The first century church withstood persecutions right up to death and still would not renounce Christ. What was it in them that empowered them to struggle and die, if necessary, to hang on to their faith? Are we prepared for such and event? Is the evil of the world creeping in on us, threatening our very existence? Will the church stand and not waver or will we simply scatter and concede to the evil of ruthless men?

If not us, is the next generation or the generation who follows them prepared? We can be if we will only look at what is missing in the religious world today.

This series is dedicated to probing, searching and finding what those believers had in them that empowered them to stand tall and not shrink in their faith under the persecutions of evil hands. We will explore until we secure ourselves in Jesus Christ. We will not quit! We will not concede! We will stand in the face of any adversity if we can see what they saw and understand what they understood.

This series will be an exploring journey back in time and back in the faith and faithful lives of those who have gone before us.

We will look at others who have seen God differently and how it changed their lives. We will also look at how we were created in His Image and what sin did to that image. But, all is not lost. We will also look at how Jesus, in His redemptive work, brought that Image back into a reflection of our Creator.  

The first century church withstood persecutions right up to death and still would not renounce Christ. What was it in them that empowered them to struggle and die, if necessary, to hang on to their faith? Are we prepared for such an event? Is the evil of the world creeping in on us, threatening our very existence? Will the church stand and not waver or will we simply scatter and concede to the evil of ruthless men?

If not us, is the next generation or the generation who follows them prepared? We can be if we will only look at what is missing in the religious world today.

This series is dedicated to probing, searching and finding what those believers had in them that empowered them to stand tall and not shrink in their faith under the persecutions of evil hands. We will explore until we secure ourselves in Jesus Christ. We will not quit! We will not concede! We will stand in the face of any adversity if we can see what they saw and understand what they understood.

This series will be an exploring journey back in time and back in the faith and faithful lives of those who have gone before us.  

This lesson gives a graphic view of some of the things these early brothers and sisters went through because of their faith. These things show us what evil can do when it tries to deplete the faith in God that true believers have.

It calls us to the question of whether we could stand under such a terrible fate and still retain our faith and our faithfulness to the Christ.  

We must also know that there are many things we have that would have been foreign to them and things they had that would be foreign to us.

If we find what we have in common, it will be easier for us to see what might be lacking in us that would carry us through tougher times in the future.

The four studies that follow this will speak of our obsessions which they did not seem to have. It will be an interesting exploration.  

In this lesson we will explore how today's church is obsessed with Hell, while the early church was not. Hell is real, but the concepts we have of it may not match the concepts they had of it. You never find the apostles preaching and teaching on it. You do not find any of the believers discussing it. Why?

If staying out of hell is our motive for following Jesus, we have something less than the early believers did to get us through very difficult times. If we follow Jesus because of "Fire Insurance," our motives are incorrect and need to be adjusted.  

In this lesson we will explore how today's church is obsessed with Heaven. This will be the first of two lessons on this subject.

We are trying to touch our motives for following Jesus, knowing that motives make a huge difference in who we are and how we respond to Him.

The people of the early church were not obsessed with heaven like today's church seems to be. You never heard someone say things like, "I just want to go to heaven when I die." Their focus was different, though they knew with assurance that they would be in Heaven with God when they died.

Part of our problem is that we have misinterpreted some passages in the Bible that we hold to dearly believing they talk in detail about heaven. These lessons will explore these passages and help us put them in a different perspective.

If going to heaven is our motive for following Jesus, it leaves a weak spot in our walk with Him. Am I motivated by this "Supreme Reward" or am I motivated out of love and devotion to Him? And, would that motive make a difference in my being able to stand bulletproofed against the evil that might come upon me?  

In this lesson we will explore how today's church is obsessed with Heaven. This will be the first of two lessons on this subject.

We are trying to touch our motives for following Jesus, knowing that motives make a huge difference in who we are and how we respond to Him.

The people of the early church were not obsessed with heaven like today's church seems to be. You never heard someone say things like, "I just want to go to heaven when I die." Their focus was different, though they knew with assurance that they would be in Heaven with God when they died.

Part of our problem is that we have misinterpreted some passages in the Bible that we hold to dearly believing they talk in detail about heaven. These lessons will explore these passages and help us put them in a different perspective.

If going to heaven is our motive for following Jesus, it leaves a weak spot in our walk with Him. Am I motivated by this "Supreme Reward" or am I motivated out of love and devotion to Him? And, would that motive make a difference in my being able to stand bulletproofed against the evil that might come upon me?  

In this lesson we will explore how today's church is obsessed with our Salvation. If you give it some thought, most churches, in various ways, work to keep the saved saved. Ask the question of church members for yourself; "If you were to die right now, would you go to heaven?" Listen to the responses and you will hear things like this: "I sure hope so." "I've done all I can and now it is up to God." Sometimes you will hear a simple "Yes."

We create church programs of keeping the saved saved. What we need to realize is that Jesus did that. Our salvation is strong and secure in Him and our behavior simply needs to be reflective of the work He has done in us.

If we are skeptical about our salvation, we will have a difficult time facing trials and keeping our lives bulletproofed against the atrocities of evil men. If our motivation is our own salvation, we are missing some powerful help in our walk with Him.  

Does all of this seem a little abrupt to you? In our concepts of heaven, do we have an eternity of wandering around heaven all day? Will it be this supreme time of visiting old friends, relatives and meeting up with the ancients of faith? We write and sing songs that indicate these things. Could there be more?

Is our salvation our main goal or is it a necessary part of something larger? Is it possible that heaven is the meeting place before our real journey and purpose begins?

In this lesson we will explore heaven, hell, and our mission in perspective. It just may be that we have to adjust our theology a bit about end things and the perspective in which they fit.  

King Uzziah had regained the territory lost and the nation was excited. But, lurking below the surface was a nation killer. God was being pushed further and further away. With the death of King Uzziah, every evil lurking below the surface would emerge and the nation would be on a downhill road to disaster.

God calls his prophet to walk into this situation and proclaim what was really happening. It meant sudden death for Isaiah the Prophet, just as it had with many before him. If he did what God called him to do he would die a horrible death. What could he do?

God allows Isaiah to see His Glory, which in turn, empowers the prophet to move ahead and share the message of the prophecy. Isaiah became a changed man because he saw a higher view of God. As a result, he was able to do that which God had called him to do with boldness and confidence.  

It is an amazing story of one lady out of a city full of idolatrous people who saw what was really happening. As for the people of Jericho, what they saw was an invading force threatening their city. But for this woman Rahab, her view was not a circumstance. She saw God Almighty!

The texts are clearly showing the reader that when people see God they change. It is so dramatic that this woman who had previously been a woman of the night ends up in the linage of Christ. AMAZING!

And what was it that brought about this super, huge change? She saw a Higher View of God!  

It is critically important for us to see through these experiences that God is constantly active in the nations… all of them. We are so segregated in our thought that we have become isolated in our view of God. We are mostly concerned about OUR COUNTRY!

Because a people, a nation, is not His “chosen” nation does not mean that He does not rule over the affairs of it. In this lesson there are two nations in view. One is Israel and the other is Midian. God loves both nations and both nations are wicked.

He will use the wicked Midian to judge the wicked Israel… and then the wicked Israel to judge the wicked Midian… and in the process, Gideon will see God... and when he does, he will affect a change in himself and in the chosen nation of God. All of this happened because Gideon saw A Higher View of God.  

They were terrified through the whole exit from Egypt, now to find themselves following a man who does not know where he is going, but insist that he is depending on the Lord God. After crossing the Red Sea, their three month journey takes them in a southerly direction until they come to a mountain called Sinai.

It was here where the people of God would get the living daylights scared out of them and where Moses would ascend Mount Sinai and stand in the very presence of God… just like he did at the burning bush many years before.

Moses needed something to keep him going. What would it be? What could he ask of God? So Moses asked God for something higher: "Show Me Thy Glory." He sought A Higher View of God.  

Because much of the rhetoric of the religious world has “watered down” concepts, it is a little difficult for us to wrap our minds around some things. In today’s world we are either agreed with when we say “Jesus Is Lord,” or simply dismissed. Among the early believers this was not so. And, if that is true, we need desperately to explore this concept.

Two governments, represented by their leaders, were both claiming to be god… at the same time. It was coming from the Jewish king and the Roman king. When you, as a believer, proclaimed that “Jesus Is Lord,” you were standing squarely in opposition to two governments… two kings.

Those with A Higher View Of God would proclaim Jesus as Lord and not blink an eye… even if it meant they would suffer and even die. Those who did not have such a view gave in to the pressures of the governments. Where would you like to stand?  

Now, if our politics are affected by our view of God, is it electing another politician to the government that will repair the moral structure and return the foundation of God's principles to our country, or would changing the way the nation views God make the difference?

The condition of this country is the responsibility of the people of God. It will not come from the government. It is not good enough to be religious. There are religious people in government contributing to the downfall of this nation. Why? It is because of their view.

God calls us to see Him.  

In a search for this direction and this understanding, you and I have to think past the “churchy” sermonettes and probe a little deeper into the truths of God and who He is.

These lessons will explore some of the similarities we share with the other living beings of creation and seek to show how man alone is critically different because he/we were created in His image and we will explore three questions.

1. In what specific areas of the Image of God was man created?

2. Since we have this “Image of God,” what effect did sin have on it?

3. And, when Jesus Christ did His redemptive work on our behalf, what then did it do to or for our image to be conformed to His?  

In a search for this direction and this understanding, you and I have to think past the “churchy” sermonettes and probe a little deeper into the truths of God and who He is.

These lessons will explore some of the similarities we share with the other living beings of creation and seek to show how man alone is critically different because he/we were created in His image and we will explore three questions.

1. In what specific areas of the Image of God was man created?

2. Since we have this “Image of God,” what effect did sin have on it?

3. And, when Jesus Christ did His redemptive work on our behalf, what then did it do to or for our image to be conformed to His?  

In a search for this direction and this understanding, you and I have to think past the “churchy” sermonettes and probe a little deeper into the truths of God and who He is.

These lessons will explore some of the similarities we share with the other living beings of creation and seek to show how man alone is critically different because he/we were created in His image and we will explore three questions.

1. In what specific areas of the Image of God was man created?

2. Since we have this “Image of God,” what effect did sin have on it?

3. And, when Jesus Christ did His redemptive work on our behalf, what then did it do to or for our image to be conformed to His?  

In a search for this direction and this understanding, you and I have to think past the “churchy” sermonettes and probe a little deeper into the truths of God and who He is.

These lessons will explore some of the similarities we share with the other living beings of creation and seek to show how man alone is critically different because he/we were created in His image and we will explore three questions.

1. In what specific areas of the Image of God was man created?

2. Since we have this “Image of God,” what effect did sin have on it?

3. And, when Jesus Christ did His redemptive work on our behalf, what then did it do to or for our image to be conformed to His?  

In a search for this direction and this understanding, you and I have to think past the “churchy” sermonettes and probe a little deeper into the truths of God and who He is.

These lessons will explore some of the similarities we share with the other living beings of creation and seek to show how man alone is critically different because he/we were created in His image and we will explore three questions.

1. In what specific areas of the Image of God was man created?

2. Since we have this “Image of God,” what effect did sin have on it?

3. And, when Jesus Christ did His redemptive work on our behalf, what then did it do to or for our image to be conformed to His?  

God created us in His Image to be a reflection of Himself to all creation. With the corruption of sin to the Image, that reflection has dimmed in our lives and no longer truly reflects Him.

We saw some of the specific areas of His Image in which we were created in previous lessons. We also watched and saw what kind of damage sin did to this Image.

These next four lessons will show what Jesus, in His redemptive work, did to restore that Image in which we were created, back to what God designed us to be.

This will help us understand more of why having our sin removed by the blood of Jesus is much, much more than just getting us saved.  

God created us in His Image to be a reflection of Himself to all creation. With the corruption of sin to the Image, that reflection has dimmed in our lives and no longer truly reflects Him.

We saw some of the specific areas of His Image in which we were created in previous lessons. We also watched and saw what kind of damage sin did to this Image.

These next four lessons will show what Jesus, in His redemptive work, did to restore that Image in which we were created, back to what God designed us to be.

This will help us understand more of why having our sin removed by the blood of Jesus is much, much more than just getting us saved.  

God created us in His Image to be a reflection of Himself to all creation. With the corruption of sin to the Image, that reflection has dimmed in our lives and no longer truly reflects Him.

We saw some of the specific areas of His Image in which we were created in previous lessons. We also watched and saw what kind of damage sin did to this Image.

These next four lessons will show what Jesus, in His redemptive work, did to restore that Image in which we were created, back to what God designed us to be.

This will help us understand more of why having our sin removed by the blood of Jesus is much, much more than just getting us saved.  

God created us in His Image to be a reflection of Himself to all creation. With the corruption of sin to the Image, that reflection has dimmed in our lives and no longer truly reflects Him.

We saw some of the specific areas of His Image in which we were created in previous lessons. We also watched and saw what kind of damage sin did to this Image.

These next four lessons will show what Jesus, in His redemptive work, did to restore that Image in which we were created, back to what God designed us to be.

This will help us understand more of why having our sin removed by the blood of Jesus is much, much more than just getting us saved.