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Each week a new verse-by-verse Bible study podcast given in expository style. Join us and see the Bible come alive as we study the truths that God‘s Word has for us.
Episodes
Sunday May 01, 2016
Sunday May 01, 2016
If I were to ask you what your position in this world was, what would you say? What is it that you are identified by?
Are you one of the social elite? Not many of us would say yes to that, even if we were. It would not be politically correct to be so crass. If you are such a person, you just know it, and live it, you don’t have to brag about it, and people just identify you as such.
Are you a victim of something? That is the popular position to be in today, because if you are a victim of some type of injustice, then society owes you something. You have the supposed right to take away something from your victimizer, and declare it as yours, whether you earned it or not. If you can get the government to do it for you, even better. You can usually be identified as a victim by the anger in your actions and your words, your intolerance of others, and the chip on your shoulder.
Are you a proud member of the middle class? Hard working, providing for your family. You are a blue collar worker with a strong back and calloused hands to prove it. You are identified by your work.
Are you a parent? Which means you are a provider, a cook, a teacher, a caregiver, a protector, among a hundred other things. This is what you are identified by, the family that you raise.
Do you have a position in a religion? Are you a priest, a preacher, a bishop, a cardinal, a deacon, a deaconess, a choir member, a Bible teacher, a back row Baptist, or a member of the amen pew? Are you identified by the collar you wear, the cross around your neck, the ring on your finger, or the religious book that you carry around with you, be it the Bible, the Quran, the Book of Mormon, or the New Testament that you have in your pocket?
What is your position in this world? What are you identified by? When someone introduces you, how do they describe you?
Our lesson today is about the position that we have before God, both the believer and the non-believer.
Last week we discussed Christ as the Living Stone, the foundation stone of the church today. Christ was rejected as not fitting in with the ideas of the Messiah that the Jews had, so He was killed, but God raised Him from the grave, and now He is our Royal High Priest serving in the Holy Tabernacle of Heaven. He is the rock that our faith is built upon.
As believers we are members of the family of God, joint-heirs with Christ, and royal priests, in the same manner of Christ. That is our position before God. But, what about the person who rejects Christ? What is their position before the Living Stone that is Christ?
Listen to this podcast to learn your position before God.
Sunday Apr 24, 2016
Sunday Apr 24, 2016
When we think of building a home, we spend a lot of time thinking about how many rooms we want to have, how big they should be, should we use carpets on the floor or some kind of tile or wood; what kind of countertops, marble, Formica, tile, or even solid wood; what color the outside of the house should be, do you want a deck or a fence in the backyard. Everything we spend the most time on is generally on the appearance of the home, and the functionality of the rooms, and that is understandable because that is what we see and use the most.
I would hazard a guess that, other than deciding on whether or not to have a basement, most of us will not even spend 5 minutes making sure the house has a solid foundation to be built on. As Jesus said in His parable of the two builders, there are wise builders and there are foolish builders.
Matt 7:24-27
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
KJV
The foundation of our home may not be the thing we think about the most, but the truth is, if the foundation of your home is not solid, the winds and storms of Kansas will blow all of that nice exterior and interior beauty away in just a brief moment. In fact, after a tornado, often the only thing left is the foundation of the home.
The spiritual house of our church and our own spiritual life, depend on having a solid foundation. You can have the best music program, the most entertaining sermons, even the best youth programs, but if your spiritual house is not built on a faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of the living God, then, you will have nothing but disappointment when the storms of tragedy come blowing into your life.
1 Cor 3:11
11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
KJV
This is what our lesson is about today. Jesus Christ as the Living Stone that is to be the foundation that our spiritual house is built upon.
Sunday Apr 17, 2016
Sunday Apr 17, 2016
HOW TO LIVE A HOLY LIFE
When I was a kid growing up, my father would tell me that I needed to choose the people I hung around with very carefully because if you are part of a group, then you will be judged by the behavior of that group. Whether, or not, you actually did whatever the group did, that was how people would think of you. In other words, if you hang out with a group that is always getting into trouble, then people will think of you as a trouble maker. If you hang out the smart people, then you will be judged to be like them whether you really are smart, or not. I am not saying that is fair, it is just the way it is. Life is rarely fair.
I learned this lesson well, and I generally chose to do things the various groups of kids were not doing. As the saying goes, I was country when country wasn’t cool. I turned in my platform shoes and walked all around my college campus wearing cowboy boots. Now, I have to admit, it was at Kansas State University, so it wasn’t all that unusual. I gave up listening to Three Dog Night, Chicago, and Sly and Family Stone as a teenager and started listening to Willie and Waylon, Hank Jr, and Merle Haggard back in the rebel days of country music.
After a while, I switched to traditional country music which included George Strait and the music from the 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s. People like Hank Sr., Patsy Cline, Don Williams, Danny Davis and Nashville brass, and so forth. I even started listening to big band and 40’s club music. Nobody was listening to these guys at that time. It actually became a point in my life to be seen as different from all of the crowd. But being different meant that I was not a part of any particular group. Certainly not, the in-crowd. This was a conscious, and deliberate, decision on my part. I did not want to be associated with the in-crowd, and so I wasn’t.
This actually fit right in with being a Christian during my school years. Living the life of a Christian means you will never be popular, and you will not be a part of the cool kids. In fact, the Bible tells us that we will be hated.
Mark 13:13
13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
KJV
Even knowing that this true, there is to be a conscious, deliberate, decision on the part of a believer, to live a life that is separated from the secular world. Not isolated from the world, for we live in the world, but we are not to be of the world. When people describe you, they should say that there is something different about you, not goofy different, but a good difference. There ought to be something attractive about the way you conduct yourself. There should be a lack of anxiety about all of the things that worry the rest of the world. There should be a humility in your words and your actions. There should be kindness in your actions to others. In fact, people should see Christ shining out of you.
Everything you think about when you consider how Christ lived His life on this earth, ought to be something that you are moving toward, or growing toward as a Christian. This is what living a holy life means. It is living a separated life. One set aside for Christ, dedicated to the work of Christ, and accomplishing the purposes of God in this world.
This is what our lesson is about today, how to live a holy, or a separated life.
Sunday Apr 10, 2016
Sunday Apr 10, 2016
Have you ever been told by someone in authority that you are to go do something that you don’t believe is within your capability to do? At my workplace, we move people around to different roles a lot. With a large part of the employees, they are moving to a different role about every two years. This means that they have to quickly learn how to do a particular role, and then just when they get a basic understanding of how to do it, they move on to another role.
Quite often they will move a very young, inexperienced, person into a position of greater responsibility and expect them to sink or swim. I often hear people say that they were intimidated by the responsibility of the new role, and that they did not feel capable of doing it. However, the company philosophy is one of if you have the right virtues, talents, and philosophies, then they can put you just about anywhere, and you will succeed. It can be a bit daunting at times.
The one thing the company does do is provide the right tools to help a person who is humble enough to ask for the help. I have watched as a person will try to succeed by his own wit and knowledge, and almost always, you will see them fail, many times quite miserably. I have watched others who were humble enough to ask for help and they can often succeed. The corporate world can be a real meat grinder of people. The proud can rise, but they can also fall quite hard.
The demand that God puts on us as believers is very similar to this. You take a brand new Christian, and you immediately give them the elevated standing of an ambassador to the almighty Creator of all things. You then tell them all of the things that God has done for them to provide them with eternal life and redemption, much as Peter has been doing over the last several weeks, and then you tell them all of the things that this new standing, or position, requires of them.
They are to hate sin, they are to live a life that is uniquely different from the life they led before, and the life of the lost people all around them. They are to tell people about the gospel message of Christ, but more than that because words can be hollow, they are to live a life that is a testimony to the Christ they serve. They are to be a light in the darkness drawing people to them so that they can lead them to the cross of Jesus.
It is easy to be intimidated by this requirement of a holy life. Yet, God formed His plan of redemption for us from the foundation of time. That plan included the tools and resources that the new-born Christian could depend on to accomplish the task that God had given them. They just have to be humble enough to ask for the help. It is absolutely impossible to live a holy life that is acceptable to God under your own wit and knowledge. You simply cannot do it on your own. You must use the power and tools that God is offering you, or you will fail, and fail miserably.
Those tools and resources are the indwelling Holy Spirit of God, and the living, indestructible, incorruptible, and eternal, Word of God. It is the Holy Spirit and the Word of God who are the true source of power in a Christian life. God has provided them as part of His plan of redemption, you just have to be humble enough to seek them out and use them. This is what our lesson is about today. Listen to this podcast to learn the true source of power for the Christian to live a holy life.
Sunday Apr 03, 2016
Sunday Apr 03, 2016
God has a plan for your redemption. God was not taken by surprise by the fall of man. It was foreknown by God. If God acted in creation, He knew He would eventually have to act in redemption. He also knew that all three persons of the Godhead would have to be involved.
So, before God ever spoke the words that began creation, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit conceived the plan to redeem Adam's ruined race. It was foreordained before the foundation of the world that, when the fullness of the time was come, God the Son would enter into human life. He would become the Babe of Bethlehem and then, in due time, the Lamb of Calvary. Our redemption was no afterthought with God. It was part of a plan.
Christ was the Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world because God knew that you and I would need a Savior, and He loved us enough to provide that Savior. The Biblical concept of foreordination is just that simple, we only needed a God with a great big heart of love who provided redemption by His grace.
John 3:16-18
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
KJV
This is God’s plan of redemption. God loves you enough to offer salvation by grace.
Revelation 13:8
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
KJV
Whether man wants to acknowledge the existence of God or not. Whether man wants to accept God’s plan of redemption, or not. God’s plan states that from the foundation of the world, God planned for all mankind, saved or not, to worship Him. If you want to find God’s salvation, then the object of your faith must be in the Son of God, Jesus Christ. God very reasonably declares…
1 John 5:9-12
9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.
10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.
11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
KJV
Our redemption has been a part of God’s eternal plan. Our response to that plan demands that we accept the redemption offered by God, to live a holy life as set out by the Scripture, and to do the work that God has sent us here to do.
Listen to this podcast to learn about God’s plan for your redemption.
Sunday Mar 20, 2016
Sunday Mar 20, 2016
Do you fear God?
Your answer to this question says a lot about whether or not you truly believe that there is a God, that He is the Creator of all things, including you, and that a day of judgement is coming for you. It also says what you believe about heaven or hell and how God will determine who joins Him in heaven, and who spends eternity in hell.
When we have a healthy fear of the things of this world, it is because they have the ability and the authority to deprive us of our life and the lives of our loved ones, our liberty, and our possessions, although I would define liberty as including our wealth and possessions. For example, I have a healthy fear of the IRS, not because I have ever failed to pay my taxes as required, but because they have an almost unlimited ability to change my life by taking things away from me, and they have a very spotty record of being accurate in their judgments.
It is a sad statement that man has more fear of the institutions created by man, than they do of their own Creator. Some of this can be attributed to the immediacy and the visibility of the institutions created by man. We can see them, we know they exist, and the judgment date can be established as a day on the calendar. But it can also be attributed to the love that man has for sin.
John 3:19-20
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
KJV
Man does not live a holy life because he does not want to believe in God. To believe in God, means that you must acknowledge His sovereign right to declare what is sin and what is not. Instead, man wants to decide for himself what is sin and what is not, so he denies the existence of God.
Man does not live a holy life because he does not want to believe that there ever will be a judgment day for that sin. If man denies the existence of God, then man can deny any type of judgment by God. Man loves sin more than he fears God.
In today’s lesson, Peter will tell believers that this is a fallacy that we should know better than to believe. As our Creator, God has the sovereign right and the ability to deprive us of our life, our liberty, and any of our possessions. While a believer knows that their eternal destination has already been decided when they made Christ their Lord and Master, they also know that a day of judgment is coming for the determination of how our actions will either be rewarded or lost. Our salvation is secure, our presence in heaven is secure, but our standing in heaven is yet to be determined.
Sunday Mar 13, 2016
Sunday Mar 13, 2016
Outside the four walls of the church, would you ever describe your life as holy? Do you feel comfortable with the word holy when you are speaking to the general public? Probably not. I can’t say that I use the word holy very much outside of a church service or in a Bible study setting.
Why not? The unfortunate reality is that we have allowed the word holy to be hijacked by those who would give it a somewhat pious connotation to it. This is certainly true in the secular world, but even in the religious world. Words like holy-roller, holier-than-thou, are phrases that come immediately to mind when someone claims to be holy.
Why? It is because the world thinks of a religious person as basically a hypocrite because they see so many examples of people who claim to be a Christian, but they live a life that is no different than everyone else around them. They claim to refrain from drinking for religious reasons, but spread gossip at every opportunity. They say they go to church on Sunday, and then they join their friends at a bar on Monday. Statistics would say that a Christian couple is just as likely to commit adultery or have their marriage end in divorce as a non-Christian couple. If these things are true, then there is no wonder that the first thought that comes to mind of an average person when they hear the word holy, is hypocrite, or religious fraud. If you doubt this is true, try describing yourself as living a holy life to one of your lost friends and then watch for the look on their face.
So, as a believer, when we say that we are to live a life that is holy, what does that mean to you?
Does it mean to live life one way while you are at church and another way when you go to work on Monday? How about when you are behind the wheel of your car in traffic, do you live a life that is holy then? Are your actions as you drive holy, are the gestures that you make to other drivers holy, are your words, both the ones you say out loud and the ones that you think in your mind, holy? How about when you are watching your child, or grandchild, play in a sporting event, would somebody listening to your words that you yell at the umpire or referee consider them to be holy?
When God talks about living a life that is holy, He means that your life should be one that is distinct from the secular world. There ought to be a noticeable difference in your life, not a weird difference, but a good difference. Not a hypocritical difference, but a consistent difference. I said last week that for many people, the life of a believer is the only Bible that they will ever read. People should see Christ in your life. Your life should be holy, just as Christ’s life was holy.
We cannot be perfect, but we can keep trying to be more like Christ. We cannot live a holy life by our own will power. It can only be done by the power of the Holy Spirit having complete control of our lives. This is the message that Peter has for us today.
Sunday Mar 06, 2016
Sunday Mar 06, 2016
These are important times in the history of our country. The decisions that we make today about who will lead our country will have a tremendous impact on the direction that we go. Will we move back to the values of God, or rush at an even faster pace toward the values of man? Will we choose a man or woman who has his own pride of accomplishments, and his own wisdom, to guide him, or will we choose a person who depends on the Word of God to guide his decisions? The Bible tells us that at the top of the list of things that God hates, is pride, for if a man is full of pride, then he will not turn to God for wisdom. If we choose a man full of pride, then we will fail as a country.
As believers, when we have difficult choices to make, we have a tremendous advantage over those who do not have Jesus Christ as their Lord and Master. The believer, open Bible in hand, has access to truth in more realms of human activity than all of the politicians, philosophers, educators, scientists, and gurus of the world have.
What politician has available to him a book that can foretell the future of the nations? It would be nice to have a politician that knew the Bible well enough that he knew the difference between 2 Corinthians and Second Corinthians. Someone who actually used the Bible to find the will of God for our country and not just as a prop that he held upside down in the picture.
What psychologist has at his fingertips an unerring guide to human behavior and to the law of sin and death, as we do in the Bible?
What philosopher has access to the mysteries that lie beyond the grave?
What reformer has access to power that can transform human personality and make drunken men sober, crooked men straight, and horribly sinful people pure?
When faced with a question, the humblest believer, open Bible in hand, has access to all such knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. The angels must marvel that so many of us act as though we were drunk rather than sober, that we are content to rely on this world's wisdom and remain in ignorance of God's Word or, knowing it, refuse to act upon it. The Word of God is to be our focus. It is to be read, studied, memorized, and applied to our lives.
The Bible should be the favorite book for every believer to be reading. It should be more important that watching TV, or looking at social media on the computer. In fact, you should be able to gauge how important the Bible is to you and your walk with Christ by how much time you spend reading and studying it as compared with the time you spend with other books, computers, or TV. If the Bible holds the bottom of the ranking, then your life will show that. Your witness will show that, and your family and friends are watching you. Your grandkids are watching you, the past saints are watching you, the angels are watching you, and God is watching you. Do you believe that? Do you really believe that all of these people, including the saints, the angels, and God are watching you?
In fact, someone once said that to many people of the world, you are the only Bible that they will ever read. If you are not reading and applying the Bible on a daily basis to your life, then they will not see God’s Word in you at all.
If you are looking for wisdom in choosing who will lead this country, the answer can be found in the Word of God. Listen to this podcast to understand the majesty of the Word of God.
Sunday Feb 28, 2016
Sunday Feb 28, 2016
We have many great promises of God that we base our faith on. We are certain of these promises and of the truth of God’s Word. If God’s Word is not true, then our faith is in vain. Praise God that we know the inerrancy of God’s Word.
2 Tim 3:16
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
KJV
John Phillips states that the great message of Scripture is salvation. It is contained in the history books of the Bible, chorused in the poetic books of the Bible, and contemplated in the prophetic books of the Bible. It is crystallized in the Gospels, confessed in the Acts, clarified in the Epistles, and consummated in the Revelation. The Bible is the book in which salvation truth has been revealed. The purpose of the Bible is not to teach us things that we can otherwise discover for ourselves.
The Bible is not a handbook of history, although it contains a great deal of history, and the history it does record is unerringly accurate. It is not a textbook of science, although it speaks to many scientific themes, and its astronomy, meteorology, physics, and medicine are totally inerrant. It is not a treatise on legislation, although it contains a thoroughly comprehensive legal code that is so sublime as to be the foundation of all modern Western civilized codes. It is not a book about psychology, although it speaks with authority on all matters of human behavior.
The Bible is a book about salvation. It goes beyond the reach and scope of human reasoning. It tells us truth that can be known only by divine revelation. It tells us all that we need to know about the salvation God has given us.
Human reasoning says that we must work for our salvation. God’s Word says that our salvation is by grace. Christ has already done the work for us.
Man says, Do! God says, Done!
Man says, Try! God says, Trust!
God has provided us a great salvation. Listen to this podcast to learn how God’s Word reveals the truth of this salvation
Sunday Feb 21, 2016
Sunday Feb 21, 2016
We live in a world where true joy can be hard to find at times. I want you to think back to the last time that you felt your heart so overcome with joy, that it was just bursting out of you. Troubles at home, or with a family member, friends, your health, your work, these are all things that we worry about, or have problems with, and it can seem like real joy is hard to find, right?
Certainly, as I think back to times when there was real joy in my heart, playing in the backyard with my kids when they were young. Sitting with my wife next to a babbling mountain stream, just relaxing and enjoying the view and the companionship. Holding a newborn grandchild in my arms. Watching my son be ordained into the ministry. These are some of my memories of a heart full of joy.
However, joy in the life of a believer is to be so much more than just an emotion of happiness. In our lesson today, Peter is going to tell us that the joy a believer has in his heart is the reward that God gives us for truly loving Him. When we love God, we will find God’s gift of joy in our heart. So if this is true, why do we not always feel full of joy? Certainly, I love God, you love God, as believers, we all love God. Yet, was joy the first thing you thought of when you got up this morning to come to church? Did you say, "Good Lord, its morning", or did you say, "Good Morning, Lord!" Think about it and be honest, where was your joy?
Joy comes from the Lord. It resonates from our spirit, and it is placed there by the Holy Spirit when our heart is filled with the Spirit of God, and the love of God. It is sin that separates us from this Joy. When we allow satan to have a place in our heart, be it from holding a grudge against somebody for some harm they did you, or from some secret sin in your life, anything that detracts you from loving God, the joy that God gives us will not be gone, but it will be harder to find. Remember, loving God equals joy in your heart. The more you love God, the more joy that you will have. The more you allow satan into your life, the harder your joy will be to find. It really is that simple.
Loving God equals joy in your heart. Want more joy, then love God more. Listen to this podcast to learn how to have a heart full of God’s joy even when there is trouble all around you.