ReCreate Church’s Podcast

Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, October 20, 2024

Meet Jesus, be Transformed

Today, Pastor Michael is continuing our study in the book of Mark.  We’ve been following Jesus through the gospel of Mark, and now He’s done the greatest miracle of all, rising from the dead, just as He predicted.

After Jesus was risen, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, who told others of His appearance.  Curiously enough, others did not believe her!

What’s up with that?

Why don’t we accept things, even today, in things that we shouldn’t struggle to believe?

1. Doubt.
2. Discouragement.
3. Hardness of heart.

Our catchphrase today is “Meet Jesus, be transformed!”   What needs to be transformed in your life?

Today’s verses can be found in Mark 16: 9 - 12.

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, October 13, 2024

He’s Still Rolling Stones.

Today, Pastor Michael is giving a history lesson on the old Berlin Wall.  It was felt this wall would never be torn down, but in 1989, it fell without violence.  Even the most immovable object can be moved.

All of us have immovable, unrollable stones…objects we deal with that feel like impossible barriers. Guilt, fear, anxiety, depression, and broken families come to mind as those. But we have a Savior who tears down barriers and still rolls stones away. Key Idea today: Jesus is still rolling stones!

Michael’s story involves women taking fragrant spices and heading to Jesus’s tomb to anoint His body. These women knew time was of the essence, and more work was needed. They came to the tomb and expected to find Jesus dead and a stone across the entrance to the tomb. All the while, the women wondered, “Who will roll away the stone?”

But when they got to the tomb, the stone was rolled away.  The Lord rolled away the tomb and can roll away your “stones” as well.

So, what “stones” do we have in our life?  Guilt.  Busyness and distraction.  Depression Sin.  We fill our days, but our days don’t fill us up.  We all have stones in our lives that need rolling away.

There is no stone that Jesus cannot roll away!

Today’s verses can be found in Mark 16: 1 - 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, October 6, 2024

Faith in the Dark

Today, Pastor Michael is talking about darkness and faith in the dark.  Here, Michael talks about how Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for Jesus’s body. Joseph was a member of the Sanhedrin, but Joseph had a secret.  Joseph had become a believer in Jesus!  So Nicodemus and Joseph carried Jesus’s body to a nearby garden, to a tomb that Joseph had.  They put his body in the tomb and rolled the stone across the entrance and felt that they wouldn’t see anything here for a year.  The world was so dark that an act of faith seemed pointless.

Faith does not require that we understand every detail.  Faith requires that we understand God can be trusted.

No matter how dark and troubled the world gets, even in the dark, God is still working.  Two women, Mary Magdalene and Salome, were first to the tomb the next day.  But when they got there, the stone was rolled away, and the women encountered a young man dressed in white, telling them that Jesus had risen!

So, everyone has a story about wrestling with the dark.  Trust Jesus in the dark! 

(CSB Bible Notes) Jesus’s burial was hastily performed because it was already evening on Friday. The Sabbath was soon to begin, a time when burial labors were not permitted. The day of preparation (the day before the Sabbath) was when pious Jews prepared whatever they needed for the Sabbath.

Today’s verses can be found in Mark 15: 42 - 47.

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, September 29, 2024

The Breaking Point

Today, Pastor Michael is discussing how faith in Jesus turns breaking points into turning points. In this story, a lady with a chronic illness weaved and pressed through a crowd to touch Jesus. Upon touching Him, she was immediately healed. 

She was at a breaking point and ran to Jesus.  Twelve years of suffering ended that day. Do whatever you have to do to get in touch with Jesus!

Yet, there is someone still in this story, and that’s the synagogue’s leader, Jairus, whose daughter died during this healing event.  Jesus’ followers even said to Jairus, don’t bother Jesus, your daughter is gone.  Jesus, however, said she wasn’t dead, merely sleeping.  She arose when Jesus called her; He raised her from the dead! 

Jesus knew this girl had died, but what is death to the Son of God?   

(CSB Bible Notes) As a doctor, Luke was especially sensitive to the fact that this woman had spent all her resources on doctors and yet could not be healed. Even with the crowd pressing against Jesus from all sides, he was immediately aware of the touch of the woman who was instantly healed of her bleeding. No explanation is given for how he knew that healing power had gone out from him.

Today’s verses can be found in Luke 8: 40 - 55.

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, September 22, 2024

The Paywall

Today, Pastor Michael is talking about paywalls…the payment of a fee to enjoy premium content.  Paywalls are frustrating, but you might pay the price if you want something badly enough.  But what if you need something that is life or death, and the paywall is priced so high that no one can afford it?  It’s an impossible paywall.

That’s how life was before Jesus. 

There was a barrier that could not be crossed; you couldn’t connect with God on the level you can after Jesus.  People were trying to get to God but were blocked by sin.  That’s the harsh reality of the world that Jesus came into.

The sacrifice of Jesus tore down the paywall….our central theme today.

When Jesus died on the cross, he permanently opened the way to God for everyone. No matter what you’ve done or has been done to you, you have total access to God!

Today’s verses can be found in Mark 15: 33 - 41.

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, September 15, 2024

Which Rebel Are You?

Today, Pastor Michael continues our long, long journey :) into the book of Mark.  We’re looking at two men that don’t get much coverage in the Bible, being the men crucified next to Christ, but theirs is a fascinating story, so let’s dive into it.

The two men next to him were descrdibed as ‘thieves or robbers’ yet it may have been likely that they were more than that.  They may have been political criminals, insurrectionists against Rome, possibly.  Historically, these two men have been referred to as the ‘good’ thief and the ‘bad’ thief.  However, you will make a choice, similar to one of those men, someday.

These two men were equally guiilty and both forfeted their mortal life.  One man came to the end of his life in peace and opened his eyes in paradise.  One ended his life in agony and ended up in eternal agony.

Will you continue to insist that you are a good person and you don’t need redemption or will you cry out to Jesus and cry out for salvation?  You cannot be saved unless you know you are a sinner.

So, which rebel are you?

Today’s verses can be found in Mark 15: 27 - 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, September 8, 2024

Removing Stones.

Today, Duncan Crook is delivering the message, about “Removing Stones”.  Jesus is at the tomb of Lazarus, seeing the sadness of those at the tomb.  His death will show God glorified and increaed faith in Jesus. 

At this point, the disciples faith in Jesus still needed further strengthening.  Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, reinforces the disciples faith, as well as glorifying God. 

The sickness and eventual death of Lazarus teach us many things:

1. That bad things do happen to good people.
2. There is no question that Jesus loved Lazarus.
3. The death of Lazarus teaches us about prayer, especially prayer that seemingly is unanswered.
4. When you face difficult times, realize God may be pruning you for further growth or to glorify His name.
5. When you face difficult times, don’t conclude that He doesn’t love you!
6. When you face a trying time, don’t ever give up on God or prayer.

So, remove the stone, meaning the tomb entrance stone.  Jesus chose to include people in this miracle; He could easily have moved that stone.  Here, no one is a spectator; those folks participated in the miracle.

Jesus wants us to trust Him for what we cannot do and loves sharing with us.

Roll away the stone, and God will raise the dead!

(CSB Bible Notes) 11:43 Jesus raised Lazarus not by magic, incantations, or spells, but by the power of his word.

Today’s verses can be found in John 11: 38 - 48. 

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, September 1, 2024

Get Off the Couch!

Today, Pastor Michael talks about how much being a Christian has changed in our culture.  The prevailing values of our culture were ‘Christian-ish’, but you could escape by without proving too much.  For the longest time, one could be a Christian from the couch!

The days of couch Christianity are over.  Even the illusion of it is gone now.The reality of today’s Christianity is that people are not used to being challenged; it’s time to learn spiritual endurance now.

Today, Michael is talking of Jesus’ death and the Roman soldiers casting lots to take his clothes.  And David predicted this in Psalms over 1,000 years earlier.  And this is further reason to believe in the bible and its specific predictive prophecies!

Why did Jesus choose to endure this?  He put God’s plans over the pains of Golgatha.

We must learn to put the plans of God over the pains we endure.  It’s the only path; life will be hard anyway!  Might as well receive something wonderful in return!

It’s time to get off the couch!  The culture used to be ‘Christian-ish’, but now we face pressure for the first time in a long time.  But we’re back in the game!

The world needs us to be a shining light. 

How to Get Off the Couch:

1. Live it. Don’t just talk about it; live for Jesus every single day.
2. Engage the culture with positivity and compassion.
3. Get off the course and build spiritual endurance, but expect some resistance.  Don’t let it make you bitter, nor let it stop you from being who God made you to be.

If you don’t like the trajectory the world is on, GET OFF THE COUCH!

Today’s verses can be found in Mark 15: 22 -  27 and Psalms 22: 16 - 18.

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, August 25, 2024

Discipleship, Part Two.

Today, Pastor Michael is returning the reigns over to David Boudreaux to let him finish his series on Matthew 28: 16 - 20, “The Great Commission,” and a study on discipleship.

So, to ick up where we left off, here is a brief summary of last week’s message. It looked at the definition of a disciple, which said, in part, that anyone proclaiming to be a follower of Jesus is a disciple. 

This was not a suggestion by Jesus but a mandate, a command.  And we’ll pick right up there.  Here, David points out that if you’re a seasoned believer, find someone to help and be open to being taught.  In other words, go and make disciples.  We’re not called to do this by ourselves but with the authority and power of Jesus himself.

To make a disciple, we must first be a disciple.  Did you know that the word disciple appears 269 times in the bible?  Jesus didn’t come to make Christians; he came to make disciples.

Every disciple should have three (3) folks at their side:

1. A Paul, who is older and wiser.
2. A Barnabas, who is a friend and holds you accountable.
3. A Timothy, a younger believer that we are investing in.

Every believer needs to ask two (2) questions:

1. Who am I discipling?
2. Who is discipling me?

Today’s verses can be found in Matthew 28: 16 - 20, Acts 1: 15, Matthew 5: 14 - 16, John 8: 12, Mark 16: 15, Acts 17: 11, 1 Peter 1: 16, James 2: 14, 2: 17 - 20., Acts 1: 14, 1 Corinthians 10: 12 and Matthew 25: 20 -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, August 18, 2024

Who We Are

Today, David Boudreaux will stand in for Pastor Michael, and it will be his first time giving the message, so let’s welcome him warmly.

David starts by visiting the Recreate Church website, www.recreatechurch.org, and reading the tab “Who We Are.”

David focuses on the second statement on that tab: “We are disciples who make disciples.”  This was the last command that Jesus gave to His disciples.

What is a disciple?

The Webster’s dictionary defines it as “A learner.  A scholar, one who receives or professes to receive instructions from another”.  “A follower, an adherent to the doctrines of another.”.  Hence, all Christians are called His disciples.

All disciples may not be true disciples; they may ‘confess’ to be disciples.  And those folks may be deceiving themselves.

A helpful thing about making disciples is asking: Am I in God’s word daily?  Or regularly?

This is an overview of how Jesus took these 12 Disciples under his wing, the “Masters Model, Jesus’ Four-Step Progression.”

1. Jesus ministers and the disciplines watched and observed.
2. Jesus allows the disciples to assist in the ministry.
3. The disciples ministered, and Jesus assisted them.
4. Jesus observed as the disciples ministered to others.

Jesus didn’t do it alone; we can’t do it alone.

David covers the Great Commission in Matthew 28: 18 - 20.  As we turn our hearts and minds to Jesus, we find ourselves being given a divine mandate, not a casual suggestion or passing thought; it’s a command. It’s a charge. 

David offers some suggested  sites on the Web that can assist us in making disciples:

1. navigators.org
2. www.replicate.org

Are we making disciples?

(CSB Bible Notes) The verb matheteuō (to make disciples) is derived from the noun mathētēs which occurs more than 250 times, entirely in the Gospels and Acts. Mathētēs means disciple, pupil, one who learns from another, and typically indicates a person whose life is bound up with that of Jesus, his master. Matheteuō means to become a disciple (Mt 13:52;

Today’s verses can be found in Mathew 28: 16 - 20.

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.