Netcast Church Podcast

<p>There are ramifications for every decision that we make. If we are honest, in every decision we make we have little knowledge of where they will take us. In this passage Paul tells us that regardless of why we became Christians, when it happened we began to head into a direction with little knowledge of where that decision would take us. Paul wants us to understand that our salvation in Christ has changed everything for us. That decision has had ramifications we will be working out for the remainder of our lives.</p>

<p>The trouble with finding our identity in the things we own or what we accomplish is that its fleeting. We need to understand who we are in Christ in order to have a true grasp of our identity.</p>

<p>How we choose to define ourselves (or let ourselves be defined) has drastic consequences on how we choose to live our lives. The world says that our actions define who we are, but for the Christ follower we know this to be different. As Christians we are defined by what Christ has done through his completed work on the cross, his conquering of satan, sin and death.</p>

<p>All of us were slaves. And not just any slaves, but slaves who offended the master. Like any slave we long for freedom, so we’re constantly trying different “keys” to attain freedom. We are looking for things that will release us from this sense of slavery, but every key leads to less and less satisfaction - less and less freedom. In our pursuit of freedom we find more bondage.</p>

<p>Through Jesus we receive the Father's love and are called “children of God.” What an honor it is that God calls us His children and gives us the assurance that as His children we are heirs and co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). In his Gospel, John also tells us that God gives the right to become children of God to all who in faith have received Christ as Lord and Savior (John 1:12). God extends His love to His Son Jesus Christ and, through Him, to all His adopted children.</p>

<p>At Netcast, we believe that simply being a large body of people, doesn't mean you are a healthy body of people. In the same way, being healthy doesn't always accompany being large. In this sermon, we are introduced to the apostle Paul and his church plant in Ephesus. Starting in the very beginning of this letter, we can already see Paul's desire to see the church at Ephesus become a healthy and faithful community of believers.</p>

<p>Suffering is apart of life. We live in a broken and dying world. Therefore, we will all experience hard times at some point. Hard times that cause great pain and suffering in this world. So when we encounter these hard times, what do we do? What do we do when life hurts so bad that we don’t want to get out of bed? How do we get through it?</p>

<p>So, if the bible is true, and humanity is created in the image of God, to find our satisfaction by walking intimately with God; What happens when we suppress that truth and attempt to be satisfied outside of God?</p>

<p>There’s something written in your heart that knows what honors Him and what doesn’t (v. 15). There are times we will live strong by the power of the Holy Spirit and there will be times where we fail, but we are progressively and slowly being made more and more like Jesus. The father is excited to see his children grow! One of the primary ways we grow is not giving up on meeting together as emphasized by the writer of Hebrews.</p>

<p>When we fast, it should be as much about what we DO as it is about what we DON'T DO. In Isaiah 58, God speaks through his prophet, to his people, about true and false fasting.</p>

<p>The point of fasting is to change our schedules and desires in such a way that we find delight and joy in God's presence; that we find true life through Jesus. He is the source of life and when we feast on Him, then we will truly find life and find it to the full. Just as we have made a disciplined plan to fast, we must also create a disciplined plan to feast on God, to engulf ourselves in His Word and Presence. There is a lot in our lives that can easily demand our time and focus, which is why it requires a pre-decision to create space to feast. In this sermon, Pastor Matt outlined his method of feasting on God, called "prowling." Here is his acronym: P – Place to pray R – Reading plan O – Observe something new W – Write down thoughts L – Listen in solitude</p>

<p>In the second week of "Crave" Pastor Matt began by asking the question why. Why do we crave the things that we do? Why do we crave sex, why do we crave a second helping of food, why do we crave the approval of others, why do we crave to dress a certain way, or why we crave to have our house look a certain way? Why do we crave for our sports team to win? Why do we crave that kind of job or that good of a grade? The bottom line answer to these questions is this: we desire what we experience and enjoy or what we see others experiencing and enjoying. In short, our desires are shaped by what we see and experience.</p>

<p>The danger of grace is “understanding it in your mind but not believing it in your heart.” We can understand grace intellectually yet not believe in grace emotionally and relationally. And when this happens, grace becomes a license towards complacency, sin and satisfying our fleshly cravings.</p>

<p>The Father sends the Son. The Son sends the Spirit, The Spirit empowers us to be incarnational missionaries. Which <a href="http://means...to" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">means...to</a> “Put On” Jesus and represent him being his hands, his feet and his voice in our world within your normal rhythms of life.</p>

<p>This Sunday, Matt preached on how Jesus intersects and invades the dark circumstances of our lives with power and redemption. In this story, we learn how Jesus knows your circumstances; he truly knows and understands your circumstances, especially when they are difficult. Jesus gets and invades our difficult circumstances.</p>

<p>In the first Sunday of Advent, Pastor Matt preached on the need for rescue. There is a sense of anticipation for Christmas, as we seek to remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It truly is a great and joyous time that completely changed our lives and the course of this world. But the greatness and joy of Christmas only makes sense when we understand our real need, and the world's real need for Christmas. The birth of our Savior is only truly glorious in light of the recognition of our need. It's our only glorious when we come to terms with the inclination of our heart towards sin. When we recognize our need, then we can fully celebrate the hope of Christmas. For that is truly what Advent is about: hope. It's a hope that doesn't come from ourselves.</p>

<p>In the last 6 verses, Malachi will lay out the eternal destiny of the two distinctions. Now eternity is almost impossible for the finite mind to comprehend. Most of us have trouble imagining what we'll be doing next week, let alone 50 million years from now.</p>

<p>As we read this passage, and consider even creating our own "scroll of remembrance" we may have a sense of fear of what actually we would remember. The list of our life could at times feel inadequate and falling short. And that's okay. It's okay because the distinction between the righteous and the wicked it not ultimately rooted in our own lives. Our lives will be littered with mistakes and corrupted by sin. If we would put our own scroll of remembrance, it would fall short. But that's okay. It's okay because the distinction between the righteous and the wicked is ultimately based on Jesus Christ.</p>

<p>"This passage provides the vision for our lives as disciples of Jesus Christ., as members of this Community Group, and as a part of Netcast. After the resurrection, Jesus appears to his<br>disciples for the last time before he ascends into heaven. In his final appearance Jesus sits down to explain to them the central meaning of the Bible and provide direction for the rest of their lives (v.45—he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures)."</p>

<p>So, what can we say about material blessing in the New Covenant? For us, we can say that material blessing has a specific purpose. Paul informs us in 2 Cor. 9:11 how God says, "You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God." Our material blessing is tagged with an outward focus. Our giving can change the way others worship.</p>

<p>The key difference for us is we are not in the Mosaic Covenant; we are in the New Covenant inaugurated in Jesus (see 1 Cor. 11:25). In the Mosaic Covenant, God blessed Israel as a result of obedience. In the New Covenant, we need to think about material blessing differently. God is certainly able and may choose to give material blessings – but He is not obligated nor has He promised to always act in this way towards us. We can't expect to give $10 and receive a $100 in return. He informs us in 2 Cor. 9:6-11 of how we should think of material blessing. Of particular importance for us today is v.11, as God says, "You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God." One person commented on this verse saying, "Paul is not advocating giving that will result in blessing but rather blessing that will result in giving." In the New Covenant, we will not be material blessed because of obedience (like in Malachi 3 and the Mosaic Covenant); we will be material blessed in order to be generous. And our giving will bring thanksgiving and praise to God (v.11).</p>

<p>The Jews has a wordily perspective of success and pain. They thought success was material prosperity because of Gods approval and pain was purely evil because God was angry towards peoples actions. They missed the perspective of success being God presence in our lives because of our trust and faithfulness; and pain was God's grace in refining us into His image to maximize our joy.</p>

<p>John 6:53-69 After Jesus shares a difficult teaching which causes many people to no longer follow Him, Jesus turns to His disciples and offers them the same challenge demanding complete surrender in Him. This demand is the same today. There is no middle ground when it comes to following Jesus. You are either for Jesus or against Jesus.</p>

<p>This passage focuses in and gets specific on the way Israel has stumbled. In 2:1-9, God rebuked the priests (for us, church leaders and pastors) for the way they have neglected to teach God's Word. And in their neglect, they have caused Israel to stumble, to sin, and to live outside of the ways of God.</p>

<p>In this passage God is directly speaking to the priests. For our purposes, think about the leaders of the church. In the story of Israel, God had called and charged the priests to help maintain the covenant relationship between God and Israel. In this role they were called to pursue the honor of God's name above all else. And one of the main ways they honored God and devoted themselves to Him was in their teaching--much like the role of pastors and leaders in the church.</p>