Sunday, February 27, 2011
280. The Unattainable, Insurmountable, Unachievable Teachings of Jesus
At times, Jesus had some pretty strong words for His listeners. For example, one time He told a crowd that if their righteousness did not exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, they would by no means enter the kingdom of heaven! He also said that they must be perfect as their Father in heaven is perfect. And He said that while it was written in the law that a person shall not commit adultery, it wasn't only the act of adultery that mattered, but that if a person looked on someone with lust, that was adultery in the heart!
As if it wasn't already difficult enough to keep God's law, Jesus, at times, seemed to put a magnifying glass on it and made it all the more difficult to keep! So are these teachings of Jesus meant for Christians to follow? Didn't God send Jesus to lighten our load and to do for us what we couldn't do? Why then did He teach things that are impossible for us to do? We share our thoughts about that this week on Growing in Grace.
Download The Unattainable, Insurmountable, Unachievable Teachings of Jesus
(Click to Play or Right-Click to Download.)
This week's GIG Bite - A bite-sized chunk of this week's program.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
279. Forgive Others or God Won't Forgive You?
Download/Play MP3 (14 Min, 9.6 MB)
(Click to Play, Right-Click to Download, or use Player below)
In Matthew 6:14-15, Jesus made a very strong statement: "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." These indeed were the words of Jesus, so do they apply to Christians? Is it true that if we don't forgive others, God won't forgive us? How do these pre-Cross words of Jesus contrast with other New Covenant teachings that say we are already forgiven of all sins, not based upon what we do or don't do, but rather upon the Blood of Jesus?
Here's this week's GIG-Bite, a quick sample of this week's program.
(Click to Play, Right-Click to Download, or use Player below)
In Matthew 6:14-15, Jesus made a very strong statement: "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." These indeed were the words of Jesus, so do they apply to Christians? Is it true that if we don't forgive others, God won't forgive us? How do these pre-Cross words of Jesus contrast with other New Covenant teachings that say we are already forgiven of all sins, not based upon what we do or don't do, but rather upon the Blood of Jesus?
Here's this week's GIG-Bite, a quick sample of this week's program.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
278. Reflecting on Six Years of Growing in Grace
Download/Play MP3 (14 Min, 9.6 MB)
(Click to Play, Right-Click to Download, or use Player below)
This week marks the 6 year anniversary of the Growing in Grace program! So for this week's program we sit back and look back on those six years. We first go back to our own past church lives and talk about the beginnings of our own discoveries of grace, and how it was so refreshing and so liberating, and so different from what we'd heard in church all those years.
Then we look back upon how and why we began the podcast, and we share how the podcast, along with interacting with listeners, has impacted us over the years. Our weekly goal with this podcast is, of course, to encourage people in the foundational aspects of God's grace and unconditional love and our identity in Christ. Many people are struggling with terrible feelings of guilt and condemnation, and they really need to be encouraged often with these liberating truths. And many people simply enjoy, and feel refreshed and energized, through continual reminders of all of this.
Here's this week's GIG-Bite, a quick sample of this week's program.
(Click to Play, Right-Click to Download, or use Player below)
This week marks the 6 year anniversary of the Growing in Grace program! So for this week's program we sit back and look back on those six years. We first go back to our own past church lives and talk about the beginnings of our own discoveries of grace, and how it was so refreshing and so liberating, and so different from what we'd heard in church all those years.
Then we look back upon how and why we began the podcast, and we share how the podcast, along with interacting with listeners, has impacted us over the years. Our weekly goal with this podcast is, of course, to encourage people in the foundational aspects of God's grace and unconditional love and our identity in Christ. Many people are struggling with terrible feelings of guilt and condemnation, and they really need to be encouraged often with these liberating truths. And many people simply enjoy, and feel refreshed and energized, through continual reminders of all of this.
Here's this week's GIG-Bite, a quick sample of this week's program.
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Mick Mooney (Searching for Grace) Interviews Joel
From Mick's site: "In the interview we discuss the basic truths of the Gospel of God’s grace and what factors may be making it hard for believers to fully embrace it. We also talked about the concept of ‘full time ministry’ and what God’s perspective on it might possible be."
Sunday, February 06, 2011
277. Nobody's Perfect?
Download/Play MP3 (14 Min, 9.6 MB)
(Click to Play, Right-Click to Download, or use Player below)
We're sure you've heard the saying, "Nobody's perfect!" And you've probably heard the bumper sticker theology that says, "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven." Well, is that true? Is nobody perfect? Are Christians merely forgiven, but not perfect?
Most believers would agree that Jesus is perfect. Hebrews 7:28 even says that the Son "has been perfected forever." But did you know that the writer of Hebrews uses the phrase "perfected forever" to describe more than just Jesus? Hebrews 10:14 says that through the one offering of Jesus, God has "perfected forever" those who are sanctified! That's you and me!
The book of Hebrews says that through the law nothing could be made perfect, but with Christ "there is the bringing of a better hope, through which we draw near to God" (Hebrews 7:19). This is the very hope through which we've been perfected forever. This is our true identity in Christ. It's true, of course, that we don't always behave perfectly. Our performance doesn't always line up with our true spiritual identity. But that doesn't change our identity. It doesn't change what God has done in us through Christ, because our perfection isn't based upon our performance, but rather it is solely based upon the perfect sacrifice of Christ!
Here's this week's GIG-Bite, a quick sample of this week's program.
(Click to Play, Right-Click to Download, or use Player below)
We're sure you've heard the saying, "Nobody's perfect!" And you've probably heard the bumper sticker theology that says, "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven." Well, is that true? Is nobody perfect? Are Christians merely forgiven, but not perfect?
Most believers would agree that Jesus is perfect. Hebrews 7:28 even says that the Son "has been perfected forever." But did you know that the writer of Hebrews uses the phrase "perfected forever" to describe more than just Jesus? Hebrews 10:14 says that through the one offering of Jesus, God has "perfected forever" those who are sanctified! That's you and me!
The book of Hebrews says that through the law nothing could be made perfect, but with Christ "there is the bringing of a better hope, through which we draw near to God" (Hebrews 7:19). This is the very hope through which we've been perfected forever. This is our true identity in Christ. It's true, of course, that we don't always behave perfectly. Our performance doesn't always line up with our true spiritual identity. But that doesn't change our identity. It doesn't change what God has done in us through Christ, because our perfection isn't based upon our performance, but rather it is solely based upon the perfect sacrifice of Christ!
Here's this week's GIG-Bite, a quick sample of this week's program.
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