When Trials Come

Some days when life is not going the way we like, people will say, “This is really testing my faith.” So what are we supposed to do during those times? James has an answer for us today. Please join us.

 

Scripture: James 1:1-8

            James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.

            Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways, will receive anything from the Lord. 

 

Renewing Reflections

It is our prayer that Renewing Reflections will be a blessing in your life this coming week. This quote is taken from the sermon The Evening that Faith Grew delivered on Christian Crusaders September 12, 2010:

            It has brought me great encouragement to watch people grow spiritually as they live with their problems, some of those being big problems. As I preach this sermon, I can name seven people in their 40s and 50s who, within the last few months, have learned they have cancers that could well be terminal. When I asked one of them last Sunday how she was handling the news, she squeezed my cheeks and said, “I’m hanging in there. I’m taking my treatments and they are making me sick, but I leave it in the hands of the Lord. I really want to live, but if He has other plans, so be it. ‘All things work together for good to them who love the Lord.’ And believe me, I love Him.”

 

Memorial Gifts

Christian Crusaders is a nonprofit ministry funded entirely through free-will gifts and donations from individuals and congregations. A memorial gift is a meaningful way to remember a loved one. Memorial gifts are sometimes given to remember a very special person on their birthday or some other occasion.

 

For your convenience, we can take credit card donations by phone or mail. You can also access our Web site on our Donations Page. This is a secure site.

We thank each of our listeners who have remembered Christian Crusaders with their gifts and prayers.

 

On the Light Side

HAPPY AUTUMNAL EQUINOX!

Autumn is a season for big decisions – like whether or not it's too late to start spring cleaning.

Autumn – time to drag out your winter clothes and see what kind of summer fun the moths had.

The autumn leaves are a lot like raising kids. First they turn on you, and then they fly away. And next thing you know, you look out the window and they're back!

Keep on Praying

Jesus’ public ministry was three years in length – a very short time. Yet Scripture tells us that He invested many hours in prayer. Prayer was the foundation of all He did. His disciples seeing this practice, recognized the power of prayer and asked Jesus to teach them to pray. In this week’s sermon, we will talk about the power of prayer in the life of each of us today, as disciples of Christ.


Scripure: Luke 11:1-13
He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.’”

And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, "Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.'

And he answers from within, "Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.' I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

"So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"


Renewing Reflections
It is our prayer that Renewing Reflections will be a blessing in your life this coming week. This quote is taken from the sermon Questions Are Natural delivered on Christian Crusaders December 16, 2001:

How do I handle the problems of tomorrow? God’s Word says, “I will comfort you. I will strengthen you. I will uphold you with my glorious right hand. God is your refuge and strength. Be still, and know that I am God.” The problems of life are too big for any individual to handle alone.


Funding Christian Crusaders
Christian Crusaders is a nonprofit ministry dependent upon gifts from you, our listeners. Many people choose to contribute a $100 Broadcast Sponsor gift. ($100 is the average cost of one half-hour broadcast on one radio station.) Others provide a GEM Club (Gift-Every-Month). All gifts are tax-deductible. Christian Crusaders is thankful for the blessing of all gifts and your partnership in sharing the Gospel.


On the Light Side
A preacher went into the pulpit one Sunday morning wearing a pair of new bifocals. The reading portion of the glasses improved his vision considerably, but the top portion of the glasses didn’t work so well. In fact he was experiencing dizziness every time he looked through them. He explained to the congregation that the new glasses were causing problems. “I hope you will excuse my continually removing my glasses,” he said. “You see when I look down I can see fine, but when I look at you, it makes me sick.”

What Were They Talking About?

Do you have questions you would like to ask Jesus? Questions for which there seems to be no earthly answer? Most of us struggle with unresolved issues for which it seems only Jesus can explain. Please listen this Sunday when we will talk about a pair of sisters who hosted Jesus in their home, how they reacted to his visit, and how we can find answers right now.  

Scripture: Luke 10:38-42

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”



Renewing Reflections
It is our prayer that Renewing Reflections will be a blessing in your life this coming week. This quote is taken from the sermon Growing Involves Making Wise Choices delivered on Christian Crusaders March 13, 2011:

I have learned that I need to listen to and learn from the One who really knows what makes my life work, and his name is Jesus Christ. I find it interesting that a favorite quote people memorize is Jesus’ invitation to listen to him. “Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke.” The yoke back in those days sometimes referred to the teaching of the rabbis. Take my wise teaching upon you and learn from me, Jesus says, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. He wants us to be hearers of his Word. It is a choice we make.



Funding Christian Crusaders
Christian Crusaders is a nonprofit ministry dependent upon gifts from you, our listeners. Many people choose to contribute a $100 Broadcast Sponsor gift. ($100 is the average cost of one half-hour broadcast on one radio station.) Others provide a GEM Club (Gift-Every-Month). All gifts are tax-deductible. Christian Crusaders is thankful for the blessing of all gifts and your partnership in sharing the Gospel.



On the Light Side
Efficiency

An efficiency expert concluded his lecture with a note of caution. "You don't want to try these techniques at home."

"Why not?" asked somebody from the audience.

"I watched my wife's routine at breakfast for years," the expert explained. "She made lots of trips between the refrigerator, stove, table and cabinets, often carrying a single item at a time. One day I told her, 'Hon, why don't you try carrying several things at once?'”

"Did it save time?" the guy in the audience asked.

"Actually, yes," replied the expert. "It used to take her twenty minutes to make breakfast. Now I do it in seven."

Jesus' Evangelism Program

As we look back over our lives, most of us have fond memories of happy, prosperous days when life was good and times were plentiful. How much happier those memories would be if they include those with whom we shared the Gospel and helped lead to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. Join us this week as we talk sharing the way of salvation with others.

Scripture: Luke 10:1-12, 17

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.

“When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

“When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.' But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 'Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.' I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.”

The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”


Renewing Reflections
It is our prayer that Renewing Reflections will be a blessing in your life this coming week. This quote is taken from the sermon All Is Ready – Now Go! delivered on Christian Crusaders May 21, 2006:

Now it is your commissioning service that Christ wants to preside over. As He challenged the early disciples, so today Jesus challenges us to tell others what He can do for them. All He asks you to do is to share with others what it means to live each day free of guilt because Christ has taken it away. Think of the encouragement it can be for a single mother to know that she has a Savior who will strengthen her to face the future. She will have brothers and sisters in Christ who will be there to help when the hours are long and difficult. I was visiting with such a mother recently. Her children were small, and her husband was sent to prison. “Had it not been for the Lord Jesus and my Christian friends, I would never have made it,” she told me. But what if those friends had not surrounded her with that redeeming love?


How to Help Christian Crusaders Grow
Do you have a person on your gift list who is difficult to buy for? Does this person have an upcoming special event? An Honorarium Gift given to Christian Crusaders is an excellent way to remember that friend or loved one. These gifts are most often given in honor of a birthday or anniversary. However, any special day in the life of a loved one can be remembered with a gift. If desired, our office will then send a card to the honoree(s) acknowledging the gift. Each of these gifts is published in our quarterly newsletter, the Crusader, which is mailed to listeners and friends of this ministry. We thank each of our listeners who remember Christian Crusaders with their gifts and prayers.

For your convenience, we are able to take credit card donations by phone or mail. You can also access our Web site on our Online Donations Page to make a donation on our secure site.


On the Light Side
A missionary working in Brazil was visiting a parishioner and was offered a beverage. Because caffeine had been causing him some health problems, he refused first her offer of coffee and then tea because it could have been made from any type of disparaging leaf. He also refused water because he wasn't sure it would be pure. Deciding he should not press his luck by refusing anything else, he accepted a glass of lukewarm milk with thick cream at the top.

As he began to drink, he noticed something swimming in the milk and underneath the cream discovered a large cockroach doing the backstroke. That was too much. He quickly threw the milk out a large, open window behind him, relieved to have been able to save face.

The problem wasn’t solved that easily, however, for in through the door came a little boy with milk running down his face and crying, “Mommy, mommy, that big man threw milk all over me.”

Carriers of the Gospel

Jesus chose seemingly ordinary men to be his apostles, yet those very men were given a great mission to accomplish for Christ’s Church. Is today’s church as effective in today’s society as it once was? What is necessary in order for us to continue spreading the gospel message? Please join us as we talk about these questions in this week’s message.

Scripture: Luke 6:12-16

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Renewing Reflections

It is our prayer that Renewing Reflections will be a blessing in your life this coming week. This quote is taken from the sermon A Call to Faithfulness delivered on Christian Crusaders August 12, 2001:

I heard a man say one day, “I have purchased a million dollars worth of term life insurance. Now my family will be taken care of if I die.” He was a good provider, concerned about his family. Was he frightened into making this financial provision for his family? I don’t think so. It was love for that wife and children that motivated him to act. It is God’s love in Christ, reaching into our hearts and pleading with us to receive Him that we might be His for all eternity, that makes us His faithful children. He loves us, and He wants us to be His forever. This calls for faithfulness on God’s part and ours. God is faithful. All is ready for us to be His forever. He has been faithful. Are we?

Funding Christian Crusaders

Many people are surprised to learn that Christian Crusaders must purchase radio air time and Internet space in order to broadcast the program. Willed bequests have become an important source of income for Christian Crusaders. Donations enable us to buy time on radio stations throughout the U.S. and on the Internet. For more information on how to remember Christian Crusaders with a final gift, contact our office at 1-888-693-2484 or click the Contact Us link.


On the Light Side
First Grade Homework
Miss Flynn, a first-grade parochial school teacher, had a great deal of difficulty keeping her composure as she read the answers on her test about the Apostles:
 Name the people who followed the Lord. – The Twelve Decibels.
 What are the Epistles? – The wives of the Apostles.
 Who was St. Matthew? – He was one of the opossums. He was also a taxi man.
 Who was St. Paul? – He cavorted to Christianity and preached Holy Acrimony, which is another name for marriage.

Jesus Can Fix People

Is your life broken and in need of being fixed? A certain man in the Bible was possessed by evil spirits and desperately needed to be fixed by Jesus. We may not have the same issues, but our lives can still be possessed by evil spirits such as bitterness, anger, or self-pity. Join us as we learn how Jesus can fix our broken lives. http://christiancrusaders.org/audiostream/ccr20130623.mp3

Scripture: Luke 8:26-39

Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me”— for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.)

Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?”
He said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.

Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned.

The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

 
Renewing Reflections
It is our prayer that Renewing Reflections will be a blessing in your life this coming week. This quote is taken from the sermon God Is . . . In Charge delivered on Christian Crusaders October 10, 2010:

. . . people of God face persecution in places around the world, and sometimes even in our own land, (but) we have this assurance from our God – from our king – that one day this song will be fully realized when he returns – not in a manger, but in power and in glory upon the clouds. Every knee will then bow to him and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. The Lord is in charge. God is faithful to his own. God has given us a King. His name is Jesus, the Christ. Bow your knee, kiss his feet in worship, and surrender your heart to him, for this king promises, “Take my yoke upon you, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”


Interesting Information Concerning Christian Crusaders
Christian Crusaders is governed by an eighteen-member Board of Directors. Each one of our directors serves on at least one of nine committees.

One of these committees is the Broadcast Committee. This committee decides if we should renew a contract with a radio station. It reviews how much listener response each station has had the past year. Although financial gifts are important, the committee also looks at letters and calls from listeners, and the number of listeners in that geographical area on our mailing list.

Christian Crusaders strives to be responsible in all of our spending.


On the Light Side
Biblical Songs
Noah: “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head”
Adam and Eve: “Strangers in Paradise”
Lazarus: “The Second Time Around”
Esther: “I Feel Pretty”
Job: “I’ve Got a Right to Sing the Blues”
Moses: “The Wanderer”
Jezebel: “The Lady is a Tramp”
Samson: “Hair”
Salome: “I Could Have Danced Al Night”
Daniel: “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”
Joshua: “Good Vibrations”
Peter: “I’m Sorry”
Esau: “Born To Be Wild”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: “Great Balls of Fire!”
The Three Kings: “When You Wish Upon a Star”
Jonah: “Got a Whale of a Tale”
Elijah: “Up, Up, and Away”
Methuselah: “Stayin’ Alive”
Nebuchadnezzar: “Crazy”

The Wow Factor

What do you suppose surprises Jesus? Does anything wow him? In this week’s message we will look at the story of a man who was considered unclean, but had an astonishing faith that amazed Jesus. We will also learn how we can also have the same kind of wondrous faith that makes Jesus say, “WOW! Never have I seen such faith!” www.christiancrusaders.org/audiostream/ccr20130616.mp3

Scripture: Luke 7:1-10

After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.”

And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,' and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.”

When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.


Renewing Reflections
It is our prayer that Renewing Reflections will be a blessing in your life this coming week. This quote is taken from the sermon God Is . . . Life delivered on Christian Crusaders July 18, 2010:

God wants you to choose HIM, for to choose him is to choose life. You see, this God, who wants you to choose him, went to great lengths to make you his own. He gave his only Son at the cross to restore that broken relationship between God and you. So his song cries out to those of us who listen this day: Choose me! I know what makes life work. After all, I invented it and designed it, didn’t I? I ought to know what makes it work for you. Draw near to me. Open my Word, read and reflect on it, and you will have life. I will change your life for the better and you will find real happiness.


Funding Christian Crusaders
Many people are surprised to learn that Christian Crusaders must purchase radio air time and Internet space in order to broadcast the program. Willed bequests have become an important source of income for Christian Crusaders. Donations enable us to buy time on radio stations throughout the U.S. and on the Internet. For more information on how to remember Christian Crusaders with a final gift, contact our office at 1-888-693-2484 or click the Contact Us link.