The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

GOD'S WISDOM (1 Cor. 1:21-24)

Are you looking for God?

 

Well, God has a plan to reveal Himself to you, and He has had this plan since before the foundation of the universe. 

 

God knew you before the world was created, and God loved you.  God loved you so much that He sent His Son to die on a cross for your sin, just so He could offer you eternal life. 

  

This is God’s wisdom.  God will use your Christian friends, the church, the evangelist, the preacher, and the missionary to tell you about God’s love for you.  He will use the Bible to tell you about what Jesus has done for you. 

 

Most of all, God will use the Holy Spirit to prick your heart, to convict your heart of your need for God, and to reveal the sin in your life that separates you from God.   

If you want to find God, then all you have to do is accept His offer.  Ask Jesus to become your Savior and you will know what it means to have the one true almighty God living in your heart. 

Listen and praise God’s wisdom and love for us in this verse-by-verse discussion of 1 Cor. 1:21-24.

TO BE RECONCILED (2 Cor. 5:17-21)

Do you hate God?  The answer to this question is yes for many people in this world.  When sin entered the world a state of enmity was created between man and God.  But all of the hatred is on the side of man, not God.  God does not hate you, He loves you.    Listen and rejoice to the description of three great Biblical truths: 

1) How God reconciled the world to Him by sending His Son to die for the world's sin. 

2) How you can become a new creation in Christ 

3) How the baptism of the Holy Spirit changes the new believer forever.

THE MEANING OF THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD (Easter)

Today, believers all over the world are celebrating Easter Sunday.  If you are a believer, if Jesus Christ is your Lord and Master, then Easter should be every bit as important to you as the celebration of the birth of our Savior on Christmas.  This is because on Easter, we are celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.  

One of the great Biblical truths for all of us as believers is that the arch of the gospel rests upon two great pillars: 

1) The death of Christ.  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was crucified on the cross for our sins.  He physically died on that cross.  He didn’t just fall into a coma or a deep sleep.  Jesus Christ died on that cross, and it is the precious blood of Jesus that was shed on the Cross that makes our salvation possible.

2) The resurrection of Christ.  Christ rose bodily from the dead.  He is not in the grave, for He arose and walked on this earth, talked to people, ate with them, and then ascended into heaven.  Both events are absolutely essential to my salvation and to yours.  The resurrection of Jesus means that we have:

a) A master to confess: It provides us with a living Jesus Christ sitting on the right hand of God the Father.  He is sitting because He has accomplished all that God has asked Him to do.  

b) A message to convey: The resurrection of Jesus Christ provides us with a message to tell others:

• About Eternal life.
• About Power over sin in our lives.  
• About The hand of the One who will bring us into the presence of God when we enter Heaven’s Gate.  Where we can stand clothed in the robe of righteousness purchased with His Holy blood.  

c) A mandate to complete:  Jesus has commanded us to go out into the world and preach the gospel of His death, burial, and resurrection, baptizing them in the name of the Lord.  

Praise God that Jesus was willing to be obedient to God’s will, and Praise God that from the foundations of time, the triune God has had our salvation in mind.  God sent His Son that we might have everlasting life, and the power of God raised Him from the grave so that we might walk as a new creation in the newness of life.  This is why this Easter holiday is so important to us as believers.  Jesus Christ is alive and we are going to be with Him for all of eternity.

 

TO BE AN AMBITIOUS BELIEVER (2 Cor. 5:9-16)

What are your ambitions in life?   To be financially secure, to have a family, a high level job in a large corporation, or to be a powerful politician?  Are these the things that motivate you every day?  Can you be a believer and have these same ambitions and motivations?  In this week's study in chapter five of 2 Corinthians, Paul describes for us what it means to be an ambitious believer.  Listen and rejoice as we learn what God wants your motivations to be.

ARE YOU CONFIDENT? (2 Cor. 5:6-8)

It is one thing to say that I believe in God, and I believe what God's Word says about death, life, Heaven, and Hell.  It is another thing to say that I am so confident of what God says is true that I have no fear of death.  In fact, I am ready, or as Paul says, I am groaning, to be absent from this earthly body and present with my Lord and Savior Jesus.   In this lesson Paul describes what it means to walk by faith, and not by sight.  This is not a hope so faith, nor does it depend on how hard you believe.   True Biblical faith is a faith built on substance and evidence.  Substance for the scientific mind, and evidence for the legal mind.  Listen and learn what it truly means to walk through the shadow of death and to have no fear.

ARE YOU READY FOR YOUR NEW HOUSE? (2 Cor. 5:1-5)

What is going to happen to you the moment after you die?  Contrary to popular belief, it is not the end of your existence.  Those that believe this to be true, do so only because they don't want to accept God's absolute truths about right and wrong.  As believers, God has promised us that we will be with Him after our death on earth.  This body is a temporary house for our soul and spirit.  It is the body that goes into the grave to wait on the resurrection, our soul and spirit go to be with God.  In this verse-by-verse study of 2 Cor. 5:1-5, Paul tells us that God has already prepared a house for our soul and spirit to dwell in.  Listen and sing God's praises as we learn about the wonderful house that God has prepared for us immediately after our death.

TO BELIEVE IN THE THINGS UNSEEN (2 Cor. 4:13-18)

It is human nature to trust only those things that we can see, feel or touch.  In this verse-by-verse study of 2 Cor. 4:13-18, Paul is going to challenge the believer on where their focus is.  Is it on the current circumstances they find themselves in, or is it on the eternal promises of God's Word?  Does their comfort come from the unseen Jesus, or the physical trappings of religion?  Rejoice and listen as Paul describe how our strength lies in the eternal things that are unseen versus the temporary things that seen.

THE SECRET TO A VICTORIOUS CHRISTIAN LIFE (2 Cor. 4:7-12)

Jesus tells believers two things about persecution.  The first is that you will be persecuted and hated by an unbelieving world.  The second is that Christ will provide you victory over that persecution and hatred. In this verse-by-verse study of 2 Cor. 4:7-12, Paul tells us the secret of living a victorious Christian life.  Listen and rejoice as you discover the meaning, and the power, of God working through, and in, you to make you victorious.

THE LIGHT THAT IS JESUS CHRIST (2 Cor. 4:3-6)

Where can you find real truth? 

 

What are the absolute truths about right and wrong, good and evil?

 

The educational system and the liberal media would tell you that they are anything you want them to be, that there are no absolute truths about right and wrong.  But they are deceiving you.  People have been searching for the answers to these questions since the beginning of time. 

 

They have tried atheism.  Atheism teaches that all of this marvelous creation was just an accident, a random chance event.  There is no truth to be found in atheism.

 

They have tried philosophy.  Philosophy can teach you more and more about nothing, but there is no real truth to be found in philosophy.

 

They have tried false religions.  Satan absolutely loves false religion.  He is the master at making people believe just about anything you can imagine.  He would tell you that salvation can be found in ritual, ceremony, good works, and membership in a church.  Yet, there is no truth to be found in false religion.

 

So where can you turn to find truths in a dark and blinded world? 

 

In the light that is Jesus Christ.  He alone has the words of eternal life, the truth about right and wrong, love and grace, mercy and forgiveness.

 

Listen and rejoice as Paul describes how Satan has blinded the world to the light that is Jesus Christ in this verse-by-verse study of 2 Cor. 4:3-6.

THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD (2 Cor. 3:17 to 4:2)

The gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of grace. It is unique from the religions of the world in that it does not require a person to live by a set of rules to obtain salvation. When other religions say do this, Christ says done. Christ has already done all of the work for your salvation. All you have to do is call upon the name of Lord Jesus Christ and accept the salvation that He has provided. This is the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ that is preached by every Christian in the way they live their lives and the words that they say. Rejoice as Paul tells us about God's grace and our release from the legalist's rules and rituals in this verse-by-verse study of 2 Cor. 3:17-4:2