CCW Podcast

What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit? And why is it important for us to even learn about it? Is it not some mysterious doctrine that belongs to the Mystics? Does it have anything to do with you and me in a practical sense?

All of us would agree that living the Christian life is a demanding experience and that standards for living like Jesus are high or should be. In fact, they are not attainable through normal means. This Sunday we will look at how we can be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is the secret to victorious Christian living. I always tell you that the message from the Word of God will change your life, but this one will have huge impact as you hear and apply it to your life!

The doctrine of the Holy Spirit is one of the most important doctrines of the New Testament yet, it is also the least understood and the least talked about. Because the Holy Spirit is a person that we can't see, feel, touch, taste, or smell, we wonder if He is really real. Our culture makes us think of him as a ghost, much like an imaginary character; but nothing could be farther from the truth. The Holy Spirit is absolutely vital to our Christian life. Just as Jesus, the Messiah was promised to come to redeem us, so the Holy Spirit was promised to come and dwell within us to empower us to live holy lives. You don't want to miss a single message, as we begin this exciting new series, Christ In You, the Hope of Glory, starting this Sunday.

This week we will be looking at the Biblical Principles for Financial Blessings out of Malachi 3:7-12. The young man had never dreamed of earning so much money. What would his father say now? What would his friends think? How proud his mother would be of him. Back in Ontario, however, the parents of Robert Nicholas were very concerned about their son. Six dollars for a sixty-hour week was too much for a young man on his own in Chicago in 1900. Could Robert handle his money or would his money handled him and ruin his life?

Roberts's father wrote him a long letter, warning him of the dangers of money. I Timothy 6:10 "for the love of money is the root of all evil". He told his son to be cautious and wise with his funds and to give to the Lord's work. God blesses some people financially so they can give to God's work and help reach people for Christ. Robert's father quoted Proverbs 11:24 repeatedly throughout the letter. "One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.” He explained, “One person is generous and yet grows more wealthy, but another withholds more than he should and he comes to poverty.”

Robert listened to his father and went on to become a very successful businessman helping God's work in a great way. This Sunday we will examine the principles that Robert’s father taught him and hear the rest of the story of this very successful man. Don't miss this life changing message about how we use our money, time, and talents.

We’re taking time to learn what it means to be a Grace Giver. Last week we learned that our giving to the Lord is about our grateful response to the grace of God and and exercise of the continued grace of God in our lives rather than the grudging duty to try to win God’s favor. In light of all the motivation we have to give generously, out of grace, the question I must then ask is “Why is it that more people don’t give?”

There are many reasons why everyone doesn’t give all the time, and every Christian can probably identify with one or more at some point in their walk with the Lord. The reasons aren’t modern, they are as ancient as Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. This Sunday, we’ll walk through seven reasons why we don’t give like we should. This message will expose Satan’s strategies when he tries to keep us from experiencing the fullness of God’s grace through giving.

When we fail to see all of life as a sacred trust from God, over which we have been made stewards (mangers or administrators), we run the risk of thinking and acting worldly with what God has given us. Deuteronomy 8:18 says, "But you shall remember the Lord your God: it is He that gives you power to get wealth." We're going to begin the new year looking at what it means to be a Grace Giver: so we can learn to give of our time, talents, and treasures to the Lord. Jesus taught us to give this way and as we follow Him, we'll learn to walk as He did. This series could be truth that will radically change your perspective and your life forever.

To understand the significance of the city of Bethlehem, you have to reach deep into
the history of the Old Testament. The word Bethlehem occurs forty-one times in the
Old Testament in eleven different books over a period of some 1300 years. It was a small town, but very significant in the life of Israel as a nation. This Sunday we will trace some of the events that took place in this small town and begin to understand why it was a place of sorrow, selection, and salvation. We will also see the significance that Bethlehem plays in the life of every Christian.

Usually at this time of year, we focus on the virgin Mary, the shepherds, the wise men, and of course, the baby Jesus who was born to die, the Son given to reign as King and Lord of our hearts. When was the last time you heard a sermon preached about Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus? Granted, we are told little about him in Scripture, and he is missing from the adult life of Jesus, but there is much to learn and imitate about his character. He was a good and godly man who submitted to the Lord in a difficult situation. This Sunday we will examine the role Joseph played in the plan of God in the birth of Christ. Don't miss this exciting message.

December is here and so we begin our celebration of the birth of Jesus! We'll begin looking at the Christ of Christmas by answering the question, "Why the Virgin Birth?". An 11th century English philosopher and theologian by the name of Anselm wrote a book entitled "Why Did God Become Man?". Anselm listed four methods God has used in His making of a human being. First, the most ordinary way, through the union of a man and a woman. Second, by special creation, without the union of a man and woman, as God did with Adam. Third, without the involvement of a woman, when God took a rib from Adam to create Eve. And fourth, by supernaturally empowering a man and woman who are beyond childbearing age, as with Abraham and Sarah. But there is also a fifth way we could add to Anselm's list, which is the the birth of a child through a woman without the involvement of a man. Jesus was born of a virgin, the child of God planted in a human mother without a human father.