God’s ways seem backwards to most people. People want to see something before they’ll believe it; God says to believe, then He’ll show it to you. This can be very frustrating for humans and is a reason that some people choose to not follow Jesus. Pastor Mark will be teaching about the fact of faith – everybody exercises faith in some areas of their lives. It’s just a matter of what you’re willing to put your faith in: yourself, another human, a false god, or the true God. So as you listen to today’s teaching, ask yourself which of those options you’re willing to put your trust in.

Every Christ follower wants to hear from God at the final judgment, “Well done, good and faithful servant”. While you’re on your way to that final destination you’ve seen fellow believers come and go. Some just kind of faded away while others blew up spectacularly, going out in a blaze of glory. Pastor Mark will be teaching that the Christian lifestyle is much closer to a marathon than a sprint. You’ll learn how to get your mind right so that God can be using you while at the same time change you, your thinking and behavior to more closely look like that of Jesus, your ultimate example.

The preachers of the so-called “health and prosperity gospel” say that a true Christian should never have troubles in their lives. They also say that if a Christian does have problems that that person is not walking right with God. Pastor Mark will be teaching that the Bible says something quite different. You’ll learn that many, many people in the Bible that were close with God had lots of problems in their lives. They were persecuted, beaten and even killed for their faith. While you might not have to give your life for the sake of Christ, you’ll learn that God’s right there with you just like He was in Bible times.

Have you ever felt like you had a plan all set and then the circumstances or situation changed, making your plan impossible to do? Did you ever blame God for messing your plans up? And how many times did the alternate circumstance work out better than the plans you made? Well, Pastor Mark will be teaching about your plans versus God’s plans. You’ll hear about a time when God overruled the plans of the apostle Paul. Pastor Mark will talk about Paul’s plans and the alternate plans that had to be made, and how God’s plans turned out not only for Paul’s benefit, but for yours as well.

The lack of proper biblical knowledge among Christians is terrible these days. There are people who call themselves followers of Christ who believe that He sinned, or that He had an intimate relationship with Mary Magdalene – outrageous! Pastor Mark will be teaching about the critical need for you as a Christ follower to know exactly what and who it is you’re following. You’ll hear what the Bible has to say about how God’s people find out God’s viewpoints on things in their lives. You’ll find that as you discover how God wants you to live that you’ll have a more fulfilling and peace-filled life.

Pretty much everyone worships something, even if it’s themselves. They may not call it being religious but in the end it kinda looks like that. A lot of these people know about Jesus, too. Many admit that He was a good teacher or role model, someone to look up to. Pastor Mark will be talking about these people and reminding you that they, unfortunately, are destined for hell and separation from God. He will be teaching about having a relationship with Jesus and how that’s what God’s looking for from you. You’ll be learning about the difference between knowing about someone and knowing someone.

These days it seems everyone has an opinion about everything, whether they have actual knowledge about the subject or not. In fact, those with little or no facts about an issue many times are the loudest in stating their opinion. Pastor Mark will be teaching about the need for the Christ follower to have true information about the things of life. He’ll be talking about where you can find either the information or the principles that can help you form a correct opinion. You’ll find out how to gather this info and also how to make it useful for yourself, and how to share it with others.

You know, people say that they want folks to be honest with them all of the time, but most don’t like it when someone accommodates them. Sometimes the pure truth is the last thing people want to hear. As a Christ follower you understand that God’s truth about their life is something people just don’t want to talk about. Pastor Mark will be teaching about the need for people to hear the honest truth about their spiritual situation whether they’re believers or not. You’ll be reminded that because of His infinite love, God’s compelled to be honest with you so that you can be more like His son, Jesus.

When you read the book of Acts, it’s pretty easy to assume that all of the preaching was done by the apostles and men like Stephen, right? And if that’s the case, then you’re off the hook for that evangelism stuff! The problem with that thinking is that Jesus Himself said differently. He said that every one of His followers were to go out, spreading the news of the Gospel. Pastor Mark will be teaching about your responsibility to talk to your people about Jesus. You’ll learn that God’s ready to give you the ability to do that, if you’ll ask Him.

The rich and powerful like to congratulate themselves on their successes, don’t they? They have awards shows and other times of recognizing their “greatness” where they gather and pat each other on the back for how awesome they are. Pastor Mark will be teaching that success in God’s eyes is something quite different. He’ll show through Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians that this view of success is another way that God separates His thinking from the world’s thinking. You’ll find out that to have God’s success will mean a very different life for you than what the world tells you about their brand of success.