Our bodies were made from the dust; they are a temporary holding cell, if you will, for our inner person. One day our bodies will die, but our souls will continue to live somewhere. Since we were made from the dust, our bodies will return to the dust when we die. But what does that mean? Is that why we need a new body? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he answers all of these questions and more in his fiery message, The Great Exchange Pt. 2: The Body.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 Genesis 2:7a John 6:63 John 3:6 John 6:28-29 James 2:26 Ezekiel 37:3 Matthew 27:50 Galatians 5:16–18 Galatians 5:19–21 1 Corinthians 6:18 Psalm 51:10 Psalms 23:3 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 Philippians 3:20-21 Psalms 103:14 Numbers 35:33 2 Corinthians 4:7
The Great Exchange of Our Body
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Genesis 2:16-17
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
Genesis 3:22-24
When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, they didn’t immediately drop dead and stop breathing. So, what died the day they ate the fruit? What was the great exchange of our body?
The very first law God gave to mankind was to not eat of the Tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil, or they would die. We all know the story, Eve ate, then Adam ate, but neither one physically died. Why? Did God make an empty threat? What kind of death was God speaking of? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he answers all of these questions and more in his fiery message, The Great Exchange: Where It All Began.
Genesis 3:1-7 Revelation 2:24 Genesis 1:26 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Isaiah 6:5 Matthew 7:21–23 Matthew 6:22–23 Job 31:1 Matthew 6:22–23 Genesis 8:21 Psalms 34:8 Genesis 8:21 Leviticus 1:8–9 2 Corinthians 2:15–16
Where It All Began Verses
The Command
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Genesis 2:15-17
The Sin
Adam and Eve didn’t just sin; they made an exchange. They exchanged their soul for knowledge.
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
Genesis 3:6
16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
1 John 2:16
The Consequence
Adam and Eve’s innocence was taken from them the day they ate the fruit from the Tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil in the midst of the Garden of Eden. They didn’t die physically but spiritually. This is where it all began. This was the beginning of sin.
How much time do you spend in prayer? How often do you spend quiet time with God? I once heard someone say, ‘I don’t think I need to read my Bible every day.’ They weren’t preparing for the battle up ahead. They weren’t preparing for the obstacles to come. Why? Because what you do in private will be made public. Join Reverend Kenny Yates in his fiery message, To Be or Not To Be, as he explains the importance of quiet time with God.
17 For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.
Luke 8:17
2 Samuel 11:1-4 Proverb 24:33–34 Genesis 4:7 I Samuel 17:32-37 Jeremiah 9:24
Quiet Time Verses
6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:6
8a Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.
James 4:8a
2b The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
2 Chronicles 15:2b
12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:12-13
If you want to be a body builder, you have to train as a body builder. If you want to be a athlete, you have to train as a athlete. This is the same with your faith. If you want to be a Christ Follower in public, then you have to train in private. You have to have your quiet time with God. You have to decide whether you want to be or not to be.
Divorce has become more and more prevalent in our culture. But why? Why has divorce skyrocketed so much? Have we forgotten how to love? How can you protect your relationship? There are five love languages, according to Gary Chapman:
Words of Affirmation
Quality Time
Receiving Gifts
Acts of Service
Physical Touch
According to Gary Chapman, each person expresses and feels love according to one of these five love languages. Do you know what your significant other’s love language is? Do you know how to make it through difficult situations together? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he shows us how to have a lasting relationship in his love-filled Valentine’s Day Message ‘Protect Your Relationships.’
Song of Solomon 2:15
How To Protect Your Relationships Verses
Marriage
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that He might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of His body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Ephesians 5:22-33
Divorce
3 And Pharisees came up to Him and tested Him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”
Matthew 19:3-9
Love
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8a Love never ends.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8a
Summary
In order to protect your relationship, you have to fight for your relationship. You have to decide that no matter what happens, divorce is NOT an option. You have to fight for your relationship if you want to keep it. Love is an action. Live your life as if you can’t live without your significant other.
Lately, the world has screamed, ‘Unity, Unity,’ but with whom are we unifying and why? As the Church, are we supposed to fight to unify as one with everyone? Are we supposed to fight for peace? Should the Church try to unify with the world? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he brings his latest fiery message addressing the Church’s role in the world today.
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 Luke 19:1–10 Exodus 32:25–29 Hebrews 4:12 Matthew 10:34–39 John 15:18–25 1 Peter 4:12 1 John 3:13
More Verses on Unity With The World?
5 This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
1 John 1:5-6
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
Ephesians 5:6-11
21 You cannot drink the cup of the LORD and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the LORD and the table of demons. 22 Shall we provoke the LORD to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
1 Corinthians 10:21-22
In other words, Paul is saying that we cannot be a part of the world and a part of the Church. We can’t support sin and call ourselves righteous. We can’t fight for unity with the world and fight for unity with God.
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; 5 for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.”
Revelation 18:4-5
If we fight for unity with the world, are we fighting for discord with God? We cannot stand for darkness and call ourselves a Christ Follower. We cannot fight for justice for wickedness and call ourselves righteous. The time is coming when we will all be forced to choose a side when we will all be forced to draw a line in the sand. Will you be on the side of God or the world? Will you recognize the light from the darkness?
Throughout history people have claimed to be Christians, but does that mean that they are Christians? What does it mean to be a Christian? What does it mean to be a Christ Follower? We all know that we are not saved by works, but by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. BUT are there any specific pre-requisites to enter Eternal Life other than faith? What about false prophets?
15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
Matthew 7:15-20
We see many Christ Followers today living their lives according to how they feel and according to their OWN happiness, but is that right? Are they the false prophets in sheep clothing that Jesus was warning us about? How do we know the difference between wolves in sheep clothing and actual sheep? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he brings a powerful new message entitled ‘What Does It Mean To Be A Christ Follower?’
Ephesians 2:8-9 John 14:15 James 2:19 James 2:14-18 Hebrews 9:22 Acts 4:12 John 14:6 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 Hosea 6:6 1 John 4:19–21 Ephesians 5:1-6 1 Corinthians 6:18 James 2:10-13, 24 Matthew 7:21-23
Verses On Being A True Christ Follower
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Galatians 5:22-24
9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Romans 12:9-13
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
God has given each of us a call on our lives. He has bestowed purpose upon our hearts. He set out a plan and a path for us to take, yet many of us feel purposeless. We feel useless, and the road ahead of us feels overwhelming and too difficult to maneuver. Why? In today’s world, we are constantly bombarded with rubble. We’re hit from all sides with problems, obstacles, persecution, hatred, and all that the enemy can throw at us. Does that mean we won’t be able to fulfill our call? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he teaches us how to deal with our lives when there is ‘Too Much Rubble.’
Nehemiah 1:3 Nehemiah 4:10 Nehemiah 2:2 Nehemiah 1:3b Nehemiah 2:3b Matthew 6:33 1 John 4:18a Palms 103:2 Psalm 77:12
In today’s society, our children are raised in church, but their beliefs quickly change as soon as they go to university. But why? Were their foundations not strong enough? Were they not taught the knowledge of the Scripture so that they might be able to defend their faith? More and more Christians are pushing the Progressive-Christianity movement because they buy into one of two lies:
The Bible is outdated and can no longer be used for every circumstance in our culture today
Jesus loves everybody and just wants us to be happy
When ‘Christians’ push ‘progressive’ ideology, the one thing they never do is back up their beliefs with Scripture. How can we try to change the entire Church and what the Church stands for without knowing what Scripture actually says? We have taken away the most important aspect of our faith, the power of knowledge.
As we are compelled to put away Scripture more and more by the media and those in government, it has become more imperative than ever to actually know Scripture. Do you know your Bible? If someone questions your faith, can you defend it? If someone shows you another way of thinking, do you know the Scripture to determine whether they are right or wrong? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he goes into great detail on The Power of Knowledge.
2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and Godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, 4 by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
2 Peter 1:2-4
Peter says that we have been granted all things that pertain to life and Godliness by the knowledge of God. We have to know God, His attributes, feelings, and goals in order to grow closer to Him so that we might become more like Him and grow in Godliness. There is power in knowledge.
4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord?
Psalms 14:4
David equates the lack of knowledge to evildoers. Why? Because it is impossible to please God without knowledge. Why? Because it is impossible to please God without faith. And faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Faith comes through the power of knowledge.
From the very beginning, in the Garden of Eden, the Serpent questioned the authenticity of the Word of God. He questioned whether God really said, ‘Do not eat this fruit,’ and Eve was could not successfully defend her faith. Today, it is no different. All over the world, many skeptics question the authenticity of the Word of God. From political leaders to other religious believers to the men and women educating our young people, the idea that the Bible has been changed is a mainstream belief. They often argue for the validity of every other Historical book except for the Bible. This often leaves many believers unable to defend their faith.
As a Christian, it is more important now than ever before to be able to defend your faith. The most often used claim that the Bible is not trustworthy is that they say it has been changed several times. But is that true? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he opens our eyes and teaches us how we can defend our faith in his latest message, Defending Your Faith Part One: The Authenticity of The Bible.
1 Peter 3:15 Genesis 3:1 Genesis 2: 4, 7-9, 15-18 2 Peter 1:16–18 1 John 1: 1-5a Acts 22: 4-10 2 Peter 1:19–21 2 Peter 3: 15-16 Luke 10:31,32 Revelation 1:5 1 Thessalonians 2:7 Mark 9:39 John 20:24-29
The Authenticity of the Bible
Historical Books vs. The Bible
Let’s talk about other historical books and names. We talk with much finesse and confidence and historical figures while we treat the Bible as though it has no historical evidence and/or has been changed multiple times. Here are some comparisons between Historical Books and the Bible that you can use to defend your faith.
Plato – Everything we know about him is contained in a total of 7 manuscripts
Caesar – Total of 10 manuscripts
Tacitus – A total of 20 manuscripts
Aristotle – A total of 49 manuscripts
Homer’s Illad – Has whopping 634 manuscripts
The Original Greek New Testament Biblical manuscript – Has either in full, or in part 5,795 Greek manuscripts
Other manuscripts that support the N.T. base – Includes the Syriac, Latin, Coptic, and Aramaic languages number over 24,000
Total Biblical manuscripts – 24,633 manuscripts in all
We have 24k more manuscripts than the closest one. Not only that but the entire New Testament was written within 70 years of the actual events. This means that a lot of the eyewitnesses were still alive and could have disputed the stories and facts about Jesus. But surprisingly, none did.
Yet, it’s the most disputed and considered the most unreliable. Even though they have been proven to be highly preserved the authenticity of the Bible is constantly being questioned. You must ask yourself why? Why is the authenticity of the Bible being questioned but no other historical book or text?
14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
1 Peter 3:14-15
As Peter tells us, we must always be ready to defend our faith. We may not have been there when all of these things recorded in the Bible took place, but Jesus said, blessed is the one who believes and has not actually seen. The truth is, it’s through faith that we are saved. You don’t have to worry, the same God who spoke the world into being is the same God who preserves His own word. Jesus is the Word that became flesh; therefore, His word cannot be corrupted.
2020 was filled with fear and division, but why? Is there a higher power at hand pushing us apart? Or is there an invisible force putting up walls between us? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he opens our eyes to the invisible plan behind the division in our world in his message, Borders.
Luke 17:11 Genesis 11:1–9
Borders
We are divided in every way possible by the invisible forces moving the chess pieces behind the curtains. This isn’t anything new, look at the time of Jesus. There was division and great borders, beyond the physical, that separated Jews and Samaritans.
11 On the way to Jerusalem He [Jesus] was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as He entered a village, He was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When He saw them He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed.
15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 And He said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
Luke 17:11-19
Jesus didn’t differentiate between Jew and Samaritan. He didn’t only heal the Jews, instead, He healed the Samaritan at the same time as the Jews. He didn’t put up borders between them. When there are spiritual borders between people separating some from the chance of receiving salvation, then that’s the invisible forces of the enemy separating us. Don’t allow him to do so.
