Episodes
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The church grows and thrives when it meets the needs of its people by mobilizing qualified
leaders, allowing the primary leaders to focus on prayer and the ministry of the Word.
The Church's Strategy
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The church is called to boldly proclaim the name of Jesus, even in the face of opposition and persecution, trusting in God's power and presence to sustain and guide them.
The Church's Invitation
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Missing episodes?
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The church thrives when believers unite in love, generously sharing their hearts, possessions, and
resources to encourage one another and advance the mission of Christ.
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The early church's powerful impact came from their unwavering devotion to God's Word, genuine fellowship, and joyful worship, which God used to grow His church and transform lives.
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The church's power comes from the Holy Spirit, who empowers believers to boldly proclaim the
Gospel, resulting in transformed lives and communities.
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God provides us with supernatural resources—His Word and prayer—to guide us in making right
decisions, even when our experience falls short.
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- The Bible says not to be anxious about ANYTHING. Wow, that is a tall order. But instead of just commanding that, God’s word also gives us clear instructions on how to make it possible.
- Every single one of us has a desire to live with peace in our hearts. Peace that says no matter how bad things are at this moment I know that it will be okay. That peace is the peace of God and IT IS available and attainable. How willing are you to change in order to get it.
- Pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. Those are not words that are commonly used today. Instead our culture is one of dread and negativity. We need to find a way to set our minds on what God says, not what pop culture says. I believe it is the most important ingredient in the recipe.
The Recipe to Win Over Worry
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- Some of our anxiety comes from the incorrect perception that God is out to get us. That he wants to ruin our plans and our lives. According to scripture this is not true.
- Jesus Himself is interceding for us. This mean Jesus is an advocate for us. Jesus is always pleading our case before the Father, desiring our best for Him.
- If you are saved through Jesus than there is nothing that can separate you from Him. There is nothing that has ever or will ever be created that can separate you from the Love of God. That means your future is secure and your worry can become less.
God is For Us
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A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. Mark4:37-39
- In this passage the disciples believed things were out of control, but they were wrong. God is always in control
- Fear and anxiety can go hand in hand, however they are not the same. Fear sees a threat, while anxiety often imagines one. Yes their was a “furious” storm on the sea. But it was the “what if we drown” that consumed the disciples. Is what your worried about a real threat. Probably not. Most of our worries never even happen.
- Is it possible that our anxiety is a reflection of our belief that God is not really in control. If we had a greater confidence in God’s sovereignty wouldn’t we deal with less anxiety?
God is in Control
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Every great story has an epilogue. This is the epilogue to John’s great eyewitness account to Jesus’ ministry, death, and resurrection. In it, he shares a great story of forgiveness. Peter had done the unthinkable. After telling Jesus he was ready to die for him he swore three times to other people he never even knew Jesus. Peter was desperate for forgiveness and reconciliation and Jesus was more that willing to offer it. John sets out on a quest to share with the world that Jesus was God’s one and only son, and the only true messiah. He starts with a thesis statement and uses the entire book to prove it is correct. It is a great book to share with our friends and family that they too may also believe.
Jesus Reinstates Peter
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Jesus had predicted his death and his resurrection several times in the Gospel of John and it happened exactley as he said it would. John was an eyewitness to all of the things written in this book. Most importantly he was an eyewitness that first morning and saw the empty tomb. He also saw that evening in the flesh. Some of Jesus’ first words to his disciples after the resurrection were “peace be with you.” How can we experience peace in this world amongst so much chaos?
Jesus is Raised to Life
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Jesus speaks several things here on the cross, each one with significant meaning a purpose behind it. John, the author of this gospel, was an eyewitness to these things. He was there at the cross and saw the spear that was thrust into Jesus’ side. He tells you this for two reasons; that you may know for certain that Jesus was dead not passed out. And that you may believe he is the son of God. Two of the Jewish leaders did believe. They did recognize Jesus as the messiah. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus are ready to pledge their public believe in Jesus.
Jesus Crucified
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The religious leaders of the day were corrupt and refused to deal fairly with Jesus. They were threated by his authority and feared they would lose their positions of power. Do we sometimes fear what it would mean to allow Jesus complete control of our lives? Governor Pilate is no friend of the Jews and knows they have handed Jesus over to him out of jealousy. Pilate is conflicted, he must choose what to do with Jesus. We must choose what to do with Jesus. Commit to him fully or reject him.
Jesus Questioned
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The night before Jesus was tortured and crucified, he is focused on his church. He not only prays for the group of disciples that is following him currently, but he also prays for all who will believe. It’s amazing that his focus is on this more than what he will face tomorrow. Jesus does not pray that the Father would take His disciples out of the world so they might not suffer. He prays that they are protected from the evil one whose desire is to turn them against Jesus. Jesus is focused on completing the mission and becoming the sacrifice for all of mankind’s sin, and also expresses a desire for His church to be with him forever in the presence of His glory.
The Prayer of Jesus for Believers
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Jesus spends a great deal of time teaching about the Holy Sprit in these verses. Often we look at the book of Acts for scripture on the Holy Spirit but Jesus give a clear definition here of WHO the Sprit is and what his roll is. Jesus reveals that the Holy sprit is a person, not a force or power. Jesus refers to the Holy Sprit as “he” ten times in this passage. We can see today that some in the church are over focused on the Holy Sprit and some never teach on the Holy Spirit. We must not ignore teaching on this important person. Jesus gave us so much in the verses to discover about the roll of the Holy Spirit.
The Advocate
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Jesus uses a uses a beautiful agrarian metaphor to give insight into the trinity. Vine keeping was a way of life in that culture and it was a great way to help the disciples understand not only Jesus’ relationship to the Father but our relationship with Jesus. Jesus explains that staying connected to Him is crucial to the believers walk. It is not enough to confess Jesus and go about our own way, we must stay connected to Him in order to bear fruit.
The True Vine
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These verses take place at the tail end of the last supper. John does not mention the institution of communion but records a monologue from Jesus about the events that are about to unfold. Here he explains that he is the only way to salvation. Jesus prepares his disciples for life without him. He explains that it is necessary for him to leave but he will also return.
The Way, The Truth, The Life
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Jesus had previously mentioned that He had “other sheep”, “not of this pen.” He was referring to the gentiles. Now here in this week's passage we see that “some Greeks” were seeking Jesus and wanted to hear from Him. Immediately after that, Jesus says that His “hour has come.” We see that all along Jesus has had a plan to redeem the whole world not just the Jewish nation. Also Jesus was deeply troubled at the thought of bearing the weight of mankind’s sin. But he stood firm in His resolve to complete his mission and become the perfect sacrifice for sin.
The Hour Has Come
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Jesus makes several “I am” statements in this passage. He says “I am the gate.” He also says “I am the good shepherd.” He is using some imagery that would have been well understood by shepherds of that day. We need to learn a little about context so that we might understand what he means. Jesus said that he came that His followers may have life and life to the full. What did he mean exactely? Are we seeking to have a “full life” through Jesus or are we looking for life somewhere else?
The Good Shepheard
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Jesus makes an incredible statement and the crowd is torn over who he is. They must make up their own minds about who Jesus really is. We must make up our own minds on who Jesus really is. He cannot be just a “good” person. If Jesus said these things and he was not the messiah than he was lying and deceiving the people. -Nicodemus makes his second appearance in John’s gospel here. It appears he disapproves of the religious leaders condemning Jesus before he is thoroughly investigated. Nicodemus must make up his mind about who Jesus is too.
Living Water
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