The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

A MARRIAGE MADE IN HEAVEN (Genesis 2:18-25)

A MARRIAGE MADE IN HEAVEN (Genesis 2:18-25)

The message that I am going to teach today, will be called “Old Fashioned,” or “out-of-touch,” by many today.  I understand that, and I really had to question whether I wanted to teach it or not, but I believe we live in a time when God’s plan for marriage has been put aside and forgotten.  Now, I want you to understand that I know that many people are in marriages that are nothing close to this, or they are now single parents, but this lesson is about what God teaches us that His plan for marriage was when He created it.  God created marriage for man.  It is man that has corrupted this plan to what it is today.  So, I thought it important that we reset the standard of what a marriage is supposed to be, when it is the way that God planned it.  

Now, if you’re married, you have a potential of great, great wealth—and I don’t mean financial wealth. I mean you can be a marriage millionaire if you understand the value there is in a true, true marriage, based on God’s intent for marriage. Don’t be like the man who used to run his wedding movies backwards so he could see himself walking out of the church a free man. Let me tell you that there is a wonderful, wonderful, value in this thing called marriage, properly understood.

Click on the play button above to hear a message about God’s plan for marriage. I want to tell you that all true marriages are made in heaven. Marriage did not come from the swamps of evolution. It is not the product of societal folkways and mores. Marriage is the most basic instinct in the heart and mind of human beings.

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

Amen.

GOD’S COVENANTS WITH MAN (Genesis 2:15-17)

GOD’S COVENANTS WITH MAN (Genesis 2:15-17)

When God created man, He blessed man with the perfect spot to live, the perfect job, and the perfect mate.  So, what is there that could be missing?  Well, the next thing I want us to realize about Adam and Eve as God placed them in the Garden of Eden is the relationship that God gave them with Him.  Adam enjoyed a relationship with God that we only partially see now as a Christian through the blood of Jesus Christ.  

I believe that we will see the fulfillment of this relationship when we go to be with the Lord, and we are perfected.  In some ways, I believe our relationship will even be better than the one Adam had with God.  Actually, it will be the relationship that Adam could have had if he had obeyed God.  I also believe that the covenants that God has established with man, from the Old Testament through the New Testament have been a progression toward obtaining that perfect relationship with God.  

Generally speaking, God’s relationship to man has always been based on a covenant.  The New Testament is actually a New Covenant which God has made, and it is in contrast to the Old Covenant of the Old Testament.  

Click on the play button above to hear a message that describes the eight covenants that God has made with man and how they change the way that we approach God.

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

Amen.

GOD BLESSES MAN (Genesis 2:1-25)

Today, we are going to talk about two topics; the first is God’s rest.  This is an interesting Biblical concept that I want you to know about because it really has tremendous application to us.  Next, we are going to talk about how God established Adam, and then blessed him with a perfect home, a perfect job, and then a perfect mate.  For all those social workers and psychologists that believe that man’s sinful behavior is simply a result of a person’s environment, this should be their prime example of how wrong they are.  Unfortunately, man doesn’t sin because of his environment, man sins because he chooses to sin.  

Click on the link below to hear a message where God is describing the ideal marriage. It took place in the perfect spot to live, each with the perfect job, and most of all with the perfect mate.  It was planned by God, blessed by God, and created by God.  If we do not have this today, it is only because we have strayed so far, as a race, from the perfect will of God. 

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

Amen.

A LIFE WITHOUT FEAR (Hebrews 13:5-6)

A LIFE WITHOUT FEAR (Hebrews 13:5-6)

When the old mapmakers were drawing ancient maps, they did not know what we know today. They didn’t have global positioning satellites. They could not see the world from outer space, and they would make maps of what they knew. But there was much that they did not know, and when they would come to the edge of their knowledge, they would often write something like this: “Beyond this, there may be dragons.” And, if you will look at some of the old maps, you will see the sea monster in the ocean right alongside those words.  This is because man has an innate fear of the future, and of the unknown.  The fear of the future is a foe that we all face.  Whether we are young or old, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, we wonder about what is going to happen. Fear has no racial bias. It’s endemic to all people.  

There is a fear of where our country is heading.  There is a fear of the persecution of Christians that is occurring as our country, and world, move further and further away from the Biblical values of God, and God Himself.  There is fear of the violence that is occurring all around us.  There is a fear of financial loss and the inability to pay the bills that are sitting on your table at home.  There is a fear of disease and failing health in a world filled with cancer and pandemics.  These are just a few of the things that we face in an uncertain future, and yet, God wants us to have a future without fear. As a matter of fact, God has not only admonished us, but God has commanded us, not to fear.

Click on the play button to hear a message that will teach you how to live a life free of fear.  

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

Amen.

ARE YOU RUNNING THE RACE? (Hebrews 12:1-2)

ARE YOU RUNNING THE RACE? (Hebrews 12:1-2)

When you think of an athlete who is a runner on a track team, what do you think about?  Dedication, training, conditioning, and a sense of complete focus on being prepared to run the race.  Then, when that person is running a race, they are singularly focused on completing that race to the best of their ability, right?  Imagine that there is a young man who is getting set in the starting blocks. Every muscle is tense in anticipation of the start.  The starting gun goes off and he explodes out of the starting blocks. He’s looking straight ahead with complete, total concentration. Every inch, every ounce, every nerve, every fiber, he’s pressing to the goal. He stays in his lane. He’s not moving to the right. He’s not moving to the left, and in this example, he is not running against anybody else. He’s running against himself. He’s running against the clock, and he’s headed toward the finish line. 

But, in this life, if you are a child of God, then you are in the race. I don’t care how old you are. I don’t care how feeble you are. I don’t care how rich, or how poor, you are. There is a race for you to run, and God wants you to run that race like a champion. 

The truth is that most of the people in our churches today are not active soul winners. That’s tragic. You say, “But, I give my money.” I don’t care how much money you give, if you’re not endeavoring to bring souls to Christ, then you are not right with God. You say, “Well, I teach.” I don’t care how eloquently you teach, if you’re not trying to bring souls to Jesus, then you’re not right with God. You say, “Well, I attend faithfully.” I don’t care how much you attend, if you’re not trying to bring souls to Jesus Christ, then you are not right with God. Well, you say, “I live a clean, moral life.” I don’t care how circumspectly you walk, if you’re not endeavoring to bring souls to Jesus Christ, then you are not right with God. Andrew Murray said, “There are two classes of Christians: soul winners and backsliders.” You’re one or the other.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how you can learn to run the race of faith that God has put before you just like the champions in God’s Hall of Fame.

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

Amen.

WHEN FAITH SEEMS TO FAIL (Hebrews 11:32-40)

WHEN FAITH SEEMS TO FAIL (Hebrews 11:32-40)

What happens when faith seems to fail? Sometimes we pray, and God doesn’t seem to answer our prayer the way we wanted.  Maybe we’re going to have an outdoor event, and we say, “Lord, give us beautiful weather,” and the storms come and chase us back indoors. Has that ever happened to you? I mean, it turns everything into a swamp, but you prayed and asked God for it to be a bright sun-shiny day. Sometimes you pray, “Lord, I want to marry that person. Give them to me as a spouse,” and instead, they marry your best friend.  You say, “Lord, how could you?  I prayed and I had faith.”

Then, on a more serious note, sometimes we have a loved one who is sick, and we come to God, and we say, “Oh, God, heal my child. Lord, heal my wife. Heavenly Father, touch with Your healing hand,” and they don’t get better; they get worse, and it seems like some greedy malady is just eating away at those that we love the best, and we see them wind down to the grave. And we’ve tried to believe, we’ve tried to trust, and faith seems to fail.  As a result, we are ready just to throw in the towel, and say, “What’s the use? It’s not working.” Have you ever been there? If not, then just hold on, because your time is coming that you will be. 

There are times that come where the answer doesn’t come exactly as we think that it ought. Sometimes trials, temptations, tribulations, heartaches, tears, fears—they come, and faith doesn’t seem to remove them.

Click on the play button at the top of this episode to hear a message on how you can have a mature faith.  Many people have a superficial faith, and a superstitious faith, rather than a strong faith, and a spiritual faith, and a biblical faith. So, if you’re about ready to throw in the towel, if you prayed for your child and your child didn’t get well, and you’re ready to quit coming to God and to church, then I want you to listen to this message.

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

Amen.

LESSONS FROM A DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY (Hebrews 11:20)

The home is meant to be the seminary of heaven, but often it is the incubator of hell.  If you are looking around, you can see that Satan is systemically dismantling homes in our world.  Sociologists today would say that family is important, but when society changes, what we call family can change and the role of family may change.  That is not true.  The Bible clearly states that the family is not the product of sociology. Family did not come from the swamps of immorality. Family is not something that evolved from primordial ooze. Family is the gift of God. God instituted family in the Garden of Eden, and the first institution was not government, not education, not business; the first institution was family. God put a family in the Garden of Eden.  Throughout history, when the concept of family was completely obliterated, disintegrated, from a culture, those societies crumbled. There is a war on the family, and you have to admit it: In today’s society, family life, godly family life, is difficult.

So, how do we fight this?  Unfortunately, the majority of the dads in America, whether they are saved or lost, are focused on the things of this world.  They are wrapped up in business, in sports, in recreation, in alcohol, in food, in materialism, and these fathers are living self-centered lives, while their families are dysfunctional, their families are crumbling around them. The Bible says that God made the husband to be the head of the family, and as the father, you have an awesome responsibility to be a spiritual man, a man of God. 

Click on the link to hear a message on how we, as parents, both father and mother, have an awesome power to bless our children. You can bless your children by training them up to love God.  But ultimately, the children must make their own choice to serve God.  

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

Amen.

NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD (Hebrews 9:22)

Today our message is going to be on the wonderful, God blessed, subject of “Nothing but the Blood.”  Someone has said that you can cut the Bible in any place, and it will bleed because the Bible tells the story of what Jesus Christ did for you and me.  This is one of my favorite topics to teach on, because this precious blood of Christ is the reason that I have eternal life with my Lord and Savior in Heaven.  I honestly cannot think of a more important message to teach than this, Nothing but the Blood.

Actually, there are three cords that run through the Bible. One is a somber cord, a dark cord of sin and shame and degradation. The Bible teaches us about the sinfulness of man. The other is a bright, scarlet-red cord of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is a book about blood. And then there’s a golden cord that speaks of the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ which tells how He is going to rule and reign forever. The dark cord of sin, the red cord of redemption, and the gold cord of His Second Coming in glory. What a joy it is to read the Bible and find all of those things.  

Actually, the four ingredients of a great church are these: the book, the blood, the birth, and the blessed hope. That is what makes a great church. Those are the things that we just have to keep on preaching over and over again: the book, God’s holy Word; the blood, the sacrificial blood atonement of the Lord Jesus; the birth, the necessity of a new birth, to be a twice-born person; and the blessed hope that Jesus is actually, literally, visibly, bodily, coming back to this earth one of these days.

Click on the link below to hear a message on the prophecy and the provision of the saving blood of Jesus Christ.

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

Amen.

LET US GO ON TOWARDS CHRIST (Hebrews 6:1-12)

If you cease to be better, then you cease to be good, and when you cease to be good you are living a life of sin.  To stop growing in Christ, means that you are living a life of sin.  The Christian who is living a life of sin, meaning they are truly saved, but not living a life in the will of God, is going to lose the rewards that God has promised them.  These are the joy of living with Christ in your heart in this life, and the crowns, or rewards, that we will receive for living a life doing the will of God.  You cannot lose your salvation, for that is secure in the hand of God, and no man can pluck you out.  But, you can lose the opportunity to have our dear Lord and Savior say “Welcome my faithful servant” as you step into Glory forever and ever.  Nothing would hurt me more than disappointing my Lord, Jesus Christ.

Click on the link below to hear a message where the writer of Hebrews tells Christians, “I am persuaded that you are going to live for God, that you are going to receive the things that accompany salvation, the joy of the Christian life, and the rewards for your work done through the Holy Spirit living in you.”

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

Amen.

OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST-PART III (Hebrews 7:7 to 8:2)

As Christ followers, we believe in the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer.  That just means that each believer is a priest with direct access to God.  We have no need of an earthly priest because we already have direct access to God.  This doctrine of the priesthood of the believer is clearly taught in the New Testament.

1 Peter 2:5
5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
KJV

This position of “royal priesthood” for the believer is made possible by the completed work of salvation of Christ at Calvary.  Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection abolished the need of earthly priests and their sacrifices, for Christ became the sacrifice for all.  As believers, the Bible tells us that we have full, unfettered, access to God.  Yet, it is true that, like Job, we all have needs and we need someone to help us approach God.  Listen, if the idea of boldly approaching the very throne of The Almighty God, so that you can speak to Him, does not intimidate you, then I am not sure you fully understand who God really is.  Jesus Christ is that Mediator, that High Priest that brings God to us, and us to God.

There is a man in heaven, and His name is Jesus Christ. This is the place of His ministry. He is there at the right hand of the Father, co-equal, co-eternal with God the Father, and the place of His ministry is the place of His majesty, at the right hand of God forevermore.

Click on the link below to learn what a Savior we have! He is King. He is priest. He is the King of Righteousness. He is the Prince of Peace. And I’ll tell you, if you’ll make Him your King, you’ll know righteousness and you will know peace. I promise you on the authority of the Word of God that is true. And you will have a high priest, someone who will bring God to you, and someone who will intercede for you before the Father.

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

Amen.