Lessons for Living (Audio)

Some people think of God as a cosmic puppet master and His followers are subject to His every whim. Some people have the same view of the working of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christ follower, especially in regards to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Pastor Mark will be teaching today that God doesn’t force Himself on anyone. You’ll learn about the use of the gifts of the Spirit, and how to know when it’s appropriate to use them. You’ll also find out about, amazingly, your ability to control the work of the Spirit in your life.

The realm of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and whether they’re legit for today has been debated for a long time. It seems that much of the reasoning behind the objections to the use of the Holy Spirit’s gifts is a reaction to the abuse of those gifts. Pastor Mark will be teaching about this, because the Corinthian church had the same problem. You’ll find out what scripture has to say about these gifts. You’ll learn what the gifts are as well as the proper place and time for these divine gifts to be put into use.

When you read the accounts in the book of Acts of God healing people, casting out demons, and giving boldness to people to witness for Jesus, the contrast between then and now can be saddening. Pastor Mark will be teaching today about the operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and how to get them operating in your life. You’ll get a better idea of what the gifts actually are, and how to use them. You’ll find out about the abuse of them in the Corinthian church and how you can avoid that problem.

Throughout church history, there have been men and women who claimed to have supernatural gifts from God. Most often they claim to be able to heal people of various diseases. Sometimes, unfortunately, these people have been shown to be fakes, deceiving the followers of Jesus. Pastor Mark will be teaching about the authentic gifts from God. He’ll explain what they are and why they’re given. You’ll find out God’s endgame in providing these gifts and when and where it’s appropriate for them to be used.

For years, Christians have asked, “Where’s the power in today’s church that the early church had?” That’s kind of a loaded question, but the simple answer is that to have God’s power evident in the life of the church, you have to follow the model the early church set up. Pastor Mark will be teaching today about the use and misuse of spiritual gifts in the Corinthian church. He’ll show you how the apostle Paul dealt with the problems that had cropped up, while at the same time encouraging them to use the gifts God had given them.

Getting married is pretty easy. Staying married can be hard. There are many forces trying to make splitting up easy and remaining in a marriage difficult. Pastor Mark will be teaching today about God’s plan for marriage, what His original intent was for it. You’ll also hear about Satan’s efforts to destroy this very important creation of God. You’ll find out some of the ways that the devil tries to worm his way into the relationship and cause disharmony, and what you can do to strengthen your marriage against him.

There’s so much turmoil these days, particularly in regards to race. Different groups are agitating for their right to be not only heard, but to have their grievances listened to and dealt with. These topics have even invaded the Church, with brothers and sisters going at each other. Pastor Mark will be teaching today about the radical nature of the Church. You’ll hear how things were in the past in regards to class and race, and how Christianity came in and blew up the established order of things.

While marriage can be an incredible experience, you come to realize that it is harder to keep that laser focus on God that you had when you were single. Your priorities shift, just like the apostle Paul writes. And Pastor Mark will be teaching today that it’s okay for that priority shift to take place. You’ll learn that the Corinthians struggled with the same tug of war between being a good spouse and wanting to serve God more intently. You’ll find out that God has plenty for both married and single people to do to keep busy serving Him.

America is saturated with sex. Billboards, magazines, television and, of course, the internet. There’s an old marketing saying: “sex sells”. It’s almost impossible to live a normal life without encountering the sexualization of much of our society. Pastor Mark will be teaching about the problem that much of the Corinthian church was having. They were trying to escape the sex-oriented religions that they had followed before becoming Christ followers. The solutions Paul gave them can be used successfully today.

Nobody likes to be in a difficult relationship. One of the toughest is one in which one of the spouses is a Christ follower and the other is not. Spiritually, they’re in two different kingdoms. And those kingdoms are at war with each other, whether the couple realizes it or not. Pastor Mark will be teaching today about these tough situations, and what scripture has to say about them. If you find yourself in a place described by Paul, Pastor Mark has some tough but encouraging things to say to you in his message today.