Public visibility is the wallpaper of today’s culture. Before the advent of social media only the notorious or the glorious became visible by virtue of their victories, their vice or their violence. Infamous. The rest of humanity remained unseen. Being seen is a primal human desire but being seen by God who has perfect knowledge, constant presence, and offers full acceptance – like the bible teaches – is seemingly not enough for most Christians. So in response, and in an evil twist, Christians use their faith to be seen by others. True in Jesus time. True now. True of you? “That’s not me!” you say? Self righteousness is not only powerfully deceptive, it’s subtle but NOT a secret to those around you and to God himself. At stake? Your glory or God’s glory. One life makes religious life public by intention and the other makes it hidden by intention. Curious which is you? Join men’s expert and pastor Kenny Luck for the answer to a challenging issue facing all Christians.
It is the stuff of news headlines when the private life of a public person goes viral. People are hungry to know what goes on in the private worlds of others lives – especially when they work hard to keep things unknown! The Bible says that there is no such thing as secret life when there is God. We can hide things from people. We can keep our thoughts to ourselves. Or we can compartmentalize the reality of God’s omniscience neatly boxed away on a shelf in our brain to make space for certain behaviors. In fact, many times our hidden life reveals the person we don’t want to be. But Jesus says there is another secret life that we can live that is invisible to men but visible to God which he desires to bless which forces a choice. We can live a secret life God will ultimately reveal or we can live a secret life that God will ultimately reward. Which life are you living? Join men’s expert and pastor Kenny Luck for this powerful session introducing you to the secret life God sees, knows, and wants you to live with him.
In our last session, we discussed the reality that WHEN Christ returns, as well as HOW Christ returns is not nearly as impactful in our lives as the reality THAT Christ is returning. Chapter 5 does begin to give us a picture of what that day will look like…. And it will be unexpected! The reality of Christ’s return informs everything in our lives…including how we encourage one another. Join us for our final session in 1 Thess.
For so many, death and hope cannot coexist. Death is the ultimate expression of hope that failed….but not for God’s man! Through Christ, we realize that death can contain incredible hope…in fact, it is through the death of Christ that all hope is birthed! But how can we be prepared, aware and ready when our number is called? Join us as we complete chapter 4 of 1 Thess.
If the enemy can lower our view of scripture, he wins. Such a challenging and ominous reality in a world that is continuing to lower its view of the Bible. BUT, God’s man recognizes that the words of Paul to the Thessalonians were, in fact, the very words of God brought by the Holy Spirit! Our view of the word shapes our view of everything! Join us as we jump into the first 12 verses of chapter 4.
Culture has sold us a brand of Christianity that promised no pain, no struggle and no conflict. Health, wealth and prosperity all wrapped up in an easy life…..but Paul loved us enough to lay it out plainly. We were not only promised troubles…we were destined for them BUT God’s man can find peace, strength and even joy in the struggle. How? Tune into week 3!
The unity between us, comes from the Spirit of God living within us. Oftentimes, the challenges we faith in this live cause us to retreat. To retreat physically into isolation, and mentally and physically into a desperate aloneness making us vulnerable to the enemy. How can we turn towards one another during our most challenging seasons? How can our faith encourage another, and how can the faith of another protect a protective shield to me in times of trouble? Tune in to find out!
We live in an age where people cling tightly to their beliefs, and aren’t afraid to cancel those who disagree. Our culture is politically minded and dangerously divided. I wonder, is the church any different? Christ’s final prayer was that we would be unified. That we would be one. Truly, if Christ is what unites us? What thoughts, opinions or viewpoints could be strong enough to divide us? As God’s men we must reclaim the unity of the body of Christ if we are to move forward and display Jesus to a world that desperately needs to meet Him.
GOD is a giver. In case you have ever doubted that aspect of his character or plain forgot that, just remind yourself that God “so loved the world that he GAVE his only Son” to save you. Ponder that again. Unlike us, God is not a witholder when the stakes are high. God does not operate on the scarcity principle. God unleashes generosity on us like parents unleash it on Christmas morning – we don’t deserve all the stuff we get but we get it anyways! So if that is him, if that is what he models, then the actions of his kids follows the example of the Father right? We multiply what he gives us with others right? Hard stop.The answers to those simple but raw questions is the acid test of real Christianity. The other stuff is fluff. Generosity reveals our reality spiritually and will shape our eternity.
Anybody ever said to you, “You are so good at that?” Remembering that the least objective person about you is you (lol), ALL of us have abilities that we possess that rank higher than others. We often say things like “I am better with hammer than I am with a paint brush” or “I don’t have the musical gene in this family.” Some of our abilities we were born with and some that we have are “gifts” from the Holy Spirit. God’s Word says that in both cases – He is the source and he wants you to use and multiply them for his purposes. He knows what talents and gifts He has given you and why. Do you? Join pastor and men’s expert Kenny Luck for a deep dive into your personal and spiritual skill sets and how you can use them to fulfill his purposes.
