Podcasts about Your God

Episode Title: Live Beyond The Post*The Purposefully Fit Podcast is designed to inspire, motivate, and encourage you to pursue YOUR God-given passion purposefully.Visit Coach NikE's Website: IAmNikE.com

Episode Title: Ditch the Distractions*The Purposefully Fit Podcast is designed to inspire, motivate, and encourage you to pursue YOUR God-given passion purposefully.Visit Coach NikE's Website: IAmNikE.com

Immeasurably More// Faith Under Fire// March 30, 2025Ephesians 6:10-20 (NIV)“Finally, BE STRONG in the Lord and in the strength of HIS MIGHT. Put on the full armor of God so we can take our stand against the devil's schemes because our battle is not against flesh and blood but against rulers and against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NIV)“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does…On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”Isaiah 59:14-17 (NIV)“So, justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene, so his own arm achieved salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him. He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.” The armor is about confidence in God's ability to hold all those elements of the armor true and together.  The Helmet is His Salvation Isaiah 12:2 (NIV)“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.” Ephesians 2:8 (NIV)“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”   The Breastplate is His RighteousnessPhilippians 3:8-9 (NIV)“What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.” The Belt is His TruthPsalm 33:4 (KJV)“For the word of the LORD is right, and all His work is done in truth.” Ephesians 4:14 (NIV)“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” The Sword of the Spirit is His WordHebrews 4:12 (NIV) “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”  The Shoes are His Gospel of PeaceIsaiah 52:7 (NIV)“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” The gospel is meant to be peace with God and peace with one another. The Shield of FaithFaith is deliberate confidence in the character of God.Faith is not about my ability to believe but it's about His ability to BE.His unfailing character and person.  Faith is not about my ability to believe but it's about His ability to BE.  John 14:26,27 (NIV)“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you…Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”  

Episode Title: Embrace the Interruptions*The Purposefully Fit Podcast is designed to inspire, motivate, and encourage you to pursue YOUR God-given passion purposefully.Visit Coach NikE's Website: IAmNikE.com

Year C – Third Sunday in Lent – March 23, 2025 Pastor Megan Floyd Luke 13:1-9 Isaiah 55:1-13   Grace and peace to you from God, our Father, and from our Lord, Jesus Christ, who, together with the Holy Spirit, long for us to live fruitful lives full of abundance. Amen. *** I learned a long time ago that… I can't tell the difference between a trombone and a baritone… or an oboe and a clarinet. Now, if I'm looking at them, then yes, I can tell them apart and would even agree that they sound different… but the quality of their different sounds is not overly distinctive to my ear… so I struggle to tell them apart based on sound alone. It's just not something I have much experience with. I discovered this… tragic failing of mine back in college when I had some elective courses to fill, and I thought it would be fun to take …the History of Jazz. I thought I was taking a history class… I enjoy history… But it was not so… it was apparently a music class disguised as a history class. And I almost failed… A big part of the class involved listening to classic jazz pieces and identifying the parts of the music… not only the instrument but the artist… based on the way they were playing. I was way out of my league. But over the course of the semester, I was able to train my ear just enough to scoot by… and I also think the professor had mercy on me. I know there are people out there who are naturally gifted with hearing and can pick up on subtle differences in sound… but I think most of us have to be trained to do that… …and if we want to keep that skill and build on it, well… then we need to practice. It's very similar to our ability to recognize God's presence in our lives… and to truly listen to God's word in such a way that it shapes our lives toward fruitful living. We have to be taught… trained to recognize God through word and action… and we have to return to God every day… to practice. *** The prophet Isaiah tells us this week to “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call up him while he is near.” It's part of this beautiful invitation to come to the banquet… all who thirst… and all who hunger… Come! Eat and drink… it's all freely given, and it is so much better than the junk food you had before… the stuff that did not satisfy… come… and eat what is good! No one is turned away! The Lord is near… and wants you to truly live! This must have been incredible for the Israelites to hear… it was likely written around the time of Israel's return from the Babylonian exile, around 538 B.C.E. Can you imagine? Returning home after being exiled… returning to God after hardship and struggle… and hearing God's promise anew that God's love covers all. God proclaims… “Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live.” Listen. Train your ear to hear… Listen to God's word… and hear the promise that is spoken over you. Listen… so that you may live! And to those who have wandered away… to those who have chosen or stumbled onto the wicked and unrighteous path… let them also listen… and hear God's promise… so that they might also return to God… and God will have abundant mercy on them. Listen… so that you may live! Your God, who loves you, wants you to have the fruitful and flourishing life that you were created to have… God wants your life… to bear good fruit… and through God's word, we are given all we need to achieve it. But we must listen… and return daily to God's word… to practice our hearing. *** There are just a few problems with all this… For starters, this open invitation to all is… well… pretty open… but we humans sure do like exclusivity… we like the V.I.P. treatment… so we struggle with the idea that everyone is invited to this banquet. Also, we like to think there is a hierarchy of sins… but that's our invention… God doesn't seem to play that way. God's offer of compassion and mercy doesn't seem to have the qualifiers that our human systems want to place around everything. And furthermore… sure… God wants us to live a fruitful life… but that's harder for some… for all sorts of reasons… with lots of stumbling along the way. Even if we ignore the fact that many of the struggles some people face are due to the sin of human systems that are designed to keep them down and struggling… Most human… societies or even families… eventually want to give up on those who struggle with bearing good fruit… And yet, like the fig tree in our Gospel passage from Luke 13, God seems determined to give us more chances… to give us more time… to nurture us, and help us grow… God is determined for us to train our ears to hear… to listen… so that we may return to our Lord and live the fruitful and flourishing lives God created us to live! God comes to us in our pain and our struggle… and says… have mercy… give it another year… let us nurture this beloved child and give her more time… Because… thankfully…mercifully…  God's thoughts are not our thoughts… and God's ways are not our ways. Through the prophet Isaiah, God declares that God's love will not be denied… no obstacle is greater than God's word! For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout… So shall my word be… it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace! God is near to you now… and longs for you to incline your ear and listen to the promise found in God's word… to hear that word and repent, so you might return to the Lord, your God, every day. *** Both Isaiah and Luke emphasize the urgency of our repentance… but to be clear… this isn't a transactional experience… Repentance… returning our heart and mind to God… is not a quid-pro-quo… it is not a trade we make with God… we are not trading our remorseful apology for God's grace and forgiveness. Our repentance… is an act of faith… It's an acknowledgment of how much we need God's grace, and it communicates our trust that God hears us, knows us to our core, and still loves us. God offers us grace and forgiveness… and our repentance allows us to receive these gifts… receive them, but not hide them… God's gifts are meant to be shared. Our repentance is an act of faith that opens the way to a life that bears good fruit. …it acknowledges that when we return our hearts and minds to God, and truly listen to God's word with ears that are trained to hear… it will shape us… it will shift our hard-heartedness into compassion and patience… our cruelty into mercy and kindness… and our indifference into empathy and love. Compassion… patience… mercy… kindness… empathy… and love… are signs of a fruitful life… the kind of flourishing that God created us to live. *** But even if we are not quite there… even if we stumble and are not quite as compassionate or loving as we ought to be… God, who is near, tells us to practice our training. Give it a little more time… return to God now and incline your ear to God's word that guides us back to fruitful living. Don't wait until you have it perfect… don't wait until you think you are worthy… return now. God is not waiting for us to figure everything out… not waiting to bestow grace upon us until we have shed all questions and doubt. No… God is already here, speaking to us… speaking a word of light into our darkness… a word of love into our suffering… and so we train our ear to listen, to hear God's word. Like the talent of distinguishing a trombone from a baritone… we learn to distinguish God's word based on the good fruit it produces, both in us and through us. And we return to the Lord daily to be nourished by God's word… and trust that God's word, which is sent out with joy, will not return empty but will be led back in peace. Listen… so that you may live! Amen.

Episode Summary: In honor of International Happiness Day, join me as I sit down with Rev. Jessica Van Roekel to explore what it really means to count it all joy. As we reflect on personal experiences and biblical examples, we’ll highlight the distinction between circumstantial happiness and the deep, steadfast joy that comes from trusting God through trials. You’ll gain a deeper understanding of how joy can be a deliberate response to life’s challenges, cultivating faith and steadfastness. Whether you’re navigating hardship or seeking a renewed perspective, this conversation offers hope and encouragement to find joy in every circumstance. International Day of Happiness aims to make people around the world realize the importance of happiness within their lives. This day encourages people to spread happiness through a small action. But what happens when actions don’t cut it, and the feeling of happiness lasts mere seconds? What do we do when the idea of happiness seems far off and impossible? Quotables from the episode: I liken joy and happiness, the difference between that is that a river usually has a source. And A river can get filled up with mud and leaves and twigs and even beavers come along and build dams and so further on down the little stream, it's just dried up, rocky, dry bed. But if you follow that stream, you eventually come to the source and the source is where it just bubbles out. And that's how I liken happiness and joy is that joy is the source. My relationship with the Lord is my source of really life. It's my source of source of strength. It's my source of everything. The breath that I breathe comes from God and that is my joy. So, I can have these circumstances like postpartum where it felt like continue on with the analogy that streambed dried up. It's like the depression built this dam between the feelings of happiness and yet that joy, the source was still bubbling and still there. From a neuroscience perspective, happiness and joy engage the brain in distinct but overlapping ways. Both emotions activate reward systems in the brain, but their triggers, durations, and neural pathways differ significantly. Happiness is often a fleeting emotional state triggered by external stimuli or achievements, like eating a favorite meal, receiving a compliment, or reaching a goal. The brain's happiness response is typically short-lived, subsiding once the rewarding experience ends or the novelty wears off. Joy is a deeper, more enduring emotional state that often arises from intrinsic sources, such as gratitude, faith, or connection with others. Unlike happiness, it does not rely solely on external circumstances. Joy is more sustainable than happiness because it is less tied to transient external factors and more rooted in internal states like faith, gratitude, and meaningful relationships. Happiness primarily relies on external stimuli and rewards, triggering immediate but temporary dopamine release Joy emerges from internal processes and deeper reflections, engaging serotonin pathways and regions involved in emotional and existential meaning. Happiness is short-term, as the brain’s reward circuitry adapts quickly to pleasurable stimuli (a phenomenon called hedonic adaptation). Joy is longer-lasting, supported by neural circuits linked to emotional regulation, contentment, and resilience. Happiness can be disrupted by stress, as the brain's focus shifts to managing perceived threats. Joy can coexist with stress, as it often stems from a sense of purpose or faith that provides emotional resilience during trials. Happiness happens to us while joy happens within us—fruit of the Spirit, a choice, endures hardships/sufferings. Happiness is a reaction but joy is a practice and a behavior, deliberate and intentional. In the Bible, happiness appears less than 30 times but joy appears hundreds of times. Counting it all joy when we face trials means we: experience God’s strength, feel the power of faith, hang on God’s powerful arm, and witness God’s work. When we “count it all joy” God proves himself faithful to produce steadfastness in our hearts. Scripture References: James 1:2-4, ESV “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And Let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” Esther 8:16, NIV “For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor.” Proverbs 23:25, NLT “So give your father and mother joy! May she who gave you birth be happy.” Psalm 92:4, NET “For you, O Lord, have made me happy by your work. I will sing for joy because of what you have done.” Isaiah 52:7, ESV and NASB “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” Psalm 32:1-2 NLT “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty! 2 Corinthians 12:10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Recommended Resources: Reframing Rejection: How Looking Through a Different Lens Changes Everything By Jessica Van Roekel Sacred Scars: Resting in God’s Promise That Your Past Is Not Wasted by Dr. Michelle Bengtson The Hem of His Garment: Reaching Out To God When Pain Overwhelms by Dr. Michelle Bengtson, winner AWSA 2024 Golden Scroll Christian Living Book of the Year and the 2024 Christian Literary Awards Reader’s Choice Award in the Christian Living and Non-Fiction categories YouVersion 5-Day Devotional Reaching Out To God When Pain Overwhelms Today is Going to be a Good Day: 90 Promises from God to Start Your Day Off Right by Dr. Michelle Bengtson, AWSA Member of the Year, winner of the AWSA 2023 Inspirational Gift Book of the Year Award, the 2024 Christian Literary Awards Reader’s Choice Award in the Devotional category, the 2023 Christian Literary Awards Reader’s Choice Award in four categories, and the Christian Literary Awards Henri Award for Devotionals YouVersion Devotional, Today is Going to be a Good Day version 1 YouVersion Devotional, Today is Going to be a Good Day version 2 Revive & Thrive Women’s Online Conference Revive & Thrive Summit 2 Trusting God through Cancer Summit 1 Trusting God through Cancer Summit 2 Breaking Anxiety’s Grip: How to Reclaim the Peace God Promises by Dr. Michelle Bengtson, winner of the AWSA 2020 Best Christian Living Book First Place, the first place winner for the Best Christian Living Book, the 2020 Carolina Christian Writer’s Conference Contest winner for nonfiction, and winner of the 2021 Christian Literary Award’s Reader’s Choice Award in all four categories for which it was nominated (Non-Fiction Victorious Living, Christian Living Day By Day, Inspirational Breaking Free and Testimonial Justified by Grace categories.) YouVersion Bible Reading Plan for Breaking Anxiety’s Grip Breaking Anxiety’s Grip Free Study Guide Free PDF Resource: How to Fight Fearful/Anxious Thoughts and Win Hope Prevails: Insights from a Doctor’s Personal Journey Through Depression by Dr. Michelle Bengtson, winner of the Christian Literary Award Henri and Reader’s Choice Award Hope Prevails Bible Study by Dr. Michelle Bengtson, winner of the Christian Literary Award Reader’s Choice Award Free Webinar: Help for When You’re Feeling Blue Social Media Links for Host and Guest: Connect with Jessica Van Roekel: Website / Instagram / Facebook For more hope, stay connected with Dr. Bengtson at: Order Book Sacred Scars / Order Book The Hem of His Garment / Order Book Today is Going to be a Good Day / Order Book Breaking Anxiety’s Grip / Order Book Hope Prevails / Website / Blog / Facebook / Twitter (@DrMBengtson) / LinkedIn / Instagram / Pinterest / YouTube / Podcast on Apple Co-Host: Jessica Van Roekel is a worship leader, speaker, and writer who believes that through Jesus, personal histories don’t need to define the present or determine the future. She inspires, encourages, and equips others to look at life through the lenses of hope, trust, and God’s transforming grace. Jessica lives in rural Iowa surrounded by wide open spaces which remind her of God’s expansive love. She loves fun earrings, good coffee, and connecting with others. Hosted By: Dr. Michelle Bengtson Audio Technical Support: Bryce Bengtson Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Deity of Christ Interpretations of the Bible Dishonor the Father, the Only True God If Jesus is God, then God the Father is not the one true God. The claim that “Jesus is God” becomes the main building block used by humans to construct a multi-person god. If Jesus is one member of a multi-person (or a Triune god) then the multi-person god is the one God, and the Father is not.  Mainstream Christians agree that there is one God.  “Weare monotheists. We believe in one God”. But for mainstream Christians, the one God is made up of three persons.   Either the Father, a singular self, is the one true God, or a multi-person god is the one God.  But if the Father is the one true God, then the claim that “Jesus is God” (that God is multi-persons) is an attempt to denigrate the only true God -- the Father. What deity of Christ and Trinitarian interpreters are doing is attempting to put another god on the face of and in the place of our God and Father.  The HIGH cost of any “deity of Christ” interpretations is an attempt to claim that the Father is not the one, the only true God.  Christians need to decide: who is your God. Either the Trinity, or the Father alone. Your God can't be both.For full text of the podcast, see here:https://landandbible.blogspot.com/2025/03/the-high-cost-of-deity-of-christ.html#deityofchrist, #biblicalunitarian, #billschlegel

Session 2 - The Water“Say to those with fearful hearts, Be Strong, do not fear; Your God will come…He will come to Save you!” - Is. 35:4

Session 2 - The Water“Say to those with fearful hearts, Be Strong, do not fear; Your God will come…He will come to Save you!” - Is. 35:4

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” — Isaiah 52:7 One day in 1987 the rain poured down as we made our way to a church workers meeting in a little chapel on Panay Island in the Philippines. The chapel was separated from the nearest road by a kilometer of rice fields. We took off our shoes and socks, rolled up our pantlegs, and walked across the fields on little dikes between the rice paddies. I was not skilled at this, and my foot slipped into a muddy paddy several times. The meeting was a monthly gathering for fellowship and mutual encouragement—and sometimes problem solving— for leaders from 10 churches on the island. It was a warm time of worship, sharing, and prayer. I won't forget the tasty sinuk mani (a sweet rice treat) served on banana leaves by the host church that day. Then we walked back across the rice fields. Soaked again with rain, I took a picture of my muddy feet. Later I sent copies, with Isaiah 52:7 written on them, to the churches that were supporting me. When we get involved in God's mission, muddy feet and rain-soaked clothes may be among the least of the challenges we face. But they won't measure up to the joys of sharing the good news and gathering for fellowship with believers in remote places. Where is God leading you to bring the good news? Thank you, Lord, for the joys of cross-cultural fellowship. Be with mission workers who may be struggling with cultural-adjustment challenges today. In Jesus, Amen.

Episode Title: Beauty In Unity*The Purposefully Fit Podcast is designed to inspire, motivate, and encourage you to pursue YOUR God-given passion purposefully.Visit Coach NikE's Website: IAmNikE.com

Years ago there was a wonderful little book written by J.B. Phillips called Your God is Too Small. It's what Martin Luther meant when he said to Erasmus in the 16th century, "Your God is too human [like]." The LORD Himself puts it like this in Isaiah 40:25, "To whom then will you compare me...?" (ESV) God is great, Westtown Church! Let's move Forward in Faith and celebrate our great God together!Support the show

Scripture - Luke 24:36-49  “What Is Written”.  Other scripture: Exodus 15:2,Isaiah 52:7, Psalm 27:1, 1 Chronicles 16:35  Our story today continues with the two disciples in the story, “Road to Emmaus” from last week who once they understood that it was Jesus they had been talking with, immediately returned to Jerusalem. Our story picks up after they have arrived back in Jerusalem and are with the others in a private, locked room when suddenly Jesus Himself is with them in the room and greets them, “Peace be with you!” Peace… The peace we receive from Jesus is life transforming. Peace or the Hebrew word, Shalom, means everything is right with the world because everything is right with God because when Jesus rose from the grave it shows that now everything is now right with God and with those who have repented and received Him by faith.  As those people with God's peace, we know that ALL things are going to work together for good, we know God has won the victory and that we will be part of His final triumph - so fear flees and peace comes! Back to the story: Jesus' sudden appearance startles them. He's supposed to be dead and defeated and yet here He is and He is no longer dead - He is not defeated, He is VICTORIOUS! Jesus shows them His hands and feet and eats with them and reminds them that everything written about Him in the books of the Law, the prophets and the psalms was fulfilled through Him. Then He opens their minds so they can understand the Scripture and they see who He truly is and how the scripture is all about Him.  Jesus' name means SALVATION - and all throughout scripture the One who saves is mentioned over and over - Jesus is the One who has become our Salvation. Jesus IS Salvation! In Hebrew the word for Jesus is the same word as the word for Salvation.  It's an interesting exercise to read scriptures replacing “Jesus” for the word “salvation.”  Examples: Psalm 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?  Becomes: The Lord is my light and my JESUS; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Exodus 15:2 The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. Becomes: “The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my JESUS. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. One more, Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Becomes: How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim JESUS, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Jesus is all over the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). It is not simply the prophetic words that predicted His coming, his death and His resurrection; it is not merely the historic events that mirrored who He would be and give us a picture of Him before He even came; it is not simply the promisee of the prophet's that Messiah would come - HIS NAME - Is everywhere! He is salvation!  Salvation and Jesus are the same Hebrew word. Wherever you read salvation it is Jesus! Now it will be impossible to miss it every time you read it! As our story continues, Jesus talks how the scriptures say He would suffer, die but rise again. He talks of how repentance for the forgiveness of sin would be preached in Jerusalem and then into the whole world, and he shares how they were witnesses to these things. He ends with the promise of the Holy Spirit. As we look at the New Testament - we can see for example that the story of Zacchaeus when Jesus said, “Today, Salvation has come to this house” that Jesus was probably speaking Hebrew (not Greek, the language the New Testament was written in) so what is translated “salvation” was most likely “Jesus” so it sounds like this: Jesus said, “Today, JESUS has come to this house!” Jesus is the name by which we are saved because Jesus IS Salvation! May we never stop speaking Jesus! May we never stop speaking salvation! What is written - is our Salvation What is written - Is the Name of Jesus! Our website –  https://www.awakeusnow.com Watch the video from our website! https://www.awakeusnow.com/2-year-study-of-the-gospels-upper Watch the video from our YouTube Channel!! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOzMkhPyiNWwlJRpV6Bwpu01 St. Luke's Account is part three of our Two Year Study of the Gospels. This book written by Luke, a non-Jew, offers a unique perspective into the story of Jesus' life. This study is great for large group, small group or home group study.

Unlock Your True Potential! In this episode, Reginald D breaks down the power of talent and how it connects to your life's purpose. Too often, we settle for what we can do instead of embracing what we're truly gifted at. Reginald D shares how identifying and developing your natural talents—just like elite athletes—can lead to success, fulfillment, and purpose-driven living.Stop doubting yourself. Start walking in your calling. Your God-given talent is the key to your breakthrough! Tune in now and step into your greatness.Send us a textSupport the showFor daily motivation and inspiration, subscribe and follow Real Talk With Reginald D on social media:Instagram: realtalkwithreginaldd TikTok: @realtalkregd Youtube: @realtalkwithreginald Facebook: realtalkwithreginaldd Twitter Real Talk With Reginald D (@realtalkRegD) / TwitterWebsite: Real Talk With Reginald D https://www.realtalkwithreginaldd.com Real Talk With Reginald D - Merchandise

February 1, 2025Today's Reading: Introit for Epiphany 4 - Psalm 10:16-18; antiphon: Psalm 10:12Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 11:4-17; 2 Timothy 4:1-18Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted. (Psalm 10:12)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Text of the Reflection Even though I forgot where my keys are for the 4th time this week, I'm pretty comfortable telling God He should do a better job remembering the afflicted. Especially when it's me. A little bit, it's because I'm a sinner. A little bit, I think it's how God wants it. He knows we forget. We forget our to-do lists. We forget to help each other. We forget to pray when things aren't falling apart. But when everything's a mess, it feels like God forgets us, too.   So God gives us this psalm to pray. It's a reflection on His character. The LORD hears us in our affliction. He strengthens our hearts. He does justice to the fatherless and the oppressed. His character isn't something the Psalmist worries about. Of course, God is good. Which is why it's easy to wonder if He forgot about us when nothing around us is as good as a good God should make it. Which is the real reason we pray this psalm.  It's an exercise in remembering. In calling to God, we can be sure He hears us and responds in mercy. He doesn't forget. But even in praying, we remember who He is. What He has already done. What He has promised to do. In the midst of all we forget, the character of God is the most important thing to remember, reflect upon, and call to mind and heart in the midst of trial.   The things that are falling apart? They are not things Your God has no care for. He loves you enough to die for you. The things falling apart? They are not bigger than your God. He has conquered death itself. And when we remember who He is and how He's done that, it gives hope to the mess. God destroyed death through a cross, not a day when nothing was wrong, but a day when everything was falling apart. God can and does work mercy for you even in the midst of all that's wrong. Just like Good Friday, things don't need to be apart from sin or disorder or fear for Him to save you. When it's all falling apart, remember who your God is, and remember He won't forget you.  In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The will of God is always best And shall be done forever; And they who trust in Him are blest; He will forsake them never. He helps indeed In time of need; He chastens with forbearing. They who depend On God, their friend, Shall not be left despairing. (LSB 758:1)-Rev. Harrison Goodman, content executive for Higher Things.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.What makes a church "good?" Come join the fictional family as they test out eight different churches in their brand-new town and answer this question along the way. Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? by Matthew Richard, now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Episode Title: We Gonna Be Alright *The Purposefully Fit Podcast is designed to inspire, motivate, and encourage you to pursue YOUR God-given passion purposefully. Visit Coach NikE's Website: IAmNikE.com

Stress comes in all different shapes and sizes, but whatever its cause, none of us was made to be under constant stress and yet, that's how many people are living. In a constant state of stress.  Well, it's time to do something about it.   A Stress Free Life? Stress. For most of us, that word sends a shiver down our spine, and why wouldn't it? Who wants to be under stress all the time? And that's what it feels like for a lot of us, so what is it? Well, it's a state of mental or emotional strain or tension, and my dictionary adds, "Resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances", although I'm not sure that's always the case. We'll explore some of the main causes of stress in this series, but first, what sort of impact is stress having on our world? Well, a recent study conducted in Australia by the Psychological Institute (and by the way, I'm sure you'd probably find the same results no matter where you live) ... Well, the study found some interesting things about the reach and impact of stress. Here are the headline findings: 12% of people reported experiencing levels of stress in the severe range, with young adults experiencing significantly higher levels of stress and significantly lower levels of wellbeing than the general population. One in three reported experiencing depressive symptoms, with ten percent of these being in the severe range. One in four reported experiencing anxiety, with nine percent of these in the severe range. Young adults, 18-25, reported significantly higher levels of anxiety and depression than the general population. Although women reported significantly higher levels of perceived stress than did men, this didn't lead to differences reported in their levels of anxiety, depression, or wellbeing. Those people experiencing family or recent relationship-breakdown and those separated reported much higher levels of stress and distress, on all measures. If the relationship-breakdown had occurred more than one year earlier, reported stress levels were about the same as the general population. In the US, things appear to be more extreme. Seventy-three percent of people regularly experience psychological symptoms caused by stress. Almost half say that stress has a negative impact on their personal or professional lives, and the cost to employers in stress-related healthcare and missed work is estimated, in the US, to be about three hundred billion dollars a year. No wonder we want a stress free life! That idyllic life by the beach is looking pretty good to a few of us at this point. Right? But that's just not realistic and in fact, the reality is that a bit of stress in our lives isn't a bad thing. We enjoy a challenge, for instance, and working under a bit of pressure sometimes produces really good results. It's like a guitar or a violin. If the strings aren't under the right amount of tension and stress, it just doesn't work the way it was meant to. I know for instance after a longish holiday, say three weeks off over Christmas, I'm really looking forward to getting back into the cut and thrust of work. If we had no pressure, no deadlines, life would be missing something; and in any case, sometimes we're hit by circumstances that put us under a lot of stress, whether we like it or not. Take Jesus. He experienced huge stress. Luke 22:39-46: He came out and went, as was His custom, to the Mount of Olives and the disciples followed Him. When He reached that place, He said to them, ‘Pray, that you may not come into a time of trial.' Then He withdrew from them, about a stone's throw away, knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done.' Then an angel from heaven appeared to Him and gave Him strength. In His anguish He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling down on the ground. When He got up from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping because of grief, and He said to them, ‘Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray, that you may not come into a time of trial.' The fact that Jesus' sweat was like drops of blood tells us just how severe His suffering was. This was stress, and it only got worse from here, as He was beaten and nailed to a cross. No, that completely stress free life isn't a reality for any of us. Even the rich and famous, in fact sometimes especially those people, suffer enormous amounts of stress. How many superstars have died from drug overdoses? What were they doing there in the first place? What drove them to drugs? The pressure and the stress of fame. So, sometimes stress is desirable; sometimes it's unavoidable, and sometimes we experience it because of our reaction to a particular person or set of circumstances, and yet the Bible says don't be anxious about anything (Philippians 4:6). So what sort of stress are you under right now? Is it the normal cut and thrust of life which, at the end of the day, you kind of enjoy anyhow? Then that's probably not such a bad thing, is it? It's manageable, and you know that with a few adjustments to your life, you could easily get things right under control. Then you're probably in a good balance, but if the stresses that you're under feel like a huge burden, like a heavy load that you're carrying around twenty-four by seven ... well ... that's not such a good thing. We're not made to be under that sort of constant pressure and stress, and yet many people live their lives like that. That's why we're kicking the year off with this series called, "Stress Busters" because God has a lot of things to say about how to alleviate the stress that you're under; lots of practical, powerful things to say. Hey, why should that be a surprise to any of us? God cares so deeply about you; what you're going through; what stress you're under, and the stepping off point for that is what Jesus said. We see it in Matthew 11:28-30. Jesus said: Come to Me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke of easy, and My burden is light. Jesus wants to lighten your load, so over these coming weeks, we're going to discover what He has to say about your stress, because Jesus didn't say this lightly. Jesus didn't say this flippantly. Jesus meant it – come to Me, all you who are weary and who are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Come on! Take My yoke upon you. Learn from Me. I'm gentle. I'm humble of heart, and with Me, you're going to find rest for your souls. Hey, that's a powerful thing, and that's why we're doing a series over these next few weeks called, "Stress Busters" because God wants to deal with the stress in your life.   Stress we Put Ourselves Under You and I have this habit of putting ourselves under pressure and stress needlessly. Don't believe me? Well, right now, we're going to chat about how we do that exactly, and what we can do about changing our habits, because there are more than enough things out there that are going to cause you and me stress, whether we like it or not. There are going to be situations and circumstances completely beyond our control that cause us stress: The loss of a loved one; a difficult boss at work; financial problems; health issues ... There are plenty of things out there that are going to come our way, whether we like it or not, that are going to cause us stress. So, why would we possibly want to needlessly cause ourselves stress? Well, right now, we're going to chat about the main three reasons that we cause ourselves stress. I'd be surprised if you don't recognise at least one of them in your life. The first one is physical. Sometimes we think of stress as an emotional thing, even a spiritual thing; and of course, it is those things, but the physical reality is that God has given you and me a body, and there are three main things that we do to abuse this amazing body that God has gifted us. We eat too much of the wrong stuff, we don't get enough sleep, and we don't get enough exercise. How many times have you heard someone (including me) banging on about our diet and exercise and sleep? And yet still the first and most obvious thing that we can get wrong when it comes to managing our stress is how we treat our body, so come on. If the hat fits, wear it. Are you sick of feeling tired? Are you sick of feeling bloated and stressed and exhausted? Then do something about it. Last year, we had a whole series on the programme called, "Healthy living to a Ripe Old Age" and all of those messages in that series are available in the Resources section of the ChristianityWorks.com website, under the heading of Health. Grab them, listen to them, read the transcripts and please, if you're struggling because you're not treating your body properly, do something about it. 1 Corinthians 6:19: For don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? God expects you and He expects me to look after this amazing body that He's given us, and when we do, let me tell you, our stress levels drop dramatically. The second thing that we do to put ourselves under stress needlessly is constantly second-guessing ourselves: Constantly telling ourselves, "I'm not good enough. I'm not fast enough. I'm not smart enough." You know what that's called? Low self-esteem, and it might surprise you to know that this is a trap that I too find quite easy to fall into. Shocked? Here's how it works for me. I'm something of an achiever. I drive hard at things; I work hard; I try to deliver on-time ... It's just who I am, and when you're that kind of person, you can see not only all the things that you have achieved, but all the things that you haven't yet achieved, and so you start telling yourself, "Come on! You're not working hard enough for God. You should be doing better for God. You should be getting up earlier and working longer and delivering sooner. You need to get more done. Look at all the things you haven't done yet! Oh, Berni, you're failing God." You see how easy it is to do? Or at the other end of the scale, perhaps you only ever see your inadequacies, because you're constantly comparing yourself to other people. Anyone recognise that? It's like that song by Casey Chambers. "Am I not pretty enough or smart enough or liked enough or strong enough or articulate enough or" ... so we find all these ways to put ourselves under enormous pressure, and cause ourselves huge stress by believing this nonsense that we're just not good enough. Have you been there? Then I have a word from God for you today. 1 Corinthians 12:4-7: Now there are a variety of gifts, but the same Spirit; there are a variety of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each one, He has given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. Did you get that? Each one of us has been given a particular set of gifts and abilities. They're all different, but they're given by the one God; and the gifts He's given you, He's given you by His sovereign will and choice. You are who you are because He made you that way. He didn't make a mistake. You're exactly who God purposed you and made you to be. Get your heart around that, and you're set free from this nonsense of, "Am I not pretty enough? Am I not good enough for God?" Hello? Is anyone listening to this? I for one need constant reminding of this stuff, because I can end up stressing out by having a wrong view of who I am. It's about trading in your self-image for a faith-image from God, and this God says that you're beautiful, and that you're just who you're meant to be. So you've been given gifts by God now to be that person, and to use those gifts. Hallelujah! And finally, the third thing that causes us needlessly to put ourselves under stress is not letting go of the past. So many people are still holding onto the failures and the hurts and the regrets of the past. How many people are living under the reproach of the past? Come on, the past is the past. You and I can't change it, and God is in the business of setting us free from it. Mark this. Before Israel was able to cross over the Jordan River and enter into the promised land, God dealt with their past. Joshua 5:9: The LORD said to Joshua, ‘Today I have rolled away from you the reproach of the past, the disgrace of Egypt.' And so that place is called Gilgal to this day. You've heard that saying, "Don't cry over spilt milk." Right? Yes, wipe it up. Yes, clean up the mess. Yes, learn from your mistakes so that you won't spill the milk again, but don't just stand there and wish you hadn't spilt the milk, and spend the rest of your life living in that one moment of failure, because you can't un-spill the milk. That just doesn't make sense. This Jesus came to set you free from the past, to bind up your broken heart, to give you a vision for the future, a new set of eyes to see, a new set of ears to hear, and a new life to live. Jesus came to lift the reproach of the past off your shoulders, so that it won't cause you any more stress. Come on. There are enough things out there for you to stress out over without your health, without these false feelings of inadequacy, and without your hurts from the past doing it all for you. Do you think?   The Stress of not Enough It seems to me that there are three basic resources that you and I need to get by each day: Time, money, and expertise; and when we're short of any of those three basic resources – time, money, or expertise, that can cause us enormous amounts of stress. Let's start by looking at time. I don't know when the term time-poor started to fall into common usage, but these days, you hear it a lot. People are time-poor. In fact, once you have enough money to cover the basics in your life, time becomes an even more valuable commodity than money, and for many people, time is way too short. ‘If only I had a few extra hours in every day!' I've heard people say. Really? The more affluent we become, the more options we have for spending our time. Take social media. Right at the moment, eleven percent of the world's population are active Facebook-users. Just think about that for a minute, and they are collectively spending seven hundred billion minutes on Facebook each month. That's 1.33 million person-years every month on Facebook, and that doesn't count watching TV and all the other entertainment options available to us. No wonder we're time-poor! So what's changed? Why have we, all of a sudden, become time-poor? ‘Cos we're trying to cram too much into our day. We're always connected. We're always working and chatting, and we've forgotten how to have disconnected, quiet down-time. If that's you, if you're burning the candle at both ends, something has to give, otherwise the stress is going to kill you. Really, and in case you're one of these workaholics, who just has to work eighteen hours a day otherwise civilisation as we know it is going to come to an end, here's a different perspective – God's perspective. Psalm 127:1-2: Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labour in vain. Unless the LORD guards the city, the guards keep watch in vain. It's in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil, for God gives sleep to His beloved. It's simply not God's plan for you to live like that, and I've recorded a whole series of messages on that called "It's Time to Stop Labouring in Vain". You'll find it in the Resources section of our website, ChristianityWorks.com. Now the second thing that causes us stress is a lack of money. Sometimes that's because people simply don't have enough money to get by, but sometimes, it's because we squander the money that we do have on impulse buys or on things we don't need; on food that we bought, and then because of our bad management, it goes off in the fridge, so we throw it out. I want to deal with wastage first because that's criminal. With people starving in the world, wasting money on stuff that we just don't need is criminal, but the problem is that advertisers have it down to a fine art. They seem to be able to get us to part with our money like nothing else, so the question you have to ask yourself, the thing that's going to get you to change your mind, is whether the stress of this is worth it; whether having all those things makes you happy or, at the end of the day, makes you stressed. 1 Timothy 6:9-10: Those who want to be rich end up falling into temptation, and they're trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich, some have wandered away from their faith and pierced themselves with many pains. So ask yourself, "Is it really worth it for me? Really?" Or is it time to get your house in order? Is it time to get money-wise? And again, I've recorded a whole series called, "How to be Money-Wise" that you'll find in the Living in Victory section of the Resources library at ChristianityWorks.com. Sort that out, and the stress goes away. Believe you me, it's worth it. And for those who are poor, desperately poor, let me say this to you: In fact not me, but Jesus. Matthew 6:31-33: Don't worry, saying, ‘What am I going to eat?' or, ‘What am I going to drink?' or, ‘What am I going to wear?' For it's the Gentiles who strive after all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father already knows that you need them all. But strive first for the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. God knows what you need, and He will provide it for you. So, Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. But in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. Your God will surely provide for you, and once you learn to trust Him to do the things you can't do and provide the things that you need that you can't acquire for yourself, the stress will be replaced by the most amazing peace and assurance. Finally, the other thing that causes us stress when we're without it is expertise. When I look at the ministry of ChristianityWorks that produces these radio-programmes, ok, I'm the front guy; you hear my voice, but without Max on the opposite side of the glass here in the studio and our dedicated team around the world, there simply wouldn't be any radio-programmes. One of the biggest things that you and I can do to cause ourselves stress is not to value and recognise the different abilities and capabilities of the people around us because when we don't cherish them, they desert us. I see this all the time: Leaders who think everybody should be exactly like them, so they drive their people hard and all of a sudden, there's no one left to lead. A true leader recognises other people's gifts and abilities. A true leader encourages and empowers people to be all that they can be, and whether we're leaders or not, we need other people around us who will co-operate in getting things done; because without them, we are going to be under stress with a capital S; because without them, we have to do the things that they're good at, and those things are invariably stuff that we're not good at. There's something incredibly stressful about being a square peg in a round hole. If I had to do Max's job here in the studio, I couldn't do it, and I've tried to get Max on the other side of the glass in front of the microphone, and he's not real keen on that either; because that's not his gig, just as much as what he does is not my gig. It's easy to be stressed by not having enough: Enough time, enough money, or enough expertise. But when we lean on God – hey; when we really trust in Him (come on, really), the stress starts to go away because what we discover is that God provides richly for those whom He loves. He just does. So if you're struggling under the stress of not enough, listen again, please, to this passage from Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the LORD with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding. In other words, don't look at the problem and keep turning the problem over in your mind, and just seeing the problem which then appears to be bigger than God. Instead, trust in the LORD with all your heart! Don't lean on your own understanding. And in all your ways acknowledge Him, and God will straighten out your paths. God will make it happen. God loves you. Do you get that? God absolutely loves you, and often we are going to be confronted with things that are much bigger than us. Pressure is different from stress. Pressure is out there; stress is our reaction to it, and God doesn't want you stressing out.

Your God is able to do immeasurably more than you can ever know...

Your God is able to do immeasurably more than you can ever know...

Istrouma Baptist Church (BR) Jan 19, 2025 ========== January 19 - Daniel Welcome! We're glad you've joined us today for our Sunday morning worship service! For more information about Istrouma, go to istrouma.org or contact us at info@istrouma.org. We glorify God by making disciples of all nations. ========== Connection Card https://istrouma.org/myinfo January 19, 2025 - Tim Keith ‭‭Daniel‬ ‭2‬:‭47‬-‭49‬‬ The king said to Daniel, “Your God is indeed God of gods, Lord of kings,  and a revealer of mysteries,  since you were able to reveal this mystery.” Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many generous gifts. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon.  At Daniel's request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego  to manage the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king's court. ‭‭James‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭30‬‬ Not many should become teachers, my brothers,  because you know that we will receive a stricter judgment.  For we all stumble in many ways.  If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is mature, able also to control the whole body.  Now if we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us,  we direct their whole bodies. And consider ships: Though very large and driven by fierce winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So too, though the tongue is a small part of the body, it boasts great things.  Consider how a small fire sets ablaze a large forest. And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed  among our members. It stains the whole body,  sets the course of life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. Every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and fish is tamed and has been tamed by humankind, but no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in God's likeness.  Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way. Does a spring pour out sweet and bitter water from the same opening? Can a fig tree produce olives, my brothers and sisters, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a saltwater spring yield fresh water. Who among you is wise and understanding? By his good conduct he should show that his works are done in the gentleness that comes from wisdom.  But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, don't boast and deny the truth.  Such wisdom does not come down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.  For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without pretense.  And the fruit of righteousness  is sown in peace by those who cultivate peace. Want to receive weekly announcements in your inbox each week? https://istrouma.org/email I know God is able. V.17 - "He is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire" I believe God will rescue. V.17 - "He will rescue us from the power of you, the king" I will trust Him no matter what. v.18 – “but even if He does not rescue us… we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.” Give Online Text ISTROUMA IBC to 73256 or go to: https://istrouma.org/give Our Website https://istrouma.org

A Sermon for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany Romans 12:6-16 & St. Mark 1:1-11 by William Klock The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, God's son.   With those words, Mark launches into telling the story of Jesus.  It's gospel.  It's good news.  Good news as in “Ding, dong, the witch is dead!”  Good news as in “Aslan is on the move.”  Good news as in the war is over and now we'll know peace.  Good news as in the old tyrant has been run out and a new, good king has taken his place.  That's what good news means.  Everything has changed because of it and life will never be the same.  Good news stand in contrast to good advice.  Try the new burrito place.  Go for a walk on the new trail.  Buy a Honda.  Maybe.  Probably.  But none of the burrito place, the trail, the Honda won't change your life, let alone the world.  Good advice?  You can take it or leave it.  Good news?  Good news can't be ignored. And this good news, says Mark, isn't any old good news.  It's bigger than “the war is over”.  It's bigger than Caesar has defeated his rivals.  This is the good news that in Jesus the promised and long-awaited Messiah has come.  And, Mark adds, that he's the son of God.  To Jews that meant something different than it does to most of us.  To us it sounds like a statement of Jesus divinity.  But for Jews—well—“son of God” was Israel's title—one the Lord had given them when he demanded Pharaoh let them go, one that he'd given them again at Mount Sinai.  So Mark's announcement is that Jesus has come to represent his people.  That's what king's do.  And Jesus is the Messiah—God's anointed King. So right at the outset Mark tells us that this good news is the story of the Messiah, the King, who has come defeat the enemies of his people and to set everything wrong to right.  This good news is that the King has come and so has his kingdom and because of that, everything has changed.  And because of that both Israel and the gentile nations face a choice: Will they come in faith to the king and give him their allegiance or will they stand as enemies of his kingdom? Centuries before, the prophet Isaiah declared, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace…happiness…salvation…who announces…“Your God reigns.”  When St. Mark thought of those beautiful feet he thought of John the Baptist.  He quotes another passage from Isaiah—one about the Lord sending a messenger to prepare his way.  And he quotes the Prophet Micah, too: “A shout goes up in the desert.  Make way for the Lord!  Prepare the way for him!” That was John.  John had been sent to prepare Israel.  The Lord had heard their cries, as he'd heard them crying out from Egypt and from Babylon.  And he was coming to visit and to deliver again—this time once and for all.  The world was going to change forever.  And so, says Mark, John led the people out into the desert, to the banks of the Jordan River, and summoned them to be baptised as an act of repentance and a sign of forgiveness.  Picture  John, out in the desert, on the banks of the Jordan with all those people.  It was a prophetic reenactment of the crossing of the Red Sea.  And as so many people do when they're sure the Lord is drawing near, the people confessed their sins.  And John baptised them.  Because they knew the God of Israel was about to do something amazing.  He was about to fulfil his promises. The new exodus had begun.  And lest the people think that it was John who would lead them in this new exodus, he also announced: After me comes one who is greater than I.  I'm not worthy to kneel down to untie his sandals.  I've plunged you into the water.  He's going to plunge you into the Holy Spirit. And there it is.  That, Brothers and Sisters, changes everything.  Picture Israel again in the desert, their tents pitched in neat formation around the tabernacle.  Picture the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night at the centre of the camp.  Picture the cloud of his glory resting on the ark in the holy of holies.  God in the midst of his people.  But now John points to something even greater.  Instead of God living in our midst, but living over there in the tabernacle—and, more particularly, in the holy of holies where none of us can actually go because we're not holy enough, God is now coming to live not just in our midst, but inside us.  As St. Peter writes, he's building a new temple for himself and we ourselves are the blocks of stone he's carefully cut and carefully fitted together.  In the first Exodus, the Lord took his people through the water, he gave them a law written on stone tablets, and he gave them priests to tell them to do it.  And most of the time they weren't particularly good at living out that law.  But in this new exodus, Jesus leads us not only through the water, but in doing so he plunges us into his own Holy Spirit.  Instead of giving us the law on tablets of stone the Spirit writes God's law on our hearts so that it's not only internal, but so that we'll actually be in love with it and motivated by it and want to do it—that's the significance of it being written on our hearts.  And so we don't anymore need priests urging us to do it, because we'll have the Lord's Spirit himself in us, making his desires our desires as we steep ourselves in his word. This was the baptism Israel so desperately needed.  And so it was a surprise to John when Jesus came to him and asked to be baptised.  Jesus didn't need to repent.  But as the King, as the representative of his people, he did need to go before his people—to lead where they would follow.  And so John agreed and Mark then writes in verses 10-11: Immediately, as [Jesus] was getting out of the water, he saw the heavens open, and the Spirit coming down like a dove onto him.  Then there came a voice, out of the heavens, “You are my son!  You are the one I love!  I am pleased with you!”   Another epiphany!  For Jesus this was divine confirmation that he was who he'd come to believe he was.  It confirmed the words of the angel to Mary and to Joseph, it confirmed the song the angels sang to the shepherds, it confirmed the prophetic words of Simeon and Anna, and it confirmed the worship and the gifts of the magi.  It was an epiphany for John, too.  Jesus really was the Messiah he'd been sent to announce.  And it was an epiphany for the crowd, for the people of Israel.  In Jesus, the God of Israel was truly visiting his people.  As surely as John had plunged them into the water, this Jesus would plunge them into God's Spirit—and when that happened, nothing would ever be the same again. For that brief moment, Mark says, the heavens were torn open and Jesus, John, and everyone else there had a glimpse of what was to come—of the kingdom, of God's new age, of new creation.  It was like getting a glimpse into the closest where your mom had all the Christmas presents stored away—and you catch your breath and you get excited to think of what's to come when the time is right to bring it all out.  Like Christmas morning—but Christmas morning is just a dim comparison—this was a glimpse of God's coming kingdom—heaven come to earth—finally! Brothers and Sisters, consider that the church—redeemed by Jesus and plunged into the Spirit—the church is now—or it should be—we are now that vision into heaven, we're now that little pocket of God's new age, his new creation—his future right here in the present.  We're God's new age in the midst of the old.  That, I think, is why the men who selected our lessons for the Epistles and Gospels put today's Gospel from Mark with our Epistle from Romans 12.  Paul doesn't put it quite this way, but what he describes in the Epistle is what it means to be on-earth-as-in-heaven people. Today's Epistle begins at verse 6, but I want to back up a few verses.  (We would have read verses 1-5 last week if we hadn't shifted our observance of the Epiphany to Sunday.)  Paul starts out appealing to the Christians in Rome to offer their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.  Why?  Because that kind of worship, he writes, is what line's our minds up with God's.  It's a commitment to live as light in the midst of darkness.  It's a commitment to live as the people of God's new age in the midst of the old.  So he goes on in verse 3: “What's more, don't let yourselves be squeezed into the shape dictated by the present age.  Instead, be transformed by the renewing or your minds, so that you can work out what God's will is—what is good, acceptable, and perfect.” Brothers and Sisters, be the people of heaven who have been plunged into the Holy Spirit.  Be the people who embody God's new world in the middle of the old one—because it glorifies God and because it witnesses his goodness and his faithfulness to everyone around us.  And what does that look like?  It's going to be different in different circumstances.  This is something we have to work out for ourselves, but Paul shows us that we're to work it out in light of what Jesus has done for us.  The Romans were struggling to be united.  Jewish and Gentile believers were turning away from each other and in doing that they were living like people of the old age, not the new.  So Paul writes to them: “As in one body we have many limbs and organs, you see, and all the parts have different functions, so we, many as we are, are one body in the Messiah, and individually we belong to one another.”  We can't be the church Jesus has called us to be if we don't offer ourselves humbly to each other.  Brothers and Sisters, what Jesus has done for us, we do for each other.  So, for example, think of the gifts that the Spirit gives us.  Paul writes starting in verse 6: We have gifts that differ in accordance with the grace that has been given to us, and we must us them appropriately.  If it is prophecy, we must prophesy according to the pattern of faith.  If it is serving, we must work at our serving; if teaching, at our teaching; if exhortation, at our exhortation; if giving, with generosity; if leading, with energy; if doing acts of kindness, with cheerfulness. The list could go on and on and on, but this is enough for Paul to make his point.  The Spirit has worked in us—sometimes working with our natural gifts and abilities and sometimes giving us gifts we don't naturally have—and he's brought us together like a body.  Each of us has an essential part to play.  Arms and legs, hands and feet, eyes and ears, hearts and voice all working together towards one gospel purpose.  Think of Peter's illustration again of the temple not made with hands, a temple with each stone carefully cut by the Spirit for a unique spot, and all of them—all of us—assembled together with Jesus as our cornerstone.  If we don't all do the part we've been given and equipped to do, the body can't function, the temple falls apart. The prophet must prophesy and the teacher must teach.  The server must serve and the exhorter must exhort.  The leader must lead, the giver must give, and the doer must do—with cheerfulness and everything according to the pattern of faith.  In other words, remember that it's all gospel work rooted in Jesus and the Spirit and the amazing, loving, gracious, and merciful work he has done in us.  Sometimes we forget the gospel as we work and the work becomes a chore and a burden.  There are all sorts of things in ministry that can be discouraging and we can be tempted to give up.  And so Paul reminds us to keep our eyes on the gospel—on the good news that the king has come, that he has made us part of his kingdom, and that we have the joyful privilege of being his stewards and heralds. But there's more to life together than spiritual gifts.  Elsewhere Paul writes about the fruit that the Spirit causes to grow in us.  In other places he talks about being conformed to the mind of the Messiah.  There are lots of ways we can describe the Christian life as we live it out together, but ultimately what we need to recognise is that being in Jesus and the Spirit changes us and living as changed people is part of being kingdom people.  Think again about being a little kid and getting a glimpse into the closet where the presents are stored until Christmas morning.  When the world looks at us—as individual Christians but even more important, as the church, as a group of Christians living together—it should be like seeing that closet full of Christmas presents.  Except in our case, it's not a bunch of nicely wrapped packages; it's a glimpse of God's new creation—of his world set to rights.  Seeing the church ought to make people eager to be part of God's new age.  Seeing us should make them long for Jesus and the Spirit too.  So Paul goes on in verse 9: Love must be real.  Hate what is evil; stick fast to what is good.  Be truly affectionate in showing love for one another; compete with each other in giving mutual respect.  Don't get tired of working hard.  Be on fire with the Spirit.  Work as slaves for the Lord.  Celebrate your hope; be patient in suffering; give constant energy to prayer; contribute to the needs of God's people; make sure you are hospitable to strangers.   Bless those who persecute you; bless them, don't curse them.  Celebrate with those who are celebrating; Mourn with the mourners.  Come to the same mind with one another.  Don't give yourselves airs, but associate with the humble.  Don't be wise in your own sight.   We don't have time to cover each of these in detail, but again think of them in terms of giving the world a glimpse of Jesus and the kingdom.  We've seen real love in Jesus.  In him we've seen what it looks like to abhor evil and hold fast to good.  In him we get a sense of what it looks like to show honour to others rather than grabbing it all for ourselves.  We see in him what humility and lowliness toward others look like.  We—especially Gentile believers—have seen what Jesus' hospitality looks like as he welcomes us in to Abraham's family.  In Jesus we've seen the greatest example ever of what it looks like to bless those who persecute us.  And Paul ends this list in verse 21, writing, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Brothers and Sisters, this is what it looks like to be faithful stewards of the grace of God and heralds of the gospel.  This is what it looks like to live the life Jesus has given us.  This is what it looks like to be people who have been plunged into the Holy Spirit.  This is what it looks like to be the new Israel, rescued from our bondage to sin and death and given hope for a new life.  We love each other as Jesus has loved us and as he specially equipped us to love, and as we do so we show our love for him, because in loving each other we are loving the people whom Jesus loves.  But it's not just the Church we love.  Jesus was sent to redeem because “God so loved the world”.  We witness what love looks like as we love each other, but we also witness the love of God as we give ourselves for the sake of the world, as we give ourselves to be light in the darkness—even when the darkness is hostile and seeks to snuff us out.  In Jesus, God overcame evil with good and we are called to be his witnesses by doing the same.  And so let us proclaim the good news: Repent, for the kingdom of God has come.  But let's also show the world that this is good news, not just good advice.  Let's ourselves live in light of the knowledge that Jesus and the Spirit have changed everything.  Let us be heaven-on-earth people so that when the world looks at the church, it sees heaven torn open, so that it has a glimpse of God's new creation.  May the life of the church, redeemed by Jesus and filled with the Spirit, cause everyone around us to give glory to God. Let us pray: Heavenly Father, in the baptism of Jesus you revealed him to be your Son and you anointed him with the Holy Spirit.  May we who are born again of that same water and Spirit, we ask, be faithful to our calling as your children by grace, living and manifesting in our lives the love and mercy you have shown to us as we proclaim your kingdom.  We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

A new MP3 sermon from Vineland Free Reformed Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Funeral Arisje Kuiper - Comfort Ye My People, saith Your God Speaker: Rev. Pieter VanderMeyden Broadcaster: Vineland Free Reformed Church Event: Funeral Service Date: 1/16/2025 Bible: Isaiah 40:1-11 Length: 79 min.

It's Thursday, January 16th, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 125 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Jonathan Clark and Adam McManus Top 10 worst countries for persecution of Christians Open Doors US released their 2025 World Watch List yesterday. The report covers the 50 worst countries for the persecution of Christians. The ten worst countries are North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Eritrea, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. Once again, North Korea tops the list for a 23rd year in a row. The report found 380 million Christians face high levels of persecution. That's one in seven believers worldwide. From October 2023 to September 2024, 4,476 Christians were killed for their faith, 4,744 Christians were detained, arrested, or sentenced for their faith, and 209,771 Christians were forced to leave their homes.   Hebrews 13:3 says, “Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also.” Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage exchange Israel and Hamas reportedly agreed to a ceasefire yesterday brokered by America, Egypt, and Qatar.  If successfully completed, the agreement would end 15 months of fighting.  The deal would begin with Hamas releasing 33 hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. The agreement also involves more humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip. Both President Joe Biden's administration and President-elect Donald Trump's team cooperated in making the agreement.  Biden removes Cuba from list of state sponsors of terrorism In other international news, President Biden announced that the United States would remove Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. It's one of Biden's last official acts before Trump takes office next Monday. However, the Trump administration may reverse the decision.  At this moment, Cuba has promised to release 553 prisoners, likely including people imprisoned during anti-government protests in 2021.  The agreement was brokered by the Catholic Church to secure the release of political prisoners.  Vatican's approval of sexual perversion Speaking of the Catholic Church, the Vatican approved a document in favor of sexually perverted lifestyles. The Italian Bishops' Conference published the document last Friday.  The provisions allow candidates for priesthood to have “homosexual tendencies.” However, priests are still required to live in celibacy.  Proverbs 25:26 says, “Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.” Biden awarded Pope Francis Presidential Medal of Freedom President Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom with distinction to Pope Francis on Saturday.  It's the highest civilian award of the United States, and it's the first time Biden awarded the medal “with distinction.” The White House praised Pope Francis as being “unlike any who came before.” However, Fox News notes, “Francis, 88, has pushed to open the Church to the modern world since he took the helm in 2013. He has drawn criticism from some U.S. Catholics for his support of … positions that are contrary to Church teachings.” Marco Rubio: Emphasizing “national interest above all else is not isolationism.” Yesterday, Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, whom Trump has nominated to be his Secretary of State, outlined his vision before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, reports CBS News. RUBIO: “We are once again called to create a free world out of the chaos. And this will not be easy. And it will be impossible without a strong and a confident America that engages in the world, putting our core national interests once again above all else. In Moscow, in Tehran, in Pyongyang, dictators, rogue states now sow chaos and instability and align with and they fund radical terror groups. And then they hide behind their veto power at the United Nations Security Council or the threats of nuclear war. “The post war global order is not just obsolete. It is now a weapon being used against us. Placing our core national interest above all else is not isolationism. It is the common sense realization that a foreign policy centered in our national interest is not some outdated relic.” Ted Cruz asked Trump's Attorney General, Pam Bondi, pick whether she would be fair In addition, Pam Bondi, the former Florida Attorney General, also appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee   She  vowed to end the weaponization of the Justice Department, saying her focus will be on reducing crime and upholding the law, reports CBS News. Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas opened his time this way. CRUZ: “I don't know that there is a more important position in this new administration than the position to which you have been nominated, Attorney General of the United States. Perhaps the most tragic legacy of the Biden-Harris administration has been the politicization and the weaponization of the United States Department of Justice. Joe Biden publicly mused and allowed the New York Times to report it, calling on Merrick Garland: ‘Why will he not prosecute Trump more quickly?'  Merrick Garland, sadly, he sat in that chair and promised to be apolitical, and he broke that promise almost the instant he walked into the Department of Justice. “If you look on the west pediment of the Supreme Court of the United States, just above the entrance, there's a simple, yet profound, four word phrase: ‘Equal justice under law.'  We have seen over the last four years a Department of Justice that systematically targeted the political opponents of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and that systematically protected his friends and allies. I don't think there's an institution in America who has lost more respect from the American people than the FBI has in the last four years. “So, I want to start with just a very simple question, if you, [Pam Bondi], are confirmed as Attorney General, will you pledge to fairly and faithfully uphold the law regardless of party?” BONDI: “So help me, God!” CRUZ: “Amen. I want to be clear for folks at home, I don't want a Republican Department of Justice. I don't want a Democrat Department of Justice. I want a Department of Justice that follows the law, and I think the American people do too. That shouldn't be too much to expect.” Trump plans to create the External Revenue Service President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he plans to create a new agency to collect tariffs from foreign sources. He began by criticizing the Internal Revenue Service on Truth Social. He wrote, “For far too long, we have relied on taxing our Great People using the Internal Revenue Service.  … Through soft and pathetically weak Trade agreements, the American Economy has delivered growth and prosperity to the World, while taxing ourselves.”  Trump went on to say, “It is time for that to change. I am today announcing that I will create the EXTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE to collect our Tariffs, Duties, and all Revenue that come from Foreign sources.” 935 languages still need a Bible translation And finally, Wycliffe Global Alliance has published their 2024 Global Scripture Access Report. The report notes that there are 7,396 languages in the world spoken by at least 7.45 billion people. Currently, 756 languages have full Bibles, an increase of 20 languages from 2023. About 10% of all languages now have full Bibles, accounting for 6 billion people.   Additionally, the number of languages needing Bible translation to start is 985, down 283 from 2023. The total number of languages with at least some portion of Scripture has reached 3,756. That's about half of all languages and accounts for 7.3 billion people.  Isaiah 52:7 says, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.'” Close And that's The Worldview on this Thursday, January 16th, in the year of our Lord 2025. Subscribe by Amazon Music or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

Episode Title: Stepping Into Your Spacious Place *The Purposefully Fit Podcast is designed to inspire, motivate, and encourage you to pursue YOUR God-given passion purposefully. Visit Coach NikE's Website: IAmNikE.com

Discover the profound significance of prioritizing Jesus in our lives in the latest episode of Ministry Minute, titled "Who is Your God?" Join us as we explore the transformative power of faith and the gift of salvation that is available to everyone. Let us reflect on our relationship with God and the impact it has on our daily lives. #MinistryMinute #FaithJourney #Salvation

Support Common Prayer Daily @ PatreonVisit our Website for more www.commonprayerdaily.com_______________Opening Words:I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.Isaiah 49:6b Confession:Let us humbly confess our sins unto Almighty God. Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen. Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen. The InvitatoryLord, open our lips.And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Alleluia. Psalm 95:1-7The Lord has shown forth his glory: Come let us adore him.Come, let us sing to the Lord; *let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving *and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.For the Lord is a great God, *and a great King above all gods.In his hand are the caverns of the earth, *and the heights of the hills are his also.The sea is his, for he made it, *and his hands have molded the dry land.Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, *and kneel before the Lord our Maker.For he is our God,and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!The Lord has shown forth his glory: Come let us adore him. The PsalterPsalm 461God is our refuge and strength, *a very present help in trouble.2Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved, *and though the mountains be toppled into the depths of the sea;3Though its waters rage and foam, *and though the mountains tremble at its tumult.4The Lord of hosts is with us; *the God of Jacob is our stronghold.5There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, *the holy habitation of the Most High.6God is in the midst of her;she shall not be overthrown; *God shall help her at the break of day.7The nations make much ado, and the kingdoms are shaken; *God has spoken, and the earth shall melt away.8The Lord of hosts is with us; *the God of Jacob is our stronghold.9Come now and look upon the works of the Lord, *what awesome things he has done on earth.10It is he who makes war to cease in all the world; *he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear,and burns the shields with fire.11“Be still, then, and know that I am God; *I will be exalted among the nations;I will be exalted in the earth.”12The Lord of hosts is with us; *the God of Jacob is our stronghold. Psalm 971The Lord is King;let the earth rejoice; *let the multitude of the isles be glad.2Clouds and darkness are round about him, *righteousness and justice are the foundations of his throne.3A fire goes before him *and burns up his enemies on every side.4His lightnings light up the world; *the earth sees it and is afraid.5The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord, *at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.6The heavens declare his righteousness, *and all the peoples see his glory.7Confounded be all who worship carved imagesand delight in false gods! *Bow down before him, all you gods.8Zion hears and is glad, and the cities of Judah rejoice, *because of your judgments, O Lord.9For you are the Lord,most high over all the earth; *you are exalted far above all gods.10The Lord loves those who hate evil; *he preserves the lives of his saintsand delivers them from the hand of the wicked.11Light has sprung up for the righteous, *and joyful gladness for those who are truehearted.12Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, *and give thanks to his holy Name. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. LessonsIsa. 52:7-10A Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah.How beautiful upon the mountains        are the feet of him who brings good news,    who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,        who publishes salvation,        who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”    The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice;        together they sing for joy;    for eye to eye they see        the return of the Lord to Zion.    Break forth together into singing,        you waste places of Jerusalem,    for the Lord has comforted his people;        he has redeemed Jerusalem.    The Lord has bared his holy arm        before the eyes of all the nations,    and all the ends of the earth shall see        the salvation of our God. The Word of the Lord.Thanks Be To God. Te Deum laudamusYou are God: we praise you;You are the Lord: we acclaim you;You are the eternal Father:All creation worships you.To you all angels, all the powers of heaven, Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,heaven and earth are full of your glory.The glorious company of apostles praise you.The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.The white-robed army of martyrs praise you. Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you;Father, of majesty unbounded,your true and only Son, worthy of all worship, and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.You, Christ, are the king of glory, the eternal Son of the Father.When you became man to set us free you did not shun the Virgin's womb. You overcame the sting of deathand opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. You are seated at God's right hand in glory.We believe that you will come and be our judge.Come then, Lord, and help your people, bought with the price of your own blood, and bring us with your saintsto glory everlasting. Revelation 21:22-27A Reading from the Book of Revelation.And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. The Word of the Lord.Thanks Be To God. Matt. 12:14-21A Reading from the Gospel According to Matthew.But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.  Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:    “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,        my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.    I will put my Spirit upon him,        and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.    He will not quarrel or cry aloud,        nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;    a bruised reed he will not break,        and a smoldering wick he will not quench,    until he brings justice to victory;    and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”The Word of the Lord.Thanks Be To God. Benedictus Dominus DeusBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; * he has come to his people and set them free.He has raised up for us a mighty savior, * born of the house of his servant David.Through his holy prophets he promised of old, that he would save us from our enemies, * from the hands of all who hate us. He promised to show mercy to our fathers * and to remember his holy covenant. This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham, * to set us free from the hands of our enemies, Free to worship him without fear, * holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, * for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, To give his people knowledge of salvation * by the forgiveness of their sins.In the tender compassion of our God * the dawn from on high shall break upon us, To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, * and to guide our feet into the way of peace.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. The Apostles CreedI believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. The PrayersThe Lord be with you.And also with you.Let us pray.Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. Suffrages AV. Show us your mercy, O Lord;R. And grant us your salvation.V. Clothe your ministers with righteousness; R. Let your people sing with joy.V. Give peace, O Lord, in all the world;R. For only in you can we live in safety. V. Lord, keep this nation under your care;R. And guide us in the way of justice and truth.V. Let your way be known upon earth;R. Your saving health among all nations.V. Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;R. Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.V. Create in us clean hearts, O God;R. And sustain us with your Holy Spirit.   The CollectsCollect of the DayO God, by the leading of a star you manifested your only Son to the Peoples of the earth: Lead us, who know you now by faith, to your presence, where we may see your glory face to face; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Daily Collects:A Collect for PeaceO God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.A Collect for GraceO Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, you have brought us safely to the beginning of this day: Defend us by your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin nor run into any danger; and that, guided by your Spirit, we may do what is righteous in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Take a moment of silence at this time to reflect and pray for others. Collect of Saint BasilO Christ God, Who art worshipped and glorified at every place and time; Who art long-suffering, most merciful and compassionate; Who lovest the righteous and art merciful to sinners; Who callest all to salvation with the promise of good things to come: receive, Lord, the prayers we now offer, and direct our lives in the way of Thy commandments. Sanctify our souls, cleanse our bodies, correct our thoughts, purify our minds and deliver us from all affliction, evil and illness. Surround us with Thy holy angels, that guarded and instructed by their forces, we may reach unity of faith and the understanding of Thine unapproachable glory: for blessed art Thou unto ages of ages. Amen. A Prayer of St. John ChrysostomAlmighty God, you have given us grace at this time, with one accord to make our common supplications to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will grant their requests: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen. DismissalLet us bless the LordThanks be to God! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen

How beautiful on the mountains    are the feet of those who bring good news,who proclaim peace,    who bring good tidings,    who proclaim salvation,who say to Zion,    “Your God reigns!”Start your day in God's Word with our Daily Verse Reflections! Each weekday, our pastors offer insights and encouragement to help you apply Scripture to your daily life. Whether you're seeking inspiration, comfort, or guidance, these Daily Verse Reflections will keep you grounded in your faith throughout the week!You can also watch the video versions of our Daily Verse Reflections at https://watch.timeofgrace.org/browse, where you will also find a wide variety of videos that will help you learn more about Jesus and grow in your faith!To receive special text offers and stay up to date with the Time of Grace, text the word "Grace" to 45321 to subscribe!

Reading IIs 52:7-10    How beautiful upon the mountains        are the feet of him who brings glad tidings,    announcing peace, bearing good news,        announcing salvation, and saying to Zion,        “Your God is King!”    Hark!  Your sentinels raise a cry,        together they shout for joy,    for they see directly, before their eyes,        the LORD restoring Zion.    Break out together in song,        O ruins of Jerusalem!    For the LORD comforts his people,        he redeems Jerusalem.    The LORD has bared his holy arm        in the sight of all the nations;    all the ends of the earth will behold        the salvation of our God.Reading IIHeb 1:1-6Brothers and sisters:In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways     to our ancestors through the prophets;     in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son,     whom he made heir of all things     and through whom he created the universe,        who is the refulgence of his glory,            the very imprint of his being,        and who sustains all things by his mighty word.        When he had accomplished purification from sins,        he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high,        as far superior to the angels        as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.For to which of the angels did God ever say:    You are my son; this day I have begotten you?Or again:    I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me?And again, when he leads the firstborn into the world, he says:    Let all the angels of God worship him.GospelJn 1:1-18    In the beginning was the Word,        and the Word was with God,        and the Word was God.    He was in the beginning with God.     All things came to be through him,        and without him nothing came to be.    What came to be through him was life,        and this life was the light of the human race;    the light shines in the darkness,        and the darkness has not overcome it.A man named John was sent from God.He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.He was not the light,but came to testify to the light.The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.    He was in the world,        and the world came to be through him,        but the world did not know him.    He came to what was his own,        but his own people did not accept him.But to those who did accept himhe gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man's decision but of God.    And the Word became flesh        and made his dwelling among us,        and we saw his glory,        the glory as of the Father's only Son,        full of grace and truth.John testified to him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.'”From his fullness we have all received,grace in place of grace,because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.No one has ever seen God.The only Son, God, who is at the Father's side, has revealed him.

This whole Christmas celebration thing is of course a birthday celebration. And birthdays are all about celebrating new life. Would it surprise you to know that that's exactly what God has in mind for you to celebrate? Your new life.   SILENT NIGHT There's a bunch of guys in the Bible who I envy. Now I know what you're thinking, the tenth Commandment: You shall not covet your neighbour's house. You shall not covet your neighbour's wife or male or female slave or ox or donkey or anything else that belongs to your neighbour. (Exodus 20:17) Yeah, we're not supposed to envy or covet anything because it leads to some really bad behaviour. I get that. But hear me out. If there was anyone I could have been with in the Bible, it would have to be those shepherds who were out there watching their flocks by night. We don't quite know what night it was. But you have to gather by what the angel said to them that Jesus had already been born so I prefer to think of it as Christmas night. Only to them, sitting there in the field watching their sheep, it wasn't Christmas night at all. It was just another night at the office doing what shepherds did. It was a mundane part of their lives. They may have been enjoying the evening. They may not have been enjoying the evening. It doesn't matter. They were doing what shepherds did out there on the side of a hill somewhere just outside Bethlehem. The sun had gone down like it goes down every night. And tomorrow morning the sun was going to come up again, like it did every morning and nothing much changed in between. Maybe the moon was out, maybe not. And in the absence of the bright light and the pollution you and I have to put up with these days, the Milky Way was spread across the firmament in all its glory and all was well with the world. That's the picture, that's what was going on. But on that particular night God had a plan to break into this world in the most amazing and spectacular way. In that region there were shepherds living in the fields keeping watch over their flock by night and then an angel of the Lord stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terrified but the angel said to them, 'Don't be afraid for see I am bringing you good news of great joy for all people. To you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour who is the Messiah, the Lord.' ‘This will be a sign for you, you will find a child wrapped in bands of clothing and lying in a manger'. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace among those whom he favours.' When the angels had left them and gone into heaven the shepherds said to one another, 'Let's go down to Bethlehem and see this thing that's taken place which the Lord has made known to us'. So they went with haste and they found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in a manger. When they saw this they made known what had been told to them about this child and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them but Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all that they'd heard and seen as it had been told to them. (Luke 2: 8-20) I often wonder how I would have reacted had I been with those guys on that starry starry night. I wonder how I would react if that happened to me tonight at home or on the way back from work or whatever mundane thing I happened to be doing tonight. Because for me, the idea of a cosmic light show and angels filling the sky and all that jazz, well for me, it's pretty easy to believe because it happened at a nice safe distance of two thousand or so years ago. Because you and I have watched the kids Christmas pantomimes so many times and sung the Christmas carols so many times, it's become part of our psyche that this thing with the shepherds actually happened. We accept it pretty much without thinking. But bring it back to reality and how would we cope if it happened to us here and now or if we'd been back there with the shepherds' back then sitting in that field on that night. I think I would be petrified like they were to start with. It would be so unexpected, so out of this world, so impossible and yet there they were and it was happening to them and God broke into their world in this startling 'in your face' kind of way. You know something? I believe that that's what God wants to do today in your world and mine. I believe God wants to shake us out of our comfortable little Christmas ritual, our "business as usual" approach to Christmas and get right in our faces and say, "Don't you realise what this Christmas thing is all about? Today, I'm bringing you good news for unto you a Saviour has been born for you". And the reaction He's looking for out of you and me is the reaction that the shepherds had. Because when the angels had left them and gone into heaven the shepherds said to one another, "Well, what are we going to do? Why don't we go down to Bethlehem and see what has taken place that which the Lord has made known to us." So they went with haste, they didn't dawdle; they went with haste. They found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told to them about this child and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. God wants us to come to Jesus for ourselves – to worship Jesus for ourselves, to tell the world what we've seen. Imagine His frustration, His great frustration when He sees people, like you and me, just going through the motions at Christmas time. Imagine how that makes Him feel when on that first Christmas, He gave to you and He gave to me the single most precious gift that has ever been given in all of human history. So how about it? Will you grab onto this Christmas present with both hands? Will you come to Jesus and worship Him? Will you rejoice at what you've seen? Will you tell people what you've seen? Will you let Christmas impact your heart in the most miraculous way? Well, will you or are you just going to do the same old Christmas ritual this year like you've done for the past umpteen years? Because here's the thing, one day Jesus is coming back. One day, Jesus will return to this earth and when that happens it will make the cosmic light show that the shepherds experienced look like a little sideshow, I'm telling you. When Jesus ascended back into heaven this is what happened: So when they'd come together they asked him, 'Lord is this the time when you'll restore the Kingdom of Israel?' And he replied, 'It's not for you to know the times or the periods that the Father has set by his own authority but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and then you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria and even to the ends of the earth'. When he had said that as they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up towards the heaven suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards the heaven? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come again in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. (Acts 1: 6-11) See, that's going to happen one day, just as unexpectedly as the angels appeared before those shepherds, just as unexpectedly as Jesus slipped into the world the first time. One day this Jesus is coming back to judge the living and the dead. One day He will break back into our physical world just as unexpectedly as He did back then. Only this time there will be no mistaking Him, this time He will come just as He left, in amazing glory to gather His own unto Himself. So as yet another Christmas slips by, I'm going to ask you this … are you ready? Because one day Jesus is coming ready or not. And with all my heart, I want to wish you and those whom you love the most radically wonderful Christmas you have ever had.   IT'S ONLY JUST BEGUN Today, as they say, is the beginning of the rest of your life. It's a funny time this time of year just after Christmas and just before we step into the hurly burly of a new year. It's a time of rest and reflection for most of us. For some, it's a time of regret. For others, it's a time of celebration. For some, it's a time of anticipation over what next year will bring. And yet for others, it's a time of fear and worry. At this time of year, we've all experienced those different emotions at different times so let's spend a few minutes looking back on the year that's just been. And perhaps a few minutes looking forward at what might be in the coming year. Christmas is such an incredibly special time because it marks a new birth, bringing a new life into this world is singularly the most special and privileged thing we can ever do. Any parent will tell you that, particularly the mother's in our midst, it's just so special. And it's that new birth that I want to revisit with you today because Christmas is a time to remember that in Christ you and I have a new birth, a rebirth if you will. And there are a few people today I know that need to experience that rebirth for themselves because you're wallowing in the regrets of the past. In the regrets perhaps of things that could have been but weren't, in the regrets of the things that shouldn't have been but were. But in Christ, something special happens. It's a new birth and for many, even for those who heard Jesus talk about it, it wasn't an easy thing to get a handle on. See there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said, 'Rabbi we know that you're a teacher who's come from God for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God'. And Jesus answered him, 'Very truly I tell you that no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born again. Nicodemus said to him, 'How can you be born after growing old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?' And Jesus answered, 'Truly, I tell you no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born both of water and of spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, what is born of the spirit is spirit.' ‘Do not be astonished that I say, 'You must be born from above', the wind blows where it chooses and you hear the sound of it but you don't know where it comes from or where it's going. So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit'. (John 3: 1-8) See, that new birth is about a new start in life. You've heard the term being born again Christian. Some people roll their eyes when they say it. They use it as a form of derision but Jesus means it for real. Jesus means it as a new start, as a complete rebirth, a fresh start, the slate wiped clean through faith in Him. Every now and then when I've had a really long day, I'm one of these crazy early starters, so in the late afternoon I might have a short nap and a shower to freshen up. And I come out of the bedroom into the living room and I say to my wife, "Ah, I feel like a new man." In a sense that's what Jesus is talking about because our faith in Him doesn't just bring forgiveness, it brings that 'new man' feeling as He wipes away all our sins and all the regrets and all the consequences of the past. See, new birth equals new start equals new life. When you're born again, the old life doesn't matter anymore, it's completely meaningless because your slate has been wiped clean. The Apostle Paul put it this way, he said: If anyone is in Christ there is a new creation. Everything old has passed away. See, everything has become as new. (2 Corinthian 5:17) So right at this special time of the year, I believe that God wants to give you a new start by reminding you that if you've accepted Jesus as your Saviour and your Lord, then you are a new creation, completely new. And the result of that, is that everything old is gone. It's completely wiped away which makes it completely irrelevant to you today and to all your tomorrow's. The powerfully operative word in this little verse is the short word 'see'. Let's listen to it again, 2 Corinthians 5:17. If anyone is in Christ there is a new creation. Everything old has passed away. See, everything has become new. God is imploring you to look at your life through His eyes. SEE! See that the effect of the new birth that you have in Jesus Christ means that EVERYTHING has become new. The past is gone, forgiven and done and dusted. Now, you can look forward to the New Year ahead in a completely new way, completely uninhibited and unconstrained by the failures and the hurts and the losses and the regrets that you have over your past. Completely unaffected by your low self-esteem, completely unaffected by nasty hurtful things that people have said to you and done to you because by the miraculous power of your complete rebirth in Christ through the Holy Spirit – you are a completely new creation. And as a result of that, everything in your life, everything in your world has become new. SEE! Nicodemus found that hard to believe and hard to understand. You and I can find that hard to believe and hard to understand. But your God wants you to live your life as though the slate of your past has been wiped clean. Because you know something? If you believe in Jesus, it has and what lies ahead of you is a completely new life full of exciting God-type possibilities and amazing things that God wants to do to bless you. And to let His blessing flow out through you into this parched land of people who are in desperate need of a Saviour. To Israel, His chosen people, at the end of seventy years in captivity as slaves in Babylon, He said this: ‘For surely I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord, 'plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will hear you. When you search for me you'll find me. If you seek me with all your heart I'll let you find me' says the Lord, 'And I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I've driven you', says the Lord, 'And I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. (Jeremiah 29: 11-14) Do you see? Are you looking? Are you hearing? Do you perceive what God is saying to you through His Word today? God has great plans for you and those plans are about your future. And He has made all provision for you through Jesus, to wipe your slate clean and to restore you and to bless you. And all He needs now is just one thing … He needs for you to take His Word into your heart, to believe it, to act on it as though it's true. Because you know something? It really is. And if you choose to step out into your future, a future that maybe would have been otherwise constrained by regrets and hurts from the past. But if you choose now to step out into your future knowing that the regrets of the past are completely wiped away – completely gone, completely irrelevant – if you choose to believe God and take Him at His Word and believe that you can live your life from this day forward on the basis of what God is saying about you is true, then what you're in fact doing is stepping out into your own rebirth. Christmas is a time of celebration of new life – the life of Jesus who slipped into this world to set captives free, to bind up the broken-hearted, to bring Good News to the poor. This Jesus, He came for you, He came to set you free, He came to bind up your broken heart, He came to bring you Good News and this is the Good News that I bring to you today. Today is the beginning of a new life – a life of freedom and a life of joy and a life of power and yes a life of sacrifice. A life that is so much more than any of us could have ever dreamed. This past year is done and dusted and in Christ you can leave behind. This New Year is full of possibilities, full of potential and in Christ, you can step out into it with the confidence of knowing that you'll be playing your small part in Gods mighty plan. Hey, if that's not Good News, tell me what is.    YES IT'S FOR YOU As you look forward to the rest of your life, I know that some of what we've spoken about today isn't easy to swallow. Especially if you're in the middle of a rough trot. But remember, Mary and Joseph didn't have the big picture of what God was up to back then. They were immersed in trial after trial. But the beauty of it is that you and I do have Matthew, Mark, Luke and John's accounts of what they went through. We know the big picture, we can stand back and see what God was up to in a way that the players back then simply couldn't. To them, it felt like they were being swept along by events completely out of their control. On top of everything, of course, Caesar had declared that a census was to be taken, which in the absence of today's modern technology, meant that Mary and Joseph, like all the other people, had to travel back to their ancestral homes and that was a long slog. But from God's vantage point, these weren't unconnected, random events. These were all part of His plan to usher a Saviour into this world. A Messiah that nobody expected. See, God is the God of the unexpected. There are no events or circumstances that are beyond Him. There are no events or circumstances in your life that escape Him or pass Him by. He's across everything, in absolute detail, in the minutest detail, everything that's going on in your life. And I'm here to tell you that if your Christmas wasn't quite what you wanted it to be, wasn't quite what the advertisers said it should be, if you didn't quite get the standard issue Ho, Ho, Ho kind of Christmas this year, then your God is still with you today. Your God just showed up through His Word. Your God is with you in that place you're in right now. And nothing, not death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate you from the love of your God in Jesus Christ. And that my friend, is worth celebrating not just at Christmas time, but for every day for the rest of your life. And just as He was with Mary and Joseph, even though they didn't have the full picture, even though it was uncomfortable, so He is and forever will be, with you. I've called this series of messages "Old Story, New Twist". I did that for a reason. Because I know that this Christmas story, far from being some distant, archaic tale of which pantomimes are born, is a gritty, real story of the journey of the Creator of the Universe into the lives of men and women, into the lives of you and me. And when we look at that old, old story from His perspective (from the vantage point of heaven's balcony if you will), when we allow God by His Spirit and through His Word to guide us on that journey over the dusty trails that Mary and Joseph trod, we discover a God who is on that same dusty, difficult journey with you and me today. Peter the Apostle in 1 Peter 5 and verse 7 said that we should: Cast all our anxieties on God because he cares for us. So whatever anxieties and discomforts and fears and disappointments you happen to be carrying on your rocky road from this moment forward, this God who is above all your circumstances, this God who is in all your circumstances, this God who sent His Son to lighten your load, wants to take your burdens from you. So how about it? Is it time to hand all that stuff over to Him and to get on the journey and head towards the rest of your life with the joy and the anticipation and the excitement of a new life in Christ for you? Because Jesus came for you. He came to set you free. He came to bring you forgiveness and a future and a certain hope and an eternity with Him. That's what He ushered in, on that very first Christmas. And that, I reckon, is something worth celebrating at Christmas … and beyond.

6. Messiah's Arrival - Zechariah 9:9 - 12 9:9 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 9:10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow will be cut off; and he will speak peace to the nations: and his dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. 9:11 As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I have set free your prisoners from the pit in which is no water. 9:12 Turn to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope! Even today I declare that I will restore double to you. The King is Coming! We have seen in Isaiah that the coming Messiah was a Servant Prophet, a Servant Disciple and a Servant King. Today we switch over to the Book of Zechariah to look at in more detail about this Servant King Messiah. Zechariah gives us a picture of how the Messiah will announce His arrival and what sort of qualities that this Servant King will have. He comes into Jerusalem on a donkey! The phrases ‘Daughter of Zion' and ‘Daughter of Jerusalem' are terms symbolizing God's people who believe. It is a scene of exultation, excitement and emotion. The people recognize this man as their Messiah: their Servant-King. Royalty: He is recognized as the long waited for king. He is "Your King" oh nation of Israel. King is either the Lord God (Isaiah 43:15) or a King from the line of David (2 Samuel 3:17). This King is both and is the definitive king of Isaiah 9:7! He is described as "yours" because this King is not a foreigner but an Israelite! But His arrival is not just for their benefit and gain as Zechariah goes on to clarify. Righteous: In the example of Alexander the Great, we see a ruler who had great vanity, and this vanity caused him to act injudiciously at times. Alexander the Great could have been the fulfillment of the previous section of Zechariah, particularly with his marauding forces. This Kingly ruler however will reign with righteousness and justice. This Messiah King will desire to enact God's Will in all circumstances and at all times - perfect obedience. Throughout the Old Testament, and in Isaiah as we have seen, righteousness is part of the Messiah! Salvation: This Servant King comes with salvation and saving power! The Messiah shows Himself as one who saves and offers salvation to the people. He has come to help and restore people back into an obedient relationship with God. Again as we have seen with Isaiah who wrote about 200 years before Zechariah, righteousness and salvation are combined in the Servant King (Isaiah 45:8; 51:4). Gentle: In this translation, the word lowly is used, but perhaps a better translation is ‘gentle'. The extended meaning of this word in Hebrew signifies one who has known suffering and sorrow, and lives a simple lifestyle. Humility is worn by this Servant King, like a crown. There is no pride in this King, but a gentle and humble spirit. This is reflected again by Isaiah in Isaiah 53:1-3, where the Servant King would endure rejection and suffering. Perhaps the greatest symbol of his gentle humility is the transportation he is on. A donkey. Donkeys were ridden by every class of people. This is to signify that this King is one of the people and arriving unassumingly. What now? Peace reigns: The Servant King Messiah has bought peace with Him! By this, He has established the environment in order for total peace to exist! Peace comes through people telling the good news that Isaiah talked about in Isaiah 52:7. "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!"" Peace with God comes only through the sacrifice of the Suffering Servant King of Isaiah 53. A life of obedience to God in all those who follow this Messiah, will bring about peace between people and nations. This Messiah's reign is not limited to Israel but all nations of the world. The second coming of the Messiah is hinted at here, but we will save that for a couple of days time. He releases prisoners: This Messiah will release those who are enslaved to sin and are prisoners to its power. He will deliver them because of the covenant that exists between God and Israel. But this King will have a new Covenant between God and all people of all nations! Where God will live inside those who place their hope in Him. This covenant means all people can be saved and be set free from the guilt and stain of their sinful ways. They will be able to live a life of total obedience to God, by submitting themselves to this King! How is Jesus this King? This prophecy by Zechariah is seen as being fulfilled when as both Matthew and John recall how Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem on a donkey. Matthew 21:1-5 - When they drew near to Jerusalem, and came to Bethsphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village that is opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them, and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,' and immediately he will send them." All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, "Tell the daughter of Zion, behold, your King comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." And the scene as recalled by John in John 12:12-15 - "On the next day a great multitude had come to the feast. When they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took the branches of the palm trees, and went out to meet him, and cried out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!" Jesus, having found a young donkey, sat on it. As it is written, "Don't be afraid, daughter of Zion. Behold, your King comes, sitting on a donkey's colt." This is Jesus, the Messiah who was and is a gentle King, reigning righteously, offering salvation and has setup the environment for peace on earth to reign. This Jesus, who through His sacrifice on the Cross enables all people of every nation to have peace with God and have God Himself live inside them. Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3.

Christmas is supposed to be a lot of things these days. And yet it doesn't always deliver all that it's meant to deliver. But then, the very first Christmas, it wasn't all sweetness and light either. If nothing else, it was a decidedly uncomfortable Christmas.   OVERTAKEN BY EVENTS There are times in our lives when it feels as though circumstances or events outside of our control have completely taken over our lives. We've all been there and some people I know are there right now. Perhaps you were looking forward to a family Christmas and your marriage or somebody else's marriage in your family is starting to fall apart. Or perhaps, you find yourself completely alone or maybe sickness has struck and you're wondering how to get through it. And at this point, the whole idea even of celebrating Christmas seems completely irrelevant, off this planet. Despite what all the happy Christmas ads on television would have us believe, Christmas is not a happy time for many people. It's sad but true. Now, that's not to say that we're all going to have a lousy Christmas, no. But when we scratch the glitzy veneer of what Christmas has become in the twenty-first century, when you go below the surface, most people have something going on in their lives that takes the shine off what should be (according to what everybody else is telling us) the celebration of Christmas. Season's greetings, peace on earth, merrrryyyyy Christmas, ho ho ho. Yeah, right. Somehow the umpteenth re-enactment of the Christmas pantomime at Church and that nativity scene in the store window (if you can even find one anywhere these days) just doesn't seem to connect with life's realities when we've been swamped by a wave of whatever it is in our life, in your life, this year. I've had many a Christmas like that over the years. Truly, I have. Life can be tough sometimes. And when you're involved in ministry in any way, shape or form, you'll know that it's even tougher because the devil is on your case. You run into opposition and attacks sometimes seemingly from every direction and on those Christmases the pantomime version of Christmas simply isn't enough. You with me? But let's wind the clock back to the old, old story, to the days leading up to the birth of Jesus, the Christ. Because when I go back to that story, there's nothing safe, there's nothing comfortable, there's nothing pantomimey at all about it. The road to that very first Christmas was a hard road and it's on that road that we discover a God who's prepared to get on the journey with us. Think about the circumstances that had overtaken Joseph and Mary's lives to that point. Firstly, they'd fallen in love. Hey, that's a good thing, that's a great thing, that's a special thing. But then Mary falls pregnant to the Holy Spirit, out of wedlock in a day and age where that was a scandal. You can imagine how Joseph felt, right? – robbed, betrayed, dismayed, hurt, alone, disappointed, angry, the full gamut of emotions. Events had overtaken his life. This one painful event which was completely outside of his control. It hurt so much but being the good guy that he was, he planned to cut off the engagement and to dismiss Mary quietly so as not to make a big thing of it in public. Events, circumstances, things out there that were going to rob him, unbeknown to him at the time, of the very first Christmas. You see if you're in that boat, you're not the first one. This old, old story has a modern twist in its tail, does it not? The truth of that first Christmas (even though it happened two thousand years away) is here and now when you get behind the pantomime version and you check out what really happened. So there's young Jo about to be robbed of that first Christmas and then God. Whenever circumstances are about to roll over the top of us, it's always, always a case of 'then God' because this God who loves you beyond any measure that you would care to apply to His love, He always shows up. He showed up back then for Joseph. Let's have a listen: Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph but before they lived together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man, unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus for he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the Prophet, 'Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall name him Emmanuel which means God is with us'. When Joseph awoke from his sleep he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, he took her as his wife but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son and he named him, Jesus. (Matthew 1: 18-25) I wonder how many times you and I have skimmed over that old, old story with the attitude, "Oh yeah, I know that one. Yeah sure, it's fine," without ever really thinking about what it meant for Mary and poor old Joseph. The stress it put on their relationship, the glances and the whispers of scandal that happened in their tight-knit little community. And just when Joseph was about to do what he thought was the decent thing out of his pain – God showed up. God showed up in a mighty way to speak truth and comfort and love and destiny into Joseph's heart. I don't know how real that dream felt to him at the time, probably it was a really powerful dream if it was from God. But when he woke up it was still only a dream but it was enough for Joseph to act upon. He didn't have the Gospel accounts of Matthew and Mark and Luke and John to rely on back then, like you and I do have now, he didn't know how it was all going to turn out. But when he heard the voice of God he acted on it. Christmas is about difficult circumstances. Christmas is all about God breaking into this world in an exquisite blend of love and power and humility. Christmas is about God and it's about you.   A LONELY JOURNEY Now I know that this is not going to come as any great surprise to you but I have never been pregnant. Something (by the way) that I've often given thanks for because I'm your typical male – the idea of going through childbirth is something I can't comprehend. Which is why, I guess, God didn't leave it up to men to be mother's – wise move God, wise move. Anyway, back to Christmas, I'm trying to imagine what it was like for Mary who was pretty much full term to travel from Nazareth the Bethlehem for the census. We don't think too much about it because these days the drive from A to B would take, umm, two to three hours I'm guessing; maybe four, if you took it slowly and you had a break for lunch along the way. You'd probably do it in a comfortable air conditioned car although even then, let's say a three to four-hour car ride wouldn't be particularly the most delightful experience for a woman who was close to full term, would it now? But back then it was a one to two-week journey. Tradition has it … if you believe all the paintings and drawings that Mary rode on the back of a donkey, of course, there's no Biblical evidence for that, we're not told how she got from Nazareth to Bethlehem. But for her sake, I'm hoping she was on a back of a donkey or riding in the back of a cart somewhere rather than walking the whole way because one thing's for certain she wasn't riding in an air conditioned car. My point is this … we often look back on the old, old Christmas story as though it's a fable or a pantomime or, I don't know what. It was so long ago and we've heard it so many times that we just have this two-dimensional view of what went on. Yeah, yeah Mary, Joseph, angels, shepherds, wise men, Bethlehem, manger, yeah all that jazz. And when we look at Christmas that way, it's almost as though we're closing our hearts off to the wonderful real, gritty, here and now things that God's wanting to speak into our lives. Mary and Joseph didn't have an easy run of it. It was time for a census. The Roman emperor had decreed that it was time to do a people stocktake. And the way they did it back then (before marks sensing, computer readable census forms distributed to each household) was that you had to head back to your ancestral home and for Joseph that meant Bethlehem. In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea to the city of David called Bethlehem because he was descended from the house and the family of David. He went to be registered with Mary to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. (Luke 2: 1-5) See, the Romans were nothing if not efficient administrators. They, in fact, had a huge impact on the distribution of the Gospel after Jesus' resurrection and ascension because of the road and port infrastructure that they'd built and the relatively peaceful and homogenous Roman Empire that dominated the known world at the time. But on this occasion, as far as Mary and Joseph were concerned, they were being a right proper pain in the backside. Quite literally for Mary if she was fortunate enough to have travelled the journey on the back of a donkey. I imagine that if you or I had been Mary or Joseph, we would have had a few choice words and thoughts about the timing of this rotten, lousy census. Why now? What a pain! How inconvenient! Mary is almost full term and she and Jo are travelling with a sea of humanity in all different directions heading for their ancestral homes, in their case that was Bethlehem. Isn't that how it feels when circumstances and events beyond us seem to dictate the course of our lives? Pretty frustrating, isn't it? – inconvenient and sometimes, downright dangerous and hurtful. But this census wasn't just some random event. It wasn't a happen chance thing. As with everything, God was in it because centuries before through the Prophet Micah, He had spoken to His people about their Messiah whom He would send who would be born in, yeah you guessed it, Bethlehem. Let's take a look, Micah 5: 2 and 3: But you O Bethlehem of Ephratah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel whose origin is of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labour has brought forth, then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel. See, God had a plan. His plan was that Jesus, the bread of life as He later referred to Himself as, would be born in the town of Bethlehem, a word which literally means 'the house of bread'. God's plan was to speak powerfully to His people through the Words of Micah's prophecy and through the fulfilment of that prophecy in the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. My point is this, events are never random. Events that seem to roll over the top of your plans and your hopes and your dreams even never just happen by chance. Sometimes the most difficult and devastating events are the most powerful moves of God in our lives and through our lives and into the lives of other people around us. Of course, it never feels like it at the time. And rarely (if ever) does God give us the big picture if you will to explain what's going on and what He's up to when He's doing that and letting these things happen to us. But that doesn't change the fact that God's sovereign will is playing out right there and then. Psalm 135 verse 6 says: Whatever the Lord pleases he does in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the deeps. So whatever that looks like in your life right now, remember your God is up to something good … I mean really good.   NO ROOM AT THE INN Well, here we are on Christmas Eve and I'm guessing you know where I'm headed with this story, right? I remember a few years back, my wife and I flew from Australia to the US, to Chicago, in fact. That's a long flight, about twenty-four hours door to door. We had a room booked at a hotel on the Golden Mile in Chicago because I was speaking at an IT conference there and the conference organisers had set it all up for me. In LA where we had to clear customs, we discovered that they'd lost Jacqui's suitcase (along the way), fantastic! And then when we landed in Chicago, we had to part ways because I had to fly on for a couple of days to Minneapolis, St Paul. So the plan was Jacqui would catch a cab to the Chicago hotel and I would join her in a couple of days time. Now, it was her very first trip to the US of A. She doesn't do a lot of travel so heading to the hotel on her own was just a little bit daunting. So not only is her luggage missing but she has to find her own way to downtown Chicago and when she arrives, get this, she's told, "No, sorry but the hotel is fully booked." "Hang on, there's a conference here and my husband is the keynote speaker and the conference organisers have booked a room and ..." Well, you can imagine her despair, right? She was ready to cry and she's been travelling now for the last twenty-four hours so she's exhausted. She's alone in a foreign country, her luggage is missing and now they tell her there's no room at the hotel. Two hours it took to get it sorted. At one point they found a room but because the booking was in my name and not hers they weren't going to let her have it. Fortunately, the hotel manager got involved and saner heads prevailed. We did, by the way, eventually find her luggage but that's a whole another story. Now, if you have any sort of heart beating inside you, you'll be feeling a bit sorry for poor old Jacqui. A bit like a lost soul in a foreign land, all alone with waves of exhaustion and despair crashing all over her. For her fortunately, it all worked out. But if I now take you back to the old, old story, the first Christmas story, there was a couple who rocked up to Bethlehem for whom things didn't work out so well – Mary and Joseph. They've come down to Bethlehem from their hometown of Nazareth, up north. A few hours by car these days, as we saw yesterday but for them it's been a one to two-week journey by foot perhaps with the aid of a beast of burden to carry the full term, very pregnant, almost due Mary but perhaps not. It's a journey that makes our twenty-four hour flight from Sydney to Chicago look like sheer luxury by comparison. They're tired, they're exhausted, they're ready to get to their room and dive into the Jacuzzi and relax, but let's pick up their story: In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration that was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered, Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea to the city of David called Bethlehem because he was descended from the house and the family of David. He went to be registered with Mary to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there the time came for her to deliver her child and she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them at the inn. (Luke 2: 1-6) Much of the nation of Israel was on the move at this time because of this wretched census ordered by the Emperor Augustus. So, there really was a convention in town when they arrived in that small village, as it was back then, the village of Bethlehem. They weren't in downtown Jerusalem there on the Golden Mile but out of town in this hamlet. And frankly there weren't a lot of five-star or even two or three star hotels available, those that were choc-a-block. And so after, presumably, a few hours of schlepping around and discovering there wasn't a room to be had anywhere some kind inn keeper, seeing Mary's condition, offered them a shed out the back which housed animals. Now I don't know, sheep, goats, maybe the odd cow if he was really wealthy. Can you imagine how Mary's heart sank when she entered that stable where she knew she would give birth? After that whole fanfare with the angel and falling pregnant, not the normal way but through the Holy Spirit? Hey, surely God was with her. Surely, God knew what was going on, His Son, the very Son of God is about to be born. "My son too" Mary is thinking to herself and now I get a stinking stable? Come on you women who have had children put yourself in Mary's shoes, how do you feel? Not all that impressed, right? Your water's break, the pain starts and you lie down on the floor of a stable that's been pooped on and weed on by the assemblage of farm animals watching you give birth. Just fantastic. I don't know what you're expecting of Christmas this year. It's almost upon us and it's supposed to be great. The world hypes it up as being a great celebration, Christians and Churches hype it up as being a great celebration. I don't think that's how it felt for Mary on that day and I know that's not how it feels for a whole bunch of people today. But let me tell you this … God was in that place with Mar. He was watching over her, He was with her and yes He chose a humble, uncomfortable place for His Son – the Son of God, the Creator of the universe, to be born as a man. God often chooses humble, uncomfortable places for His people. It's just His way. But no matter how uncomfortable it may be for you, no matter how God forsaken this place may seem in which you've found yourself, I want to tell you this, God is with you because Jesus on that first Christmas, Jesus came for you. Do you remember what it was that the angel said to Joseph in his dream when he was explaining to him what had gone on with Mary falling pregnant? Matthew 1: 21-23: ‘She will bear a son' said the angel, 'and you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins'. All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the Prophet 'behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call him Emmanuel which means 'God is with us'. Jesus is God on the journey with us. Back in Chicago when Jacqui stood negotiating with those difficult hotel employees over the counter, she no doubt felt incredibly alone, lost in a foreign land. Her husband off in another city, completely uncontactable. Perhaps, as you face whatever it is you're facing the same thoughts race through your mind as no doubt went through Mary's when she lay eyes on that crummy, stinking stable for the very first time. Doesn't God get it? How can He let this happen to me? Why doesn't He fix it? And so you're sitting here on this Christmas Eve wondering even what Christmas is all about. If that's you, if that's a bit of what you're feeling right now, then I have just one word for you from the Lord, 'Emmanuel'. God is with you. You are never alone. And though He may have chosen circumstances for you right now that you may not have chosen for yourself, on this day, on this Holy day, know this … your God is with you and that beautiful wondrous truth, this truth that we are celebrating right now, at this time that we call Christmas, that truth is something that nothing and nobody can take away from you. Your God is with you.

4. Messiah's Encouragement Isaiah 51:9 - 52:12 Please do read Isaiah 51:9 to 52:12 Be Encouraged People of God! In the first few verses of Isaiah 51, we see that faith is nurtured by listening and hearing. People are encouraged to look back and see what God has done with just one man, Abraham! How from him came an entire nation! This bodes well for the future when all history is consummated - have faith in your God who will lead you into the next world! But for now, don't be afraid of what other people will do - stay close to God, have faith in Him, trust Him patiently and live obedient and righteous lives. For as verse 6 states "my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished." Then we come to a mounting anticipation with baited breath. Quickly the phrase "awake awake" is repeated, as if to give a sense of urgency. The exodus from Egypt, an event remembered well by the nation of Israel and alluded to in verses 9 & 10 of chapter 51, will be surpassed by a new age of righteousness at the end of time. All those "ransomed by the Lord", those set free by God will enter the city of God with joyous singing which will be their crown! Sorrow and sadness will no longer exist! Gladness and joy will be triumphant! Alleluia! Despite many obstacles in the way, the Lord God will reign triumphant. His Messiah, His Servant will deliver you. His Servant will be triumphant. Wake up! Note that the people themselves are to wake up, not the Lord God or His Servant! All that will be fulfilled is not waiting for God, but waiting for people and their spiritual inertia! It's their unwillingness to be obedient to God that is stopping the fulfillment of history! While Isaiah is clearly eager, it seems the nation of Israel is not - they have forgotten about their awesome and Almighty God who created the heavens and the earth! So Isaiah shouts out "Wake up!!" I am your God and you are my people is to remind Israel of the covenant that exists between themselves and God! It is a covenant that signifies relationship, care and commitment! Israel may have forgotten this, but God had not! God is in the relationship, He is trustworthy and faithful, so therefore there is no need to fear! God's commitment is faultless and worthy of obedience! This commitment deserves active obedience on the part of the people of Israel and not their overwhelming spiritual laziness. While overwhelming fear inhibits and destructs, the love of God frees. Isaiah urges them to live an active and obedient life worthy of their freedom and not a life of spiritual inertia and rebellion. One last time, Isaiah urges action when crying "Awake! Awake!" in 52:1. Salvation is nearing and coming quickly, are you ready? Be alert, people of Israel and live as if you are the freed people of God and not as if you are rebellious captors. Be ready, just as your ancestors were the night before the Exodus from Egypt commenced. Be expectant and ready. One difference to note. With the exodus, the Israelites took what they could from the Egyptians - gold, silver, jewelry and clothing. This time, everything will be left behind. All this bears in the mind the Servant. The Servant, who as a King dispenses justice and as a Prophet speaks for God, will usher in this new period. When Isaiah writes in 52:11 "Depart, depart, go out from there", he must be urging people to respond to the Servant. Respond by living a holy and righteous life of obedience to God as one who is on a lifelong pilgrimage. Stop rebelling against Him and love Him who first loved them. Where is Jesus in this? Jesus during his earthly ministry always urged people to be active in obedience to God. Jesus comforted the lonely, oppressed, the weak and the poor. He urged people to come back into relationship with God. With a sense of urgency, He told people to be ready and alert for the day when history will end. Jesus urged his listeners to be spiritually awake. Jesus said in Matthew 11:30 "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Jesus who remarkably stated in John 8:34-36 "Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." When Jesus Christ the Servant King comes back, He will come back like a thief in the night - with surprise! But for those who love and trust in Him, it will be a day of gladness and joy because their King will have returned to gather them. This Jesus who in Mark1:15 issued these words ""The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" Truly we concur with Isaiah when he wrote in Isaiah 52:7 "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!"" Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, through whom is salvation alone. Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3.

I have a question for you: What is the most important thing about you? Here's what A.W. Tozer, the great theologian of the last century, wrote: “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” When you think about God, what do you think about God? Jesus put it this way: Now this is eternal life; that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent (John 17:3). Knowing God makes a difference now and in eternity. Therefore, getting to know God should be the most important pursuit of our lives as Christ-followers. Is that true for you? We get to know God through studying his Word and paying attention to what he tells us about himself. Let's consider just a few of God's attributes in order to get to know him better. God's Infinitude Infinite means immeasurable, exceedingly great, endless, inexhaustible. The Bible says: Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom (Psalm 145:3). Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit (Psalm 147:5). Have you ever meditated on the truth that God is infinite? Honestly, our minds are just too small to take it all in. As David said, no one can fathom the greatness of God. Even though we can't fully comprehend infinitude, that's who our God is, and we need to allow our minds to blow some fuses and just meditate often on our infinite God. That means his knowledge of you is infinite. It means nothing you will experience, no one you may have to deal with, no difficulty you will face today is too big for the God you serve. He's got you! He knows the worst about you and loves you infinitely! Go to your world with full assurance that the God you serve has promised to never leave you or forsake you, and he'll get you through whatever has you worried or frightened or frustrated. Your God is infinite!

TAKEAWAYSGreg says teens need three things to be equipped to serve Christ: a King (Jesus), a cause (the gospel) and a crew (a family)Your God-sized dream can be anything - every dream matters and is importantLearn how to pray and spend time every day in God's WordGod is opening up opportunities all around us every day

Your Daily Prayer

In this episode, we bring on Bishop Earl K. Fernandes from the Diocese of Columbus, OH to discuss life as a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church and his area of expertise - moral theology. But, not before we address an important Logos topic: Taco Bell.God Bless and we hope you enjoy!Timecode:0:00 - Who is Bishop Fernandes?9:00 - Best Part of Being a Bishop15:10 - Prison Ministry 21:45 - Hardest Part of Being a Bishop29:05 - Yo Quero Taco Bell33:20 - The New Moses36:00 - Happiness and Law42:30 - The Need for Interiority 51:40 - Who is Your God?55:30 - Did God Change?59:30 - God's Descent to Man1:09:30 - ConclusionSupport the show

Well hello to ya today, so glad you're listening to this episode of the podcast. Let's jump right in and look at a few verses from the New Testament that hold tremendous promises for us. Luke chapter one, verse 37 from the NLT and then Hebrews 13, verses 5 and 6. God's promises are true. Whether or not you believe those promises, well, that's kind of up to you. A Christmas Blessing from Mary's Song Episode Link A Merry and Bright ADVENTure book  You're listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, playing now via the Edifi app. Today's episode is sponsored by the Christmas book for families titled A Merry and Bright ADVENTure - A Christmas Devotional for Family, Faith, Food and Fun by Katie J. Trent. Sure, my children are all grown adults…but my grandbabies are the ones I will be using this book with. It's divided into sections, by topic, by theme, and the advent readings consist of like a family devotional, a prayer, family discussion questions, some specific advent activities and of course, a recipe which is very family friendly. There are 25 of these really well thought out daily sections, which is of course perfect for advent. And there is a list of grocery items and craft items already compiled for you, to make it as easy as possible to implement the recipes and activities. Link is right here in the show notes, and a big thank you to Katie Trent for creating this Christmas season resource. I absolutely love it. And now, on with the show.  This is episode number 199.    Right there nestled among the first few verses in the book of Luke, almost too easy to read and go right on past, is the promise of verse 37. In the NLT it says, “For the word of God will never fail.”    And after that absolutely mind-blowingly huge promise, this chapter continues into Mary's Song, the Magnificat. Which, by the way, is really a beautiful passage of Scripture to read aloud as a family during the Thanksgiving or Christmas season. Amazing, that's what Mary's Song is. Worship - you might call it that. Beautiful worship.   For the word of God WILL NEVER FAIL.   Hang your hat on this verse today. I mean that, seriously. Bank on it. Depend on it. Lean the full weight of all your troubles and concerns onto it. It will hold up, no matter how heavy the load is that you've been carrying around. This verse can handle it. All of it. Perhaps this promise is one of the most powerful promises in the entire Bible. I don't want you to take my word for it. I want you to take God at His word. Then do it again tomorrow. And never stop taking Him at His word, every single day of your life.   Hebrews 13, 5-6 - also from the NLT -   5 Don't love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said,“I will never fail you.     I will never abandon you.”[a 6 So we can say with confidence,“The Lord is my helper,     so I will have no fear.     What can mere people do to me?”[b] What could possibly be missing from your life when God has said this? Combine these words from Hebrews with the words from Luke and I am thinking you have something unstoppable, ya know? Your God, whom you love and whom you serve, the One who secured your eternal salvation, He will never fail you or abandon you. What matters more than that? And what are we to say in response to these great and precious promises?  With confidence, we say, The Lord is my helper and I will have no fear. Because what can mere people, human beings, those who are created by the One making me these promises, what can they do to me?    The hope you have in knowing, believing, and living in the reality of these promises…well, I'm not really sure it gets much better than that. God won't leave you. God won't abandon you. God won't fail you. He will help you. You can live with no fear. And people? What can they really do to you? For the word of God will never fail. The word of  will never fail for Jan, or for Sara, or for Rachel, or for Mike, or for Betty, or for Stuart, or for Terry, or for Gail, or for Linda or for Jon or for any of His people.    What promises in the Bible do you most need to know won't fail right now? Is it something from Psalm 91? Psalm 103? Psalm 1? Something God promised in the book of Genesis? Acts or Joel? Isaiah? Hebrews or Matthew or Revelation?   What promises have you wanted to believe were for you, God's to you, but maybe are afraid to go all in with that belief? About what Bible promises can you say, “Lord, I believe…help me with my unbelief?”   I want to issue this challenge to you today: write down that promise, or promises if there are multiple, and on that page where you write them down, get a pen in a different color, maybe bright red, and over the top right Luke 1:37 - For the word of God will never fail.   I don't want you to think about this, and say eh maybe I'll do that some day. No. Please do it this day.    For the word of God will never fail. Those promises from the word of God? They will never fail. So says Luke 1:37. This is a big deal, isn't it?  Because when we begin to really know the word of God will never fail, we start praying that way, we start thinking that way, we gain victory in areas that we once thought would end up taking us out. This is important because God wants us to know that His word will never fail…and the enemy wants us to believe his lie that the word of God will always fail. Which will ya have today? Five pounds of Jesus in a brown paper sack, or more than that? Maybe God isn't going to be controllable if you go all in and believe. Maybe you will have to do battle with your fears and doubts. Maybe some of your Christian friends will try and talk you out of such radical belief, because let's just be honest, so many of our female small groups turn into gripe and gossip sessions, or stay so superficial that things like clothes and make up dominate the conversation…like, maybe that could change. And you might be the odd man (odd woman) out. Spoiler alert: if you are longing for those kinds of conversations to never be part of a women's small group or Bible study ever again, then you already are the odd woman out…you just don't want to rock the boat by mentioning it or by leaving…cuz we all know that when you leave, everybody wants to know why (like, more gossip, perhaps?) when they ought to know why just by reading the room, right?  What's the hardest place to leave gracefully, graciously, and without gossiping? A Christian community that isn't truly honoring the Lord. You are already the odd one out perhaps. That's okay. I'm thinking Moses, David, Elijah, Abraham, the entire early Church in the first century…odd man out over and over again. It's hard, but it's not the end of the world.  What will you need to face honestly if you choose to trust the entire weight of your life, and all those things and people you've been praying about, all of it on the promise that the word of God will never fail?  A whole lot could change, starting with your heart and mind. Maybe we can't really, fully love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and love our neighbor as yourself until we really believe that the word of God will never fail.    Maybe, just maybe, this is the moment the Lord has been waiting for. The moment when you no longer let fear, worry, other people's opinions, doubts, all that kind of stuff, no longer let that hold you back, tie you up in knots inside and outside, and keep you from believing all God's promises. Maybe today is a big deal for you. Maybe tomorrow hinges on today.   Maybe, just maybe, this is your time.  What will you do now? I hope you choose to believe. Because you will never regret it, and God will never abandon you.   Until next time, keep on believing. Bye bye. 

We are not alone . . . Depending on how you see the universe, that thought could bring you comfort—or deep terror. If you view everything beyond your fence as threat, as something to be feared, you'll spend your days defending only what you already have and what you've previously learned. But if, through grace, you can be open to a world where love and beauty grow and blossom, you will taste joy—the joy for which God made you. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who publishes peace, who brings good tidings of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns'” (Isa 52:7). Grace is a declaration that we have been befriended by the One who rules the universe. The greatest Other who ever was became one of us, one with us, one on our side. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Jesus is the living proof that we are not alone, and never need be so again. So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

There was a time when I could not stand the idea of exercise. I was tired of being on cholesterol and blood pressure medicine, and finally got to the place where I became desperate enough to get healthy. One of the first things I chose to do was join a gym, hire a trainer, and sign up for a 5K because I thought that if I did not train for it, I would die. So, I began running twice a week while I trained at the gym three times a week. What I learned soon after I started running was how important it was to have the right shoes. Because I grew up just outside of Philadelphia, we called anything that you could run around and play in: sneakers.Depending on where you grew up, you may know them as tennis shoes. Before I started running, I did not know that there were all types of sneakers depending on the kind of thing you liked to do. For those who like to run, you can pay to have your foot analyzed to determine if you need a neutral shoe (for those with a stable foot and normal or high arch). If you are a runner whose outer edge of your heel hits the ground first or Vis versa, then you might need to choose a more stable shoe. If you participate in track and field, you may need a shoe with spikes designed to be more lightweight. If you want a bit more cushion while running, there are cushioned running shoes. If you do not like the cushion and want to feel more of the ground while running, there is the minimalist running shoe. If you like running on trails, there is the trail running shoe. If you are an avid runner, and do not have the right shoes, you will develop pain in your knees, feet, thighs, etc. Needless to say, wearing the right shoes are important if you are a runner. Wearing the right shoes while hiking is important if you hike. Wearing the right shoes doing anything is important. Wearing the right shoes as a soldier is especially important for combat readiness, and the third piece of equipment belonging to Gods armor that we are told to put on is the shoes of the gospel of peace. What are the Shoes of Gospel Peace? Most translations insert the word shoe to make sense of the Greek. Shoes are assumed and the way it is translated in the NASB is the most literal of all the versions: ...and having strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace (v. 15). The English Standard Version translates the Greek in a way that really gets at the heart of the point that I believe Paul is attempting to make: as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. The question we need to answer is, for what purpose do the shoes of the gospel of peace serve? The Roman soldier was fitted with a type of sandal that was heavier than what civilians wore. The sole of the sandal was made with several layers of leather that were about of an inch thick with hollow-headed hobnail spikes on the bottom of the sole. The sandals a soldier of Rome wore were not designed for running but did allow him to keep his footing while standing against his enemy. The shoes Paul had in mind are the type that allowed a soldier to establish himself so that the enemy would not push him back. Now with that in mind, consider Ephesians 6:10-13, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. So, if the shoes Paul had in mind are the type that allowed a soldier to firm up his stance before the enemy, what does it mean to put on the shoes of the gospel of peace for the Christian? I have read in a number of commentaries that to put on the shoes of the gospel of peace is Pauls way of saying that believers should always be ready to share the gospel.[1] I definitely believe that sharing the gospel is what Paul assumed would be the motive and desire of the Christian who has put on the full armor of God. After all, he was very much aware of Isaiah 52:7, which states: How delightful on the mountains are the feet of one who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation, and says to Zion, Your God reigns (Isa. 52:7). Jesus did say of His followers: You are the salt of the earth.... You are the light of the world (Matt. 5:13, 14). It is true that the only way people will hear of the gospel of Jesus Christ is if Christians everywhere tell them: But how are they to preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things (Rom. 10:15). However, is this the main point the apostle is making in Ephesians 6:15? I do not believe that it is. The shoes of the gospel of peace are the good news of Jesus Christ, but the good news of Jesus Christ is not only that he died for our sins and rose from the grave for the salvation of our souls. The good news that we are to strap onto our feet, includes Jesus death and resurrection; but it much more than that! How so? you ask. For starters, you need to consider the context of the shoes of the gospel of peace within Ephesians 6:10-18. Does Paul mean that we are to put on the shoes of the gospel of peace so that we can be ready and prepared to tell people about Jesus (see also Matt. 28:19-20; 1 Pet. 3:15)? If he did mean this, dont you think he would have written instead: strap upon your feet the preparation so that you can make known the gospel of peace? Instead, Paul tells us to put on the shoes of the gospel of peace so that we would be prepared... but prepared for what? Remember that the shoes of the Gospel of peace belong to the armor of God, and by wearing them, they prepare us for something. What is it that they prepare us for? This is where the context of a particular passage is so important! The gospel shoes of peace prepare us to stand firm against the devils schemes, they prepare us to resist on the evil day, the shoes of the gospel of peace prepare us to stand firm in the strength of the Lord! I think the New Living Translation is helpful on this point: For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. What we are to strap onto our feet is the whole gospel and it is the shoes of the whole gospel that prepares us to stand firm as a Christian who has put on the full armor of God. Why are the Shoes of the Gospel of Peace Needed? Permit me answer why the shoes of the gospel of peace are needed and then I will unpack my answer for you. You must have the shoes of the gospel of peace securely fitted upon your feet because if you get the gospel wrong, your belt of truth and breastplate of righteousness will be compromised, and you will therefore be vulnerable when you stand before the enemy. So, what is the gospel? It is the good news that Jesus Christ, as the perfectly righteous Son of God, lived a perfectly obedient life to the Law of God on our behalf. That He died for our sins, triumphantly conquered the grave through His resurrection on the third day, and now stands victoriously as creations redeemer. Jesus is the Son of God If you get Jesus wrong, you will get the gospel wrong. There is no room for error when it comes to who Jesus is in relationship to what it means to trust and believe in Him! As the Son of God, Jesus had no beginning, and He will have no end. He is not a creature like us because He was and forever is eternally begotten of the Father in the sense He existed with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Of Jesus, the scriptures testify: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it (John 1:15). Jesus was sent by the Father to become fully human while remaining fully God by immaculate conception through Mary while she was a virgin, through whom the Son of God was born: And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). He is the One of whom the prophets spoke: For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us... and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6). By being born of a virgin, He became the righteous descendant of David who bears the name: The Lord Our Righteousness (see Jer. 23:5-6). If Jesus is not fully God and if He did not become also fully human, then there would not have been a fully qualified and fully capable redeemer for mankind and the rest of creation. Jesus is Our Redeemer As the Son of God, Jesus was the only One qualified to save sinners and reverse the curse of sin over all creation. Jesus is the Kinsmen-redeemer who met the three requirements to redeem what was lost when Adam and Eve rebelled against God on behalf of all humanity. The three requirements a kinsmen-redeemer was required to meet were that he had to be related to Adams race, he had to be willing to redeem what was lost by Adams race, and he had to have the means to redeem what was lost, which was not only humanity but all of creation under Adams headship. The only qualified kinsmen-redeemer who could provide what was needed for redemption had to be One who was both fully God and fully human. This is why Jesus took on flesh to become our kinsmen redeemer, and as our Kinsmen Redeemer, God, put all things in subjection under His feet, and made Him head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all (Eph. 1:22-23). Jesus is our Triumphant King Who is making all things new! The Bible says that Jesus is Gods Yes to all of His promises (2 Cor. 1:20), and His promises from Genesis through Revelation include not only the promise of redemption for sinful man, but the reversal of the curse of sin (Jer. 23:5-6; ), the defeat and destruction of the devil (Gen. 3:15; Rev. 20:1-10), and the resurrection and restoration of all things (2 Pet. 3:10-13). The gospel of peace that belongs to the armor of God is the gospel Peter wrote about to encourage suffering Christians to stand firm: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Pet. 1:35).Jerry Bridges was absolutely correct when he wrote in his magnificent book, The Discipline of Grace: The gospel is not only the most important message in all of history; it is the only essential message in all of history.[2] Listen, when you stand in the shoes of the gospel of peace, you stand in the reality and truth of all that the gospel is, and when you have strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace, you stand firm in all that the gospel is for you as one who has been redeemed by the blood of the perfect Lamb of God! When we stand with the gospel of peace securely strapped to our feet, we can say with Job in the midst of great suffering: Yet as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last, He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I will see God, whom I, on my part, shall behold for myself, and whom my eyes will see, and not another (Job 19:2527). When your feet are fitted with the gospel of the peace, you can respond to the uncertainties of life as the apostle Paul did: For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Phil. 1:21). When you put on the shoes of the gospel of peace, you can stand against the devils schemes knowing that because of Jesus, The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will rejoice over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy (Zeph. 3:17). The gospel brings peace because not only does it promise our redemption, but it is the promise that Jesus is coming back and when He does, He will judge between the nations, and will mediate for many peoples; and they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not lift up a sword against nation, and never again will they learn war (Isa. 2:4). The gospel brings peace because we have Jesus, we can stand in the promise of knowing that whether in life or death, we who are the redeemed, will enter into the presence of God, with joyful shouting, and everlasting joy will be on our heads. We will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away (Isa. 51:11). This is why the gospel is not something you leave and move onto deeper and better doctrines! You will never outgrow your need for the gospel. To take on the armor of God is to stand in the gospel, to walk in light of the gospel, to march to the drumbeat of the gospel, and to fight the fight of faith while standing in the reality and truth of all that the gospel is for you... the redeemed! This is why Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong (1 Cor. 16:13). When you put on the shoes of the gospel of peace, you will be compelled to proclaim all that the gospel is to you to the world around you because of the peace that it brings in preparing you to stand firm in the evil day. So, I leave you with the following questions in light of my sermon today: What shoes are you standing in right now? Are you standing in the full gospel of peace, firmly secured around your feet? How tight are your laces and are they tight enough so that you will not lose your footing as you, walking in a manor worthy of your calling (4:1)? Who do you know that really needs to hear about the peace that you have in Jesus? [1] Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Ephesians (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2014), 180. [2] Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress; 2006), p. 45.

There was a time when I could not stand the idea of exercise. I was tired of being on cholesterol and blood pressure medicine, and finally got to the place where I became desperate enough to get healthy. One of the first things I chose to do was join a gym, hire a trainer, and sign up for a 5K because I thought that if I did not train for it, I would die. So, I began running twice a week while I trained at the gym three times a week. What I learned soon after I started running was how important it was to have the right shoes. Because I grew up just outside of Philadelphia, we called anything that you could run around and play in: sneakers.Depending on where you grew up, you may know them as tennis shoes. Before I started running, I did not know that there were all types of sneakers depending on the kind of thing you liked to do. For those who like to run, you can pay to have your foot analyzed to determine if you need a neutral shoe (for those with a stable foot and normal or high arch). If you are a runner whose outer edge of your heel hits the ground first or Vis versa, then you might need to choose a more stable shoe. If you participate in track and field, you may need a shoe with spikes designed to be more lightweight. If you want a bit more cushion while running, there are cushioned running shoes. If you do not like the cushion and want to feel more of the ground while running, there is the minimalist running shoe. If you like running on trails, there is the trail running shoe. If you are an avid runner, and do not have the right shoes, you will develop pain in your knees, feet, thighs, etc. Needless to say, wearing the right shoes are important if you are a runner. Wearing the right shoes while hiking is important if you hike. Wearing the right shoes doing anything is important. Wearing the right shoes as a soldier is especially important for combat readiness, and the third piece of equipment belonging to Gods armor that we are told to put on is the shoes of the gospel of peace. What are the Shoes of Gospel Peace? Most translations insert the word shoe to make sense of the Greek. Shoes are assumed and the way it is translated in the NASB is the most literal of all the versions: ...and having strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace (v. 15). The English Standard Version translates the Greek in a way that really gets at the heart of the point that I believe Paul is attempting to make: as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. The question we need to answer is, for what purpose do the shoes of the gospel of peace serve? The Roman soldier was fitted with a type of sandal that was heavier than what civilians wore. The sole of the sandal was made with several layers of leather that were about of an inch thick with hollow-headed hobnail spikes on the bottom of the sole. The sandals a soldier of Rome wore were not designed for running but did allow him to keep his footing while standing against his enemy. The shoes Paul had in mind are the type that allowed a soldier to establish himself so that the enemy would not push him back. Now with that in mind, consider Ephesians 6:10-13, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. So, if the shoes Paul had in mind are the type that allowed a soldier to firm up his stance before the enemy, what does it mean to put on the shoes of the gospel of peace for the Christian? I have read in a number of commentaries that to put on the shoes of the gospel of peace is Pauls way of saying that believers should always be ready to share the gospel.[1] I definitely believe that sharing the gospel is what Paul assumed would be the motive and desire of the Christian who has put on the full armor of God. After all, he was very much aware of Isaiah 52:7, which states: How delightful on the mountains are the feet of one who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation, and says to Zion, Your God reigns (Isa. 52:7). Jesus did say of His followers: You are the salt of the earth.... You are the light of the world (Matt. 5:13, 14). It is true that the only way people will hear of the gospel of Jesus Christ is if Christians everywhere tell them: But how are they to preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things (Rom. 10:15). However, is this the main point the apostle is making in Ephesians 6:15? I do not believe that it is. The shoes of the gospel of peace are the good news of Jesus Christ, but the good news of Jesus Christ is not only that he died for our sins and rose from the grave for the salvation of our souls. The good news that we are to strap onto our feet, includes Jesus death and resurrection; but it much more than that! How so? you ask. For starters, you need to consider the context of the shoes of the gospel of peace within Ephesians 6:10-18. Does Paul mean that we are to put on the shoes of the gospel of peace so that we can be ready and prepared to tell people about Jesus (see also Matt. 28:19-20; 1 Pet. 3:15)? If he did mean this, dont you think he would have written instead: strap upon your feet the preparation so that you can make known the gospel of peace? Instead, Paul tells us to put on the shoes of the gospel of peace so that we would be prepared... but prepared for what? Remember that the shoes of the Gospel of peace belong to the armor of God, and by wearing them, they prepare us for something. What is it that they prepare us for? This is where the context of a particular passage is so important! The gospel shoes of peace prepare us to stand firm against the devils schemes, they prepare us to resist on the evil day, the shoes of the gospel of peace prepare us to stand firm in the strength of the Lord! I think the New Living Translation is helpful on this point: For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. What we are to strap onto our feet is the whole gospel and it is the shoes of the whole gospel that prepares us to stand firm as a Christian who has put on the full armor of God. Why are the Shoes of the Gospel of Peace Needed? Permit me answer why the shoes of the gospel of peace are needed and then I will unpack my answer for you. You must have the shoes of the gospel of peace securely fitted upon your feet because if you get the gospel wrong, your belt of truth and breastplate of righteousness will be compromised, and you will therefore be vulnerable when you stand before the enemy. So, what is the gospel? It is the good news that Jesus Christ, as the perfectly righteous Son of God, lived a perfectly obedient life to the Law of God on our behalf. That He died for our sins, triumphantly conquered the grave through His resurrection on the third day, and now stands victoriously as creations redeemer. Jesus is the Son of God If you get Jesus wrong, you will get the gospel wrong. There is no room for error when it comes to who Jesus is in relationship to what it means to trust and believe in Him! As the Son of God, Jesus had no beginning, and He will have no end. He is not a creature like us because He was and forever is eternally begotten of the Father in the sense He existed with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Of Jesus, the scriptures testify: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it (John 1:15). Jesus was sent by the Father to become fully human while remaining fully God by immaculate conception through Mary while she was a virgin, through whom the Son of God was born: And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). He is the One of whom the prophets spoke: For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us... and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6). By being born of a virgin, He became the righteous descendant of David who bears the name: The Lord Our Righteousness (see Jer. 23:5-6). If Jesus is not fully God and if He did not become also fully human, then there would not have been a fully qualified and fully capable redeemer for mankind and the rest of creation. Jesus is Our Redeemer As the Son of God, Jesus was the only One qualified to save sinners and reverse the curse of sin over all creation. Jesus is the Kinsmen-redeemer who met the three requirements to redeem what was lost when Adam and Eve rebelled against God on behalf of all humanity. The three requirements a kinsmen-redeemer was required to meet were that he had to be related to Adams race, he had to be willing to redeem what was lost by Adams race, and he had to have the means to redeem what was lost, which was not only humanity but all of creation under Adams headship. The only qualified kinsmen-redeemer who could provide what was needed for redemption had to be One who was both fully God and fully human. This is why Jesus took on flesh to become our kinsmen redeemer, and as our Kinsmen Redeemer, God, put all things in subjection under His feet, and made Him head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all (Eph. 1:22-23). Jesus is our Triumphant King Who is making all things new! The Bible says that Jesus is Gods Yes to all of His promises (2 Cor. 1:20), and His promises from Genesis through Revelation include not only the promise of redemption for sinful man, but the reversal of the curse of sin (Jer. 23:5-6; ), the defeat and destruction of the devil (Gen. 3:15; Rev. 20:1-10), and the resurrection and restoration of all things (2 Pet. 3:10-13). The gospel of peace that belongs to the armor of God is the gospel Peter wrote about to encourage suffering Christians to stand firm: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Pet. 1:35).Jerry Bridges was absolutely correct when he wrote in his magnificent book, The Discipline of Grace: The gospel is not only the most important message in all of history; it is the only essential message in all of history.[2] Listen, when you stand in the shoes of the gospel of peace, you stand in the reality and truth of all that the gospel is, and when you have strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace, you stand firm in all that the gospel is for you as one who has been redeemed by the blood of the perfect Lamb of God! When we stand with the gospel of peace securely strapped to our feet, we can say with Job in the midst of great suffering: Yet as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last, He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I will see God, whom I, on my part, shall behold for myself, and whom my eyes will see, and not another (Job 19:2527). When your feet are fitted with the gospel of the peace, you can respond to the uncertainties of life as the apostle Paul did: For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Phil. 1:21). When you put on the shoes of the gospel of peace, you can stand against the devils schemes knowing that because of Jesus, The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will rejoice over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy (Zeph. 3:17). The gospel brings peace because not only does it promise our redemption, but it is the promise that Jesus is coming back and when He does, He will judge between the nations, and will mediate for many peoples; and they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not lift up a sword against nation, and never again will they learn war (Isa. 2:4). The gospel brings peace because we have Jesus, we can stand in the promise of knowing that whether in life or death, we who are the redeemed, will enter into the presence of God, with joyful shouting, and everlasting joy will be on our heads. We will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away (Isa. 51:11). This is why the gospel is not something you leave and move onto deeper and better doctrines! You will never outgrow your need for the gospel. To take on the armor of God is to stand in the gospel, to walk in light of the gospel, to march to the drumbeat of the gospel, and to fight the fight of faith while standing in the reality and truth of all that the gospel is for you... the redeemed! This is why Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong (1 Cor. 16:13). When you put on the shoes of the gospel of peace, you will be compelled to proclaim all that the gospel is to you to the world around you because of the peace that it brings in preparing you to stand firm in the evil day. So, I leave you with the following questions in light of my sermon today: What shoes are you standing in right now? Are you standing in the full gospel of peace, firmly secured around your feet? How tight are your laces and are they tight enough so that you will not lose your footing as you, walking in a manor worthy of your calling (4:1)? Who do you know that really needs to hear about the peace that you have in Jesus? [1] Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Ephesians (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2014), 180. [2] Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress; 2006), p. 45.

What's YOUR God-given dream? This episode of the Abounding Faith for Today podcast will help you discover and discern God's call on your life. Check out Episode 62 and check out my latest book God-Given Dreams: 6 Ways to Live Your Divine Purpose (NavPress). God-Given Dreams is available wherever books are sold. Join Abounding Faith's Email Community to get updates about different projects I'm working and to get encouragement sent straight to your inbox. Sign up ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠right here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and get access to the FREE “Discovering Your God-Given Dream Checklist” today! You can find more encouragement at https://www.aboundingfaith.com/  Ways to Show Your Support:  Please take a moment to subscribe to this uplifting podcast, leave a kind rating and review and tell your friends about this podcast. If you're looking for a few ways to show your support for my podcast and other work, check out Abounding Faith's Dream Team on Patreon here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/aboundingfaith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ You can also buy me a virtual coffee or two or more here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/aboundingfaith⁠⁠⁠⁠

Nov. 02 & 03, 2024 - Your God is Big Pastor Ed Taylor Acts 26:1-11 | Study #24490 ACTS 

Our special guest today is Adelaide Garner. Adelaide is wife to Ben, and mother to four little treasures. They are Reformed Evangelical Christians. She was a pastor's wife for many years, but their family has moved into Ben owning a small business. Adelaide and Ben are second generation homeschoolers and use Charlotte Mason's principles. They live in a 120-year-old farmhouse on several acres outside of Houston, Texas. Six years ago, Adelaide, after many years of struggling with her own health. decided to become a certified health coach. When she learned to ask better questions, she found better answers for her health and the health of her family. She enjoys helping women find a grateful, sober-minded, and non-anxious approach to caring for the wellbeing of their families, to the Glory of God.  We had a few audio issues during this recording, so you'll have to forgive us for the handful of snags you hear along the way. With that said, today's conversation was fascinating because it combines a book we all read for last year's mentorship, A Failure of Nerve, by Edwin Friedman, with issues surrounding autism and other special needs. *** The live kickoff for our newest Scholé Sisters mentorship took place a couple weeks ago. Our mentorships are for Sophie-level Sistership members.  However, our kickoff was for everyone, even those of you on our free plan. If you are not yet in the Sistership but want to watch the replay of the live kickoff for the Mentorship (which we've named Stable and Steadfast: Standing on Your God-given Rights), go to scholesisters.com/join and sign up! *** Click here to access today's show notes. Click here to join the FREE area of the Sistership.

This Christian meditation and prayer on Psalm 71 reminds us of God's power to restore and renew. Get your FREE Praying with The Psalms Journal here. Will God redeem the mess? Will He restore what's been broken? Scripture gives a resounding “yes”—but restoration doesn't always mean returning to how things were. God's work is often about transformation, making something new from the broken pieces. If you're feeling unsure about what God can do with your challenges, take heart. Your God is a God of restoration. This meditation reassures us that He is good, He is at work, and we can trust Him. You can follow along with a FREE printed guide for this meditation and the entire Praying with the Psalms series here. Here are some additional helpful links: You can find out more about me, Jodie, at http://www.jodieniznik.com/ Follow me on Instagram @creatingspaceforgod Follow me on Facebook @JodieGNiznik Learn more about Scripture meditation and download a FREE Lectio Divina Scripture Meditation Journal here. Join my Monday email newsletter here, where I send links to the newest meditation every Monday morning. Find out more about my partner, Life Audio, at lifeaudio.com. Download FREE sample chapters from my Bible studies here. The entire meditation text is as follows: Psalm 71:19-21, NLT 19 Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the highest heavens. You have done such wonderful things. Who can compare with you, O God? 20 You have allowed me to suffer much hardship, but you will restore me to life again and lift me up from the depths of the earth. 21 You will restore me to even greater honor and comfort me once again. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

It's Thursday, October 10th, A.D. 2024. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 125 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Jonathan Clark Iranian Christian released from prison 5 years early Church in Chains reports that authorities in Iran released a Christian convert from Evin Prison in Tehran last week. Mehdi Akbari had already spent nearly five years in prison out of his 10-year sentence. Thankfully, a court reduced his sentence.  Officials arrested him in 2019 on charges of “acting against national security by forming an illegal evangelical Christian group.”  Mansour Borji with Article 18, a non-profit religious liberty group, welcomed Mehdi's release. He said, “We call now for the immediate release of the other at least 20 Christians still in prison only on account of their beliefs and the peaceful outworking of these beliefs, such as Armenian citizen Hakop Gochumyan, who is also serving a ten-year sentence only because he visited some churches and was in possession of a handful of Bibles.” Irish legislature drops ambiguously worded “hate speech” bill The Irish legislature dropped “hate speech” elements from proposed legislation last month. The Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences Bill 2022 is currently stuck in the Irish Senate. The bill originally would criminalize the possession of material considered “likely” to incite hatred with up to five years in jail. The bill did not clearly define “hate.” This left many concerned that Christians could face jail time for simply affirming a Biblical understanding of sexuality. Alliance Defending Freedom International noted, “With the world watching, the people of Ireland said ‘no' to state censorship, and it's working.” Colorado Supreme Court dismissed case again Christian baker Jack Phillips In the United States, the Colorado  Supreme Court sided with a Christian baker on Tuesday. Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop has faced years of harassment for his biblical beliefs about marriage and sexuality.  The state's high court dismissed the latest case against him. The case started in 2017 when Phillips refused to bake a cake to celebrate someone pretending to be the opposite sex. Senior Counsel Jake Warner with Alliance Defending Freedom said, “Enough is enough. Jack has been dragged through courts for over a decade. It's time to leave him alone. Free speech is for everyone. As the U.S. Supreme Court held in 303 Creative, the government cannot force artists to express messages they don't believe.” Psalm 14:4 asks, “Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up My people as they eat bread, and do not call on the LORD?”  Toyota ends participation in sexually deviant corporate index Toyota told its U.S. employees last Thursday that it will no longer participate in the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index. The Equality Index, run by the radical, pro-homosexual Human Rights Campaign, measures how supportive companies are of sexually perverted lifestyles. Toyota will reportedly no longer participate in events that celebrate such lifestyles. The Japanese car maker will also focus its community activities on workforce readiness and education in science, technology, engineering, and math. 10 states have abortion on the ballot Voters across 10 states will vote on ballot initiatives involving abortion this coming November. Those states are Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota. In most cases, the initiatives would support abortion up to birth. U.S. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri addressed the 2024 Pray Vote Stand Summit last week on the ballot initiatives. Listen. HAWLEY: “As the people go to the polls, let's be clear, as conservatives and yes, as Republicans, that we advocate life, that we urge our fellow Americans to support life.  We will do everything we can to protect life in the law all across this country. This is absolutely foundational!” Barna: 32 million Christians unlikely to vote in presidential election Dr. George Barna  released a report on the voting practices of people of faith. The survey found that 104 million people who identify with some religion are unlikely to vote in the upcoming presidential election. Sadly, this includes 32 million self-identified Christians who attend church regularly. People said they were unlikely to vote because they weren't interested in elections, disliked the major candidates, or didn't think their vote would make a difference. William Tyndale's momentous life and death And finally, this week is the anniversary of William Tyndale's death, traditionally commemorated on October 6. Tyndale faced arrest and later death in 1536 for alleged heresy. However, he had worked tirelessly to translate the Bible into English. It was his devotion to Scripture that brought him into conflict with church and civil leaders. In response to an assertion of the supremacy of the Pope, Tyndale famously said, “I defy the Pope and all his laws; and if God spares my life, ere many years, I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost!” Tyndale's final words, spoken at the stake with a fervent zeal, and a loud voice, were reported later as "Lord! Open the King of England's eyes." Then, Tyndale was strangled to death  while tied at the stake, and then his dead body was burned.   Copies of Tyndale's translation were smuggled into England by the thousands. His work would form the basis of the Great Bible, edited by Miles Coverdale which made its way into every parish church just three years after Tyndale's death. Isaiah 52:7 says, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.'” Close And that's The Worldview on this Thursday, October 10th, in the year of our Lord 2024. Subscribe by Amazon Music or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

"Your God is awake. And God is coming." - Knull   Welcome to episode 209! Infinity Bros Isaac and Mark chat some Nerd News, including the passing of acting legend James Earl Jones, two big TV series coming up in 'Penguin' and 'Agatha All Along', Destin Daniel Cretton being eyed to direct Spider-Man 4, and the big one; Knull being revealed in the final 'Venom: The Last Dance' trailer! Isaac goes on a long rant about the Knull appearance in the Sony film with the *potential* to come to the MCU, and Mark speculates on who the villains could be in 'Agatha All Along'! We also reveal our Top 6 Marvel Villains we'd love to see in the MCU!   Join us for a fantastic, fun-filled conversation!   Check out the Infinity Bros Patreon for EXCLUSIVE content, including unedited episodes, exclusive podcasts, and more!   Want to connect with the Infinity Bros Universe? Click this link --> https://linktr.ee/infinitybros   Want some FREE Magic: The Gathering cards and/or to connect with Infinity Bro Robbie on Drip? Check out this link --> https://join.dripshop.live/TheInfinityBros   Check out our latest Magic Monthly episode with the Casual Commander Revival Podcast, where we discuss what isn't okay at the Commander table in episode 208 of the Infinity Bros Podcast HERE!   Listen to our Deadpool and Wolverine SPOILER review on episode 205 of the Infinity Bros Podcast HERE!   Hear our thoughts on Marvel Studios Hall H announcements and presentation, as well as the casting of Robert Downey Jr. as Victor Von Doom on episode 204 of the Infinity Bros Podcast HERE!   Check out our season review of The Acolyte on episode 203 of the Infinity Bros Podcast HERE!   Check out our review of X-Men '97 on episode 198 of the Infinity Bros Podcast HERE!   Listen to our Tales of the Empire and Bad Batch S3 reviews on episode 197 of the Infinity Bros Podcast HERE!   Check out our review of Shogun on episode 196 of the Infinity Bros Podcast HERE!   Get some delicious coffee or tea from Many Worlds Tavern here, and get 10% off by using code THEINFINITYBROS!   Order your favorite character's Funko Pop at Entertainment Earth here, and get 10% off by using code INFINITY!   Check out all of RIPT Apparel's awesome t-shirt designs here!   Cover Art Artist: Jack Baumert (@Jack_baumertart on Instagram)

Your God is on your side...