Kaleo Church Podcast

We fight against a real and powerful enemy. All the forces of darkness are assembled against Jesus' church but the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. We worship the LORD of HOSTS! He must win the battle! So, live a life of repentance free from teh need to shift blame because you trust in the finished work of Christ upon the cross. Boldly proclaim his message of good news and courageously serve him even in the most difficult of circumstances knowing that he loves you, and he will conquer evil for all time in the battle to end all battles when he returns.

God hates death and is willing to go to great lengths to destroy it. In this sermon,God sends Elijah to demonstrate that God is sovereign over death and idolatry, using his prophet to foreshadow what his own Son will one day do to defeat sin, death, and Satan. Listen to how the Gospel changes everything!

Who is God and who gets to decide? Elijah comes to confront the culture of his time declaring, "The LORD is God!" This news confronts, but it also gives hope. The LORD remains faithful even when we are faithless so as long as his good news is proclaimed there is opportunity for repentance and faith in the true and living Son of God, Jesus Christ. Jesus alone gives life!  

What does it look like to glorify God in the mundane aspects of everyday life? How do we eat or drink or feed the kids or commute to work for the glory of God? In this message we will consider what it looks like to glorify God in both the good and the bad circumstances of our everyday lives.

We live in an un-nuanced age. Anytime a complicated or controversial topic comes up often people lean forward and listen for certain catch phrases so that they can categorize each other in one of two sides and either agree or disregard. But in I Corinthians 8-10 Paul deals with controversy by taking a humble, complicated, and nuanced view that ends up showing both sides where they are partially right and partially wrong. In this passage we will consider what we can learn from Paul about how to deal with conflict and how the Gospel frees Christians to disagree with each other in a way that is very different from the rest of the world.

What does idolatry have to do with people who are fully aware that idols are nothing but a block of wood? What is the significance of the Lord’s Supper? And why does God call himself a jealous God? These are some of the questions we will seek to answer this week as we look at I Corinthians 10:14-22.

There are very real dangers and temptations as we sojourn through this world. Paul warns us from Israel's wilderness wanderings that there are "No Gimmes" and "No Excuses." Yet, there is hope for sinners - God is faithful! This is the good news that forms our identity in Christ and gives us motivation to eagerly pursue him.  

Even though Paul knew that he was free from all he willingly chose to make himself a slave to everyone in order that he might win more people with the Gospel. Where did Paul get such a passion for the lost? Why did Paul believe that it was necessary to make sacrifices in order to better proclaim the Gospel? And what does all this have to do with us? These are just a few of the questions we will try and answer in this message.

In I Corinthians 9 Paul goes to great lengths to stand up for his “right” to receive financial support from the church. However, where most people stand up for their rights in order to exercise them, Paul stands up for his right only to lay it down again? Why? What could possibly entice Paul to joyfully lay down something he clearly had a right to?

      How do you view Christian freedom? Do you think of it as the right to do what you want or do you see freedom as the opportunity to consider the impact your choices might have on the weak? In I Corinthians 8, Paul shows us which one he chose and why he thought it was so important.

Knowledge puffs up. In this passage Paul argues that it is possible to have good theology and to speak true and accurate things about God without ever really knowing him. So what is the difference between this imaginary knowledge of God and true knowledge? In this passage Paul warns us about the danger of having an imaginary knowledge of God and he gives us a picture of what true knowledge looks like.

Sometimes marriage seems like it will fix our loneliness and longing for intimacy. However, Paul urges the Corinthians that are single to stay fully devoted to the Lord if they can. What if the intimacy we all long for, singles and married, is found in the person and work of Christ? And what if that same intimacy is something we will enjoy for all eternity? Listen and hear how eternity shapes the way we singles can love for the glory of God.

      What if Jesus didn’t really rise again from the dead? Have you ever thought about that question? In I Corinthians 15 Paul gives us a picture of what life would be like if Jesus didn’t rise again. It’s a pretty bleak picture and it's meant to wake us up to just how important the resurrection really is.

      How many of you find that your joy in life seems to rise and fall with your circumstances? How many of you feel like “If only ____” would happen then everything would be better? In I Corinthians 7:17-24 Paul addresses our slavery to our circumstances and calls us to embrace the freedom that Jesus came to offer. If you are wondering how such freedom could be possible then this message is for you.

What does the Bible teach us about the purpose of marriage? What is Paul’s view of divorce and how does understanding the purpose of marriage help us make sense of his position? And what about those who have been divorced? What hope does the Gospel offer them and what healing can they find in Jesus' steadfast love? These are some of the questions we will consider in this sermon as we take a closer look at I Corinthians 7:10-16. 

      Anyone who has been married for long knows that sex isn’t always something that you and your spouse see eye to eye on. In fact, for many couples, sex can be the source of some significant conflict. In I Corinthians 7:1-5 Paul discusses the topic of sex in a way that helps us understand why it sometimes leads to conflict and how it is that this conflict might be resolved.

Most people are aware that the Bible prohibits sex outside of marriage, but what is often less clear is why. Why does God put so many restrictions on something that people desire so deeply? For many it can begin to seem like God might be holding out on us. But in this passage Paul shows us that God has actually offered us something far better than sex and its actually sexual immorality, and not God, that threatens to keep us from what we truly desire. 

A false view of freedom and spirituality will lead the church to adopt the same ethics as the surrounding culture where the free expression of inward desire is celebrated. Paul points us to the resurrection of Jesus to transform and renew our hearts and minds and give value to our physical bodies. He directs our love and all of who we are away from self and turns it to God and to others so that we may experience and live out of the true freedom that is only found in Jesus Christ.

Our culture tells us that the path to meaning is through the free expression of our desires, unless of course, those desires end up being harmful either to ourselves or others. In I Corinthians 6:9-11 Paul warns us about the danger of following many of the desires that our culture has deemed safe. In this passage we will see both the danger and the ensuing shame that comes from following our desires, as well as the redemption from shame and the freedom from our enslavement that the Gospel comes to offer us.