Lessons for Living (Audio)

The early church spread throughout the Roman Empire without motor vehicles, without telephones or the internet, or organized church structure. Millions were reached in just thirty years, despite crushing persecution, and without the protection of the state. Pastor Mark will be teaching that they did it by each Christ follower being obedient to Jesus’ command to go and make disciples. You’ll hear about the need that today’s world has for you to make yourself available to others, and to tell them about Jesus. You’ll learn about a way to use technology to share the Gospel.

When you read the book of Acts you see amazing things that God did through the church there. Many people ask why they don’t see the same activities nowadays as they read about in the Bible. Well, Pastor Mark will be talking about that. He’ll be teaching about the lack of spiritual depth among many in America who call themselves Christ followers. He’ll be reminding you that Jesus told the men who would become His disciples, “Follow Me”. You’ll learn what that phrase means for your life today, and how you can narrow the gap between the Christians in the book of Acts and your life today.

Do you believe that the state of the art way to travel these days is horse and buggy? Or that the most efficient mode of communication is the telegraph? Of course not. People do still use those outdated methods (well, maybe not the telegraph); it’s just understood that there are different ways to get the same task completed. And Pastor Mark will be teaching that the same is true of sharing the Gospel. He’ll be introducing you to a way of sharing the Gospel around the world from the comfort of your own home. This exciting new technology may encourage you to change how you share Jesus with others.

Something that terrifies many Christ followers even more than witnessing to someone is the idea of discipling a new believer. They’re so unsure of themselves, of their ability to lead someone not only to Christ, but to a deeper relationship with Jesus. Pastor Mark will be teaching about the fact that Jesus Himself commanded all of His followers to engage in this disciple-making enterprise. You’ll learn what making a disciple actually is; Pastor Mark will help to de-mystify the process. This will help you not only to make other disciples, but to make you a better disciple yourself.

When the reality of God's true nature has caused us to fall down in worship, we are then in the right position to gain wisdom. Wisdom is merely seeing life from God's perspective and responding accordingly. Wisdom is a priority, and we are told to seek it above all else. Proverbs is know as the wisdom book. Pastor Mark tells us that until our hearts are in a right relationship with God, we are unable to have the wisdom that Proverbs talks about. Without the fear of the Lord, we may gain knowledge of earthly things, but we are missing the one key that defines a wise person.

The link between the fear of God and wisdom means we cannot possess wisdom if we recreate God in our own image. Too many people want to “tame” God into a non-threatening nobody. But, if we redefine the Lord as a God that makes us feel comfortable, a buddy who exists simply to bless us and give us what we want, we will not fear Him in the way He deserves to be feared. The Lord God Almighty is far greater than that, and the fear of the Lord begins when we see Him in His majesty and power. Today Pastor Mark will challenge us to look at God in this way.

God promises to give this wisdom and instruction to those that will humble themselves in a simple way and to those that become childlike in their approach to God. We must not take a prideful, nor a haughty attitude if we desire to receive knowledge and discretion from God. He gives His instruction only to the teachable and those that depend on God and not their own human reasoning. However, it does mean that we are not to just rely on our own logic and reasoning, but to bring God into our daily affairs so that we have access to the mind of Christ with His guidance and His wisdom.

We must know the author of the Holy Bible to be able to understand its Words. The Book will mean nothing to us without a relationship with Jesus Christ, God's Son. King Solomon gained the wisdom that he had because he had this relationship with God. We too, can become wise if we seek God with our whole heart and read the Book He gave to us. Pastor Mark will ask us if we have a right relationship with God? This is the key to understanding the writings from Solomon in the Book of Proverbs. The truly wise person is the one who fears the Lord.

Solomon was endowed with both spiritual and practical wisdom. When we have God's wisdom we will know what to do and how to do it. This will cause us to not only avoid those things that produce destructive results, but it will also help us to engage in those things that produce life and blessings. Wisdom is linked with instructions, so if we are to be wise we must follow the instruction of God written in the Bible. If we ask God to give us wisdom, we will receive not only His wisdom, but the ability to understand.

We begin a new series on Lessons for Living. This study walks us through the Book of Proverbs. This study will help us to build wisdom and character in our lives by helping us to apply God's Word to our daily life. Wisdom is the ability to have the insight into the true nature of things. Pastor Mark wants to help Christians grow in their faith and Bible knowledge while helping them explore and study Scripture. The Book of Proverbs will do this very thing for us when we listen to the wise teachings of Solomon.