Paradise Lost

1The world began when God created the heavens and the earth. He created Adam then he created Eve. Perhaps you’ve heard the world’s shortest poem entitled, “Troubles” and the poem goes “Adam had ‘em.” That’s right. Adam had a lot of trouble. When sin entered his life, all the trouble began.

Captain Noah and the Good Ship Grace

2There is widespread archaeological evidence that every culture has some story of a flood. We are not talking about some idle event that took place in a little corner of the world. Many, many cultures have stories about a flood dating back to this flood. There is geological and meteorological evidence.

Father Abraham Had Many Sins

3I have discovered a lot of us start out getting fired up about Jesus and everything is going along fine for a while but we come to a place where we backslide and we get out of fellowship with God. That happened in the life of Abraham.

God’s Amazing Promise to Abraham

4When it comes to receiving God’s promises, you’ll either receive them by faith or you’ll try to get the flesh in there and you’ll try to make it happen. When God makes a promise, you don’t have to make it happen he’s going to make it happen.

God’s Agonizing Testing of Abraham

5Abraham trusted God’s plan, but Isaac also was a willing sacrifice. Always remember that about Jesus. They didn’t murder Jesus. He was not a martyr. He willingly laid down his life! And that was God’s plan all along.

Love Story

6The story of Isaac and Rebekah is a beautiful love story in and of itself but it’s also a beautiful story of how God, the Father, loves you and wants the best for you.

Jacob the Grabber

7The account of Esau’s stolen birthright by Jacob and Rebekah and how greed and deception divided a family.

Wrestlemania

8Jacob was not the finest character you could ever meet. He was a liar, a cheat, and a swindler. His very name means “grabber.” But Jacob was a part of God’s plan. God can take failures and change them and then use them. For anybody who has ever made a mistake, God can still use you.

Joseph’s Misery

9A study of the parallels between the life of Joseph and the life of Jesus. No audio available; original file damaged. Partial transcript only.

Joseph’s Mystery

10We want microwave character. We want instant perseverance. We want God to shape us and change us and fix us right now. God is not in a hurry. If you are suffering or you know someone who is suffering, you ought to do what Joseph, the apostle, Paul, and Job did: Make the best out of it and say, “I will not let this make me bitter. I will let it make me better.” And you’ll let God take his time with you.

Joseph’s Ministry

11There are lessons we can learn from Joseph’s life: Be positive in negative experiences. Wherever you are, you should do your best. Bloom where you are planted. Every experience in life is training and always be a blessing to those around you.

The Call of Moses

12I think one of the reasons we can all relate to Moses is because he was called to God and gifted by God, yet he was very reluctant to serve God. That is the case for most of us.

Moses and Pharaoh

13Moses resisted all the compromises of Pharaoh. If you say, “I’m going all the way with Jesus. I’m taking everybody I can with me and I’m taking everything I own, everything I possess, and it all is going to be offered to God. That’s what total commitment is all about.

Passover and Freedom

14A study of the Passover and how marvelously the Lord Jesus Christ fulfills the prophecy of the Passover lamb. Five of the details of the requirements for the Passover lamb.

Following the Fire

15The Exodus is not just an historical story about God delivering the children of Israel. It is a story about what has happened to every one of us who are children of God. A message about when God sets you free and the characteristics of this freedom and how he deals with us in much the same way he dealt with the children of Israel.

Are You Wandering in the Wilderness?

16There are a lot of Christians who are wandering in the wilderness. You can tell you are wandering in the wilderness by the landmarks you pass by every day. Landmark number one is spiritual boredom, when the things of the Christian life don’t excite you.

Snakes in the Wilderness

17From the very moment Satan slithered his slimy existence before Eve, there has been something sssinister and sssinful and ssscary about sssnakes! A study of the nation of Israel’s rebellion against God and the swift punishment they received.

Rahab and the Spies

18In this first story about the beginning of the conquering of the Promised Land shows us that God can strike a mighty lick with a crooked stick. God can use all kinds of people–anyone who’s available to him. If you want to be a part of the family of God you have to follow five steps.

Joshua DIDN’T Fight the Battle of Jericho

19When God tells us to do things sometimes in the word, we look at it and we say, “Why?” That’s not the right response. We should just obey the Lord and not ask why, because God is trying to get us ready for even bigger and better things.

The Tragedy of “Secret Sin”

20Achan thought what he did was a personal “secret” sin. I want you to discover if there is any hidden secret sin in your life.

Judge Gideon’s Victory, part 1

21God reveals his will in a variety of ways. When you study the word of God you find God spoke in a variety of ways and God has a variety of ways he shares his will.

Judge Gideon’s Victory, part 2

22God takes the simple things of life and tests us. What was God trying to teach Gideon? What was he trying to teach the Israelites? The New Testament message is this “Be serious. Be vigilant, because our enemy, the devil, roams about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” You and I as Christians like these three hundred faithful must be vigilant.

Samson’s Bad Hair Day

23The source of Samson’s strength was not his muscles, the source of Samson’s strength was the Holy Spirit of God, because of his commitment and his devotion. It is clear every time he did something requiring supernatural strength, it was the Spirit of God coming on him. A study of “the downward slope” of Samson’s spiritual decline.

When the Glory Has Departed

24God is real! If you make the mistake of robbing him in an offering and trying to use him for your own gain, you are going to experience misery but when you repent that’s when God will be there to help you!

Saul: The Man Who Could Not Be King

25Israel wanted a king. God did not want them to have a king, but he permitted them to have a king and they got what they asked for. This is true in our lives sometimes when we seek that which is less than God’s best.

David: The Kind of Person God Uses

26In addition to the killing the wild beasts while he was out in the field taking care of the sheep, David also had to deal with another beast, a human beast named Saul. Throughout his life David was going to have to deal with difficult people sometimes in his own family. God was preparing him for that.

How to Kill Those Pesky Giants

27Before you ever succeed in battle you have to identify who your giant is. Your giant may be your temper. It may be lust; it may be a financial problem; it may be some personal problem you have. Before you can ever conquer your giant, you have to identify it.

A Tale of Three Kings

28Each of us has three kings fighting for control (there are probably a lot more). In each of us, there is a King Saul, a spirit of jealousy and anger. There is also the potential for a King David, a spirit of submission. And I also think in each one of us there is a “king-to-be” Absalom and he is the spirit of rebellion, the spirit of selfish ambition. Be careful who you put in charge, because those three kings are usually fighting for control of your life.

When a King Shows Grace to a Crippled Man

29Did you know the story of David and Mephibosheth is also a story about Jesus and us? David was a king who showed kindness and grace to a crippled man and Jesus is the king who shows grace and kindness to all of us who are spiritually crippled.

If Looks Could Kill

30God can make something beautiful out of a mess. That’s the business God is in. Look at our lives! God is in the business of taking mistakes and using us for his glory!

Solomon: The King Who Didn’t Follow His Own Advice

31Solomon sowed disobedience; he sowed compromise; he sowed little sins of setting up those little altars and before long the Bible says, “His heart had been turned from God.” How different from his father, because although David was a man who sinned and fell, to the very end he still was a man after God’s own heart.

Elijah: A Man Just Like Us

32Elijah was one of the most notable characters in the Bible. Not only do we see his miraculous ministry, but also the Bible tells us in the book of Malachi that before the Messiah comes, Elijah is going to return. What a powerful character he is in the Bible! A look at Elijah’s ministry in two perspectives.

God’s Prescription for Depression

33If you are depressed or if you go through periods of depression, don’t worry because even some of the greatest saints of God in the Bible went through periods of depression. That’s where we find Elijah. Right after this great victory on Mt. Carmel we see him going through a time of depression.

Murder in a Vineyard

34The story of Naboth: A noble man and a good, citizen; Ahab: The vile toad who squatted on the throne of Israel and Jezebel: The wicked adder coiled beside the throne.

The Miracles of Elisha, part 1

35A study of four of Elisha’s miracles: Parting of the waters, healing of the water, the bears, and water in the desert.

The Miracles of Elisha, part 2

36If you happen to count up the miracles Elijah did and Elisha did, you’ll see that under the power of God Elisha performed about twice as many miracles as Elijah did. A study of the miracle of the lepers healed and enemies blinded.

The Four Lucky Lepers

37There are more recorded miracles Elisha’s ministry than any other biblical character. A study of Elisha and the four Samarian lepers.

The Fall of the Unconquerable Nation

38A study of the fall of TWO unconquerable nations and then we’re going to draw some parallels between them and the United States of America.

Learning God’s 3 Rs

39There was a time in Israel’s history when they had a whole bunch of kings and they didn’t do very well. In fact, they drifted far away from God. This message is directed toward people who have come out of Egypt. They are Christians and they have come to the place of growing as a Christian for a while but then in the middle of that, something happens and they get out of favor with God.

The MVP of the Old Testament

40Prayer is a relationship to God in which we bend our will to meet his will and we don’t spend as much time asking God for things as we do confessing our sins and praising God. Rather than praying for our own needs we need to pray for the needs of others. What we see here is one of the greatest examples of how to pray and especially to confess your sins before the Lord.

God’s Chosen Queen

41God may put you in a special place for a special purpose for a special time. Esther didn’t know why she became Queen, but God knew why. God may have you in a special place for a special purpose, for a special time and you don’t even know what it is yet. Your job is to be faithful, be patient and honor God. Bloom where you are planted. Brighten the corner where you are, because God could have you exactly where he wants you and you don’t even know it yet!