Petra Podcast

Larry Kreider, the International Director of DOVE Christian Fellowship International, shares the message of Embracing Your Season.
There are 3 things we need to know about the seasons of our lives:
- Life comes in seasons, we need to embrace our present season and receive grace for this season: it will not last forever.
- Never allow your present season or past season to define who you are.
- Learn all you can in your present season and begin to prepare for your next season as the Lord conforms you into the image of Christ.

Michael Berg brings us the message "Celebrate the Mission". Michael grew up in Michigan and attended Michigan State University, Lake Michigan College, and University of the Nations. His education culminated with an Executive Master’s degree in Leadership from the University of the Nations. His wife, Darla, grew up in Lancaster County and attended Ecola Hall Bible School and University of the Nations. In 1979, Michael and Darla met in their first Youth With A Mission (YWAM) Discipleship Training School, and were married in 1981. They have three children. In the summer of 1995, Michael and Darla arrived in Orlando, FL, with the written vision of what would become the YWAM Orlando base.

Remember the cliché, “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey.”? As creative and catchy as it is, when you think about it, yes, it is about the journey and we’re going to be talking about that, but it’s also about the destination. As Christians our hope is found in our destination, to be with Jesus forever. So we wanted to debunk that thought quick and zoom in on The Journey of Motherhood in light of the destination.

Today is the last part of the series on the book of Colossians. In the first part of Paul’s letter to the Colossians he sets forth some doctrinal truths and in the last part he gets real practical. Doctrine is to help guide us in practical everyday living. Christianity is not just a belief system. It is a lifestyle. Today we look at the lifestyle of prayer, sharing our faith and valuing our relationships.

Join us as we continue our journey through Colossians. Today we look at the powerful truths found In Colossians 3. As believers, we find that the Spirit of God not only makes us new, but empowers us to live for him. Listen in as Pastor Brian Coles presents part three of SATURATED.

Paul begins by saying he has a great struggle for the believers, even for those he has not met. The word translated “struggle” has the idea of a contest or fight. Since he is in prison while writing this letter, he most likely means he has a great fight in prayer and intercession for these
believers. He is fighting for the protection of their faith. He is aware that false teachers have come to argue for a philosophy that ignores or adds to the message of Jesus.
He says “my purpose” is their hearts would be encouraged and united in love. This is how he is fighting in prayer for them, that they would be faithful in their hearts to Christ and in love for each other. Then, in this way, they can experience all the riches that come from a complete understanding of God’s mystery, which is Christ. The mystery of who God is and what he is like is revealed or understood in Jesus. The mystery of how to know God and to be in relationship with him is revealed in Jesus. There are great riches in knowing Christ; not simply
knowing about him, but knowing him.
What are these great riches we enjoy? There are too many to begin to name. But we want to focus on this aspect of these riches; you and I can live understanding life, successfully navigating life, because we have a complete understanding of God. Our understanding of God allows us to understand life.

We are about to embark on a 4-part sermon series on the book of Colossians. We titled this series “Saturated” because the theme of Colossians is that Jesus saturates everything…. creation, our story, salvation.
When something is saturated in liquid, it takes on those properties. Our hearts should be like a sponge, absorbing Jesus into every pore. But if you drop a hard, metal block into water, the metal block doesn’t absorb the water. All it will do is rust.
When our hearts are hard, even when surrounded by Jesus, we will reject him and our conscience becomes seared. We want our hearts to be soft, ready to absorb all God wants for us.

How do you know if you are born again – To be born again or a Christian is more than just
saying a prayer. It is full surrender to Jesus. It is an inner transformation – a spiritual heart
transplant by the Holy Spirit.
When you are born again you have a desire to follow God and to stop sinning!
Yes, Christians still sin at times, but we feel bad and repent when we do. God gives us the
power of his Holy Spirit to live a victorious life.
In the Bible, baptism is seen as a way of declaring that Jesus is now Lord of your life. Jesus expects all his followers to be baptized. It is not optional.
Baptism doesn’t save us, but it is pledging allegiance to Jesus above all other authorities and relationships.

Let’s join two dejected, confused and hurting disciples of Jesus as they walk back toward their home in Emmaus after the crucifixion. They had just seen their leader killed by the Romans. It was now the third day and they had lost all hope. That is until a stranger joins them and opens their understanding and then reveal his true identity – The Risen Jesus!

Join us as we “take another look” at Jesus, and his journey to Jerusalem. Palm Sunday celebrates Jesus entering Jerusalem as “Our Humble Savior, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”.