Authentic Trust
What True Conversion Looks Like
Retiring From the Game
June 3, 2015 • Jeff Lyle
Many times when a professional athlete holds a press conference to announce his retirement he will give his reason as, "The game just wasn't fun anymore. I don't want to play if I don't enjoy it anymore." After that moment, the athlete moves on to whatever is next for him. In a similar fashion, we should consider the call on our lives as Jesus-followers to exit a different sort of game. The world system is not the reality for which the Christian should live. We have been saved out of one kingdom to live in another Kingdom of a far greater value. As John closes out his letter he calls believers to abandon the world and to flee from its idols. This exhortation must be applied to our lives today as the lure of the temporary world cries loud to us in order to seduce us from investing ourselves in God's everlasting Kingdom.
Spotlighting Jesus
May 27, 2015 • Jeff Lyle
There are so many things which we believers can give our attention to in the Kingdom of God. We can talk about sacrifice, about service and about sanctification. We dwell on mercy, ministry or maturity. Social change, humanitarian projects and influencing the culture are all possibilities which we might invest time and effort. When it comes to the bottom line, however, our inner purpose and outward mission focus on one lone component in the spotlight: Jesus Christ himself. This message follows the counsel of the apostle John concerning the immeasurable benefits of keeping Jesus as the purposed focus of our hearts and lives. Boldness, peace, assurance and power all flow from a concerted commitment to let our eyes rest on the King.
The Benefits of Obedience
May 13, 2015 • Jeff Lyle
When I first started preaching I talked about obedience in every third sentence which proceeded from my mouth. As a former rebel I was convinced that the most important thing for the believer was to obey. While I would never back off my assertion that obedience is a key component of the Christian life, I do not speak of it as often now as I did back then. Why not, you ask? Because obedience apart from trust and love has little to no value in the Kingdom. We can teach dogs, doves and dolphins to obey… but we cannot teach them to love, and Christ has called us to love God with everything that we are and have. This message infuses the call to obey with the power to love. Transformation is the work of the Holy Spirit and the fruit of this is loving obedience unto Christ. Listen and be stretched, empowered and encouraged.
Love Dogma
May 6, 2015 • Jeff Lyle
How many people have left the Church full of discouragement, guilt and fear? Too many to number! In many places the message of Jesus Christ and His Apostles has been transformed from surrender, love and follow unto the message of rules, traditions and man-crafted laws which presume to make us right or keep us right with God. This message continues the line of thinking from the apostle John as he reminds us that it is our love for others that authenticates and motivates our journey of faith. There are some very dogmatic statements in Scripture about love and it will surprise many who have been trained under theologies and philosophies of performance and outward piety. When we make loving God first and loving others second our life's priorities then we will be Christians who fulfill the will of God.
A Call to Discernment
April 29, 2015 • Jeff Lyle
More than once we are taught in the Bible not to live gullible lives when it comes to matters of faith. Not everyone who carries a church title, a ministry position or a place of influence is dispatched by God. As a matter of fact, Satan does not mind at all to populate our churches. He will send some people our way with a quickness. Some of them even to preach under the banner of Christ. This is why we are consistently called to a high level of discernment concerning the ones to whom we listen and from whom we learn in the Kingdom. This message unpacks the Apostle John’s call for us to test the spirits behind the messages we are hearing. Ultimately, in our day and time, the objective study of Scripture enables us to define what is true and what is error. It is essential for believers in this generation to cultivate a deepening understanding of what the Scriptures say so that they might be able to walk in love, truth and power. So…who has your ear and what are they pouring into it?
Heart Conflict
April 22, 2015 • Jeff Lyle
It seems that confidence is an underplayed virtue among the followers of Jesus Christ. Somewhere in the last 2,000 years, likely in our pursuit of true humility, confidence became an aspect of the Christian's life that is viewed with suspicion. That is a great loss for us and it is a shame since all throughout the New Testament we see this virtue being lived out unapologetically by those initial followers of Christ. What does it mean to live with bold assurance? This message highlights our need to walk in the truth of what God says about us. We see that a guilty conscience and a shame-soaked heart undermine the purpose of God's grace toward us. We are either fully pardoned or fully condemned - there is no purgatory of position for the believer. May the listener receive some of the skills that are described in this message to help you combat the accuser's tactics and walk in full assurance of God's gracious covenant to you.
You & the Other Guy
April 15, 2015 • Jeff Lyle
It is likely that we have all heard somewhere along the line that our relationship with Jesus is a private matter between Him and ourselves. Though each of us must make an individual decision concerning the claims of Christ’s lordship over our lives, to say that our salvation is between us and Him is patently untrue. Jesus Christ is doing something bigger than me. He is building something greater than you. Independent, Westernized, 21st Century individualism has wormed its way into our theology and we need to evict it. This message highlights John’s strong emphasis that we are saved into a relationship with Christ AND into relationship with all other believers. The listener will need to evaluate his or her attitude toward other people in light of his or her profession of faith in Christ. John tells us that we have no legitimate claim to belong to Jesus if we live in indifference or bitterness toward others. Put on your steel-toed boots because this passage will certainly step on some toes.
Spiritual DNA Test
March 25, 2015 • Jeff Lyle
You may be unaware of it but, if you are under forty years old, you are in the first generation of American Christians who have belonged to churches wherein the pastors struggled with whether or not to mention sin. Prior to the mid-1970’s nearly all denominations of Christianity in America met in churches where sin was not only mentioned generally but pinpointed specifically. Those days are long behind us and we now live in a time when pastors who do mention sin are becoming increasingly marginalized. The Apostle John never flinched and this message details his Holy Spirit inspired dogma concerning sin and what it reveals about us. Easy believism, decisional regeneration and a silence concerning repentance have led some Christians to have a laissez-faire attitude about what it means to truly belong to Christ. If God is our Father, if Christ is our reigning King and if the Spirit of God is still called HOLY Spirit then we do well to take the Apostle’s test to determine where we have drawn our spiritual DNA.
Being God's Kids
March 11, 2015 • Jeff Lyle
You are not the finished product. I still have some major work being done on me. We have not yet arrived. Since all of those statements are true, why don’t we just go ahead and exhale? Father has never left a project incomplete. This message offers us both encouragement in the present and motivation toward the future. The reality that we have been brought into God’s family and given the title “Children of God” is mind blowing. The present position that we hold as sons and daughters of God is completely unmerited but also completely undeniable. While we know that we have not yet reflected the fullness of our Heavenly Father in our attitudes, words and conduct, we are herein promised that everything will be made perfect the moment we see the Son of God. Listen in and be stirred as you are living out your faith while, at the same time, being reassured that there is nothing lacking in you that could possibly be left unaddressed by God. He who began the work in you will complete it at the day of Jesus Christ.
Solid Protection Against Spiritual Defection
March 4, 2015 • Jeff Lyle
We live in a generation where the priority of maintaining biblical theology is rapidly vanishing. Do not panic – this element has been a reality since the early church and the very bible which is being denied actually prophesies that there will be an increase of people falling away as the end of the age approaches. This is the spirit of antichrist which will be personified in an individual who is referred to as THE Antichrist during the last chapter of human history on earth. John highlights in this passage our need to rely heavily upon the wisdom of God, maintain our commitment to truth and to cultivate a life which allows us to fearlessly consider the Second Coming of King Jesus. Undoubtedly, the end of this age is near. Truth like we hear in this message serves to both warn and to motivate all who hear. God’s grace brings about perseverance in His elect but those same people are called to industriously persevere until Christ returns.
Heart Rivalry
February 4, 2015 • Jeff Lyle
We all give our hearts to something. There is probably one main thing which drives your identity, which also defines most of what you are doing with your life. For the Christian, our identity is rooted in Jesus Christ and is evident in a practical outflow of life-purpose. Yet the enemy has a strategy for us all and he works to undermine us living out our faith in ways that bring glory to God, and seeks to carry us away from God’s glorious purposes. Our own flesh longs to cooperate with the enemy’s plan and only by the Holy Spirit’s power can we defeat the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and taking pride in possessions. This message exposes our the rivalry for our hearts and welcomes us to remain committed to our love relationship with the Bridegroom.
The Test of Love
January 14, 2015 • Jeff Lyle
As the Apostle continues the little letter bearing his name, he brings up to an impossible to avoid issue. Could it be that the genuineness of our trust in Jesus Christ – therefore the legitimacy of our salvation – is discerned in how we live out our relationships with other people? Is not salvation a wholly private matter between a person and God? Unpacking the teaching of Jesus Christ on this issue, John gives us a firsthand summary of what he heard Jesus teach about our love as it pertains to our faith. Leaving us no wobble room, John declares that a person who does not love cannot be a person who has experienced the saving love of God through Christ. Listen closely and consider your own heart. We are all growing in our capacity love – but if we are not loving others at all, there is reason for deep concern.
Of Sin, Sacrifice & Salvation
January 7, 2015 • Jeff Lyle
Have you ever doubted whether or not you have truly been saved? Maybe you are not fully convinced that you even need a Savior. And then there is that potential disconnect from what a man living and dying 2,000 years ago has to do with where you will spend eternity… This tiny set of six verses from the Book of 1st John will help answer all of these questions. Robust with theology and filled with powerful application, these verses teach us why we must be saved from our sin, how we can be saved from our sin and how to know if are saved from our sin right now. Wisdom for the confused, confrontation for the proud and relief for the worried. Listen in as Jeff Lyle teaches of sin, sacrifice and salvation.