ReCreate Church’s Podcast

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, Sunday, February 13, 2022

One Hit Wonders!

Today Michael is starting a new series on Daniel.  As our title today suggests, Daniel has a One Hit Wonder kind of reputation, known primarily for Daniel and The Lion’s Den fame.  But Daniel had so much more in his life, including Daniel and the Diet Plan, Daniel and the Heroic Goat, Daniel and the Ghost Hand and Daniel and the Fantastic Beasts just to name four out of twelve notable chapters in his life. 

Today’s message is about Daniel and the Diet Plan.  This takes place about 400 years after King David and 600 years before Jesus, during the time of the Babylonian Captivity.  

(Bible for Hope Study Notes) When Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in the summer of 605 B.C., Daniel was only a teenager. He and several others were taken captive by the Babylonians and placed in a three-year training program in which they were expected to learn the Babylonian view of life and religion. They were even forced to learn the Babylonian language and given Babylonian names. Daniel in Hebrew means “God is my judge”; his name was changed to Belteshazzar, which in the Babylonian language means “the god Bel is my judge.” It may have been as close as the Babylonians could come to translating the meaning of his name.

So, Daniel is doing the Babylonian thing but he does take exception on the food.  Daniel realized that eating the king’s food would show him as accepting the kings loyalty.  So Daniel asked for veggies and water; hence the reason for the name, “Daniel and the Diet Plan”!  The official handling that was worked that the King would see him looking not-so-healthy.  Daniel offered to try it on a test basis and the official agreed.

(CSB Baker Illustrated Bible Study Notes) The issue of food and drink is highly significant to Daniel and his friends. The Lord has clearly designated certain foods as unclean (Lv 7:22–27; 11:1–47). Moreover, the royal court is closely associated with pagan temples, as food and drink are symbolically dedicated to the gods. 

After the test diet of healthy foods, Daniel and his friends were reviewed by the King and found healthier than the others, those eating the King’s diet!

Daniel’s faith was rewarded by the Lord in him receiving the ability to discern dreams and other gifts.  

The moral of the story is, Daniel and his friends took a stand.  You can stand against the world, with God at your side! 

Todays verses are found in Daniel Chapter One.  

We will be going over a chapter in Daniel each week for the next 12 weeks.

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, Sunday, February 6, 2022

Sanctity of Life Sunday.

Our service starts off today with Luci Boudreaux giving a moving testimony to the unborn and her experience as a young lady living that.  It is a wonderful second version of our most popular podcast ever but here is only an introduction to Michael’s study on the sanctity of life.  In the days of the Roman Empire the Romans had a word, “Expositus” meaning exposure, where it was culturally acceptable for children to be left outside to die.  Even though this was 2,000 years ago, children are still sold into slavery and human trafficking in 2022.

We have to realize, we are created in the image of God and every human life is the handiwork of God.  It would be better to destroy human artwork than disrespect human life….which is God’s artwork!

There is a debate on when life begins.  From a biblical perspective, God counts us as people BEFORE conception!  You were conceived by God because God knew us before we were ever conceived. 

Life is precious; it should be honored and protected and we know that we are loved by a God that created us in his image.

Today’s verses can be found at Genesis 1: 26-27, Psalms 139: 13-16 and Jeremiah 1: 4-7.  

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, Sunday, January 30, 2022

Snow Ice Cream

Today Pastor Michael is house bound, due to snow, so he is expanding on the Biblical references to snow.  

Pete Enns, The Biblical Teaching of Snow: It may interest you to know that the word “snow” (Hebrew sheleg, Greek chion) appears 23x in the Bible. And in every single instance, snow has either a neutral or positive meaning. Nowhere was I able to find a condemning word about snow. This is important, for biblical teaching on any matter must be consistent.

Today’s verses can be found at Proverbs 15: 13, Isaiah 55: 10-11, Proverbs 26: 1, and Isaiah 1: 18.

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, Sunday, January 23, 2022

Stress, Anxiety and Fear.

Crazy title but today Pastor Michael is talking how in this crazy pandemic world we live in, our stress, anxiety and fear are amped up worse than ever.  But this is about a foundation that can endure the worst this world can deal out.  There is a foundation that can do that: Jesus Christ.  

Not every kind of fear is a bad thing.  The right kind of fear can actually protect us.  The fear of God, for example, is such an overwhelming reverence for Him that we dare not do anything that would disrespect Him.  The right kind of fear keeps us from destroying what is good in our lives.

Now, there is fear that is bad.  Anxiety drives more than we realize and control issues and perfectionism: they are often fear in disguise.  Addiction issues can also be found to have fear and anxiety at their core, too!  

Now we can talk of a spiritual fear, a fear of refusing to accept God.  If you take human stress, anxiety and fear, they are built on lies (usually the devil’s!).

This fear robs us our peace and blessings.  Marry human fear with spiritual fear and it truly is the devil working on his plan, that of causing all of this fear!

There is always enough money to obey and trust God.  There is always enough energy to trust and obey God.  God does His best work when the odds seem to be against us.  Fear would have us believe the worse.  Yet Jesus paints a different picture: He tells us not to fear.  He gives us a reason, in Luke 12:32.  We are children of God.  That relationship changes everything. 

You Heavenly Father wants to bless you. No matter what, you have lots of blessings, even if you’re struggling.  Ask yourself, what exactly do you want?  Trouble-free lives aren’t on this side of heaven!

Stress, Anxiety and Fear: tells us we don’t have enough.   Faith says we always have enough!

Let’s look at what the Bible for Hope notes on worry:

(Bible for Hope Study Notes) …we all worry about our finances, our loved ones, our jobs, our health, and a host of other life issues. It may be hard to relate to Jesus’ words concerning worry. After all, Jesus had no children, no boss, no rent to pay. Jesus never had to grocery shop for a family and make dollars stretch, or car pool kids to sports, try to make the PTA meeting, and put dinner on the table. Jesus never had to take care of his elderly parents and help his teenagers plan for college at the same time. How can we apply His teaching about not worrying to twenty-first-century life?

Actually, these passages are more for us today than ever. In a materialistic, consumption- minded, technological world, Jesus is telling us to order our priorities: “Seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you” (Luke 12:31). For most of us, however, there is a large gap between managing our day-to-day lives and seeking God’s kingdom. In order to achieve the peace of God, to not be overwhelmed by the pressures of life, we have to change. We read that we cannot add a single hour to our life by worrying and fretting, but because worrying is what we know best, it’s what we do first, especially in stressful situations. To seek first the kingdom means to pray first, releasing our fears and worries to the Lord.

Today’s verse can be found at Luke 12: 32.

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, Sunday, January 16, 2022

Grace.

Today Pastor Michael is in Ephesians looking at one of God’s biggest proof of His love for us: Grace.  God’s grace is preeminent in ever aspect of salvation.  Pastor Micheal is showing how John Newton, whom lived in the 1700’s, discovered God’s grace.  And wrote, “Amazing Grace”.  How cool is that?

(CSB Baker Illustrated Bible Study Notes) God’s purpose in restoring and honoring humanity, in being kind to his rebellious creatures, is to demonstrate for all time the surpassing bounty of his forgiving grace (2:7). The point is not that God needs to flaunt it but that creation needs to see it. Paul now draws the obvious conclusion: if we were dead and therefore helpless, and if God intervened and by his own will revived us in Christ, then it is an act of his grace alone, a gift (2:8).

(Disciple's Study Bible Notes) SALVATION, Grace—Salvation is the story of grace heaped upon grace (Jn 1:16). It begins with God’s grace and continues with a constant unfolding of that grace. His grace is supremely expressed to us through his kindness in Christ Jesus. Grace is appropriated through faith and is intended to result in good works. We are not capable of good works until he makes us his new work of art, the new creation in Christ.

Today’s verses can be found in Ephesians 2: 1-22.

Along with the message, we have linked Andrea Bocelli performing, “Amazing Grace”, from the Duomo di Milano, particularly moving at the end.   See the show notes for the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpXwOSHTwsY

 

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, Sunday, January 9, 2022

When Temptation Comes Calling

Today Pastor Michael is in Romans, with Paul, in a general theme of discovering why it’s easier to do the wrong thing than the right thing.  Especially after we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  Paul here is chronicling inner conflict in his life before Christ.  A person desiring to obey God’s law and hating his sin.   

(Gospel Transformation Study Bible Notes) Some think Paul is focusing more abstractly on how the law does its work, and is not concerned with whether a converted or an unconverted person is in view. Many believe these verses describe the struggle of believers, even under grace, as we find that we often act against our own beliefs and will (v. 15). Each of these struggles confirms the goodness of the law (v. 16) and the persistence of sin’s effects (v. 17). We must always acknowledge that, although the gospel has brought Christ’s goodness into our lives already, we are not yet perfected in him (vv. 18–19). There remains still a despicable presence of sin in our actions despite our cleansed status through faith in Christ (v. 20).

Whichever interpretation we take, this passage drives home the profound and perplexing disorder that sin introduces into the human mind, a disorder that can be healed only by the even more profound grace of God in the gospel.

In closing, Michael gave a story, very paraphrased here, as a man gave his live to Jesus and felt as if two , sparring dogs lived within him.  A dark dog, wanting to revert him back to his pre-saved days and a lighter dog wanting to embrace Jesus and His love.  He felt as if they were constantly sparring.  He asked a friend, which dog will win this battle?  The friend replied, “The dog you feed the most.”

If we want to stay in Christ’s light we need to feed the Spirit.  By prayer, by reading the Bible, by being with other believers.  Seek to live by the teachings of Jesus!

Today’s verses can be found in Romans 7: 15-25

 

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, Sunday, January 2, 2022

It’s 2022!  

Today Pastor Michael is in Ephesians and talking about living in newness.  The newness of a life in Christ.  How appropriate for a new year!

Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, told them that they needed to walk and live their lives differently, reflecting the indwelling influence of Christ.  Paul cuts straight to it, letting the Ephesians know that a futile mind doesn’t understand what God’s true values and standards are.  A pagan lifestyle does not follow the Christ that the Ephesians have learned to know.  

Paul goes on to explain the truth the tis in Jesus as it concerns inward change, with the focus on newness. And he describes it as a three step process: 1) Remove their old selves 2) Make Godly decisions and 3) Live a Christlike lifestyle. 

Newness, renewal and an inward change of mind wrought by God himself!

See 2022 as your renewal in Jesus!

Today’s verses can be found in Ephesians 4: 17-24.

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, Sunday, December 26, 2021

Shepherds and Angels

Today Pastor Michael is teaching on the birth of our Savior from a neat perspective.  Not purely the neat perspective that this is the story almost everyone has seen Linus give on the Charlie Brown Christmas.  No, it’s that shepherds were selected to know of Jesus’ birth first…not a King, not a prophet, not a rabbi.  

Shepherds.

Shepherds in those days, well, frankly, smelled.  How could they not?  They slept on the ground next to the sheep and were not always highly regarded, especially in the days when there was so much “purification” done in religious ceremonies.  Pretty much the last thing a rabbi needed in his temple was a bunch of stinky shepherds!

So, for all of the wonder that is easily the most important event that ever occurred, shepherds were chosen for the visitation by angels.  

How cool is that?  Shepherds!

One would have to believe that they were just as startled as anyone, yet they showed spontaneous obedience (2:15) to what they had witnessed.  And therein lies the great lesson in this story: God sees in people what others don’t see, what even the person themselves don’t see.

And those shepherds knew to deliver the message to the world and they did!  God is with you, inside of you, just like the Shepherds!

What an ending to 2021!  See everyone in 2022!

Today’s verses can be found in Luke 2: 8-20.

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, Sunday, December 19, 2021

Cosmic Jesus!

Today Pastor Michael is talking about a bishop from the fourth century, Nicholas.  Nicholas lived in Myra, a city in western Turkey, then a Greek territory.  

Nicholas came from a wealthy family and loved to help others.  He did so secretly, to not draw attention to himself.  He heard about one family that had a big need and he wanted to ensure that they wouldn’t know that it was him assisting them.  So, he actually went on to their roof and dropped a bag of gold down their chimney.  As luck would have it, a member of the household had hung some stockings on the fireplace to dry.  The gold bounced into the stocking!  Pretty cool, Nicholas!

Eventually people found out that Nicholas was secretly helping people and the story of “Saint” Nicholas spread far and wide.  It inspired a lot of generosity and a lot of giving.  The Dutch particularly loved St. Nicholas and called him “Sinterklass”.  When Dutch immigrants came to America, they brought the story of Sinterklass and it became modified a bit to the story of Santa Claus!

Christmas isn’t just about Santa, it’s also about Jesus.  And Christmas Jesus is likely everyone’s "favorite" Jesus.  But Jesus is on another level.  Not very far from  where Nicholas grew up is Colossae.  Paul wrote a letter to the Colossians,  the book of Colossians in the New Testament.  In this letter, Paul explained to them that Jesus was much, much more than “Christmas” Jesus.  It was not the boy Jesus, the Messiah Jesus, or even the resurrected Jesus.  It is literally, “Cosmic” Jesus!  Jesus is more than one thing; he transcends eternity!

Following the Bible verses listed below, Jesus is the image of the invisible God.  God is not a material being, He is a Spirit.  Jesus is God!

Saint Nicholas comes back in to the story now at the First Counsel of Nicaea (founded by Constantine the Great), where they are wrangling with the subject of Jesus and God being one, incarnate. This study is also called the study of the Godhead in Christianity. They had studied the Epistle to the Colossians and were firmly convinced that Jesus and God are the one and the same.  Now, they had a dissenter amongst themselves, Arius, who did not believe in Trinitarianism, the belief that God is one God in three co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  

Arius taught that Jesus was a created being, that He was not fully divine, but that He was a really, really good guy that does point us to God.  However, this didn’t then, nor now, jibe with the Bible.  No one was more upset on that than Nicholas.  He listened and listed and was getting madder and madder when Saint Nicholas walked across the room and punched Arius right in his mouth!  

Saint Nicholas knew the Cosmic Jesus, the one and eternal God.   He wasn’t created but is the Creator of all things!

Today’s verses can be found in Colossians 1: 15-20,  John 1: 1-18, John 10:30 and John 14:9. 

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, Sunday, December 12, 2021

Broken for our Brokenness.

Today Recreate Church is having our very first Lord’s Supper at our new building!

Michael is covering the very first Lord’s Supper.  It occurred during Passover, a very significant celebration to the Jews of the day. It commemorated how God brought His people out of slavery in Egypt.  This meal that He and His disciples were eating was part of the Passover meal.  Jesus was there with his twelve disciples, His “family”.  

Jesus is giving his disciples His bread, not because they are hungry…He is giving it to them as a symbol of something important. The breaking of the bread is symbolic of how Jesus was going to be broken.  The disciples at this point really didn’t understand the point of his point of Him about to be broken.  

Just hours after this He was arrested.  He was mocked and spit on and a crown of thorns pressed down on His head.  He was made to carry a heavy cross to the execution site and then nailed to that cross.  It was a way of shaming and embarrassing others from committing crimes.  

His life wasn’t taken.  It was given.

The sinless One was broken for us.

Then He took the cup and the symbolism is it is His blood, poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.

His brokenness is our healing.  

(ESV Systematic Theology Study Bible Notes) At the final meal Jesus shares with his disciples before his death, a first-century Jewish Passover meal, he institutes the Lord’s Supper. At the appropriate time, he takes a loaf of bread in his hand, gives thanks for it, breaks it, and gives it to his disciples to eat, saying, “This is my body” (v. 26). Similarly, he takes the cup, gives thanks, gives it to his disciples, and instructs, “Drink of it, all of you” (v. 27).

By means of this symbolism of eating and drinking, Jesus teaches his disciples something they will understand only after his resurrection—the most basic meaning of the Lord’s Supper is union with him in his death and resurrection. Even as the disciples consumed the bread and wine, so in the Lord’s Supper believers “feed” spiritually on Christ.

Additionally, alluding to Exodus 24:6–8, Jesus explains that the wine represents his “blood of the covenant,” his violent death on the cross, which brings “forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 26:28). When Jesus promises to drink new wine with them in the kingdom of God, he looks past the cross to his resurrection and second coming.

Today’s verses can be found at Matthew 26: 26-30 and Isaiah 53: 5-6.