How has the American society that used to sing that it was the "land of the free" and the "home of the brave" changed its tune? Now the constant sad song has become the cry of the victim—“The drugs made me do it! The alcohol caused the crash. My parents and school teachers did not treat me right when I was growing up, and the final cry of victimization--the devil made me do it!” Can we as humans blame our sins on the ugly evil dragon?

Truth Encounter: The Lord's Prayer

The First Temptation of Christ (Matthew 4:1-11)

The events shock us all--a mother claiming that her two young sons had been kidnapped at gunpoint, ten days of intense hunting throughout the land, tear stained appeals on television, and then the horrible truth, the mother herself knew where her two children were all along--at the bottom of a local lake. The ruthless onslaught of family violence, children killing children, and a mother killing her sons, if ever there was a society that needed to begin to pray--deliver us from the evil one--we are that society. But society is composed of individuals, one person at a time, so the prayer needs to begin on our lips.

Deliver Us From Evil (Matthew 6:13)

Are you ever scared to pray out loud with a group of friends? Afraid you might not use the right terminology and blow all the protocol with the King of the universe? Listen--the divine King might be getting tired of all the thees and thous, and pious platitudes! If He is omniscient,-knowing all things including exactly what is going on deep inside of us,maybe it is time to get down to serious conversation--letting everything hang out as we talk with Him. Formalized religion can become a robe that seeks to protect us from too much threatening exposure before the living god. How did God the Son talk to His Father?

Lead Us Not Into Testing-Part 2 (Matthew 6:13)

It ‘s popular to shout Satan down in prayer. "Satan, bite the dust! I bind your forces in Jesus name! Go ahead--bring on your attacks I'm prepared for the fight!" If all this confidence is biblical, then why did Jesus teach us to pray "Lead us not into the time of testing--of temptation?" The sixth petition of the Lord's prayer is our subject today and it raises this issue of the believers attitude toward the battle with evil and hand to hand combat with the evil one.

Lead Us Not Into Testing-Part I (Matthew 6:13)

Remember the friends you used to get together with at least once a week, but now you can hardly get out a brief greeting when you run in to them at the post office? What happened to this relationship? Is there one of your adult children who hardly ever calls you on the phone or refuses to let you take care of your grandchildren? Why haven't you healed from the blow up that you had with them years ago? Maybe neither of these illustrations apply to you, but if you stop and think about it--unforgiveness is as common as sneezing and runny noses in allergy season. How can we stop ourselves from becoming more and more closed to relationships as we grow older?

Forgive Us Our Debts (Matthew 6:12)

"If someone offered you fifty thousand dollars, a contract to be a regular commentator on a popular daily television show, and a platform to motivate millions of young Americans to develop a deep appreciation for higher education and the arts, wouldn't a little innocent deception in cheating on a popular game show be worth the price?" As jaded as our culture has become, something still stirs within us when someone chooses to lie for money over telling the truth. But where can we get the courage and the strength to tell the truth when fifty, one hundred or a million dollars is staring us in the face? The answer to this question is really quite simple--we need to learn to pray--pray the way Jesus taught us to pray.

Daily Bread (Matthew 6:11)

The tabloids cannot get enough of scandal. I am sure you are tired of hearing the constant gossip. Kings and queens are supposed to be above us all. Princesses are supposed to marry princes and to ride off in the sun set to live happily ever after. All the pomp and circumstance is supposed to applaud these who are bigger than life. No wonder the entire charade comes crashing down. But there is a king you can hail who will never disappoint you in scandal. For two thousand years he has stood every criticism hurled against him and to think he came riding a donkey and not a Rolls Royce.

All Hail King Jesus-Part 2 (Hosea, Daniel, Luke)

Little children killing each other in Chicago, terrorist groups bombing, an economic boom that inflates for everyone else except you, a lump in your breast, a miss in your heart beat. Have the public and personal headlines of your life caused you to lose hope? Has life become a boring routine with no more expectancy? Then you have tuned in to Truth Encounter at just the right time. There is a new day coming that is radiant and glorious! There is a hope that will not deflate! There is a good chance that you have repeatedly mentioned this hope but you might not have recognized what you were really asking for.

All Hail King Jesus-Part 1 (Hosea, Daniel, Luke)

Moms are made with a built in desire to protect their children. When your womb protects the defenseless little person that grows from a microscopic cell into a tiny human being made in the image of God, it is hard not to try and keep a protective womb around your children for their entire life. But moms--if you try to protect and control your adult children and treat them like toddlers even though now they have become six feet tall, you will generate a lot of anger and stress. You could even block them from developing the maturity they need to do the will of God.

Thy Kingdom Come-Part 4 (Matthew 6:10)

Kingdom. It is a realm or region where someone or something is dominant. Why do we need to pray and ask God to bring His kingdom to earth? How does the "earth" realm differ from the "heavenly" realm when it comes to responding to god's authority? We are presently in the midst of a study of the Lord's paradigm on prayer--showing us exactly the kinds of things we need to talk over with God. The next few minutes will be an opportunity to think carefully about some words that you have probably repeated over and over again.

Thy Kingdom Come-Part 3 (Matthew 6:10)

What do you want to get out of life--health, Love, truth, dependability? What are you doing today to achieve these goals? It could be that you have walked away from the only person who can deliver all these precious gifts to you, and if you walk away from this individual, you will walk into a room of deception from which you might never escape. Today on Truth Encounter we want to ask some probing questions about which kingdom you have decided to live in.

Thy Kingdom Come-Part 2 (Matthew 6:10)

"Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven...." You know the words by heart. With the pledge of allegiance these words are probably repeated more than any others in the American culture. But like a lot of words we repeat by rote, have we thought carefully about what they mean? These words express the most powerful lesson anyone ever taught on the subject of prayer.

Thy Kingdom Come-Part 1 (Matthew 6:10)

It's a word or sound or combination of sounds by which an individual or class of individuals (as person or things) is regularly known or designated." Leave it to the dictionary to take something that we use every day and make it sound as complicated as Einstein's theory of relativity. What in the world is the dictionary defining? It's something we use every day and we all have one. Obviously--the term we are talking about is --name. What's in a name?

Name Reverence Respect (Matthew 6:9)

The clock presses on in history. The conflict between good and evil intensifies. One voice after the other calls us to action. But what actions will be productive? What should we devote ourselves to? We are about to embark on one of the most important series we have ever presented on Truth Encounter. Whatever you believe about prophesy and the coming of Christ, there is one clear call to action in the Bible we can all agree upon--we need to pray! It is something almost all of us do every single day, but have we learned to do it right?

Teach Us to Pray (Matthew 6)

How do you pray? With a book of liturgy, totally extemporaneous, with King James English, or with down-home country talk? God’s Son can answer this question better than anyone else, and this is exactly what He did in His model prayer. You have probably repeated these words hundreds of times, but have you taken some time to understand what they really mean? These messages will challenge you to do exactly that!

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Truth Encounter: The Lord's Prayer

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