• Without God – is a teaching to help us establish our faith in the Lord so we are not living our lives without God. I know this may sound strange, but though we have gone to the altar, that does not mean we have established our faith in a way where we are not living without God. Christ Jesus teaches us about what it means when we become a lukewarm Christian, a person who goes to church, listen to preaching, but they don’t put into practice what they hear. When a lukewarm person calls out to God, it does not cause God to move because they are living without God in their life. There is no devotion to God’s Word and Ways, they go to church, but they live separate from God every day. You and I did not come to the cross just to become a lukewarm, religious person who only goes to church. We came to God to be a child of God, one who is fully devoted to the Lord each and every day. A faithful and devoted follower of Christ Jesus is always able to get the attention of God, because God the Father honors all who devoted themselves to living in Christ Jesus. God honors our faith and walk; he shows us favor because we have devoted ourselves to him and not to the world.

• Believe and Trust – Since the beginning of time we have been taught to believe and trust in many things, including ourselves. Many of us have spent hours in church listening to what we should believe and trust in to save our soul. Our faith in God the Father and our Lord Christ Jesus is based on what others have taught us to believe and trust in. But for us to ensure our faith and our beliefs are in-line with God’s Word, His Son, and His Spirit, we have to allow the Holy Spirit to examine what we believe and trust in. We may have some wrong understanding about the things of God, and what we should believe and trust in, we need to know if it’s all from God. This will take a humble person, not many of us are willing to allow such an examination to take place, because we assume what someone taught us, is what God has spoken. The question is, will what we believe and trust in pass the test of God, or will it fail? Its important that we bounce what we believe and trust in against the Word of God to ensure our belief and trust is founded on the things of God. If what we believe and trust in is not founded on God’s Word it will be impossible for us to grow in faith, and we won’t be able to reach the level of maturity the Lord has called, because we believe in things that have been added to God’s Word and we trust in things of the world, more than we trust in God.

• Obedience – is a teaching about us learning how to walk in obedience to God. Yes, we are a Christian and we have faith, but for us to grow our faith and reach the maturity level God is calling us, we must be willing to connect our faith to our obedience to God. We cannot obey sin and obey God, for Christ Jesus has set us free from sin so we can serve God by faith and in truth. We must obey God and our Lord Christ Jesus every hour of the day so we are worthy. Obedience is one of those things we must continually examine, because it does not take much for us to be disobedient to God. We could have trouble in our life, in our family, in our career, with our marriage, with our finances, and with our health. Any of these things could cause us to turn and be disobedient to God. Obedience must be connected to our faith so we will not turn away from the Lord. Staying obedient to God is not easy; it requires that we always seek the Lord, that we allow the Will of God to rule over our will. Being obedient to God may require for us to undergo suffering as we walk upright before God, and not walk in obedience to our sinful nature. Obedience is required by God if we want to be blessed by the Lord. Obedience to God is achieved through us faithfully following Christ Jesus and obeying the commandments of God.

• Lip Service – is a teaching about us coming to God in truth and walking in the vows we make to God. Not giving God lip service but putting into practices what we receive from God.  It teaches us about being more devoted to the Lord, so we serve God in faith, truth, and love. Sometimes we do not realize that what we are giving back to God and what we share with others is just lip service. While it may sound good, it may be from God’s Word, but what we are speaking is not in us, nor is it what we do. This was an important part of Christ Jesus teaching to his disciples; we must be a person who not only speak of God’s Word; we must put into practice what we have received, it must be in us. We know someone is giving us lip service when what they share has not changed them, nor are they the kind of person they teach others to be. If we don’t want to give lip service to God and others, we have to allow God’s Word to be who we are, it must come out of us, it must be who we are. Not just words, but backed up through our actions, our deeds, our faith, our love, and holding to God’s Truth.

• This World – is a teaching to about how God created a perfect world, created us without sin. We have done everything to turn what was perfect into a sinful and ungodly place. God has not given up on us though; through his Son we still have a chance to experience eternal life with God. God looked beyond our faults and provides a way for those who receive his Son to be set apart so we can make it through. We must accept the fact that God has declared this world ungodly, there is nothing we can do to save it; we need to save ourselves. We must accept the fact this world is not our home, we are just traveling through, we must long for our eternal home that is to come. In this world, we see much pain and suffering, in this world we see those who get ahead, while holding others back. In this world, we see the terrible things we do to each other. We see those who take advantage of others, we see the greed of others, we see misjustice, we see prejudice, we see favoritism, and we see racism. We see those who are not able, not living up to their full potential. We must look forward to a new earth and a new heaven for the righteous people of God. Though we must live in the world, we are not of the world. We are of God; we are of Christ Jesus.

• Comforter – is a teaching to help us come to understand that during periods in our life we will have a need to be comforted. Right now, we may be flying high, where everything is going as planned, but sooner or later trouble will show up. We all hit a low point in life, where things are not going as planned. Trouble can come from anywhere, through anyone, including ourselves. We could easily be the reason for the issue, or it could come from others. The point is, there will be times, I pray not too many times where we have to learn how to seek the Lord as our comforter. He is our provider, he is our God, he is Lord of Lord, but sometimes we need someone to comforter us. We try to comforter ourselves; we try to lean on others for comforter, but none of that seems to last or work. There in lays the lesson, to come to understand the only one who truly understands, the only one who truly gets us and knows what we need, knows how to comfort us, is the Lord.

• Effects of Sin – is a teaching to help us have a desire to overcome and put to death sin in us. We don’t really know just how bad sin is, until we take a look at the effects sin have on our lives, on the lives of our family, and on those we love. There are very bad effects that comes from us carrying out sin. Sin creates a disobedient spirit in us, though we know to do right, we will not do it. Sin creates confusion, when we where a sinner everyone knew it, and they accepted all the bad that came with us. Once we gave ourselves to the Lord and sin continues, it creates confusion because though we may be speaking differently, our behavior and actions are the same, we confuse everyone around us, and sometimes we confuse ourselves. The effects of sin gives desire for pleasure and greed, we continue in sin because we like the benefits of sin, and what we get from it. But sin is bad, its bad for our salvation, it works against the Spirit of God in us. Sin is bad, the effects of sin is bad because it makes us unfaithful and separates us from God. Sin is bad, there is no other way to put it. No matter if we try to redefine sin, sin is what God calls sin, and its effects on our lives and those around us can never be changed, just because we call sin good.

Commanded By God - Is a teaching about how we need to establish our faith in the commandments of God, and not in things we hear about God, that which has not been spoken by God, or revealed by Christ Jesus. This is a very important part of our faith; our faith must be established only on the Word of God. We must come to love every commandment of God, even if it causes us to have to make changes in our lives. We have to place God’s Word into our heart so it can point us in the ways of God, into the truth of God. In the beginning doing as God has spoken and commanded will not be easy. Because it will speak against everything that has been placed in us from the world. All our bad habits, all our bad thoughts, all our bad plans. But, if we accept God at his Word and follow his Son Christ Jesus, every time God’s commandments us in his ways, it will become a delight to our heart. We will get joy from every Word of God, thought it continues to change us day by day. For it is by God, through Christ Jesus that every Word of God comes alive, and manifests every promise of God in our lives.

• Be A Giver – is a teaching to help us establish our faith by becoming a giver. I know when you first read the title of this message, it turned you off immediately. But the Lord wants to share with us more than being a person who pays titles and offerings. God has been giving to us from the beginning, it is who God is, and who we need to become. Being a giver is not a religious thing with God, its not about following practices that makes a person feel guilty because they did not give at church. Being a giver as defined by God, has to do with our heart, and how we need to have an open heart and hand towards those who are in need, because in the time of our need, the Lord either came to our rescue, or he sent someone to help us. God is always giving to those who seek him through his Son Christ Jesus. God teaches us how to be givers through his Word, Son, and Spirit, but we have to receive God’s Ways into our heart for it to be effective not only in our lives, but in the lives the Lord leads us to touch through our giving. This was a hard lesson for me, because I thought I was a cheerful giver, but the Lord showed my that I did not give out of my heart, but based on my conscience, based on rules I made up regarding when and who I would give to. He had to change my heart to receive this message.

• Listening To God – is a teaching about learning to listen to God. Some believe God is not speaking to us anymore. If we want to hear from God, then we need to be a student of God’s Word so what we believe and stand on is not based on manmade theories. If God says his voice can be heard from on high, then we need to believe and work, so we are in position to hear, in position to listen to what the Lord has to say. God knows many are hard of hearing, he knows many hearts are harden. The Lord knows we chase after the cares of this world, but he continues to send out preachers and teachers so those who cannot hear, are able to hear and listen to God’s message and come to believe in God the Father and his Son Christ Jesus. We must develop an ear for the Lord, so we can hear and listen to his voice about his love, compassion, forgiveness, salvation, discipline, wrath, Word, Son, and Spirit. We need to able to listen so we understand how the Power of God can be at work in our lives, so we understand how prayers can change things, and how eternal life with God is real. We can’t be forever hearing and never perceive; we cannot be forever seeing but never understanding.  We need to be able to hear, listen, and obey the voice of God.