Tag: biblestories

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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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Daniel in the Lion’s Den :: BIBLE STORIES

Presented at Curwensville Alliance on 4/03/22 by Pastor Steve Shields.

What do we see when we look at Daniel?

Daniel was a good person to have around. He was above reproach. Even though the administrators looked for ways to destroy his reputation, they could not find anything. Daniel was “at risk”. Because of his goodness, Daniel was hated by those who were jealous of him.

Daniel was an agent of hope to those around him, and he was loved, even by King Darius. Daniel was an influencer.

You have Daniel potential. You can be a good person to be around. You can build a good reputation. You can thrive even when life is hard. You can be an agent of hope. You can live securely by trusting God. You can influence others for Christ.

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The Fires of Insecurity :: BIBLE STORIES

Presented at Curwensville Alliance on 3/27/22 by Pastor Steve Shields.

What role does security and insecurity play in our lives?

Insecurity is volatile. It is the kindling for fires of evil. Insecurity can make you turn against others.

Trust extinguishes the burn of insecurity. We are secure when we trust God, and we trust God because of love.

What fire are you facing, and what is the fire doing to you? Are you scheming? Are you burning? Are you fearfully conniving or manipulating perhaps?

You can prepare for the fire by looking to the cross, recalling God’s call in your life and recounting God’s deliverance from the fires of the past.

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Jonah :: BIBLE STORIES

Presented at Curwensville Alliance on 3/6/22 by Pastor Steve Shields.

God wants to confront Nineveh’s evil, and He wants to use Jonah to do it. But Jonah wants nothing to do with the mission, and tries to run away. That results in him being swallowed by a great fish, and causes Jonah to change his mind. Jonah delivers the message to Nineveh, and they turn from their wicked ways. This should have pleased Jonah, but instead it made him angry.

Anger is a problem! God pursues us when we are angry just as he pursued Jonah in his anger.

It is hard to let go of our anger, and we look for ways to justify our anger.

God seems to do His best work when we are at our worst! God turned Jonah’s attention toward his own heart.

God lifts Jonah’s head to help him see a world in need.

God directs Jonah to trust Him!

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David and Bathsheba :: BIBLE STORIES

Presented at Curwensville Alliance on 2/27/22 by Pastor Steve Shields.

The story of David and Bathsheba is not primarily about lust. Although we do need to guard our eyes, that isn’t the point of this Bible story.

The story of David and Bathsheba is not primarily about modesty. Although the Bible does speak of covering yourself, that isn’t the point of this Bible story. It isn’t Bathsheba’s fault.

The story of David and Bathsheba is about arrogance.

Arrogance takes whatever it wants, just as David took what he wanted. Arrogance seldom looks at its own heart, just as David didn’t look at his own heart.

Arrogance can become so natural that sometimes you need to be shocked out of it. Just as Nathan shocked David. Arrogance doesn’t appreciate blessings, just as David didn’t appreciate all he had. He had to have what wasn’t his.

Arrogance makes itself the authority, just as David made himself the authority. Arrogance behaves shamefully, just as David behaved shamefully. Arrogance has consequences. We see the consequences David paid for his arrogance.

How can you remove the arrogance from your own heart? You can look to the cross. You can adjust the way you view yourself. You can adjust the way you view God. You can adjust the way you view others.

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David and Goliath :: BIBLE STORIES

Presented at Curwensville Alliance on 2/20/22 by Pastor Steve Shields.

Have you ever faced a giant like David did with Goliath?

Some of the giants you may have experienced include finances, relationships or addictions.

Goliath was a giant to the Israelites, and they faced him with defeat. They were dismayed, afraid and disgraced. But David faced Goliath in a different way!

David faced Goliath knowing who he was spiritually. He knew that he faced Goliath not on his own but with the army of the Lord! You can face your giants knowing who you are in Christ.

David faced Goliath with humility. You can face your giants being confident in Christ. You need to look at the motivation in defeating the giant.

You can trust in God’s love for you. If Jesus loved you enough you die for you, if God loved you enough to call you, if the Spirit loved you enough to speak to you, then He loves you enough to help you with your giant.

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Samson :: BIBLE STORIES

Presented at Curwensville Alliance on 2/13/22 by Pastor Steve Shields.

Pastor Steve takes us through the story of Samson, and show us that God had a plan for Samson.

Samson was born in hard times. He was given a specific role and a specific identity. God blessed Samson.

When we look at the life of Samson we see he pursues a Philistine wife, kills a lion, makes a wager, uses the jawbone of a donkey to kill a thousand Philistines, and falls in love with Delilah.

What important life lessons can we learn from the life of Samson?

We should hold onto hope. When Samson was blind from the Philistines gouging out his eyes, he held onto hope.

We should turn our heart to God. When Samson was held captive by the Philistines, he turned his heart back to God.

We should find honor in our redemption and live for God.

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Preparing For The Next Thing :: BIBLE STORIES

Presented at Curwensville Alliance on 1/30/22 by Pastor Steve Shields.

Since life is always changing, how can we be prepared for the next thing in life?

We can choose to belong to God.

When we are in the midst of change, we can remember God’s work in our past. He is always faithful.

We can choose to trust God.

We can choose to worship God. This means God in enthroned in all we do, not just part of our lives on Sunday.

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Honor Your Father and Mother :: THE TEN COMMANDMENTS – BIBLE STORIES

Presented at Curwensville Alliance on 10/10/21 by Pastor Steve Shields.

Is it really important to honor your Father and Mother?

It makes God’s top ten list! Family is the building block of society. It is so easy to fail at honoring parents.

What does honor entail? Honor is respect. Respect and honor are a choice. Honor means heeding their Godly advice. Honor is the opposite of disrespecting them.

We honor our parents when we show them gratitude. A thank you goes a long way! We communicate with them. We care for them. We seek their advice. We encourage them. We also forgive them.

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Honor God’s Name :: THE TEN COMMANDMENTS – BIBLE STORIES

Presented at Curwensville Alliance on 9/19/21 by Pastor Steve Shields.

Honor God’s name is the third commandment, but what does that really mean?

God has several names in the Bible that show us why His name should be honored. I AM shows He is absolutely eternal, unquestionable independence and complete otherness. God tells Moses I AM Who I Am.

God is also referred to as Elohim which shows He was before creation. He has unmatched creative ability. He is over all creation. He has power.

God is also named Jesus, which means the Lord saves.

How is God’s name dishonored? When we treat it casually or as profanity, we show God disrespect. When we incorrectly attribute something to Him, we are dishonoring Him. When our life as a Christian reflects poorly on Him, we dishonor His name.

How do we honor God’s name? We honor His name by revering who He is, being thankful for what He has done and looking joyfully to what is to come. We honor His name when we trust in it, call on it, proclaim it and live it!

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