The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

DON'T GO TO HEAVEN ALONE (Acts 8:26-35)

DON’T GO TO HEAVEN ALONE (Acts 8:26-35)

The title of today’s lesson is “Don’t Go to Heaven Alone.” Instead, take somebody with you. I want to talk to you about how to win men, women, boys, and girls to Jesus Christ.  Did you know that we have an ability, and a joy, that angels don’t have? That is to win souls. Did you know that angels can’t do what we can do? And did you know that winning a soul is something that we can do now, that we will not be able to do when we get to Heaven? There is something, there is a joy, that Earth has that Heaven knows nothing about, and that is the winning of souls. And my, how you ought to be interested—not only in going to Heaven, but in taking somebody with you!

The simple truth is that you are not fit to be a servant of God, if you are not willing to witness.  Amen? Every servant of God is to be filled with the Holy Spirit who can witness through you.  The ministry of the Holy Spirit of God is primarily a ministry of cooperation. He will not do it without you, and you cannot do it without Him.  It is His ability, and your availability. It is His power, and it is your personality. It is His work, but it is your witness. That is God’s plan—not God doing it all, not you doing it all, but God doing it through you. And, in a Christian, Christ lives again. The Church is the Body of Christ. And the Lord has said, “Ye shall receive power, after the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me” (Acts 1:8).

We ought to be sharing the message of Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit is preparing somebody in your world.  And God the Holy Spirit wants to find somebody that He can use, somebody who will be insistent to the cause of the Spirit. That is the way God does it. Oh, it is time that we got excited about winning people to Jesus Christ!

What is it all about? Why did Jesus Christ hang naked on a cross in agony and blood? The Son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.  Getting souls saved is what it is all about. The Bible says, “He that winneth souls is wise” (Proverbs 11:30).  We all have members in our family who are lost. One day, the clods will fall on that casket, and every clod will say, “Lost, lost, lost.” You’ll say, “My God, why didn’t I witness?”  So, I want to tell you, that it is time we got excited about what excites God, and that is bringing people to Jesus Christ. 

Click on the link below to hear a message on how to be a soul winner for Christ, and don’t go to Heaven alone, take somebody with you. 

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

WHERE DOES GOD LIVE? (Acts 7:47-49)

WHERE DOES GOD LIVE? (Acts 7:47-49)

The title of our lesson today is “Where Does God Live?”  I don’t know of any subject that excites me more than the answer to the question “Where Does God Live?”  And, I can tell you that if you will learn what I have to say today, not because I say it, but because of the truth of it, it will radically, dramatically, and eternally change your life. 

So many of us think of God as sort of an absentee landholder.  That somehow, we are down here on earth, and He has saved us, forgiven our sins, and then given us a shove, and said, “Do the best you can.”  And He is up there in heaven peering down through the clouds, and every now and then, we are sending prayers up to Him and saying, “O God, as you sit at master control up there, do something to help me down here because I am in great, great difficulty.” And when we don’t see a response from God, we sometimes pray and say, “You know, I pray, and my prayers never got above the light bulbs.” If that is what you think, do you know what your problem is?  It is because you think God is way up there above the light bulbs.  Listen, God is beneath the light bulbs, as well as above the light bulbs, and that is what we need to learn. We need to learn where God is and where God lives.

Let me ask a question, if you wanted to write God a letter, do you know His address? Do you have the zip code? Where does God live? Sometimes we say about the church we worship in, “Well, this is the house of God.” This is not the house of God. Now, it’s God’s house in the sense that He owns it, but “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.” (1 Corinthians 10:26, 28) But, this is not God’s address. As a matter of fact, God has been living in a series of houses, and I want to talk to you about those houses today, because when you learn this lesson, you will learn a great, great, truth.  

Click on the link below to hear a message on where God lives, where God dwells.  God has moved into people. In the Old Testament, He had a temple for His people. In the New Testament, He has a people for a temple. We are the temple of God, and God lives in us.  That is the answer to the question “Where does God live?” The answer is God lives in us.  

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

LEARNING TO STAND ALONE (Acts 6:3-15; 7:51-60)

LEARNING TO STAND ALONE (Acts 6:3-15; 7:51-60)

I want to talk to you today about “Learning to Stand Alone.” I thank God for the power that we have when we stand together.  Someone has said that “One will chase a thousand; ten will chase ten thousand.” Thank God for the power that we have to stand together as brothers and sisters in Christ.  But you know, the time may come when you are all by yourself, when you don’t have your brothers and sisters in Christ around about you. And you are going to have to learn how to stand alone. 

There is coming a time when you are going to have to be one against the crowd, and you are going to be all by yourself against great odds.  One of most common situations for Christians today where this is true, is when we send our kids off to college.  If your child is a follower of Christ, then they are going to have to stand alone, even at our religious universities and seminaries.  They will have in their college classes, atheistic, agnostic, cynics, for professors.  They may be the only Christian in that class, and they are going to have to stand up for the Lord Jesus. 

Another common area is on your job, where you are forced to deal with DEI mandates from your employer, and training on how to interact with people who believe that being a Christian, and having Christian morals, is an offence that you can be fired for.  But, you will have to stand up for the Lord Jesus.

The point is that there are times when we are going to have to stand alone, because we are twice-born people in a world of once-born people, and we are going to find ourselves going against the tide. And as we get closer to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are going to find that the opposition is sharpening, and the hostility is emerging more vicious, and more furious than ever, and we will have to stand alone. The Bible says that we are to stand against that evil. It says to “take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:13) Our job, our duty, and our privilege is to stand for Christ.

Click on the link below to hear a message on the secret to standing for Christ. If you have to stand alone, then stand alone, and let the Holy Spirit of God give you wisdom to speak for Christ. Let him give you power to stand for Christ. Let him give you faith to suffer for Christ.

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

STEPHEN SEES THE MASTER (Acts 7:38-60)

STEPHEN SEES THE MASTER (Acts 7:38 to 60)

As we go through this lesson today, I want you to think about what your faith is in.  Is it in God, or in the religious traditions, buildings, and ceremonies that we have created and become accustomed to.  

Do you know how you can tell what your faith is in?  Let me ask you a series of questions.  First, why did you choose the church that you are attending?  Was it because of a particular pastor or staff member?  You like their style of preaching, or they moved to another church, and you followed them.  Was it because of the denomination, or lack of denomination, of the church?  You wanted to be in a Methodist church, a Baptist church, or an Assembly of God church.  Maybe you didn’t want to be part of any denomination?

Was it the building that you worship in?  Is it a beautiful building, or simply functional?  Was it because of the type of music that is sung, hymns or more contemporary music?  Do you claim that you can’t worship God unless you get to sing the type of songs that you like?  Was it because you read the statement of faith of that church and agreed with it? How many of you read the statement of faith of your church before you joined?  Was it because of how the church is organized and structured?  Is it a pastor led church, or an elder/deacon board led church?  Did you read the By-Laws of the church to learn about the organization?

Understand that I am not saying these things are not important, because they are.  They can certainly be a guide to what God’s will is not.  I mean, why would you join church that did not follow God’s Word.   But, they should never be the reason for choosing a church to worship God in, and they are not what your faith should be in.  You should always choose a church because God led you to it.  You should always join a church because He called you to serve in that church.  Your faith is in God, it is in the Son of the Living God, Jesus Christ, whose blood purchased your salvation and is now sitting on the right hand of God.  If you follow God’s leading, then all of those other things will fall in line because God would never lead you to a church that was not following, teaching, and preaching, God’s Word.

That was the very problem of the Jews that Stephen is preaching to.  They chose the traditions of their childhood over the God that had chosen them.  They chose to worship man-made things, like the Temple and it’s rituals, rather than God.

Click on the link below to hear a message on who your faith should be in.

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

STEPHENS DEFENSE (Acts 6:7 to 7:16)

STEPHEN’S DEFENSE (Acts 6:7 to 7:16)

Stephen was one of the great men of faith in the new church.  He was of honest report, he was filled with the Holy Ghost, and he was full of wisdom.  He was a man blessed of God.  

The Apostles, and the new group of disciples, are proclaiming that Jesus Christ is the focus of the new religion now, and that the Temple, and the sacrificial based system of religion, has become irrelevant.  It was, and still is, irrelevant because the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross has paid the penalty for all sin, once and for all.  No longer do people need to bring their sacrifices to the priests to obtain forgiveness for sin.  They can go directly to God through His Son Jesus Christ, and ask for forgiveness and obtain eternal life based on the grace of God, not the religious ceremonies put forth by the Temple system of worship.

God is not restricted to speaking through any special person, place, or building.  He doesn’t need the Pope and the Vatican, a Jewish High Priest and his Temple, or a preacher in a Christian church building, to communicate with those He wishes to communicate with.  God can and does reveal Himself when and where He wills, just as He did with Abraham.  The Bible shows us over and over that there is a movement and a process in God’s dealings with man, and it is seen in the different covenants and dispensations that God has made with man.  

As we go through this, I want you to think about what our own focus of worship is on today.  Is our church building and the songs we sing, and the ceremonies we perform each Sunday, the focus of our faith, or are they the tools we use to worship the true, almighty, living God?  

Click on the link below to hear a message that asks the questions, “Is God more important than the building we worship in?  What is our faith in?  The buildings we have built with our own hands, or the grace of God?”

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

A WITNESSING LIFESTYLE (Acts 5:19-20)

A WITNESSING LIFESTYLE (Acts 5:19-20)

The thing I love about the book of Acts is that it teaches us the Biblical truths about what I want to call “That Old-Time Religion.”  It teaches us the concepts about the power of the Holy Spirit and the overwhelming love of Jesus Christ that our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents learned, believed, and taught.  These are not new, socially adjusted, truths about what is right and wrong in the eyes of God that we are learning about.  These truths have been ours to apply to our lives from the time that Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden.  There is no changing or turning with God.  Today, His Word is just as applicable, and His promises are as secure, as they have always been, and always will be.  

Today, I want to ask you a question: Did you know that there is something that you are privileged to do that the angels are not privileged to do?  Did you know that there is something that you are commanded to do that no angel has ever been commanded to do?  Angels are not allowed to preach and witness about the gospel message of Jesus Christ.  Why is it that angels can’t preach the gospel of Jesus? It is because when we preach the gospel of Jesus, or when we are soul winners, what we are doing is this: we are sharing what Jesus has done for us. Jesus said, “Ye shall be my witnesses.” (Acts 1:8)

When you go out tomorrow to live a witnessing lifestyle, and you see anybody coming down the street, I want you to know that people all have the same heartaches, and they all have the same hunger, because down in their hearts they need to know God, and the things of this world cannot satisfy. And they may not even know that it is God that they are searching for, but they need to know Him.  They also all have the same hope—and His name is Jesus. Jesus will save anybody. The hope of the world is Jesus. All men have a common hope, this same hope; there is no other way apart from Jesus.  Jesus is not the best way to heaven; He is the only way.  

And here’s the bottom line: All people need the same help. They need somebody to tell them about Jesus.  That somebody is you.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how we can live a witnessing lifestyle, by making ourselves available, expendable, and adaptable to the calling of God to witness to a world of people who have the same heartaches, the same hunger, the same hope, and the same need of help.

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

HOW TO PUT POWER IN YOUR PRAYER (Acts 4:23-33)

HOW TO PUT POWER IN YOUR PRAYER (Acts 4:23-33)

The progressives in our country have recently been disparaging prayer as weak and powerless to stop tragedies from happening.  For example, a recent incident occurred at a Catholic school while the children were praying in a sanctuary.  The progressive’s argument was what use was prayer, for it did not protect those innocent children.  It became a talking point for several members of congress castigating those who asked for prayer for the families that lost a child, and for our nation that is being consumed by evil.  

It is hard to believe that we, as a nation, have come to this point, but when you consider that these people do not believe that God exists, then it is logical that they do not believe in the power of prayer.  They miss the point that prayer is not a talisman to protect us, it is a direct communication with the Almighty God to provide strength to get through the tragedies, and evil, of this world.  Prayer is our fellowship with God who loves us, and whom we love.

More than ever, I am totally convinced that the need of the hour is power in prayer.  Not merely to pray, but to pray with power—to pray so as to get your prayers answered.  You see, prayer is not getting God to agree with you.  Prayer is getting you to agree with God about what He is going to do.  God is absolutely sovereign.  We do not change God’s mind about things that He has foreknown from the foundation of time.

Many of you know that my brother died a couple of weeks ago, and it was not because we did not pray with enough faith to heal him.  There were literally hundreds of people praying for him to be healed.  He died because it was God’s will that my brother would come home to be with Him.  And that was my prayer, that God’s will would be done in my brother’s life.  God, as our Creator, decides in His sovereign will, what will happen in this world, and nobody is going to name it, and claim it, to occur differently.  

I firmly believe that in order to get our prayers answered, we need to first find out what God’s will is, and then pray for that to occur.  Do I believe that we should pray for God to heal those who are sick?  Absolutely.  Do I believe that God heals people today?  Absolutely.  But when we pray for God’s will to be done, then we can rejoice and praise God just as loudly when He heals someone, as when He chooses to bring someone home.  And I did exactly that, I praised God’s name when God chose to take my brother home.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how prayer is a means of bringing the power of heaven into our lives.  

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

THE SECRET TO HOLY BOLDNESS (Acts 4:1-20)

THE SECRET TO HOLY BOLDNESS (Acts 4:1-20)

Today, I want to talk about The Secret to Holy Boldness, or the secret to witnessing for Christ, even in the face of persecution.  I believe that we need an epidemic of Holy boldness from believers in our world today.  And, if you are one of those who wish that you had more courage to testify and witness for Jesus, then I want you to pay attention. I am convinced that many of us want to share our faith, and want to tell others about our Savior, but we have been intimidated by our lost friends and family, and society as a whole.  We are more concerned about their reaction to our witnessing for Christ, than we are about their eternal life and destiny.  And that makes us cowardly Christians.  And I believe that there are a lot of people who when they go out to testify for Jesus.  On the one hand, their loyalty makes them go, but on the other hand, their fear makes them slow, and they just are not the vibrant testimony for Jesus that they ought to be.

Listen to me, if there is one message that the Church needs to preach today, it is that Jesus is the only way of salvation. Now, if you think that is narrow-minded, then don’t argue with me, go argue with God, because that is what He says in His Word.  

If I cannot teach that Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven, then I am not going to teach at all, because if Jesus Christ is not the only way to Heaven, then Jesus Christ is none of the ways to Heaven. 

If Jesus Christ is not the only way to Heaven, then the Apostle Peter is a liar. Peter said in Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”  Amen?

If Jesus Christ is not the only way to Heaven, then Jesus Christ Himself is a fake, a fraud, and an imposter, for He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). 

Holy boldness is saying, “Lord Jesus, If You are for me, then who can be against me? Lord Jesus, if You want to use me, then use me Lord. And I trust You to take care of me. And Lord, if You choose—if You choose to let me be put in jail—then I’ll rejoice that I am counted worthy to suffer shame for Your name. If you choose, Lord Jesus, that I suffer bodily harm, then Lord, nothing will come to me that will not come through You first. And Lord, You are my Commander-in-Chief, and Lord, I submit myself to you, and I will speak at Your command.”  

Click on the play button to hear a message on the secret to Holy Boldness.

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

KEEPING YOUR SPIRITUAL FIRE BURNING PART II (Acts 2:1-4)

KEEPING YOUR SPIRITUAL FIRE BURNING, PART II (Acts 2:1-4)

If we are to live the victorious Christian life, then we must have the spiritual fire of God’s Holy Spirit burning brightly in our lives.  We are absolutely powerless to be in God’s will without the Holy Spirit.  

Fire is a symbol of the Holy Spirit:

It spreads: Fire begins small, but it can devour a forest or destroy a city. The convicting power of the Holy Spirit begins as small spark in the heart of a lost person, and then it spreads, from person to person as the new believer tells of his wonderful salvation.

It burns:  Everything fire touches is transformed into fire.  The fire of the Holy Spirit transforms your old sinful nature into one that is righteous before God.
 
It purges: Fire sterilizes and kills germs, disease, and all impurities.  The Holy Spirit convicts the lost person of the sin in their lives, baptizes them into the body of Christ, and purifies them with the blood of Christ.

It illuminates: We take for granted the light that comes from the flip of switch, yet for thousands of years, fire was man’s only source of artificial light.  It allowed men to work and walk in a dark world.  In the same manner, believers walk in a world dark with sin.  It is the Holy Spirit living in their hearts that speaks to them, provides discernment to them, and illuminates the mind of Christ for them.

It warms:  Fire provides heat and comfort in a world full of cold and ice.  Jesus promised the disciples a Comforter.  The Holy Spirit is the Comforter to the believer in a cold, hard, world that has no love for them or their faith.  He comforts us when we are in trials.  He empowers us when we need Him most.  He enables us to live the Christian life.

It smolders:  Men can resist and quench ordinary fire, but the fire of the Holy Spirit can never be put out.  Once the fire of the Holy Spirit is in your heart it will never leave you.  But, you can make it inoperative in your life.  If you allow unrepented sin in your life, it will smolder quietly in the heart of the believer, ignored, and then suddenly begin to spread again. 

Click on the play button to hear a message on the four things that you must do to keep the spiritual fire burning in your life.  

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

WAITING FOR THE SPIRIT (Acts 1:12 to 2:1)

THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD (Acts 1:9-11)

Today’s message does not have the great theological Bible truths of the last several weeks, but it does have some good Bible history.  Our message today is somewhat workman like in that it talks about what the disciples did while they waited on the comforter that Jesus had promised them.  Today, we talk about the characteristics of the disciples, and then we discover that Peter is still just as impulsive as he has always been as he tries to lead the group in choosing a replacement for Judas.  And then lastly, we will set the stage for our discussion next week on the events of Pentecost.  

The Bible tells us that the Old Testament Feast of Pentecost represents something—that is, it is the fulfillment of something.  The Feast of the Pentecost has been fulfilled in the birth of the church.  Pentecost was to depict the beginning and origin of the church. It spoke of the coming of the Holy Spirit in the very particular ministry of calling a people out of this world to form the body of Christ, which is the church. Five minutes before the Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost there was no church. Five minutes after the Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost there was a church. In other words, what Bethlehem was to the birth of Christ, Jerusalem, on the Day of Pentecost, was to the coming of the Holy Spirit. 

Click on the play button to hear a message on how it was at Pentecost that The Holy Spirit became incarnate. He began to baptize believers, which means that the Holy Spirit identified them with Christ as His body here on this earth. As believers, we are a part of that fulfillment today.  Our purpose on this earth today is to allow the Holy Spirit to work through us to gather all of the members of that great body of the church.  Jesus is coming again to gather that church up as His bride.  Our mission is to spread the gospel of Christ to the uttermost parts of the world.  

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.