The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

WHERE DOES GOD LIVE? (Acts 7:47-49)

WHERE DOES GOD LIVE? (Acts 7:47-49)

The title of our lesson today is “Where Does God Live?”  I don’t know of any subject that excites me more than the answer to the question “Where Does God Live?”  And, I can tell you that if you will learn what I have to say today, not because I say it, but because of the truth of it, it will radically, dramatically, and eternally change your life. 

So many of us think of God as sort of an absentee landholder.  That somehow, we are down here on earth, and He has saved us, forgiven our sins, and then given us a shove, and said, “Do the best you can.”  And He is up there in heaven peering down through the clouds, and every now and then, we are sending prayers up to Him and saying, “O God, as you sit at master control up there, do something to help me down here because I am in great, great difficulty.” And when we don’t see a response from God, we sometimes pray and say, “You know, I pray, and my prayers never got above the light bulbs.” If that is what you think, do you know what your problem is?  It is because you think God is way up there above the light bulbs.  Listen, God is beneath the light bulbs, as well as above the light bulbs, and that is what we need to learn. We need to learn where God is and where God lives.

Let me ask a question, if you wanted to write God a letter, do you know His address? Do you have the zip code? Where does God live? Sometimes we say about the church we worship in, “Well, this is the house of God.” This is not the house of God. Now, it’s God’s house in the sense that He owns it, but “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.” (1 Corinthians 10:26, 28) But, this is not God’s address. As a matter of fact, God has been living in a series of houses, and I want to talk to you about those houses today, because when you learn this lesson, you will learn a great, great, truth.  

Click on the link below to hear a message on where God lives, where God dwells.  God has moved into people. In the Old Testament, He had a temple for His people. In the New Testament, He has a people for a temple. We are the temple of God, and God lives in us.  That is the answer to the question “Where does God live?” The answer is God lives in us.  

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

Amen.

STEPHEN SEES THE MASTER (Acts 7:38-60)

STEPHEN SEES THE MASTER (Acts 7:38 to 60)

As we go through this lesson today, I want you to think about what your faith is in.  Is it in God, or in the religious traditions, buildings, and ceremonies that we have created and become accustomed to.  

Do you know how you can tell what your faith is in?  Let me ask you a series of questions.  First, why did you choose the church that you are attending?  Was it because of a particular pastor or staff member?  You like their style of preaching, or they moved to another church, and you followed them.  Was it because of the denomination, or lack of denomination, of the church?  You wanted to be in a Methodist church, a Baptist church, or an Assembly of God church.  Maybe you didn’t want to be part of any denomination?

Was it the building that you worship in?  Is it a beautiful building, or simply functional?  Was it because of the type of music that is sung, hymns or more contemporary music?  Do you claim that you can’t worship God unless you get to sing the type of songs that you like?  Was it because you read the statement of faith of that church and agreed with it? How many of you read the statement of faith of your church before you joined?  Was it because of how the church is organized and structured?  Is it a pastor led church, or an elder/deacon board led church?  Did you read the By-Laws of the church to learn about the organization?

Understand that I am not saying these things are not important, because they are.  They can certainly be a guide to what God’s will is not.  I mean, why would you join church that did not follow God’s Word.   But, they should never be the reason for choosing a church to worship God in, and they are not what your faith should be in.  You should always choose a church because God led you to it.  You should always join a church because He called you to serve in that church.  Your faith is in God, it is in the Son of the Living God, Jesus Christ, whose blood purchased your salvation and is now sitting on the right hand of God.  If you follow God’s leading, then all of those other things will fall in line because God would never lead you to a church that was not following, teaching, and preaching, God’s Word.

That was the very problem of the Jews that Stephen is preaching to.  They chose the traditions of their childhood over the God that had chosen them.  They chose to worship man-made things, like the Temple and it’s rituals, rather than God.

Click on the link below to hear a message on who your faith should be in.

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

Amen.

A CLEAN CONSCIENCE (Hebrews 9:7-10; 14)

A CLEAN CONSCIENCE (Hebrews 9:7-10; 14)

How does the Bible teach us to face the trials of life?  It says that you can face those trials if you have a good conscience, if you have a great hope, and a gracious companion in the Holy Spirit of God.  When the Bible talks about our conscience, it is really talking about our soul, and the worst pollution of all is the pollution of the soul. Now, all pollution is bad, but the worst pollution is not the kind we breathe, and it seems like we’re just being polluted to death.  But, may I tell you that the real ecology problem is that of Satan and of sin, and the real pollution problem is that of sin.

The word uncleanness stands for a state of mind, and a state of soul, and a state of spirit, that is not right with God, and it stands for sin. Sin makes us unclean.  In our study today, God will make the point that death and sin, or death and uncleanness, are inseparably linked together. Sin causes death, therefore, death is the visible sign of sin.

We often pray for the families of people who died, and sometimes we talk about people who die of sickness, and then we talk about other people who die a natural death. May I tell you that there is no such thing as a natural death, for all death is unnatural. It is not what God planned for us. All death is the result of sin.  Now, listen to me carefully, all death is the result of sin, but not necessarily your personal sin. But, had there been no sin, there would have been no death. There was no sin in the Garden of Eden, and as a result, there was no death in the Garden of Eden, until sin came.  Therefore, death is the visible sign, and the object lesson, of sin.  

Click on the link below to hear a message on what the Bible tells us about the causes of our soul becoming unclean.

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

Amen.