EVK Podcast

When it looks like the end -- Heaven is just getting started.  The cross was a place that crushed the disciples hopes and dreams.  And as 2 of them were leaving to go back home, Jesus walked with them for 11 kilometers. They thought He was dead, but He was explaining all that God had planned was now fulfilled, and telling them the next steps.  And He is walking with you today, even if you don't recognize Him.  

It looks like Jesus doesn't care - But Jesus is in your boat. In the times the storm looks bigger than you can handle, Know Jesus is there to get you through. Having a storm does not mean you are out of God's will, or that God doesn't care. There are sometimes God allows the storms to reveal Himself in a powerful way in your life. 

When it looks like you are alone - the Lord stands with you.  You will find that human support is limited, but God's presence is not.  If you belong to Jesus, you are never by yourself, He is always with you.  Let your praise start in the middle of your difficulties, when you feel the worst.  Because you trust God to be with you and deliver you.  

What looks like not enough, God calls more than enough.  What looks like something small God can turn it into something great. Take the lack that you have in your hands and put it into God's hands.  God multiplies everything we surrender to Him.  

!! Sorry about sound issues with our podcast today !!  -- There are many times that timing is important to God. And God's timing is not always the same as we think it should be.  But in the end, the Lord is always on time and He can do greater miracles for us. When Jesus seemed to be late for Lazarus, He knew God was going to do something greater than anyone thought. Faith is not knowing the outcome, but trusting the one who does know. You will see your miracle, if you believe.  

!! Sorry about sound issues with our podcast today !!  -- Many situations in life, what you see and what God sees are not the same. Many times God is doing the work in areas you can't see, and the end it is better than we dreamed.  It is not what it looks like to us.  What looks like sickness, isolation, defeat, weakness, punishment. Heaven says health, redemption, victory, strength, life. 

We are equipped as individuals, but we are also equipped as a church when we all come together. Jesus has give the church gifts, the Spirit has given the church gifts, but we all fit together as a church family when we each do our part.  The Lord equips His church. 

When God calls you He equips you.  But God will rarely equip you with all you need at the beginning.  When God supplies He is usually not early, but He is never too late.  In the story of Abraham and Isaac we see how Abraham's obedience and faith released great blessing.  And we also see the a beautiful picture of God offering His own Son on the cross.  

God will equip you for the victory, but God will also equip you for the recovery.  We can see from Elijah's life, even when fulfilling our calling, that there can come times of exhaustion or depression when we have given out all we have to give.  But God will meet us in the low places to bring us out with new purpose, and equip us for what is next.  

We need to simply believe God when He tells us that He will equip us for our future. God doesn't hold anything from you, He has given us everything in His grace.  We access all that is in grace by faith.  Our faith and God's mercy, release all that grace contains.  

The Word of God will equip you, but it is the Spirit of God that will empower you.  We have the Word to tell us the promises of God, but we need the Spirit to activates the promises.  The Spirit and the Word work together to equip you for life. 

The Word of God has been given to us by God, and it is what can equip us if we get into it with an open heart.  The Word will teach you, rebuke, correct, train you in righteousness, and encourage you!  The Word will point you to a relationship with Jesus.  

God has equipped us with everything we need to get through this life and make a difference.  We should do our best in the natural, but believe God for His supernatural.  Here is a reminder of some of the ways God has equipped us in life.  

The greatest reward for us as believers in Jesus, is heaven.  Heaven will be beautiful, more than you can imagine.  We need to think about heaven and talk about heaven more.  As we do, it will help us find our position and responsibility in this life.  The most important thing we can do, is help others find their way HOME!

Your reward is here now, but it is also there in heaven.  But we need to fight and be disciplined, so that we build our life on the foundation of Jesus.  We want to have a reward to give to Jesus when we get to heaven.  Train to run, and God will bless your life! 

Godly mom's are to be honored and valued, as they give their best to raise their children.  This Mother's Day message encourages mom's, as we look at Mary the mother of Jesus, to look to her example as a godly mother. 

You need to know that there is an enemy who wants to destroy your life.  But you also have a God who will always give you the victory.  When you give God your life, and serve Him, He will reward you. Never give up, never lose your confidence - the Lord is faithful to do what He promised!    

When it comes to receiving your reward from God, you need to be in the right alignment to where God says His blessings flow.  Love what God loves, and hate what God hates.  And love it when God tells you what to do in His Word.  That is the way to be rewarded in your life. 

Just having God in our life is a reward in itself. How you seek God will determine your rewards in life. Being diligent in seeking God will lead to great reward.  Never lose your fire for the Lord, and you will not lack anything. 

For his Easter message, Pastor Barry talks about Jesus on the cross, and WHAT He did for us.  But not only what He did, but WHY He did it.  He became our Savior, He gave us a life-line back to Himself, because we were heading to hell.  Thank God Jesus is ALIVE! 

When you serve God you need to keep 2 things in mind.  Guard your motivation, why you do what you do.  But know your incentive, the reward you get for obeying and serving the Lord.  God is a rewarder, and your reward is waiting.  

On the path that God has called you to run your life, there are many places of reward.  And God wants to show us that He is a rewarder, and the fact we are rewarded is what  motivates us to to serve God fully, 

When Jesus called Simon Peter, he asked him leave everything and follow Him.  And instantly he left his fishing company and huge catch of fish, to follow Jesus anywhere. Peter was a guy who did everything at 100%.  That is the kind of person Jesus is looking for, and loves to use for His Kingdom.  Let's be that kind of person - be willing to do whatever He asks of you! !  

In ancient Jewish custom, leprosy was considered a curse from God for the sins you had committed, and they were unclean.  But there was a man with leprosy, who had an encounter with Jesus, and it changed his life.  Jesus went against the Jewish Law and touch this man who had not been touched for years.  Thanks to the Love of Jesus, he was restored and could come back to his normal life. Jesus is all we need, He is our fulfiller.  

Jesus was being set up by the Pharisees to perform a miracle (to work) on the Sabbath day.  Jesus meets a man in the temple with a deformed hand, and He heals this man.  But He did it to show everyone there He is God, and He can do whatever He wants.  

Jesus chose to use an adulterous woman, who was divorced 5 times, and because of her a whole town was changed as many believe in Jesus as the Messiah. Divorce has affected many, and it hurts everyone involved in it.  That is why God hates divorce.  But unlike what many churches teach, divorce doesn't disqualify you to be used by God, or for ministry.  Jesus was clear what God's plan was for marriage, and that should be our goal!    

The woman Jesus met at the well in the heat of the day, shows us how no matter how we try to distract Jesus from touching our lives, if we keep listening to Him, He will change us in every way.  This outcast lady is now used by God to bring a city to Jesus, to believe in Him as the Savior of the World. 

Some encounters with Jesus changed lives, but some didn't.  This is the story of a rich man who had an encounter with Jesus, but walked away without receiving what he came for, because of his pride.  We need to learn from this, so we keep our hearts open to Jesus every day.  And He will reward us 100 times for anything we give up for HIm. 

The story of Zacchaeus is a cool story of one of the last men Jesus met, before going to the cross for the world. It is a story of a man who was... despised by the people, but chosen by Jesus.  A story of repentance, restoration, and salvation.  Jesus is more than we could ever dream of. 

We all need an encounter with Jesus -- He is the fulfiller, and the one we are all searching for in life.  A lady was brought to Jesus, and according to the Law she should have been killed.  But instead Jesus showed His grace and love -- Jesus took her punishment, and gave her a new start.  We are changed from an encounter with Jesus.  

To know you have the right filter, there are ways we need to relate to people. Pastor Barry talks about five things we need to live with to make an impact in the world around us.  And by living this way, we can use what Jesus did for us, to help change others. 

To have the mind of Christ, you need to have a Bible filter.  To know you have the right filter, Pastor Barry talks about five things Jesus said, that we can do our best to apply these things, as our filter in the way we look at our life with God.  

The root of problems in the world today is sin, and the condition of the human heart.  Jesus died on a cross to redeem you, and fix your heart.  The problem is sin, and what Jesus did on the cross is the answer.

Your Bible filter answers the question of human nature, and the role of sin in your life.  Sin is the reason there are so many problems in the world today.  Sin, transgression, and iniquities -- are areas of our life we are all responsible for.  But know that there is an answer for sin, and that is Jesus!

Jospeh is the hero of the Christmas story.  He humbled himself, and believed God with strong faith, as he raised Jesus who was "God with us".  Elisha also knew that God was with him, and he his prayer was to open the eyes of his servant so he could see the angels there. 

Our life filter needs to answer the question of our 'origin' -- Where did we come from, and why are we here? We need to look at our bible filter to answer that question correctly. You need to know that every life is holy, life has value, life has purpose, and life is eternal.

God is true, and His Word is truth.  There is absolute truth, and the bible clearly defines this truth for us. We can know God is true by His creation, by our conscience, and by rational thought.  Never accept someone else's filter, until you look at their life -- is it what you want?

Everyone has a filter -- the way we see the wold around us.  As Christinas we need to have a biblical filter.  We all have to answer 4 major questions of life: God, origin, human nature, and moral views.  How we filter things will determine what we see, what we believe, and our future results.  God's ways are best for us, so we go to the Bible to learn to see things the way God sees them.  

The last book of the Bible is Revelation, it is a book of encouragement, comfort, and warning – about the end times.  From Jesus's instruction to the churches, to the great tribulation, to the return of Jesus and the church, to the 1000 year reign of Jesus, to the final defeat of Satan, to having a new heaven and a new earth.  God is just showing us that He has a plan.  By reading this book, you can know that God will take away His church to be with Him before the tribulation. So as believers, we have nothing to worry about – just go make disciples!

The 22 Letters to the churches are our foundation in the church, and teach us how we are to ive our lives for Jesus.  These letters answer questions, help us know whoe we are in Christ, and they give us instruction, encouragement, and comfort.  

Welcome to the New Testament!  The 4 gospels of Jesus tell us the good news about who Jesus was, and what Jesus did for us.  They are all 4 very different in the writing styles and emphasis, but together these 4 books give us an amazing picture of Jesus, and who He was.  We should be continually reading the gospels, and following the life of Jesus.  

The 12 books of the prophets are the last books of the Old Testament.  The prophets were the ones who spoke for God in this time, to the people. They were a call for God's people to repent, and turn back to the Lord.  And they also spoke of the Messiah who would come be the deliverer and savior of Israel. 

The Wisdom Books should be our daily source for help in every situation of life.  They teach us what to do in our: relationships, finances, work-ethic, anger, speech,  time, who you listen to in life.  From Job to Song of Solomon, these books give us everything we to live a godly life, and be wise in the decisions we make.  

The 12 History books show us how Israel was established in the Promise Land, and how they eventually built the temple, where the presence of God was. But also tells of the many struggles they had along the way, the good and the bad kings, and how God is patient and merciful.  These are exciting books, filled with romance, wars, betrayal, mystery, adventure, action.  But Jesus come and give us access to God by His own blood, and now we can go boldly into His presence.  

We will tour the first 5 books of the Bible, called the books of Moses. They inform us of the beginning of everything, and then how things fell apart. Then tells us about the covenant God made with us and His redemption plan, that still impacts the world today.  Then tells of God's love and power for those who trust Him, and how to respond to His presence in your life. And how through obedience you can be prepared to enter into your Promise Land. It is the start to God's amazing plan, and the amazing story of God's love. 

The Bible is the most amazing book ever written.  It has been challenged for thousands of years, but there has never been anything false found in it.  The bible is truth, and it stands alone as proof of it's power, and the telling of the story of God's great love for us.  God and His Word will answer every question, so be bold to ask, and seek for answers in the Bible.  

We need to train in the combination of work and rest.  We need to be willing to work, work hard, give your best.  We need to train to give effort daily to be your best.  We also need to take a day to rest, recover, and spend time worshiping God and learning.  When you work right, you will be able to rest right.  

A spiritual discipline we need to train is the mindset of stewardship. We need to learn the difference between ownership and stewardship. God is the creator and owner of everything. So all you are, and all you have, belongs to God. Nothing you have is really 'yours' -- God is the owner, we are the stewards. We need to ask, "Lord, what do you want me to do, with what you have given to me?"

A Spiritual discipline that we need to train is how we use our words.  Don't speak death, doubt, fear, unbelief, anger.  But you can choose to speak life, faith, blessing, favor, truth.  With your words, you can build up and not tear down. You can steer your whole life in the way you want it to go, by training yourself to control your words.  

A Spiritual discipline we need to train in, is  the area of serving others, and serving in church.  Giving of ourselves in our time, our talents and abilities, is what God desires from each of us.  Serve God's by serving others, and follow the example of Jesus - "pick up the towel" and serve one another.