Lessons for Living (Audio)

Repentance. We hear this word many times in reference to the Gospel, and for good reason. The Bible says that without repentance no one can be saved. It also makes it clear that believing in Jesus is not enough; the book of James implies that “belief only” thinking puts you on the same level as demons! Pastor Mark will continue his sermon from the book of Luke, where Jesus warns His listeners of the coming of a new Godly Kingdom. He speaks of their need to change their ways so they can become citizens of this new Kingdom.

That “sin” thing…nobody talks about that stuff except some Christians. It is, however, the first necessary step towards reconciliation with God. Israel had lots of sacrifices to temporarily wipe away past sin. Jesus spoke of it as well. We’ll notice, as Pastor Mark teaches here, that Jesus warns us that without taking the full steps of confession of sin and acceptance of Jesus’ salvation offer, there’s no way into Heaven. In fact, Jesus will deny in front of God any knowledge of us. That’s quite a sobering thought, and one that should be carefully contemplated.

That “sin” thing…nobody talks about that stuff except some Christians. It is, however, the first necessary step towards reconciliation with God. Israel had lots of sacrifices to temporarily wipe away past sin. Jesus spoke of it as well. We’ll notice, as Pastor Mark teaches here, that Jesus warns us that without taking the full steps of confession of sin and acceptance of Jesus’ salvation offer, there’s no way into Heaven. In fact, Jesus will deny in front of God any knowledge of us. That’s quite a sobering thought, and one that should be carefully contemplated.

Although we all say that we hate phony people, we all put on a false face at times. There’s the “public” us which is on some level different than the “at home” us. Sometimes we even fool ourselves into thinking we are tricking God. This was a big problem for the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. Pastor Mark will be continuing his teaching from Luke 12, where Jesus confronts the Pharisees concerning their duplicity. He will be challenging us, as well, to become more consistent in our public and private lives, considering that God knows the true us anyways.

Although we all say that we hate phony people, we all put on a false face at times. There’s the “public” us which is on some level different than the “at home” us. Sometimes we even fool ourselves into thinking we are tricking God. This was a big problem for the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. Pastor Mark will be continuing his teaching from Luke 12, where Jesus confronts the Pharisees concerning their duplicity. He will be challenging us, as well, to become more consistent in our public and private lives, considering that God knows the true us anyways.

It’s so easy to make a character judgment based on someone’s appearance, isn’t it? And when someone does the “right” thing, we automatically assign a value to them, don’t we? Pastor Mark has been teaching from the book of Luke, where Jesus is having to deal with fake people. They do all of the “right” things, but as Jesus will expose, their hearts are far from God. We need to be careful not to take on the same attitude, doing what people expect so that they think more highly of us than they ought. We need to allow God to change us from the inside out.

It’s so easy to make a character judgment based on someone’s appearance, isn’t it? And when someone does the “right” thing, we automatically assign a value to them, don’t we? Pastor Mark has been teaching from the book of Luke, where Jesus is having to deal with fake people. They do all of the “right” things, but as Jesus will expose, their hearts are far from God. We need to be careful not to take on the same attitude, doing what people expect so that they think more highly of us than they ought. We need to allow God to change us from the inside out.

If you’re a believer in Christ, hearing these words of Jesus’ can be hard. Thinking of oneself as representatives of Jesus on the earth – how can we be that? We’re all messed up, on our best days! Pastor Mark will be teaching that fortunately for us, Jesus didn’t leave us to our own devices. Jesus will send the Holy Spirit, Who will fill us with the power to do the will of God. Pastor Mark will be sharing practical ways we can be used by God to be the light of the world, to reflect the light Jesus brought here. We can, with God’s help, be the helper to Jesus He intended us to be.

If you’re a believer in Christ, hearing these words of Jesus’ can be hard. Thinking of oneself as representatives of Jesus on the earth – how can we be that? We’re all messed up, on our best days! Pastor Mark will be teaching that fortunately for us, Jesus didn’t leave us to our own devices. Jesus will send the Holy Spirit, Who will fill us with the power to do the will of God. Pastor Mark will be sharing practical ways we can be used by God to be the light of the world, to reflect the light Jesus brought here. We can, with God’s help, be the helper to Jesus He intended us to be.

There’s no evidence that anyone that heard Jesus speak was neutral toward Him. Either they believed His claims of Messiahship or they were opposed to him for any number of reasons. Eventually the nonbelievers won out (or so they thought) and crucified Him. Pastor Mark will be continuing to share Jesus’ story, about a year before the crucifixion. Pastor Mark will be teaching us about the lines that began to be drawn on either side, and how the opposition to Jesus became more vocal and belligerent, and how Jesus continued to press His claim to be the Messiah.