The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

A LAST ATTEMPT (John 12:23-36)

Have you ever had an event or an experience that you knew was going to be really, really, bad in front of you? You knew it needed to be done, people were depending on you, but you had a few days that you had to get through before it would begin? The waiting, the dreading, the sheer horribleness of it playing on your mind. I can think of things like watching my mother’s last few days on the earth, and the suffering she was dealing with. I knew her death was imminent. I knew it would happen in the next few days. I knew she would be in heaven soon, but I had to steel myself for the emotions that would come.

A soldier facing some kind of really tough battle. He knows the chances were slim that he was going to make it, but he couldn’t let his brothers in arms down. These were men he depended on, and they were the ones who depended on him, so he prepared himself to deal with it.

This is what our next few messages are going to be about for Jesus. He knew this was the reason that He had come to earth. His whole life had been about this coming hour. The entire human race depended on Him completing the work of salvation. He knew that He was about to carry the burden of every sin that had ever been committed and would ever be committed. He knew the ugliness of the world’s worst sins was about to be thrust upon Him and He would have to die as punishment for that sin. He dreaded the hour, but He knew the whole world depended on Him, and so He prepared Himself. There was so much He needed to do before that hour came, but His disciples needed to hear what He had to say. These next several weeks are going to be a study in how much Jesus loved each and every one of us, even the Jews and the Romans who would crucify Him.

Click on the link below to hear a message on what is likely the Lord’s last attempt to convince the Jews that He was the Son of God, the Promised Messiah.

Amen.

WHAT WOULD IT TAKE? (John 11:45 to 12:11)

What would it take to make you believe that Jesus is the Son of God? What words would you need to hear Him say? What words would you need to hear from God? What sign would you need to see?

How about Jesus, himself, proclaiming to be God? Here is just one of the many times Jesus has said this in our study so far.

John 10:29-30
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
30 I and my Father are one.
KJV

Would that be enough to convince you that Jesus is the Son of God? No? Well how about the time God spoke from heaven proclaiming Jesus to be His Son?

Matt 3:16-17
16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
KJV

Would this be enough? You have the sky opening up, the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and the voice of God telling you that Jesus is His Son. Would that be enough?

Well, how about watching Jesus raise Lazarus from the tomb after he had been dead for four days?

John 11:43-44
43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
KJV

Would seeing a miracle of this magnitude be enough to convince you that Jesus was the Son of God?

Click on the link below to hear a message on how people who have heard the words of Jesus, they have heard the words of God from heaven, and they have seen Jesus perform thousands of miracles, and some believed, and some did not. In some respects, this lesson saddened me. I know why it occurred, I know the purpose of our Lord coming, and for that I am forever happy and grateful, but it saddens me that people could know all of this and still turn away from Christ as their Savior.

Amen.

TO LIVE ABUNDANTLY Part 2 (John 11:25-44)

This is the second part of my message on how to live abundantly. Jesus said, "I've come that you might have life, and have it abundantly." What does it mean to live abundantly? It means to live the way the Bible teaches. Well, Ok, what does it mean to live the way the Bible teaches? It means several things, but the basic foundation is that you must live before you die, and live after you die. How do you do that?

Let me ask you a question, have you exercised faith in Jesus? Have you? Well, this is the time for you to do it. I want to tell you on the authority of the Word of God that Jesus will save you today and He will keep you saved. Jesus is not a probation officer. Jesus is a Savior. He will see you through all the way. Now you might have to be unwrapped. You might have some hangover sins for a while, but He will save you. And the One who gives you life will give you liberty, and you can feast with Him and you can witness for Him. Now you might be a seasoned individual. You might think I'm too old for this. Well, it's never too late with God.

If you believe that you are dead in trespasses and sins. If you want a new life. If you want to be saved so you can have fellowship with Jesus and live with Jesus. Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. If you would believe me, you would never die. If this is how you feel, then exercise faith in Jesus.

Now, you may be already be a member of a church. Unfortunately, some church members never really understood how to be saved. They were good folks in their own minds and the minds of their neighbors when they joined the church, but they never really, honest-to-goodness got saved. You need today to trust Christ.

For others, it may be their first time in a church, and they might say, "Well, you know, I need Jesus, but I need to wait till I get more acquainted with the church."

Let me tell you, it's not the church that saves; it's Jesus. This may be the last opportunity you'll ever have to give your heart to Jesus. It may be your first time here, but it may be your last opportunity.

Others of you are intimidated by the devil. He whispers in your ear and says, "You'll never make it. You're too bad. You don't deserve it. You'll never be able to live it." Listen to me. Satan is a liar. Jesus died for you on the cross, and Jesus said, "Whosoever will, may come."

There is a deep desire in my heart that each of you learn to live abundantly in Jesus. That you learn to live life in the way the Bible teaches you to live.

Click on the link below to learn, if you want to live before you die, and live after you die, then you must apply these four principles to help you to have, a truly, abundant life:
1) You must exercise faith in Jesus.
2) You need to have freedom through Jesus.
3) You need to enjoy fellowship with Jesus, and
4) you need to exhibit faithfulness to Jesus.

Amen.

JESUS GIVES LIFE (John 11:28-44)

Last week we started a study of the miracle of the Lord Jesus Christ raising Lazarus from the dead. Now, this is a familiar story to all of us. So, if we are going to study this story again, what should we be sure that we learn from it? Jesus defines it for us when He says, “but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.” Jesus is telling us that this was an occasion to declare His oneness with his Father at all times and in all situations. It was an opportunity, as God, to convince people that he was all he claimed to be; an occasion to demonstrate the power and effectiveness of prayer, an occasion to make a solemn appeal to those who were His enemies.

In order for this to be true, in order for Jesus to raise Lazarus from the dead, then there is something else that we need to know about Lazarus while he was in the grave. We need to know that Lazarus was dead. He wasn’t sick. He didn’t faint. He was really dead. He had been dead for four days and then Christ raised him to walk again.

Click on the link below to hear part 2 of a message that will bring comfort to those who have lost loved ones. Death is not final. The grave is not final. The Bible says that for the believer to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. That loved one of yours is still living, and if they had Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, then they are present with Him in heaven. If you have Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you will join them for all of eternity. Death is but a moment. Life with Jesus is eternal.

Amen.

JESUS, THE MASTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (John 11:1-27)

Over the next few weeks we are going to be talking about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Why am I going to spend so much time here? Because we should never get tired of hearing this story. Why? Because it has so much for us to learn and commit to our hearts about death, resurrection, and the realm of darkness. It brings life where death reigns, and it robs the tomb of its terror. Jesus is going to show Martha, Mary, all of His disciples, and the entire world that He is indeed the Son of God with the power over death, and that He alone holds the keys to eternal life, heaven and hell.

Click on the link below to hear a message that will bring comfort to those who have lost loved ones. Death is not final. The grave is not final. The Bible says that for the believer to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. That loved one of yours is still living, and if they had Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, then they are present with Him in heaven. If you have Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you will join them for all of eternity. Death is but a moment. Life with Jesus is eternal.

Amen.

JESUS AND THE FATHER (John 10:30-42)

In our study today, we look at the Lord Jesus Christ’s word in John 10:30 and He says, “I and my Father are one.” Indeed, they are. They are one in mind, thought, heart, will, purpose, and action. While that is a true description of what Jesus has just declared, it goes beyond that. Jesus and The Father are not one in person, but in essence. God the Father and God the Son are two separate persons, but they are two parts of the one Triune God. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Click on the link below to hear a message on the deity of Jesus Christ. Jesus will tell us that all we have to do to know this is true is to look at His works to know that that He is of God. Jesus and the Father are God, Jesus and the Father are one.

Amen.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD SHEPHERD? (John 10:8-26)

What are the characteristics of a good shepherd? Does he take care of his flock? Does he lead them to pastures where they can find food? Does he protect them from those that would harm them? Does he teach the Bible as the inerrant Word of God? The answer should be, yes, to all of these. The pastor of a church is the under-shepherd of the flock, and he must have all the same characteristics that Jesus says He has as the Good Shepherd. Now, I want you to ask yourself, is that the kind of under-shepherd that you serve? If not, then you need to find another church with a better shepherd. Don’t wait, don’t hesitate. You go find a Bible believing, Christ follower, to be your under-shepherd.

This is the message that Jesus has been telling the Jewish people. Their religious leaders have failed to act as good under-shepherds of the fold of Israel. They have become full of pride and greed, teaching the people false scripture, burdening them with strict regulations, and turning them away from God and toward the religious establishment that Judaism had become.

Click on the link below to hear a message where Jesus will make three powerful statements. He will tell the pharisees how a Good Shepherd cares for His sheep, contrasting His own behavior with that of theirs toward the fold. Jesus will also proclaim Himself as the Son of God, and then He declares that He is the only way to find eternal life. Big, powerful, Biblical doctrines are in today’s message.

Amen.

JESUS AS THE GOOD SHEPHERD (John 9:39-10:7)

Where do you feel the safest? At home? That is generally the answer we give to that question, and it is because that is where we spend most of our time, it where we keep most of our possessions, and it is where our loved ones live with us. It is also the reason we feel so emotionally impacted when a robber comes in to violate that safe space. It is not just the things that they take, it is that they remove that feeling of security we feel within the walls of that safe space. Once that feeling of security is violated, you may want to fortify your home, put in better locks, stronger doors, or get a burglar alarm. I know if it happens in my house, my first reaction will be to stand guard at the doorway of my home as the protector of my loved ones who live in that house with me. I believe that is the role God gives the husband, to be the protector of the people that God has put in his life, and I would give my life in order to keep them safe.

Click on the link below to hear a message about that safe place we have in our spiritual lives. That place where we feel protected. Jesus is going to talk about being a good shepherd, one who puts His sheep in a secure place and stands at the door to protect them from those who would come to steal and to rob the flock.

Amen.

I KNOW WHO JESUS IS, HE IS GOD (John 9:8-38)

I know who Jesus is. I am certain of it. I am as certain of it as I am that my wife’s coconut meringue pie is as good as it gets. Now, you can try to tell me that her pie is no good. You can try to tell me that somebody else’s pie is better. You can try to tell me that pie is not real, that it is just a myth, but the evidence is in my stomach. I know that pie is real and as good as it gets because I enjoy every bite that I eat, and when I do, it settles down in my stomach making me feel awful good. That pie is inside me. I know it is inside me, just like I know that Jesus is inside me as well. I know that Jesus is God because I watched Him change my life. I know that Jesus is God because I experience Him every day of my life. There is nothing you can say or do, that would cause me to change my mind. I know it, because I have experienced the Lord Jesus as my God. I know it because the Word of God tells me that Jesus is God.

John 9:35-38
35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?
37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.
38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.
KJV

Click on the link below to hear a message about another man testify that he knows, he knows beyond a shadow of doubt, that Jesus is God. We will hear about a man who was blind from birth, and this man will give his testimony about the person who cured his blindness. In the process of doing so, he grows spiritually in knowledge of who Jesus is, and as a result, he is given eternal life for his faith. He moves from the darkness of being spiritually blind to having spiritual sight by believing on the light of the world, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

TO BE BORN BLIND (John 8:54 to 9:7)

Most of us who have the ability to see, take that ability for granted. It is like walking, or hearing, or even breathing, it is something you consciously do every day. But you don’t think about doing it, or what it would be like to not be able to see, until something happens that puts our eyesight in jeopardy. Those who were able to see for a period of their lives, and then lost their sight, feel the loss of that sight every day, but they have their memories of what things looked like. Someone who is born blind, and has never been able to see at all, has no such memories. The colors of a sunset, the faces of loved ones, and the stars in the sky are things they must imagine from the descriptions others give them. Yet, they have no reference to compare it to, they have only the words that they hear. How do you describe the colors of a sunset to someone who has never seen any color at all?

Yet, what would happen if someone came up to that blind person and said, I can give you sight, I can let you see what you have been missing? Would that person who could not see, choose to see, or would they be so used to living the way they had been, that they would choose not to see? Would they embrace the light, or would they choose to stay in the darkness? You say, “But of course they would choose to see the light, why would they choose to stay in the darkness?” Well, that is indeed the question, isn’t it?

John 3:19-21
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
KJV

Click on the link below to hear a message about two different kinds of people who were born blind. One man who was born physically blind, and another group of people who were born spiritually blind. One chose the light, the other chose the darkness.

Amen.