As we end our “Forward” series it’s time to ask the question, “What about my place in God’s plan for realizing His dream for His church?” In the bible, God compares the church to the human body. As our bodies are one body with many parts, so also the church is one body of Christ with many different parts. Every believer has a place in Jesus’ church and every believer has a role to fulfill. We’ll learn today how we can begin to discover where our spot is in Jesus’ church. When we discover our place in the body and the gifts, talents, and abilities we’ve been given to serve God and His people, we can be part of moving forward into God’s dream for His church.

This week we continue looking at how we go forward in the power of the Holy Spirit. God has given Christians His Holy Spirit to be with us and in us. When we submit to the Spirit’s control and guidance in our lives then we can find the strength and power to do the things that God wants and experience the life change that He desires. When a body of believers together are living in the filling of God’s Holy Spirit they can go forward like never before.

This is our final podcast on “discipleship”. Today we’ll take a look at some additional things that Jesus said about following Him. And we will look at some questions – Is becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ worth it? And will it be easy to be a disciple? And, if following Jesus is difficult at times, is there any help for us!? Let’s take a look at the answers to these questions.

Have you ever tried to change something in your life but just lacked the power to get it done? Overcoming a sin habit, forgiving yourself for some wrong you did, forgiving someone who hurt you, sharing Christ with another person, making your marriage better? We all know what it’s like to be up against change we want to see without the strength to accomplish it. Where do we find the power to do the things God wants us to do? Answer: the Holy Spirit. After Jesus returned to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to live in and with Christians. It’s through His strength alone that we can see the kind of life change God wants for us.

Between the crucifixion and Jesus’ return to heaven, His followers experienced a whirlwind of emotion. From absolute heartbreak and fear to unspeakable joy. The fact that Jesus was alive and promised to return changed everything for His followers. It has the power to do that for us also. The question we must answer is, “Am I living today knowing that Jesus is alive and will return?”

In our last podcast, we looked at the challenge that Jesus gave to the large crowds of people listening to Him. He challenged them to follow Him. And he told them what that meant as He discussed preferring Christ over all other people, denying ourselves, taking up our crosses daily… Following Christ requires a total commitment of your life to that end. He also talked about the narrow gate and the wide gate – both of them life choices that people make as they seek eternal life. In this podcast, we will take a look at these “gates” and the choices people make as well as why they make those choices.

For Jesus’ followers, Resurrection Sunday was filled with wonder, awe, and confusion. Jesus had died and been buried. Now His body is gone. Angels told the women that He had risen and was alive. These same women saw Jesus and told the apostles that He was alive and was going to meet them soon. The apostles, still stunned by the death of Jesus and their broken expectations of Him, just couldn’t believe that He had risen. We all experience times of broken expectations when God’s will doesn’t make sense. Jesus’ conversation with two men in Luke 24 helps us see the role God’s word in the bible has in helping center our hearts around God’s will.

Did you know that the word “Christian” only occurs 3 times in the New Testament of the Bible? The word “disciple” appears much more frequently and, in fact, is the word that Jesus used for those who believed in Him. So what IS a disciple? And perhaps more importantly, are YOU a disciple? In today’s podcast, we’ll take a look at those questions.