Springfield First Church of the Nazarene Podcast

The One who modeled and implemented prayer so effectively is the One whose disciples back then and today turn to for guidance and instruction when it comes to deepening our relationship with the Father.

The missional, revolutionary movement of Jesus which introduced the kingdom of God and was passed on to His twelve disciples and later to the seventy two continues to this very day through the ministry of the church.

We read of two individuals in this biblical text who out of sheer desperation seek out Jesus with the end result being the same for each of their situations - a divine intervention that only comes from having encountered Jesus.

Jesus came not only to revolutionize lives but He came to revolutionize our theological presuppositions as evidenced by His primary concern for us to do good not just for us to believe we are good.

The mission that Jesus was on not only entailed calling common, ordinary men to be His apprentices, but that of calling sinners to repentance.

With Jesus continuing to minister throughout the region, He not only reached out to meet the natural needs of people, but His ministry extended even to the supernatural needs of people, needs that we must have met even today.

As Jesus begins proclaiming His message it's apparent that it was just as polarizing in His day as it is today as there are those who will welcome it while others will attempt to squelch not just the message but the messenger as well.

Following His baptism, Jesus accomplished in the desert what Adam and Eve failed to do in the Garden of Eden, which was overcome the devil as a foreshadowing of His final conquest over sin and evil on the cross.

The often elusive question asked to children, " What do you want to be when you grow up?" would have immediately elicited a response from twelve year old Jesus who knew the direction His life and ministry was headed.

The validity of Jesus' forthcoming calling and ministry is confirmed by a righteous and devout man named Simeon who speaks on behalf of all who see Jesus for who He truly is.