Teaching

Classic Christianity – A Closer Look at Faith, Hope & Love P50 (08-11-20)

Synopsis

It is so easy to generalize, or put people in categories or boxes. We form conclusions, perceptions of people from misinformation or no information. So what happens? I am going to respond through that perception, instead of listening. The issue is what does a person say? I cannot match psychology, men are always like this, women are always like that, “my husband is lazy”, “my wife is critical”, or “Oh, he is a Nazarene, so I am not going to talk to him” against the word of God but I can match what they say up against the word of God just like I can match a preacher or myself up against it. So if I take time to listen to what the person says and match what is said against what God says, now, I am dealing with what is being said instead of a false perception of something. A false perception will produce an adverse response. Why do we have bad responses to each other, in marriage or business? False perception of each other.

So what is the answer to these altercations and confrontations, such as when a wife nags at a husband because she has concluded he is lazy or when the husband responds to her, to show he is not a wimp, by being abusive to her?… Click to Read More And Follow Along With The Message

Classic Christianity – A Closer Look at Faith, Hope & Love P49 (08-10-20)

Synopsis

If we do not love then we are a noisy, clanging gang. You can do all kinds of activity, good things even, persevering in the faith, calling out false apostles, proclaiming truth, but if you have not love, then that accomplishes nothing. Let us ponder over those passages in 1 Corinthians 13, Revelation 2 and the story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10.

Sometimes we have a speck in our own eye and we just do not see ourselves as God sees what is going on inside us. That is why God disciplines those he loves. That is why in Revelation, we read about God’s correction and rebuke of those leaders of those churches. He wants us to bear fruit, and that only comes by remaining attached to the vine, receiving instruction from the head, who is Christ Jesus.

Man looks on the outside, but God looks on the heart. What are our motives for doing the things we do, the church activities, the preaching to crowds, and being about nickels and noses rather than teaching truth, or getting people involved in programs and activities, to bring in the crowds.… Click to Read More And Follow Along With The Message

Classic Christianity – A Closer Look at Faith, Hope & Love P48 (08-05-20)

Synopsis

We got through sharing in 1 Corinthians 13, this use of hyperbole, a literary construct that uses exaggeration to prove a point. Here is the apostle Paul, having been trained under Gamaliel, the rabbi of Rabbis. Paul, formerly described himself as the Pharisee of Pharisees. He later came to know Christ and had spent fourteen years in the desert of Arabia, being taught by no man but Jesus Christ. He was appointed an apostle to bring the gospel to the Gentiles, but he did not start what God had called him to do until those fourteen years of getting to know the love of God. He later wrote that all that training and knowledge under Gamaliel was nothing but dung in comparison to knowing Jesus Christ his Lord. What he wrote here in 1 Corinthians 13 is a letter to the believers in Corinth to straighten out error, to explain the most important truth in scripture, the love of God.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3
¹ If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

Classic Christianity – A Closer Look at Faith, Hope & Love P47 (08-04-20)

Synopsis

It seems we create our own definitions of love. We say things like, “I love my car”, “I love my house”, “I love the beach”. We love those things that make us feel good. In our natural flesh, we have turned God’s definition of Agape love into something that makes me feel good. Oftentimes we do these things without realizing it. We have lived in the flesh for so long, it just seems to be the natural motivation if left unchecked or our minds are not renewed. And we all have a tendency to drift into these attitudes of the flesh.

Many of us can identify what Bob shared about his early days as a young believer where he would think he was so spiritual when he was sharing Christ to people, looking out of the corner of his eye to see who would notice. Even making demands of others in ministry to do what he does. That is not something he likes to admit, nor would I, but he has done that, and so have I.

See, all of us at times have had a preoccupation with self, that wants affirmation from others, a pat on the back or something.… Click to Read More And Follow Along With The Message