Netcast Church Podcast

<p>The thing about running from God is that we rarely understand the consequences of our own actions. As Jonah ran from the presence of the Lord, it didn't just affect him, it affected everything around him as well.</p>

<p>Just as God saw Nineveh as a great city to be infiltrated by God's people, he also looks upon our great cities that need to be infiltrated by God's people. However, just because we know what God desires doesn't always mean we desire the same thing. Jonah was so against the will of the Father, that he risked his life and paid the fare to sail to the other side of the world so Gods creation wouldn't hear about grace. In contrast, Jesus was so committed to the will of the Father that he gave his life and paid the ultimate fare so a world that would not accept Him would be extended saving grace.</p>

<p>Gods desire for his bride is no different than Gods desire for a husband and wife. That through a pursuit of relational intimacy we can become a people who experience what it means to be fully known and fully loved. The Church of Jesus Christ is the family of God and our earthly relationships should reflect this spiritual truth.</p>

<p>When the unrevealed will of God is unclear, we often can find ourselves frustrated and confused. So, how can we have confidence that we are honoring The Lord with our decisions? When Gods path is foggy, wisdom is the light that leads.</p>

<p>Paul seems to believe that the number one hindrance to a believers progressive sanctification is sexual immorality. Why is this and how do we fight against it?</p>

<p>Following rules gets you nowhere, it is only through the gift of Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit that we are able to change at all. But once we have the Holy Spirit, He is constantly working to transform us more into the likeness of Jesus.</p>

<p>Paul teaches that it is the love of Christ that compels us towards obedience. But God in his mercy has graced us with additional motivations for the purpose of maximizing our joy and bringing glory to his name.</p>

<p>As the living Word, Jesus was the totality of truth who literally took the written word and brought it to life. As one who taught with authority and for change, he is the greatest teacher to ever walk the earth.</p>

<p>Launching a new series, Dan Byrd talks about Jesus in his human form, and talking about sanctification, and how we can be in His name.</p>

<p>Matt Chewning finishes the Discover Series, leading us into the last steps of becoming a partner with Netcast Church</p>

<p>We as the people of God need to come together to help one another understand the word of God. For clear understanding of God's word brings rejoicing and freedom, instead of worry, shame or guilt. As in Nehemiah Chapter 8, the people were at first mournful of his words, and only after the body helped one another understand the true meaning of the word were they free to have joy.</p>

<p>Every person and body working to bring God's plan to fruition will encounter opposition. It was shown back in Nehemiah's day and it's evident today. We must not be discouraged, and have faith to persevere through the opposition, knowing that God will fight along side us.</p>

<p>As in the time of Nehemiah, God calls us to come alongside one another and serve the kingdom of God. We are all called to stop being consumers and start being contributors for the Church.</p>

<p>God has a mission for you, a simple, profound mission. He says he will be with you in this mission and the struggle has already been won. All you need to do is follow His Mission for your life.</p>

<p>Being a godly parent is all about raising children who will follow your example in obeying and worshipping the Lord. Although our children learn a great deal through direct teaching, they learn much more by watching us. This is why we must be careful to not just speak truth to our children but model a life repentance, humility and love.</p>

<p>Contrary to what many believe a biblical portrait of a godly wife to be, Proverbs 31 reveals she is enterprising and ambitious. However, through all of her endeavors, service, and hard work, the godly wife maintains joy as she trusts the Lord with her future. It is her pursuit of Jesus and her abiding in Him which bring the fruit of godliness to manifest in the life of a godly woman.</p>

<p>A man cannot lead where he has not been. A leader goes first, forging the way, wrestling through spiritual issues and then presenting God’s instruction to his family. An ongoing personal relationship with Jesus is crucial in order to lead a family spiritually.</p>

<p>The healthiest thing we can offer our families is a life marked by spiritual growth. To do so, the the fruit of the Spirit must become increasingly evident in a believer’s life. This process of progressive sanctification is cultivated through a lifelong pursuit of Jesus, the study and application of God's Word and by walking in the Spirit.</p>

<p>Before God have us his life, he humbly came to live a life. Born of a virgin he entered our world, becoming our wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father and the prince of peace.</p>

<p>No matter how hard we fight, we cannot claim victory because victory has already been claimed. Christ has won, Satan's power is limited, God's power is supreme and victory is ours.</p>

<p>God does not just give us a new identity; He gives us Himself as our identity. Christ in you is the hope of glory.</p>

<p>Love is defined as a purposeful commitment to sacrificial action for another. The greatest gift God can give us a love that is most clearly seen through the giving of Himself.</p>

<p>Within the New Testament model of church organization the bible states that the highest authority for leadership is conducted by a plurality of male leaders. To be faithful to scripture, today, Netcast has an Executive Team that consists of (3) elders and (3) elders in training</p>

<p>As Netcast has grown, we often are asked by outsiders, “What makes us unique?” Although no church is better than others, there are certain things that do make churches unique.</p>

<p>Though we are all unique and different, there is one characteristic we all have in common… God created all of us with a purpose and mission; and we are called to partner with each other in order to pursue that together.</p>

<p>In order for the local church to be effective, we have to be strategic in what we do. Netcast has specific environments that offer a strategic pathway for next steps towards involvement and growth.</p>

<p>Beyond religion and irreligion, there is “The Gospel”. The beauty of the gospel is that it operates on the<br><br>premise that, “I constantly fail to obey God but through Jesus I can be accepted anyway.”</p>

<p>As Christians, we have a responsibility to expose darkness by being a light. The more we are a light, the more we are working with God to turn dark things into light things. However, what is light? Scripture teaches that light and darkness is a contrast between having a correct understanding about Jesus and behavior that models what we believe is true about Jesus.</p>

<p>If Love is a decision to conduct yourself in a way that elevates God's desires above our own passions than Paul is saying that lust is a decision to conduct yourself in a way that elevates our own passions above God's desires. The scriptures teach that “Love” is a sacrificial action done out of a love for God, but “Lust” is a selfish action done out of a love for self.</p>

<p>Some of the most powerful words a human can hear is the words "I love you". However, in todays culture the idea of love is so broad that it has lost the weightiness. We love our families, our restaurants, our sports teams and our TV shows. The problem with such a broad definition of love, is that we cannot grasp the heaviness of it's biblical meaning.</p>

<p>If the Holy Spirit doesn't only transform our Sunday mornings, but our entire lives, then how do we measure our worship within the 40-50 hours a week that we're on the clock? The truth is, When Christians begin to see their work as a part of God's redemptive plan on history, and not just an effort to make another dollar, we then have a healthy motivation for our labor.</p>

<p>When we walk in anger, bitterness, and wrath we fail to find the life Jesus died to give us. Our actions and our attitudes towards others expose our identity and our idols. The letter of Ephesians confronts our sin so that we might let go of our idols and grab onto our identity in Christ. (Special guest speaker, Netcast Church Planting Intern, Matt Lombardi)</p>

<p>Our willingness to be kind reflects our relationship with Jesus and reveals the transformation brought about by “putting on” our new identities. Our attitudes towards one another don't reflect present circumstances, but rather, how we view ourselves as sons and daughters of God.</p>

<p>Anything that is communicated without the motivation and intention of building up those who are listening, is sinful and ungodly. Talk isn't cheap, it can often cost us our integrity, respectability, and character.</p>

<p>We all have a breaking point. The moment we cross the line from frustration to anger. How should we handle our anger in a way that worships Jesus?</p>

<p>Emptiness is a hoax. The thought that we could ever be truly empty is one that makes no sense. I am not talking about physical emptiness, clearly hunger is a reality. I am talking about emotional emptiness. Our lives are always full of something, even if we do nothing, we are still doing something. Every experience pours into us. We can be full of rage, joy, frustration, worship, sadness, or all of the above, the point is we are never truly empty. When the Bible addresses what is going on inside of us, it is operating under that very truth. Therefore, the bible doesn’t ever tell us “how to be full”, instead it points us to what we should be full of.</p>

<p>As followers of Christ we are to put off the Old self and put on the New self. In Ephesians 4:25 Paul begins a series of practical teachings to explain how to put off the "old" and put on the "new." He starts with teaching the church to put off Falsehood and speak Truth. There is more to falsehood than just lying and speaking the Truth is more than just not lying. Jesus is the Truth and we must proclaim truth to our neighbor. What's our motivation for putting off falsehood and speaking the truth? "For we are members one of another."</p>

<p>The world tells us that way to contentment is the pursuit of happiness. This pursuit is one filled with all sorts of material and meaningless possessions. However, happiness is fleeting but joy is everlasting. God is very much concerned with maximizing our joy and pleasure, an action that can only be realized through the truth of the Gospel.</p>

<p>God has gifted His followers with unique giftings and talents that should not terminate on themselves, but instead are for the intended purpose of building up the Church and displaying the gospel to the world. If we are going to walk towards biblical maturity and use these gifts and talents we must look towards Jesus throughout all of it.</p>

<p>The power of God has the unique ability to transform all levels of broken, sinful, messed up people into a beautiful creation that walks in harmony with its creator. When God saves, no matter what He saves from, that act of salvation is always a miracle.</p>

<p>The spiritual health of the Church is of utmost importance to those whom love, care, and serve it. The methods of measurement that we impose upon ourselves to determine that health will either push us to Jesus and His church, or pull us towards self.</p>

<p>"What if we lived in the knowledge of what God has done - continues to do - in us rather than trying to do it for ourselves? What if we were a church marked by the crazy stupid love we had for the people around us - a love that is beyond expectation or reason? God is doing the work in us that is required for us to be. Being filled isn’t impossible. It’s the work of God.<br>"</p>

<p>The implications of the existence of the Church of Jesus Christ are much larger and greater than most, if not all, modern Christians realize or will choose to acknowledge. God uses His people, the church, to make known the shear depths of his glory, the never ending extents of His love, and the overwhelming gift of His mercy. Most of us did not understand what we were getting into when we became Christians and thus part of Christ’s church. However, if you’ve spent anytime longer than a few days as a Christian, you begin to understand that this thing is bigger than you anticipated it to be.</p>

<p>As we continue to work our way through Ephesians we come upon the idea of stewardship. A Steward is someone who has been entrusted to carefully use, manage and control someone else's property for the benefit of the owner.</p>

<p>Racism is an unfortunate issue that we, as followers of Christ, must address in order for us to be healthy as a body. Racism is and racial inequality is a reality that has been present in our country for many years. It is vitally important for Christians to look at racism through the lens of the Gospel in order to see redemption and restoration. The problem with racism is not racism, it's what produces racism. It's the sinful pride that lingers in the hearts of men that says, “I am better than you because I am different than you.”</p>

<p>Living life with a healthy balance comes easy to some, but for most of us is very difficult. We live in a culture that has been shaped by this unbalance. We either risk everything or live life in a bubble of safety. Either we can’t control our eating or we are obsessed with exercise. The comparisons are endless if we really stopped to think them out. The point is that an unbalanced life always leads to a lack of health.</p>

<p>As Christians, we must understand that Easter Sunday is the most important and foundational day in human history. Easter is a day to celebrate because it represents the most life altering event that our world has ever known.</p>

<p>God, is a relational God, He is not a dictator or a tyrant. His commands are not demands from an unloving, unjust, cruel heart. Instead, they flow from a heart of love and grace. When we became Christians we didn’t arrive at the destination. Just as in our own personal relationships with one another, we cannot ever learn everything there is to know about someone and master our understanding of them.</p>