Come Alive (Audio)

As long as we walk in this flesh, we will struggle to surrender it to God and fully rely on Him. No believer in the history of our faith has ever fully relied on God all of the time. When we take an honest look at our sources of strength, we will find that relationships, position, money or possessions often come before God on our list. As Pastor Mark encourages us in today’s message, the first step towards relying more fully on God is to be honest and confront those idols. While we may not be able to reach a perfect state of reliance in this world, this Holy Spirit is constantly leading us closer to that end goal.

As long as we walk in this flesh, we will struggle to surrender it to God and fully rely on Him. No believer in the history of our faith has ever fully relied on God all of the time. When we take an honest look at our sources of strength, we will find that relationships, position, money or possessions often come before God on our list. As Pastor Mark encourages us in today’s message, the first step towards relying more fully on God is to be honest and confront those idols. While we may not be able to reach a perfect state of reliance in this world, this Holy Spirit is constantly leading us closer to that end goal.

We often feel like God is silent in our lives. We read the Bible and encounter a God who talks to the prophets; who has a physical voice. Yet, we’ve never heard it. It can make Him feel distant, and it makes us feel small and insignificant. As Pastor Mark explains in today’s message, God is talking to us. If we are really listening, we will hear our Father speaking. It may never be a physical voice out of thin air, but He speaks to our hearts through the Spirit and Scripture as well as our fellow Christians. If we quiet our own reason and all the distractions of this world, before long we will be able to pick out the voice of our Shepherd.

We often feel like God is silent in our lives. We read the Bible and encounter a God who talks to the prophets; who has a physical voice. Yet, we’ve never heard it. It can make Him feel distant, and it makes us feel small and insignificant. As Pastor Mark explains in today’s message, God is talking to us. If we are really listening, we will hear our Father speaking. It may never be a physical voice out of thin air, but He speaks to our hearts through the Spirit and Scripture as well as our fellow Christians. If we quiet our own reason and all the distractions of this world, before long we will be able to pick out the voice of our Shepherd.

Too often we view church as a sort of Holy of Holies, where if we enter with any sin in our lives, we’ll immediately face the judgment of God as well as that of the people there, who seem like they have everything together. As Pastor Mark explains in today’s message, instead we need to view the church more as a clinic. Everyone that enters its doors are bringing struggles and sinfulness in with them. None of us have got it all figured out, and the Church is a place that we can be vulnerable and honest. We come to Church seeking the healing and restoration that only can be found through Christ Jesus.

Too often we view church as a sort of Holy of Holies, where if we enter with any sin in our lives, we’ll immediately face the judgment of God as well as that of the people there, who seem like they have everything together. As Pastor Mark explains in today’s message, instead we need to view the church more as a clinic. Everyone that enters its doors are bringing struggles and sinfulness in with them. None of us have got it all figured out, and the Church is a place that we can be vulnerable and honest. We come to Church seeking the healing and restoration that only can be found through Christ Jesus.

Some Christians have a completely unrealistic expectation for what their life as a follower of Christ should look like. They think that Jesus is a sort of spiritual glue that will pull all of the brokenness of their lives together and make everything right. They quickly find themselves disappointed as they find the troubles of life still plaguing them long after salvation. As Pastor Mark reminds us in today’s message, our relationship with Christ will not free us from trials – in fact, it often will bring more hardship. What it can bring us is a deep, everlasting joy in the face of those trials and tribulations.

Some Christians have a completely unrealistic expectation for what their life as a follower of Christ should look like. They think that Jesus is a sort of spiritual glue that will pull all of the brokenness of their lives together and make everything right. They quickly find themselves disappointed as they find the troubles of life still plaguing them long after salvation. As Pastor Mark reminds us in today’s message, our relationship with Christ will not free us from trials – in fact, it often will bring more hardship. What it can bring us is a deep, everlasting joy in the face of those trials and tribulations.

Pride is a dangerously subtle weakness. In our culture, it’s generally seen as a good thing. We are raised to believe that we’re supposed to have a sense of pride in ourselves. But, as we take a look at the example of Saul with Pastor Mark, we are reminded of just how treacherous this sinful attitude can be. Saul was anointed and placed in his position of leadership by God, but somewhere along the way, he started to think he could go it alone. He started to take the glory for his accomplishments, and that led to his downfall. We can expect the same results if we try to live out God’s mission on our own.

Pride is a dangerously subtle weakness. In our culture, it’s generally seen as a good thing. We are raised to believe that we’re supposed to have a sense of pride in ourselves. But, as we take a look at the example of Saul with Pastor Mark, we are reminded of just how treacherous this sinful attitude can be. Saul was anointed and placed in his position of leadership by God, but somewhere along the way, he started to think he could go it alone. He started to take the glory for his accomplishments, and that led to his downfall. We can expect the same results if we try to live out God’s mission on our own.