Life Lessons with Dr. Steve Schell

In a short span of time these two disciples both experienced a level of personal failure which devastated them. Judas, of course, betrayed the Lord by leading the religious officiais to the Garden ot Gethsemane. Peter blatantly and repeatedly denied knowing the Lord while waiting among the crowd outside the high priest's home. Though Judas' sin was more deliberate than Peter's, both men show great...

Every year many Americans make promises to themselves and others called "resolutions." These commitments to improve behavior are notorious failures. People promise all sorts of things, but usually these can't be kept for more than a month or two into the new year. The problem, of course, is that our will power isn't strong enough to resist the temptations that lure us back to old habits. Appetites...

We are still in the upper room with Jesus and the disciples. In these last moments Jesus has before He is arrested, He wants to teach His disciples, among other things, about humility. After Jesus and the disciples have just enjoyed partaking of the Lord's supper, Jesus watches them break into an argument about who is the greatest. Jesus wants His disciples to be humble; and they are not.  And jus...

In this episode, we're going to see the final passover service the Lord served to His disciples. We will look at Judas' betrayal, at the upper room and Passover. And then we will look at the glorious New Covenant Jesus introduced the disciples to through the taking of the first communion. To purchase Pastor Steve's newest book Understanding Romans: Life-Changing Lessons from Paul's Greatest Letter...

It's Tuesday afternoon of Jesus' final week in Jerusalem, and He and His disciples are heading back to the Mount of Olives where they will camp for the night. As the road rises, going up the hillside, the Temple comes into view with the setting sun glistening behind it. Though it has been 49 years in construction, it is still not completed, yet the beauty of the gold and white marble is breathtaki...

The subject of finances is one that can make us uncomfortable, but there are things we need to do with our finances as Christians in order for us to be blessed of God. And the model for us is this marvelous widow who gives all she has out of a faith-filled and generous heart.  Though we are not told, we have to ask the question: What possible reason could there be for her to do what she did? We wi...

We begin this episode in Mark 11, and we hear Jesus use prophetic symbolism when he comes across a fig tree on the road. The fig tree was one of the major symbols of Israel, so the fact that this fig tree had leaves with no figs indicates something was wrong, since figs and their leaves always come out at the same time. The Messiah is looking for fruit on His tree. Does the religious structure hav...

It is obvious that our society is becoming a dishonest society. Lying is now normal. When things happen slowly enough around us in our culture, we become transformed by it without even knowing it. As the culture becomes a culture of lying, we don't sense the difference, and Christians can bring it right in to their lives too.  We will talk in this episode about the problem with lying and hopefully...

While escorting Jesus to his home, Zaccheus is overcome by the power of the Holy Spirit and born again through repentance and faith. As they stand in the street, they are surrounded by a great crowd of disciples and onlookers. According to the ancient Roman historian Josephus, approximately two million pilgrims would flood into Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, so the crowds must have been enormous...

The Lord needs to instill in each of our hearts a healthy fear of Him so that we are protected from sin and the schemes of the devil. We'll talk about the danger of hypocrisy, of developing a hidden life. We'll talk about integrity, of developing a life that is the same no matter who is watching. We'll also define the fear of God and talk about why a Christian should fear God to begin with. To pur...

In Luke 18, the rich, young ruler encounters Jesus on the highway on the road south to Jericho. This young man, probably in his late teens or early twenties, is very rich, and he has some kind of position of authority. He falls on his knees in front of Jesus, who looks intently on the man and loves him. But Jesus sees the man is in bondage. Jesus is able to look at our lives and see the thing we r...

In this episode the Lord is currently on His way to Jerusalem at the end of His public ministry on earth. We don't know which town He is in right now, but He is coming down towards Jericho. The crowds are huge right now in His ministry, and in the midst of the thousands of people who are coming for healing, a group of parents are bringing their babies in arms and are asking Jesus to bless their ch...

The Lord told this parable to make sure His followers would never grow discouraged by God's seeming reluctance to punish their enemies. Though it would seem like God was refusing to answer their pleas for relief from persecution, they must not allow this to spoil their faith. They must continue to pray, believing God to answer all their needs. To purchase Pastor Steve's newest book Understanding R...

Isn't it interesting that Jesus told His disciples about events which would not take place until the end of world history? Today we can say with confidence that many of these things would not take place for at least years (1967 + 32 = 1999; This sermon was originally preached in 1999). Why would believers need to know about something that far in the future? Obviously, Jesus felt they did, as did P...

The apostles have asked the Lord to increase their faith, and in verses six through ten Luke records two of the foundational truths with which He answered them. Both are given to them as parables. The first, in verse six, reminds us to keep our attention focused on the unlimited power of God rather than the size of our own faith. It's God's power that does the work, and all we need is enough true...

In this episode, we are talking about forgiveness. It's one of those subjects you simply have to talk about regularly because offenses come, issues come into our hearts, and we can grow bitter and hard. So God is constantly reminding us through His word to forgive each other. We will talk about two levels of forgiveness in this episode. We're not just talking about the personal offenses that take...

In this parable Jesus pictures the death of two men. One is a rich, self-centered man who had no compassion on the poor, and the other was a beggar named Lazarus. Jesus takes us beyond the grave and lets us see what happens to each as they step into eternity. The passage is meant as a warning against hardening our hearts toward God, thinking that life will go on forever and that we will never have...

Listeners, we are so sorry we had a technical glitch in this episode! But we have fixed it, so please listen again. You and I need to be faithful managers of God's money. But how do we do that in a practical sense? As we continue through the book of Luke, we are looking in this chapter at more of what Jesus says specifically to His disciples as opposed to the Jewish leaders. So if you are a discip...

People who zealously give themselves to faithful service can always be in danger of falling into "Elder Brother Syndrome." A common termused today is "burnout." This is not a problem reserved for Pharisees and scribes, but can and does affect Christians—especially Christians who hold themselves to high standards and consistently give time and energy to serve God. You would think that those who hol...

Jesus has been talking to religious leaders and great multitudes of people, and He gives a severe call to discipleship, telling the full price a disciple would pay up front. And as we look at the well known parable of The Prodigal Son, it is good to keep this cost of discipleship in mind. Jesus is really talking about priorities. Following Christ comes first.  To purchase Pastor Steve's newest boo...

Every Christian can't move to a foreign nation to be a missionary, but every Christian should have the heart of a missionary. In these two parables Jesus looks deep into the heart at our motives for serving people, and the attitudes He teaches us are those which we typically associate with a missionary. Jesus' teaching should also act as a checklist to see if we are sensing God as effectively as p...

There is a deep underlying principle in this passage which is expressed over and over again throughout the Bible. We might state it simply in this way. "God honors those who honor Him, and He disciplines those who honor themselves." With this parable of guests being seated at a wedding feast, Jesus brings us face to face with the attitudes of pride and humility. To purchase Pastor Steve's newest b...

We want God to wave His hand over our world and change it all at once. And indeed a day will come when Jesus will return to earth bringing all evil to an immediate halt and believers will be transformed in the twinkling of an eye. But, for now, until He comes again, that's not the way God grows His kingdom. With the parable of the mustard seed, Jesus is revealing God's strategy to win the world. A...

In this episode we see a woman who has been demonically oppressed for eighteen years, yet as soon as Jesus sees her, He calls her forward and delivers her of the assaulting spirit, and lays His hand on her to heal her damaged body. In the following debate He calls her a "daughter of Abraham" which for Him is a very special term meaning much more than just an Israelite physically descended from Abr...

Jesus challenged the people of His day by pointing out that they were more interested in predicting the weather than they were in seeing the spiritual warning signs all around them. A person didn't have to be a prophet to see that there was trouble ahead if religious leaders did not repent soon and begin using their influence to direct people toward true faith in God. People were more interested i...