Lessons for Living (Audio)

People choose to not do things for various reasons: fear, a desire to keep the status quo, or complacency can motivate someone to stay rooted where they are. Looking at the first followers of Jesus, though, they seemed to be willing to be put in very different situations than what they were used to. Pastor Mark will be teaching about how the apostles were able to let go control of their lives and allow the Holy Spirit to lead them wherever. You’re going to learn about some of the apostles’ lives as they spent their time “chasing the wild goose” and letting the Holy Spirit truly lead their lives.

Saul the Pharisee was a brutally zealous Jew. He sought members of this splinter sect, The Way, wherever they were. He imprisoned not just the men, but the women, too – something even the Roman Empire rarely did. He was driven by the desire to have a “pure” Judaism, whatever that was. But as Pastor Mark will be teaching, God got hold of Saul and literally showed him the light. But what you’ll also be learning about is what God did in the life of someone who had no desire to meet Saul. You’ll discover how God can change the heart for the good of those who will trust and obey Him.

Life is an adventure. It doesn’t matter who you are – you don’t know from one day to the next what’s going to happen. Even when you have a regimented, structured life, you don’t know what those events will themselves trigger to happen later in your life. Pastor Mark will be teaching about the life of the apostle Paul, and how his life took a radical turn once he was confronted by Jesus. You’ll learn about the importance of simply trusting God to lead and guide your life, and how you can obtain the courage to face and survive what life is going to bring your way.

It’s interesting – people who are really seeking the true God will go through lots of experiences during their search. Because God put in them the desire and need for a relationship with Him, nothing short of coming to Him will satisfy. Pastor Mark will be explaining where the Christ follower comes in to this situation of helping the seeker find Jesus. You’ll learn about being a follower of Jesus is going to challenge you; He will push you to come into a closer relationship with Him, which means you’ll have to replace some of your dreams and hopes with the dreams and hopes He has for you.

Jesus said that His disciples would do greater things than He did. Huh? How does that happen? He raised up people from the dead – how do we top that? Well, it’s easy to get fixated on the physical things – miracles – that Jesus did. But Pastor Mark will be teaching that focusing on the miraculous and spectacular will cause you to miss the bigger picture. In the teaching today, you’re going to hear what Jesus’ main point for coming to earth was. You’ll learn what the Great Commission has to do with you, and then you’ll find out how you can become one of those disciple-makers Jesus talked about.

It’s easy – and normal, probably – to observe men like Billy Graham or Greg Laurie as they preach and think, “There’s NO WAY I could do something like that!” The surprising thing, though, is that they might have the very same thought. Can you imagine what Peter – thrice-denying Peter – was thinking just before he began to speak on the day of Pentecost? The apprehension? Pastor Mark will be teaching about the difference-maker for all of the above men: the power of the Holy Spirit. You’ll hear about what the Holy Spirit did in the lives of men like these, and what He can do in and through you.

When you think about it, you really do want God to use you as much as He possibly can. But there seems to be doubt, fear and apprehension as to what form that “being used” might take. That’s understandable; the unknown, especially when in regards to what God might want to do with you, can be scary. But Pastor Mark will be teaching that although there can be uncertainty, giving yourself over to the Holy Spirit will allow Him to unleash in your life abilities and experiences you never imagined could happen to you. His plans for you are so much greater than you could think of; let Him do for you what He wants.

It’s really easy to believe that once you become a follower of Jesus that everything’s going to be hunky dory, no more problems. You probably realized pretty quickly that this “Christian” thing was going to be tougher than you expected it to be. This is part of what Pastor Mark will be teaching about. Jesus demonstrated by the amount of time He spent in prayer that even Someone like Him had to have continual refills of the Holy Spirit. And you know that if He had to get refills that you most certainly do. Fortunately, the Holy Spirit has an unlimited amount of Himself to pour out on you.

When you read the book of Acts it’s obvious that the writer wanted you to understand that the Holy Spirit is the major player in the things that went on. He is filling the hundred and twenty initial disciples, giving them the power to tell others about Jesus. Several more times different people are influenced by the Holy Spirit to preach or to impart healing to the sick. Pastor Mark is going to be teaching about the critical nature of having the Holy Spirit not only resting on you in regards to salvation but to be refilling you. That’s the only way you’ll have the ability to carry out God’s will for your life.

So many people who claim to be Christians want nothing more than what’s been called “fire insurance” – they said “The Prayer” or whatever – and now they think that they’re on God’s side. Meanwhile, they live basically the same life they did before this “religious experience”. Pastor Mark is going to be teaching about what Jesus actually meant when He spoke of becoming His disciple. You’ll find out that there are a lot of responsibilities and expectations that come with calling yourself a follower of Jesus. Pastor Mark will show you how to get straight, if you need to do so.