Lessons for Living (Audio)

The expectation for physical babies is that, well, they’ll stop being babies. It’s assumed that given normal care and feeding that they’ll become increasingly self-reliant, learning to feed themselves, become educated, and eventually themselves become parents. Pastor Mark will be teaching today that this is also true in the spiritual realm. The problem is that in much of the American church, too many Christ followers are still spiritual babies, and act like it. You’ll learn how to move from babyhood into spiritual adulthood.

People want to understand God. They want to understand why things happen in their lives – do those events have any meaning, or are they just random things with no importance? And people want to know how best to make decisions about their lives. Pastor Mark will be teaching today about the wonderful access to God and His wisdom that all Christ followers have. You’ll hear how you can tap into the mind of God Himself, and be able to get answers – great a

“There are lots of ways to get to God”, people say, and if you look around, they might seem to be right. Churches here, temples of all kinds there. Don’t want to feel “limited” by a formal building? Get to God online. The problem, as Pastor Mark will be teaching today, is that the true God has established only one way to get to Himself. You’ll hear about that singular way, and why God chose to set it up the way He did. You’ll find out more about the beauty of Christianity and the life it offers all people.

There’s been a battle for your mind and soul since before you were born. This pre-existing war has been between the Creator of the universe and one of his wayward creations. The problem for you, as Pastor Mark will be teaching today, is that you’re born into and surrounded by the world system that the devil has devised, working through the people he controls. You’ll hear about how God through Jesus broke into the devil’s system of thinking and living, offering mankind an option to move from death to life.

For a long time, people have been told that friends aren’t needed. You can do everything by yourself that you need to do. Other people are merely for your use – as a stepping stone to achieve your goals. Unsurprisingly, surveys say that people are lonelier than ever before. Pastor Mark will be teaching today about the Apostle Paul and his experiences in the city of Corinth. You’ll hear that even this mighty man of God got discouraged and lonely, and that God cared about him and brought people around to be his friend.

Society today is moving further and further from God’s ideal for it every day. You see and hear about all kinds of things that God warns against, being celebrated. This influence sometimes even extends to the Church. Pastor Mark will be teaching today about another church that had a similar problem – the Corinthian church. You’ll hear that a lot of wild things were going on there, things you might not see in a church today even. You’ll also find out how God’s word can speak to every situation with incredible wisdom.

In Jesus’ time – just like today – there are many options to choose from for gods to worship. In addition to the pagan gods of Greece and Rome, there was the corruption of the Jewish religion, which had devolved into an appearance-driven façade. Pastor Mark will be teaching today about how Jesus’ coming onto the scene disrupted all of those established things. By living what He taught – backing up His words with miracles that no one could deny – He upset the Jewish religious leaders quite a bit. His followers would go on to upset the order of the rest of the world of that time.

As a follower of Christ, one of the most frustrating areas of life is the realm of thoughts. The struggle to think the right things and not think the wrong ones is a battle that’s truly lifelong. Despite what the Bible has to say about the importance of taking charge of your thought life, there seems to be an endless cycle of success and failure. Pastor Mark will be teaching today about this critical area. You’ll learn what the scriptures have to say about your thinking. You’ll find out about the sources of the thoughts that fly through your head, and how best to sort them out and deal with them.

It’s probably safe to say that everyone feels guilty about something at some time. The only people that really don’t feel guilt at any time are called sociopaths or psychopaths, because the lack of guilt over doing what the person believes to be wrong isn’t normal. Pastor Mark will be teaching today about one of the reasons Jesus came to earth, which is to save the world. You’ll learn about the difference between conviction of wrongdoing and condemnation of wrongdoing. You’ll find out the sources of both, and what the correct response to these sensations should be.

You probably know people who once claimed to be followers of Jesus but over time have fallen by the wayside. This kind of points out that the Christian lifestyle can be a grind sometimes. Fighting against the world system, your flesh, and the attempted influence of your friends and family can really get to you. Pastor Mark will be teaching today about the reality of Jesus being the light of the world. You’ll hear about the power that Jesus has over sin – your sin – and how He came to give you a life that would be better than you could imagine, despite the difficulties you might experience.