Lessons for Living (Audio)

It’s safe to say that if you’re an adult that the job you have isn’t the one you wanted to have at age five. Kids dream big, but sometimes you don’t have the innate ability to do what it is you wanted to do. One of the hardest things to watch is someone in a position that they’re just not suited for. They make a mess of things and, while they might complete tasks, they really struggle to do so. Pastor Mark will be teaching about God’s kingdom and how it works the same way; stick to God’s calling and you’ll be alright.

One of the challenges in reading the Bible is that you see how God used these "ordinary" people and how they seemingly became superheroes of the faith. Then you compare…you…to them, and you’re feeling pretty puny. You think there’s no way you’re ever gonna be like those people. Well, today Pastor Mark’s going to try to demystify the people in Hebrews eleven, the faith Hall of Fame. You’re going to find out that the difference between them and you was that after they heard God’s command, they acted on it.

Rahab’s story is an amazing one. A pagan prostitute who went on to follow the God of Israel, winding up in the lineage of Jesus Himself! How’d that happen? She and the other citizens of Jericho heard what God had done for Israel. And Pastor Mark will teach you today that while the other people in Jericho reacted with fear, she had faith born inside her. And when she met the spies, the way those men treated her confirmed that these people were indeed different and that their God was the one worth following.

If you want to learn how to do something new, you can probably find video instructions on YouTube. That’s an amazing resource when you want to figure out how to do something or find out how something works. However, there’s no substitute for actually learning to do it yourself. And in the Christian walk, as Pastor Mark will teach today, you can’t grow in the faith by watching somebody else grow in their faith. You have got to dig in and do the hard work, and today’s teaching will help you to do that.

Doubt is seductive. It calls you to remember failures of the past, the impossibility of ‘new’ things being achieved in your life, and the seeming distance of God. Why trust God? He’s gonna let you down, just like the letdowns by people in your life in the past. But God challenges you to just…trust…Him, as Pastor Mark will show in his teaching today with Joshua. Just…trust…God. Believe that He’s who He says He is. Believe that He keeps His word. Believe that you matter to Him and that He wants to help you.

Joseph’s story is an amazing one. He was the favorite son of his father and hated by his brothers. He was sold into slavery and mistreated there. By God’s grace, he rose to the number two spot in Egypt and was able to save his family. Pastor Mark will teach today why Joseph when he had a chance for revenge, didn’t take the opportunity. Not many would pass up a chance to get back at those who wronged them. You’ll discover that Joseph didn’t do that because He believed that God was who He said He was.

Let’s face it – the world is full of phonies. It’s harder – much harder – to find someone who isn’t wearing a mask for others than the opposite. Everybody complains about the ‘fakeness’ of the modern world, but nobody seems to want to change the way things are. And Christ-followers seem to be no better. So, how do you make the changes in your life you know should happen? Listen to Pastor Mark as he teaches about the character of God and the responsibility you have to live that way and pass it on to your children.

What does it mean to have ‘abiding’ faith? It could be what the people mentioned in Hebrews eleven had. It had to be tough at times, knowing God’s promises and at some point realizing that you weren’t going to see those promises fulfilled in your lifetime. Pastor Mark will be teaching today about the quality of faith people like Abraham and Joseph had. You’ll find out about the resolute nature of their belief and how God, by testing them, made their faith even stronger. And He can do the same for you.

When you were very young, you didn’t have a lot of freedom to make the big choices in your life – your parents made those. They decided what you were going to wear and where you were going to go. And especially what you were going to eat. You learned to trust that they had your best interests at heart, even if they sometimes didn’t get it quite right. And God’s leading your life, as you’ll find out in Pastor Mark’s teaching today, is much the same, except that He never makes mistakes in His care of you.

Were you a yucky sinner before you came to Christ? You know – lying, cheating, maybe drug or alcohol abuse – people that some in the church look down on. And then you got saved – glorious day! You found out that God could take all of the yuck away and replace it with Himself. But like Pastor Mark will be teaching today, sometimes you slip up. You’ll learn that your sin doesn’t ever cancel out – can’t cancel out God’s grace and mercy. You’ll find out that there’s a way back to God for anybody that wants it.