Asking According to God's Will

Gary DeLashmutt

1 John 5:14-15

Understanding how to pray according to God's Will includes: 1) entrusting ourselves to God's loving authority; 2) focusing on God's priorities; and 3) listening to God's Spirit. We must learn humble obedience to listen to His Will and present ourselves to Him, eager to live out His purposes. Our prayers should align with what God cares about including developing our character, sharing His love with others, and becoming more attuned to hear Him through His Word. As we couple our prayers with other Christians' and note the Holy Spirit's leading, we can better understand where God is leading us in our lives.

The Simplicity in Christ

Dennis McCallum

Galatians 5:6

Paul explained that the message of Christianity is quite simple. Jesus died on the cross for our sins and all we have to do is accept God's free gift of forgiveness through Jesus in order to start a relationship with God and go to heaven. There is no reason to add any unnecessary barriers to this message.

Living in Light of Jesus' Return

Gary DeLashmutt

1 John 2:28-3:3

Before Jesus returns, we can rest assured of God's great love for us. Not only that, God has promised that we will be like him when he comes back. In light of this promise, we should prioritize spiritual progress towards righteousness. As this occurs, our confidence in God can grow and we can be sure of living our lives purposefully.

False Teachers

Gary DeLashmutt

1 John 4:16

John warns his audience about the false teachers, something Jesus had forewarned about. False teachers are detected by their immoral lifestyle and teachings, their lack of love for others, and their denial of Jesus' identity. In order to combat false teaching, we should learn God's Word so we can evaluate teachers, reach out to victims of false teachers, and warn others about them.

Afterlife?

Dennis McCallum

Hebrews 12:1-2

Paul explained that our earthly bodies are temporary, but we will soon have eternal bodies. Christians will spend eternity in the new Heaven and the new Earth and it will be far better than our current lives. We should keep these truths in mind when we think about our lives here on Earth; everything here is so temporary. The afterlife is where our best life lies.

Understanding Our Freedom (Part 2)

Jim Leffel

Luke 19:1-7

Living lives of active love produces radical freedom in the lives of Christians. As a result, we are freed to identify with all kinds of people. Christian freedom is moving toward culture as much as possible within the moral limits of scripture. We should learn to: be excited to be in our culture while standing out on moral principles for God, be hospitable, and show love towards others.

Understanding Our Freedom (Part 1)

Jim Leffel

Romans 14:1-6

One area of understanding the freedom we have in Christ is matters of personal conscience. For some, the freedom in Christ may hurt their conscience and they should live by what their consciences say in grey areas that aren't under moral absolutes. Our role is to not judge those who place restrictions on their freedom for the sake of personal conscience, but should look to do what's loving towards them. Legalism and disunity spread when matters of conscience are seen as moral absolutes, so we should learn how to understand where our personal freedom in Christ extends.

Consecration & Transformation

Jim Leffel

Romans 12:1-2

Biblical worship is demonstrated by a life lived fully for God based on His mercy as we present our whole lives before Him to be used as He wants. As a result, God is able to transform our thinking to go against the values of the world. Gradually, God is able to help us understand how to pursue His purposes better as His will becomes more clear for our lives.

How to Know the Will of God

Dennis McCallum

Ephesians 5

Understanding God's Will for our lives requires wisdom and discernment. Elements to be considered when thinking about God's Will include: 1) scripture; 2) spiritual expediency; 3) correlated leading; 4) mature counsel; 5) direct divine revelation; 6) providential circumstances; 7) inner spiritual promptings; 8) spiritual gifting; 9) spiritual fruit; and 10) personal desires. God desires to make His will known to those are committed to following His leading and eager to ask for His insight.