Mineral Springs Church of Christ Podcast

1 John 2:15 warns us not to love the world or the things in the world, and John goes on to explain why loving the world is not advisable. Why not? Doesn't God love the world that He has created? Of course, He does! Otherwise, He would not have sent His Son Jesus to redeem it!  God loves the world in a self-sacrificing way. When we as humans love the world, we tend to love it in a self-serving way. Listen as Minister Aaron Hill leads us through the text of 1 John 15-19, explaining the significance of John's words to Christians. 

What is love? Is it a feeling? Is it affection? Is is what you feel, what you do, or who you are? The answer is YES! Love is all of these things. Minister Aaron Hill continues his series on the book of 1 John and it's comparison with the gospel of John by focusing on John's and Jesus' emphasis on the importance of love.

People try many ways to reach a state of sinlessness, of righteousness. They may try filling their lives with good works or practicing extreme self-discipline or seeking to remove themselves from anything that causes them to sin. None of these will work, for sinlessness is not something that can be achieved. It can only be received in Christ. 

In his second lesson on the book of 1 John, minister Aaron Hill tells listeners that Jesus is our atoning sacrifice. 1 John 2:1 tells his audience, whom he addresses at "little children," not to sin, but he reassures them that if they do sin, they have an advocate with the Father. We, as did they, can have Jesus  as our advocate.  We can't will ourselves to maintain righteousness. We must trust and believe Jesus in a way that leads to a relationship with Him, to knowing Him. 

Minister Aaron Hill shows listeners similarities between 1 John and the gospel of John in the first of a series of sermons on the book of 1 John. Throughout the letter, John focuses on light and love, placing strong emphasis on Jesus' incarnation. In short, John explains John. 

People in our world today say they find connection with God in a variety of ways, but John makes it clear that Jesus is the ONLY way to God. It is a statement not of arrogance but of honesty. 

This series follows up on Hill's just completed series on the gospel of John.

Love is one of the most taught topics from the Bible. Love can be an action or a feeling. It can be personified. It is not exclusive to a particular profession. As minister Aaron Hill closes out his series on the gospel of John, he reflects on the conversation Jesus has with Peter as recorded in John 21. Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him, recalling the three times that Peter has recently denied Him. Peter replies each time that he does, and Jesus instructs him to love His sheep. Peter has failed Jesus by denying Him, but Jesus welcomes Peter back. Jesus reveals to Peter what his future will hold if he loves and cares for His sheep. Peter's love for Jesus and His sheep will take him to martyrdom, but Peter's love for Jesus' flock is different from what ours may be. One thing is sure. We cannot love Jesus and not love His sheep. Where will our love for Jesus and His sheep take us?  We may stumble, but Jesus will take us back just as He took Peter back. We will not win the victory of faith on our own strength. We receive our sustenance from Jesus through whom is our victory. 

In 1 Corinthians 9:19, Paul says, "Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible." Visiting minister Robert Peek reminds listeners that the church's mission is to reach out to the lost. We must live in such a way as to change the world. The apostle Paul knew that. He knew the Jews, and he knew the Romans. He chose to do everything he did for the sake of the gospel. Paul was among the people not as a critic but as a slave. He didn't just attempt to convert people from a pulpit. He converted them face to face in their homes, their workplaces, anywhere he had the opportunity to meet them. Just as Jesus did, Paul came as a servant, not one to be served. What would happen if we were to forget ourselves and focus on the gospel as Paul did? Paul imitated Christ, and we can choose to imitate Paul as we walk daily in Christ.

Minister Aaron Hill continues his series on the gospel of John in the final chapter of the book, chapter 21. Seven disciples have gone out fishing during the night, possibly in order to have fish to sell in the market the next day. They have no luck, catching nothing. At daybreak, Jesus, standing on the shore, calls to them and tells them to cast their net on the right side of the boat. They do, and their catch is such that their nets are now straining to hold 153 fish. John, the gospel writer, recognizes that it is Jesus who has directed them and tells the others. Peter jumps into the water to swim to shore. Jesus waits and invites the disciples to come and have a breakfast of fish and bread. There on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias, Jesus communes with His disciples, and the gospel tells us that this is the third time Jesus has appeared to the disciples since His resurrection. 

Though we are conditioned to see communion as a Sunday morning ritual of partaking of the bread and fruit of the vine, we must not limit our communion with Jesus and each other to one day out of the week. Communing with Jesus if more than a box to check on Sunday morning. 

At first, Jesus' disciples didn't believe that He had risen. They wanted physical evidence. Jesus gave them that, even offering Thomas the chance to touch His wounds. Yet when Jesus appeared to them with Thomas present, they were meeting behind locked doors. They were still afraid. Soon, however, they were preaching boldly in the face of persecution and, in some cases, death. 

Minister Aaron Hill tells listeners that Jesus blesses us as those who believe without having seen Him (John 20:29). One of the primary reasons we have for believing is the written word, first hand accounts of those who saw Jesus, printed in a book which is unmatched in reliability. We have life because of Him. Will we respond as Thomas did and acknowledge that Jesus is our Lord and our God?

Toward the end of John 20, the disciples are struggling with unbelief. They can't quite believe the women who have told them Jesus has risen. Jesus appears to them and gives them peace, purpose, and the power to achieve that purpose. Minister Aaron Hill continues his series on the gospel of John as he discusses Jesus' conversation with the disciples in John 20:19-23.

Go!

Imagine that God asked us to go somewhere. Not just down the street, not just to another neighborhood, not even just to another town. Imagine He tells us to go, but He doesn’t tell us where. We’ll have to trust Him with that. He asks us to go to a country He will show us, leaving all that we know behind. Could we do that? We would want a specific route or destination, wouldn’t we? Would we trust God to lead us along a path without comfort and security? Would we be questioning, “But, God?” 

In today’s sermon, minister Aaron Hill tells the story of Abraham, a man who did what many of us would be unwilling to do. Under God’s direction, Abraham took his family and traveled to the land that the Lord showed him. Without a route. Without a clear destination. Without a plan. He trusted God when God said, “Go!” What would it take for us to have a persevering faith like Abraham?