ReCreate Church’s Podcast

Who’s On The Throne?

Today, Pastor Michael is turning the reins over to Nick Dowdy.  Nick’s message is about "Who is sitting on the throne of your heart?”.  Does the Gospel you’ve chosen to believe put the Lord on the throne of your life or you on the throne?  

Today, Nick covers ideology and world view contribute to beliefs from childhood on.  At some point we make a decision on how religion fits or doesn’t fit into our worldview.  At some point you are making a decision on theology.  Theology can be Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, or other world religions and we make decisions, heavily influenced on what we grew up in.  Human nature choses things we are comfortable with, so this influences our theology and typically fits our core beliefs.  

When our ideology determine our theology, it corrupts our view on God. Another way to look at this is we shape God to fit in our box.  Christians these days seem to have a consumer mentality; picking which church we want to attend, typically a place we are comfortable in.  This is a double edged sword; we want to be loved and accepted (good) but we may not be at the right place to study the gospel (bad).

Is our worldview taking in the Scripture, entirely?   We have to guard that we are growing in Christ and that our worldview isn’t taking over our relationship with the Lord.  One cannot earn a spot at the Lord’s table; Jesus Christ has earned that spot for us.  

Jesus’ words should make us uncomfortable; we are called to security in our standing in the Lord but we are never called to comfort.  Comfort is the enemy of growth; we stop growing when we get comfortable.  So, are Jesus’ words challenging you?  They should!   

Verses can be found today in 2 Timothy 4: 3-4, Ephesians 2: 8-9 and 2: 11-14 and Matthew 10: 34-39 and Psalms 139: 23-24.

More and More.

Today, Billy Huneycutt is filling in for Pastor Michael. More and more is a loose term that came from a bible study that Billy was in, in the past.  More and more may not always be good in human terms but in God’s terms it is!

 In human terms we can do vices ‘more and more’ yet when we trust in the Lord we receive his blessings, ‘more and more’.  We struggle with ‘our’ ways; we like ‘our’ ways.  But God has asked us to follow Him.  So, therein lies the struggle.

But even with sin, we cannot have so much sin that God cannot forgive.  Real freedom is in Christ as he does ‘more and more’ for us.

It’s about following God, wholeheartedly and not let distractions pull us down.  It’s all about ‘more and more’!

(CSB Baker Illustrated Bible Study Notes) The exhortation is that the Thessalonians “do this even more” (see 3:12 and 4:10)—that is, excel and be outstanding to an ever greater degree in that which they have learned and are doing.

A commonplace in ancient letters was to remind the reader of what he or she already knew. In the same way, the apostles remind the Thessalonians of the fundamental teaching that has been handed over to them, which is not only doctrinal but moral (4:2). The authority behind this teaching is that of “the Lord Jesus.”

Verses can be found today in 1 Thessalonians 4: 1-8, Romans 5: 1-2, 2 Corinthians 3: 15 and Romans 12: 1-2.

Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Father’s Day!

Today, Pastor Michael is talking about Fathers and Father’s Day.  

What does a hero look like?  We all have our ideas of what they may look like, however not all heroes look like modern day super heroes from Hollywood and the comic books.  Real heroes can be First Responders, those that go into harm’s way.  The pandemic may have even altered our ideas of what a hero is: those that worked the front lines in the beginning of the pandemic and those working supermarkets and other places that allowed us to function, normally.

Today, Michael is looking at the Midianites and at harvest time they would raid Israel and take their crops and their livestock.  In those days, there were no kings, no police, essentially: nothing, except your own village.  And everyone was scared of the Midianites.  And this is where Gideon comes in.  This man of courage is hiding in a hole, in the ground!  Does not look like a man with courage!  This particular hole was a wine press, no less.  And he wasn’t down there to make wine but was threshing wheat.  Normally this would take place on a hilltop, where wind would blow away the chaff and the grain would fall down.  But he’s in a hole; why isn’t he on a hilltop?

He’s hiding!  He’s afraid the Midianites will see him and come to take his grain and likely, kill him.  He’s not as alone in that hole as he thinks he is.  Somebody was watching him in that hole!  An angel was watching.  The angel comes up to him and says that the Lord is with him.  Gideon feels that the angel totally has the wrong guy! 

(CSB Baker Illustrated Bible Study Notes) 6:11–24. Nonetheless, an angel of the Lord, who turns out to be the Lord himself (cf. 6:14), appears to Gideon. The Lord affirms to Gideon his presence and addresses him as a mighty warrior (6:11–12). But Gideon merely questions why, if the Lord is indeed present, Israel has not experienced the kind of miraculous deliverance known during the exodus (6:13). In response, the Lord commissions Gideon to save Israel out of Midian’s hand (6:14). But Gideon simply stresses his clan’s weakness and his own insignificance (6:15).

To counter Gideon’s protestation, the Lord reiterates his presence, but Gideon still demands a sign (6:16–18). Not until the angel disappears, after causing fire to flare from a rock to consume the offering Gideon brought, does Gideon realize he has been in the presence of the divine (6:19–22). Upon assurance from the Lord that he will not die even though he has seen the angel face to face, perhaps to commemorate the Lord’s declaration of peace (6:23) Gideon builds an altar to the Lord and names it “The LORD Is Peace” (6:24).

So Gideon sees, it was God and it He wasn’t kidding around.  He gives Gideon a task to tear down the altar to Baal and build a proper altar to the Lord.  Which he does.  And the community ain’t exactly happy about it, demanding his death (sure are quick to judge, aren’t they?).  Gideon is supported by his Father, Joash, who challenges Baal to contend for his own altar.  To add to the craziness, a messenger tells everyone that invaders are coming yet the people rally behind Gideon and the folks solidify into an army. He faces a fighting force, bigger than his own and defeats the Midianites and they never bothered Israel again.

That’s a lot to take in.  Gideon did the right thing.  Courage isn’t that you’re not afraid, it’s when you don’t let fear stop you from doing what’s right.

Verses can be found today in Judges 6: 12-32.

Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Simon, Jesus and Forgiveness.

Today, Pastor Michael is looking at Simon, when he invited Jesus to dinner.  Simon was the established person of faith and Jesus is this new, up and coming Rabbi.  

Simon being pretty confident in his spiritual position wanted to see what Jesus was all about.  So, he and Jesus and others broke bread together and while Jesus and the others were eating, a woman barges into the room.  Definitely not invited!  Then it gets even stranger…

Simon knew this lady and this lady apparently didn’t have the best reputation in the hood.  One thing for sure, she was not invited and as the stunned onlookers watched, this lady approaches Jesus’ feet and she is crying, crying so profusely her tears are streaming.  She then touches his feet and takes down her hair and used her hair to clean the dust off of Jesus’ feet!

By today’s standards, that sounds weird enough, but it was equally as weird, if not even worse, in those days, in that culture.  And Jesus told Simon the story of the creditor and the two debtors, each of which was forgiven a debt by the creditor, one being a larger debt.  Jesus used this parable to teach Simon that the one that loved him the most was the one he forgave the most.  And Jesus used that story to show Simon that the lady, whom had just washed his feet, had done for him things Simon didn’t even do, even though he was an invited guest in Simon’s home.

(CSB Baker Illustrated Bible Study Notes) 7:44–50. Jesus then applies the parable to the treatment that he has received from Simon and the woman (7:44). Jesus does not criticize Simon for being inhospitable, for these courtesies were not necessarily an expected part of ordinary hospitality. Jesus’s point is not that Simon was rude but that the woman showed “much” love (7:47). One would greet “friends” by kissing them on the head, but the woman kissed Jesus on the feet (7:45). On a special occasion one might put inexpensive oil on a guest’s head, but the woman poured expensive perfume on Jesus’s feet (7:46).

The woman’s love for Jesus is the result of her forgiveness (7:47a). That love and gratitude flow from forgiveness is clearly the point of the parable (7:41–42), and the woman’s actions of love toward Jesus stem from her experience of a forgiveness that has already been received. In 7:48 Jesus simply confirms the forgiveness of the woman. Indeed, 7:50 clearly shows that it is faith that has saved the woman. In the application of the parable, the statement “the one who is forgiven little, loves little” (7:47b) applies to Simon and has an ironic twist. People who assume they are righteous will never experience much love for Jesus since they are so unaware of their sinfulness.

The biggest spiritual obstacle for most people is that they aren’t sinners, in their own eyes.  Only sinners get saved!

Verses can be found today in Luke 7: 36-50.

Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.