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Upcoming Events and AnnouncementsRead the current Crusader Communicator Chapel MessagesRight-Click on a title below and select "Save Target As..." to download a recent message from Secondary Chapel to your computer. The most recent is listed first. (Note: Files are somewhat large, about 30-40 MB, so downloading may take a couple minutes.)
2010-2011 School Year Saved and Walking in Faith and Repentance - Colossians 2:6 – Pastor Josh Scheiderer
2009-2010 School Year The Heart that Receives the Word of God - Mark 4:1-20 – Pastor Brett Smith Pastor Smith used the parable of the soils to emphasize a common theme of Scripture – without the proper heart, what you do means nothing for the Lord. We can do many things, but if they are not done with a heart of service to Christ, they are worthless. Our heart determines how we receive the Word of God, and if we aren’t receiving the Word right, then we cannot serve right. Jesus described four kinds of hearts. The Unbelieving Heart will hear the Word, but nothing they hear will impact them, because they are so calloused and hard-hearted. They refuse to receive the Word and refuse to allow God to work in their heart. The person with this kind of heart will quickly forget the Word and will get carried away in sin. The Superficial Heart initially receives the Word, but there is no depth to their commitment. The person with this kind of heart is able to fool everybody around until the heat comes and their shallow root system isn’t able to sustain them. This person is dangerous, because they often remain hidden and draw others into their same mindset. The Carnal Heart is the heart that is unable to receive the Word and really grown because it is drawn away and distracted by the world. Like weeds in a garden, carnality in the heart will grow twice as fast as the good, and before long it will take over. The Spiritually Sensitive Heart listens to God’s Word, accepts it, and allows it to produce spiritual change. The person with this kind of heart is able to be used by God. The blessing of all of this is that even if someone has an unbelieving heart, God is able to soften it. If someone has a superficial heart, God is able to give it depth. If someone has a carnal heart, God is able to dig up and sweep away the weeds. God’s desire is for every believer to produce fruit as they have a heart that is ready to receive and apply the Word.
- Ephesians 5:1-17 - Pastor Josh Scheiderer Some of us have gone to the buffet of entertainment choices and have chosen things that are good, while some have chosen “moldy bread.” We have fed ourselves with things that should not even be mentioned among Christian company. We need to get rid of wicked entertainment, evaluate why we make the choices we make, and consider how we respond to those who choose right or wrong. Our ultimate concern as we make entertainment choices must be to obey vs. 1 – “Be imitators of God as dear children.” We need to recognize that the wicked things the world has to offer are harmful to us, are passing away, and placed Christ on the cross. We must love Christ and hate the things that put Him on the cross.
Living in the Power of the Resurrection - Ephesians 1:15-2:10 - Pastor Josh Scheiderer We are born spiritually dead. But Christ is the Resurrection and the Life! He can give us life, because He has defeated death! Pastor Scheiderer challenged all of us today with this reality. On one hand, some have not accepted Christ as the payment for their sins and repented and, as a result, are still dead in their sin and destined for eternal judgment in Hell. On the other hand, those who are believers need to grow in their understanding of the power of Christ’s resurrection as it has worked in us to resurrect us from our dead condition in our sin. The more we realize the power working in us, the more we are able to do the work “which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 4 and 5 contain many commands that are impossible for the unbeliever to obey and that the believer is only able to obey when he relies on the power of God working in him. We are in need of resurrection power, because we are not capable of obeying on our own. We are able to be honest, to deal with anger and disappointment in a righteous way, not to steal, to edify others with our speech rather than spewing out corruption, to be tender to the Holy Spirit rather than grieve Him, to forgive those who wrong us, to be sexually pure, and so on – all through Christ’s power alone!
Forgiveness - One of the Greatest Evidences of a Changed Life - Philemon 4-7 - Mr. Mike Hixson
- John 12:12-13 - Pastor Brett Smith
Contentment from Believing in Our Good God
Pastor Scheiderer used the story of Gehazi to show us the danger of covetousness. The King of Syria sent hundreds of thousands of dollars and new clothes to the King of Israel to try to get his servant Naaman healed. When he can do nothing, the King sends him to Elisha, who heals him, and offers Elisha the same gifts. Elisha turns down the gifts, but Gehazi lets his covetousness and discontent rule him as he runs after Naaman and lies to him, then returns and lies to Elisha. When we become consumed with wanting things, we will end up sinning more and more. As a result, we won’t even be able to really enjoy what we gain through our sinful pursuits. In Gehazi’s case, he was cursed with leprosy and sent away from Elisha. We naturally have a burning desire always to have more. But Psalm 145:15-17 and Matthew 5:45 show us the reality that God is caring for us to give us exactly what we need exactly when we need it. To covet more is simply to believe that we know better than God. If we desire contentment in our lives, then we must believe that God is good. We can’t try to wait until we’re content to believe God is good, because Ecclesiastes shows us that we will never achieve contentment apart from God. Hebrews 13:5-6 says: “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”
Contrasting the Upright and the Wicked
Remembering first Proverbs 1:7 and 9:10, that the wisdom of Proverbs will only be understood by those who fear God, Pastor Kent led us through chapter 12 as it contrasts the upright man and the wicked man. First, the upright man loves instruction and gains a reputation as a lover of knowledge, while the wicked man hates instruction and gains a reputation for being stupid (vs. 1). In short, a godly man has a disposition that embraces discipline and instruction and will be sought after for advice in the end. Second, the upright man seeks to be favored by the Lord, while the wicked man dwells on evil and plans ways to be evil (vs. 2). We need to be constantly mindful of our thoughts and purposely directing them to things that are pleasing to God as Philippians 4:8 describes.
- Isaiah 55 - Dr. Phil Kamibyashiyama Dr. Kamibyashiyama, missionary to the Philippines, shared with us Isaiah’s revelation of the only source of true satisfaction. In the context of Isaiah’s warning of coming judgment, he offers the message to all people that satisfaction of soul comes only from hearing God’s Word and seeking Him. Often we work and spend money on things and seek out friends to try to satisfy our souls, but they will not. None of those things can bring true joy or peace to our hearts. To seek God, we must forsake our sin and turn to Him, trusting that His way and His thoughts are better than our own.
How Can a Believer Learn to Obey More? - I Thessalonians 5:23-24 - Pastor Josh Scheiderer After asking the question, “Do you want to obey God?” Pastor Josh explains that those who are saved and therefore desire to obey God can grow to obey more. Progressive sanctification is the process every true Christian goes through as they learn to put off their sinful man more and more and to put on Christlikeness more and more. God’s purpose for every believer is that they would be set apart to live a holy life and therefore reflect God’s holy character. But are we praying for sanctification? Pastor Josh shared with us four aspects of what prayer for sanctification is like: 1) It is made to the God of Peace Himself, 2) It is for both internal and external sanctification, 3) It aims for God’s goal-blamelessness, 4) It looks to glorification.
Crutches – The Things We Depend on to Live Apart from God’s Word - Amos 6:1-6 - Pastor Bret Smith Pastor Smith used the example of the Israelites in Amos’ day to show how Christians often have things in their lives that they are depending on to attempt to live apart from God’s Word. We often allow the crutch of the present, the crutch of procrastination, and the crutch of pleasure to keep us from doing God’s will. We are living for today without any consideration for future consequences, thinking that we can put off judgment forever like we are somehow in control of all the consequences of our actions, and immersing ourselves in recreation that keeps us from seeing the coming judgment and makes us lose all sensitivity to the leading of God in our lives. But I Peter 4:1-4 shows us what God does to help us throw these crutches away – He sends trials our way that force us to flee to Him in faithful, dependent prayer.
Our Greatest Treasure Aside from Christ - I Thessalonians 2:13 - Pastor Tim Potter Pastor Tim asked the question, “What is the greatest treasure in your life?” He described the Thessalonians’ passion for God’s Word after they had heard it from Paul. He showed from Scripture how the Bible is like no other book in that it will affect our consciences and convict our hearts. Hebrews 4:12 and James 1:25 tells us of the unique power of God’s Word to change our lives if we will listen to it and obey it. The power of God’s Word makes it a precious treasure to those who believe in God and are trusting Him to lead them in what they should do, and God promises us that it will accomplish its purpose in our lives.
Seven Truths About Knowing What God’s Will is for Your Life - Pastor Kevin Matthia, Missionary to Germany As Christians, our sole desire should be to please God with the decisions we make. But how do we know whether what we decide will please Him or not? Pastor Matthia gave us seven truths from Scripture that will help lead us to understand what God wants us to do in every situation. God leads all Christians in His will through His Word, through the desires of a surrendered heart, through past experiences, through current experiences, through Godly advisors, through submission to authority, and through the application of prayer.
Heroes of the Faith: Gideon, part 1 Heroes of the Faith: Gideon, part 2 - Hebrews 11:32, Judges 6-7 - Mr. Jeff Houck Mr. Houck used the story of Gideon to show how God can use any of us to do His work, because no matter who we are, God is the one doing the work through us. God used Gideon, despite the fact that he was a scared, faithless, nobody. God was able to turn his fear into confidence, to build his faith, and to turn him into a man that is remembered thousands of years later for leading one of the most amazing military victories in history. God began to prepare him by having him replace his town’s altar to Baal with an altar to God. Gideon failed at times, but faith enabled Gideon to be used by God to defeat the Midianites and free Israel from their oppression. God’s tender reassurances and instruction transformed him from a timid nobody into a courageous leader who trusted God alone for the victory. - I Timothy 2:8-10 - Pastor Josh Scheiderer Pastor Scheiderer began today’s message with the question, “Why are you here?” We are here to glorify God – to know His likes and dislikes, to find out what He’s like, to learn what He’s done, to communicate with Him and listen when He communicates with us, and to tell others about Him. We are here for His pleasure. Following a brief discussion of this, he taught us that dressing modestly goes beyond avoiding revealing clothes. If our purpose is truly to glorify God, then our purpose in dressing ourselves will not be to draw attention to us. Any attention drawn to us ought to be the result of humble good works, not prideful self-promotion. Pastor Scheiderer used these principles to attempt to get to focus the hearts on the motives behind why we wear what we wear rather than simply focusing on written standards, because if our motive is to glorify God and we search His Word to develop our standards, then they will naturally be above reproach. - I Timothy 4:12 - Pastor Brett Smith Pastor Smith encourages the students not to allow themselves to feel insignificant or useless for the Lord as a result of their age. Every Christian can be an example for others to follow in six ways: Speech, Behavior, Christian love, Relationship with God, Biblical convictions, and Purity in actions and motives. Every Christian can live in such a way that others will look at them and see a Godly example regardless of their age.
Progressing in Faith to a Mature Knowledge of Christ - II Peter 1 - Pastor Tim Potter Pastor Tim begins today's message by describing the reality of our salvation - the sure hope we have in Christ. He then spent the majority of the time outlining our responsibility - the seven natural character traits that flow from true saving faith found in vs. 5-8: a good public testimony, a growing understanding of God's Word, power over our natural passions, patience in difficult circumstances, pursuing Godly character, developing close friendships with other Christians, and choosing to love God and others by making right choices. These all point us to the reward of our salvation which is described in the rest of the chapter. "A Realistic Look at the Power of God to Make Sure His People Obey Him" - Lamentations 3 - Pastor Kent Hobi Pastor Kent reminds us that, while God is incredibly longsuffering, He is also holy and righteous. God loves His people enough to make them incredibly miserable in their sin, and He loves His people enough to be ready always to deliver them from their sin. God’s faithful mercy is able to “stop the freight train of God’s wrath” when we call out to Him for forgiveness. We must simply stop pleading our case before Him and accept our guilt in complete repentance. "The Greatest Christian Virtue – Love" - I Corinthians 13 - Evangelist Mark Kittrell Evangelist Kittrell shares with us what the Bible says is the greatest Christian Virtue: Love. Love holds Priority over every ability, all spiritual knowledge, or any personal sacrifice. He then goes on to explain the true Character of love as it is described both by what it is and what it is not in the following verses. He then challenges us to cultivate this kind of love in all our relationships as we seek to become more Christ-like in our daily living. - Hebrews 12:1-2 - Pastor Josh Scheiderer Pastor Josh brings us back to this year’s theme of “Looking unto Jesus” to show us that if we continually look to Jesus in repentance and belief, we can stand in faith right alongside the heroes just mentioned in chapter 11. There are sins that we have to battle on an ongoing basis, and if we are not looking to Him at every moment, we can very easily get off track spiritually. He encouraged us to keep fighting against the sin that hangs on to us to lay it aside and to believe in Jesus Christ so we can claim the victory over sin that was won by Him on the cross. "Biblical Humility is Peaceful" - Proverbs 30:32-33 - Pastor Kent Hobi Proverbs 30 gives four qualities of Biblical humility: 1) Reverence (vs. 1-9); 2) Showing Restraint (vs. 10-17); 3) Showing Wonder (vs. 18-31); and 4) Peacefulness (vs. 32-33). Pastor Kent focuses on the final point of the chapter to show that pride has natural and unavoidable consequences. How does a Godly man deal with this sin and its consequences? Literally stop talking. Stop defending yourself. Stop insisting you’re right. Stop exalting yourself in the eyes of others. Start listening to and learning from God’s Word and grow in the fear of the Lord.
"Faithfulness will Result in Fruitfulness" - Matthew 25, Luke 19 - Mr. Mike Hixson Mr. Hixson used the Parable of the Talents and the Parable of the Minas to pose the question, “You’ve been given something – What do you have to show for it?” These parables illustrate these principles: 1) God gives every believer the resources to serve Him, 2) God expects His resources to be used for His pleasure, and 3) You will give an account before God as to how you use His resources. The privileges of going to a Christian school, being taught in a good church, and growing up in a Christian family make us especially responsible to live for the Lord, and true saving faith will seek to cultivate the resources at hand to be as fruitful as possible for the Lord. "Do You Struggle with a Hard Heart?" - Mark 6 - Pastor Brett Smith Pastor Smith challenged us from Mark 6 to avoid allowing our hearts to become hard. He pointed out how a hard heart 1) Inhibits God’s ministry in our lives, 2) Brings God’s judgment, and 3) Blinds our eyes. He used the illustration of dry wall mud to show how, when left alone, hearts will by nature become hard, but when being mixed with the water of the Word and fellowship, can be kept soft. - Pastor Joe Tyrpak Pastor Joe shared with us a brief biography of the famous hymn writer Philip P. Bliss. After telling of Bliss’ unexpected death in a train accident when a bridge collapsed in Ashtabula, he challenged us to take advantage of the time we have on earth by doing all we can for the Lord. |
