Hardwired with Jeff Wickwire

Peter could have simply given up and abandoned Jesus after denying him three times! He must have felt so much guilt after acting like he never knew the man who called him out of his fishing boat. But Pastor Jeff reminds you that not only did Jesus restore Peter, He also gave him the chance to do what He didn’t do before! When you give your mistakes and your bad decisions to the Lord, He will give you new opportunities to serve Him, new chances to show your allegiance to the Kingdom of God.

If you were a boxer and you had trained day in and day out to get ready for a big championship fight, would you give up the first time you got knocked down? Of course not! You would find that inner strength to get back up and continue the fight. And Pastor Jeff teaches you today that when you fail and disappoint God, your first reaction shouldn’t be to give up. Instead, ask the Lord for the strength to get back up and try again, because you learn and grow stronger when you embrace your failure.

In regions with dry climates, wildfires and bushfires are very real dangers. All it takes is one spark, one improperly extinguished campfire, or one lightning strike to ignite a firestorm that can consume thousands of acres, do millions of dollars in property damage, and uproot thousands of lives. Pastor Jeff wants you to realize that if you tag along in someone’s jealousy and gossip, you may be spreading that kind of wildfire. Instead, choose to love your brother and sister by helping them end the cycle of gossip.

Even among the body of Christ, there can be instances of conflict or bitterness that are too great to be resolved via human intervention. But something even greater than human intervention is divine intervention! Pastor Jeff encourages you today that if you have a brother or sister who has offended you and refuses to reconcile, you can bring that burden to the Lord! Just like you’ve learned to cast your anxieties on Him, you must also learn to take your grudges and leave them at His feet.

You’re never going to find a perfect church! For better or for worse, every church is made up of human beings. And even though every person is made in the image of God, the curse of sin has marred the Lord’s original design for the human race. Pastor Jeff encourages you today to continue going to church despite the obstacles that may be in your way. As he says, the Church isn’t just meant for spiritually mature people. It’s a place for people to grow as they begin to follow the way of Christ.

When we get offended, we want it to be everyone’s problem. Saul’s dilemma when David comes into the picture is one that all of us deal with at one point or another. When someone seems to be doing better than us in life, our first instinct is to be jealous of their success, and make other people defend us! Pastor Jeff reminds us today to be humble and not let ourselves fall into sin when we become jealous of someone. If we remember who God says we are, we can overcome those jealous feelings.

If you want to run a marathon, you can’t just decide to run a marathon if you haven’t been training in some way. You need to start small and work your way up to the big race. And just like a runner gaining strength and endurance, Pastor Jeff teaches you that living a holy life requires you to start small and work your way up until you’re serving God with your whole being. By starting small now, it will be easier to make those decisions that have a greater Kingdom impact down the road.

Imagine your life as a tower of building blocks. Every new block you lay down is dependent on the blocks beneath it for stability and support. So if you want to live a long and fulfilling life, you need to make as many wise decisions as possible! Pastor Jeff teaches you today that the most important decision you can make is the one to serve God, but it is one that you must make on a daily basis, even multiple times per day. Choosing to serve the Lord every day will leave you with a rock-solid foundation.

If you talk to anyone who has successfully climbed Mount Everest, you’ll hear them describe how difficult the journey was. Many people have attempted the climb but failed to reach the summit. But those who do reach that summit are rewarded with the knowledge that they have reached the highest peak on the planet! Pastor Jeff reminds you today that while following the narrow road is the more difficult path to take through life, it is the only one that has the reward of Heaven at the end of your journey!

If you believe that what the Bible says about the afterlife is true, wouldn’t it be an obvious choice when it comes to how you want to spend eternity? After all, heaven seems like a much more enticing place to spend eternity than the alternative! But in today’s message, Pastor Jeff reminds you that you still need to make a choice. You are still given the option of how you want to live your life, because God isn’t going to force you to do something you don’t want to do. What path will you choose?