Perpetual worship can reveal God’s will for you, as it did for Isaiah, because as we worship, God changes and leads us. Worship isn't simply singing songs to God, it's a lifestyle of submission and obedience.
Archives: Episode
Influencer
What does it mean to be an influencer? Despite our pop culture definition, Scripture teaches that we are all meant to influence others toward Christ.
The End, Part 5
Is the “tribulation” all or partly fulfilled by events that have occurred already—like Romans destroying the Temple and killing all the Jews in 70–78 AD? If so, is there still one final “week” of tribulation yet to come? Is the Rapture pre- or post-tribulation? “One will be taken, the other left”—but is the first one the believer, or the unbeliever? We don’t know. We don’t even know if the beast, antichrist, and man of lawlessness are one thing, two things, or three things – or whether each is a person, or is instead more like the spirit of the world (as in “the spirit of antichrist is in the world”). And “the mark of the beast” could be a literal/physical mark, or it could be a metaphorical/spiritual mark (as in Exodus 13:9 and Deutoronomy 6:8). The purpose of Bible prophecies is not to reveal the exact future, but to strengthen and prepare us for it. So, our doctrine can’t be based on concrete interpretations (or misinterpretations) of prophecies; the Jews did that, and even missed Jesus because of it! Instead, we should be like the Bereans, who used scripture to test everything Paul said.
The End, Part 4
Is the antichrist one being, or a symbol for many – like Proverbs’ adulterous woman? Is it the beast or the man of lawlessness, or both? Or neither? May details are unclear. Yet the purpose of prophetic scripture is NOT to predict the future, but to strengthen our faith! God tells us some things about the end so we can prepare to be steadfast.
The End, Part 3
The exact details are fuzzy, but it is clear Christ will return and reign for 1,000 years on earth; before that, deception will greatly increase throughout the earth, with great sin and evil abounding more and more. “Terrible times will come…” (2 Timothy 3:1-5), and Satan will try to deceive “even the elect” (Mark 13:22). So what are we to do? We are to live the mission!
The End, Part 2
Scripture teaches that the end is coming. This week JR begins to dive into different schools of thought on Jesus' return by addressing premillennialism, amillennialism, and postmillennialism.
The End, Part 1
The end is coming! What matters most? Acting like Jesus, not being right on disputable details. We can’t know exactly when or how the end will come (Mark 13:32-33), but we do know Christ will return suddenly, visibly, and bodily (Acts 1:10-11, Luke 17:24, 1 Thessalonians 4:16). We are “on mission” to this broken world, and it matters how we act. God says to avoid quarrels (Romans 10:1) and “establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5:7-8).
The Thread of Fellowship, Part 4
JR Quigley continues in our series on conflict and relationships.
The Thread of Fellowship, Part 3
We must be like Jesus, who forgave the adulterous woman but said, “Go and sin no more”—and was killed unjustly yet forgave his killers. Like him, we can’t condone sin—yet we must learn to love. Similarly, especially with other believers, we must learn to recognize non-essential “meat-eating” issues (Romans 14) on which not all believers agree—issues like COVID masks and vaccines, how to run a Sunday service, and whether the charismata are still available today.
Resilient – Mark Spencer Workshop
Pastor and counselor Mark Spencer hosts a workshop on the interactions between rest, relationships with each other, and our relationships with God.
The Thread of Fellowship, Part 2
We must learn to compromise—not on God’s standard of right and wrong, which never changes, but on yielding to others in love. God is perfect, and would’ve been perfectly justified in wiping us out for our sin; yet instead he “compromised” by taking all of it upon himself in love. And since God loved us, we also ought to love one another (1 John 4:9-11).
The Thread of Fellowship – Mark Spencer at MHCC
Scripture calls us to remain in relationship with other believers - but what do we do when conflicts arise?
Wanted
Jason Harris teaches out of Proverbs 31 on the value of the Bride of Christ.
Why We Worship
There are infinite reasons to worship God. In this week's message, Jeff Wald teaches on four of those reasons and invites us to take seriously the power of the words we sing.
Think On These Things
Evil will increase until Jesus returns. Yet we are to rejoice and never worry—because God is good and just, and in the end he will make all things right.
In The Weeds
Jesus explains the problem of evil using the Parable of the Weeds in Matthew 13:24-30. Jesus explains that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seeds, but whose crop was corrupted by an enemy planting weeds among the wheat. The weeds will always be with us here on earth, and will never be eradicated until the “fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (Romans 11:25)—that’s us! At that time, the “weeds” will be burned and all of the good seeds, Jews and Gentiles together, will be harvested. Evil is growing—but so is God’s kingdom! When Christ left earth, it held about 250 million inhabitants and only a tiny percentage were Christians yet, while now it holds nearly 8 billion, and about 2.3 billion practice some form of Christianity! God is building a kingdom containing billions of believers, and one day he will burn the weeds and harvest the grain. But until then, we live in a weedy garden!
When You Return
In our Christian walk, we may occasionally find ourselves taking steps away from Jesus just as Peter did when he denied Christ (Luke 22:54-62). Despite this, Christ welcomes each step we take back towards Him, not condemning us for our lack of faithfulness.
The Living Word of God
In the U.S., studying the Bible is declining more and more. Study it! God’s living word changes us! It is sharp and// powerful; it divides soul from spirit, and it judges our hearts (Hebrews 4:12).
The Withering Fig Tree
The story of Jesus and the withering fig tree emphasizes the value of bearing spiritual fruit. With that in mind, how do we believers bear more fruit? Through connectedness with God in faith.
Fishing Trip
Whether we realize it or not, we are all called to be fishers of men. Scripture instructs us to make disciples of all nations - but how do we go about doing that? By growing the net!