The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

THE LORD'S PRAYER FOR YOU (John 17:1-13)

Imagine this, the Son of the Almighty God, the Creator of all things, stood in a street and prayed for you.

John 17:9
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
KJV

When Jesus says, “I pray for them,” He means that He is praying for those who have believed on Him. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then Jesus is praying for you. That doesn’t mean that the Lord does not love the lost. He so loved the world that He came to die on a cross for their sin. But this prayer was about the people who would take the good news of the gospel of Christ to the world.

What did Jesus pray for?

John 17:13
13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
KJV

It was for joy that Jesus endured the cross. Jesus wanted that same joy to fill the souls of his saints. His joy could not be full if their cup was not full too. So, he prayed that "they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves."

Click on the link below to hear a message on what Jesus prays for you. He prayed that you might have everlasting life and to have your cup filled with His joy.

Amen.

THE HOLY SPIRIT REVEALS (John 16:12-24)

Well, the world has certainly changed since the last time we met to study God’s Word. Instead of being in a building full of people, I am speaking to an empty room because of the coronavirus pandemic. From the looks of things, it may be this way for some time to come. As a result, I want you to know that I will continue our study of the Book of John with a new podcast posted each week. I also want you to know that God is in control. If you are worried, let God take that burden from you. If you are afraid, let God comfort you. If you are sick, let God work His will in your life. God is in control.

It shouldn’t, but it always amazes me when I see God’s timing play out in our lives. For example, prior to all of these events occurring related to the virus outbreak. Before we had even heard the word coronavirus. God has had me teaching about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He knew this time of trial was coming. We didn’t, but He did, and He wanted to remind us of how He will be here with us. He wanted to bring to our remembrance all that He has said about how He was indeed in control and that we can depend on Him. If there is nothing else that you walk away from this message with, it is that God is in control, and that He will give you the strength you need to get through this time of trial.

Isa 40:28-31
28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
KJV

This virus did not take God by surprise. He is in control. If you will wait upon the Lord, if you will let Him have control of your life, then He will renew your strength.

In chapter 16 of the Gospel of John, we have been talking about three truths that the Lord Jesus Christ has sent the Holy Spirit to teach us. They are the truths about sin, righteousness, and judgment. In today’s message, Jesus is going to tell His disciples another truth that the Holy Spirit will reveal unto them.

It is A truth about the new age of Grace, and the church of true believers, the body of Christ. It is through this body of true believers, that the Holy Spirit will bring the gospel message of Jesus Christ to the world, and bring words of life and hope to those who need to hear them during the times of tragedy that we face.

Click on the link below to hear a message on the work of the Holy Spirit as He reveals the truths of our Lord Jesus.

Amen.

A LIFE FULL OF JOY (John 15:11)

Many people would define the word joy as happiness. So, what's the difference between joy and happiness? Someone once said, “Happiness may give smiles, put laughter on our face, but happiness is just what the word describes. Happiness depends on what happens. Therefore, you call it happiness. If your hap is good, then you're happy. If your hap is bad, then you're unhappy. It all depends upon happenstance and whatever happens.” But joy depends upon the Lord. It is supernatural. It is not natural. And, therefore, because that joy is supernatural, that joy is steadfast. It is not happiness.

For a believer, joy is more than an emotion. It is a strength. It is the power of our Lord Jesus Christ flowing through us. It is a continuous, contagious, and conspicuous, source of strength for the believer to deal with the tribulations and persecutions of this world. When Christ’s joy emanates from you, people see it, and they want what you have. It is what draws people to you to learn about the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ’s Joy is a joy that should be a part of every Christian’s life. It is not an automatic gift when you become a Christian, but it is a necessity to anyone wishing to live a victorious Christian life. The problem is that many Christians look for that joy in all the wrong places. They look for it the circumstances they are in. They look for it in their job, their hobbies, the people that they know, such as family members and friends. But those are all the wrong places to find Christ’s joy.

Click on the link below to hear a message on where to find real joy. It is when we abide in Christ that we find the unending love of Christ. It is also where we find true joy, in Christ.

Amen.

FINDING JOY IN THE VINE (John 15:5-11)

True joy is something that every Christian needs in their lives. It is the lubricant of your life. The joy of the Lord is indispensable in serving the Lord. The Bible says, "The joy of the Lord is what?" Your strength! The Bible says, “Serve the Lord with gladness..." The joy of the Lord will take the weariness, and the burden, and the labor, out of serving the Lord. But there are many Christians who do not have this joy. They want it, but they do not have it. Why is that? Why can’t they find this joy?

Have you ever lost something, and you looked, and looked, for it but you couldn’t find it? You looked in almost every place that it could be, but you didn’t find it, and then you found it. Now, why didn’t you find it when you looked in all of those other places? Because it wasn’t there. You were looking in the wrong places for it. Why can’t some people find this true joy that is so important to their lives? Because they are looking for it in the wrong places. They're trying to find it. They are looking, and looking, and looking, but they will not find it because it is not in the places that they are looking. They will never find it until they look into the place where true joy is. You have to look in the right place.

Click on the link below to hear a message on the true source of joy. It is a supernatural source. It is Jesus Christ. If you want to have true joy in your life, stop looking in all the wrong places and come to the source. Come to Jesus.

Amen.

ARE YOU THIRSTY? PART 1 (John 37-39)

Let me start by asking a question, how important is religion in your life? You see, I would say that religion is really only a small part of my life. I come to church on Sunday and participate in the form and the structure of a typical Protestant church. Certainly, there are differences in the religious rituals that are performed between the different Christian religions, but there are some basic similarities as well. Now, I am no expert on all Christian religions, but there is generally a sanctuary where everyone meets, there will be some music, some Bible verses read, and some preaching of one kind or another. The music may be contemporary, or it may be traditional hymns. It could be lively, with a bunch of dancing and shouting, or it could be almost silent whispers. The preaching may be fire and brimstone, or much more formal. It could be topical in nature, or it could be expository in nature. It could be entertaining, or it could be a real snoozer. Hopefully, it is someplace in the middle, but I have to admit that I have slept through a good share of the services I have been in. While there are differences, the basic building blocks of a worship service are all there in one form or another.

So, let me ask that question again, but just a little differently, how important is the style of the religion to you? How important are the traditions that created that style to you? How important are the rituals that are performed in that service to you?

Now, most people don't need more religion. We've got enough religion. What we need is a personal, vital relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of God. What we need is true salvation with joy. We need to draw water from the wells of salvation.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how we should stop enduring religion. You need to ask yourself, why do you come to church on Sunday? Do you come to be blessed, or do you come to bless others? The importance of that answer is critical to your attitude as you walk into the doors of your church. Are you coming as a taker, or as a giver? Are you coming to check the box of obedience, or are you coming as a servant?

Are you thirsty?

Amen.

TRUST IN JESUS (John 6:25-36)

Have you been looking for true happiness, true joy, true peace, and just not been able to find it? It is because you are looking for the wrong things in the wrong places. If you want true happiness, and joy, and peace, then trust in Jesus Christ.

Happiness, joy, blessedness, and satisfaction, are never things that you find by searching for them. They are the things that you stumble over when you serve the Lord Jesus Christ. You are to seek Him preeminently. It is Jesus that you need, and it is in Jesus that you will find all that you have been searching for.

The people of this world want fame. They want fortune. They want friends. They want fashion, and they want fitness. Jesus tells us that they are seeking after the wrong things. Yet, these are the things that most people want. They are what they seek most of all in their lives. Jesus tells us that they are looking for satisfaction in the wrong places. Listen now, none of these are wrong in themselves. Fame and food and fashion and fitness and friends, they're all fine in their place, as long as that place is second place.

Matt 6:33
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
KJV

Jesus tells us to seek God first, seek God preeminently, and all the things that God has planned for you shall be added unto you.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how to find the satisfaction, the happiness and joy, that you have been searching for. Most people today are working hard at changing their lives, trying to make them better using the things of the secular world, but all they are doing is rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. All they are interested in is making the world a better place to go to hell from. What our Lord Jesus Christ is offering, is everlasting life. He is talking about getting a person saved. Jesus is spiritual bread that gives everlasting life.

It is in Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ alone, that you will find what you are looking for.

Amen.

HOW TO WORSHIP GOD (John 4:7-24)

Do you know what the word worship means? Well, you can almost hear it as you pronounce the word worship. Say it out loud, only this time say worth ship. Say it a little faster worth ship. Now, say it even faster worth ship. What does the word worship mean? It means that when we worship God, we are giving to Him, and attributing to Him, and assigning to Him, our estimation of His worth. When we worship God, we are showing Him how much He is worth. Not just to you and me, but His total worth.

You see, God is God and God deserves that we worship Him because there is no other God. It is God who made us. It is God who created us. It is God who sustains us, and it is God who is all glory. He deserves our worship because there is no other like Him. We have to learn that God is not going to bless anybody who doesn't worship Him. You have got to learn how to worship, if you want the power of the Holy Spirit in your life.

When we begin to worship, then God begins to work, and there is nothing that will wipe the devil out like worship and praising the Lord. If it seems like God is not real to you, if it seems like when you pray your prayers are dry and ineffective, try worshiping God full of praise, and you'll have the power of the Holy Spirit in each of your prayers. Worship the Lord, praise the Lord, give him the glory due to his name, because God demands our worship.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how to worship God. It must not be wrapped up in a building or shrine. It must not be formalized to the point of being frozen. A frozen church service is a dead church, and the Holy Spirit will not work in a dead church. There must be joy in our worship, and our worship should be full of praise to the one and only Almighty God. It must also not be fantasized. True worship is when we worship the God of the Bible, not some God that you have created to meet your social ethics. If you are not worshiping the God of the Bible, then you are not worshiping in truth and in spirit. Learn to truly worship God and the watch the power of the Holy Spirit come alive in your life.

Amen.

THE KEYS TO A HAPPY LIFE (1 Peter 3:8-12)

When I chose the title to this lesson, I decided to do an internet search on the phrase, The keys to a happy life.  If you can imagine, there were lots of people out there who are ready to tell you what the keys to a happy life are.  I saw titles like, 14 keys to a happy life, 10 keys to happier living, 21 keys to a happy life, and one from Psychology Today saying The key to living a happy life today.  As I looked at these my first thought was that for there to be so many results in this internet search, there must be a lot of people looking for happiness.  That may seem obvious, and I didn’t need to an internet search to know that this was true, it was just a confirmation of my thoughts.  Happiness, true happiness, can be elusive in this secular world that we live in.  

The thing that all of these sites had in common was that it hinged on you, how you thought about events, what you focused your thoughts on, how you were to let the less important things go by and not worry about them.  Living for the “now” as one site put it.  It was all about you, and what you could do for yourself.  You were in control of your happiness, and I am not going to deny that some of this is true, we are in control of how we deal with life’s tragedies.  But the wonderful thing about being a Christian is that we don’t have to face life alone.  We have the Holy Spirit of God living within us.  We have His power to depend on.  We have His wisdom to guide us, and we have His love and joy to fill our lives with true happiness.  Yet, many Christians totally ignore this benefit, and look to the secular world for their happiness.  If I were to be able to see the hits on those search results, I would bet you find just as many Christians looking at them as you do non-Christians.  

Let me tell you something really important here, they are all looking in the wrong place.  There is no true, eternal, happiness away from God.  He alone can give us the type of joy that overwhelms us.  We just have to look to Him for that happiness which already exists within us.  The wonderful good news is that we already have the key to happiness within us, we just have to activate it.  So in today’s lesson we are going to close out this section on how a Christian is to live a life of submission to the various authorities and laws with the goals of glorifying God and winning others to Christ, and then we are going to talk about God’s five keys to a believer’s happy life.  I say a believer’s happy life, for it is only the believer that has the Holy Spirit of God living within them.  

How many men and women today, who are involved in living for the things of this world, suddenly wake up and find that it’s not worth it? Life is monotonous, and life is not worth it. No wonder they commit suicide in growing numbers every day.  It is not until you come into a right relationship with God that you can live life to its fullest, and find the happiness that we all seek after.  

LOVING GOD EQUALS JOY IN YOUR HEART (1 Peter 1:8)

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.