ReCreate Church’s Podcast

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, June 25, 2023

How to Win at Life

Today, Pastor Michael is talking about life. How we are created for a purpose.  If we are not pursuing that purpose, everything else will never satisfy us.

The win is in surrender.  Surrending to God. 

What is that area of your life that you don’t want God to take control of?  What do you not want to let go of?  

In our attempt to save our lives, we lose our lives.  If we don’t embrace God’s purpose, we lose on earth and in eternity. 

We honestly have it backward. We feel that accumulating things, making money, and living large make us special.  It’s living for OURSELVES.  

Living for yourself, is empty,  in the end.  It’s time to let it go.

(CSB Disciple's Study Bible Notes) The keynote of the Christian life is surrender. To deny oneself is not a call to a colorless life. Rather it is a call to deny the baser nature and pursue the higher levels of ethical standards to which Jesus points. This paradox of finding life by losing it is open to the test of experience. Mature Christians attest to its validity.

Verses can be found in Mark 8: 35-38.

Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. 

 

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, June 18, 2023

Sending Celebration

Today, Pastor Michael is taking a Father’s Day sidestep from our study in Mark to talk about Billy Honeycutt’s forthcoming mission trip to Peru.  

Billy starts off by telling of his daughter calling and wanting him to join them on a mission trip.  Throughout the years, everyone in his family has gone off on mission trips, and he was the one left at home to work.  So he relates that he really, really wanted to go.

Now that he is retired, he’s not so sure about running off to Peru, a city he cannot pronounce (Trujillo)!  It’s in Peru, and that, by golly, is what he knows!  

So this journey is something that took a bit to decide to go! 

And what follows is Billy’s explanation of what it takes to travel to a foreign country and become a missionary.  And folks, it’s not easy!

Being called by God but being sent by Recreate Church!  

90% of knowing God’s will is just being willing to do it.

We are: right in the middle of who we are; we find this statement: we are a team of ministers and missionaries. 

So what does it mean to be a missionary?  We go to the bible for the greatest missionary statement of all, the Great Commission.  

Four big actions here: Go, Make Disciples, Baptize, and Teach.  This is how we do missions anywhere! 

You are a missionary! 

Billy, good luck, and God Bless!

Verses can be found in Matthew 28: 19-20, Acts 1: 8, and 13: 2-3. 

Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. 

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, June 11, 2023

I Can't Make It About Me

Today, Pastor Michael is looking at Jesus returning to Galilee with his disciples.  He calls the folks at a distance to come and listen to Him.  

Jesus states, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it. For what does it benefit someone to gain the whole world and yet lose his life? What can anyone give in exchange for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

This is about true freedom and connecting with something bigger than you. If you want to be free, you can’t make it about you. 

Verses can be found in Mark 8: 34-38.

Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. 

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, June 4, 2023

Paper Doll Jesus

Today, Pastor Michael is saying that some folks have a “Paper Doll” mentality toward Jesus.  The Jesus that is in line with the beliefs that you have; the Jesus that is two-dimensional.  His own disciples had a very flat, two-dimensional view of Jesus.  Their understanding of Him didn’t match the truth of His person or purpose.  We see this disconnection in Mark of what his followers thought of him.

The story takes place in Caesarea Philippi.  During this trip, Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say I am?”  And his disciples answered everything from John the Baptist to Elijah.  Then He asked them directly, “But, you, who do you say I am?”  Peter answered, “The Messiah,” and Jesus told them to tell no one.  Jesus knew the more they told people, the more His enemies would chase him down and try to kill him.  He knew it was not time for His ministry to end yet. 

Jesus was and is not just a great prophet, a miracle worker, or a teacher: He is the Son of God.  But people of His day and His own followers had a “Paper Doll” image of Jesus, a certain image that is not in line with what Jesus was and is. 

(CSB Study Bible Notes) Peter responded you are the Messiah. This is the first time in Mark’s Gospel that a person made this identification. To this point, only God (1:11) and demons (1:24,34; 3:11; 5:7) had testified to Jesus’s true identity. The word “Messiah” (Christ) means “anointed one” and refers to God’s appointed deliverer and King.

Verses can be found in Mark 8: 27-33.

Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. 

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, May 28, 2023

The Man Who Saw Trees Walking.

Today, Pastor Michael is going to tell a story about a man who saw trees walking.  A blind man could see, and others who could normally see were blind.

Bethsaida (“house of the fishermen”)is where Jesus is today; his ministry headquarters was just down the road in Capernaum. 

Jesus was in Bethsaida, and a group of people are coming up to him with a man whose eyes are bandaged, and they wanted Jesus to see this man and heal him.  Jesus took the man’s hand and leads him through the streets. 

They get to the edge of town, and Jesus keeps going out into the fields with the man.  Jesus then took off the man’s bandages, spit on his fingers, and touched the man’s eyes.

Jesus asked him, what did he see?  He told Jesus that he saw he saw men like trees, walking.  Then He put his hands on the man’s eyes again and made him look up, and he was restored and saw everyone clearly.  Jesus told him not to go into town.

This is an interesting story because the healing was incremental or partial.  First, the man saw ‘trees’ walking.  But after he was touched a second time, his sight was fully restored.

Healing isn’t the same all the time.  There is a lot of variety in the way folks are healed.  So, why is this a two-stage miracle?  Because some of the greatest miracles occur in two stages!

Every single person begins in a state of spiritual blindness.  Jesus will have to open our eyes enough to ‘see’ we need salvation.  The Holy Spirit will open our eyes enough for us to recognize that we need Jesus.

We then have that partial opening of our eyes and can see enough that we need Jesus.  Then He touches us, and we fully see that we can cry out to the Lord and be saved!

(Disciple's Study Bible Notes) 8:22-26 MIRACLE, Christ—Miraculous events may become symbolic parables. Jesus healed the blind man in a unique two-step process. As in 7:32-37 Jesus used the power of touch in healing. Unique here is the apparent partial cure after the first “treatment.” The larger context depicts the blindness of the disciples.

Verses can be found in Mark 8: 22-30.

Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. 

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, May 21, 2023

When Life Doesn’t Add Up.

Today, Pastor Michael is talking about the two miracles of fish and bread.  There is the feeding of the 5,000, known as the “Miracle of Five Loaves and Two Fish,” which occurred near Bethsaida, near the Sea of Galilee.  This was in Mark, Chapter 6.

The second is the feeding of 4,000, known as the “Miracle of Seven Loaves and a Few Fish,” which occurred near the region of Gerasenes, near Decapolis.

That second one is a miracle that essentially falls through the cracks (or could be said to be in the shadow of) due to the more known first miracle.

There are good reasons to believe these are two separate miracles.  Different amounts of loaves and fish, between the miracles. Different amounts of leftovers; the 5,000 had 12 leftovers (one for each of the Disciples), and the 4,000 had seven leftover baskets; Mark and Matthew both include these events.

The disciples had one loaf of bread in the boat they were traveling in and worried it wouldn’t feed everyone.  

The disciples here really had a tough time feeling that Jesus could feed everyone; they have seen him feed 5,000 and then 4,000 and then they stress over a single loaf for 13 people!  Arguing amongst themselves and didn’t look up. 

The core thought in today’s lesson: When life doesn’t add up, look up!  Look to Jesus for the answer.

Mark 8:21-22 (CSB Study Bible Notes) 8:21 This repeats the question of v. 17. The disciples still did not get it. This is Jesus’s most severe rebuke of the disciples in the Gospel of Mark, but there was a bright spot. They didn’t understand yet what Jesus was about.

8:22-10:52 In this section, Jesus completed his ministry in Galilee and began his journey to Jerusalem. It was time to leave the crowds, limit his miracles, and teach the disciples about his impending death.

Verses can be found in Mark 8: 1-21.

Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. 

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, May 14, 2023

Gentle Is Strong.

Today, Pastor Michael is talking about gentleness.  Gentleness is not weakness, and Michael is in the book of 1 Thessalonians, a book that started as an actual letter from Paul to the believers in Thessalonica on how to do things. 

Paul here is comparing himself to a nursing mother, feeding them, not with milk but with the Gospel of God.  They were giving of themselves, in their life force, to make them stronger in faith.  

If you want to see gentleness as evidence, consider being gentle to someone that is not being gentle back.  That’s one of the fruits of the spirit.  If gentleness isn’t present in your life, you’d better make sure Jesus is in your life.  

Jesus people should be gentle people.

The core idea of today’s message: gentleness is not weakness.  Gentleness is using our strength to make others strong.  

1 Thessalonians 2:7-8 (CSB Study Bible Notes) 2:4-7 Paul tried to please God in all he did and said because he was appointed by God to this task. God also continually examined Paul’s heart, so he did not want to deceive his audience or try to win their approval at the expense of God’s approval. Such should be the attitude of all Christians.

2:8 Paul’s method of ministry was not only the impartation of the gospel but the sharing of his own life as well.

Verses can be found in 1 Thessalonians 2: 7-8. 

Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. 

 

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, May 7, 2023

Are You Open?

Today, Pastor Michael is giving us a story that is unique to Mark; it doesn’t appear in any of the other gospels.  The question we’re centering on in this study is, “Are You Open?”.  

As in, open to the will of God.

Jesus has just left Tyre, to the north of Israel, and He decides to go around the east side of the Sea of Galilee.  Folks brought a deaf man to Jesus, and He told him, “Be Opened,” and the man could hear again.

Jesus told the people not to tell anyone, but the more He ordered them, the more they proclaimed it.

The great thing here, however, is that the man could now hear and hear the most important thing he could ever hear: Jesus!

The question is not is the Lord speaking?  The question is, are you open to what He has to say?

Are you open?

(CSB Study Bible Notes) While Jesus’s other healing miracles brought astonishment and amazement (1:22,27; 2:12; 5:20,42; 6:2,6,51), this is the only time that extremely or “beyond all measure” appears. He has done everything well, echoes the Septuagint wording of Gn 1:31. Once again, Jesus had done what only God could do (Ex 4:11).

Verses can be found in Mark 7: 31-37.

Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. 

 

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, April 30, 2023

Spiritual Plumbing

Today, Pastor Michael has turned over the reigns to Duncan Crook, who has stood in for Michael a few times, and his message today is about…plumbing!

Not our house’s plumbing, of course, but spiritual plumbing.  

Starting off, we have some ‘bad’ news: You have no hope of unclogging your spiritual plumbing!

The good news is that God desires to unclog that spiritual plumbing if you’ll allow him to, and He will do it from the inside out!

Duncan uses the plumbing analogy to explain a lot of things in Christendom and in Jesus’ teachings.  And it starts with Duncan being called by Michael for clogged plumbing at the church.  So, Duncan went to the church and found the situation was exactly as he expected: clogged!  Duncan and Michael found the cleanouts and started to open them up; it wasn’t pretty!

And in the end, Michael and Duncan bandied about to see who could use this experience as a life experience in a lesson one day.  This sermon is the result of that.

We all need to be sure that negative thoughts, attitudes, and other sins are sent ‘down the drain’ to use the plumbing analogy.  This spiritual blockage in your heart holds you captive to the Devil’s will.

Roots can cause backups, spiritually and at your house.  Spiritual clogs are selfishness, bitterness, rejection, evil thoughts, and others that cause backups in our spiritual plumbing.  

So, we must turn first to the Lord and acknowledge that we have a spiritual problem. 

Then, we have to maintain our plumbing for it to work well; spiritually, this is the same!  But we have a professional we can turn to confession, repentance, and the Word of God will clear away any blockages because of what Jesus did for us on the cross.

Verses can be found in Luke 6: 45, 1 Corinthians 11: 28, Philippians 2: 14, Numbers chapters 13 and 14, Psalm 37: 8, Ephesians 4: 26, Ephesians 4: 31, Psalms 51: 1-12, Psalm 139: 23-24, and Acts 3: 19.

Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. 

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, April 23, 2023

The Goodness of God in an Unfair World

Today, Pastor Michael is in Mark and speaking about the goodness of God is greater than the unfairness of the world. 

Jesus only traveled outside of Israel a few times in His life.  This is one of those times.  He is in Tyre, a deeply Gentile place during His time; today, it’s a city in Lebanon.  

He enters the town quietly and goes into a house.  A lady comes into the house uninvited.  Lots of flags going off here, as she was a lady, a Gentile, and a Syrophoenician (a Phoenician from Syria), so this lady was NOT the typical person that would approach a rabbi.

This woman is shouting and talking about how her daughter needs healing from an evil spirit.  She needed a miracle this day.  The woman had heard that Jesus was in town and did everything she could do to get to Him!  

The lady falls at the feet of Jesus and calls him Lord, a big deal, and recognizes him as such.  She also called Him the Son of David, a very powerful title!  She recognizes him as Lord and Messiah.

Jesus says to the woman, “Let the children be fed first, because it isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”  This is an easily offensive statement at the time because dogs were unclean.

This wasn’t an insult but, rather, a test.

The lady replied back, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

Jesus replies to her, “Because of this reply, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.”

She believed the goodness of God was greater than the unfairness she had received.  

Will you trust God when life is unfair?

(CSB Study Bible Notes) His words, because of this reply in Matthew’s account focuses on the greatness of the woman’s faith (Mt 15:28).

Verses can be found in Mark 7: 24-30.

Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.