Pastor Steven G Lightfoot's Podcast

When we suffer hardship for the sake of the Gospel, even to the point of being chained like a criminal, the Word of God is not, cannot be, chained. The promise is this: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. (2 Ti 2:11–13).

We have been given authority over both the natural and the supernatural realms. Not only that, we have been given a spirit of power, love and discipline to stand up in righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. With all of the power of the Trinity for us, who can possibly come against us.

In his letters to Timothy, Paul gives us some good, practical theology that we can apply in our lives as we fight the good fight of faith.

As is often God's timing, my message, written prior to the recent bombings in NYC and NJ, and the mall attacks in MN, became all the more relevant as we awoke Sunday morning to the news while we got ready for church. As in the days of the prophet Jeremiah, our world is spiritually bankrupt. The people are worshipping the false gods of self-centeredness and secular humanist culture. Violence in the name of a false god and his false prophet is unbridled. The world is in need of the same healing balm of repentance for which Jeremiah lamented. Like the shrewd manager in Jesus' parable in Luke's Gospel message, we must be streetwise, creative and get our books in order, and then help others to do the same.

On this 15th Anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on America, Pastor Steven explores three basic questions in the context of Luke 15: What is the nature of God? What is the nature of humankind? What is the nature of the relationship between God and humankind, and between human beings, one to another?

What is the cost of discipleship in today's culture? What does it take to really follow Jesus these days? Pastor Steven takes a closer look at what Jesus has to say in the Gospel according to Luke 14:25-33 and several other passages on the subject.

Luke 16 teaches us that we can either seek the favor of man or the favor of God. Seeking the favor of man is temporal. Seeking the favor of God has eternal impact. Matthew 6 teaches us that we cannot serve two masters. We can choose to serve God or we can choose to serve mammon, we cannot serve both. When we choose God and His righteousness, we have His assurance that He will never abandon us.

The world has been shaken before. The writer of Hebrews tells us that the world will be shaken again, and not just the world but heaven too. But while all of creation is shaken, those covered by the blood of the covenant will remain - we won't be shaken!

Arthur Raymond Johnson went home to be with our Lord on July 20, 2016 after a prolonged illness. A native Houstonian, Arthur was born December 10, 1952 to Bettie Louise and Robert Sidney Johnson, who precede him in death along with his daughter, Donise. Arthur is survived by his wife, Kathy, and his sister Sidney Hill, her husband, Joe and their daughter, Amanda; his children, Justin and Jeff Johnson; grandchildren, Layne, Gabby, Joe and Maddie.

Many Christians are troubled by Jesus' words, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." The gospel message is one of hope, and of love; yet for those in our culture who have resolved in their hearts that they will not hear, that they will not see, it is a message that often brings hostility. Pastor Steven preaches on this and other related scripture from Matthew and Luke.

Good Church, Bad Church. In our Christian walk, we've all probably experienced plenty of both. The thing is, the one common denominator in all of those experiences, good and bad, is...well...us. Jesus experienced both good and bad in the temples and synagogues he visited. And he turned over a few tables when the experience was less than he had hoped. His desire was that his house should be a house of prayer. How do we get there - that house of prayer? It takes faith. The kind of faith of our ancestors - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses and Aaron...

When you were dead because of the things you had done wrong and because you were outside the law, God made you alive with Christ and forgave all the things you had done wrong. He destroyed the record of the debt we owed, with its requirements that worked against us. He canceled it by nailing it to the cross. Your debt is PAID and all of its legal ramifications are wiped clean. Pastor Steven preaches on Colossians 2:6-14

Pastor Steven preaches Colossians 1.

Our friend and brother in Christ, Walter Larry Carruthers, 73, went home to be with Jesus on July 7, 2016. He was the husband of Ruth Beebout Carruthers. They shared 54 years of marriage together. Born in Chariton, Iowa, he was the son of Quentin and Theo Carruthers. He graduated from Knoxville High School in 1960. He has been retired and living in the Houston area since 2008. He is survived by wife Ruth Beebout Carruthers, 3 daughters and their families: Laura Carruthers Cheung, Lawrence, Sierra, and Gabrielle Cheung; Jo Carruthers Lim, David, Madilyn, and Chase Lim; Ellen Carruthers Flores, Thomas, Logan, Evangeline Flores; sister Margaret Carruthers, and brother Frank Carruthers. He was predeceased by parents Quentin and Theo Carruthers and brother Gary Carruthers.

In the aftermath of the tragic events in Dallas, Pastor Steven reflects on his visit to the recovering city and reminds us that the way forward is by standing up with our congregations and being the church in our communities. We must be worthy of our calling, made so by the transforming power of Jesus.

Pastor Steven preaches on Galatians 6

It's Sunday at Countryside UMC and we are discussing two things mom always said should never be discussed in polite company - religion and politics. Yep, we're going there... As people of God, the Bible says, we are called to freedom. What does that mean, exactly? What is our responsibility in that?

What can we learn from Elijah? When our circumstances are overwhelming, where can we turn for strength? Pastor Steven takes a closer look at what the prophet Elijah has to teach us in 1 Kings 18 and 19.

Pastor Steven's message this week is about addiction. More specifically how we are ALL of us addicted to the human condition and how no one's addiction is worse than or better than anyone else's. We all need a spiritual recovery program and only Jesus can provide it.

When Paul preached to the churches in Judea, his reputation as a "former persecutor of Christians who now preaches the faith" went before him. This transformation glorified God, and those that heard his preaching glorified God because of it. Like Paul, we believers have undergone a transformation, and our testimony and witness glorify God and cause those who hear it to glorify God in response.