Netcast Church Podcast

<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>