The Connection Community Foursquare Church podcasts

God never promised that life would be a walk in the park, that troubles wouldn’t come. That test and trials wouldn’t rise in our lives. That there isn’t an enemy that is looking to tear us apart. From the beginning the enemy has been trying to destroy people because he is after the word. The bible says that the enemy comes to kill steal and destroy.

But the scripture do not end there, because Jesus came and came to give life. The problem is knowing and believing in this promise and all his promises while we are in a situation. Through every test and trial God shows himself to be faithful and turns our messes into a message. 
Join with us as Pastor Juan shares about God's faithfulness "Through the Storm"

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Growing our inner man as we connect with God's Word

A Disciple is disciplined, meaning focused, not easily distracted, one track minded in their pursuit of the knowledge understanding and wisdom of the teacher they are following. Jesus is the Master Teacher, He said learn of me, Therefore, the goal of a Christian is to grow in the knowledge and understanding of Jesus, Listen in with us to this week's message

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Growing our inner man as we connect with God's Word

JAMES 1 
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,
whenever you face trials of many kinds,
3 because you know that the testing of your faith producesperseverance.
4 Let perseverance finish its work so that
you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

AS CHILDREN OF GOD, we're tested everyday, every decision we make and every word we speak is a testing of our faith. We take the same tests over & over, until we pass it, then we move on to another one. 
THEREFORE,  the testing of our faith are tests we take to discover if we really believe what we say we believe because, the fact of the matter is, we don't know what we really believe until we're put in a position where we're being tested to see if we will step out in faith in what we say we believe. 

Join with us in this weeks message as Pastor Art discusses The Testing of Our Faith

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Growing our inner man as we connect with God's Word

This is not a traditional Resurrection Message but rather a sobering look at our salvation, our Christian walk and how it relates to Jesus finished work upon the cross. 
Our special guest speaker Pastor Mario Flores asks the tough questions regarding our faith, obedience to and love of God's word from the perspective of responding to Him with our whole heart, trusting Him, seeking Him and living according to His commandments or are we playing games, not taking the Gospel seriously  

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Growing our inner man as we connect with God's Word

Jesus Triumphal entry into Jerusalem was also has triumphal entry into our hearts! He knew His destiny was the Cross at Calvary yet for the joy that was set before Him, He willingly gave His life that we would live. As He entered the children cried out Hosanna, Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord! 
Matthew 21:16
"Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked. "Yes," Jesus answered, "have you never read: 'From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise'?"
Psalms 8:2,
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings have you ordained strength because of your enemies, that you might still the enemy and the avenger.

Jesus was telling us that God ordained praise as our strength and our ability to silence the voice of the enemy. Join with us as Pastor Art teaches on "Thanksgiving Praise and Worship" the 3 Things every Born Again believer is commanded to give To God. 
Not just leaders, not just pastors, not just people with beautiful voices but everyone! 

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Growing our inner man as we connect with God's Word

Talking about Jesus to those we come in contact with is one thing, but it’s not always our words that will lead them to a saving knowledge of Jesus. That is why it is of the upmost importance that we live our lives in such a manner that people can see the difference that Christ makes in our own lives. We are the only Jesus some people will ever see and if we're misrepresenting our Lord in the way we live, we could be a stone of stumbling for someone who may be considering giving their life to Christ.

T.S. Eliot said, “The greatest proof of Christianity for others is not how far a man can logically analyze his reasons for believing, but how far in practice he will stake his life on his belief.”

Our faith needs to be seen, not only by other people but first and foremost by God.  In the Book of Luke, Jesus asked this question, "when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8

 This tells us that Jesus is looking for faith, He wants to see our faith. This reminds us of what James wrote “Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” James 2:18 

Listen in with us as Pastor Art addresses the question, "Can Jesus See My Faith?"

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Growing our inner man as we connect with God's Word

Numbers 14
22 not one of the men who have seen my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness—yet have tested me and disobeyed me these ten times—
23 not one will ever see the land that I swore to give their fathers. None of those who have treated me with contempt will see it.

Many people have the mistaken idea that God's Grace was not available before Jesus came, died and rose from the dead but thats not really true.  The children of Israel experienced the grace God from their deliverance in Egypt and all throughout their wilderness journey.
Even in the face of testing God, when time and time again, instead of trusting God, they grumbled, complained and rebelled against Moses, Moses would intercede on their behalf and God continued to show them grace. Yet through it all, they never learned to trust or believe in God. God described that as evil, contempt, rebellion and sin. 
 Paul wrote to us in 1 Corinthians 10:11, these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us. The question put before us in today's message is, are we believing God, do we know His Ways, are we trusting God or testing Him. 
Join with us today as Pastor Art teaches on the topic of trusting or testing
      

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Growing our inner man as we connect with God's Word

"Vision is the source and hope of life.  The greatest gift ever given to mankind is not the gift of sight, but the gift of vision.  Sight is a function of the eyes; vision is a function of the heart.
Dr Myles Munroe once stated,  ‘Eyes that look are common, but eyes that see are rare.’  Nothing noble or noteworthy on earth was ever done without vision."

Without faith, not only is it impossible to please God, it is also impossible to pursue your God given purpose. That's because knowing our purpose in life and having a vision for the destiny that we've been prepared for requires faith in God and  His promises. Of course there are many people who find success without establishing or cultivating a relationship with God but quite often, their accomplishments leave them unfulfilled with a sense that there's still something missing or lacking in their life. 

That dear friends, is why we must pursue God's purpose and plans for our lives through  spiritual eyes and Faith's Vision. Join pastor Art as he teaches on pursuing God's purpose and plans for our lives through  spiritual eyes and Faith's Vision

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Growing our inner man as we connect with God's Word

The underlying meaning of faith is faithfulness, that’s actually the true meaning. In a relationship based on love, love is demonstrated. God is faithful, He demonstrated His love by giving us His only begotten Son, Jesus who demonstrated His love by dying for us while we were yet sinners!  Demonstrating is being a doer. A person thats a hearer only is one who is not acting in faith because that type of believing is not followed by a corresponding action. Saying "I know," believing in our mind, is not really believing. Real believing is doing! Believing without doing is called mental assent. It’s time for all Christians to make the change from mental assent to real bible faith!  Rom. 10:17 says that (real bible) faith comes by hearing, and hearing (and hearing and hearing) the word of God about Jesus and then walking out our faith in faithfulness. Listen in on this powerful message from Pastor Art  

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Growing our inner man as we connect with God's Word

PSALM 95

1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. 3 For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods.  4 In His hand are the deep places of the earth;  The heights of the hills are His also. 5 The sea is His, for He made it;  And His hands formed the dry land. 6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;  Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. 7 For He is our God,  And we are the people of His pasture,  And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice:

8 “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion,
As in the day of trial in the wilderness, 
9 When your fathers tested Me;
They tried Me, though they saw My work.
10 For forty years I was grieved with that generation,
And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts,
And they do not know My ways.’
11 So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”

God is telling us in this passage He is the Lord our God. As our Lord it means He owns us, we belong to Him.  That's why He tells us in Exodus 20:5, He's  a jealous God , because even though we belong to Him, we tend to look to other things, created things and even our own abilities and human wisdom  for help in a time of need instead of Him.

Take a moment to listen to this insightful message from Pastor Art on Knowing God, True Worship and the hindrances of false idols, you'll be glad you did.

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Growing our inner man as we connect with God's Word