Wasatch Christian church podcast Pastor John Porter

Cultural change always begins with yourself….unless you or I change as Christians, we will never impact the cultural chaos.  Instead of adjusting the bible to our lives, we must adjust our lives to the bible.  When we do that, God works in and through us to impact our society.  Because when we live as God has called us to live, we stand out.  To deal with change in Ephesus, the Apostle Paul encourages Timothy to be very selective about the church leaders, to not just fill as position because its vacant, but to train
and wait for the correct person.  Why?  Because the “right people” internally in the church will help self govern the fellowship of believers and keep false doctrines and unbiblical beliefs out.  We can learn much from Paul’s instruction in our own church or even our own family.

The society that the young Pastor Timothy served in was
insanely secular.  Therefore the Apostle Paul writes to him and urges him to live counter culture, to look and live
different than those all around him.  Paul also encourages Timothy to teach the faithful how they should also
live to glory God…..and that way of living is publicly, faithfully, in love, and with all humility.  Join us as we
allow Paul’s letter to the young pastor impact our lives for the glory of God as well.

Timothy was a young and timid pastor with a ministry in a
very secular metropolitan area.  The Apostle Pauls encourages him to stand firm in his faith and to confront sin……but to confront it in love…….not like others confront sin.  Paul encourages the young pastor to put
himself in the lives of those that he is ministering to in order to understand them better, to be able to love them as Jesus loves them, and to share the gospel truth with them to change their lives.  We have so much to learn from this small letter

Unity.  The bible talks about it all the time concerning God’s people.  So, what is the problem, why are we not
unified as one single church under Jesus. Simple…..people.  People, even with good intentions and being very sincere…..still struggle with sin’s, opinions, and prejudice.  So we have the 1st church of this, the 2nd church of this, the real church of this, and so on because opinions happen and instead of unifying to glorify God, churches split.  Fortunately there is still hope in Jesus for us forgiven sinners.  We must not only have salvation, we must humble ourselves before God and put aside all those things that divide us.  In Jesus is resurrecting hope for true unity.

When it comes to suffering, God is not getting back at
us…..rather, He’s getting us back to Him.  This morning, we look at Resurrection Hope in times of grief, times of
loss.  Mary, Martha, and Lazarus give us a very clear picture of what grief and loss looks like.  Jesus, on the other hand, gives us a very clear picture on what God’s will and hope looks like.  Join us and be encouraged.

Disappointment is a terrible thing, especially when we are the one to cause disappointment. Today we look at a man who painfully disappointed Jesus in Jesus’ time of emotional need. He was in the worst and last days of His life and Peter betrays Jesus. Peter carries the emotional scar of his actions and goes back to his old ways of living….that is….until Jesus meets him where he is at and restores him. If you are in need of forgiveness from the painful scars of disappointment, join us today as we receive forgiveness and grace.