FCC Etown Podcast

One of the most difficult talking points for any church and any Christian is often money and giving. However, giving isn’t all about following rules, but about what generosity does for the Kingdom and for us. Generosity advances the Gospel, generosity shares Jesus, and generosity transforms you. Generosity is good for the Gospel, it is good for the church, but it is just as good for you.

Life groups should provide fellowship opportunities, learning about God through His Word, and serving in some capacity. Have you joined a life group and found that you enjoy the fellowship and learning about God, but you’re not crazy about that service aspect?

Most of us think of service as a physical activity like mowing someone’s yard or helping someone move when they cannot do it. However, service can be as simple as praying for someone or simply listening to someone share their problems. Even more personally, service may be humbly accepting help from others in your life group during a particularly difficult time in your life. Service is not just a giving process but sometimes, it’s an accepting action on your part.

Fellowship, trust and care are essential elements of biblical community and essential elements of community among believers today. We believe Life Groups create the best environment for developing these essential elements, and the spiritually significant relationships that we all need in our lives. The truth is if Jesus needed community, then so do we.

When it comes to the other parts of your week that don’t show up on your schedule as church time are there times when you approach and spend time with the One who gave everything for you? Do you set aside time so the Father has your full attention, affection, and adoration?

Maybe the first step, maybe the most comfortable step, maybe the most known step of following Jesus these days is the idea of corporate worship. When we sing with others, laugh with others, give with others, learn with others, and commune with others we feel like we have “churched”. This collective effort is a vital part of our effort to be a disciple.

God is big enough to forgive your sins; whatever they may be, whenever they may be and however many of them there may be. But if you deny him, he will deny you. If you wanted his grace and then decide with your life and your words and your heart that you don’t want that grace anymore, he will give you the desires of your heart. So be on guard and live for grace.

It is one thing to be against Homosexuality and to recognize that the Bible rejects the practice of same-sex lifestyles, but it is another to be against Homosexuals and villainize people because they are living a lifestyle that goes against God’s will for their life. We are all sinners. Christ died for all of us because all of us, apart from him, live lifestyles that go against God’s will for our life. Without Jesus, we will all stand before God as sinners. And if you are a follower of Jesus, then you know the grace that covers your sin.

Have you ever run across a Facebook post requesting prayer for an individual and then realize that individual is a child? Does your heart go out to that precious one, even though it's someone you may not know personally? Then do you think about what those parents are going through as they make decisions as to how best to care for that child? These moments expose how broken this world is. Yet, we wonder why a child has to suffer, why parents have to go through such anguish making needed decisions. However, our task is to do what we originally agreed to do when we heard about the child. We need to pray. Instead of wondering why suffering exists, we need to be diligent in prayer.

It is hard to envision a loving God asking the Israelites to wipe out groups of people, including women and children?  This can be confusing as well the difference between the God in the Old Testament and the God in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, He destroys, seems angry, and punishes and hardens hearts. In the New Testament, He is loving, kind, and forgiving. How do we reconcile these two portrayals of God?

How will we know/recognize our loved ones once we reach Heaven? Will my grandfather be young, and will he know me or my son when we reach Heaven, and will I know him? For those who truly believe in Heaven. The tougher question is how will we be happy there for eternity if we have loved ones who are not believers? Do were forget them? Why would we be separated from those we love dearly, or have given birth to?