April 8, 2016: This week we looked at how the Lord speaks to us and displays His power compared to the Old Testament.
Table Talk is filmed Friday mornings from 6:30-8:00 at the Egg Platter on US 19 in Pinellas Park, FL. If you happen to be in the area and interested in joining us please come; all men are welcome regardless of denomination.
Last time we started to look at the concept of fellowship and Hebrews 10:24-25. We saw that in this passage fellowship has an aspect of pushing each other to be closer to God, if we continue to look at the passage, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
So we see the next thing the author of Hebrews mentions is that we are not to neglect meeting together. What this means is that our life as a believer should not be in isolation, we need to be around each other. You cannot do it alone, the church is often called the body of Christ, what happens when a part of the body is no longer a part of the body? Say something as small as a hair is removed, that strand of hair will die; the believer that tries to live in isolation from other believers suffers the same fate, they will spiritually dry up. As I brought up last time in Proverbs 27:17 we are told “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another,” We need others and to gather together for them to be able to push us into strengthening our faith. The problem isn’t just having others to help us grow in our faith, but look at when you hit hard times. If you are living your life in isolation you have no one that can come and give you an encouraging word, or to just provide comfort by being there to listen to you vent; in isolation you have no support.
The author of Hebrews plainly told his original audience that neglecting meeting together has become the habit of some. It was an issue back in the first century and it is even more so today. You may state but we are more connected today, we have the internet which allows us to be connected with others all around the world. These virtual relationships, while at times can be beneficial, can also produce a false sense of fellowship. Yes with our virtual worlds we can connect with those we may never have the chance to meet in person, or we can keep connected with those that have moved away. With physical relationships and physical fellowship when you encounter a crisis, you have those that can be there for you and help out if it is needed. All you get with the virtual are words of encouragement, even if they may want to help they are limited. These limitations are one main reason why it is important to get plugged into a local body of believers, as they are able to help out in ways that those in a virtual community are not able to.
Next time we will finish off this passage by looking at how we are to finally encourage each other, as this comes out of both motivating each other and gathering together.
Air Date April 10, 2016: This week we looked at how Christ will pursue you no matter where you are in life.
Last week in our going back to the basics we took a look at worship, and how it is our way of expressing our love and gratitude towards God. This week we will be looking at a similar concept which is that of fellowship; the definition of which is, “friendly association, especially with people who share one’s interests.” In regards to how we as Christians view fellowship a great passage to look at is that of Hebrews 10:24-25, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
The first thing we notice is that the author of Hebrews calls the believers to “consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” This phrase “stir up” had me curious what some of the other translations used, and I saw phrases such as encourage, stimulate, spur on, and the good old King James calls us to provoke each other. I will say the translations that use spur on, and provoke as well as others that use stir up bring a stronger sense than just to encourage. What the author is wanting us, and was wanting the believers to whom he was originally writing, to do was more of a challenge.
When I think of encouragement I think of someone suggesting a change or an action, more of being a cheerleader. Where stirring up or provoking something is to aggravate it, much like poking a sleeping bear. It is like when many of us were younger and would among our friends dare each other to do stupid stunts. The author of Hebrews is saying think of ways to dare each other, to challenge each other. As men this should speak to us we should find a way to be competitive with each other.
So what is it we are to dare each other with, various ways of showing love and good works. We should be thinking of ways to challenge each other to show Christ’s love to our fellow man. We should find ways to dare each other to put our faith into action. One of my favorite passages is in James where he is talking about faith without works is dead. He is not saying we are saved by any sort of works, but that good works should flow out of our faith.
But how does this competitive attitude towards love and good works promote fellowship? Well it is the concept found in Proverbs 27:17, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” You see when in Christian fellowship we are challenging each other to a sort of do better than this in love and good works, we should be pushing each other to focus more on Christ. We are not telling each other see what I did, I bet you can’t out do it. Instead we are saying see this action, I bet you can do better than this. We are not trying to bring our actions or ourselves glory but we are trying to build and strengthen each other to bring glory to God.
Fellowship does not stop here though, next time we will look at the next part of Hebrews 10:24-25, “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some.”
April 1, 2016: This week around the table we got back into Acts 2 and talked about the unity of believers.
Table Talk is filmed Friday mornings from 6:30-8:00 at the Egg Platter on US 19 in Pinellas Park, FL. If you happen to be in the area and interested in joining us please come; all men are welcome regardless of denomination.
So this week we are looking at worship and last time we looked at what worship is and why as Christians we worship God. Today I want to look at Romans 12:1-2 and what it says about our worship. “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
We see in Romans 12:1 that Paul is telling the believers in Rome that they need to present their bodies as a living sacrifice. The big thing about this statement is that it is an act of humility and submission. I know as men those are two words we do not want to be associated with us, but that is what it means to be a living sacrifice. This is because in most cases a sacrifice was killed before being placed on the altar, but as a living sacrifice we are able to get up and walk off; this is where the humility and submission comes in. We are submissive because as a living sacrifice we are willingly placing our lives into God’s hand, allowing Him to do what he wants with us, to use us how He wills. We show humility because the act of presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice shows we understand it is not about us, that there is someone greater than we are.
Paul then tells us and the Roman believers that the act of presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice is an act of spiritual worship. This is because of that attitude of submission and humility required to first present ourselves as a true living sacrifice. You see as a believer when we submit ourselves to God as a living sacrifice our hearts are crying out to God because of His love for us. We are saying to God that out of our love for what He has done for us, we realize that He is sovereign and greater than we are. That because of who God is we willingly submit to Him, we will never be perfect but we are holy and acceptable to God because out of our hearts we are turned towards Him. So what does it look like to be a living sacrifice? We will look at that next time as we look at Romans 12:2.
Every week Becoming God’s Man Ministries records a radio show that is aired on Inspiration Radio 1110 AM on Sunday mornings at 8:30 in the St. Petersburg area. We usually have a number of the different pastors and leaders that are involved with the ministry there and occasionally a guy that the ministry has reached will join us.
Air Date April 5, 2016: This week we looked at the post resurrection appearances of Christ
Well today we will wrap up looking at 2 Timothy 3:14-17 and the importance of studying the Bible. So far we have seen that the Bible helps to make us wise regarding salvation, showing us God’s plan for salvation and how we are saved; and we have seen that the Bible was inspired by God and is profitable for living out our Christian faith. Which leads us into today’s topic. In verse 16-17 we see Paul tell Timothy regarding the Bible, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped mfor every good work.” Where we will look at today is that it helps us to be complete and equipped for every good work.
In verse 17, Paul starts out by telling Timothy that by being in the Scriptures “the man of God may be complete,” other translations may have perfect. The first thing to notice is that it is “the man of God” that is made complete. What Paul is getting at is that what he is saying pertains to believers. A person can read the Bible all they want, but unless the Holy Spirit is working in them they will never gain the full benefit of what the Scriptures contain. They may see it as suggestions to good moral living with a collection of stories; but never understand that it is the divine truth, God’s holy word.
So what does a believer gain from the word? It makes them complete or in some translations perfect. What the word Paul used here is getting at is not being sinless or that sort of perfection but rather it is the concept of being in fit shape or in fit condition. To be made complete through study of the Word is to put us in a place where we are the most effective when God uses us. Think of it like a car, you can do the bare minimum to keep a car running; but put it in the hands of a good mechanic to fine tune it and suddenly the car does not just run but it runs at its peak performance. The Christian is much the same way when the Holy Spirit works in them through the study of Scripture.
We then go on to notice that Paul states that not only are we made fit for service but the Bible will also equip us for service as well. What Paul is getting at is that through studying the Bible we are given the tools needed to do God’s work. Now the works that Paul is speaking of here are those that come out of our faith, they are an expression of our faith. Studying the Bible is what gives us the power to live out our faith. Often we state we feel we do not have what we need in order to do what God has called us to do, but Paul is stating here that we have all that we need and then more, all we need to do is to spend time in God’s word.
So this week we are looking at the Bible and why it is important to study it; last time we looked at how a knowledge of Scripture helps you to come to a knowledge of salvation. Today we are going to look at the next aspect of why studying the Bible is important. In 2 Timothy 3:16 we see, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” Paul tells Timothy two things here that make studying the Bible important; it is inspired by God and it is profitable.
The first thing that Paul mentions in this verse is the importance of the source of Scripture. I know when writing research papers there are different types of sources, where the professors want you to use as many quality sources as possible, sources that are accurate and reliable as opposed to the random rants of someone on the internet. What he points our is that Scripture was inspired by God, or as we see in some translations that it was God breathed. What this means is that what we see in the Bible was in a way dictated to the authors by God; but in a way that was more in terms of thoughts and concepts, as God’s truth flowed through the minds, souls, hearts, emotions, and personalities of the various authors. This is seen by each writer having their own style and presentation; Paul uses a different vocabulary than James, and Luke writes to the Greek mind while Matthew speaks more to the Jews. It all however, is God’s truth breathed into the writers.
The next thing we see is that not only is the source of Scripture important, but the uses of Scripture is important. Paul gives a list of ways that the Bible is to be used by stating that in each of these areas Scripture is profitable, it brings about the best results. The four areas in which Paul lists Scripture as being profitable all work together in helping the believer grow. First is that of teaching or in fancy terms doctrine, it is learning what is right. That is followed up by reproof, or telling us what is not right. So with these first two aspects Scripture tells us what we should be doing and what we should not be doing; what our goals should be and what we should try to avoid. Then there comes correction, this is where Scripture helps to tell us how to get right; especially when we fail, as we all will do at one point or another. Finally Scripture is profitable for training in righteousness, or how we are to stay right. These last two go together because as we are shown how we have failed and how to get right with God, we then are shown how to remain that way. This is not a one time deal, it is a life long process that we must all endure; and that is what Paul is getting at with how Scripture is profitable to us. It brings us to salvation, to faith in Christ, but then leads us through maturing in our faith.
Every week Becoming God’s Man Ministries records a radio show that is aired on Inspiration Radio 1110 AM on Sunday mornings at 8:30 in the St. Petersburg area. We usually have a number of the different pastors and leaders that are involved with the ministry there and occasionally a guy that the ministry has reached will join us.
Air Date March 27, 2016: This week around the table we had Pete O’Shea, Chuck, Glenn, and Pastor Ray talking about Easter and its significance.