Hardwired with Jeff Wickwire

I’m sure there’s a time where you’ve felt that if you had one more hour in your day, you could get a lot more done! But the truth is that each day only has a limited amount of time, and we don’t get to experience every single thing this life has to offer. Pastor Jeff reminds us today that this same rule applies to how we spend our money. If we spend all of our disposable income on worldly things, we will belong to this world. But if we want to belong to Jesus, we should make the Kingdom a priority in our finances!

How does Ebenezer Scrooge react when he wakes up on Christmas morning in A Christmas Carol? Does he go right back to his old habits? No! He’s a completely changed man, and the people who meet him can hardly believe it’s the same Scrooge! Well, Pastor Jeff reminds you today that you’re a bit of a Scrooge yourself. When you are reborn in Christ, you have a responsibility not to just go back to the way you lived before. You’re called to live a new kind of life: one that is devoted to Christ!   

When will you take God’s warnings seriously? All throughout Scripture, the Lord warns that He will not allow those with sinful hearts to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. That means that, if you were to face His judgment on your own merit, you would not be allowed access into His heavenly kingdom.  But Pastor Jeff wants you to remember today that there is a way for you to be adopted into God’s family. Jesus’ gift of grace covers over all of your sins and marks you as one of God’s own beloved children. 

When the Titanic sank, hundreds of people escaped in lifeboats, waiting for aid to arrive from other ocean liners nearby. But imagine if someone had just witnessed the catastrophic end of the Titanic, but refused the help of the other ships that came to their rescue! That’s what Pastor Jeff tells us today about those who reject Jesus’ salvation. There is no excuse for us to refuse the help that is offered to us when there is no other way we can escape the dark and cold waters of this sinful world. 

In The Lord of the Rings, the first line we hear from Gandalf the Grey is, “A wizard is never late, nor is he early; he arrives precisely when he means to.” Now, even though this line is meant to be humorous, it does teach us something about God’s timing. See, Jesus could have arrived in time to heal Lazarus before he died. By human standards, He was too late. But Pastor Jeff reminds us today that God isn’t subject to our timeline. He doesn’t show up when we expect Him, He comes when we need Him. 

In culinary school, students learn that a sharp knife in the hands of a skilled user is much safer than a dull knife in the hands of a novice. After all, a sharp knife will cut through things with less resistance, and the skill of a chef will help make sure that the knife is only making the cuts it needs to. In today’s message, Pastor Jeff teaches you that God is immensely skilled at pruning the vines and the branches in our lives. He knows just how to cut and trim us so that we can grow back even stronger in our faith.

We take electricity for granted in today’s world. Generally speaking, when we plug something into a power outlet, it has the power to do what we need it to do. But if there’s a power outage, we will no longer have access to the power that lights our homes, powers our televisions, and charges our mobile devices. In today’s message, Pastor Jeff teaches you that you cannot produce good spiritual fruit if you’re not plugged into the source of all life! You must attach yourself to the true vine of Christ. 

When an artist gets ready to paint their masterpiece, they start with just a blank canvas. Every single brushstroke of the master artisan comes together to create a beautiful work of art. In today’s message, Pastor Jeff reminds you that Jesus is the master artist behind all of Creation. Because all life came from Him, we must also turn to Him in order to receive the gift of eternal life. We do not control this source, so we must do what Jesus asks of us to gain access to His gift of life. 

Many ancient cultures would bury their dead with all of their prized worldly possessions, so that they could take those things with them into the next life. But the Bible tells us that no one can take anything with them out of this life. When Pastor Jeff tells you that you don’t need any kind of riches or wealth to get into Heaven, he means it! Jesus cares about the status of your heart, not the size of your checkbook. God has the whole world in the palm of His hand, but what He really wants is a relationship with you.

Have you ever tried to get a tough stain out of a piece of clothing? Some of these stains can take several washes with different cleaning products to remove, and even then, there may be a tiny bit of the stain remaining, even after all that work. But Pastor Jeff is here today to remind you that Jesus removes the greatest stain of all time from your life! While sin left a permanent mark on your life that no work of man could possibly undo, Jesus died so that the stain of sin could be taken away from you!