The Open Word (Audio)

In today’s message, Pastor David teaches us that the disciples had their own ideas and thoughts about why Jesus came. The men believed that the Lord would overthrow Rome and set up His earthly Kingdom. Even when Christ told them He would be betrayed and suffer, they never truly heard Him. Pastor David points out that we too can ignore the Lord’s voice in favor of our own ideas and plans. When we do ignore His voice in favor of our own will, we are in a very dangerous position indeed.

We know that faith pleases God. In today’s message from Luke chapter 9, we will hear about a desperate man with a demon possessed son who hopes that Jesus can heal the boy. The man famously says, “I believe. Help my unbelief.” Pastor David encourages us today by reminding us that the Lord doesn’t require our faith to be perfect when we approach Him. In fact, Jesus is moved by faith the size of a mustard seed. With the tiniest of faith, God can do the impossible and move mountains in us and through us.

Just after Jesus had been transfigured on top of a mountain, the Lord, Peter, James, and John descended the hill only to be met by a demon possessed boy. The boy’s father was desperate for help, but could not find freedom for his son even after Christ’s disciples had prayed for him. At this revelation the Lord asks, “How long must I endure this faithless and perverse generation?” In today’s message, Pastor David teaches us that after mountaintop experiences, often times we are thrust into the valley of chaos and difficulty.

At the Mountain of Transfiguration, Jesus revealed His glory. His clothes became like white lightening and His face shone like the sun. Incredibly, Peter, James, and John were asleep while some of this was happening. When the men finally woke from their slumber, they saw the gloried Lord and were completely astonished. Pastor David teaches us in today’s message that sometimes we are asleep at the wheel when God is doing something miraculous in our midst. However, through the Spirit, we can be jolted out of our slumbers.

In Luke chapter 9, the Lord invites Peter, James, and John to walk with Him up to the top of a mountain. Once there, the men witness a stunning and mind-boggling transfigured Jesus. In today’s message, Pastor David teaches us that throughout the Bible, the Lord has called many of His servants to the top of mountains to experience a particular closeness and communion with Him. God continues to grant His people mountain top experiences to encourage us and sustain us when times aren’t so beautiful and rosy.

Jesus Christ should have precedence over all things in the life of every believer. Money, cars, clothes, houses, and even relationships should never replace or drown out our desire to know and love God. In today’s message from Luke chapter 9, Pastor David reminds us that if we gain all that we want in this life but do not have a relationship with the Lord, our soul will suffer forever. Therefore, we would do well to remind ourselves when temptations come that the only things that will remain in the end are Jesus Christ and His Bride.

Contrary to what you might have been taught from your local televangelist, Christianity is not a cake walk where one gets every heart’s desire. Instead, true discipleship is about sacrifice and putting another’s needs ahead of your own. In today’s message from Luke, Pastor David encourages us to make the difficult decision to make daily right choices that are pleasing to the Lord. As we consistently do the right thing, the Holy Spirit produces good fruit through us that is pleasing in the sight of the Lord and among men.

All the wise men in the world cannot comprehend the mind and plan of God. Therefore, it is only through the gentle wooing and work of the Holy Spirit that the things of God are revealed. In today’s message, Pastor David teaches us that we can only be born again when the Spirit of God reveals Jesus, the Son of God. Pastor David also challenges us to examine our hearts to make sure our knowledge of God’s Son is not just a shallow intellectual assent but an all consuming passion that directs our entire lives.

Who do you say Jesus is? Jesus said that He was God. Christ also said that it was only through Him that we could be reconciled to the Father. Therefore, those souls that deny Jesus’s deity or ignore Him entirely are in terrible peril. In today’s message from the Gospel of Luke, Pastor David teaches us that we are either for Jesus or against Him. We can either believe that Jesus is Who He said He is, or we can reject Him as a phony and a liar. There are only these two choices. There is zero room for middle ground.

In today’s message from Luke, we will hear how Jesus miraculously and graciously fed a crowd of hungry needy people with five loaves of bread and two fish. Pastor David unpacks these well known verses so that we might learn what the Lord was trying to teach us through this true life lesson. When we bring what little we have in our hands and offer it freely to the Lord, He blesses it. After God blesses our humble offering, He is able to multiply our efforts and turn it in to something of abundance for His Kingdom work.