The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

JESUS IS THE BREAD OF LIFE (John 6:8-36)

Are you willing for God to use you? If you are, then ask yourself, have you given everything to Jesus Christ? Some might say, “Whoa, wait a minute, That's absurd! I need some for myself. I have a family to take care of.” Well, if that is your response, then I have to tell you that you have got a real problem. If you want God to use you, then you need to give everything, I mean everything, I mean totally, one hundred percent of all that you have, all that you are, your family, your friends, your reputation, totally to Jesus Christ.

Matt 16:25-26
25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
KJV

One of my favorite quotes from Adrian Rogers is, “If Jesus Christ is not Lord of your all, then He is not your Lord at all.” Do you believe that? Really, truly, believe that? Do you live your life with that as a truth in your life? Let me tell you something, Jesus already owns everything you have, whether you believe that or not. It is all His, but we don’t act like that is true. Yet, when we live our lives like it is true, then you don’t bargain with God about how much you tithe, when you tithe, or whether you tithe at all. When that is true, you don’t go places and do things that God would not have you do. When that is true, you love your neighbor as you love yourself, because, the very first thing that you did was to love God with all of your heart, mind, and soul. You love God with all of you and all that you have. If Jesus Christ is not Lord of your all, then He is not your Lord at all. Put that in your heart, and live your life with it.

Click on the link below to hear a message how Jesus is the bread of life. You are hungry for more than fish and bread. You are hungry for Jesus. Whether you know it or not, Jesus is life's hidden hunger. What you really need, the only thing that will satisfy the deepest longing of your heart and your soul, is Jesus Christ. Men are searching everywhere for satisfaction, but they will never find it until they find it in the Lord Jesus!

Amen.

JESUS FEEDS YOUR DEEPEST HUNGER (John 6:1-14)

Our message today is about the miracle where Jesus fed the 5,000 using just five loaves of bread and two little fishes. We will see that Jesus performed a miracle, and it was a miracle of feeding physical bodies. However, if all you learn from this message is that Jesus can miraculously feed 5,000 people with five loaves and a few fishes, then you have missed the whole point of the message God has for us today. What I want you to do as we talk about this miracle is to look beyond the miracle and on to Jesus. Jesus did not come to this earth as God incarnate in man in order to feed you physically. Jesus did not come to heal you physically. Jesus did not come to solve all of your physical, material, problems. He is a Savior. He came to save you from sin, and you need to look beyond these miracles and on to Jesus. We need to believe in miracles, but trust in Jesus.

Down in your heart, down in the deepest part of your being, there is a hunger that only God can satisfy. Pascal once said, "In every man's heart there is a God-shaped vacuum that God alone can fill through His Son Jesus Christ." And that is the hunger that I want to talk to you about today, not the physical hunger that we have.

Click on the link below and learn how there is never a problem too big for Jesus to solve. In every problem you face, God already knows about the problem and He has a plan to solve it. So many times, we have a problem in our lives that we're trying to solve. We are using all of our strength, at least so we think, but there is a heavenly Father who is ready to help us with His strength in order to solve our problem. The moral of the story is, there is never a problem too big for Jesus to solve, you just need to ask Him.

Amen.

JESUS IS GOD'S ANSWER TO MAN'S DISABILITY (John 6:6-16)

Many of us do not even realize that we are spiritually disabled. We live a good life, a moral life, so we do not recognize that our weakness is that we don't have the strength to be godly. Not good, not moral, but godly. We are without strength, and so Christ died for the ungodly. You see, I have a need to be godly in my life. What is God's plan for me? What is God's plan for you? God's plan for all of us is that we be godly. Yet, we don't have the strength to be godly. Without the power of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, we cannot be godly on our own. What does it mean to be godly? To live our lives as God would have us do, to do the things that God wants us to do, and to accomplish God’s work, and purposes, in this world. We cannot be godly without God in our heart.

So, if you are to have spiritual strength, then you must validate your weakness by acknowledging the primary source of your weakness is sin, you must recognize the paralyzing force of your weakness, and you must stop the persistent course of your weakness.

The second thing that you must do to gain spiritual strength is you must activate your will. You have to choose to accept the Lord Jesus as your Lord and Master. You have to choose to accept salvation by grace.

And then the third thing is that you must initiate your walk. You need to hear the Word of God, and then obey the Word of God. Salvation comes first, salvation by the grace of God, but then you must Rise, take up your bed and walk.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how you can have the inner spiritual strength to be godly. Jesus is God’s answer to your spiritual disability.

Amen.

HAVING SPIRITUAL STRENGTH (John 5:1-6)

Our physical bodies are ultimately going to fail. You could be the strongest person in the world, but if Jesus doesn't come beforehand, you are going to die as well, no matter how much strength you have.

Isa 40:30
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
KJV

Since we know our bodies are going to fail, our great problem is not what is going to happen to our bodies. It is, do we have that inner strength that God wants us to have in order that we might live our lives for Christ? Why would we need spiritual strength? Because, by our nature, we are spiritually paralyzed and without strength. Yet, in Christ, we have power for living. Why do we need power for living? Because God has a greater plan for us.

The Bible describes every person who is without Christ as being without strength. The primary source of that weakness is sin. When we are without strength, we are unable to be godly. We do not have the strength to be godly. We all have a need to be godly in our lives. Yet, we don't have the strength to be godly. I don't care how hard you try to be godly, you don't have what it takes to be godly. Yet, there is an answer for your weakness, and His name is Jesus Christ.

Rom 5:6
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
KJV

If you wish to have spiritual strength, the strength to be godly, the strength to be holy, then Christ died and rose again for you. The longer a person is physically paralyzed, the weaker their body gets. It is the same for a person without Christ. The longer they live without Christ, the worse their spiritual condition gets. That is the reason that no man should put off giving his or her heart to Jesus Christ. If you need to be saved, then you ought to be saved today because tomorrow you will only have more sin to repent of and less time to repent in.

Click on the link below to learn how to have spiritual strength in this life, and life everlasting.

Amen.

A STRONG, SAVING, FAITH (John 4:48-54)

Why do we Follow Christ? Think about your answer to that question, why do you follow Christ?

Do we follow Christ because of promised healing? No, that is not the reason we follow Christ, because Christians get sick and die just like everyone else.

Do we follow Christ because of protection from disaster or accidents? I see no evidence that Christians escape disaster and accidents more often than others. A bullet makes no detour around the body of a believer.

Do we follow Christ for promised prosperity? Again, I see no evidence that Christians are particularly favored with wealth and success in the world.

Do we follow Christ because of a promise of stronger personalities or fewer neuroses than non-believers? I have watched Christians suffer emotional and mental disabilities, just like non-believers.

So, why do we follow Christ? Why become a disciple of Jesus when life may become more complicated as He so often warned us it would?

For one reason alone. In Jesus we behold the face of God. He is the truth, the everlasting truth. I trust in Him and His promises. He is the one certain thing in an uncertain world. He is to be worshiped, not so something will happen to me or to the world, something already has happened to me and the world, but because He is God, who through Christ has reconciled the world to Himself. He saves me. He is my justification. He is the center that holds. We offer our lives to Him because He alone has claim upon us."

Don’t base your faith in Jesus Christ based on signs and wonders. Jesus is the Savior. He suffered, lived, bled, and died for you, rose from the dead, and if you'll trust Him, I promise you, according to His Word, He will save you and He will keep you, and one day we'll be gathered around the throne to give Him praise forever and ever and ever. Believe in miracles, but trust in Jesus, and you go from a superficial faith, to a strong faith, to a saving faith. That's what matters.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how to progress from a superficial faith based on signs and wonders, to a strong, saving, faith in Jesus Christ.

Amen.

STRONG FAITH (John 4:43-48)

Without faith, it is impossible to please God.

Every true believer in Jesus Christ must have faith in God. That is a basic requirement of being born again. If you do not have faith in God, then you cannot be born again. How many of you would like to have strong faith, not just faith enough to be saved, but strong faith in God?

In our economy, the dollar is the medium of exchange. If you want to receive something at a store, well, that store owner is likely to say something like, “According to your dollars, be it unto you.” Can’t you imagine a store owner talking like that? What he is saying to you is, according to the number of dollars you have, then that is how much I will give to you.

Well, in the kingdom of heaven, dollars are not is the medium of exchange. Faith is. The store owner in heaven, God, says in His Word, According to your faith, be it unto you.

Matt 9:29
29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.
KJV

This just means that whatever we receive from God is according to our faith. God gives to us according to our faith. Not according to the amount of money we give. Not according to who our friends are. Not according to our family. Not according to our feelings. Not according to our fate, F-A-T-E, and I hope you're not watching the horoscope, but according to our faith. Jesus said to the blind person, according to your faith, be it unto you. Now, not only do we need to possess faith. What we really need is for faith to possess us. We need a mighty faith. Why? Because we have a Mighty God.

The greater your faith, the greater the glory that God gets, and the more pleased He is with it. It is by faith that man gives God pleasure, and it is according to our faith that God gives man treasure, real treasure. Not the kind you put in your bank account, but the real treasure of God.

What is the real treasure of God? Well, what does God value the most of all things? His Son. The real treasure of God is His son. It is according to our faith that God gives us His Son and everlasting life.

John 5:24
24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
KJV

That is what real treasure is.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how to have strong faith in God. If you will apply the things that God tells us in His Word to your daily walk with Him, then God will bless you a strong faith.

Amen.

EVANGELISM FOLLOWS WORSHIP (John 4:25-32)

It is not enough to worship God. It is not enough to worship God. Now, you must worship God, and you should worship God, but any real worship will show itself in evangelism and service.

Matt 4:10
10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
KJV

Jesus links worship and service together, and any so-called worship that is not the blood-brother of evangelism is false worship. Real worship always results in evangelism. If your worship of God is not the blood-brother of evangelism, then there is something wrong with it. What better worship service can we have than one where people are getting saved?

When you truly worship in power and spirit, then you are going to witness to everyone around you, and your witness will be filled with a new power. When you worship in truth and spirit, your witness and your service will be different from anything you have done in the past.

Click on the link below to learn that there is a mandate to our worship of God. Jesus tells us “thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve.” It is the worship of God alone that will satisfy the longing of your heart, and it is the worship of God alone that will satisfy the longing of the Father's heart. God thirsts for your worship just as you thirst to worship him. The mandate that God gives us for our worship is to then share the gospel message of Jesus Christ to others who are seeking to fill that thirst for God. Evangelism always follows true worship.

Amen.

HOW TO WORSHIP GOD (John 4:7-24)

Do you know what the word worship means? Well, you can almost hear it as you pronounce the word worship. Say it out loud, only this time say worth ship. Say it a little faster worth ship. Now, say it even faster worth ship. What does the word worship mean? It means that when we worship God, we are giving to Him, and attributing to Him, and assigning to Him, our estimation of His worth. When we worship God, we are showing Him how much He is worth. Not just to you and me, but His total worth.

You see, God is God and God deserves that we worship Him because there is no other God. It is God who made us. It is God who created us. It is God who sustains us, and it is God who is all glory. He deserves our worship because there is no other like Him. We have to learn that God is not going to bless anybody who doesn't worship Him. You have got to learn how to worship, if you want the power of the Holy Spirit in your life.

When we begin to worship, then God begins to work, and there is nothing that will wipe the devil out like worship and praising the Lord. If it seems like God is not real to you, if it seems like when you pray your prayers are dry and ineffective, try worshiping God full of praise, and you'll have the power of the Holy Spirit in each of your prayers. Worship the Lord, praise the Lord, give him the glory due to his name, because God demands our worship.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how to worship God. It must not be wrapped up in a building or shrine. It must not be formalized to the point of being frozen. A frozen church service is a dead church, and the Holy Spirit will not work in a dead church. There must be joy in our worship, and our worship should be full of praise to the one and only Almighty God. It must also not be fantasized. True worship is when we worship the God of the Bible, not some God that you have created to meet your social ethics. If you are not worshiping the God of the Bible, then you are not worshiping in truth and in spirit. Learn to truly worship God and the watch the power of the Holy Spirit come alive in your life.

Amen.

GOD WANTS YOUR WORSHIP (John 4:1-23)

Have you ever been out working under that hot July sun and you are sweating, and getting really thirsty? So, you go inside for a moment and pull a soft drink out of the refrigerator. Boy, it is ice cold and you drink one and it tastes so good and it just seems to hit the spot and you go back out to working in the yard and before long in that 100 degree heat you're thirsty again. So, you go back in for another soft drink and you drink that one, and it seems so good and it seems to satisfy, but before long you're thirsty again. But this time, instead of a soft drink, you tell yourself, I know what I need, and you go back and you get you a big tall glass of ice water, pure, ice cold water, and you drink it and you tell yourself, now that really does satisfy my thirst.

Ok, so why is that? Well, if you look at that bottle of soft drink, you'll see that it says it is artificially colored, artificially flavored, and most of all artificially sweetened. That tells me that there's just something there that doesn't have that touch of authenticity and reality. Instead of fake news, it is a fake cola, right?

Now, there are a lot of us who are trying to satisfy and to quench our thirst with things that are artificially colored, things that are artificially sweetened, and artificially flavored, and what we need is the water of life. What will truly satisfy us is to learn how to worship God in spirit and in truth.

Clink on the link below to hear a message explaining how God created you to worship Him. And until you learn how to worship him, truly reverence him, truly praise him, truly love him, truly adore him, truly have communion with him, there will always be in your heart and in your spirit a God shaped vacuum. You can be a Christian, and not know how to worship God, and as a result there will be this God shaped vacuum in your heart. Learn from the Word of God about how to worship Him.

Amen.

WHO ARE YOU, JOHN? (John 1:18-23)

Have you ever had people trying to figure out who you are?

When you fly back into the U.S. after traveling abroad, and you are arriving from a city like Amsterdam where drugs are legal, and you step up to that customs agent with your passport, he knows which flights have just landed, he looks at the stamps on your passport, so he knows where you have been and he is already on point. The questioning about who you are, where did you come from, why were you in Amsterdam, did you buy any drugs while you were there, can get pretty intense. Especially, if you are abrupt in your answers, look tense, sweaty, or seem evasive as you reply. If you are not careful, they have this room off the side that you really don’t want to go to.

Who we are is defined by different things. A police officer is identified by the authority he has as a law enforcement officer, the uniform he wears, and the badge that he carries. A preacher is identified by the One he preaches the gospel for, and by the authority he has been given to be the under-shepherd of the local church. A college student is identified by the school he goes to. Is he a wildcat, a Jayhawk, or a Shocker, and the major that he is studying.

Many of us are identified by our job or our profession. A baker, a butcher, an accountant, a lawyer, or a doctor. These are well defined professions and people have an image in their minds as to what type of person has each role. When you think of an accountant you think of green eyeshades, ledger books, and a 10 key calculator with a tape. A butcher is a big guy, with a white apron with red stuff all over it. Right?

As you get older, you realize that none of that really matters, because it doesn’t last very long, and it can all be taken from you, all of those material things you have worked for and earned, your shop, your business, your job, can all disappear in less than a heartbeat. As you get older, after having that happen to you a couple of times, you realize that is not who you are at all, and you choose to be identified as something more important, more eternal, you, and what you do for God.

You learn that there needs to be a balance between, what you do for God, what you do for work, what you do for your family, and then someplace there has to be time for who you are, and yes, I am speaking from personal experience. I used to be proud of talking about what I did for a profession. No more, it truly is nothing more to me than a means to an end. I am grateful for it because God has blessed me with that job, and I have a role in God’s plan to bring salvation to the world to play there, but it does not define who I am. It is not what I want to be known for. Today, I am most honored when somebody tries to describe me and they say, “There goes Keith, he is a good teacher of the Word of God, or a good husband and father.” Those are thnigs that are more enternal in their result. But those were hard lessons for me to learn, and to this day, God continues to do remedial training on me.

Our lesson today is about the Jewish religious leaders trying to figure who John the Baptist was, and by what authority he was practicing a religious ritual not sanctioned by the leadership. The interesting thing that we will see about John the Baptist is that he didn’t care if they knew or accepted who he was, or his authority. He was willing to tell them, but he wasn’t going to put up with any nonsense. He knew who he was, he knew his authority came from the almighty God, and he knew his role in God’s plan to bring salvation to the world. He understood how he wanted to be identified. He wanted to be identified as the forerunner of the promised Messiah.

Click on the link below to hear a message on who John the Baptist was.

Amen.