Lessons for Living (Audio)

One of the things that seems to be universal to people is their ability to be judgmental. And, pretty much all people hate it when they think they’re being judged by others. People will become judgy when they’re trying to justify why they should get into heaven; “Well, I’m not as bad as that person!” Pastor Mark will be teaching today about one of the roles of Jesus: being the light of the world. As the light of the world, Jesus exposes the darkness of people’s hearts. You’ll see in the story today that Jesus saw through all of the smokescreens and deflections that people tried to throw up to trick him.

If you’ve ever been in a really dark place that was kind of spooky, regaining light is such a relief. There’s just something soothing about having light to help you on your way or to help keep the darkness at bay. Pastor Mark will be teaching today about how God identifies Himself as the light for people, who He says are in spiritual darkness. Jesus makes the same claim to be the Light, which upset some people in His day. Pastor Mark will show you how Jesus, as the Light, illuminates the darkness, showing how dangerous it really is, as well as showing the way to get to the truth.

Mankind has been led to believe that they’re on this earth completely by chance. Because of that, their life has no underlying purpose. Their job is to create a meaning for their lives themselves; there’s no higher being that they’re responsible to. Pastor Mark will be teaching today that this worldly view of life has brought nothing but death. You’ll hear that the people in Jesus’ time struggled with the same search for meaning. Although Jesus was trying to show them that there is indeed a God who cares for them, they were focused on their physical needs and missed what was a more important message.

The human body is an amazing organism. The way all of the different systems work together – even in extreme conditions – is remarkable. Problems come when one of the legitimate needs is indulged in an out-of-balance way. Obesity, for instance, can result if the legitimate need to eat is overindulged, and then that need has to be brought back into balance. Pastor Mark will be teaching today about a need that most people ignore: the need for a relationship with God. You’ll hear him speak about God’s original intent for man and how sin put mankind’s holistic balance out of whack.

Do you ever wonder why someone would choose to walk away from a relationship with Jesus? Setting aside things like bad experiences with churches, why would a person come to Christ, experience the freedom that comes from knowing your sins are forgiven, and then turn back to their old way of life? In Pastor Mark’s teaching today, you’ll hear about a group of people who said that they wanted to follow Jesus – but when it got tough, went back to their old lives. You’ll be given the warning signs to look out for, so that you can keep from leaving the way of life and returning to the path of death.

The way that God used Moses to free the Israelites from slavery to the Egyptians was amazing. It’s even more remarkable when you realize that the way Moses was used wasn’t the way God wanted to use Moses. In Pastor Mark’s teaching today, you’ll find out that God originally planned to use Moses alone – Aaron wasn’t to be involved. But because of Moses’ disbelief and fear, God allowed Aaron to act as Moses’ mouthpiece to Pharaoh. You’ll hear about how you can prevent God’s best for your life – you’ll also find out how to find yourself right where God wants you to be.

In many ways, the future is one gigantic question mark. Issues like where to live, what job to take, who to marry – all these and more will come up at some point in everyone’s life. Moses had a lot of these same questions as he was out being a shepherd. And then God came and told him what his destiny was going to be. Pastor Mark will be teaching today about this episode in the life of Moses, and how Moses handled it. You’ll hear how God answered the concerns that Moses brought up, and helped calm Moses’ anxiety. You’ll learn that what God did for Moses, He can do for you.

How would you feel if you were Moses, listening to a talking bush telling you that you’ve been chosen to rescue two million people and lead them to create a new country? That’d have to be terrifying and baffling at the same time. Pastor Mark will be teaching today that Moses probably felt just like that and then some. You’ll hear the relieving news that Moses, before he became the Moses you know all about, was a person just like you. You’ll hear about the fears and excuses that he had, but you’ll also hear about God’s patience, and His desire to use the people who think that they’re useless.

It’s funny that people who don’t know God think that He’s some kind of bully, making people do things they don’t want to do – that He imposes His will on them. If you’ve had a relationship with God for any length of time, you know that it’s quite the opposite. Pastor Mark will be teaching today about Moses and God’s call on his life. You’ll hear about the choice that Moses had to make, which was a difficult one. You’ll learn that God’s desire for a relationship takes second place to His giving you free will. You’ll hear about the challenge of the obligation of the Christ follower to obey Jesus’ commands.

At some point in church history the perception of the responsibility for “making disciples” shifted from ordinary people to the clergy. An idea developed that only those who are professionally trained are qualified to share the Gospel with people. In Pastor Mark’s teaching today, he’ll be reminding you that Jesus didn’t give the command to “go” to the professional clergy – there wasn’t even a “professional clergy” yet! You’ll be learning about the call of God to Moses, and Moses’ response. You’ll hear about God’s desire to use ordinary people – including you – to accomplish His plans on the earth.