The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

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.

TO BE A SERVANT OF GOD (Acts 6:1-7)

TO BE A SERVANT OF GOD (Acts 6:1-7)

As a Christ follower we are all servants of our Lord Jesus.  We are all expected to serve to meet the needs of the church, both the local church, and the church that is made up of all true followers of Christ.

I believe that when properly qualified, and Holy Spirit called, people are chosen to perform the duties of a servant, then they can have a powerful affect on the unity of the church. Spiritual service is the major emphasis of the Christian life. Anything we do in obedience to God's Word is service. In that sense we are all in the ministry.  In no sense do we find in the Scriptures that Pastors, church staff, teachers, elders or deacons, serve and everyone else watches. There isn't a leadership level made up of pastors, a service level made up of deacons, and a spectator level made up of all other believers.  There is no audience in the church; we are all in the ministry. We have all been called to submit ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ. We are all His servants.

We are under orders. Christ is our Lord and master. He has called us into spiritual service. We serve Him by obeying the Word of God, following the promptings of the Spirit of God, coming under the authority of the church, and meeting the needs of those around us. 

It is one thing to say, "I'm proud to be able to serve my country," or "I'm proud to have served this great cause." But that doesn't even come close to being able to say, "I have been called into service by the King of kings and Lord of lords-Jesus Christ Himself."  That is our high and holy calling, it is the vocation to which we are called. 

Click on the link below to hear a message on what it means to be a servant of God.  All hell cannot stop a church that will keep its eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank God for a growing church. I know where there’s life, there’s growth. Where there’s growth, there are problems. Where there are problems, there are solutions. And where there are solutions, there’s greater growth. 

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

Amen.

A GODLY CHURCH MEMBER (Acts 4:36-37)

A GODLY CHURCH MEMBER (Acts 4:36-37)

In today’s lesson, I want to talk about what it means to be a godly church member.  If you could just model and mold a church member, the church member of your dreams, what would he or she be like? Well, I believe they would be like the man that we are going to read about today, a man named Barnabas.

I love to be encouraged. I need encouragement. I am so grateful for people who encourage me. And I’ll tell you something else, I don’t like to be around discouraging people. Now, sometimes we have to. It comes with the territory. The fleas come with the dog.  But, here was a man named Barnabas who could lift your spirits.

Did you know the Bible calls God the God of all encouragement?  That means that God has cornered the market on encouragement. He is the God of all encouragement.  An interesting fact is that the word “encouragement” or “consolation”, as they are used in the Bible are translated from the Greek word parakletos, which is the same word that is used for the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is called the Comforter. He is called the Paraclete, which comes from the Greek word parakletos. It’s the same word. 

And so, here is a man who is doing for other people what the Holy Spirit does for the child of God, who comes inside us, alongside us, to encourage us, to give us comfort, to give us hope, to give us health, to get us on our way. And I’ve come to live long enough to see that there is not a person in this world that does not need encouragement.  

Now, if God is the God of all encouragement, then the devil is the minister of discouragement. Discouragement comes from the devil. Let me tell you, discouragement is a major cause of failure.

Every church, wherever you are, needs some Barnabas's. How did Barnabas get to be Barnabas to begin with? How was he such a good man to begin with? Well, the Bible says very clearly and very plainly that Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Ghost and faith. He was a good man. Why was he a good man? He was a good man because he was full of the Holy Ghost. Why was he full of the Holy Ghost? Because he was a man full of faith. And that is what we are going to talk about today.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how you can be a godly church member.

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

Amen.

GOD'S PATTERN FOR A CHURCH (Acts 2:22-26, 22-47)

GOD’S PATTERN FOR A CHURCH (Acts 2:22-26, 33-47)

Our lesson today is about “God’s Pattern for a Church.” I believe this is important for us to understand because a New Testament church—a Spirit-filled, Bible-believing, Christ-honoring church—is a mighty tool in the hands of a holy God. And God’s pattern is found right here in the book of Acts.

Now, I believe in my heart that God is giving the church one last mighty urge for the revival of all revivals before the night of all nights comes. I also believe that the world is looking at us one more time. They have tried everything—every form of government; every kind of leader; every excess of pleasure; everything that money can buy, that hearts desire, that minds can conceive—and they have found that nothing satisfies. And they are wondering one more time, do we have the answer? And the answer is yes! But when they look at us, I wonder what they’re going to see.

Nietzsche was a cynic, an atheist; an ungodly, lascivious man. He looked at the church; he considered Christianity. Do you know what he said? He said, “If you want me to believe in your Redeemer, then you’re going to have to look a little more redeemed.” Now, you think about it. This world gets their idea of Jesus Christ not from the Word of God—because they don’t read it; they get it from us.

In today’s lesson, I’m going to give you a description of a church triumphant.  Now, I believe that we could all agree that a Christian church exists for the purpose of magnifying Jesus through worship and the Word, and moving believers in Jesus toward maturity and ministry, and making Jesus known to our neighbors and the nations.  And the overarching theme of our church should be Making Jesus Known.  

Click on the play button to hear a message that tells us that by God’s grace and for God’s glory, we need to be in the business of making Jesus known by living supernaturally. We cannot do it naturally; but there’s enough power in heaven. If we’ll wait for the anointing, if we will learn the Word of God, if we will be obedient, then we can see our world impacted for Jesus Christ.

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

Amen.