Netcast Church Podcast

<p>For the second consecutive year, Pastor Andy Thompson has been Netcast Church's guest speaker on Mother's Day. Pastor Andy is the founding pastor of World Overcomers Christian Church in Raleigh-Durham, NC. He has been a mentor to Pastor Matt and WOCC has been a financial partner of Netcast Church before Netcast first worship service was held on January 23, 2011.</p>

<p>Jesus says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live." It is not intellectualism that brings someone to Christianity. Christianity is when people recognize that without Christ, we are dead. However, if we hear the voice of Jesus and respond to it; we shall live.</p>

<p>Let's not pretend that Jesus didn't make some outrageous claims about himself. In this text He clearly says that he is the ONLY way to the Father and if we don't honor Him than we cannot honor the Father. What should our response be to a claim like that?</p>

<p>Just like the poverty cycle or addiction cycle, there is a cycle of belief. Belief in the Gospel, leads to obedience to Jesus, which leads to a satisfied life, which leads to greater belief.</p>

<p>Many Christians live with a truncated view of the Gospel. We see the gospel as the "door," the way in, the entrance point into God's kingdom. However, the Gospel is so much more! It is not just the door, but also the path we are to walk every day of the Christian life. It is not just the means of our salvation, but the means of our transformation. It is not just deliverance from sin's penalty, but release from sin's power. The Gospel is what makes us right with God (justification) and it is also what frees us to delight in God (sanctification). The Gospel changes everything.</p>

<p>The church does a great job of answering the "What" (Don't do this; do this.) but has historically struggled with answering the "Why". In this sermon we explore not just that Jesus rose from the dead, but why he rose from the dead.</p>

<p>Just like the women at the well, Jesus pursues us. All of humanity is just like this woman; an outcast with feeling of shameful and unworthiness. However Jesus comes to seek and save that which is lost by giving Himself to us an by doing so, fully satisfying our deepest longings.</p>

<p>Most of us have asked the questioned or been asked it ourselves: "why should Christians obey God or do anything godly if they already know they've been forgiven through Christ's death on the cross for all their sins?" Titus 2:11-14 answers this question by showing that the gospel saves us and also compels us to grow in godly obedience to <a href="http://God...not" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">God...not</a> to earn His favor, but because we have His favor through Christ.</p>

<p>Since God created everything, he also knows how to bring us the most pleasure and joy. Believe it or not, God wants to maximize our pleasure, therefore he tells us to be obedient.</p>

<p>The Bible says that we must be born again to inherit the kingdom of God. But is simply saying that we are born again, enough to actually grant us new birth?</p>

<p>With all of our faults and all of our sin; is it possible to be truly known and truly loved at the same time?</p>

<p>All of us come into Christianity with pre-suppositional thoughts on certain things. The challenge is to allow the scriptures to define our views and not our pre-suppositional thoughts. So, who is this biblical Jesus, what is biblical worship and what is a biblical church?</p>

<p>We all want to see Jesus do the miraculous in our life? However, we neglect the most simple truth to seeing it. Listen for his voice, and do whatever he tells you to do. "Don't be just a hearer of the word, be a doer of the word."</p>

<p>Everyone wants to be great. No one woke up this morning with this deep desire to be lame. So, what does it mean to be great and what does greatness look like as a Christian living in the 21st century?</p>

<p>The Greek word (Zo-ay) which means "life", isn't talking about being alive, its talking about the fullest expression of joy and blessing a life can obtain on earth. How do we obtain this life?</p>

<p>Mission is always most effective when it is birthed out of proper motivation. Our mission for making disciples should not be done out of unhealthy compulsion but rather out of an overflow of worship heart transformed by the gospel.</p>

<p>Often times we don't have all the answers for the skeptics who ask us questions. However, we learn in this passage that sometimes answers aren't what people actually need. Sometimes they need to just Come and See.</p>

<p>If we are called to make disciples of all the nations, how do we go about doing that? In John 13, Jesus gives us an example to follow. He models to us the importance of servant hood in disciple making.</p>

<p>When God saves a person, He turns them into something. And that something is not something that we originally signed up for. Jesus says, "Follow me and I'll make you....Fishers of Men!"</p>

<p>A clear God ordained vision is so important to seek because it doesn't just define what you'll be doing in your future, but it also will define your direction today.</p>

<p>There's a sense in which we live between two worlds. Christ's incarnational mission- His taking on flesh, dwelling among us, dying for the forgiveness of our sins, and his resurrection to new life to secure the same for us- all that Christ did ushered in a new age. He established his Kingdom here on earth, but then let us know that more restoration would come. He made very clear that one day, He'll return to set everything right. Spiritually, it is finished- our debt has been paid and new life is ours through Christ. Physically, we live in a broken, sin-sick world. There is for now an "already/not yet" nature to the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. How should we live in this world. How should we approach our attitude toward where God has us for now? Jeremiah 29 speaks directly to this issue. The Israelites had been taken captive and forced to leave their homes in Judea to live in Babylon. They were in exile. God gives his people specific directives in how to live while in exile. You may not like where you live, your job situation, etc... but it is no surprise to God that you're there. He's allowed you (or even led you) to be where you are for a reason. Rather than blaming the situation or even God, God wants us to transform the situation. God is so serious about us seeking the prosperity of the community we live in, He makes clear in verse 7 that our peace and prosperity is tied to that of our community.</p>

<p>Sabbath is more than not working one day a week. Sabbath is actually trusting Jesus with the provision of your future so that you will grow in faithfulness and worship.</p>

<p>Forgiveness is not forgetting. Forgiveness is remembering clearly how we have been offended and in light of Gods grace towards us in Christ, choosing to extend that same grace to others.</p>

<p>The Christian faith is one of risk. If a person is going to walk on water, they first need to get out of the boat. What does it look like for you to risk everything to walk on water?</p>