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Attending church, singing hymns, and reading the Bible doesn’t make you a believer. So how do you know when you’re truly converted? On Truth For Life, Alistair Begg walks us through the radical transformation that occurs when you come to saving faith.

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This listener-funded program features the clear, relevant Bible teaching of Alistair Begg. Today’s program and nearly 3,000 messages can be streamed and shared for free at tfl.org thanks to the generous giving from monthly donors called Truthpartners. Learn more about this Gospel-sharing team or become one today. Thanks for listening to Truth For Life!

Abortion has claimed the lives of millions upon millions of babies in the U.S. alone. Each one of those babies represents a unique story. Hear powerful testimonies that give real, human faces to the statistics.

Today’s readings come from Proverbs 3:1-10, Matthew 16:21-17:13, Genesis 47:13-48:22

Mark 6:3

Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.

This was an agonising moment. Jesus was rudely dismissed by the people of Nazareth. They couldn’t work out how someone they’d known for nearly 30 years had such an amazing ministry. Some of the people may have gone to school with Jesus and others would probably have known him and Joseph through their business. Through the centuries, it has been believed that Joseph, and presumably Jesus, were carpenters, although we can’t sure. The word in Greek describes people who worked with stone and metal as well as wood. However, whatever their precise line of work, they would have had customers. Jesus was being rejected by people who knew him well, and their rejection was brutal – they wanted nothing to do with him.

The problem that the people of Nazareth had was that they could only see Jesus in human terms. They knew his family and everything about him. They couldn’t bring themselves to believe that a local boy could be anything special, and that continues to be the challenge with Jesus. People are happy to see him as a remarkable human being. They warm to his teaching; they love how he reached out to every kind of person; they are amazed by his miracles and impressed by his consistent love for people. However, they want to leave him there. They are resistant to the idea of him being the Son of God, but Mark’s Gospel is good news only because Jesus was both human and divine at the same time. Only in that way was he able to bring salvation to the world and so, however dismissive people might be, we need to be absolutely clear that Jesus was both God and man.

Question

Why do you think the people of Nazareth were so reluctant to accept that Jesus was the Son of God?

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, I worship you and praise you for entering into the life of our world so fully. Amen

This week on 20 The Countdown Magazine, we’re counting down the Top 20 Christian songs in the country and celebrating the music that’s connecting with listeners right now.

You’ll hear this week’s Future Fan Favorite winner, chosen by you, along with our Station of the Week spotlight. We’re also sharing encouraging news from across the Christian music world, including new family milestones, upcoming releases, and exciting film news fans won’t want to miss.

Along the way, we throw it back with a song that still hits home years later and highlight artists whose songs are shaping worship and everyday faith right now.

If you love discovering new music, celebrating the stories behind the songs, and being part of a community that votes and listens together, this episode is for you. Tune in and count it down with us. 20 The Countdown Magazine is listener-supported. Visit

20thecountdown.com to help us with our mission of spreading the Gospel

around the world through music, one countdown at a time!

In this, the final study in the seven churches of Revelation, invite the Holy Spirit to teach you this special message from the Lord Jesus to all the churches. Enjoy the picture of fellowship as the Lord Jesus knocks at the heart’s door of the sinner. If you open the door to let Him in, “I will come in and dine with him.” Come feed on the Word of God and get to know Christ better.