Petra Podcast

For those who follow the Christmas calendar you know that today is the first day of Advent. Advent is a four-week period before Christmas where people prepare their hearts to celebrate the birth of Christ. Leading up to Christmas and throughout the Christmas story we see a lot of angelic activity. So, I thought I would take some time this morning to talk about the reality of angels in our lives today. An angel visited Mary with the news of her being the chosen one to give birth to the Christ child and angels announced the good news to the shepherds. Angels are seen all over the bible carrying out the purposes of God and helping God’s people. Angels are mentioned at least 108 times in the Old Testament and 165 times in the New Testament. They continue to be very active today. In our western intellectual world view we tend to dismiss angelic encounters in our lives as coincidences. We say things like we were really lucky that we survived an accident. Or it was a coincidence that a stranger showed up to help us.

Let’s talk about the wrath of God- We don’t talk about the wrath of God often because it isn’t fun. But the more we understand it, the more we will become thankful. To fully understand God’s wrath we must start with His holiness.

Larry Kreider, the International Director of Dove International, shares with us that praise and thanksgiving is the Language of the Kingdom and that speaking the Language of the Kingdom opens the door for God's intervention.

Jim Kearsley, the Pastor of Freedom Path in Akron, PA, brings us the final message in our series, Beyond the Selfie.

Today we continue the series called “Beyond the Selfie” where we are exploring what it means to have meaningful relationships in a superficial world. This morning we will talk about building relationships with those who have not yet put their faith in Jesus. When we become a Christian we become part of God’s family. We attend church, enter into relationships with other Christians who help us grow in our faith and help us break off old unhealthy patterns in our lives. We find we now have more in common with followers of Jesus then our old set of non-Christian friends. There is both an upside and downside to this. The upside is our old sinful lifestyle has less and less of a pull in our lives. The downside is we begin to lose opportunities to reach our non-believing friends for Christ. It is a challenge to know how to break out of our old lifestyle without losing our relationships with our non-believing friends. - Sometimes they cut us off because we don’t indulge in their ungodly behavior. But let’s not

We’ve been asking the question: How do we develop meaningful relationships in a superficial world? Apply that question to our Family & Friends. – deeply enriching relationships. Ruth 1:1-11, 14-18 Hard to find a more powerful and moving story in all of scripture and in ancient literature. Ruth’s affection and faithfulness to her mother-in-law Naomi. Ruth’s commitment to her family changed the course of history. This outsider became the great-great grandmother of the King David. Ruth clearly did something right. Today, we will learn three simple ideas that will build that kind of history-changing relationships and families.

Ben Dodd, Petra's Counseling Ministry Director, challenges us to consider these questions and what God says about our true value and worth. Who are you when you are alone? Who or what is your source of value and worth? Does the idea of caring for yourself seem prideful or selfish? How do you treat your body on a daily basis? Are you in tune with your body? How do you want others to see you…and how closely does that line up with how you see yourself? What is the first thought that pops into your head right after you make a mistake? What thought about yourself do you focus on the most often? What is your earliest memory of becoming consciously aware of your own value and worth? Was it positive or was it negative? Who influenced it? What is the state of you spirit…Content? or chaotic? How do you think God views you? And does that view agree with all the many scriptures that speak to who we are in Christ?

“God’s answer to the relational vacuum in the 21st century is the church. God calls us beyond the selfie world of social media, and the hectic world of busy activities into relationship with each other as the church community. Church is much more than a Sunday activity that you attend. It is a family you belong to and share life with.”

In this six week study we’re hoping to help you develop habits that will improve five different types of relationships. Your relationship with God. With yourself. With family and closest friends. With your church community. With the world around you.

How do we advance God’s kingdom in practical ways. God’s kingdom is not political in nature. God’s kingdom advances across the earth no matter if a dictator, prime minister or king is in power. It advances in countries closed to the gospel and those open to the gospel. In fact, the church is often more strong and pure where there is resistance to the gospel and biblical values. We see that being played out in our day. God is sorting out the wheat and the chaff right now in America. It is becoming clear who the real church is and the compromising church.

Today we are beginning a three-part series on the Kingdom of God. The understanding of being part of a kingdom is central to our Christian faith but is often not emphasized or understood by much of the church. We talk about being saved and born again but that is just part of the gospel message. We are not only called to be saved, we are called to embrace and participate in the advancement of God’s kingdom on earth. - The understanding of the kingdom lies at the very heart of the gospel. The way you and I live our lives is directly related to our understanding of the Kingdom of God. As a young Christian I was not taught about the kingdom of God. My spiritual goal was to endure until Jesus comes and make it to heaven. Our goal in this study is that we would become more kingdom minded in how we think and how we live our everyday lives. - We want to seek first the kingdom. Live and breathe the kingdom. - We want to become kingdom people that confront the forces of darkness and advance God’s agenda o

Today is the second of a two-part series called Tough Questions. We invited all of you to submit questions you would like us to respond to. So today we will talk about some of these questions. We decided to use a panel discussion approach with Pastor Gary and Pastor Brain and myself tackling these questions. For this series we received over 20 questions. More than we can tackle in two Sundays, so if we don’t get to your question we will hold on to it and keep it in mind for the future. Thank you for taking the time to ask some very good questions. Some of the question were similar so we were able to combine some of them. We only have about 10 minutes for each question so we are only scratching the surface but hopefully it will point you in a direction and give you some things to reflect on. So keep in mind we can’t get into all the various angles and deep theology discussions which some of these questions deserve but we will try to give you the bottom line answer we hope will be helpful.

Pastor Chris Hayward from Cleansing Stream Ministries presents this message, The Ring & The Robe. A. THE COMPASSIONATE FATHER – Luke 15:18-23 B. THE ROBE - COVERS OUR SHAME - REPRESENTS HONOR - REPRESENTS VALUE C. THE RING - AUTHORITY & PROPHETIC DECLARATION - IDENTITY & DESTINY - ABUNDANCE & PROSPERITY D. THE OLDER BROTHER - REPRESENTS THE RELIGIOUS SPIRIT - TRIES TO KILL THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT - HATES REJOICING - PRODUCES NO FRUIT E. RECEIVE THE ROBE & THE RING - AUTHORITY - IDENTITY - DESTINY

Today is the first of a two-part series called Tough Questions. We invited all of you to submit questions you would like us to respond to. So today and then again in two weeks we will talk about some of these questions. We decided to use a panel discussion approach with Pastor Gary and Pastor Brain and myself tackling these questions. For this series we received over 20 questions. More than we can tackle in two Sundays, so if we don’t get to your question we will hold on to it and keep it in mind for the future. Thank you for taking the time to ask some very good questions. Some of the question were similar so we were able to combine some of them. We only have about 10 minutes for each question so we are only scratching the surface but hopefully it will point you in a direction and give you some things to reflect on. So keep in mind we can’t get into all the various angles and deep theology discussions which some of these questions deserve but we will try to give you the bottom line answer we hope w

We have been working our way through the gospel of Mark in the Bible and rediscovering the character and person of Jesus. Mark gives us these snap shots or portraits of Jesus throughout his gospel. He wants to introduce his readers to this amazing man and his amazing works. He is hoping that as we see the kind of person Jesus is and the amazing things he does that we will be convinced that he is more than a man. He wants us to grasp that Jesus was truly the son of God and is worthy of surrendering our lives to and following. Mark portrays Jesus as being in close relationship with God as his Father. He paints a picture through his stories of Jesus as a man of power and great authority. Yet this man of authority was a servant to all and was willing to suffer a cruel death on a cross so Father God would forgive us and allow us to walk in freedom and live all of eternity with them in Heaven, As we come to chapters 14- 16 and the end of the gospel of Mark he begins to focus us in on the cross and the res

If you’re just joining us this morning I want to invite you into a conversation we’ve been having about Jesus as he is portrayed through the gospel of Mark. Last week we looked at the authority of Jesus in chapters 7-9. This week we are looking at chapters 10-12. By chapter 10 Jesus has left the region of Galilee, home to most of his ministry. He’s now traveling the 100 miles south to Jerusalem in the region of Judea. (roughly Harrisburg to Philadelphia). We still have six chapters left in Mark, but we’re looking at the last two weeks of Jesus’ life on earth. In these three chapters we have roughly 16 different stories of Jesus. Each depicting a wonderful aspect of his character and ministry. Which of His characteristics should we focus on this morning? Which one is what makes him amazing? - In chapter 10 he’s having a conversation with other Jewish lawyers about the complex legal issues surrounding divorce - lawyer - Jesus the discipler reaches down to the next generation and blesses them and prepare

As you know we are in sermon series on the Gospel of Mark. We are looking at Mark by over all themes and with broad strokes. So this morning as we consider Mark chapters 7 through 9, I believe the over arching theme of these chapters is the authority of Jesus Christ. Before we look at Mark, I want to attempt to define what we mean when we use the word authority. I think to have a good working definition of authority it is helpful to also think about the word power. Sometimes these two words, authority and power, are confused or used interchangeably, but they are fundamentally different. By power, we mean might or ability. By authority, we mean the right to use power or the lawful use of power.

Mark is a fascinating book. One of the reasons scholars believe Mark’s writing is that of an eyewitness is because of the detail in the writing. Back when this text was written writers did not add a lot of unnecessary detail if it didn’t advance the plot. Mark adds narrative detail that only an eyewitness would bother recounting or remembering. And Mark was the eyewitness account of Peter, and Mark was his secretary. The first three chapters of Mark reads very much like the prologue to a story. It’s setting up foundational truths about who Jesus is, about his character and his early ministry. Portrait of Jesus- Jesus is Lord of the waves and the wind. And this is a profound portrait that will build us up in our faith and open our eyes.

The life of this historical figure named Jesus was so unique that the shocking affects of his life are still being felt 2,000 years later. Jesus is of course now the most famous Jewish rabbi who ever lived, and the most famous human being who ever lived. By now everyone has diverse opinions of him, and filters through which we perceive him. Wouldn’t it be amazing to clear away all that clutter and confusion and hear from an eye witness who saw all of his greatest miracles and listened to his teachings. Wouldn’t it be amazing to get the inside scoop from the one who knew him best- his right hand man, Peter?

This message is for both parents and non-parents alike. I want to share some insights about influencing others in such a way that our faith becomes contagious and is passed on to others. I will be using examples of parenting but you will see that these insights apply to our other relationships as well. I believe the primary goal of parenting from a biblical perspective is to pass on the Christian faith to our children. It is not to make them successful although we want that too. The Bible says “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” We realize in parenting that eternity is at stake. It is also the goal of our lives as followers of Jesus to pass on our faith as we rub shoulders with a hopeless world around us.