Life Lessons with Dr. Steve Schell

Ep 42 Reaching Your Family, Lk 12:49-53

This passage in Luke 12 points to the subject of what happens to a family when the gospel comes in. Anyone who has received Christ and sought to minister to their family knows there can be issues. How do I share Christ with my family members because they don't always respond the way we think they will. In this episode we will give some practical advice for how and when to share the gospel with unsaved family members.  

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 41 Ready to Meet Him, Lk 12:35-48

We've added the Bible reference in the title for you!

Earlier in this chapter Jesus warned His followers not to deny Him (12:9,10) and to beware of greed (12:15-21). Next, He told them to focus on the ministry to which He had called them, trusting God to provide for their needs (12:22-34). Now, as He continues speaking to His disciples. He tells them that they must personally take responsibility for their own spiritual condition, realizing that someday, each one will give an account for his or her life. On some future day God wili examine every believer to see whether or not that person has continued to be faithful to obey Him and still has a living faith in Christ.

If the enduring of my faith and obedience to the end is not automatic and I am expected to take steps to ensure that I am ready to meet Him, what are some practical ways I can do this?

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 free recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

 

 

Ep 40 Rich Towards God

In Luke 12:13-34, Jesus talks about money. We are going to look over the parable He uses to explain giving, try to understand the parable, and then answer some practical questions like: Why should we give? How much should we give? And what good is money to God?

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 39 - Toxic Religion

In Luke 11:37-54, we are going to watch Jesus as He goes to lunch with a group of Pharisees. Have you ever been invited to a lunch where you know you are going to get raked over the coals? Yet Jesus accepted the invitation despite the possibility of a clash.

We are talking in this episode about legalism. Legalism is any fear-driven attempt to please God. The emphasis is on human effort to get salvation. We will examine both legalism and lawlessness as we watch Jesus deal with these religious leaders. 

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 free recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

And check us out on Instagram as well!

 

38 Don't Fight the Light

Jesus often used the image of light and its effect on darkness to teach us what happens when God's presence and truth come into our lives (Mt. 5:15; Mk. 4:21; Lk. 8:16; Jn. 1:4-18; 3:19-21; 8:12; 9:5; 12:35, 36, 45, 46). When He spoke of light, He was speaking of God explaining Himself to humans by His presence. Like light being turned on in a dark room, when God's truth and presence arrives in our lives, it exposes what is really there. The Lord's words that we are reading today were made as He stood in the middle of a huge crowd that was filled with skepticism even after seeing His miraculous ministry. His words are a warning, clothed in a parable: God is revealing His "light" to them, and if they receive it in faith, it will change everything about them from the inside out, but if they reject it, those less fortunate than they will rise up to judge them at the final Judgment of God.

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 37 Persevering in Prayer

Why do our prayers seem to go unanswered or the answers seem cruel? Jesus teaches a disciple about prayer in Lk 11:1-13 by reminding him of the Lord's Prayer, and then He tells two parables about the heart of the Father. Anybody who has prayed for something and not seen it answered or who has been waiting for a long time for a prayer to be answered: this message is for you. 

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 free recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

And check us out on Instagram as well!

36 Mary and Martha

In Luke 10:38-42, we watch Mary's and Martha's interactions with Jesus when He visits them along with their brother Lazarus. Martha makes all the food and preparations while Mary sits at the Lord's feet. What is going on here? There are three options: did Jesus bring too many people to dinner? In other words, does God give us too much to do? Second, were too few people willing to help with the dinner? Or third, did Martha try to prepare too elaborate of a meal?

We will look today at what happens when we do more than the Lord requires of us.  

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 free recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

 

 

 

 

35 - The Good Samaritan

Christmas is traditionally a season during which we feel prompted to be generous with others. And it's only natural considering we are celebrating God's incomprehensible generosity toward us by sending His Son to rescue us from our sins. We who have freely received such kindness are naturally motivated to treat others in the same way God has treated us. This account of Jesus' conversation with a scholar of the Old Testament and the parable He uses is a wonderful passage to prepare our hearts to love our neighbors as 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 free recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

And check us out on Instagram as well!

 

 

 

34 - Decisions That Last

As Jesus prepares for a final evangelistic campaign, He tells His followers that after ministering through Samaria, Perea and Judea they will end up in Jerusalem where He will be arrested and killed. He warns them that the days ahead may bring hardship and even death for them as well. Then as they actually all begin to travel southward, the reality of what lies ahead begins to worry some of His disciples and test the depth of their commitment to Him. Luke records three brief conversations which show people struggling with the decision to follow Jesus into the firestorm ahead. It's one thing to follow Jesus during the glory of His preaching and healing ministry, but it's quite another to follow Him on the road to the cross. Now the quality of our decision to follow Him gets tested and the deep motives of our hearts come to light. As we listen to Jesus interact with each person, we will learn important truths about making decisions that last.

To purchase Pastor Steve's new book Understanding Acts: Life-Changing Lessons from the Early Church, visit Amazon. 

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

And check us out on Instagram as well!

 

 

33 - Road Rage

After a Samaritan village rudely refused to welcome them, James and John, two brothers with a reputation for temper anyway (Mk. 3:17), angrily responded by wanting God to destroy the entire town. Had God done so, a lot of innocent people would have died without a chance to hear the gospel. How frequently we give up on people by deciding they are hopelessly beyond God's power to save—forgetting how much persistent love it took for God to reach us. When He corrected His disciples, Jesus warned them that they were deceived by their angry emotions. Undoubtedly, they assumed they were motivated by wanting people to respect Jesus, but in truth their rage didn't come from God at all but was hateful revenge. Then He reminded them that God's heart was to save lost people, not speed their passage into hell.

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 free recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. 

And check us out on Instagram as well!