Lessons for Living (Audio)

People are always looking for an easier way to do things, right? Sometimes that’s a good thing – using a roto-tiller is far easier than breaking ground up using a spade, isn’t it? And so people try to find easier ways to increase spiritual growth, too. But Pastor Mark will be teaching today that God doesn’t provide shortcuts – the only way to become a more mature Christ follower is by doing the hard work. Pastor Mark will be giving you instructions on how God says you have to grow in Him. You’ll discover that if you can stick it out, that the benefits will be more than you can imagine.

Surveys have been done over the last few decades, trying to figure out if there’s a difference in behavior between Christians and those outside the church. Unfortunately, what they’ve found is that people in the church are becoming more like those outside of the church rather than the other way around. Pastor Mark will be addressing this problem. You’ll hear him use and define the term, “carnal” Christian. You’ll learn why this isn’t someone God wants you to be. You’ll be challenged to examine yourself to see whether your lifestyle places you in this undesirable category.

A long time ago Americans began to get the idea that America is a “Christian” nation. Although that was never defined, some people began to equate that with meaning that all Americans are Christians. Pastor Mark will be teaching today that this belief is not biblically accurate. You’ll learn that God doesn’t “save” countries – He saves individuals. You’ll hear about the Apostle Matthew’s conversion experience, and what took place there. Pastor Mark will tell you what becoming a Christian means, and he’ll talk about what should be happening in your life after that initial event.

There are billions of people in the world who’ve never even heard of Jesus, and billions more who have heard but who have just blown Him off. These numbers can feel overwhelming and make you think that there’s nothing you can do to change them, but that’s not true. Pastor Mark will be teaching today about Jesus’ Great Commission, His command to go and make disciples of the whole world. You’ll find out what a disciple actually is, and what characteristics are part of a disciple’s lifestyle. You’ll also find out that the whole “making disciples” thing isn’t as hard as you might think that it is.

When you read a story and they talk about a church having a weekly attendance of, say, ten thousand people, does that impress you? People tend to be influenced by positive – especially large – numbers. At one point, though, Jesus’ followers went from being in the thousands to just the inner twelve. And Jesus was okay with that. Pastor Mark will be teaching about what God really wants in His church. You’ll discover that God’s a lot more interested in what’s on the inside of the person than how many persons are in the building. You’ll be challenged to be the type of believer that God is looking for.

You might have heard the term, “professing Christian”. Maybe you’ve used it to refer to someone you know; maybe you use it to describe yourself. While the origin of the term isn’t known, the Bible doesn’t use this term to describe a follower of Jesus. Pastor Mark will be reminding you in his teaching today that Jesus didn’t say, “Profess Me”; He said, “Follow Me”. You’ll learn what the difference between professing and following is and how to figure out where you are between the two. You’ll find out how to get things right with God if you need to, and how to progress in your walk with Christ.

In the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament, the Bible speaks about the importance of friendship, of knowing someone who has your back. Having someone who’s there to pick you up when your down and someone you can pick up when they’re down is the way God intended you to live. Pastor Mark is teaching about disciples and how to make a disciple. You’ll find out that establishing an open and honest relationship with another brother or sister in Christ is the first step on the way to having an important relationship with God, which helps make a healthy church.

Technology has made it possible to present and deliver the Gospel in more ways and to more people, more quickly than ever imagined even twenty years ago. And yet there’s more opposition to the good news of salvation than ever before, too. The reasonable question is, “Why is that?” Well, Pastor Mark will be answering that question today. He’ll be talking about the factors in mankind’s makeup that causes them to be resistant to embracing the salvation through Jesus. You’ll hear about the ways that God tries to reach people, and how you can be a factor to help God reach the world.

In America, it’s all about the numbers, right? Which team has the most Super Bowl rings, which baseball player has the most home runs – that’s all that matters. Unfortunately, this mindset can seep into the church. The idea of equating numbers of people in the seats with spiritual growth and power is tempting, but biblically incorrect. Pastor Mark will be teaching about spiritual growth and success. You’ll learn that the Bible’s idea of success is one hundred eighty degrees from how the world system views success. You’ll find out how to achieve success from God’s point of view.

Most Christians these days operate under mistaken thinking. They believe that the job of evangelism is the job of their ministers or pastors. They believe that evangelism has always been the responsibility of the laity ‘class’, not something that the ‘normal’ person has any place involving themselves in. Pastor Mark will be teaching that this is biblically incorrect. You’ll learn that the men that the church holds in high esteem – the apostles – were just ordinary men. Fishermen, tax collectors, not from the educated people. The difference is that they had become true disciples of Jesus.