into my life? First Peter is a very honest letter.It looks pain in the face and gives an answer. Did you know Christianity has an answer to suffering that the other religions of the world, the other philosophies struggle to provide in ways that we'll get into? So maybe you're here today and you're in pain, and you're thinking this is the sermon for me. Maybe you're here today and you're not in pain, but that day is coming. I want to prepare all of us to suffer so that when we are the ones experiencing that pain, we have a kind of grid.We have a kind of understanding that is ready to embrace the trials that come. I also wanna note that Christianity is based on suffering. I mean, our entire faith is built upon the suffering savior who came into this world, God steps into our pain in the person of Jesus, incarnates into this world, lives amongst us, experiences all of the weaknesses, all of the sufferings that we experience, and then suffered himself dying on the cross bearing the guilt and shame for all of our sins. Our savior was a suffering savior. We can say it that Christianity is is built on suffering.Now that doesn't sound so good. It doesn't look great on a billboard. You know, we're not gonna put up a billboard that says, Bethel Church, come suffer with us. Right? Because many people, they don't wanna hear that, and they want a faith that doesn't include any suffering, and yet it inevitably comes.Are we ready for that? Are you ready for that in your life? So our text is verses, six and seven, First Peter one. Please listen as I read. “In this, you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”This passage is Peter's first salvo of teaching on suffering. It's gonna continue through the letter. So this isn't everything that he has to say about it. There's much more to come. Notice that he begins with the the little phrase there, in this, you rejoice.You wouldn't expect a passage on suffering to have a and to begin with a word of joy, and he's referring there to what he's just talked about regarding our living hope. Our hope is living because our hope is in a living savior. And so because of that, we are we rejoice in this salvation, this new birth that God has given to us. Notice that joy and pain can coexist. We typically think, you know, when I am in pain, then I'm not joyous.Right? Or when I'm in joyous, I don't have any pain. And yet these two come together, indeed, they have to come together in a Christian theology of suffering because there is going to be ongoing problems and pain in life. There are gonna be ups and downs, and yet our Christian joy is not based upon our circumstances. It is grounded and based upon something that is enduring.Even Jesus himself, Hebrews, “who for the joy set before him endured the cross and despised its shame.” So don't see the these as enemies. These actually can be friends, joy, and pain. We'll get into more of that later. But in this passage, Peter gives four certainties in the midst of suffering.Four certainties that a Christian can hold on to, trust, and believe in even when life is hurting. So let's get into these now. Notice the first one is that our trials as Christians are temporary. They are temporary. The text now, “though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials.”Peter's first point here is chronological. He is pointing something out that is obviously true. Now it doesn't seem that way to us when we are in the midst of pain. When we are hurting, what do we often think about the pain that we're feeling? We say things like this.This is never going to change. This is never gonna be fixed. I will always feel this way. This pain will never go away. That's how it seems to us.Right? Peter says, yes. It will. Yes. It will.Chronologically speaking, our sufferings and our trials and our pains are very small in duration when compared to the future that the Christian confidently expects, this eternal life that we have. Our lives are fleeting. Our days are numbered. They're short. Eternity is long.Peter points that out. He says, you know what now? For a little while, it's just a little while. It's temporary. You're not always going to feel this way.It's not always going to be this way. A day of change is coming. Chapter five verse 10, he writes, and after you have suffered a little while, there he says it again, “the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” Peter's wanting us to realize that that this trial that I am in is finite. Eternity is unending.My trial is temporary. Eternity is forever. And when I look at things from that grand perspective, it helps me put it into proper perspective. When I obsess about my trials, I think it's always going to be this way. Do you ever get sort of melodramatic about things?Right? Oh, it's never gonna be better. My life is over. You know, teenage girl says that when who knows what happened to her. Right?And she's, oh, you know. And we look at her and we say that is so immature. Peter says when we look at our trials like it's always going to be that way, we're looking immaturely. We're not seeing things from the grand perspective. Our trials are temporary.Someday, the present pain of our life will be over. Someday, Jesus himself is going to confirm, establish, comfort, minister. Someday, we are going to look back at our trials, and we are going to agree with God regarding them. Can you believe that? Now you might be in a trial right now going, I will never say that this was okay.I will never agree with this. Someday, God, I believe, is going to give us understanding regarding why this happened and why that happened and why that happened. I talked with a man after first service today. He's losing his job. He has thirty days.He was talking to somebody about this and that person said to him, I haven't been to church since Vietnam. But in light of the way you're responding to this, I might give it another chance. He always had tears in his eyes after first service to this point that I'm making. He goes, oh, these three years have been so hard, but maybe I see why God's doing it. Don't Don't you think heaven is going to be that kind of an experience where God goes, see when that happened right there?I did this with that with that person's life, and then this was the fruit of it. And we're gonna be going, I had no idea. And when we see it in the big picture, don't you think we will go, you know, God, you are infinitely wise. I now agree with that. And if I was you, I would have brought that into my life.Praise be to God. Okay? Heaven will be that I think. For a Christian, realize friends, for a Christian, this life that we're in right now, this is as bad as it gets. Our lives right now are the worst experience that we are ever going to have.Why? Because eternity is going to be bliss, heaven, and joy. So this is as bad as it gets for the Christian. For the unbeliever, it's the opposite. This is as good as it gets.Life in this broken world with all of its pain and all of its uncertainty is far better than what lies ahead for the unbeliever. But for us, this is as bad as it gets. This is temporary pain. That helps, doesn't it? Indeed, it does.Secondly, Peter points out that trials are painful. Trials are painful. Though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. That's a pretty good word to describe what pain feels like. Right?It's grievous to us. And do I really need a lot of proof text on this one? Just to prove to you that trials are painful, that we feel within us when we are in a trial. And by trial here, I it's it's all of it, the various trials that he talks about. It can be physical.It can be emotional. It can be relational. It can be marital. It can be financial. It can be political.It can be injustice. It can be emotional worry, fear, misery, depression, and I mean, the things that the things that can create pain in us are incredibly varied, aren't they? All of them, we feel very personally when we experience them. I also find over time in my life that not only are the trials varied, but my ability to handle them is varied. There are things that when I was younger wouldn't have bothered me, now they bother me, like birthdays.There are things that when I was young bothered me, but now from a perspective of maturity doesn't bother me anymore. Right? It's so varied. It's so changing. But over all of that, we certainly can say the trials are painful.We would rather not be in them. Amen? Okay. That'd be my preference. A trouble free life.No more trials. I mean, that'd be like heaven, wouldn't it? Oh, wait. It is heaven. Are you with me?Okay. Alright. Third, reality and certainty with trials. And this now gets into kind of the nub of what Peter is wanting us to see is that trials are revealing and trials are refining. Again, the text, “so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”What is one of the biggest things that we wanna know when we are in the midst of a trial? We search for why. Right? Why is this happening? Why am I feeling this?Why am I sorrowing like I am? Why am I so depressed about this? And atheism comes along and gives what answer? Nothing. Secular humanism comes along and gives what answer?Nothing. Agnosticism comes along and gives what answer? E. Evolutionary theory comes along and gives what answer to our pain? Nothing.Christianity comes along, and it's got a purpose statement. Right there, you see it. So that. Why do I go through the troubles that I do? Why do I go through these things?Is there some reason behind it? And indeed, there is. In fact, you see, previously, he says, if necessary about our trials. If necessary what do you mean if necessary? That seems to indicate somebody is determining whether I ought to go through this or not.Is there a sovereign somebody that is sovereignly guiding and directing in the details of my life and determining whether this is good or not, necessary or not. Indeed, that is Christianity, that there is a sovereign God who doesn't simply, like the agnostics teach, live out there in the extended world and hope the best for us, but rather he is sovereignly over every single detail of our life. There's nothing that will ever happen to the Christian that we that that God did not sovereignly bring to us. Now by that, it doesn't mean that God endorses evil. And someday, we will never endorse evil either.We'll never look at the Holocaust and say, yeah. Great. But God uses evil, and God uses these things to accomplish his purposes. That's what Joseph said in Genesis, right, to his brothers. “You intended it for evil.God intended it for good.” That's the the the wonder of the mystery of God that he can, in the complexities of the universe, use even evil for his divine good and sovereign purposes. And so we see then that in Christian in a Christian theology of suffering, there is a purpose to it. And I think that alone is one of the great certainties that we have to cling to, that this is not random. This is not chaos.This is not Satan winning. Rather, this is something that God is sovereignly guiding and directing. There is a purpose behind it. Sometimes that doesn't make sense to us when the kind and godly young man dies or when the righteous suffer and the unrighteous prosper. Do you ever feel that way?Maybe you feel about that way about yourself. I'm I'm busting my butt. I'm trying to be a good employee, student, wife, husband, parent, whatever. And here I am. I'm dying on the vine, and you look at your neighbor who they're immoral, they profane God's name, and they just smile all the time.And you're like, that doesn't seem fair to me. As the hymn says, it is our God who does each day what he deems best. We trust that pain has a purpose and that God is behind it. The same faith that can believe in Jesus and trust my entire eternity to the truthfulness that Jesus did bear my guilt as he died on the cross is the same faith that now as a Christian in the midst of my suffering appropriates the promises of God and believes that this trial is as well under the sovereign hand of God and that he is doing something with it. We say, well, what is that something?Pastor Steve, could you please help? Notice what Peter says. What purpose do they serve? “So that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire.” What Peter does here is he anticipates maybe people sort of getting lost in his theology, and he gives a very clear illustration that they could all understand and we can all understand here as well.He brings up gold. Now ancient people were interested in gold. Why? It was the most precious commodity that they had. I mean, today, if you listen to the radio and different things, you see these advertisements.The stock market's uncertain. Buy gold. Right? And they show gold bars and people smiling because they have gold bars, and they encourage you to buy gold. It's the only lasting value in the world.That's the way that they viewed it in the first century. It was their most precious commodity. It was the most long lasting thing that they had, gold. So if you've ever seen, King Tut's tomb or pictures of the jewelry and the gold at King Tut's tomb, then you know that the ancient world, they were really good with gold. I mean, they had figured out how to take gold out of the mountain and turn it into something very beautiful, incredibly beautiful, and intricate.So how do they do it? Well, like today, what they would do is they would mine the gold, and then they would heat it. Right? They would heat up that gold with fires in a furnace. They would heat it up and heat it up and heat it up.And gold reaches a point where it melts. And as it gets hotter, the hotter it gets, the more the impurities of the gold rise to the surface. And so the ancients would heat up that gold and they would heat up that gold and the impurities. In other words, everything that was not gold would rise to the top, and then they would just skim off the top. And by doing that, the gold then, the karat of the gold, and by that, I mean k a r a t.Not to confuse some of you that are thinking about lunch right now. Carat, the the purity of the gold, and the value then would would increase. Okay? And they all got how that worked, and I hope that maybe, you get how that works as well. Because Peter is drawing an analogy here.Do you see it? The analogy is that fire reveals the gold and fire refines the gold. It reveals what is actually gold and separates the impurities and by doing that it refines it. And what he's saying here is that our faith is like gold and our trials are like fire. Fire reveals the genuine gold, and trials reveal the genuine faith.Should I say that again? Fire reveals the genuine gold. Trials reveal the genuine faith within us. Now you don't have to be around the church very long to see this in action. If you're around a church, some family or some individual is gonna suddenly find themselves in a trial, a fiery trial, as Peter calls it elsewhere.And you can watch how this works. And sometimes it's beautiful. Right? Because here you have sort of generic family a, and you didn't know them that well. You didn't know that much about them, but you hear about the trial.And out of that trial, you see a family that is turning to God in ways that you had never seen before. They're wanting the church to be in prayer for them. They're seeking spiritual, counsel and help. They're turning to God in the midst of their trial. They're trusting in things that they they don't know how it's gonna work out, but our trust is in God.And please, won't you pray for us? And you see in that trial a faith that you had never seen before. And it's a beautiful thing to see that. The genuineness of their faith is being revealed by the trial. In a sense, they didn't know what was in them.They didn't realize what they had, that saving faith in them, now showing its true color, its true karat in the midst of a fiery trial. At the same time, you don't have to be around the church very long to have generic family b in the church who comes under a similar trial. And they are unprepared for it. Their faith is has no, bandwidth for it. In that trial, all of a sudden, they are overwhelmed.Or they feel like, wait. This is not what I signed up for. They're like kinda like bandwagon Christians. They sort of join the church. They get on the Christianity bandwagon, and then paint then life hurts.And they're like, I need a different bandwagon. And off they go in a 100 different directions forsaking what they profess to be true in their life. What has the trial done for them? The trial has revealed that their faith was not genuine. The heat of the trial has done that.It is our response to trials that says so much. And by the way, this doesn't mean that we're like super Christians. And like from now on here at Bethel Church, if you ever have a trial, you must be like, my faith is being revealed and I love it. You know, it's not like that at all. There is room in this for normal human concern and worry and fear and the battling of fear and faith and all of that.So it's not like we're all walking around on some great spiritual plane somehow. But in the essence of it, there is an endurance that faith, genuine faith has that comes through the trial different, better, refined, revealed in ways that previously had been unknown. Trials are also great purifiers. Great purifiers. I read a little bit this week in preparation for this that modern gold refining, they heat up the gold to 3,000 degrees.That's hot, isn't it? And I got thinking to myself, what if you could interview the gold while it's being heated up, while it's coming under this kind of temperature? What might the gold be saying as it's getting hot? I see statements like this: “This is hot! This hurts! This stinks! Get me out of here! Why is this happening? Why do I get this and silver gets off easy? Please stop this right now. The guy in charge of this doesn't love me.” But what does the goldsmith know? The goldsmith knows that the only way for that gold to be purified is by heat. Now I stand before you a man who wished that wasn't true.I mean, wouldn't it be great if if the way that our faith could be built and we could grow spiritually would be for God to lavish us with every desire of our hearts? And for there never to be a single problem the rest of our life that we would just be rich and happy and fat and, you know, healthy and eat what we want and have all these. I mean, wouldn't it be great if that was the way that our faith was built? Amen. You're not sure if you want to amen that or not.I think that would be fantastic. That's not the way that it works, is it? In fact, what happens to people who get everything they want? What do we call children like that? Brats.That's what we call them. The surest way to raise a brat is to give that kid everything he wants all the time. And spiritually, there's a lot of immature Christians running around wanting that same kind of an experience. That's immaturity. How do we grow friends?It's through pain. And you'd better be ready for it. And again, this doesn't look great on the church billboards. Come to Bethel Church and suffer along with us. But that's the Bible.And that's the experience of Jesus who, by the way, we're told to do what? Take up our cross and follow him. Is there room in your understanding of your Christian faith that when trials come into your life, it doesn't mean that God doesn't love you? Now that's easy to say when you're not in a trial. But Thursday of this week, you might be.Are you ready to embrace that trial? Does your faith in God have a bandwidth that can bear that? Peter says your faith is more valuable than gold. Gold was the most valuable thing that they had in that day. Peter says your faith trumps it.Why? Because gold perishes. Gold perishes. But our faith will last forever. Not because of us, but because of that persevering, preserving work of God in our life.When the heat is turned up on us, we wanna say stop. God's answer is this. You may not realize it, but your faith is far more valuable than your comfort. I am going to reveal it and refine it. This will be a short term pain, but it will be a long term gain.Are you ready? You know, as a pastor, our elders, our pastors, we often are called into those moments of pain. I did two funerals yesterday morning. Two very wonderful godly men in our church, Peter Hammer and Merle McCluskey, both families suffering loss. Dear, dear brothers in the Lord, these kinds of things happen.They heard me preach sermons like this all the time, and now they're dead. They their sojourn is over. Are you ready? Are you ready, or are just hoping it doesn't happen or that Jesus comes back before it happens? Now with that said, I don't think we should intentionally bring trouble to ourselves.So don't leave the service today and be like, you know what? Trials refine my faith. I want trials in my life and run your car into a guardrail or a light pole or something like that. K? There's enough pain in this world we don't need to add to it.It also doesn't mean that we should be trying to refine our other people's faith and say, you know what? He needs to grow. Especially you married couples. I don't want you thinking that way. Life has enough fiery trials all by itself.So what should we be thinking when we're in a trial? I've got some questions. When the heat is up, when the heat in life is coming up, what should I ask? Here's a few. Am I looking at this from a temporal or eternal perspective?Obsess over the problem, and it will be overwhelming. Pull back from it and see it from the grand perspective of the gospel and the story of God, now I have it in perspective. Do I do I realize that trials are necessary at times and are for my good? This is one of the things that I, in my difficult times in my life, I try to bring to bear the thought in my heart, this is good for me. And that's hard at times.Right? Because I got this other part of me going, no, it isn't. And then I've got my faith part going, yes. It is. No.It isn't. Yes. It is. No. It is.Yes. You lay in bed at night. You can't sleep because this is going on. Right? But faith refuses to give up the belief that there is a sovereign God and that these light and momentary trials are achieving for us a glory that far outweighs them all.Romans eight. I'm sorry. Second Corinthians four. Is my perspective shaped by confidence in God's sovereign and good plan for my life? Do you think God loves you or only when things are good and going the way you want?Do you believe he loves you? Friend, he does. He sent Jesus. Right? That is Romans eight.“If God didn't spare his own son but gave him up for us all, how will we not also along with him graciously give us all things?” How can we doubt the love of God for us? He sent his son for us. Do I want to grow spiritually more than I want to live comfortably? How many people could honestly say, yes, I want to grow spiritually more than to have a comfortable life?Is faith refinement a personal goal? Do I aspire to a high karat content? I think those are all very helpful, and maybe we'll get those up on the web in case you would like those. They come right from the text. Now look at the end result here, and we have our fourth certainty in the text.Let me read it again. “So that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” The fourth certainty is that purified faith has a goal in mind. If my goal is to grow spiritually, I have another goal in that, and it's an eternal perspective where I believe that this trial that I am going through is going to bring honor to God and also is going to bring commendation and honor to me. And this was my aha moment in my studies here because whenever you see it may result in praise and glory and honor, you just assume that this is talking about God.Right? Because there's so many passages in the Bible that say that. Philippians two, for example, “every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” And so you can look at that and say, well, who is the honor going to? It must be going to God.And indeed, in the end, all honor does go to God. But the text doesn't say that the honor here goes to God. It just says when it comes. It comes when Jesus is revealed. It comes at the end of time.And I think what Peter is doing here is he is including both. There is in my trouble and in my pain. Why do I want to respond in a God honoring way? Because I want God to be honored in this trial. And that is a very good motive for the Christian enduring suffering that Jesus may be honored in my life. I want him to be glorified in all things.Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen? Alright.So that we got down, especially at a church that is an all about him church. We got that down. But notice also that there is this reward that is also taught in Scripture that I receive. This commentation that I receive from Jesus in honor as he commends, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”Or a cup of cold water extended my name shall not be forgotten. And a host of other passages that teach us that as we honor the Lord in the ups and the downs of life, that we are putting our treasure in heaven as another example and that Jesus will reward us. Can that be motivating? I think so. I think so.In fact, to illustrate this, I'd like to return to the illustration that Peter is using, how both honors can happen, God and us. Let's go back to gold a second and to talk about gold used in in artwork. You know, back in the first century, they were doing what man has done for centuries, millennia, and that is use gold in art. Beautiful gold in, for example, jewelry. If you've, been to the museums in Chicago, there are displays there of ancient gold jewelry.And to this day, people pay to have tickets, and they go and they stand in front of the display, and they marvel at the intricate, jewelry and the and the craftsmanship of that those beautiful pieces of art. They stand there, and they're like, wow. And the wife's like, you ought to get me one of those. And, you know, these you just kinda stand there, and you admire the craftsmanship. You admire the artistic ability.You you admire the the art and the worth of that. Wow. That is just so absolutely beautiful. And so gold has itself a kind of I'm sorry. Art has its own kind of praise as we admire the art itself.But there is this other kind of honor that art produces, and that is honor for the maker of the art. So that it's not just the Messiah, it is Handel's Messiah. And it's just not the Fifth, it is Beethoven's fifth. And with great pieces of art, the art is valued and treasured, but then the real honor is for the amazing ability of the person who crafted it in the first place. And so how does that apply to what God is doing in the midst of my pain and my sorrow?As I realize that everything that comes into my life is from the sovereign hand of God, as I appropriate that faith, the same faith that trusted in Jesus for my eternity, I now trust him for this trial that I'm experiencing. And I remain faithful to the Lord. I try with the the strength that God provides to obey or to be steadfast or whatever I need to do in that trial. As I do that, God is shaping and forming in me in the story of my life a kind of artistic beauty. And the people around you see that, and they admire it.And they're like, isn't it beautiful and wonderful what that family is doing in response to that trial in their life? Isn't it great and wonderful what that man is doing as he prepares to lose his job by faith in Jesus, believing God is sovereign over it? And a host of other things as we admire and see that we are we're like the gallery of God. Our lives are a kind of masterpiece, a kind of artistic expression of the amazing power of God, but for our own honor as well. We hang in the gallery of God and people and angels and God himself admiring the beauty of what our lives live by faith in times of trouble, what that is, so that we as the art and God is the maker of the art, both receive honor and praise.And one motivating factor when I am in a time of trouble is I don't want to lose that reward. I don't want to lose that commendation from God. “Well done, good and faithful servant.” I don't wanna lose the opportunity to bring honor to him. By the way, I live by faith even when life hurts.So that at the end then of all of our troubles and all of our pains, there is God and there is us. His artwork, his masterpieces, honored and honored. Little h honor to us, big h honor to God. Paintings and painters, symphonies and composers, sinners and savior may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Much more on suffering in First Peter.We're just getting going. I'm gonna ask you, just to join me for a word of prayer. Would you stand with me, please, as we conclude our service together?* This transcript was generated using AI transcription technology and reviewed for accuracy but may contain errors. Please refer to the original audio for precise wording.

We often refer to joining the military as "answering the cali to serve our country." Every person who hears that call is forced to make a very serious decision. The very act of putting on a uniform means that person has accepted the possibiiity that they might die defending us. They choose to put our safety ahead of their own. And joining the military means a radical change in lifestyle. You join a community. You're taught to submit and work cooperatively with others. You develop special skills that others on your team will depend on. You're trained to endure hardship and in the process form deep loyalties toward one another to such a degree that many are willing to risk their own lives to rescue one of their own who is injured or has been captured. In this passage Paul makes it clear that God expects this same level of commitment from us toward His Church. Following Jesus places profound demands upon us. What's asked of us is no less, and in many ways more, than what's asked of a soldier. We too are called to commit ourselves to one another and have courage under fire. We too accept the possibility that we might die fulfilling our duty. We too must learn to submit and work together as a team. We too have special skills given to us which others in our team depend on. We too must learn to endure hardship and in the process form deep loyalties, to the point that we will risk our own lives to rescue one who's injured or been captured. And like those in the miiitary, we do all this to save others. In our case, people's eternity depends on us fulfilling our duty. To receive a free copy of Dr. Steve Schell's book Understanding Romans, email us at info@lifelessonspublishing.com and ask for your copy at no charge. The book has all the notes from each sermon in this series. Also check out our website for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. And if you would like to receive a copy of Pastor Steve's newest book Study Verse by Verse: Genesis at no charge, we are giving out this book as well!      

Pastor Steve teaches out of God's Word in Colossians 1.Listen to CORE TRUTH RADIO every weekday at 5:30pm on KKLA 99.5 FM!

If you've made a decision click the link below to get a copy of Pastor Steve's book “The Christian Walk” I've Made a Decision Wave Church | Wave Conference | […] The post “As Your Soul Prospers” | Steve Kelly appeared first on Wave Church.

Having just encouraged us to fulfill God's call on our lives (Ro 12:1-8), Paul immediately turns to address the quality of our relationships because if we can't work together harmoniously, everything he has just taught us falls apart. Yes, each of us must discover our calling, and yes, we need to pursue the full dimension of God's plan, but if we don't learn how to get along with each other, none of it matters. Love really is the highest quality (1Co 13:1-3,13). In the remaining chapters of this letter, we discover there were numerous areas of controversy among the believers in Rome. Differing opinions on matters had hardened and were separating friends, quenching love and enflaming pride. It had become urgent that they rebuild their love for one another because love is the foundation upon which all ministry rests. So, most of these last chapters are Paul's pastoral counsel to them about how to love. But what may surprise us is what he puts at the head of his list. The first thing he says is: "Don't pretend to love!" To receive a free copy of Dr. Steve Schell's book Understanding Romans, email us at info@lifelessonspublishing.com and ask for your copy at no charge. The book has all the notes from each sermon in this series. Also check out our website for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. And if you would like to receive a copy of Pastor Steve's newest book Study Verse by Verse: Genesis at no charge, we are giving out this book as well!