Lessons for Living (Audio)

Did you know that there are thousands of church splits every year? The reasons range from the silly to the serious, but the end result is hurt hearts – and a figurative black eye for Jesus in the community. Jesus’ prayer in John 17 makes it clear that this divisiveness isn’t what He intends for His people. Pastor Mark will be teaching today about the basic problem in these situations. You’ll find out what God wants from you. You’ll discover the type of attitude you should be living with and how to get the strength to live that way.

People think that God has a lot of rules that you have to follow to get into heaven. Well, there are a lot of rules, especially in the Old Testament – over six hundred! And while there are some rules in the New Testament, Jesus broke it down to two: Love God, love people. Pastor Mark will be teaching today about all of those rules. You’ll hear about the reasoning behind God giving all of them to mankind. You’ll find out about the result of His giving the Law, and what those rules were leading to, the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus.

People have been trying to work their way into heaven almost since the beginning of time. By making up and following rules, sacrifices of all kinds – including human – they hoped to pay a big enough price to get God’s attention and let them in. But as Pastor Mark will be teaching today, even following God’s rules isn’t enough to get anyone into heaven. You’ll hear about God’s reasons for making these impossible rules. You’ll find out about the solution that God offers mankind, and what must be done to receive that remedy.

The marketing philosophy of the world is to try to make you unhappy with whatever you have. They want you to strive for more and, of course, to get that ‘more’ from them. But is this the way for a Christ-follower to live? Pastor Mark will answer this question in his teaching today. You’ll hear what the Bible has to say about trying to acquire more stuff, as well as about contentment. In addition to learning about the benefits of contentment, you’ll find out what happens when you allow stuff to start ruling your life.

Have you ever done something you knew was wrong and seemed to get away with it? You felt pretty good for a while – until the deed was discovered. Things didn’t go so well after that, did they? You’ll find out in Pastor Mark’s teaching today that there are always consequences for breaking God’s laws. The negatives might not show up for a while; in fact, things might seem to get better after your sin. But you’ll be reminded through the life of King David that there’s always a price to be paid for sin.

The world has one message that blares out every day: whatever you have is inadequate, and you need to get the latest, greatest version! How do you as a Christ-follower deal with the messages of greed that bombard you every day? Pastor Mark’s teaching today will tell you. He’ll be talking about the basic problem that everyone has – greed. You’ll find out why you have feelings of wanting more. You’ll learn God’s method for putting down the temptation to want more, and you’ll find out about how to be content.

A lot of the battles that Christ followers have to fight are in a combination of spiritual and mental areas. The inherent negativity of the world wants you to agree with it, while God wants you to look to Him. And of course, Satan is trying to flood your mind with negative thoughts of your relationship with God. In Pastor Mark's teaching today, you’ll hear about God’s command to be honest. You’ll learn about the importance of becoming so familiar with the truth that you’ll be able to recognize Satan’s lies.

There’s a saying: “Talk is cheap”. This refers to the importance of deeds over empty words. While actions certainly have their place, words – all words – have their usefulness, too. Pastor Mark will be teaching today what the Bible has to say about words. You’ll discover that in the scriptures, words have great meaning. Pastor Mark will show that all words that are spoken affect people, whether it be for good or for harm. You’ll learn the value you need to place on your words so that you bring honor to God.

No normal person wants to live with someone who lies all of the time. People complain about politicians and hold them in very low regard because the perception is that they lie most, if not all, of the time. In Pastor Mark’s teaching today, he’ll be talking about the nature of the two kingdoms in this world. You’ll learn that you’re a member of either God’s kingdom or Satan’s kingdom. You’ll find out information about the nature of these two leaders, which one leads to life, and which leads to death.

Marriage is fundamentally two – usually very different – people who have decided to combine their two lives into one life, together. This act of conjoining means that there’s going to be friction, as the rough edges of each partner get smoothed down by the constant rubbing together. In Pastor Mark’s teaching today, he’ll be giving tips on how to become a better marriage partner. You’ll find out the way that God originally planned for marriages to work out, and you’ll hear how to make your own marriage better.