14:SIX Church Social: Recent Episodes
14:SIX Church Social
For many of us, church has always been a weekly meeting or two at building where we listen to someone give us a sermon that we call church. Nothing wrong with that, but it may not be the most effective way to reach the people around us. A recent national study found that when asked if your best friend invited you to church would you go? 64% said “no”. Of the 64% no’s when asked if that same best friend invited you to their home to talk about Jesus, 73% of those no’s said “yes”.
The Bible has several mentions of how average people used their homes as a place to worship. This is typically called house church or the church that meets at so and so's house. Jesus met with people in their homes where he taught, fellowshipped, and performed many miracles. If we are going to reach our neighbors, friends and family with the Gospel of Jesus Christ we may want to consider inviting them to our own homes to talk about Jesus.
Matthew 8:14-15 “When Jesus came into Peter’s home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. And He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on Him.” Luke 19:5-6 “And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” And he hurried and came down, and received Him joyfully.”
Luke 5:27-29 “After that He went out and looked at a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” And he left everything behind, and got up and began following Him. And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them.”
Luke 10:38-39 “Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. And she had a sister called Mary, who was also seated at the Lord’s feet, and was listening to His word.”
Luke 10:5-7 “And whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ And if a man of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they provide; for the laborer is deserving of his wages. Do not move from house to house.”
Message by Pastor Paul Karanick
From the Bible: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-15
'Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit, or a message, or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that he will be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is removed. Then that lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will eliminate with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not accept the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. But we should always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold on to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us. '
Not all princesses are from Disney. A princess is mention in the Bible, her name is Hadassah. You may know her as Esther; Queen Esther. 'Now the king and Haman came to drink wine with Esther the queen. And the king said to Esther on the second day also as they drank their wine at the banquet, “What is your request, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your wish? Up to half of the kingdom it shall be done.” Then Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me as my request, and my people as my wish; for we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, killed, and eliminated. Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have kept silent, because the distress would not be sufficient reason to burden the king.” Then King Ahasuerus asked Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who would presume to do such a thing? ” And Esther said, “A foe and an enemy is this wicked Haman!” Then Haman became terrified before the king and queen. '
From the Bible:
Joshua 3:1-6
Then Joshua got up early in the morning; and he and all the sons of Israel set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan, and they spent the night there before they crossed. 2 Then at the end of three days the officers went through the midst of the camp; 3 and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God with the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. 4 However, there shall be a distance between you and it of about two thousand cubits by measurement. Do not come near it, so that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.” 5 Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do miracles among you.” 6 And Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over ahead of the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people.
From the Bible: Luke 19:1-10 ' Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and he was unable due to the crowd, because he was short in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree in order to see Him, because He was about to pass through that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” And he hurried and came down, and received Him joyfully. When the people saw this, they all began to complain, saying, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner!” But Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I am giving to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I am giving back four times as much.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” '
Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the L ord is one! And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Keela was unable to find purpose in this life. Keela had to take care of her mom from a very young age. Her dad was out of the picture until about age 7 and he turned out to be very abusive. Before age nine, Keela had already attempted suicide. Feeling ashamed, fearful and no purpose for living, the end for Keela seemed to be inevitable. But, then she was invited to a birthday party and her life was thrown into a tail-spin of change.
So it was a surprise when a friend told me that I didn't have to be. Sitting criss-cross-apple-sauce on the ground, at a birthday party of all places, a beloved group of friends told me a story that changed my life, that so catastrophically wrecked my way of thinking that I rose up from the ashes as a new person. I asked them about heaven, more specifically if I would ever see my mom there. That got us talking, and all of a sudden, these nine-and-ten-year-old girls huddled around me and told me exactly what my heart had been longing to hear. They told me that God loves me. Like, really loves me. They told me that my sins had separated me from God (Isaiah 59:2) and that's why I felt trapped in a hopeless world, doing things that I knew were wrong. They told me that this sin kept me from God, who wanted me to be with Him. But then they told me that Jesus loved me so much that He died on a cross to take away the punishment for all the stupid crap that I had done (John 3:16). They told me that because of His death, I can have a relationship with the God of the universe and live with Him for all eternity in Heaven (John 14:6). They told me that God created me with a purpose, for a reason, to be His (1 Peter 2:9). They told me that He will never leave me (Hebrews 13:5). They told me that with Him, there is nothing to fear (Isaiah 41:10). Sitting there in that moment, I felt something in me that I had never felt before. A rightness. Hope. Hope. See her story on Instagram @keelahope
These days, everything seems to be so political and agenda based which leads to people twisting the truth to get the result that they are looking to obtain. the Bible tells us that in the last days, right will seem wrong and wrong will seem right. Living in a world full of lies makes it near impossible to make correct life choices. So what is truth? How do we know truth? Where do we find truth? the Bible is clear, God's Word is Truth. Jesus is Truth, we can trust and believe in Him.
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. ' (John 8:34-36, NASB)
Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. John 14:6 (NASB)
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. (John 16:13, NASB)
Pastor receives letter from prison from a man that had cheated the church out of money 14 years prior.