Love God First

In this episode we explore the tumultuous relationship between Jacob and Esau from multiple chapters in Genesis, highlighting the conflicts and lessons that can be drawn from their story. We are going to spend some time reflecting on our own relationships and hopefully resolve to strive for healthier communication and conflict resolution. May God help us all!
 
 
keywords
conflict, relationships, Jacob, Esau, reconciliation, family dynamics, biblical lessons, personal growth, communication, forgiveness

We are delving into the complex relationship between God's sovereignty and human free will on this episode! The account of Jacob and Esau begins in Genesis 25, but Paul uses the brothers' relationship to explain a problem the early church was having in Romans 9. In this discussion we will focus on some important themes like faith, God's character, and the call to evangelism, and we will ultimately affirm the fact that God desires all to come to know Him.

In this second episode where we have been discussing Isaac praying for his wife Rebekah to conceive children, we turn to the New Testament to see the same faith principle. In this account from John 4, Jesus tells a Roman official to believe for a miracle before he sees it happen. Jesus challenges us to actively engage in our interactions with Him as well! 

In this two-part episode, we are finally returning to Genesis and are picking up the account with Isaac and Rebekah. We are specifically looking at Isaac's role in praying for his wife to have children. There is an active involvement in receiving God's promises, as we will see from this account, and each of us has a role to play in seeing God's plans come to pass in our lives!

In the final episode that deals with temptations and how to overcome them, we hear the application from the account of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness from Dr. Steve Schell. 
This is the last episode in our summer series! We will return to Genesis next.
If you liked Pastor Steve's sermon over the last three episodes, he has a podcast you might enjoy: Life Lessons with Dr. Steve Schell. It's on Podbean, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and more. Check it out!

In this part two episode on spiritual warfare, we are continuing to listen to Dr. Steve Schell explain two of the three temptations Jesus went through in the wilderness, and he discusses how we as believers are tempted. So good! 

We have one last topic to learn about before we wrap up our summer series, and that is as followers of Jesus, we need to know how to deal with the devil. And yes, there is one.
This episode is a bit different: it is a 3-part message preached several years ago from Dr. Steve Schell. It teaches us how to apply the principles from Jesus' temptation in the wilderness. This first episode explains what happened at the Jordan River when Jesus was baptized, but it lays an important foundation for us to learn how to overcome strong temptation in the next two episodes. 
 
 

We have one more episode dealing with the intricacies of following where God leads us when we minister to other people. How do we know we are truly on the right track? Is there any way to tell? Yes, there is! This episode deals with some practical tips for walking in faith while ministering to other people. Remember, if we follow where God leads us to minister, there will be much more abundant fruit because God Himself has prepared the hearts of those He directs us to. 

In this second of three episodes on being led by the Spirit, we get more practical and start looking at the lessons we can learn from Ananias. Ananias models how effective a disciple can be when a person listens and obey Jesus! 
 
 
Keywords
walking in the spirit, ministering to others, Holy Spirit, effective ministry, Love God First, spiritual empowerment, Jesus' ministry, Christian faith, discipleship, kingdom of God
 
 

In this first episode of a three-part segment on Love God First, we explore the concept of walking in the spirit and how it empowers believers to minister powerfully to others by using Ananias as our biblical example. We have been talking about personal spiritual growth between us and God in the past few episodes, but now our focus has shifted outward to those we can serve and love. We have a call to extend Jesus' ministry throughout the world, and what better way to do that than to be led by the Holy Spirit to do it!