The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

THE YEARNINGS AND THE HOPES OF THE BELIEVER (Romans 8:23-27)

Think about the things that you yearn for.  These are the things that start as a desire deep in your soul and well up into your heart and mind.  These are not our simple wants, but the things that are so passionately desired by our soul that we groan for them.  Now think about how you could ever go about obtaining these things.  Are they even within your power to obtain?

Next, think about the things that you hope for.  Are they the same things that you yearn for?  To hope for something is to look forward to something that you have not seen or realized yet.  Do you hope for a body that is free from disease and pain?  Do you hope for an end to loneliness?  Now think about how you could go about obtaining these things that you hope for.  Are they even within your power to obtain them?

Our lesson today is about the yearnings and the hopes of the believer.  What are the things that a believer wants so badly that they well up from the bottom of their soul?  And what are the hopes of a Christian?  Are they different from a person who has rejected Christ as their Savior?  And best of all, what is the solution for how a believer goes about obtaining these things.  

THE BENEFITS OF KNOWING GOD (Romans 5:1-5)

We live in a world where the predominant thought in a person’s mind when confronted with a decision is What’s in it for me?  Quite naturally, if they are going to buy something, they want to know the benefits of owning that item.  For instance, owning a home provides shelter and security, stability in that your lease won’t run out and you have to move.  The down side is ownership.  Anything that goes wrong you own the problem.

This is the same way that most people approach a decision about accepting Jesus as their Savior.  They think they know all of the benefits and downsides, but do they really?  

They look at what most people think of when they consider the benefits of knowing God, which is eternal life in heaven, and then they look at the perceived downside of having to change their lifestyles.  

They ask themselves, is a life in an eternity that they cannot see right now, worth giving up whatever they are doing today that they know is not right under the rules of God.  They are asking what is in this for me right now, not later, but right now?

This is the problem that we face as we try to explain the benefits of knowing God.  They see the persecution of Christians in today’s society, so it can easily appear as if all of the benefits are out in some unknown future.  So the task that we face as Christians is what can we tell them about the benefits of knowing God right now, in our lives today?  

Listen to this podcast as we learn that it is because we know Christ as our Savior that we have peace with God, we have access to the constant presence of God, we have the patience and endurance to face trials and tribulations in our lives through the power of God, and most of all we have hope.  

Do you have hope in your life today?  For the believer, God is our hope, our hope is in God. That is the benefit of knowing God.  

JESUS IS THE HOPE OF HUMANITY (Mark 9:1-13)

When you look out into the future do you have hope? If you do, then what is your hope based on? Does your hope rest on the government?  Can the government fulfill your needs? Does your hope rest on religion?  Can religion give you certainty about the future, about life after death? A person finds hope when there is certainty about the future.  Unfortunately, there is nothing certain about the government, or religion, other than our disappointment in both.   Listen to this podcast to learn that, for the believer, hope does not arise from the individual's desires or wishes, but from God, who is Himself the believer's hope, for it is in God that we find absolute certainty. Discover how the transfiguration of Jesus proclaimed that Jesus is The Hope of Humanity.