February 3, 2017: This week we talked about what sort of inheritance we have gained whether good or bad and what legacy we are leaving for our children by being willing to be used by God when and where He calls us.
prayer
Table Talk – Episode 76 – Prayer for Our Government Officials
January 20, 2017: This week Pastor Sam led us in some intercessory prayer for the incoming elected government officials.
Table Talk – Episode 54 – Just Be
July 15, 2016: This week Pastor Sam noticed the sign on the building across the street from the restaurant had some burnt out letters making the sign read “Just B” and how we as Christians should just be who God made us to be.
Table Talk is a weekly gathering of men in the Pinellas Park area from different denominations and backgrounds. We meet every Friday morning from around 6:30-8:00 at the Egg Platter restaurant. It is located at 6767 US Highway 19 North in Pinellas Park. If you happen to be in the area feel free to come out and join us for a time of fellowship and Bible study.
Becoming God’s Man Radio Show Episode 23 – After Conference
Air Date May 8, 2016: This week we talked about the followup sessions we are holding after the conference we held the previous day.
Back to the Basics – Saved By Grace
With our next conference coming up, where the theme is “Back to the Basics;” I figured it would be best to take a look at some of the basics. Now when thinking of getting back to the basics there is one concept that needs to be dealt with before any others. We can read Scripture and study the Bible, have a quiet time, and even attend church but unless we have given our life to Christ it is useless. The first basic that needs to be dealt with when getting back to the basics is the question of “Are you a Christian?”
So what does it mean to be a Christian?
I know those of us that are Christians, and even some that are not, are well aware of the vocabulary we use when trying to find out whether someone else is a Christian. We use phrases like “given your life to Christ,” “asked Jesus into your heart,” or “are you saved.” You see to be a Christian means that we are saved from a life of sin and spiritual death. So now the question is not what is a Christian but how are you saved? Paul probably puts it best when writing to the church in Ephesus, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Saved by Grace Through Faith
The first thing Paul tells us is that we are saved by grace through faith. So what is grace; some people will use the phrase “God’s riches at Christ’s expense” to describe what grace is. Essentially it is receiving something that was not earned or deserved. You see God bestows upon us salvation not because we have earned it or deserved it, but because since we believe and trust in Him He desires to give it to us. Paul told the church in Rome that while we were enemies of God Christ came to die for us. You see would you willingly die to save the life of someone you know that hates you? Would you lay down your life for someone that would rather have nothing to do with you? This is what God did for us.
Not by Works
As I previously mentioned God’s grace is not earned or deserved, so Paul following up his statement about being saved by grace through faith with it being a gift of God and not by works is to help explain how we are saved. You see it is not because we said a prayer, got baptized, feed the homeless, give to charity, or even attend church whenever the doors are open; our salvation is not the result of anything we can say or do. Our salvation is freely bestowed upon us by God because of our faith in Him. Paul explains it earlier in Ephesians 2 by stating that we were dead in our trespasses. Think of it this way before Christ we are each laying on a gurney dead, Christ walks up with a defibrillator charges it up and then discharges it into our dead body to bring it back to life. This is much like how God gives us the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sins and turn us towards God in faith.
Now we cannot just leave it with that we are save by grace through faith and not by works, because Paul didn’t leave it there. In Ephesians 2:10 he continued, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” So we are not saved by works but we are created for good works. What this means is that while works do not save us, our salvation does get proven by the good works we do. In other words our Christian faith should result in a changed life, which we will dig into next time.
Becoming God’s Man – God Will Do What?
So we have been looking at 2 Chronicles 7:14 and seen how as Christians we fall under the categorization of being God’s people and called by His name; then last time we saw how in this promise what we are required to do and how it is actually a progression from humility to repentance. Today we will look at what God promises to do. In the last part of 2 Chronicles 7:14 we see God stating, “then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” There are three things that God promises to do, and again we will see that it is a progression; He will hear from heaven, forgive our sins, and heal our land.
Hear From Heaven
The first promise God makes is that He will hear from heaven. You see the main thing here is that God is always listening for us to come to Him; but He wants us to truly come to Him. I know I have been using a parent/child relationship a lot here, but think of it like this. You have a child and you hear them calling for you because they want something; you won’t answer them right away, even though you know what they want, you want them to come directly to you and ask. You see God is the same way, he know what we need and hears us but want us to truly come to Him, to seek Him out in order to present Him with our needs. It is then that He will answer us.
Forgive Our Sins
So after God hears us when we are truly seeking after Him and having turned away from our sins, He will then forgive our sins. This is the next step in God’s promise to us, and is a natural step. You see as we humble ourselves we realize our sinfulness and need for repentance. God is listening and will hear us, this includes the eventual ask for forgiveness when we realize our sinful state. It is when we are at this point of brokenness, where we realize our need for God, that He will then faithfully forgive our sins. The thing for us is unlike in the Old Testament where a sacrifice was required whenever one asked for forgiveness, Christ’s work on the cross served as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.
Heal Our Land
So after God forgives our sins, the next step is healing and restoration. While in the Old Testament where this was the original audience, healing of the land meant helping with their livelihood, the healing of our land is that of our hearts. With the help of the Holy Spirit, God not only forgives our sins but changes our hearts to where we long for godly things. As I mentioned last time we start to desire the things God desires, we start to want to do His will rather than follow our own selfish ways. The healing of our hearts also means we find a peace and joy that is unable to be explained, even when the trials are tough and everything seems to be against us, God is there holding us up and reassuring us that He is faithful and everything will work out for His glory; and this is what we finding ourselves longing for because as those called by His name, we realize it is not about us but about Him, and seek Him to be glorified above all else.
Becoming God’s Man – We’re to do What?
So last time we started looking at 2 Chronicles 7:14 and how it pertains to Becoming God’s Man Ministries with asking the question of are you a Christian? Today we will continue to look at this verse and see what we are called to do as God’s people in this promise. So lets take a look at the verse from the beginning, “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways.” So as God’s people, those called by His name we are told to do four things as a part of this promise.
Humble Themselves
The first thing we are to do is to humble ourselves. Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy and stand in the way of God blessing us. This is why the author mentions humbling ourselves first. When we are thinking that everything is all about us, we are blind to everything else going on around us; we become blind to the work that God is constantly doing in our lives and ignore the blessings. You see when we humble ourselves, we stop looking at ourselves and realize there is someone greater than us. It is not until then do we realize all the blessings God has been and is constantly bestowing upon us. But the issue is also before we can do any of the other actions the author mentions we have to humble ourselves; for unless we are humble we will never pray, seek His face, or turn from our wicked ways.
Pray
The next thing we are told is to pray. The simple answer to what exactly is prayer, is that it is our way of talking with God. It how we confess our sins to Him but also how we ask Him for our needs. The thing is even though God in his sovereignty knows what we need, He still wants to hear from us, like any father He wants us to come to Him and ask. James tells us that if we lack wisdom to ask God and He will grant it to us.
Seek His Face
So we have seen that we need to first realize it is not all about us, then we need to open lines of communication; now we need to seek God’s face. What the author is getting at is now that we realize it is not about us we need to realize who should be the focus of our attention, God. Everything we do should be centered around God and His will. To seek His face would be to picture God standing next to you at all times and with every action, every thought, every word you look to see if He has a pleased expression on His face or if it is one of disappointment; just like a child is always wanting to please his earthly father, we should be seeking to please our heavenly father.
Turn From Our Wicked Ways
The next step in this progression is that of turning from our wicked ways, repenting of our sin. This is literally doing a complete about face in regards to sin. While in the flesh such an action is impossible as this is how we are naturally inclined. However, once we have been adopted into God’s family we were given the Holy Spirit, who helps us along this progression of humbleness to repentance. You see as we seek God’s face our desires change to reflect God’s desires; making it easier to turn from our wicked ways as they no longer hold power over us, our hearts no longer desire them but long for God’s will.
Now that we have seen what as those called by His name are to do in regards to this promise we will next time look at what God promises He will do for us.
Becoming God’s Man – Who is God’s Man?
For those that are familiar with Becoming God’s Man Ministries you may have noticed that we often use a specific verse with a lot of the things we do. It is brought up in the intro to our radio show and referenced in some of our flyers and brochures. This verse is 2 Chronicles 7:14 which states, “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” This week we will take a look at this verse and how it describes our goals at Becoming God’s Man Ministries. Today we will take a look at the first part of the verse, “if my people who are called by my name.”
Who
The first thing to realize in this promise that God made is who the promise is made to. The writer of 2 Chronicles tells us that this promise is being made to God’s people. At the time this was written God’s people was Israel. Today Christians also fall into the grouping as being God’s people and called by His name. Now one thing to remember is that not all of God’s promises to Israel apply to Christians; but this is one of the ones that does.
Are You Called By His Name
Looking at this verse it shows a good place to start in regards to what we do with Becoming God’s Man. You see before anything else the question that needs to be answered is are you part of God’s people? Are you called by His name? You see unless you have given your life to Christ none of the rest of the verse matters. With Becoming God’s Man Ministries we believe that before anything we need to be sure of our salvation; it all starts with our faith and being a Christian.
Adoption
The phrase in this verse “called by my name” in the Christian’s life refers to our status in Christ as adopted children of God. As children we are given our parents’ name, that specifically of our father; for example my last name is Gruver, if I had children they would take on the last name of Gruver. The thing is that this is regardless of whether I am their biological father or if they are adopted, either way they will be considered my children.
The Question
So the question I again ask and will leave you with today is are you called by His name? Have you at any point in time given your life to Christ? God does not care what you have done or how messed up you are. He loves you the way you are; we will see though that He loves us to much to let us stay that way. We just have to place our trust in Him, believe that He will do what He says He will do, and accept his free gift of salvation through Christ’s work on the cross to die for the sins of all mankind. Next time we will look at the next part of the verse to see what we must do as those “called by [His] name” in this conditional promise and how it applies to Becoming God’s Man.
Table Talk Episode 32 – God’s Healing Power
Table talk is a weekly Bible Study and Prayer breakfast located at the Egg Platter in Pinellas Park, FL. We are a group of guys from different backgrounds that meet every Friday morning at 6:30.
This week we started off with one of the guys giving a testimony of how he had seen God’s healing power work in the life of his family. This then led to a discussion on how God can use this as a testimony to His power and open doors to share our faith with others.
Becoming God’s Man Radio – Episode 10
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.
This week we talked about prayer; what prayer is, how we pray, why we pray, etc. This was aired on Sunday February 7, 2016.