John 2:12-22 Biblical Reconstruction

Many of us walk into church with different preconceived thoughts and views on Christianity. Historically, it has been the responsibility of the church to train and equip believers in the scriptures so that the bible defines our views, rather than the things that our world would teach us or even our experiences. In this text of the Gospel of John, we are really challenged to re-look at the way we view certain things in our lives. Three of those things are Jesus, Worship and the Church.

Biblical Jesus

For a long time, the church has portrayed Jesus as a gentle hippie who most men would rather make fun or than worship. In John 2, this is not gentle Jesus. Did Jesus have a gentle side? Absolutely. Was Jesus compassionate? Absolutely. Did Jesus love children? Absolutely. But....Lets not exalt Jesus as the LAMB of God but neglect to recognize him as the LION of Judah. Jesus came in meekness and humility; but he also came as a ferocious rebel in his culture who was determined to die for sin, live perfectly and advance the kingdom of God. He endured pain, suffering and death...willingly!! When he comes back, Revelations says that he will come on a horse with fire in his eyes, a sword in his mouth, his name on his calf and he will trample over all his enemies. Therefore, He aught to be worshipped as King.

Biblical Worship

In John 2, the religious leaders had become money hungry and greedy, while the believers became lazy in their giving. Because of this, the temple had become a marketplace where people would sell sacrifices at inflated prices. In turn, the church became less about worshipping God, and more about making money to sustain itself and bring wealth and power to its leaders. The church is not a business, it is a people and place of worship. The church is when we gather and bring our sin, praise, giftedness, hurts, minds and our money; and we offer it to Jesus for the joy of our own hearts and the advancement of his Kingdom.

Biblical Church

In John 2, The temple was where the Presence of God dwelt. If you wanted to be close to God, you went to the temple. If you wanted to worship, you went to the temple. If you wanted to have Kingdom generosity, you brought your tithe to the temple. If you wanted your sin forgiven, you would sacrifice at the temple. The temple was where you had to go to be with God. When Jesus says, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it.” he's saying, "No longer does the presence of God dwell in the temple, but the presence of God is among you." Today, through the death, burial and resurrection; Christ sends the Holy Spirit to dwell in every single believer. Paul says, “Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.” So, the church is no longer confined to a building, but to the believer. Therefore, where we go, the kingdom goes.

Mentoring Men: Lust

Whether you're married or single, lust is a constant battle that needs to be fought by men of God. The dictionary definition of lust is "1) intense or unrestrained sexual craving, or 2) an overwhelming desire or craving." The Bible speaks of lust in several ways. Exodus 20:14, 17 (NLT), "Do not commit adultery. . . Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else your neighbor owns," or Matthew 5:28, "But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his eye has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Job 31:11-12 (NLT) sums up lust quite nicely: "For lust is a shameful sin, a crime that should be punished. It is a devastating fire that destroys to hell. It would wipe out everything I own."

Lust has as its focus pleasing oneself, and it often leads to unwholesome actions to fulfill one's desires with no regard to the consequences. Lust is about possession and greed. The Christian faith is about selflessness and is marked by holy living. The goal of each person who has put his/her faith in Jesus Christ is to become more and more like Him each day. This means putting off the old way of life of which sin was in control, and conforming one's thoughts and actions to the standard put forth in Scripture. Lust is in opposition to this ideal.

This is typically where I get the questions; "So, where's the line? How far is too far?" Bad question!!! The right question is, "At what point does this not become worship?" Sex, kissing, foreplay, oral and all other types of things that can bring sexual peasure are designed to remind us of how wonderful Jesus is, as the creator of such pleasures. So, if you can't worship Jesus while engaging in sexual activity, then it's sin. Am I saying to abstain from everything until you're married? Maybe! Personally, passionate kissing always tends to lead to sexual thoughts for me. Thats OK, because I'm married to Beth. For the single person, dwelling on sexual thoughts is sin and needs to be repented of.

Questions:

1. In what ways have you seen lust in your own life? Be specific and not vague.

2. Most of us know each other pretty well. In what ways have you seen lust in each others lives?

3. Can "You" personally worship Jesus and masturbate at the same time?

4. How can we fight lust and sexual temptations "together"?

Memory Verse for the week:

Job 31:1

Worship at Netcast.

By the grace of Jesus, over the past 2 months we have seen hundreds of new people walk through the doors of Netcast Church. These new people have come with a variety of backgrounds; from Non-Christians to Mature Followers of Christ and just about everything in between.

One of things that Netcast holds in high value is the Worship of Jesus though song. Since day 1, Netcast has sought to be a worshipping community and worshipping through song is vital in seeing that culture created. Because of this, we have created a Netcast Playlist for you.

This playlist will:

1. Help some of the new faces get accustomed to our music.
2. Help keep our focus on Jesus during the week.
3. Teach us the songs so that we can focus on worship rather than learning lyrics, on Sundays.

It is my prayer that you find great joy in the gift as it points you to our ultimate gift, Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God. Click: Netcast Play List and enjoy.

For more information on Worship at Netcast, check out the "Worship at Netcast" webpage and watch this teaching by our Worship Leader, Josh Sturgeon, Encounter: When God shows up.

Feel free to email me or Josh with any questions that you may have. Matt@netcastchurch.org andJosh@netcastchurch.org

See you in a few days,
Pastor Matt

John 2:1-11 Do whatever he tells you to do.

Most of modern evangelicalism has a problem when it comes to seeing Jesus do miracles in the scriptures. Typically we don't know what to make of them. Should we try and over spiritualize them to make sense of it? Should we try to find some hidden meaning in it or some sort of moralistic teaching? Or should we just throw it out all together and not wrestle with it at all?

In most biblical circles, and even many seminaries, people are trained to break their hermeneutical understandings in order to try and over spiritualize the miraculous. The problem with that is first, the bible doesn't give us the freedom to do that. And Second, if we can fully explain and interpret the miraculous, it ceases to actually be miraculous.

In the case where Jesus turns water into wine, we see the foundation of being witness to the miraculous. Jesus told a couple of servants to do something, and they did it. And in doing so, they saw a miraculous work of God. At the wedding, Jesus' mother very clearly tells the servants to "do whatever he (Jesus) tells you to do." and in their obedience to Jesus, those servants had the opportunity to witness Jesus's first miracle. The same truth is for us today. As we hear the voice of God; whether it be through His Word, through the community of believers, or even supernatural revelation. When we hear His voice and are obedient and courageous in doing what he says; we have the awesome opportunity to see His wonderful hand at work. “Don't be just a hearer of the word, be a doer of the word.”

Women Leaders and Pastors at Netcast Church

As we continue to grow at such a fast rate, I am receiving more and more questions on our theological views on certain topics. Today I was asked about female leaders and pastors within Netcast Church. Below I have addressed our position on this.

There is perhaps no more hotly debated issue in the church today than the issue of women serving as pastors/preachers. As a result, it is very important to not see this issue as men versus women. There are women who believe women should not serve as pastors and that the Bible places restrictions on the ministry of women, and there are men who believe women can serve as preachers and that there are no restrictions on women in ministry. This is not an issue of chauvinism or discrimination. For Netcast, it is simply an issue of biblical interpretation.

Netcast will ALWAYS have females in leadership positions within the church, to not have that would be a horrible thing on many levels. First it does not forge the the unity and diversity that the scriptures demand. Second, the church would be missing incredible characteristics and qualities that women bring to the table that far exceed a mans ability to bring. Lastly, it shows a horrible de-valuing of the beauty of God's creativity in making us both male and female.

That said, we view the scriptures as teaching that the local church and governing body will be made up of male leaders who are responsible of the overseeing and shepherding of biblical direction, teaching and theology of the church. Let me further explain. Netcast is complementarian in our understanding of God’s revelation of role distinctions on the basis of gender. The position is deemed “complementarian” in that we affirm that man and women are granted roles and responsibilities which “complement” each other in the home and church. This position is to be distinguished from antifeminist chauvinism which asserts the unbiblical superiority of males. Contrary to chauvinism, complementarianism not only affirms but celebrates the essential equality of the sexes. Man and woman are equals in regards to worth, value, personhood, and dignity. But equality does not demand equal access to all positions and offices of the church.

God has ordained that men are to serve in positions of overseeing the authority of the spiritual teaching in the church. This is not because men are necessarily better teachers, or because women are inferior or less intelligent (which is not the case). It is simply the way God designed the church to function. Men are to set the example in spiritual leadership, in their lives and through their words. Women are encouraged to teach other women (Titus 2:3-5). The Bible also does not restrict women from teaching, but rather who they are responsible to teach. The only activity women are restricted from is teaching or having spiritual authority over men. At Netcast we will permit a woman to teach men but only under the authority of a male elder board, which we believe provides the spiritual covering over that teaching. This does not make women less important, by any means, but rather gives them a ministry focus more in agreement with God’s plan and His gifting of them.

A Story from Netcast that must be read. (Thank You)

As many already know, our journey of planting Netcast Church has been something totally unexpected. I still remember a year ago wondering to myself, "how in the world does someone plant a church? In Greater Boston none-the-less?" Today we have already made our first move to a new facility because we outgrew our first facility. We have seen a record attendance this month with 350 people in a service. We just started our 9th community group and have 2 more in the process of being started within the next month. Already in 2012 we have had about a dozen people become Christians at Netcast.

I stand in absolute awe of what Christ has done and is continuing to do in our midst.

I attached this email below that I just got from one of the people who recently became a Christian at Netcast. It's emails like this that remind me that the excitement at Netcast is not about all the numbers but about the stories behind ever person we are blessed to be able to shepherd. This story is possible because of your faithfulness. Amazing!! I cried as I read of God's grace.

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Hi Pastor Matt,

Listening to last Sunday's service and reading your blog about the questions of whether is hell real or not, motivate me to share this with you.

I practiced voodoo for 4 maybe 5 year. I spent lots of money on witchcraft and had a room for my "saints" (of course those were not saints) where I would offer them things like candles, food, drinks so they could give me what I wanted. That's where I had my faith for all those year and yes! I believed in God but my voodoo believes were my priority .When I started getting involved with that my mom came to my room one morning crying and told me that Jesus had spoken to her in a dream and told her to save me because I was close to lose my soul. I told her to not think about that and in my mind I thought " ahhh my mom is crazy". My mother has been a Christian for about 15 years and I never wanted to be part of anything that had to do with Christianity, to me they were all crazy.

All those years that I spent believing on voodoo "saints" and doing all source of insane things turned me into a very angry person that felt stronger than everybody and wanted to take revenge on anybody that I felt did something wrong against me. When I met Roma I thought she was a wonderful lady and a great boss, she made me feel peaceful and the fact that we have the same birthday (August 8) made me even more curious about her. One day she told me that she started to go to a new church and that the pastor was crazy and very funny and she gave me a connect card. I had the card for months sitting on my desk and everyday day I looked at it but that's all I did, just looked at it. I knew that what I was doing was wrong, I knew that I couldn't walk around trying to hold God's hand on my right and the Devil's on my left, I knew that I had to pick one and it was hard!! I felt restless, heavy, unhappy so one day I picked the connect card and went to the website and listed to you. Every time something went really, really wrong I listened to you but all those negative, demoniac things I had around did not let me free my soul and run to Jesus. Not until my daughter's father and I got into a bad accident. He was in the hospital for 5 days with pretty serious brain injuries. One of the nurses I got to talk to was from Haiti and I automatically though that we were going to start talking about voodoo but we didn't! We started talking about Jesus, she was a Christian!! That shocked me because a lot of people from Haiti practice voodoo.

That night I downloaded the bible and asked God to show me why I should believe just in him and the first things that I read was:

Peter 1 5:1-11 and Deuteronomy 11:13-18 it was Nov. 1st of 2011.

I listened to you next morning and the last words of your services were "do you want to be healed?" I cried like a baby so, on Nov 6th I walked into Netcast, I felt Jesus! I felt welcomed! I felt loved! During worship I kept telling Jesus "please hold me! Get inside my heart right now and never leave me and I promise you I will commit myself to you and to this wonderful place you have brought me in and he did, he is inside my heart now. That night I took all the voodoo staff I had and a dumped in the trash. Today I am a believer, today I am a Christian and there's no better place that God could had chosen for me than Netcast.

I have felt demons trying to take me away in my dreams! There's hell! I have seen it in dreams! but I have also seen the power of God and his constant battle so we won’t end up in hell. I am not walking around trying to pick a side anymore. I walk with Jesus in my heart.

Thank you for being my Pastor!

Amen!

John 1:19-34 Be Great

I would argue that the majority of us want to be great, whether great academically, or great in a sport, or great in a profession, or a great husband or father or business owner, or whatever your thing is. I think it is safe to say that most of us want to be great. Now outside these four walls “greatness” is typically defined by how much money you make, or the car you drive, or the letters you have before your name. But I don’t think thats how the scriptures would define greatness. As a matter of fact, if that is greatness than Jesus himself and John the baptist especially would not be considered great.

In Matthew 11, Jesus says that the greatest man to ever be born of a women was John the Baptist. How can that be? He was a man of poor dress, no home, a horrible diet and yet, no man has even been greater.

In John 1, you see the key to this staggering statement as John the Baptist is confronted by the religious leaders of his day. They ask him; "who are you?" and his response is truly great to all biblical standards. I essence, he tells them, "I am nobody." He doesn't go through his resume of great successes or his accolades or his moral and spiritual achievements; he simply says "I'm nobody, simply a voice preparing the way for the Lord."

We all have a voice, but for John, its almost like he is saying that his message and his identity are one in the same. In other words, He's saying. “My whole life shouts: prepare the way for the Lord!” Everything in his being screamed, "Follow Christ, Delight in Christ, Look to Christ." And….The bible calls that GREAT!!

In the end, John's greatness is defined by his pursuit of humility. Many Christians and Many Pastors would tell you that pursuing greatness and influence in your world, is bad. But Jesus never forbids or criticizes our desires to be great. He simply redefines it.

• Sinfully defined: Greatness is individuals motivated by self-interests, self indulgences, and a false sense of self sufficiency and self ambition for the purpose of self glorification.
• Biblically defined: True greatness is when we humble ourselves and leverage our influence for the purpose of serving others and pointing people to the Glory of God.

I encourage us all to be great, pursue greatness. Be great worshippers, great spouses, great parents, great students, great staff members or business owners. Be great. But find that greatness by pursuing greatness by humbling yourself and pointing people to that which is Greatest!! Jesus Christ.

Lastly, we need to answer the question "How?" How does one pursue greatness? how does one pursue humility? How do I practically apply this?

The answer is found in cross. John Stott says it the best…...

“Every time we look at the cross, Christ seems to be saying to us, ‘I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.’ Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size.” – John Stott (as quoted in Humility: True Greatness by C.J. Mahaney, p. 67)

Is Netcast designed for college kids and teenagers? Great Question….

I received a great email today that asked some awesome questions about Netcast. Since these questions are frequently asked, I thought I would share our thoughts below.

1. Netcast is not designed for college kids or teens or baby boomers. One thing that we are very passionate about is existing to make much of Jesus. We are not a church that caters to the younger generation nor will we ever be; just as we will never be about catering to an older population. The thought of a church catering to anyone seems to be very consumeristic and draws the attention and focus on the congregation, rather than on Jesus. Typical evangelicalism caters to where the tithe come from in order to continue to sustain the organization. The problem with that is that the Kingdom should not be attempting to sustain itself but rather advance itself. Currently Netcast is 15% kids (0-12) and about 25% college students. That is a beautiful thing. In addition, approximately 50% of Netcast is young adults 25-40 years old and the remaining 10% is over 40. This type of diversity is unheard of when compared to national statistics. We don't know why the numbers are like that, but we praise God that He is doing it.

2. Netcast is passionate about raising up the upcoming generation. This may sound contradicting to the first point, so let me explain. 4% of todays youth are in the local evangelical church. Of that 4%, 80% will abandon the faith after they graduate High School. This is outrageous and we need to play out part in fighting against it. In an effort to of that, we seek to create atmospheres where mature believers in Christ can have the opportunity to invest into the younger generation. Many mature evangelicals are so consumed with getting fed themselves that they forget that they are called to feed the immature / baby Christian. It is the job of the entire body to play its part in encouraging, edifying and building up disciples; not just those with seminary degrees and ordination certificates. This is why our staff is so excited about how God is sending us older and more mature believers. Currently, because of the generational diversity at Netcast, we have an awesome opportunity for mature believers to begin to pour into the new Christians through true biblical community.

3. We're all about the bible. Psalm 19:7 "the law of the Lord is perfect reviving the soul and his statutes are trustworthy making wise the simple." We are all about the study of God's word, the dissecting of God's word, the power of God's word, the challenge of God's word and the presence of God in His word. I can assure you that anywhere you go and God's word is valued, taught and applied in community; you will be challenged to grow in your walk with Christ. Thats His promise to us.

Can a Christian lose his/her salvation? (Reflections from Community Group.)

I thought I would send this out to address the question that was raised last night in my Community Group, about "Losing Salvation. I pray that his will bring more biblical clarity because if we don't grasp this right, the gospel can really be distorted. It may be a little long, but I hope it answers any questions.

Can a Christian lose his/her salvation?

A “Christian” is not a person who has said a prayer, or walked down an aisle, raises their hand or been raised in a Christian family. While each of these things can be a part of the Christian experience, they are not what “makes” a Christian. A Christian is a person who has, by faith, received and fully trusted in Jesus Christ as the only Savior (John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8-9).

So, with this definition in mind, can a Christian lose salvation? Lets see what the bible actually says about salvation?

A Christian is a new creation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This verse speaks of a person becoming an entirely new creature as a result of being “in Christ.” For a Christian to lose salvation, the new creation would have to be canceled and reversed.

A Christian is redeemed. “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:18-19). The word “redeemed” refers to a purchase being made, a price being paid. For a Christian to lose salvation, God Himself would have to revoke His purchase that He paid for with the precious blood of Christ.

A Christian is justified. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). To “justify” means to “declare righteous.” All those who receive Jesus as Savior are “declared righteous” by God. For a Christian to lose salvation, God would have to go back on His Word and “un-declare” what He had previously declared.

A Christian is promised eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Eternal life is a promise of eternity (forever) in heaven with God. God promises, “Believe and you will have eternal life.” For a Christian to lose salvation, eternal life would have to be taken away. If a Christian is promised to live forever, how then can God break this promise by taking away eternal life?

A Christian is guaranteed glorification. “And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (Romans 8:30). As we learned in Romans 5:1, justification is declared at the moment of faith. According to Romans 8:30, glorification is guaranteed for all those whom God justifies. Glorification refers to a Christian receiving a perfect resurrection body in heaven. If a Christian can lose salvation, then Romans 8:30 is in error, because God could not guarantee glorification for all those whom He predestines, calls, and justifies.

Lastly, salvation is given as a gift, not deserved or earned; but granted by grace. So, if we can lose salvation that means that we can do something in order to earn it. At this point we should know that salvation cannot be earned based on effort (Romans 3), therefore it cannot be lost based on a lack of effort. Christ's effort in gaining the victory by paying our penalty is sufficient and we must put our hope in that. Over and over again the bible tells us to "hold firm" or "stand firm" until the end. This simply is encouraging us to keep a close eye on our heart to make sure we have not deceived ourselves by thinking we receive salvation through some external efforts. True believers in Christ "WILL" stand firm until the end.

This personally plays out in our ministry at Netcast when I am baptizing people. Some people have seen me having conversations with people in the dunk-tank before we baptize them. Here's whats happening in that moment. At that time, I rejoice with them but also warn them. Although I totally believe that everyone we have baptized at Netcast is a true believer in Christ; only God knows their heart. I warn them while in the water, "Only time can truly tell if this act is a resemblance of an inward conversion, or if you are just getting wet in front of a crowd." If the conversion is real, God will complete it (Philippians 1:6). If its not, the seed that was planted in you will be snatched away (Matthew 13).

The most frequent objections to the belief that a Christian cannot lose salvation are 1) What about those who are Christians and continually live an immoral lifestyle? 2) What about those who are Christians but later reject the faith and deny Christ? The problem with these two objections is the phrase “who are Christians.” The Bible declares that a true Christian will not live a continually immoral lifestyle (1 John 3:6). The Bible declares that anyone who departs the faith is demonstrating that he never truly was a Christian (1 John 2:19). Therefore, neither objection is valid. Christians do not continually live immoral lifestyles (un-repentant sin that does not convict the conscience), nor do they reject the faith and deny Christ. Such actions are proof that they were never redeemed.

In the end, No, a Christian cannot lose salvation. Nothing can separate a Christian from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39). Nothing can remove a Christian from God’s hand (John 10:28-29). God is both willing and able to guarantee and maintain the salvation He has given us. Jude 24-25, “To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”

Some of this was taken from GotQuestions.org which is a great site to help us gain greater insight on issues and questions we run into.

John 1:1-18 (Sermon Recap: Get LIfe)

Everyone wants a better life. In 2010 Americans spent $14 billion in the self-help industry. We try weight loss programs, self help books, personal coaches and even stress management programs. Every infomercial we turn on, every commercial we watch and every ad we see is just another marketing tool that promises us some sort of false hope to a better life.

But nothing seems to work…..Debt is at an all time high. Depression is at an all time high. Loneliness is at an all time high. Violence and Sex Trafficking are at an all time high. This year Americans will spend more money on anti-depressant medications and in the porn industry than revenue generated in the NFL, NBA and MLB combined. Everywhere we look to find life, it seems to only suck the life out of us. Our Jobs typically stress us out. There seems to never be enough money. Sex doesn't give what it promises to give. Marriages and relationships seem to be up one day and down the next.

What is the answer?

There is one main reason why the apostle John wrote his gospel. John 20:30-31

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

This text clearly states that true life, abundant life, a blessed life, a joyful life can only be found through belief in Jesus Christ. Its a pretty bold statement, but all the evidence points to it being true. And, if life is found in Jesus alone, than trying to find life in anything other than Jesus leads to death.

Netcast Moving Tomorrow. (Short Reminder Video)

This is just a reminder that tomorrow morning, Netcast will not be meeting at the YMCA in downtown Beverly; but has moved to Briscoe Middle School. The address of the new location is

Netcast Church @ Briscoe MIddle School
7 Sohier Road
Beverly MA. 01915

This is a huge day in the life of our church and we would love for you to to join us. Some have recently said that Netcast is the fastest growing movement in New England. You can see the short video here: Join the Movement.

See you tomorrow. Service starts at 10:30am

Matt

Hell…Is it real? Is it eternal?

In light of a conversation that got brought up on Wednesday in my community group, I thought I would send this out for clarification to everyone. There a bunch of scriptures below that you can reference yourself for further study.

The question was…..."Is hell real? Is hell eternal? What happens to the un-repentant sinner (non-christian) after they die?"

It is interesting that a much higher percentage of people believe in the existence of heaven than believe in the existence of hell. According to the Bible, though, hell is just as real as heaven. The Bible clearly and explicitly teaches that hell is a real place to which the wicked/unbelieving are sent after death. We have all sinned against God (Romans 3:23). The just punishment for that sin is death (Romans 6:23). Since all of our sin is ultimately against God (Psalm 51:4), and since God is an infinite and eternal Being, the punishment for sin, death, must also be infinite and eternal. Hell is this infinite and eternal death which we have earned, and asked for, because of our lack of desire for Jesus displayed through our sin. Heaven is a place where the people who love Jesus, get Jesus in all his fullness.

The punishment of the unbeliever in hell is described throughout Scripture as “eternal fire” (Matthew 25:41), “unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12), “shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2), a place where “the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:44-49), a place of “torment” and “fire” (Luke 16:23-24), “everlasting destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1:9), a place where “the smoke of torment rises forever and ever” (Revelation 14:10-11), and a “lake of burning sulfur” where the wicked are “tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10).

The punishment of the wicked in hell is as never ending as the bliss of the righteous in heaven. Jesus Himself indicates that punishment in hell is just as everlasting as life in heaven (Matthew 25:46). The wicked are forever subject to the fury and the wrath of God. Those in hell will acknowledge the perfect justice of God (Psalm 76:10). Those who are in hell will know that their punishment is just and that they alone are to blame (Deuteronomy 32:3-5). Yes, hell is real. Yes, hell is a place of torment and punishment that lasts forever and ever, with no end. Praise God that, through Jesus, we can escape this eternal fate (John 3:16, 18,36).

My main job at Netcast is to make sure we uphold sound doctrine and I was burdened to clarify as my personal bible reading was in Matthew 25 this morning. The entire chapter is on this subject.

Reference: www.gotquestions.org for additional answers.

Mentoring Men

A quick recap of yesterday for those who couldn't make it.

1. Righteousness and Holiness. We talked about the importance of pursuing holiness and righteousness. Although Christ grants us perfect righteousness through the cross, we are called to strive for holiness as we lean on Christ everyday.

2. Men Fight together. Boys don't fight at all. Remember, if I'm in the wrong place at the wrong time, under the wrong circumstances, with the wrong people, while heeding the wrong council…..The wrong things will happen. We are called to fight together and allow one another to be strong for us when we are week.

3. Get your Simeon. In Judges 1, God tells Judah that he will have victory over his enemies. However, the first thing that Judah does is grab his brother Simeon to come and fight along side of him. This is vital for us. Although we have victory over the power of sin, doesn't mean that it is wise to fight sin by ourselves. Who's your Simeon and are you willing to be Simeon to each other?

4. Keep Reading the Word. Its not so much that you need to be in the word as much as we need the word in us. As the word penetrated our hearts, our fight for righteousness will become easier. The word transforms us so that we aren't just more informed by the word, but we are being conformed by the word, into the likeness of the Son. Stick with the reading plan.

5. Memorize Psalm 1. Next time we meet, I want us all to bring our notebooks. In our notebooks we will show that we have written Psalm 1 a total of three times. Repetition is key to memorization. Also, on that same note, stay reviewing our other 4 verses.

Psalm 1 ¹ Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
² But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
³ He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

⁴ Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

⁶ For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

Netcast Volunteers…Amazing!!

On behalf of the lead staff at Netcast and the Kingdom of God, I just wanted to say two things:

1) Thank you.

2) HOLY COW!

You get it. You understand that Netcast Church is not about sitting in church for 90 minutes every Sunday. It's about loving Jesus and reflecting him to those who are far from him.

The amount of people who have signed up to be a part of this thing is astounding. Take a look for yourself at the list of volunteers below!

NETCAST CHURCH SUNDAY MORNING VOLUNTEER ASSIGNMENTS

(Search the whole list for your name. You may have been put into more than one position!)

Greeters/Welcome Table Greeters (Once every 4 weeks. 10AM for Greeters. 9:45 for Welcome Table Greeters.)

Peter Barnet

Alan Day

Pilar Delrio

Lindsey Glasier

Roma Janette

Debora Lunt

Allison Lynch

Alicia MacDonald

Danielle Mills

Kristin Oliver

Len Olsen

Adriana Paz

Sarah Polihrom

Roy Ray III

Matt Sakdalan

Sonia Santana

Brooke Siems

Cheryl Smith

Karen Spear

Abby Swanson

Park Thomas

Tessa White

Setup Team - Band Equipment (1-2 times/month. 7AM-9AM)

Alison Bitzer

Alan Day

Bethany Doane

Ed Henrichs

Sara Hester

Setup Team - First Impressions/Signage (1-2 times/month. Times TBD)

Emily DenBleyker

Suzanne Hammer

Matt Klee

Allison Lynch

Len Olsen

Setup Team - Staging & Screens (Every other week. 7AM-9AM)

Eric Hilker

Wayne Spinney

HELP DESPERATELY NEEDED!

Setup Team - Video & Lighting (Every other week. 7AM-9AM)

Maggie Ebacher

Sean Russell

HELP NEEDED!

Tear-Down Team - Band Equipment (Once every 3 weeks. 12PM-1PM)

Roger Bouchard

Matt Klee

Brian Lane

Melody Lovell

Jordan Luangrath

Alicia MacDonald

David Martinez

Jeremy Nelson

Nicolas Prandi

Andrew Siems

Bri Young

Tear-Down Team - First Impressions/Signage (Once every 3 weeks. 12PM-1PM)

Alyssa Barkley

Anna Bury

Jess Doherty

Lanise Frazier

Laura Knox

Allison Lynch

Shaylyn Roach

Tear-Down Team - Staging & Screens (Once every 3 weeks. 12PM-1PM)

Clancey Adams

Juwan Campbell

Brian Doherty

Jordan Heckelmann

Shaun Roach

Andrew Siems

Sam Stockwell

Katie Wholley

Grace Wood

Tear-Down Team - Video & Lighting (Once every 3 weeks. 12PM-1PM)

Joshua Andrews

Lindsey Glasier

Julianne Lambert

Zoey Meyer-Jens

Megan Sideropoulos

Andrew Siems

Lindsey Stevenson

Children's Ministry Ages 4-10 (Once every 4 weeks. 10AM-12:30PM)

Kathryn Bartholomew

Maria Bauder

Victoria Cerrone

Beth Chewning

Pilar Delrio

Kyra Drescher

Stephanie Eastman

Maggie Ebacher

Lanise Frazier

Stephen Guertler

Jenna Gustavson

Kate Hayes

Krista Hendricks

Sara Hester

Hannah Hoy

Julia Langford

Angela Langlais

Lindsay Malenich

David Martinez

Liz Maurer

Erica Medina-Sturgeon

Angela Munoz

Kristin Oliver

Adriana Paz

Jen Preuss

Nicole Rook

Sonia Santana

Sharon Staples

Colin Strapp

Abby Swanson

Park Thomas

Chelsea Thompson

Bri Young

Nursery Worker Ages 0-3 (Once every 4 weeks. 10AM-12:30PM)

Kathryn Bartholomew

Maria Bauder

Victoria Cerrone

Kyra Drescher

Kate Hayes

Heidi Lavigne

Kristin Oliver

Adriana Paz

Nicole Rook

Sonia Santana

Colin Strapp

Nicky Turk

Worship Ministry (As scheduled. 8:30AM - 12PM)

Chris Bouchard

Dave Carlson

Camille Chapman

Beth Chewning

Matthew Dennis

Josh Hester

Rachel Hilker

Danielle Mills

Dan Savlon

Amber Shomo

Paul Shomo

Andrew Siems

Joel Strycharz

Josh Sturgeon

Audio/Visual - Camera Tech (1-2 Times per month. 10:00AM - 12PM.)
Kevin Grant

Kyle Hayes

Rudder Jenkins

Dan Savlon

Steve Shomo

Trey Walsh

Audio/Visual - Display Tech (1-2 times/month. 10:00AM - 12PM.)

Ariel Flavin

Kevin Grant

Jenna Gustavson

Cameron Lunt

Lauren Plate

Dan Savlon

Trey Walsh

Audio/Visual - Sound Tech (1-2 times/month. 8:30AM - 12PM.)

Kevin Grant

Steve Shomo

Trey Walsh

Audio/Visual - Controller (1-2 times/month. 10:00AM - 12PM.)

Ariel Flavin

Kevin Grant

Jenna Gustavson

Cameron Lunt

Lauren Plate

Dan Savlon

Trey Walsh


Unscheduled Positions

HELP NEEDED - Data Entry Specialists

HELP NEEDED - Graphic Designers

A few critical points of business:

1) We did not schedule our college students on Set-Up because of the early hour... we start setting up at 7AM! That said, our setup team is still hurting a bit. Any brave souls who want to make the switch from tear-down to set-up will be Netcast heroes for sure!

2) Anyone who wants/needs to change assignments, simply reply to this email and let me know what you'd rather do. It's not a problem!

3) We do all of our scheduling through Netcast Connect (www.netcastconnect.org). When the schedule is made, you will receive an email telling you when you are scheduled. You them must accept or decline. PLEASE respond to these emails immediately so that we can arrange for backup workers if necessary.

4) In order to be scheduled more accurately, you can go onto your profile on Netcast Connect and let us know your availability. On your profile screen, it's a link called "Adjust ability to serve."

5) As you know by now, training for all the above positions is this Saturday. Setup/Tear-Down teams should arrive at 10AM. Everyone else who is serving should arrive at 11:30AM.

6) We have written job descriptions on Netcast Connect. Log in and then go here:https://netcastchurch.ccbchurch.com/position_list.php?ax=list to find out more.

7) Why is Setup so dang early? Because we don't have our own building, our worship team needs to practice before service on Sunday mornings. All the audio equipment needs to be ready to rock by 8:30AM!

Thanks again for the overwhelming response. It's so fun to join together to make an impact in our community and affect eternity!

Feel free to reply with ANY questions or concerns you may have.

Dan Savlon

Director of Administrative Support

Netcast Church