Hardwired with Jeff Wickwire

The difference between the Levite priests and our great High Priest is like the difference between a single match and a lighthouse. A match will provide a little light and burn out quickly. But a lighthouse can cut through the darkness and guide ships safely to shore. In today’s message, Pastor Jeff wants you to recognize that the divide between man and God is too great for us to cross on our own, but our High Priest, Jesus, has bridged that gap forever with His gift of grace!  

Every wicked and evil thing in this world has an expiration date! While injustice has reigned in this world for a long time, the Bible also tells us that there is a day coming when Jesus will make everything right. The Kingdom of God is one of justice and peace, and it will never come to an end! Pastor Jeff reminds us today that the image of a King of justice and peace has existed since the book of Genesis, when Abram encountered Melchizedek, who, in his own right, was a king of justice and peace.

When you are buying a house, one of the most important things to do is to have the foundation inspected. A home with a poor foundation is going to have lots of problems over the years, if they aren’t there already! And if you don’t build your life on a good foundation, you will also see problems develop over time. Pastor Jeff reminds you today that God is the best foundation you could ever build your life on! You can trust Him with your entire life, and He will never lie or mislead you.

Have you ever walked out of church, and realized you already forgot what the sermon was about? The fact is that when we’ve been going to church for a long time, it can be easy to just sit in our seat and go through the motions, without taking the effort to grow in our relationship with Jesus. Well, Pastor Jeff encourages us to break out of that cycle! Instead of letting today’s message wash over you, take the time after this program to think about how you can apply what you learn to your daily walk with the Lord.

Even the most talented musicians can play a wrong note every once in a while! But few things in life will ever be truly perfect, and that is especially true for us in our struggle with sin. Pastor Jeff teaches us today that we will slip back into sin every once in a while. But the sign of the Holy Spirit working in us is that even when we sin, we don’t give in to a sinful lifestyle. We make a mistake, we pray to God in repentance, and then we continue following along in the path set before us, one step at a time.

There is a battle raging inside you every single day! Two natures are competing for control over your life: the sinful nature that you were born with, and the new nature that you have been given in Jesus. Pastor Jeff will teach you today that to fully embrace your new nature, you must put the old nature to rest. You have been freed of your slavery to sin, but you still need to immerse yourself in God’s Word to break free of the last remaining shackles on your life and begin your new life in Christ.

It’s a somber thought to think that you could lose out on your salvation. After all, the Bible reminds you time and time again that nothing can separate you from the love of God! Well, Pastor Jeff teaches you today that those who have decided to reject Jesus outright have indeed shut themselves off from His saving power. Jesus isn’t a tyrant, and He won’t force someone who doesn’t want anything to do with Him into a relationship. But once you choose to reject Him, there’s no going back. 

Have you ever been betrayed by your closest friend? It can feel like a dagger to the chest, seeing the person whom you trusted more than anyone turn away from you and treat you like their enemy. Well, Pastor Jeff reminds you today that Peter did exactly that when he denied Jesus three times! But yet, the Lord was still ready to forgive His disciple and friend. After Jesus’ resurrection, He restored Peter to be by His side once again, and He will do the same for you, even when you backslide into sin.

When I started seeing a new counselor, one of the first things that stood out to me was the different certificates he had on his wall. Not only did he have his college degrees displayed, but he also had other certifications that demonstrated his experience with various issues. Pastor Jeff wants to teach us today that Jesus has the ultimate certification to be our high priest. He mended the gap between God and man by taking on the sins of the world and dying on the cross. That certificate is written in His own blood!

What would you think if you paid to go on a tour of Paris, only to find out your tour guide had never been to Paris before and thought that the official language of France was Spanish? Your guide should have a deep understanding of the place they are giving you a tour of. Pastor Jeff wants to remind you today that the tough experiences he has faced in his own life allow him to empathize with your situation! He has learned to rely on God’s grace and will teach you how to do the same.

A gemologist has all kinds of tools to determine whether a jewel is real or fake. But one of the simplest tests when examining a gem is to test it with a refractometer. You might be able to make an inferior material look like a real diamond or emerald to the naked eye, but the refractometer reveals the true nature of the gemstone. Pastor Jeff wants to teach you today that God sees right through your actions and into your heart. He knows if you are truly following Him, or if you are chasing after your own pursuits.

Trying to control the Holy Spirit is like trying to control the flow of whitewater rapids. In the end, you will realize that you cannot control where the waters are going; you just have to let yourself be swept away by the current! Pastor Jeff teaches you today that you cannot control the Holy Spirit by your own efforts. But what you can do is allow the Spirit to guide you and direct you, even if what He is telling you to do isn’t what you expected to happen. After all, His direction is always better than your own direction.

Sometimes we can forget that the Holy Spirit isn’t a nameless and faceless force, but that He is a part of the Trinity, equally powerful as the Father and the Son! Pastor Jeff teaches you today that the power that Jesus had when He performed miracles on Earth is available to you now, and it is all because of the Holy Spirit living within you. That power has been given to you so that you can continue the ministry that Jesus began two thousand years ago. The task isn’t over until all have heard the Gospel.

A valuable lesson for us to learn is that our actions have consequences. When you throw a baseball at a window and break it, you are responsible for replacing it. When you get distracted while driving and rear-end another vehicle, your insurance will find you liable for the accident. Pastor Jeff wants us to realize today that our actions have eternal consequences. Whether or not we accept Jesus’ salvation can mean eternity in God’s rest, or eternal separation from His presence. 

Whenever I’m on a long road trip, the hardest part of the journey is usually in the last couple of hours before I reach my destination. I’ve been going for so long, but my destination feels so far away! But then, something clicks, and I get a second wind as I begin to think of the rest that awaits me! Pastor Jeff reminds us today that when the hope of Heaven takes place in our hearts, we become equipped to endure this world! The Gospel gives us that second wind, as we look forward to our eternal reward!

What happens to a flower when you pluck it from its roots? It may stay in bloom for a short amount of time, but before long, it will dry up and die, unless you provide it with water and nutrients from a different source. In today’s message, Pastor Jeff reminds you that you are one of God’s flowers, and the only source of life that can truly sustain you is the vine of His Word. When you become separated from the vine, you seek sustenance from other sources, but they can’t give you lasting fullness.

Living in God’s Holiness is something that we cannot do on our own. The majority of us cannot get through a single day without sinning in one way or another. But when that happens, God doesn’t want us to wallow in self-pity and regress to our old nature. Pastor Jeff teaches us today that the process of sanctification happens one step at a time. Becoming more like Jesus isn’t a short sprint; it is a marathon that will take us our entire lives to run. There is a great reward awaiting us at the end!

By today’s standards, Moses would probably have been considered a difficult preacher to listen to. He did not mince words when it came to calling out the people of Israel for their sinful behavior. He desired to see his people live in God’s favor, as they were pressing on to the land that God had promised to them. In today’s message, Pastor Jeff wants you to recognize that a spiritually robust Bible teacher will not sugarcoat Scripture, because God’s Word demands to be taken seriously.

When you were first filled with the Holy Spirit, a flame was lit within your soul. But that first encounter with the Holy Spirit was just a spark. You need a continuous re-filling of His Presence if that flame is going to last in the long term. In today’s message, Pastor Jeff wants you to learn about the importance of being constantly filled with God’s presence, because the filling you received a week ago isn’t going to help you get through today. You need a new outpouring of the Spirit each and every day.

No one ever has to go very far out of their way to find temptation. Much like billboards on the side of the road, there are temptations all around you, trying to distract you from your goal. In today’s message, Pastor Jeff will remind you that avoiding temptation in this fallen world is impossible. What you have control over is which voices you allow to speak into your life. If you allow yourself to be filled with the Holy Spirit, He will speak into your heart and help you overcome the enemy’s tricks.

When will you take God’s warnings seriously? All throughout Scripture, the Lord warns that He will not allow those with sinful hearts to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. That means that, if you were to face His judgment on your own merit, you would not be allowed access into His heavenly kingdom.  But Pastor Jeff wants you to remember today that there is a way for you to be adopted into God’s family. Jesus’ gift of grace covers over all of your sins and marks you as one of God’s own beloved children. 

When the Titanic sank, hundreds of people escaped in lifeboats, waiting for aid to arrive from other ocean liners nearby. But imagine if someone had just witnessed the catastrophic end of the Titanic, but refused the help of the other ships that came to their rescue! That’s what Pastor Jeff tells us today about those who reject Jesus’ salvation. There is no excuse for us to refuse the help that is offered to us when there is no other way we can escape the dark and cold waters of this sinful world. 

Have you ever tried to get a tough stain out of a piece of clothing? Some of these stains can take several washes with different cleaning products to remove, and even then, there may be a tiny bit of the stain remaining, even after all that work. But Pastor Jeff is here today to remind you that Jesus removes the greatest stain of all time from your life! While sin left a permanent mark on your life that no work of man could possibly undo, Jesus died so that the stain of sin could be taken away from you!

You’ve probably spent your whole life being told that we’re in the “last days”. Frankly, after a few years, this warning probably starts to make you sigh and roll your eyes. But in today’s message, Pastor Jeff reminds us that we really are in the last days! These last days began when Jesus rose from the dead, and the era we have been in for the last two thousand years is a time of grace. The gates of Heaven are wide open for anyone to call on the name of Jesus and be saved from their sin.

If you saw your best friend getting ready to jump off a cliff without a parachute, would you stop them? Or would it be more “loving” to let them learn the consequences of their actions on their own, and watch them plummet to their own destruction? Well, in today’s message, Pastor Jeff reminds you that in some situations, the best way you can love someone is to point out the danger that they are putting themselves in. It is better to warn someone of their danger than to watch them be destroyed by sin.

Following after Jesus is hard! It’s not just a one-time decision we make, but a series of thousands of tiny decisions we make every day. Pastor Jeff is here today with a message of encouragement. He wants to remind you that even when you slip back into sin, it’s easy to get back on the right path. We as humans can't live up to God’s standard of perfection, but what we are asked to do is just to strive to be more like Jesus every day. The change we are seeking in our lives will come slowly over time.

What would you think if the tomato plants in your garden produced grapes? Or if an apple tree at your local orchard started growing carrots? The fact is that a plant cannot produce fruit that doesn’t match what it is designed to produce in its DNA. In today’s message, Pastor Jeff reminds you that the fruit that you bear in your life is indicative of the state of your soul. The Fruit of the Spirit is an outward sign of the new life that the Holy Spirit has created in the depths of your heart.

A lot of us have people we consider to be “friends”, but when we think about our relationship with those friends, we realize that our friendship is pretty shallow! Maybe we only connected over a mutual hobby, or we haven’t taken the time to get to know them on a deeper level. Well, Pastor Jeff teaches us today that one of the things we have to do as Godly friends is to love them in the way that God loves us. That means that we don’t just love our friends, but we have the courage to speak the truth to them. 

These days, there are all kinds of people online ready to sell you on a get-rich-quick scheme. And unfortunately, many of those grifters come from within the Church! Pastor Jeff warns you today about those Biblical teachers who claim that God will multiply your financial gifts. Your goal with giving should not be to increase your own wealth, but you should give out of a cheerful heart and a desire to see God’s Kingdom established here on this Earth! After all, you can’t take money to Heaven.

Have you ever heard a preacher on the radio or on TV, telling you that if you have faith, you will be blessed with riches and shiny new toys? Well, Pastor Jeff is here to remind you today that those teachers are bending God’s Word to fit their own agendas! What the Bible actually promises is that if you have faith in God, you will be blessed by His Presence. The Word of God reminds you that material wealth can be a dangerous trap if you allow it to take priority over your loyalty to the Kingdom of God.

When you’re driving on the freeway, you can’t just exit the road whenever you want! More often than not, there are barriers and obstacles that stop you from driving off a highway back into regular traffic, so you are forced to take a designated off-ramp. Well, Pastor Jeff teaches you today that life is a journey with only two possible destinations, and you have to choose which one you will travel to. One of them leads to eternal destruction, and the other one leads to eternal life. There is no third option. 

It is perfectly normal for those of us who follow Jesus to wish that all people would be saved. After all, how could a loving God allow someone to go to hell, to spend eternity in torment? Well, Pastor Jeff reminds us today that we need to put away our feelings when it comes to God’s Word. We can’t twist the Word to fit our own desires; we must allow the Word to shape our minds and our hearts. The teachings of universalism come from a well-meaning heart, but they have no Scriptural foundation.

It’s important to be vigilant about the kind of people you allow into your life. What kind of fruit does their life produce? Are they really living for the Lord, or are they claiming to live for Him while doing the exact opposite? Pastor Jeff warns you today that one of the easiest ways to allow the enemy access to your life is to allow lukewarm Christians into your life. When you let your guard down, Satan gets the opportunity to work his way into your life and sow lies and false teachings in your heart.

If you ever feel useless, one of the best things you can do is recognize that God has placed you in your current situation for a reason. He doesn’t make mistakes, and His plans for your life are going to look a lot different than the plans you may have for yourself. Pastor Jeff teaches you today that the world will try to make you feel unimportant and insignificant. But if you quiet your mind and listen to the Holy Spirit’s voice, you will become aware of the peace you feel in the center of God’s will.

Sometimes it can feel good to turn your brain off. Just going through your everyday life can feel like drinking water from a firehose, as information sprays at you way faster than you can process it. But Pastor Jeff warns you that when it comes to spiritual experiences, you can never be too careful. There are false teachers out there who want you to believe that they have a special revelation from God, but if that revelation isn’t based in Scripture, then they are spreading a corrupt message!

You know, sometimes I take a slightly different route on my way home from work, just so I can see a part of the city I’m not used to. Sometimes, I switch up the seasonings in my favorite meal, or try a little bit more cream in my coffee. Variety and novelty can be a good thing! But in today’s message, Pastor Jeff reminds us that seeking new spiritual experiences can lead us down a dangerous road. The novelty of a mystical encounter with Jesus cannot take priority over the study of God’s Word!

As a follower of Jesus, you are uniquely equipped to preach His truth into the darkness of this world! In today’s message, Pastor Jeff teaches you that there are many teachings and ideologies in today’s culture that cause people to believe false things about themselves. They base their identities on something that isn’t true! But when you draw your identity from God’s Word and what Jesus says about you, it gives you the ability to be a light that brings hope to this world full of confusion and uncertainty!

These days, more people are concerned with the narrative of the oppressor and the oppressed than ever before. Everything that exists in this world has to fit into one of those two categories, and that can require a lot of ideological leaps and broad generalizations. In today’s message, Pastor Jeff will warn you about the pitfalls of woke ideology and remind you that true justice can only come from the Lord. Do not let your concern for social justice overcome your hunger for the things of God.

If you’ve been listening to the past few messages from Pastor Jeff, you will remember that God has full and perfect knowledge of the future. Pastor Jeff teaches us today that this concept of foreknowledge actually fixes one of the main points of tension we can have with Calvinism. God predestines us to be saved, but that is only because He knows before we are even born that we will accept Jesus’ gift of salvation! That’s why predestination and free will don’t necessarily contradict each other.

Ironically enough, patience is a virtue that you build up over time. Especially in today’s society, it’s too easy to get anything you want exactly when you want it. If you look hard enough, the next thing you want or need is available with free two-day shipping. But Pastor Jeff reminds you that the patience that the Lord gives you is built slowly over time. Learning to follow Jesus is a deliberate process that can’t be rushed. But the good news is that every day you stick with it, that process becomes easier.

Did you know that you have something in your heart that Satan wants? It’s not something that he wants for himself; it’s something that he wants to rip out of you and destroy. Pastor Jeff teaches you today that the moment that God’s Word took root in your heart, you became the enemy’s target. You may face demonic attacks in this life because the enemy’s goal is for you to allow the blossoming Word of God to die in your heart. It’s something that you need to protect with everything you have.

Sometimes, we think that God is treating people unfairly. Why are some people blessed more than others? Why is this righteous person facing a trial, while their neighbor is being rewarded for sinful behavior? Well, Pastor Jeff reminds you today that God works in ways that may not seem immediately “fair” to us humans. However, God is always working in ways that will direct glory back towards His name. We don’t always understand His actions, but we can understand His end goal. 

When you read in God’s Word that He knows your actions before you know you will do them, does it make you feel a bit like a robot? Like, your decisions aren’t really your own? Well, Pastor Jeff wants to calm that fear today. See, God’s knowledge of your present, your past, and your future doesn’t rob you of your free will! It just means that God knows exactly what you will do with the free will you have been given. The Father can read your life like a book, and He read the ending before you were even born.

If you went to a mechanic in your town and realized they didn’t know how to do a simple repair to your car, would you still go back to that mechanic the next time you needed work done? Would you shop at a grocery store where they put fresh produce in the dairy section? Well, Pastor Jeff is here to tell you today that if God truly cannot see the future, then He isn’t truly God! The pitfall of open theism is that it denies God’s knowledge of the future, and it reduces Him to a powerful but clueless figure.

Our culture today is all about winners and losers. People skip to the end of debates to see whose argument prevailed. They cheer on their favorite sports team, and then act like it’s the end of the world when they don’t win the championship. Well, Pastor Jeff reminds you today that the Lord doesn’t ask you to seek victory over false teachers. Instead, God’s Word tells you to challenge a false teacher, and if they won’t repent and turn away from their false doctrine, to turn away yourself, and avoid their influence.

Would you rather listen to a teacher who makes you feel good about your life, or one who warns you about places where you might stumble or be deceived? Well, Pastor Jeff is here today to be a teacher who warns! We’re going to begin a series on false teachings that can sway people away from the way of Jesus. What we’re going to learn is that the New Testament is packed with warnings about how to recognize a false teacher and what to do when they begin to infiltrate our community of believers. 

When the Bible says that God sets a table for us in the presence of our enemies, that means that He has already gone before us to prepare the way for us. Sometimes it can feel like we are walking through this life alone, like no one is watching out for us. But Pastor Jeff reminds us that we have a God who cares about us and is looking out for us. If you're feeling alone as you walk through a difficult season, it may just well be because God is preparing the path ahead of you to give you rest!

What would you do if you got a phone call from an attorney, letting you know that a distant relative left you an inheritance of ten thousand dollars with no strings attached? Even that amount of money can be life-changing in the right circumstances. Well, Pastor Jeff teaches you today that while money is a useful thing to have, it is not the thing that will bring you last happiness in this life. There are rich people who never seem to have enough, but the riches found in God’s Word will satisfy your soul.

When you make a wrong turn, do you just keep heading in the wrong direction toward the wrong destination? Of course not! You find a safe place to turn around and continue on your journey in the right direction. Well, Pastor Jeff teaches you today that no matter how far you’ve drifted from God’s will for your life, all you need to do to get back on track is to repent of your sin and turn back towards the Lord’s presence. Spend time in God’s Word, and He will begin to work healing miracles in your soul.

Jesus had to endure the absolute worst of humanity. Not only did He come face-to-face with every form of sin, but He was also subjected to some of the worst torture that humans could come up with. Pastor Jeff teaches you today that Jesus spilled blood seven times as He stood tall against sin. But in all of the pressure He faced, Jesus never resorted to sinful anger. The same strength that helped Jesus endure the violence of this world is available to you today, as you endure trials in your own life.