Lessons for Living (Audio)

Do you have kind of a rebellious streak in you? Of course you do – it’s part of your nature! There’s something in you that instinctively rebels against rules. That came from your original father, Adam. Pastor Mark will be teaching about this battle that every Christ follower has. He will speak about how frustrating the conflict is and what you need to do to find yourself on the winning side. You’ll discover who your other enemies are and how to fight against and defeat them. And you’ll learn how to head the fight off at the beginning, by learning to recognize when the battle’s starting.

A lot of Christ followers are uninformed about the Holy Spirit. That may be because they haven’t been taught about Him by the churches they attend, which itself may be an unbalanced overreaction to the mis-teachings that people are aware of. Well, Pastor Mark will be attempting to bring some balance to this issue. He will be talking about the importance of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian. He’ll be sharing about the danger of ignoring the Holy Spirit’s role in your life and what you can do to change that. You’ll learn that having the Holy Spirit actively working in you will make your life better than ever.

You know, one of the problems with sin is that it’s enjoyable. It satisfies your flesh, it makes you feel good – or at least relieved. Even when you know that you’re going to regret what you did, you do it anyway. On the other hand, overcoming that temptation and getting to the other side of that test is quite satisfying. Pastor Mark will be teaching about the battles that you will and do have against your old nature, the devil and the world system that he controls. Thankfully, God has made it possible through the Holy Spirit to win the fights you will have and to learn from the losses, too.

When you decided to become a follower of Christ, you entered into a battle you may not have known exists. You had been, for the most part, a complicit slave to the one who hates you. Now that you’ve been freed, you become aware of the struggle between your spiritual self and your sinful nature as well as the world system. Pastor Mark will be teaching how you can overcome these old urges and habits that you now know don’t please God. Also, he will be sharing tools and techniques that will help you to cast aside the old habits and ways of thinking and to put on God’s way of thinking and living.

You can boil the nature of sin down to this simple principle: you want to do what you want to do, when you want to do it. It’s been that way ever since the first time Adam and Eve rebelled. Sure, the manifestations may be more or less grotesque but the heart problem is the same. Pastor Mark will be teaching about this common situation as well as the logical ending place of self-indulgence. You’ll be reminded of the spiritual as well as eventual physical death that sin causes. You’ll also hear about the solution that God has provided and why, as a Christ follower, it’s not safe to dabble in the things of the past.

It’s a common misconception to think that because someone seems intelligent that he or she will understand spiritual principles better. The person who uses that line of thinking forgets God’s principles. Corinthians indicates that God uses what most people think of as foolish to stump the so-called wise of this world. Pastor Mark will be teaching about your need to allow God to shape your thinking and behavior. You will learn that living your life God’s way will seem like foolishness to the world sometimes, but it’s the way to Heaven. Trust Him and He will give you success.

In the last fifty years or so there seems to have been a lot of “shiny baubles” that have popped up in the church. They have distracted people, promising a shortcut to spiritual maturity. Instead, these charlatans have caused people to wreck their faith and brought dishonor to the name of Christ. Pastor Mark will be teaching about how important it is to be firmly grounded in God’s word. You’ll find out what your responsibility is as a member of God’s family, the body of Christ. As you learn what it means to mature in Christ, you’ll understand better how you can benefit your local church.

Have you ever read the Bible and thought about how Jesus was welcomed by the regular people, even though He told them things they would rather not have heard? And then contrast that with the response you sometimes receive? Pastor Mark will be teaching about the attitude that Jesus had towards those around Him. He will share how you need to have that same attitude toward those around you. Fortunately, God knows you need that and, so, He has provided the way for you to become more like His Son. You’ll be learning how to love and care for people in the same way Jesus did.

Unless you have either been a minister or a family member of one, you probably have no idea what they do or how hard they work. It’s astounding as well as saddening the number of pastors that leave the ministry every year; many times it’s because they’re discouraged by the lack of involvement of their parishioners. Pastor Mark will be teaching about the role of the people in the pews in the successful operation of the church. Maybe as you listen to the teaching today you’ll be encouraged to roll up your own sleeves, come alongside your pastor and get God’s work done.

People have such misconceptions about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It’s almost like they expect there to be angelic voices and a heavenly spotlight shining on them when God uses them. You don’t really see it happen that way in the Bible; maybe people have been watching too much television. Pastor Mark will be teaching about the gifts of the Holy Spirit and how they work in the life of the believer. You’ll see that what God intends is for these gifts to help the body of Christ function better on the earth. You’ll find out what they are, when they’re usually used, and where you fit in God’s scheme of things.