God Centered Life

Since there were Pharisees in Jesus' day, are there some in the church today? Pharisaism is such a deadly disease; it destroys churches and drives off converts. It is a spiritual virus and we must cast it out. Let us be gospel people and not pharisaic people. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/29 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices....

When you have a problem that in your own strength and resources you cannot solve, where do you go for help? Who are the people, where are the places, what are the ideas you rely on to solve the situation that you cannot fix? To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/29 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Remarkable faith believes without seeing, believing without being in the presence of the solution being prayed for. Faith is necessary because we do not see. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/29 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John is teaching us that wherever we are coming from, there is a path to the very heart of God. You may feel like you cannot possibly be accepted by God or belong to a church, but John is saying that there is a way for you to encounter Christ. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/29 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are not just in a cultural war today, we are in a spiritual war. We know our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers, principalities, and spirits of this world. So when we engage other cultures, we do so with truth and love. Here, Jesus models this approach to winning souls for the kingdom. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/29...

When we meet Jacob, we can ask him what it was like to wrestle with God. Except all of us at some point in our lives wrestle with God: some of us wrestle for our children, some for our marriages, some for our careers. Eventually, we have to come to terms with the fact that He is God, and we are not. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/29 Learn more abo...

Racial animosity is all too common today. In Biblical times, the Samaritans were viewed as half bred, religiously compromised traitors. Here Christ speaks and acts in such a way as to include those who have been excluded. He builds bridges between people and unites them to God. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/29 Learn more about your ad choices. Vi...

There's a flip side to chasing joy, something we're fleeing. So often, no one preaches about the wrath of God. We need to awaken people to the seriousness of eternal destiny. Here we draw the connection between the wrath of God and the pursuit of joy. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/29 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adch...

Why is it that we strive for something someone else has? What is it that fuels our jealousy or selfish ambition? Often, it is a misplaced search for joy. We think, "If only I had/did that, I'd be happy." But joy comes when we focus on Christ and center our lives on God. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/29 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podc...

The Danish Christians refer to this passage as "The Little Bible" because the whole meaning of Scripture is in it. There is a universe of theology here, and a whole world of practicality, so there is much for us all to learn from. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/29 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Put yourself back into the Old Testament story where people are dying, and there's a means of rescue by looking up at the serpent on the pole. If they look, they will not die. So faith is not a cursory glance at an unimportant fact. Faith is the desparate gaze of a dying man at the only possible means of his rescue. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/...

It's easy for us to think that only special religious places can be zones of access to God. But as Jesus taught us, his worshippers are to worship him in spirit and in truth. So even a desert road with a few rocks can be the house of God. God can even meet us in a dream on the road to nowhere. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/29 Learn more about you...

Let us not make the gate to enter the kingdom of God higher or lower than Jesus does. You must be born again to enter God's kingdom, but you don't have to have a certain style or mode of operation. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/29 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jesus' description of the temple is intended to help us realize that He is the temple. We also are being built up as living stones, a holy house, as we center our lives on Jesus. That's the purpose of church: to bring us all to realize that life is all about Him. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/29 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoi...

This passage is about more than just people making money from the temple rituals. There is also a message about fake religion, which tends to exclude some and privilege the powerful. But the true gospel is for all people of every nation, color, and tribe. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/29 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/...

The symbolism of wine is new life, and that is embedded throughout this story. Following Jesus is a life of celebration and joy. No passage shows better than the wedding in Cana the exuberance that is to mark Christianity. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/29 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What an encouragement it is to find a model of a reasonable question. As Christians, we are not to close our minds to difficulties, but to look for the new truth God might be teaching us or see how He is reshaping our character. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/29 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Through the story of Isaac and Jacob we see that God blesses the world through broken individuals and broken families. That is encouraging! To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/29 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The people who are afraid of questions are often insecure about what they believe. This message looks at reasonable questions. It's important to allow people to ask questions, especially because we have the truth. Come to the Bible with your questions, and find the truth in Jesus. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/29 Learn more about your ad choices....

In our culture today, we need to be careful to continue to learn to hear. We tend to only hear what we expect to hear. It's hard to listen in order to hear rather than listening to wait for our turn to talk! Here we focus on Andrew and what an example he is to us in bringing people to Jesus. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/29 Learn more about your...

Up until this time, the Scriptures had been saying that there will come a day when the Messiah will arise. Now, John the Baptist says: He is here! This is the pivotal moment in history, the coming of God Himself to rescue us from our sins. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/29 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If Christian ministry is our fundamental identity, then what is the purpose? Obtaining Christian fame like Chuck Swindoll or another well-known preacher? The effect could be that we lose sight of God and cease to minister for His glory. We must focus on Jesus. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/29 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices...

It's so counter-cultural that John's confession is not that he's the best prophet, it's that he's not special or important, and he's not the Christ. Just as John did, our task is not to point to ourselves but to say I'm not the one to look at or listen to, I'm not the expert; I'm not the Christ. Instead, look at Him. Our identity is founded in Him and in pointing other people to Him. To support th...

Does God test us today? The word "test" has so many connotations. The truth is that we are constantly being refined by life and by God's loving fatherly care. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/29 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the Church, we don't love the Bible because we like intellectual things, or because we like books, or because we're old fashioned. We are a Church that loves the Bible because you find life to the full through Jesus, and you find Jesus through the Bible. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1417/29 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.co...