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Based in Hillsville, Virginia, this is the podcast of ReCreate Church. We are a community of Life and Love.
Episodes
Sunday Jan 10, 2021
Sunday Jan 10, 2021
Swoosh!
Today, Pastor Michael is taking a side trip past last week’s journey on the Hebrew holidays and jumping in on the weirdness that is the start of 2021.
Using Michael Jordan as an example, Pastor Michael shows that one life can make a difference. Pre-MJ, the Chicago Bulls were not championship material. After MJ: Champions!
Josiah, in the ancient world of Judah, was the Michael Jordan of his day. He was born into a bad situation, put into a difficult role at an early age and looked at the dysfunctional things around him and decided to elicit change. Josiah, at 16, decided that the family tradition of dysfunction had to go. Josiah ‘sought the Lord’ and got close to the Lord. He influenced people to chose different ways of life; people tore down altars and rooted out the strongholds of the devil. Many biblical scholars consider Josiah as the greatest king in his devotion to God. The key point to Michael Jordan and Josiah is that we can be that too, for the Lord! We can influence for the Lord, and be salt and light for others.
We need a reminder that life on this Earth can leave us feeling helpless. We can get discouraged and wonder how one person can make a difference.
Our lives are MADE to make a difference! We are responsible for being the salt of the earth and the light of the world in our own circles of influence!
Not matter how strange our world may be, our Lord is still at work!
Today’s bible verses are found in 2 Chronicles 34: 1-7.
Sunday Jan 03, 2021
Sunday Jan 03, 2021
The Reset Button!
Today starts our 2021 fellowship and ministry. Pastor Michael brings up the great point of “A Reset Button” for the new year. Almost a ‘magical’ one, since 2020 was so crazy with all that happened in all of our lives.
Using the Hebrew Feast of Trumpets as a New Year background, Pastor Michael talks about how, in this new year, we should be “…a little less full of ourselves and a little fuller with Jesus”.
And in discovering how we want a new year to offer new promise, we should examine questions of accountability. Notably:
—Are we walking closer with Jesus than we were a year ago?
—Is our spiritual life stronger than it was a year ago?
—Are there blessings that we may have missed because we weren’t in the right spiritual place?
Has the Lord been speaking to us? Have we been listening?
The one thing we can control in the new year is this: We can choose to trust the Lord!
The Lord will take care of the rest!
Today’s bible verses are found in Zechariah 4: 1-10, Leviticus 23: 23-25 and Numbers 29: 1.
Tuesday Dec 29, 2020
Tuesday Dec 29, 2020
Betwixtmas!
Today we’re continuing our focus on the birth of Jesus and the Three Magi (Wisemen) and King Herod and the fulfillment of prophecy from the Old Testament.
The Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to flee to Egypt because Herod is searching for the child and wants to kill him. They stayed there until Herod’s death and then returned. This leaving Egypt recalled a prophecy from Hosea, “I called my Son out of Egypt”. But before Joseph and Mary fled Egypt, Herod commited a horrible act of killing every male son, under 2 years old to ensure that his throne would not be taken. This, in turn, was more prophesy fulfillment, this from Jeremiah, of Rachel’s “weeping for her children”.
After returning from Egypt, Joseph was warned in yet another dream to settle in a town called Nazareth, where his son will be called a Nazarene, fulfilling yet another prophesy, from Isaiah.
Today’s bible verses are found in Matthew 2: 10-23, Hosea 11: 1, Jeremiah 31:15 and Isaiah 11: 1.
Monday Dec 21, 2020
Monday Dec 21, 2020
The Gifts of the Wisemen.
Today we’re following up on the Wisemen, the Magi that visited the baby Jesus. These wise men brought gifts; gold, frankincense and myrrh. The gifts, symbolically, Jesus gives us today.
Gold in those days was both tribute and currency. It represents the value of good leadership; in this case leadership in our heart.
Frankincense, a resin from a tree, was used in Jewish religious ceremonies for its fragrance and smoke, similar to incense today. Symbolically it represents shows, via smoke rising up, that our prayers are lifted to heaven. This also represents Jesus as a priest to people.
Myrrh was used in anointing oil for burial purposes. Jesus was born not just to live but to die. His destiny was to give his life for you and for me. Myrrh points to Jesus as a king and a Savior and points to the cross.
Today’s bible verses are found in Matthew 2: 11-12.
Sunday Dec 13, 2020
Sunday Dec 13, 2020
The wise men.
Today we’re examining the story of the Magi, the wisemen from Persia in the book of Matthew. The magi’s (astrologers) were looking for Jesus, as they had seen his birth announcement in the stars. The coming of the Magi was important for two reasons. First, their arrival and questions challenged King Herod, who considered himself to be the King of the Jews. Second, it showed the universality of Christ. He was not only the King of the Jews but the King of kings.
The wise men teach us that true seekers everywhere will honor Christ. They were seeking peace.
Today’s bible verses are found in Matthew 2: 1-2 and Micah 5:2.
Sunday Dec 06, 2020
Sunday Dec 06, 2020
It was over, but it wasn’t over.
Today Pastor Michael wraps up the long running series on Elijah and Elisha. This series started in August and we’re in December so it’s been a prolific study. This is a story that takes place after Elisha has died and his story appears finished but there is one more scene that tells us it has a better ending than we even thought. After being attacked by the Moabites, the Israelites were burying a man and saw the raiders and through him in Elisha’s tomb: he touched Elisha’s bones and was revived.
Elisha in this story had a power that extended beyond his mortal death. By the death of Elisha, another was brought to life. The dead man wasn’t raised to life by any of his own efforts. All of these point to the Old Testament showing Jesus through clues and similarities. These connections are parallels between Elisha and Jesus, all messages that point back to the fact that God is there and God cares.
Today’s bible verses are found in 2 Kings 13: 20-21.
Sunday Nov 29, 2020
Sunday Nov 29, 2020
Don’t be so quick to quit.
Today Pastor Michael continues our study on Elisha and we are at the end of Elisha’s life.
The king, mourns over Elisha and recognizes that the Lord was the real power of Israel and Elisha was the man that was the conduit to God. Elisha used a bow and arrow to guide the king, putting his hands on the king’s hands, a symbol of the hand of the Lord on the king. If the king would just trust and face the enemies of his kingdom!
Elisha was showing the king that an unbeatable enemy could be beaten by trusting the Lord; that he shouldn’t be so quick to quit.
Today’s bible verses are found in 2 Kings 13: 14-21.
Sunday Nov 22, 2020
Sunday Nov 22, 2020
A miracle of timing.
Today Pastor Michael continues our study of Elisha and our theme for today is “The Lord takes what the enemy meant for evil and turns it to good”.
We find the Shunammite woman having just returned from seven years in exile, living with the Philistines during a time of famine in her home country. Having survived the famine she found her land and home had been taken over, so she was going to the king to appeal for her land and home back. In a miracle of timing, at the very moment Gehazi is talking to the king about Elisha’s miracles, in walks the very woman and her restored son!
How providentially perfect!
The king’s judgment was to return to the woman everything she owned including the land’s earnings during her absence.
Our enduring hope of such judgment upon evil can help us to persevere in difficult times.
Today’s bible verses are found in 2 Kings 8: 1-6.
Sunday Nov 15, 2020
Sunday Nov 15, 2020
I’m “NOT” Fine.
Today our theme is “It takes more courage to be real about your struggle than to pretend that everything is fine”. As Christians, we need to realize, God is okay with us being real with our struggles. And we need to be that one person that listens and cares and prays. The one person that can be there for a person that they don’t have to be ‘fine’ with. Let us be people that others can be real with.
Today’s bible verses are found in 2 Kings 4: 8-36.
Sunday Nov 08, 2020
Sunday Nov 08, 2020
Don’t Be Salty.
Today Micheal gets back to the series on Elisha and Elijah. Elijah has gone on to be with the Lord and Elisha is in a city, likely Jericho, and dealing with a city with a bad water supply. Elisha put salt in the water and declared the water healed. This seems counterintuitive to making the water better but Elisha was doing the Lord’s will. This salt healed the water and allowed the city to have crops and sustenance again. It also showed the Lord’s healing and lifting of Joshua’s curse.
Contrast that with today’s meaning of ‘salty’ as someone angry, upset or agitated. This is in sharp contract to the Bible’s use of ‘salt-of-the-earth’ a biblical sign of Christians who obey God and do his will to serve as a preservative of the human race and the earth by slowing down the moral and spiritual decay of the world around them. The takeaway here is, be like salt of the earth….not salty!
Today’s bible verses are found in 2 Kings 2: 19-22 and 2 Corinthians 4: 6-7.