Life Lessons with Dr. Steve Schell

Ep 52 Forgiveness, Lk 17:1-6

In this episode, we are talking about forgiveness. It's one of those subjects you simply have to talk about regularly because offenses come, issues come into our hearts, and we can grow bitter and hard. So God is constantly reminding us through His word to forgive each other.

We will talk about two levels of forgiveness in this episode. We're not just talking about the personal offenses that take place, although we will touch on that, but we are talking in more detail about what happens when we see another believer slip into some serious moral or doctrinal error. God expects us to go after that person. In other words, when I start to slip, we can't say, "It's not my business," because we are a family of believers, and we are indeed our brother's keeper. 

To purchase Pastor Steve's newest book Understanding Romans: Life-Changing Lessons from Paul's Greatest Letter, visit Amazon. 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

 

 

Ep 51 The Rich Man and Lazarus, Lk 16:19-31

In this parable Jesus pictures the death of two men. One is a rich, self-centered man who had no compassion on the poor, and the other was a beggar named Lazarus. Jesus takes us beyond the grave and lets us see what happens to each as they step into eternity. The passage is meant as a warning against hardening our hearts toward God, thinking that life will go on forever and that we will never have to account for our attitudes. It's also a warning to those who think they can make up excuses for ungodly behavior. We may justify ourselves in our own minds, but we will not fool God at all. 

As we consider the rich man and his hard-hearted family, we will look more closely at the forces that harden a person's heart, and ways in which God is able to soften hearts so a person can be saved before he/she dies. All of us know people who stubbornly resist repenting and turning to God. Understanding why people refuse to turn to God and how God works to win them back to Himself should help us pray for such people and to be more patient while we're waiting. And through it all, we must remember no one loves hard-hearted people more than God (Eze 18:23: Jn 3:16:2Pe 3:9).

To purchase Pastor Steve's newest book Understanding Romans: Life-Changing Lessons from Paul's Greatest Letter, visit Amazon. 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

 

Ep 50 Managing God's Money, Lk 16:1-13

Listeners, we are so sorry we had a technical glitch in this episode! But we have fixed it, so please listen again.

You and I need to be faithful managers of God's money. But how do we do that in a practical sense?

As we continue through the book of Luke, we are looking in this chapter at more of what Jesus says specifically to His disciples as opposed to the Jewish leaders. So if you are a disciple of Jesus, these words are for you! In this episode we will look at the basic principles of this parable and then ask how we can be faithful managers ourselves.

To purchase Pastor Steve's newest book Understanding Romans: Life-Changing Lessons from Paul's Greatest Letter, visit Amazon. 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

 

Ep49 Elder Brother Syndrome, Lk 15:25-32

People who zealously give themselves to faithful service can always be in danger of falling into "Elder Brother Syndrome." A common termused today is "burnout." This is not a problem reserved for Pharisees and scribes, but can and does affect Christians—especially Christians who hold themselves to high standards and consistently give time and energy to serve God. You would think that those who hold themselves to high standards and consistently serve God would automatically have a great relationship with God and be overflowing with joy, but this is not always the case. Without certain principles and skills being practiced in our lives we can, like the elder brother, develop feelings of alienation, self-pity, lovelessness and pride.

To purchase Pastor Steve's newest book Understanding Romans: Life-Changing Lessons from Paul's Greatest Letter, visit Amazon. 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

 

Ep 48 The Prodigal Son, Lk 14:25-15:27

Jesus has been talking to religious leaders and great multitudes of people, and He gives a severe call to discipleship, telling the full price a disciple would pay up front. And as we look at the well known parable of The Prodigal Son, it is good to keep this cost of discipleship in mind. Jesus is really talking about priorities. Following Christ comes first. 

To purchase Pastor Steve's newest book Understanding Romans: Life-Changing Lessons from Paul's Greatest Letter, visit Amazon. 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

Ep 47 A Missionary Heart, Lk 14:12-24

Every Christian can't move to a foreign nation to be a missionary, but every Christian should have the heart of a missionary. In these two parables Jesus looks deep into the heart at our motives for serving people, and the attitudes He teaches us are those which we typically associate with a missionary. Jesus' teaching should also act as a checklist to see if we are sensing God as effectively as possible, because He tells us who we should be seeking to reach. No one person could possibly reach all the people Jesus is inviting to heaven, but if each Christian has the heart of a missionary, we'll see results beyond our fondest hopes.

To purchase Pastor Steve's newest book Understanding Romans: Life-Changing Lessons from Paul's Greatest Letter, visit Amazon. 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

 

Ep 46 Those God Honors, Lk 14:7-11

There is a deep underlying principle in this passage which is expressed over and over again throughout the Bible. We might state it simply in this way. "God honors those who honor Him, and He disciplines those who honor themselves." With this parable of guests being seated at a wedding feast, Jesus brings us face to face with the attitudes of pride and humility.

To purchase Pastor Steve's newest book Understanding Romans: Life-Changing Lessons from Paul's Greatest Letter, visit Amazon. 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

 

 

 

Ep 45, The Mustard Seed, Lk 13:18-19

We want God to wave His hand over our world and change it all at once. And indeed a day will come when Jesus will return to earth bringing all evil to an immediate halt and believers will be transformed in the twinkling of an eye. But, for now, until He comes again, that's not the way God grows His kingdom. With the parable of the mustard seed, Jesus is revealing God's strategy to win the world. And what a surprising strategy it is! He takes one person who is filled with His Spirit and places them in a group of people and then uses that person to draw others to Himself. God delights at selecting people that seem insignificant and weak, and accomplishes great things through them so that when the work is done, everyone must glorify God.

Jesus Himself is the first "seed" which God has Thrown" into His "garden," which is the world. Then, just as God "cast" His own Son into the earth so the Son of God casts His followers (Mt 13:36-38). As these declare Him to others the Holy Spirit indwells each new believer, and they in turn, also become seeds that the Son scatters into the world. Just as a plant multiplies the life that is in it by bearing fruit which become fruit-bearing plants themselves, so God's rulership expands through the human race until Christ is the head of a great kingdom composed of people from every nation.

To purchase Pastor Steve's newest book Understanding Romans: Life-Changing Lessons from Paul's Greatest Letter, visit Amazon. 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

 

Ep 44 A Daughter of Abraham, Lk 13:10-17

In this episode we see a woman who has been demonically oppressed for eighteen years, yet as soon as Jesus sees her, He calls her forward and delivers her of the assaulting spirit, and lays His hand on her to heal her damaged body. In the following debate He calls her a "daughter of Abraham" which for Him is a very special term meaning much more than just an Israelite physically descended from Abraham and Sarah. As He listens to the discernment of the Spirit, Jesus recognizes that she is a woman of faith though outwardly she is humiliatingly contorted. A "child of Abraham," whether a man (Lk 19:9) or a woman, is a person who so trusts God that they will wait for His answer over time and through hardship. Many of the marks of faith in this couple's life are listed in Hebrews 11:1,2,6-19,39,40.

All Christians are seen by God as "children of Abraham" (Gal 3:6-9,26-29), so in the account of this healing we learn some important lessons that apply to our lives today.

 

Ep 43 Discerning the Times, Lk 12:54, 13:9

Jesus challenged the people of His day by pointing out that they were more interested in predicting the weather than they were in seeing the spiritual warning signs all around them. A person didn't have to be a prophet to see that there was trouble ahead if religious leaders did not repent soon and begin using their influence to direct people toward true faith in God. People were more interested in fighting with the Romans than in bearing fruit for God, and if this continued, there would be wide-spread disaster in the near future.

Just as Jesus challenged the religious structure of first-century Israel, His words ought to challenge the Church in America today. Are there "signs of the times" that we ought to discern as well?

To purchase Pastor Steve's newest book Understanding Romans: Life-Changing Lessons from Paul's Greatest Letter, visit Amazon. 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge.