Episodes
Wednesday Nov 13, 2019
11-10-19 Paul Gieschen - Living Water vs. Broken Cisterns
Wednesday Nov 13, 2019
Wednesday Nov 13, 2019
Truths from Jeremiah, Chapter 2
“Living Water vs. Broken Cisterns”
Chapter one of Jeremiah describes his call as an individual to serve the Lord. Then, in chapter 2, we see a clear call to repentance of a people, the people of Israel. It is a touching chapter of God’s love, and the consequences of the self-centeredness of a people. It is also a profound check list of warnings that we must take to heart as individuals, as the church, and as a nation.
In verses 1-3, God is talking about our first l_____ .
Verses 5-8 tells us they became s_________ and found f____ with God.
The crux of the whole chapter and even most of the book of Jeremiah, is in verse 13. “My people have committed two sins: they have forsaken me, the spring of l , and have dug their own c_________, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
God, as the H_______ S__________, is the Living Water.
Sins, decisions to do what we want in the way we want instead of God’s way, are like a h__________ that breaks the cistern.
Hosea 9:10b says we become v________ as the things we love. I______ are the things we love more than God. What is it that we l_________ ?
With relatively few exceptions, problems and their consequences are o____ f_________ .
Here is a check list for how well we are doing in keeping our cisterns full and flowing with the living water.
1. Are you still in awe of God?
2. Are you still fully yoked with Jesus?
3. Are you honest with God or making excuses for your actions?
4. Are you forgetting or ignoring the lessons God has taught through past punishments or consequences?
5. Do you feel free to roam, to dabble, to sample the world’s offerings?
What is your choice today?
Tuesday Jun 11, 2019
06-09-19 Kevin Goins - Who Is Pentecost About?
Tuesday Jun 11, 2019
Tuesday Jun 11, 2019
“Who is Pentecost about?”
Today is Pentecost when Christians all over the world celebrate how the Holy Spirit was given to the church. But who is the Holy Spirit? One way the Bible answers this question is by giving four very significant names to the third person of the Trinity.
I. The Bible calls the third person of the Trinity “The __________.”
A. In both the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament, the word translated “Spirit” means “b______” or “w______.”
B. We find an example of the Spirit as breath in John ___:___, “And with that he ___________ on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”
C. We find an example of the Spirit as wind in John __:__, where Jesus explains to Nicodemus how a person can be born a ________ _______.
II The Bible calls the third person of the Trinity, “The Spirit of the ______ ________.”
A. If our knowledge of Christ is only knowledge of ___________, then we cannot have the life of God in us.
B. Only the Spirit of the living God can transform doctrine into a life-giving _____________ with God.
III The Bible calls the third person of the Trinity, “The _______ Spirit.”
A. Fortunately for us, the Holy Spirit is not only called Holy because he is holy, he is called Holy because he h______ us _________ holy.
B. He is called the Holy Spirit for a reason: Because he is holy and wherever he goes he ___________ holiness.
IV Lastly, the Bible calls the third person of the Trinity, “The __________.”
A. A Paraclete is one who is called to be by the _______ of someone.
B. The fact that the Holy Spirit is our Paraclete means he will stand beside us as we attempt to __________ and _________ in the Body of Christ.
Sunday May 26, 2019
05-26-19 Kevin Goins - From Gifts to Ministry
Sunday May 26, 2019
Sunday May 26, 2019
“From Gifts to Ministry” Acts 6:1-7
Recently we have been talking about spiritual gifts and how to discover which gift is ours. But how does God take gifted people and motivate them to use their gifts for ministry? That is the focus of our text today.
I This text is about taking gifted people in the church and placing them in positions of m___________ where they can serve. And it shows us the four ___’s God provides to make this happen.
II What does God give us to motivate us to use our gifts in the church?
A. First, God provides us with p_______________ (6:1).
1. There were _____ kinds of Jewish believers in the early church because there were _____ kinds of Jews: (1) H____________ Jews and (2) G_______________ Jews.
The Grecian Jewish widows who had become believers in Jesus had the church to help them, but they believed they were not being treated f__________.
3. There will be problems in using our gifts, but problems are God’s
provision for us because problems often l_______ us on to the next l_________ of ministry.
B. Second God provides us with a p____________ (6:2-4).
1. Helping the widows would have been a good thing for the Apostles to do, but the g_____ can be the enemy of the b_______.
2. God’s plan for the church is not just that Pastors should preach and pray, but that church members should use their gifts to do ____________ ________.
C. Third, God provides us with p_______________ (6:5-6).
-The early church teaches us that when you have a ministry need, you find the people to meet that need in the __________.
D. Fourth, God provides us with p_____________ (6:7).
Tuesday May 21, 2019
05-19-19 Bruce Bliss - Motivational Gifts
Tuesday May 21, 2019
Tuesday May 21, 2019
Tuesday May 14, 2019
05-12-19 Kevin Goins - Gifts, part 2
Tuesday May 14, 2019
Tuesday May 14, 2019
“Gifts” 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
God has not only called us to do the work of enlarging his Kingdom in this world, but he has gifted us with the tools we need to do the job. What do we need to do to use our spiritual gifts?
I We must know what the Bible teaches about spiritual gifts (12:1). II We need to know where the gifts come from (12:2-3). III We must not be copycats (12:4-6). IV We must not doubt that we have a gift(s) (12:7).
V We need to recognize that the power of the gifts is s___________ (12:8-10).
A. First, spiritual gifts cannot be put into a nice, neat, and tidy ______.
1. There are ______ lists of gifts in the New Testament: 1 Cor 12:__-__, 1 Cor 12:__-__, Rom 12:__-__, Eph 4:__, and 1 Peter 4:__-__ .
2. No list of gifts in the New Testament is c__________, which means there may be _______ gifts mentioned nowhere in the Bible.
Second, the spiritual gifts show us that the Holy Spirit thought of e___________ we might n_____.
1. The word of wisdom – a message which s_________ a difficult problem or s__________ an opponent of the faith.
2. The word of knowledge – f_____ given by the Holy Spirit to someone who could not get this information in any other way.
3. The gift of faith – the ability to believe that God is about to s________ his power in a r___________ way.
4. Gifts of healings – the ability to be God’s i__________ in healing the sick.
5. Workings of miracles – the ability to b_______ God for a miracle.
6. Prophecy – the ability to speak a m___________ from God to his people.
7. Distinguishing between spirits – the ability to tell whether a prophecy is truly f_____ ____.
8. Speaking in tongues – the ability to speak a language never l________ by the speaker.
9. The interpretation of tongues – the ability to give the m________ of what a person said who was speaking in tongues.
C. Lastly, the spiritual gifts teach us that there is no _________ when it comes to what God has enabled us to do for him.
1. Limiting certain gifts to the first century is called c________________.
2. Cessationism has serious problems:
a. The New Testament never calls any gifts “s______ gifts.”
b. If sign gifts were only needed because the New Testament was not yet published, how could the New Testament possibly t_____ the p______ of supernatural gifts?
c. Paul never ever mentions p_________ or t__________ gifts.
Tuesday May 07, 2019
05-05-19 Kevin Goins - Gifts
Tuesday May 07, 2019
Tuesday May 07, 2019
“Gifts” 1 Corinthians 12:1-7
God has called us to do the work of enlarging his Kingdom in this world, but does he expect us to do this work armed only with our own natural human abilities? Our text today says, “NO!” God has gifted us to do his work, but what do we need to do to use our spiritual gifts?
I. We need to ________ what the Bible teaches about spiritual gifts (12:1).
A. We Christians would be insulted if anyone called us a__________, but when it comes to spiritual gifts, many Christians _____ agnostics.
B. If we have no interest in using the ______ God has given us, it likely means we have no interest in doing the _________ God has given us.
II. We need to know ________ these gifts come from (12:2-3).
A. We cannot experience the gifts _____ the Holy Spirit until we have first experienced the gift _____ the Holy Spirit.
B. Paul says that having the ________ of every gift is better than having ____ particular gift.
C. Since the Holy Spirit is the source of all gifts, then ______ we use that gift will have to be in keeping with _______ the Holy Spirit ministers.
III. We must not be ________________ (12:4-6).
IV. We must not _________ that we have a gift (12:7).
A Paul says two things in verse seven: First, ___________ has a gift.
1. But how are you supposed to know what your gifts are?
a. First, we need to read how the ________ describes the gifts and compare that to our __________.
b. We need to ______ God.
c. There are questions we can ask which will help to reveal our gifts.
1. What things that need to be done in the church come n___________ to me?
2. What abilities do I have which could be p_____ to u____ in the church?
3. What ministries of the church really e__________ me?
4. What have I done for the church that has made me feel f__________?
2. Being gifted in one area does not give us a free pass to __________ every other area of ministry – N_______ take precedence over g____!
B. The second point Paul makes in verse 7 is that gifts are given for the c_________ g_________.
Thursday Aug 23, 2018
08-19-18 Kevin Goins - Introduction to the Spirit, part 3
Thursday Aug 23, 2018
Thursday Aug 23, 2018
“Introduction to the Spirit” John 7:37-52 (Pt 3)
John 7: 37-52 is Jesus’ introduction to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. What do these verses tell us about the ministry of the Holy Spirit?
I First, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is the alternative to religion (7:37a).
II Second, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is essential to everyone (7:37b).
III Third, the ministry of the Holy Spirit excludes no one (7:37c).
IV Fourth, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is for those who are thirsty.
V Fifth, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is only for those who are willing to t_______ a___________ of it (7:37d)
A. If we want what Jesus is offering us, there are ____ things we must do:
1. First, we must _______ to Jesus.
2. Second, we must ________.
B. There are three kinds of people:
1. Those who do ____ have the Spirit.
2. Those who are m_______ by the Spirit.
3. Those who s________ be led by the Spirit, but they are ____.
C. All Christians ______ the Spirit, but not all drink d________ of the Spirit.
VI Sixth, the ministry of the Holy Spirit gives life __ us and _______ us (7:38).
VII In verse 39 John makes sure we know that by “living water” Jesus means the ______ _______ (7:39).
VIII Seventh, the ministry of the Holy Spirit calls forth _______ different responses (7:40-52):
A First, there is c___________.
B. Second, there is c___________.
C. Third, there is c___________.
Tuesday Aug 14, 2018
08-12-18 Kevin Goins - Introduction to the Spirit part 2
Tuesday Aug 14, 2018
Tuesday Aug 14, 2018
“Introduction to the Spirit” John 7:37-52 (Pt 2)
John 7: 37-52 is Jesus’ introduction to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. What do these verses tell us about the ministry of the Holy Spirit?
I First, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is the alternative to religion (7:37a).
II Second, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is essential for everyone (7:37b).
III Third, the ministry of the Holy Spirit e_________ no one (7:37c).
A. It is easy to think that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is only for s________ people --
1. -- If we look at the h______ in Acts.
2. -- If we look at the s______ in church.
B. But “If anyone….” means more than simply that the Holy Spirit is meant for every b_________ - It means the Holy Spirit is for e__________ p_________.
IV Fourth, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is for those who are t__________.
A. There are two main mechanisms for maintaining our water balance: (1) the sensation of t__________ and (2) the k_________.
B. The simplest symptom of dehydration is thirst, but there are other symptoms:
1. difficulty thinking c_________
2. halitosis (b_____ b__________)
3. food c__________
4. f________ or lethargy
5. r________ heart
6. s____________.
7. j_______ or m________ pain
8. h__________ or d_________.
9. k_______ problems
10. s_______, d______ skin or lips
C. Thirst is not only the key to physical health, it is also the key to _________ health:
D. How can we tell if we are thirsty for the Holy Spirit?
1. Do we have spiritual h__________?
2. Are we spiritually l___________?
3. Do we have cravings for things we know we do n____ n______?
4. Do we have h_______ problems?
5. Do we have b_______ aches and pains?
6. Do we have difficulty t________ c_________?
7. Are we d_______ u____?
Tuesday Jul 31, 2018
07-29-18 Kevin Goins - Introduction to the Spirit
Tuesday Jul 31, 2018
Tuesday Jul 31, 2018
“Introduction to the Spirit” John 7:37-52 (Pt 1)
Our text today begins John’s introduction to the Spirit. Jesus will have a great deal more to say about the Holy Spirit in chapters fourteen through sixteen, but this is his introductory statement and it comes at the Feast of Tabernacles. What do these verses tell us about the ministry of the Holy Spirit?
I First, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is the a__________ to r____________ (7:37a).
A. Jesus stands up to speak at the very time the Jews are celebrating a f________, and taking part in a ceremonial feast is a p_________ of religion.
1. We can use the word “religion” simply in the s___________ sense.
2. Religion is about whether or not people have some space in their life for _____ and for the s____________.
B. But there is also a sense in which Christianity is _____ a religion. In fact, there is a sense in which Christianity is _______-religion.
1. First, in no religion except Christianity does God become a ________ ________ in order to save human beings by __________ in our place.
2. Second, only Christianity tells us that the way to God is not by d________ s____________.
a. Religion is about doing - doing the things religion says will make God a_______ us.
But Christianity says there is _________ we can do to make God accept us.
b. Religion is about m__________ the religious looking things religious people do.
Christianity is about having our own p_________ relationship with God.
II Second, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is for e__________, especially a believer (7:37b).
A. First, it is important that Jesus s__________.
B. Second, it is important that Jesus spoke “In a _________ voice.”
III So, we can have religion, and religion makes ___ feel good about _____________, or we can have a _______ relationship with God.