Welcome back to WCBK where we broadcast the Heavenly good news 24 hours a day. Whether you’re a new listener to this station or go way back with us, we’re so glad you tuned in today. Our mission is actually quite simple but has profound effects for those of you who take it to heart. We’re here to proclaim that God has called you; you are beloved in God and you are kept by Jesus (Jude 1:1b). That’s right, Beloved listeners, you are called by the Father to Himself. He wants you in His family, He wants you in the kingdom of His Beloved Son, and He sent His Son to rescue you.
Beloved listeners, if you haven’t guessed it by now, you are beloved in God. It's the core of who He is, literally, to love you. And, He wants you to know this, remind yourself of this truth, and to regularly meditate on it. The third part of our broadcast message is that we are kept by Jesus. He’s the one who makes this close fellowship with Himself and the Father possible through His death, resurrection and High Priestly Heavenly Intercession for each of His children. He’s the One who asked the Father to send His Holy Spirit to each of His believers, and He is our Good Shepherd. I’m sure, Beloved Listeners, that you can see how important and transformational these truths of our identity are in Christ Jesus, our Lord. This isn’t just a one time message, it’s the message of a lifetime. This is WCBK and this is our life-changing message. Won’t you join us in continuing to listen with our hearts tuned to the Father? We’re Called, Beloved in God the Father, & Kept by Jesus Beloved, He is Able! Pastor Andy Reflection Questions
In 2 John, the Apostle John gave loving instructions on how to walk in love and be discerning as a church, and in 3 John, he wrote a personal letter to a brother in the Lord named Gaius.
We actually don’t know much about the church he was writing to or specific details about Gaius, other than that Gaius was very much living out his faith. In 3 John 2, John prays that Gaius would be in good health, even as his soul was “getting along well” (NIV). This tells us that Gaius was in a very good place in walking with the Lord and His truth which was resulting in Gaius’ soul being in a good place. Now, this topic of soul health as Christians could be an entire sermon series (which maybe someday it will be ). But, I would like to offer some observations from John’s writings that I think we would find helpful in this discussion:
What can we say in response to this? I think the Psalmist said it best, “Bless the Lord, o my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.” Ps. 103:1 Pastor Andy Reflection Questions
From Pastor Andy
“-that which we have seen and heard we proclaim to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His son, Jesus Christ.” 1 John 1:3, ESV Didn’t Eric do a great job teaching on Sunday? He covered and explained several important topics from John’s letter. One thing Eric pointed out was that John was an eyewitness of Jesus’ ministry, that he was the last surviving among the 12 apostles. Thus, John was instructing the people of God about how to live and be discerning once he was no longer be with them. As an eyewitness, John had the privilege of knowing Jesus very personally and closely. John’s ministry flowed out of that. He said his fellowship was with God and Jesus and then invited the readers into the same fellowship. It's vital to our lives and ministries that we also walk in fellowship with God the Father and God the Son, for the sake of our souls and for the sake of the ministries we’ve been called to by Him. This all came out of John seeing and hearing Jesus at work. I think we would be wise to learn from John’s model, so keep listening to Him and keep watching for Him at work. Keep walking the good walk with Jesus, Pastor Andy Please read 2 & 3 John for our time on Sunday. Happy Independence Day!
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves
be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 The staff is enjoying some much needed rest this week, but hope that you have experienced the true freedom that can only be found in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. May he guide your conversations and protect you as you celebrate with family and friends. Please read 1 John for Sunday and be in prayer for our time together.
We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Heb. 12:2, NLT
Thank you to all who served at W4 last week! It truly was a wonderful week of serving Jesus with you all and training up future champions for Jesus. Jesus is the Champion! Of all epic races in the history of the world, Jesus is the Champion of them all. He ran His race and completed His mission from the Father. He endured the cross, despised its shame, and is now seated next to His Father’s throne. He returned to Heaven as the Victorious Son. His prize? Us! In God’s profound love, Jesus defeated death and won us back into His Father’s Kingdom. Jesus squarely, soundly, and surely defeated His enemies of sin, death, and the devil. Now, then, our call is to keep our eyes on Jesus, the Champion. On Sunday, we identified several ways we can be distracted from Scripture such as people pleasing, worrying about someone else’s journey/race with Jesus, looking at ourselves more than Jesus (I call it grasshopperitis) and we shared observations from our lives about distractions as well. The meaning of the Greek for “keeping our eyes on Jesus” has the meaning that we are intentionally looking away from something to focus on something else. In our case, it’s a Someone else that we are focusing on. We focus on Jesus because as we learned in W4, in Jesus, we have: endurance, focus, confidence and victory. Let’s keep looking to Jesus, our Champion, for encouragement to keep running the race set before us. Blessings in Him, Pastor Andy Questions for Reflection and Discussion:
Well, it’s not a secret that last week our AirBnB experience did not turn out to be what we were expecting or hoping it would be. As I continue to reflect on that experience and as I shared with you all on Sunday, I’m so thankful that what Jesus promises to us, is what He will do.
Peter writes to God’s people going through difficult times to reassure them that their faith in Jesus is not in vain. In fact, Peter reminds them, and us, that our inheritance in Heaven is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading (1 Peter 1:4). What a relief it is to know that nothing will spoil or ruin what Jesus has accomplished for us! This promise gives us hope, even when it seems impossible to have hope. Knowing this also keeps us keep our focus on what is really important and helps us to prepare our minds for action in our faith (1:13). I invite you to join us on Sunday as we hear all about W4 and take time to focus on Jesus, our Champion of the faith. Please read 2 Peter beforehand. Let’s keep the faith, brothers and sisters! Pastor Andy
James 1: 2-5
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. Dear NewLife, It was beautiful to see so many children dedicated to the Lord on Sunday. As a committed church family, let's keep praying for these families as they seek to raise their children in the training and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 4:6) This week, continue to stand strong and persevere in the faith and remember to ask for wisdom. The Lord is faithful and will give it! On Sunday, we'll celebrate Dads, hear a report from the youth about their service trip to Bair Lake, welcome Edyta & Wiktoria, and study through 1 Peter. Please be in prayer for the final W4 preparations! Blessings from The NewLife Staff, as Andy is off this week.
I can’t believe I didn’t make one of my favorite Bible jokes on Sunday! We were studying the book of Hebrews and I neglected to say, “Did you know that God likes coffee?” The answer is “He–brews”! Oh well, thankfully there will be another opportunity to share that joke some day. However, speaking of Hebrews, while we refer to it as a book, which it is in the Bible, it was originally a sermon letter written to Hebrew believers who were wavering in their faith. So, the author writes to encourage these believers because Jesus really is worth it. In fact, not only is Jesus worth it to hold on to our faith in Him, He’s far, far superior to anything that these Jewish believers would know from the Old Testament.
Here’s my NewLife News weekly List! Jesus is better than:
His blood is better, pure, and perfect. That’s why only He can cleanse us. No one else can make us clean. (If you were with us on Sunday, this is why I was quoting the worship lyric “Your blood, speaks a better word." If you weren’t with us on Sunday, there’s good news, we’re gathering again this Sunday!) So, friends, if you are wavering or even if you’re feeling secure in your faith, I urge us (I’m including me in this exhortation): Let us hold on to the hope that is the anchor of our souls, Jesus, our High Priest, who has given us access to God in the Holy of Holies (Heb. 6:19). How do we hold on to this hope (get ready for list two) which anchors our souls in this crazy life:
Dear Friends, hold on to Him and your confession of Him, The Good Shepherd! Pastor Andy Questions for reflection and conversation:
Dear NewLife Family,
Paul sure packed a lot of punch into his short letter to Philemon! In his letter, we saw Paul as he was seeking to encourage Philemon, praying for him and his family, greeting the church that met in Phil’s home, and sharing that he was sending Onesimus back to Phil. Most of all, we see that Paul was asking a big request of Phil to reconcile with Onesimus. And, all of this was in 25 verses! Furthermore, the elements that are needed in order to reconcile with someone are in this letter. I’m about to make a list of these elements, but please remember that they are not life hacks nor are they an exact pattern to follow but important elements in the process. Let’s not let the bullet points lull us into thinking that making things right with someone is as easy as 1-2-3. Here are some of these elements that we can observe in Philemon:
A perfect example of absorbing and covering wrongdoing is Jesus. The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him (Is. 53:5). The only way to receive His payment of our debt is by placing our faith in Him (Rom. 5:1). He not only graciously forgives us of our sins but He credits His righteousness to our account. Now that’s graceful reconciliation! May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with our spirits (v. 25)!! Pastor Andy Questions for reflection and conversation:
I don’t think I’m telling many of you anything new when I reflect on our society being a pressure cooker. Demands on our time, energy, availability, finances, and emotional capacity seem to be limitless. Our culture has gone many different directions in coping with life or avoiding it. As Christ believers and followers, we have our hope (the Blessed Hope, Titus 2:13) in Him. His grace has appeared for all people (Titus 2:11) and His grace even trains us to renounce the world and follow Him (2:12) via self-control and the pursuit of godliness.
Paul shares the key piece of our being the recipients of His grace in Titus 3:4-5, where Paul states, “He saved us”. I shared on Sunday and I will say it again that those are the best three words in Scripture! This salvation is not because of our righteousness works but because of His washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit. Apart from the Spirit’s presence and working in our lives, there would be no receiving or outworking of God’s grace in our lives. May we have open and receptive hearts to the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit because it’s only through Him we can walk through this crazy culture in which we live! Blessings on the journey, Pastor Andy Please read Philemon for our time on Sunday. Questions to ponder:
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