ReCreate Church’s Podcast

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, Sunday, February 27, 2022

Daniel’s Friends and the Fiery Furnace.

Today, Pastor Michael is continuing his theme of Daniel and we’re getting into Chapter 3.  From Chapter 2, we learned that Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, it was interpreted correctly and he knew of the empire to come, after Babylon.  Yet, instead of him considering this was his real encounter, with the Living God, he went back to idolatry!  He commissioned a huge statue and an orchestra to create an anthem to him, to make his subject bow down to him. And if they did *not* bow down to him, they would be thrown into a furnace!  

When the anthem played, only three did not bow down. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not.  The king’s advisors were so jealous of these three that they ratted them out and the king flies into a rage and commits them to the furnace!  The three answered the king, “…we do not serve your god nor the gold image…”

(Bible for Hope Study Notes) When the three men were confronted and threatened, they offered a marvelous and courageous statement of faith: “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up” (3:16-18). Their tone was respectful, confident, and uncompromising. They only assumed God’s unlimited ability, not what might happen to them. They were clearly ready to die rather than deny God.

The depth of our faith and our loyalty to God can only be measured against resistance. Threats of harm or whispers of compromise have this equal possible benefit in common: They provide an opportunity to test our faith. Sometimes, as in Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego’s lives, the test becomes a miracle!

(Disciple's Study Bible Notes) SALVATION, Belief—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are examples of the kind of faith God wants people to have in him. Faith has such trust in God’s love and power that believers hold to God no matter what happens, no matter who seeks to change their minds, or what threats they face.

Verses can be found today in Daniel, Chapter Three (3).

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, Sunday, February 20, 2022

David and the Empire of Dreams.

Today, Pastor Michael is continuing his series on Daniel.   Last week, we delved into Chapter One, where the Babylonians took over and took the Jewish people to Babylonia as slaves.   This week, we’re in Chapter Two, finding Daniel with this three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.  For Daniel remaining true to his values back in Chapter One, God has rewarded him with an ability to interpret dreams and visions.  And in Chapter Two, King Nebuchadnezzar had a troubling dream.  So he summoned his wise men who asked him about the dream.  The king did not tell them, offering them that they had to tell him the dream and the interpretation or be killed.  

Pretty much you can guess where that went…no more wise men!  Daniel, however, went to the Captain of the Guards and convinced him that he could read the King’s dream and interpret it.  The King agreed to let Daniel do this, so Daniel and his three friends prayed about it.  The Lord gave Daniel the dream vision and the interpretation.  So Daniel goes back to the King with the news.  The first part of Daniels dialogue with the King is to let him know that no man can predict the future.  

(CSB Baker Illustrated Bible Study Notes). The manner of Daniel’s speech shows his confidence, and Arioch’s quick response reveals his trust in Daniel. In the presence of the king, Daniel gives God the glory, as, together with the sages, he admits that “no wise man, medium, magician, or diviner is able to make known to the king the mystery he has asked about” (2:27). Only Daniel’s God can and does reveal mysteries (2:28–29). Daniel humbly admits that he is a mere instrument in God’s hands and that his abilities should not be viewed as native but have been given to him by God (2:30). Then he proceeds to explain the dream.

Daniel says that the King has seen a giant statue, made of precious metals.  (CSB Baker Illustrated Bible Study Notes) Through the dream of the colossal statue consisting of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and feet of iron mingled with clay, the Lord reveals how one empire will succeed another empire: Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome (2:36–40). The resulting instability of the image is represented by the mixing of iron and clay (2:42–43).

Then the stone it was on, grew into a huge mountain.  The King at this point is impressed as this was EXACTLY what he had dreamed!

The interpretation of this dream is a revealing of the future of Empires: the empires that shall come.  The King is the head of gold, Babylon.  There will be another empire, the silver empire (Persia), which will be lesser than Babylon but will take over.  Then a third kingdom, represented by the Bronze shall take over, which will be Greece.  The last last empire will be Rome, taking over vast expanses of kingdoms. Finally, the feet, iron an clay mixed, will, at a time, be God in Heaven  obliterating all kingdoms and His kingdom will surpass all kingdoms on earth.

The King is literally floored, falling on his face, before Daniel.  He promoted Daniel and gave him many gifts and made him also Head Administrator of the wise men.  He is a very high official now in the Government of Babylon.  

The prophecies of Daniel are so precise the evidence is overwhelming!

The empires of the prophesies.  Babylon, the head of gold.  The height of this empire was under Nebuchadnezzar and only a generation or two after him, Babylon fell.  Babylon was overtaken by the Meads and the Persians, the chest and arms of silver.  The Persian empire was crushed by a tiny army from Greece, the belly and thighs of brass.  Greece was dominant from 331 BC until about 63 AD.  Then they were overcome by an even more powerful empire: Rome.  The legs of iron, crushing everyone that opposed them.  Their empire went from England to India and south to Africa.  They had two divisions, eastern and western, lasting for 1,500 years.

The king’s dream accurately depicted this succession of empires.  This shows clearly how accurate the Bible is, these prophesies have all come true!

What did these empires do for our faith?  Babylon took the Jews out of the promised land and took them to Babylon where they got serious with God.  The Persians allowed the Jews to go back to their land and funded the rebuilding of the temple.  The Greeks spread their language and for the first time there was a trade language amongst a lot of people.  Lastly, the Romans were good at conquering even more than all the previous empires and built roads all over their kingdom, connecting people.  People can now travel and missionaries can travel, too!

Later prophesy from Daniel and Revelation show Rome coming back and Jesus will be the great stone that obliterates the empires to be replaced by His kingdom!

The rise and fall of empires, was created by God and He used it to bring good to everyone.  It was so the good news could come down through the ages.

Verses can be found today in Daniel, Chapter Two (2).

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.