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Ekklesia - The Bible Story from A to Z

December 1, 2008 – 9:45 pm
This evening I want to attempt to do something that is quite difficult for the situation and for a thirty-minute presentation. I need your help. I want you to stay with me, and I want you to think. I do not want your thinking to stop when we finish this lesson. I want you to think about this for at least several days. I fully realize what I share with you this evening is an overview. In may ways it is an oversimplification. Hopefully, it is an accurate concept and continuum. Let me begin by sharing a perspective. I think many in this audience know the basic Bible stories. However, I also think that we often have failed to connect the Bible stories we know to the overall story of the entire Bible. Let me try to illustrate the problem and the need. I am not going to ask you to say anything, or ...

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Ekklesia - Why Did Christian Paul Make Such Sacrifices

October 19, 2008 – 8:08 pm
From the time of early childhood, we began asking the question, Why? Preteen kids ask why most often out of pure curiosity. To ask why to seek understanding is considered a good thing to be encouraged. As a teenager, the motive of asking why changes. Often a teen asks why in search of self-justification. To ask why in a deliberate attempt to escape personal responsibility is not considered a good thing. Increasingly in adult years, adults often ask why in an attempt to eliminate confusion. Why did he do that? Why is that so important to her? Why do they act that way? Often for the mature adult, asking why seeks an insight that brings understanding to a situation that is not understandable. It seeks to make sense of something that does not make sense to me. To ask why to discover unknown information is a good thing most of the time. To ...

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Ekklesia - The Mind of Christ

October 19, 2008 – 8:00 pm
In all of us there is a deep desire to be understood. To be misunderstood is unpleasant for each of us. To be misunderstood continuously is a traumatic experience that can easily produce an enormous personal crisis. For example, for a child to feel totally misunderstood by his or her parents can create a crisis that significantly affects the rest of his or her life. Just the experience of being totally misunderstood can convince the child, "I cannot communicate," "I am hopelessly different in terrible ways," or "I am inferior to everyone else." Such conclusions can destroy the person's attitudes toward self and their confidence in their ability to relate to others. Such attitudes can even lead to troubles in a future marriage: "He (she) just does not understand me!" Such convictions can result in a feeling of worthlessness, humiliation, and self-abasement. Do you want to be understood? How do you ...

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Ekklesia - Thy Will Be Done on Earth

October 19, 2008 – 7:32 pm
The statement, "Thy will be done," is a familiar, acceptable, good statement. That statement to most of us is comfortable and non-threatening. It has a ring of loyalty and devotion about it that should be a part of every Christian's prayer and hope. Most of us would agree that things are better when God's will is done. God's will is good, not bad. Most of us understand that statement. We agree that we are speaking of God's will. We agree what God wishes should be done. We Christians agree that we should be devoted to achieving God's will. We would say there is no mystery in that statement, that all Christians understand it. We not only understand that phrase, but we also use it. We most often use it when making a request of God for a specific blessing. It would be inappropriate and impossible to dictate what God must do. We ...

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Ekklesia - The Case Of The Insensitive Pagan

October 19, 2008 – 7:19 pm
Without sensitivity toward others, a human being ceases to be human. In any advanced civilization, the most cherished social qualities are human traits that encourage sensitivity toward other humans. The fundamental code words for such sensitivity include compassion, caring, kindness, neighborliness, mercy, and understanding. Any person would live in an earthly hell if he or she was forced to live in a society where such qualities were absent. How would you survive if you knew no one felt for you, cared what happened to you, did anything kind to or helpful for you, never extended you one unselfish act, or never even tried to understand you? What if people laughed when you hurt, rejoiced when you failed, found pleasure in your abuse, treated you unjustly, and deliberately misunderstood you? Such people exist. Such places exist. We could create such a place right here without a lot of difficulty. All we have to ...

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Ekklesia - Life’s Two Bank Accounts

October 19, 2008 – 7:11 pm
Matthew 6:19-34 6:19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, 6:20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 6:22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light; 6:23 but if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 6:24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and ...

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Ekklesia - Jesus, The Way To God

October 19, 2008 – 3:16 pm
John 14:1-10 14:1 "Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. 14:2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 14:3 And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 14:4 And you know the way where I am going." 14:5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?" 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me. 14:7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him." ...

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Ekklesia - The Power of Imitation

October 19, 2008 – 3:00 pm
We live in a world that loves to imitate. People seek to be fashionable in the way they dress. Fashion in dress encourages imitation. If you think you are immune to the imitation of the fashion of dress, consider how quickly you adapt your clothing to the area you live in. Accepted behavior commonly influences our behavior. We do things in the "right" way because that is the way everyone else does. With many, it is a tragedy if we do not do something the "right" way as "the in thing to do." Do you not find it fascinating to hear people discuss what is acceptable now and what is not acceptable now? All of us would likely be surprised at how much imitation we would find in our dress, our speech, our behavior, our cars, our homes, and our lives in general. Imitation is even at the roots of our ...

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Ekklesia - There is a War going on Part 1

October 19, 2008 – 2:27 pm
In my opinion, Christians are constantly amazed at the escalating attack on Christian values and Christian views in this country. Many things that were appreciated and revered by those who did not even pretend to be Christians in the middle 20th century are under deliberate attack in the early 21st century. That which was regarded to be a part of this nation's strength is now often considered a part of this nation's weakness. This process gives no evidence of coming to an end. By the year, the attacks are becoming bolder and more open. As I begin, I want to be as clear as possible. I do not wish to make a political statement in this lesson. The concern expressed transcends politics. This is a statement that concerns the values that compose the moral fabric of a people. I do not wish to suggest that all concerns that declare themselves Christian are ...

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Ekklesia - The War and Me Part Two

October 19, 2008 – 1:47 pm
Failed expectations are the graveyard of personal faith. When Christians look for the reasons [there are more than one!] that the conversion rate is lower than it was fifty years ago or the church is not growing as it did fifty years ago, they tend to blame everything but themselves. They see evil ghosts lurking behind every bush. They blame a society that no longer favors expressions of Christian faith. They blame changes in social views. They blame the justice system. They blame globalization. They blame radical conservatives. They blame radical liberals. They long for the past and seek to revive it. They fear the future and the additional changes it will bring. As they cry about change and blame everything that frightens them, the one thing they never blame is themselves. In the past Christians counted on their children becoming "the next congregation of Christians." No more. Why? Again, the ...

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