The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

HOW JESUS SUFFERED (Mark 14:25-36)

Life often places us in situations where we have a loved one who is suffering in great pain, or emotionally from a loss.  Our natural desire is to be able to reach out and remove that suffering from them and place it on ourselves. We want to take their place, and let us handle the pain.

I remember watching my mother as she suffered in pain from terminal cancer.  There was nothing more that I wanted to do than take that pain away from her and let me bear it.  I wanted to do this because I loved her enough that I was willing to take her place, even if it meant that I would die.  

If we as people are capable of this kind of love, how much more so is a holy God capable of this kind of love?  It is because of God’s love for us that He sent His Son Jesus to die on a cross so that we could avoid the suffering and pain of an eternity spent burning in the Lake of Fire.  Jesus took on our suffering so that we could choose not to.  God loves each of us so much that He desires that none of us should perish.

Listen to this podcast to learn how Jesus suffered great pain on the cross.  How Jesus suffered emotionally on the cross. How Jesus suffered at the hands of a holy God on the cross, and Jesus suffered at the hand of Satan while He was on the cross.  

Most of all, hear why Jesus had to suffer.

JESUS PREPARES FOR THE CROSS (Mark 14:1-21)

Who was in control of the events that led to Jesus dying on the cross?   

Was it the Jewish religious leadership?

Was it the Romans?

Was it Judas who betrayed Jesus?

Listen to this podcast to discover the answer to this question is that Jesus was in complete control of the events that led to His death on the cross.  He deliberately, knowingly, and willingly walked to the cross.   God so loved each of us as humans that He sent His only begotten Son to die so that none should perish and each of us should have the opportunity for everlasting life. 

Jesus tells us that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  Jesus went to the cross to make that possible. 

Join us as we begin a series of lessons that describe the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.   Listen as God shows us just how much He loves us. 

JESUS IS COMING, ARE YOU READY? (Mark 13:28-37)

If you knew that a thief was going to break into your house tonight while you slept, how would it change the way you act tonight?  How would you go about making yourself ready for him?   

As a believer, if you knew for certain that Jesus was coming tomorrow, how would it change how you live your life today?  How would you go about making yourself ready for Him?

Would there be a sense of urgency to tell your friends and family about Jesus and what it means to have eternal life?

If you knew that you would stand before Jesus as your Judge tomorrow, would you be on your knees tonight asking Jesus to forgive you of your sins. 

Listen to this podcast to hear what the Bible says about when Jesus is coming, and who Jesus is coming for, and then ask yourself Are you ready for Jesus to come?

WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF THE LORD'S COMING (Mark 13:14-27)

One of the most popular topics for Bible study is the prophecy concerning the end-times.  Jesus deliberately told His disciples of the events that would occur in the future so that they would not be discouraged when He left them.  He knew that they, and all the believers that followed, would face terrible persecution for proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.  

Jesus knew that they could face that persecution only through the power of the Holy Spirit working in them and the firm knowledge of the goals and events that they were working toward.  He told them of a coming day of judgment for the nation Israel for their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah, and He told them of a coming day of judgment for a world that had rejected God.  But Jesus also told them of the rewards for those who made Jesus their Lord and Master. 

Listen to this podcast to learn the definition of terms like the Church Age, the Rapture, the Tribulation, the Great Tribulation, and the Millennial Kingdom, and then listen to the description that Jesus gives of the Tribulation Period.   

Learn the signs that we as believers today are to look for so that we can be assured that Jesus is coming again.   And make no mistake about it, Jesus is coming again.

 

WHAT ARE THE SIGNS? (Mark 12:41 to 13:13)

Our lives are full of signs.  Good signs, and bad signs.  Signs that are clear, and signs that are hard to see.  Signs that mean a promise will be kept, and signs of betrayal.  Signs that we look for with hope, and signs of things that we dread. 

Biblical prophecy is about God telling us of things to come.  Things that are good, and things that are bad.  Things that we look forward to with hope, and things that we dread.  Most of all, Biblical prophecy is about the promises that God keeps.

Listen to this podcast to learn what it means to give everything thing that you have to God, and then look for the signs that God has provided so that you know, that you know, that you know, that your Redeemer cometh. 

God has promised that Jesus will come again to establish His Kingdom on earth.  This lesson is the first part of a two part series on the signs that tell us that God keeps His promises. 

JESUS REJECTS RELIGION (Mark 12:38-40)

Have you given up on religion?

Many people would say yes to that question, and the fact is, you should. 

Religion is simply man’s way of telling God, I got this, I can do this on my own.  If I follow these certain rules that I created, and if I do these certain rituals that I created, and if I give this much money that I decided is enough, then I can earn or buy my way into heaven.   

Listen to this podcast to hear how Jesus totally rejects religion.  Jesus has taught us that the single greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength.  Jesus then says if you can do this, then to be a believer is simply having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as your Master and Savior. 

Jesus rejects man’s rituals.  He rejects man’s religious ceremony.  He rejects man’s declarations about what is right and wrong.  Instead, we are to ask Jesus to forgive us of our sins, make Him our Master, and then love Him with all that we are. 

That’s it.  It is that simple.  Listen and rejoice with us as we learn what Jesus thinks about man’s religion.

TO LOVE GOD WITH ALL THAT YOU ARE (Mark 12:28-37)

If someone were to ask you which law was the most important what would you say?

Would it be that we are not to murder someone?

Would it be that we are not to steal from someone?

How about that we are not to abuse a child?  Even the prisoners in our jail system hate those who would abuse a child.

Listen to this podcast to learn that the most important law in this world is to love God with all of your heart, with all of your mind, with all of your strength, and with all that you are.  The second most important law is to love your neighbor as yourself. 

If you can learn to obey these two laws, then all of the other laws that man can create are no longer relevant.

If you can obey these two laws, and never fail, then you can live in heaven for eternity.

However, if you fail to obey these two laws, even just once, and we will all fail, then you need Jesus as your Savior.   This is the simple message of this lesson, you need Jesus in your heart.

TO KNOWINGLY DISBELIEVE (Mark 12:13-27)

The criminal justice system in our country makes a distinction between those who commit crimes either ignorantly or accidentally, and those who commit crimes knowingly, willfully, and with malicious intent.  This distinction has been playing out in our media for the last several weeks.  However, the justice system has a special dislike of those who commit crimes knowingly, willfully, and with malicious intent. 

This same principle works in the spiritual realm as well.  The Bible is clear that there are degrees of punishment in Hell, as well as levels of reward in heaven.  There is no doubt in my mind that a person like Stalin, or Hitler, or Charles Manson, or a person who would intentionally harm a child, has a special place in the hottest, loneliest, darkest, and most pain filled place in Hell reserved for them.  It is a place that they will spend the eons of eternity being tormented in.

But imagine the penalty that will be imposed by God on those who have willfully, knowingly, and maliciously rejected Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the sacrifice that He made on the cross for the sins that they have committed. 

These people have heard and rejected the gospel message of Jesus Christ on the TV, the radio, in books and magazines, and the personal testimonies of family and friends who told them how a gracious God has sent His only Begotten Son, so that they may have eternal life.  They have then compounded this sin by convincing others to reject Christ, or even persecuting those that are Christians.  They have made this choice knowingly, willfully, and maliciously.

Listen to this podcast to hear how Jesus Christ exposes the willful ignorance of those that would reject the Word of God and the great Biblical truth of the resurrection of the dead.

JESUS CONFRONTS HIS ENEMIES (Mark 11:27 to 12:12)

How well do you choose the times to confront your enemies, and when it is time to walk away? 

Most of us are not real good at making that choice, we either let people walk all over us, or we tend to push our will upon others. 

Jesus had spent much of His ministry avoiding a direct confrontation with the religious leadership of the Jews.  His previous visits to Jerusalem had been subdued and quiet.  Jesus actually spent most of His public ministry walking the countryside between Capernaum and the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee and all the points in-between. 

He would respond to direct challenges from the local leaders of the synagogue and the representatives sent from Jerusalem to see what was happening.  But when it became too contentious, He would simply move on to the next village.  Jesus devoted much of His time to teaching the people and performing wonderful miracles of healing the sick and raising the dead.  He was developing a great following among the people that would serve Him well at the end of His ministry. 

Jesus now becomes much more direct in His confrontation with the Jewish leadership.  He makes a triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem, He cleans out the temple courts of the tradesmen that were managed by the chief priest, and then He teaches and heals in the temple without the approval of the chief priests. 

Listen to this podcast to learn how Jesus controlled His own destiny as He pushed the Jewish leadership into completing the tasks that the Lord’s Father had sent Him to do.  Jesus was driving to the cross.  He was in control.  He knew what He was doing and where it would lead, but He did it anyway so that you and I could have everlasting life. 

Jesus was never more Kingly during His public ministry than He was during this last week before the cross.

ARE YOU ALL SHOW AND NO GO? (Mark 11:12-26)

Are you all show and no go?

For many people religion is about appearances.  On every Sunday morning they get out their best pious religion suit and put it on to go to church.  They sing the worship songs, they raise their hands, they may even say an amen or two as the preacher gives his sermon.  Then they go home, they take off their pious religion suit and put it back in the closet until next Sunday. 

They are all show and no go.   

Listen to this podcast to learn how God intends for the believer to have fruit to show for his labor.  In fact, the day is coming when Jesus will judge the works of a believer to determine the rewards, or the loss of rewards, that believer will receive. 

In this lesson, you can learn how to be serious about your desire to work for God, how to have your prayers answered, and how to earn the fruit that God is looking for in your life.