CCF Weekly Services Podcast

Paul reminds the church of Corinth where their attention needs to be in order to avoid spiritual deception. If they get their eyes off of Jesus or look for a source of truth that is less than His Word, they will happily deceive themselves and wander everywhere but the truth.

1. The most common source of spiritual deception is us.

2. Pride is a false view of ourselves and others.

3. Your vulnerability to deception is directly related to your proximity and dependence on Jesus.

Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem after over a decade of absence and finds it in the worst state spiritually imaginable. Enemies of God were living in the Temple and living off of the funds that should have been supporting the priests. People were working on the Sabbath knowing they promised not to. And worse. Nehemiah models the heart of Jesus by not only dealing with this directly, but also the model of a spiritual leader who took personal responsibility for the failings of those entrusted to his care.

1. Nehemiah's account doesn't embellish or censor embarrassing information.

2. Israel's commitment to Tithes and the Sabbath were two of the many terms of the Old Covenant.

3. A spiritual legacy is only as meaningful as its ability to effectively pass the baton to the next generation.

Paul makes a direct comparison to a Christian's life with that of the Temple of God. This was both in terms of the significance of the articles in the Holy Place as it was the severity of how those things were to be treated and handled.

1. God meets with His people just like He met with Israel at the Temple.

2. God hears the prayers of His people just like He enjoyed the incense of the Altar. 

3. Sin's influence over our lives causes us to wither and unable to enjoy God like His Temple was intended to.

The people of Israel follow through on the worship celebration that celebrated the completion of the Wall by joyfully offering and faithfully serving in their areas of responsibility.

1. God is as interested in why you're doing something as what you're doing.

2. Godly service is something informed by His Word.

3. Nothing done or offered to God is inconsequential.

Paul's correction of the church of Corinth's carnality continues with an explanation of what he means by that term. A carnal or naturalistic perspective isn't fitting of an informed Christian life. A mature Christian is someone who takes whatever they rightly know about Jesus and lives accordingly. His exhortation was for them to learn enough about Jesus to do something practical with it.

1. Christian maturity is when what they know becomes how they live.

2. Jesus is not a topic Christians should “move on” from.

3. There is a Heaven to be gained and a Hell to be shunned.

Nehemiah and Ezra respond to the people of Israel's desire to celebrate the wall's completion with an organized demonstration of praising God for all the things He's done through them. It is from this perspective we also see the purpose God has for praise in our lives as well.

1. Praise means to acknowledge what God has done.

2. Praise refocuses our past, present, and future onto the faithfulness of God.

3. Praise's greatest blessing gets our minds off of ourselves and onto Someone more worthy of our attention.

Joseph, like his namesake, shows a pattern of a godly father. Since Jesus was the only being in existence who could choose who would be his earthly father before He was born, we see the kind of man He chose as a model for the modern calling of Fatherhood.

1. A Father models truth to his children by submitting to the Word of God.

2. Wisdom is the ability to accept correction as often as provide it.

3. A Godly Father is one that is there for his family especially when things get difficult.

Nehemiah and the leaders of Israel begin to repopulate the city of Jerusalem. While it wasn't a comfortable or safe setting, they were a part of the work God was doing in their generation and they were honored for it.

1. The best leaders lead by example.

2. God's calling for your life isn't always to be comfortable.

3. God's approval of our choices is worth infinitely more than man's.

Paul reminds Corinth of the kind of difference a relationship with Jesus makes in life. The world around them can't understand the Word of God because they don't want to know the Author. The church knows the Author and should use Him as He intended to appreciate His Word and live a life that reflects it.

1. You won't understand the significance a personal letter without a relationship with its author.

2. A word from the Lord should always be tested with the Word of the Lord.

3. The mind of Christ we've been given is the perspective and attitude Jesus would have towards the things of this life.

Nehemiah and the Priests establish a covenant with God after their restoration to the land because they wanted to rather than out of obligation or coercion. This is the same attitude we should bring to the promises we make to God in our own relationship with Him.

1. God takes the promises we make to Him as seriously as the promises He's made to us.

2. Why we are doing something is as important as what we are doing.

3. Giving is a tangible demonstration of where our priorities are at in supporting the works of God we benefit from.