Unlocking The Truth

Cost “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” Matthew 16:24 Following Jesus comes at a cost. Jesus calls us to deny ourselves and follow Him. This is huge but what does it look like?

Call Everyone follows someone or something in the world whether it be a sports team, a celebrity or something on social media. What does it mean to follow Jesus as one of His disciples? This week we will look at the Jesus call to His first disciples and see what He tells us about being a disciple of Jesus. Jesus teachings are not easy but they are vital for us to know what it takes to follow Him.

You are an Overcomer! A great promise that comes from Jesus because He overcame the world. In our final episode in Revelation we will look at all of the promises Jesus gave to the churches. These promises are for us today as well. Join us as we look at the subject of overcoming the world.

This week we are looking at Jesus' final message to the seventh church in Laodicea. Jesus tells the church He is the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of creation of God. There is great power in these names and we will unpack it together. Jesus has looked into the heart of the church and He doesn’t like what He sees. The message to the lukewarm is challenging for us and we need to pay attention to what Jesus is calling this church to do. Join us as we tackle this difficult letter together.

The Church at Philadelphia The church in Philadelphia was facing immense pressure from so called Jews to conform to their ways. This small congregation was commended for staying true to God’s Word even under pressure. This week we will look at the results of Jesus X-ray and see how these truths apply to our lives.

The Church at Sardis Have you ever looked at a church bulletin and thought “Wow! They are a busy church, they have a lot going on, they are very active.” A lot of times we base our evaluations on a church by what they are doing or not doing but Jesus looks beyond the bulletin and into the heart the church. It’s possible that Jesus asks one simple evaluation question “What motivates them to do what they do?” In this week’s episode we will dive into that very question. When Jesus does His x-ray of the church at Sardis He makes it very clear what the church’s problem is and how to solve it. Join us as we look at Revelation 3:1-6.

The Church at Thyatira Dietrich Bonhoeffer argued that the human heart has the capacity for only one all encompassing, all embracing allegiance. In this episode of the podcast we are looking at the church at Thyatira. The smallest church receives the longest of the 7 letters and there is a lot of information to unpack. Join us this week as we look at the description of Jesus, the commendation, the reproof, the action and the promise to this church. You won’t want to miss this one as the message to this church has great application for us today.

The Church at Pergamum Worldliness is the preoccupation with the things that are temporary, these are the things we take our attention away from the things that are eternal. The church at Pergamum were standing firm in their faith but there were some who allowed the teachings of the world to creep in and cause problems. As Jesus took an X-Ray of this church He called them to pay attention to these issues and repent. This week we’ll dig into Revelation 2:12-17 and see how the letter to Pergamum applies to us.

The Church at Smyrna The church at Smyrna was enduring immense suffering for the gospel of Jesus. When Jesus took an X-ray of this church He had plenty to say to His church. In this episode we will continue to look at how Jesus describes Himself, how He commends the church and the promises He has for those who overcome. Maybe you are in the midst of suffering and persecution for the gospel and need to be encouraged from God’s Word in how to endure. Join us for episode 4 as we look at The Suffering Church. www.preceptministries.ca

The Church at Ephesus The famous quote is “it’s not how you start but how you finish.”  This certainly applies to the church in Ephesus. Paul commended the Ephesians for their faith and love for one another in his letter to the church but when Jesus was standing in the midst of the seven churches He looked into their hearts and saw that they had lost their first love. In this episode we will take a closer look at the church in Ephesus, the commendations, the reproof, the action the church needs to take, and the promise to the one who overcomes.

Revelation Chapter 1 John is on the island of Patmos for his faith, he has endured great suffering and persecution for the gospel of Jesus Christ. He writes “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying “Write in a book what you see.” What John was about to witness is the revelation of Jesus Christ, the things which are and the things which are still to come. This week we will look at the vision concerning the one like the son of man and the seven golden lampstands.

Revelation 1-5 Overview This week we are doing a quick overview of Revelation chapters 1-5. We will look at the main segment divisions of Revelation and start to build the foundation for our study of the seven churches.

The Mind and Contentment In our final week of Philippians, we tackle a subject that is contrary to what the world teaches. The world teaches us to pursue more of everything for our lives, more money, more stuff, more power, more position but Paul closes his letter to the church challenging us to be content in all circumstances. Join us as we look at how important it is to have a secure mind in Jesus.

Be Anxious for Nothing The book of Philippians is all about the mind. We have looked at the importance of transforming our minds to pursue joy. On this week’s episode we look at how our circumstances produce feelings of anxiousness and fear. How do we take these thoughts captive? Paul gives us the answer in chapter 4.

It seems as though we are living in some very dark days. There are so many questions to ask and it all starts with “Where is God?” “Is He hearing our prayers?” Habakkuk had similar questions to ask during some very dark days for Judah. Join us as we look at Habakkuk 1-2 together.

Knowing Christ In this week’s episode we will close chapter 3 by looking at the importance of knowing Christ. Is there a difference between knowing about Christ and truly KNOWING Christ? Join us as we look at what we need to do as believers to pursue the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Confidence in the Flesh This week we begin our study of Philippians 3. Paul starts this chapter with a warning and explains to the church the importance of not putting their confidence in the flesh. Putting confidence in the flesh is an issue that we continue to see today. How can we follow in the example of Paul when he tells us that he counts all things as a loss in comparison to knowing Christ?

Work Out Your Salvation In Philippians 2 Paul says, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” What does this mean? On this week’s episode we will continue to look at how we can have joy as we strive to be more like Jesus. As we close out chapter 2 we will see how grumbling and disputing can steal out joy.

Strive for Unity In chapter 2 Paul tells the church “Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose” Joy can be found when the church is focussed and united on the mission. This week we will look at the importance of connection between unity and finding joy.

Conduct Worth of Our Calling This week we close out chapter one by looking a little closer at Paul’s life. How can Paul in the midst of suffering make statements like “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain”? Paul had a great understanding of his mission while on earth. For Paul there was no greater purpose than preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and making disciples. How can we find joy in suffering? We can refocus our mind on the mission!