Who is Satan? Who is the Devil? Just Look at the Story of Job.

What do we need to do to improve when it comes to telling others about Jesus?  How can we be more effective? What mistakes are we making? We start our look at the answers to these important questions by examining the need for prayer, the need for both word and action, both saying it and living it, and finally the need for more than just the one strategy of inviting people to church. Scriptures covered: 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Acts 12:12, 1 Peter 3:1-7, Acts 5:42.

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We take a look at three options or ways that we can share the good news of Jesus with others. 1) Invite people to opportunities to get to know Jesus. The Samaritan woman did this then her whole town went out to meet Jesus.  2) Tell people about Jesus yourself. We don't always have to leave it to others to explain the gospel. We can tell the good news about Jesus as well!  3) Support those who are telling others about Jesus.  From missionaries to evangelists to Bible translators and more, when we find those who are sharing the good news, let us do what we can to support them in their ministry. Scriptures covered: John 4:1-45, John 1:35-51, Acts 10:17-24, Acts 8:1-4, Acts 17:14-34, Philippians 4:14-20, Luke 8:1-3.

To see David Hicks on YouTube, click here.

The first thing to realize about the "how" of telling others about Christ is that it is not up to you to come up with the perfect phrase or story to convince someone Jesus is real.  The Holy Spirit can guide you to what needs to be said and when.

The second thing is that we need to pray for the lost - that God will send out laborers into his harvest, that we will speak God's word boldly, that there will be open doors for the word and that God's word will spread rapidly.  

Finally, we look at the power of simply telling others about what God has done us, how we can take the hope, joy, peace and love we found in Jesus and let others know about they can find it too.

Scriptures covered: Mark 13:9-11.  Luke 10:1-2.  Acts 4:23-31.  Colossians 4:2-4.  2 Thessalonians 3:1.  Mark 15:1-20.  2 Corinthians 1:3-5.  Philemon 1:6. 

To see David Hicks on YouTube, click here.

We begin a series on sharing Jesus with others by looking at three reasons why we should do so - Jesus told us to do it in "the Great Commission", Jesus will defend us before the Father only if we will defend Him before men, and most importantly, because Jesus is the only name by which people can be saved.  Scriptures covered: Mark 16:15-16, Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 8:1-4, Matthew 10:32-33, John 12:42-43, Acts 4, Romans 3:23, Hebrews 4:14-16, Romans 6:23.  

To see David Hicks on YouTube, click here.

We read the first two chapters of the book of Job to see an example of Satan being an accuser, a slanderer, and one who inflicts suffering to get us to give up on our faith.  Job was a rich and righteous man, one who "feared God and shunned evil." Despite losing almost everything he had at that hand of Satan, we will see how Job determined to refuse to speak evil of God.   Scriptures covered: Job 1 - 2.

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In part 3 of our look at God's enemy, we talk about the many ramifications of Peter's description of the devil as a lion seeking to devour us. We also take an extensive look at one of Satan's primary weapons when it comes to getting people to quit their faith or keeping people from having faith in the first place, the weapon of suffering.  Scriptures covered: I Peter 5:6-11, Revelation 2:8-11, Acts 10:34-44, Luke 13:10-17.

To see David Hicks on YouTube, click here.

As we continue our look at the story of the birth of Jesus, we read the stories of the journey to Bethlehem, Mary giving birth to Jesus and laying him in a manger because there was no room in the inn, the shepherds being told the great news by a host of angels, and finally the visit of the magi, wise men who saw the star of Jesus in the east. 
Scriptures covered: Luke 2:1-20, Matthew 2:1-12

To see David Hicks on YouTube, click here.

In Part 1 we cover how the angel Gabriel appeared to a young girl named Mary to let her know that she would become the mother of the Son of God, the Savior of the world! We also look at how Joseph, the one who was supposed to become Mary's husband, almost decided to call off the marriage. But an angel of the Lord appeared to him as well to let Joseph know that the child in Mary was from the Holy Spirit. Both were told to name the child, "Jesus".  To start us off though, we address the question of why Jesus had to come to in the first place.  Hint that is not really a hint: It was to save us from our sins.  
Scriptures covered: Luke 1:26-38, Matthew 1:18-25

To see David Hicks on YouTube, click here.

In part 2 of our look at God's enemy, we study two famous passages associated with the devil that, if they are indeed about Satan, indicate he was an extremely powerful spiritual being that thought he could be become God. Ultimately we see that regardless, Satan's pride was his downfall.  Scriptures covered: Hosea 11:1, Isaiah 14:12-19, Ezekiel 28:11-19, I Timothy 3:6.

To see David Hicks on YouTube, click here.

God has an enemy, a nemesis if you will. He is called Satan; he is called the devil, names that imply he is an accuser, a slanderer, an adversary.  In Revelation 12, John the apostle sees a vision of Satan as a tremendous dragon ready to devour Jesus as soon as He is born and leading a band of angels in war against God.  When those attempts fail, he goes after the woman who gave birth to God's Son. When that also fails, he goes off to "to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." In today's podcast, we will go over Revelation 12 to learn about Satan in more detail.

To see David Hicks on YouTube, click here.