Resisting the Devil | 1 Peter 5:1-11

Genesis: The Beginning | Part 1

Message Us! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2143308/fan_mail/new] Forget the tired argument that Genesis 1 is mainly a battleground for timelines. We read it as a map for reality. If you’ve ever felt the modern drift toward meaninglessness or watched a culture lose its moral center, the opening lines of Scripture land with fresh weight: God exists, God is eternal, and creation is not random. We follow the text where it leads, from “In the beginning” to the stunning hints of God’s triune life, and we ask the most important Bible-reading question: what does this reveal about God? From there, we zoom out to what Genesis 1 says about the world. We talk about fine-tuning and order, not as a gimmick, but as a doorway into wisdom and worship. We sit with the repeated verdict that creation is good, and we tackle two opposite temptations: treating the physical world as shameful, or treating its pleasures as ultimate. The goal is a grounded Christian worldview that enjoys God’s gifts with gratitude while refusing to turn them into idols. Then the story gets even bigger. The earth is framed as a cosmic temple meant to display God’s glory, with humans as God’s image placed inside. We name the hard truth that sin desecrates this temple, corrupts us, and fractures our relationship with God, and we also hold out the better news: God does not abandon creation. Through Jesus, new creation has already begun, and the promise of a new heaven and new earth is restoration, not escape. We end with a practical challenge to bring help, generosity, beauty, compassion, and hope into a broken world as living signposts of the kingdom. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review. What’s one concrete way you’re going to add goodness to someone’s week? Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2143308/support]

Resisting the Devil | 1 Peter 5:1-11

Message Us! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2143308/fan_mail/new]  The devil is a real enemy, but believers do not need to fear him because Jesus has already defeated him. Peter calls Christians to resist the devil by remaining humble before God and one another, staying watchful against his tactics of deception, temptation, and resentment, and standing firm in faith during suffering. We must take spiritual warfare seriously without becoming obsessed with it, trusting that God gives us the strength and truth we need to stand.  1 Peter 5:1-11  1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.  See sermon study guide here: https://myrealchurch.org/teaching/stand-alone/resisting-the-devil-1-peter-51-11/ Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2143308/support]

Freedom in Christ

Message Us! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2143308/fan_mail/new] In Mark 5, Jesus encounters a man whose life has been completely devastated by demonic oppression. He is isolated, tormented, hopeless, and unable to free himself. Yet with a simple command, Jesus demonstrates His absolute authority over the powers of darkness and completely transforms the man. This story reminds us that while our bondage may look different, every person apart from Christ is enslaved to sin and under the domain of darkness. Through His mercy, Jesus sets people free—not only from guilt and condemnation, but also from the power of sin and Satan. The challenge for believers is not merely to be freed, but to live in the freedom Christ has already won for us. Mark 5:1-20 1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8 For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12 and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. 14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled. See the sermon guide and discussion questions here: https://myrealchurch.org/teaching/stand-alone/freedom-in-christ/ Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2143308/support]

True Manhood Begins With Following Christ

Message Us! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2143308/fan_mail/new] We challenge the noisy cultural stories about masculinity with Psalm 1 and a clear definition of biblical manhood rooted in following Jesus. We lay out three marks of a real man and end at the cross, because we need a Savior before we can live with courage, contentment, and consistency.  • cultural extremes around masculinity and why misogyny is toxic  • a Bible-shaped definition of manhood as sacrificial responsibility that blesses others  • contentment as deep blessedness rather than constant cheer  • King Ahab as a warning about entitlement and discontent  • Lance Armstrong as a modern example of insatiability and downfall  • the secret of delighting in God’s Word day and night  • being materially content and spiritually hungry  • why children need presence more than possessions  • courage to resist compromise and stand against shifting cultural narratives  • the “walk, stand, sit” progression into ungodliness  • consistency as rooted faith that bears fruit over time  • the North Star metaphor for unchanging convictions  • Paul Tripp’s reminder that true manhood leads us to the cross as Savior  Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2143308/support]

Biblical Manhood: A Survey of the First Psalm

Message Us! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2143308/fan_mail/new] Sermon on Psalm 1  1 Blessed is the man  who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,  nor stands in the way of sinners,  nor sits in the seat of scoffers;  2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD,  and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree  planted by streams of water  that yields its fruit in its season,  and its leaf does not wither.  In all that he does, he prospers.  4 The wicked are not so,  but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,  nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;  6 for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,  but the way of the wicked will perish. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2143308/support]