Lessons for Living (Audio)

In the book of Romans Paul the apostle asks how the unsaved are going to hear the message of the Gospel without someone to share it? It’s a rhetorical question – the answer, of course, is that they won’t. These days, we hear this statement and think that this is the pastor’s job. Pastor Mark, in his teaching, will give us the news that sharing the Gospel is the job of every Christ follower. That was always Jesus’ intent – that each of us affects those around us with the news of new life in Christ, forgiveness of sins, and freedom from the shackles placed on us by our sin and held by Satan.

The apostle Paul told of his experience of seeing heaven. It was so transcendent that he had no human words to accurately describe what he had seen. The event left him with the desire to return, to go back. He knew that the only way for that to happen was for him to die, and his writings show the pull that heaven had on him. Pastor Mark’s teaching reminds us that heaven is our final location if we’re followers of Christ. As we think about heaven and hell we should warn our friends who are currently destined for hell and tell them about the salvation that’s available to them.

It’s rare that if you ask someone if they’re going to heaven or hell that they respond with, “hell.” People instinctively desire to avoid going to “that place.” When you ask them the reason they think they’re going to heaven it’s invariably because they think they’re good people. Pastor Mark’s teaching will inform us that Jesus, as well as the apostle Paul, stated that most people would in fact end up in hell due to their rejection of Jesus as Savior and Lord. For this reason it’s incumbent on us Christ followers to inform as many people as possible of their need to receive God’s offer of salvation through Jesus.

People that don’t follow Jesus have a hard time understanding that it is a relationship rather than being ritual-based. The idea of being able to have a personal interaction with the Creator of the universe boggles the mind. For sure, it’s a challenge to believe in Someone you can’t comprehend – one of mans’ favorite sayings is, “Seeing is believing”. But Pastor Mark is teaching us that it’s important for the next generation to observe our faith in Jesus, our daily picking up our cross and following. It’s okay for them to watch us struggle – they see it whether we know it or not. They need to see us, every day, depending on Jesus.

Man’s first problem was that he wanted to run his own life rather than to allow the God who created him run it. The problem continues today. We have all kinds of people attempting to explain how the universe got here, actively rejecting any biblical explanation of origins. We end up with all kinds of dysfunction and don’t have a solution because we refuse to recognize that we were created by God. Pastor Mark’s teaching will remind us of these facts while at the same time encouraging us to become the followers of Jesus that we were intended to become.

One of the hardest things to do in life is to live our lives consistently. When we have a different group of people we work or go to school with than we go to church with, the temptation to “fudge” our walk or to go along with the crowd at work or school can be quite strong. Even when it might harm our Christian witness the pull is still there. Pastor Mark is reminding us in his teaching that not only is God watching, our spouses and children are watching, too. When we least expect it, evidence of our compromise will become apparent. The way to avoid that problem is to be steadfast and uncompromising.

The older we get, the more we tend to feel marginalized by popular society. The seeming elevation of youthfulness over experience and wisdom can feel depressing. This trend seems to be evident even in the modern church, where the worship leaders (and their songs) seem younger and newer. Pastor Mark, in his teaching, reminds us of the biblical valuation on experience and the wisdom gained through mistakes. He also notes the responsibility grandparents and others “of experience” have in praying for and mentoring younger acquaintances and the blessing it brings to both parties.

You know, we have no idea how closely our children watch us. In many ways the saying, “Lessons are caught more than they’re taught” is very true. What are we doing – how are we living when we’re not at church? Are we the same at home? How would our children answer that question about us? Pastor Mark is teaching the importance of having a consistent relationship with Jesus. That can’t be accomplished without actually knowing Who Jesus is. We find that out by reading about Him in the Bible. Cultivating a consistent Bible study and prayer time will show our kids what’s important in our lives.

Lots of studies have shown the value to children of having both parents in the home, raising the children. Unfortunately that doesn’t always happen these days. The apostle Paul seems to infer that his protégé Timothy may not have had an involved father, either. Nevertheless, as Pastor Mark is teaching, it is possible for a single parent to provide a Christian upbringing. Though it might be difficult and the evidence of the lessons given may not be apparent for many years, we as Christ followers are to trust God for the outcome and continue to pray, pray, pray for our children.

Have you ever had a conversation with someone in the church about what they believe and what they said just seemed kind of…off? What they believed didn’t quite jibe with what you knew that scripture taught? The apostle Paul warned the Philippian church about such people. In teaching from these passages Pastor Mark is reminding us of the need to know what the Bible teaches. This will prevent our being deceived by those within the church who, whether they know it or not, are agents of Satan sent to derail the faith of true believers and get them back on the road to hell.