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.

God Can Use Us

How is God working through your life? When we open ourselves to God’s will, his power can accomplish some great things. Join us as we talk about three persons who allowed God to do some amazing things with their lives and examine how God is using our lives. http://christiancrusaders.org/audiostrream/ccr.20130609.mp3


Scripture: Romans 1:16-17
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”


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 An Attitude Change delivered on Christian Crusaders June 15, 2003:

God loves His children. His desire is that we might walk in this world of spiritual darkness as shining lights. Only then can He point the world toward us and say the words: These are my sons and daughters. Let me tell you about them. The first step was for them to enter a Father-child relationship. When they experienced my love for them, their love for me began to grow, and there were great changes in their life. They are not perfect, nor will they be while they live on this planet. Nevertheless, I have begun the good work in them and will continue to perform and perfect it until that glorious meeting when we will begin our journey together in the heavenly home. Until then I will continue to prune those twigs so that they become what I want them to be.


Did You Know?
Radio waves can even penetrate prison walls. Letters have come from prisoners who have listened to Christian Crusaders’ broadcasts in Iowa, Florida, South Dakota, and Minnesota. Timothy writes from a prison in Iowa, “I think Pastor Larsen does a wonderful job. I enjoy his messages. Keep up the good work of preaching God’s Word. You are greatly appreciated by my family and myself.” (We had taken the time to send him some devotional materials.)


On the Light Side
A young preacher recently came upon a farmer working in his field. Being concerned about the farmer’s soul, the preacher asked the man, “Are you laboring in the vineyard of the Lord my good man?”

Not even looking at the preacher and continuing his work the farmer replied, “Naw, these are soybeans.”

“You don’t understand,” said the preacher. “Are you lost?”

“Naw! I’ve lived here all my life,” answered the farmer.

“Are you prepared for the resurrection?” the frustrated preacher asked.

This caught the farmer’s attention and he asked, “When’s it gonna be?”

Thinking he had accomplished something the young preacher replied, “It could be today, tomorrow, or the next day.”

Taking a handkerchief from his back pocket and wiping his brow, the farmer remarked, “Well, don’t mention it to my wife. She don’t get out much and she’ll wanna go all three days.”