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Your Spiritual Journey: Where Are You on the Pathway?

Presented at Curwensville Alliance on 7/3/22 by Pastor Steve Shields.

Where are you on your spiritual journey?

Here are some questions to ask to help determine your location. How am I using the time given me to advance the kingdom? Where am I connecting with other believers? What place does the Bible hold in my life?

You could be curious, but that isn’t where Jesus wants you to stay. You could be desperate, but that isn’t where Jesus wants you to stay. You could be consumed by guilt, regret or shame, but that isn’t where Jesus wants you to stay. You could be skeptical, but that isn’t where Jesus wants you to stay.

Some moves Jesus may want you to make today. Choose to move from trivialities to exploring what Christ wants to do in your life.

If you allow desperation to move you toward God, you will find hope.

When we take our guilt and shame to Christ, He cleans us up.

If you think moving from skepticism to rejoicing would take a miracle, take heart, Jesus is in the miracle business.

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Jesus’ Words – The Word of God

Presented at Curwensville Alliance on 6/26/22 by Pastor Steve Shields.

Why do we spend time in God’s word?

His word is truth!

His is word is relevant. Are you struggling with worry, fretting with fear, feeling defeated, feeling angry, being weighed down by sorrow? His word is relevant in ALL these situations, and so many more!

His word bring freedom!

His word bring healing!

His words are for EVERYONE! We study God’s word so we can share it well. We obey HIs word so we are living His word well. We share God’s word so others can come and see.

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Fishers Of Men :: BIBLE STORIES

Presented at Curwensville Alliance on 6/19/22 by Pastor Steve Shields.

Listen to Pastor Steve as he discusses being fishers of men.

Why are we fishing for people?

People have lost their way. People are heading toward destruction. Jesus is calling us to help others discover the gift He offers.

Jesus is calling us to be fishers of men!

So, how do we fish for men?

We fish intentionally. We fish intelligently. We fish cooperatively.

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Jesus Rejected At Nazareth :: BIBLE STORIES

Presented at Curwensville Alliance on 6/12/22 by Pastor Steve Shields.

There are two types of contempt, blatant and subtle.

Subtle contempt can be non-engagement, casual engagement or distracted engagement.

The problem with contempt is it prevents you from honoring God. It prevents you from receiving blessing and it increases pain in life.

The keys to avoiding contempt are to keep your perspective of God fresh. Get to know God more deeply. Practice saying yes to God.

Choose to avoid the subtle contempt that may creep into your spiritual life.

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The Royal Official’s Son :: BIBLE STORIES

Presented at Curwensville Alliance on 6/5/22 by Pastor Steve Shields.

Why would Jesus make this point in John 4:48 “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”?

None of them are coming to Him, and it is an “outsider” who comes to Jesus. Jesus wants us to bring Him our needs. Because when we bring Him our needs, we bring our hearts.

Pastor Steve discusses a Biblical understanding of belief. Belief is not something I manufacture. It is not something I psych up in myself. It is not a leap of faith. It is not just nodding my head.

Instead, Biblical belief is a choice to trust Jesus!

Jesus invites you to trust Him. He invites you because He wants your heart. He invites you because it is the only way to really live.

You respond to His invitation by genuinely desiring His help, and genuinely desiring HIM!

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The Woman At The Well :: BIBLE STORIES

Presented at Curwensville Alliance on 5/29/22 by Pastor Steve Shields.

When I am without Jesus I may look like the Samaritan woman at the well. I may seem like a loner, someone to avoid, cynical, pragmatic, clueless, insignificant or worthless. My life may seem hopeless to others.

But just like the woman at the well, the answer to my problems is Jesus.

Jesus tells His followers that people are thirsty. We need to open our eyes to those around us who are thirsty.

Giving Water to the thirsty must be our priority. We must make giving Jesus to others a priority, which will mean tending to something besides our own agenda.

We need to examine our commitment of giving Water to the thirsty.

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You Must Be Born Again :: BIBLE STORIES

Presented at Curwensville Alliance on 5/22/22 by Pastor Steve Shields.

Nicodemus came to Jesus with a humble spirit. He was respectful towards Jesus, and sensed that Jesus had what he needed. He saw to the burial of Jesus.

Jesus spoke with Nicodemus about the Kingdom. Kingdom participation requires personal transformation. The Kingdom of God is organic or living. It is otherworldly. We enter the Kingdom by trusting God. The Kingdom is here if you want it.

Knowing this leads to questions we can ask ourselves. What is MY faith like? What do I need to do to be reborn? How do I maintain this new life? Listen to Pastor Steve as he guides us to the answers through Scripture.

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Turning Water Into Wine :: BIBLE STORIES

Presented at Curwensville Alliance on 5/15/22 by Pastor Steve Shields.

When we are going through the Bible stories we want to ask ourselves what is this here for or what is the point? Hermeneutics is the science of making sense of the Bible or understanding what it is saying. We do not want to have bad hermeneutics.

Knowing that, we can ask why did Jesus do this miracle? Or, why did John include this miracle? John states in John 21:25 that Jesus did many things, but not all are written down.

Jesus turning water into wine shows that Jesus is the God you can believe in. He is the God who enters your life. Just as he entered the lives of the wedding couple. It is about relationship.

Jesus is the God who responds to our needs as He responded to the need at the wedding.

Jesus is the God you can trust to do right. Jesus is the God who gives extravagantly.

You can trust Jesus because He is trustworthy. Trusting Him enhances all of life.

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The Temptation Of Jesus :: BIBLE STORIES

Presented at Curwensville Alliance on 5/8/22 by Pastor Steve Shields.

Pastor Steve will walk us through the temptation of Jesus and show us how His response to temptation can help us resist temptation.

Temptation can be God ordained as was the case with Jesus. God does not tempt as it states in James 1:13. However, God does allow temptation, and He has not set us up for failure.

Temptation is not a sin. What you do with the temptation can be a sin or not.

Desires are not temptations. How you manage those temptations can be a sin or not.

Temptation is satisfying physical desires without regard for spiritual health. Temptation is also taking a shortcut that doesn’t really fulfill the call. Temptation is making a swap and cheating the system.

Jesus responds to temptation with relationship with the Father. He responds without compromise, and He responds with Scripture.

When temptation knocks at the door it falls into three categories. Lust of the flesh, which is a physical desire that are improperly prioritized. Lust of the eyes, which is a desire to have something that doesn’t belong to you. Pride of life, which is making the satisfaction of your desires your ultimate objective.

When faced with temptation, we need to respond as Jesus did. We need to walk closely with the Father. We need allow no compromise. We need to develop a working knowledge of the Scripture.

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The Baptism of Jesus :: BIBLE STORIES

Presented at Curwensville Alliance on 5/01/22 by Pastor Steve Shields.

John the Baptist is on a mission to tell others that Jesus is coming and to be ready.

When Jesus comes for baptism He is in the wrong line, and is the least expected person to need baptism. However, Jesus’ baptism has an important purpose.

Why is Jesus in this line? Jesus identifies with us. He is initiating His ministry. The Godhead proclaims the work of the Son.

Jesus fulfills all righteousness in His obedience. As we identify with Him, His obedience becomes our own.

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