Lessons for Living (Audio)

People sometimes joke about “hell and damnation” preachers, and kind of dismiss them as overzealous extremists. “God would NEVER send someone to hell,” they say. Pastor Mark will be teaching that indeed, God would never send someone to hell. The inconvenient truth is that we send ourselves to hell by our unbelief in Jesus. We will learn that it is all simply in our hands. We don’t want to think of our eternal destination being under our control – the consequences are too great. The ironic thing is that the positive solution, accepting Jesus as Savior, is so very easy to do.

Most everyone has some kind of concept about hell. Whether they believe it exists or not, and what or who will populate it. Cartoons for the most part make it seem as though it’s annoying and difficult, but not that bad there. The Bible, however, paints quite a different picture of this place. Pastor Mark will be teaching us about this. The first thing to realize is that it was never intended for man, but only for the Devil and his fellow rebels. It is a place of perpetual torment but also significantly, separation from God and from all of His goodness. This is a sobering thought to contemplate.

Most everyone has some kind of concept about hell. Whether they believe it exists or not, and what or who will populate it. Cartoons for the most part make it seem as though it’s annoying and difficult, but not that bad there. The Bible, however, paints quite a different picture of this place. Pastor Mark will be teaching us about this. The first thing to realize is that it was never intended for man, but only for the Devil and his fellow rebels. It is a place of perpetual torment but also significantly, separation from God and from all of His goodness. This is a sobering thought to contemplate.

All around us we’re told we need to prepare for our future – retirement accounts, cemetery plots, life insurance. But seldom do we hear about the need to prepare for what’s after death. Pastor Mark will be sharing a story Jesus told about a crooked funds manager. Jesus will be relating the story of this guy’s dishonesty with our need to be prepared for what awaits us beyond death. The first thing we need to understand that there is something beyond this life. Secondly, there are only two destinations, and we get to decide which destination is our final one.

All around us we’re told we need to prepare for our future – retirement accounts, cemetery plots, life insurance. But seldom do we hear about the need to prepare for what’s after death. Pastor Mark will be sharing a story Jesus told about a crooked funds manager. Jesus will be relating the story of this guy’s dishonesty with our need to be prepared for what awaits us beyond death. The first thing we need to understand that there is something beyond this life. Secondly, there are only two destinations, and we get to decide which destination is our final one.

On this earth, we get hung up about money, don’t we? We have to pay bills, get new clothes for the kids, we have to feed the kids. It can be overwhelming, and we’re supposed to carve out some of this to give to God? How? The Bible’s discussions about money are difficult to hear, and Jesus’ teachings about it are downright aggravating. Pastor Mark will be teaching from the passages in Luke where Jesus tells us what heaven deems important. He will also probe the attitudes behind our giving or not giving, and try to focus us on what the proper Godly thinking actually is.

On this earth, we get hung up about money, don’t we? We have to pay bills, get new clothes for the kids, we have to feed the kids. It can be overwhelming, and we’re supposed to carve out some of this to give to God? How? The Bible’s discussions about money are difficult to hear, and Jesus’ teachings about it are downright aggravating. Pastor Mark will be teaching from the passages in Luke where Jesus tells us what heaven deems important. He will also probe the attitudes behind our giving or not giving, and try to focus us on what the proper Godly thinking actually is.

Jesus is using the story we call the parable of the unjust steward to emphasize the importance of planning for our futures. Not primarily our earthly future, but our eternal one. Pastor Mark is pointing out how we can influence someone else’s eternal future – by using our time, talents and resources in furthering the Gospel. One of the easiest and best ways is by praying. Many of us are in the kingdom of God as a result of someone else praying for our salvation. If we truly believe that there is a heaven and a hell, it behooves us to pray for our friends, family and coworkers.

Jesus is using the story we call the parable of the unjust steward to emphasize the importance of planning for our futures. Not primarily our earthly future, but our eternal one. Pastor Mark is pointing out how we can influence someone else’s eternal future – by using our time, talents and resources in furthering the Gospel. One of the easiest and best ways is by praying. Many of us are in the kingdom of God as a result of someone else praying for our salvation. If we truly believe that there is a heaven and a hell, it behooves us to pray for our friends, family and coworkers.

This story seems to contradict everything that Jesus stands for. Rewarding and commending a dishonest man for being dishonest? It goes against everything we’re taught about how to behave! Jesus, however, has a deeper point to make and Pastor Mark will be teaching about that. Jesus’ point is to focus on the man’s honesty with his condition. he knew what he could do and was willing to do, and he came up with a solution for his long-term financial care. Pastor Mark will be teaching how this man’s story relates to our long-term spiritual care.