Life Lessons Radio

Northwest Church has compiled literally a warehouse full of Pastor Steve’s resources and will be putting them on a USB flash drive titled "Dr. Steve Schell’s Digital Library". For those of us who have benefited from Pastor Steve’s insightful, in-depth, encouraging, humorous and transformational teaching, this will be must have for our study libraries. The “Dr. Steve Schell Digital Library” will include over 1000 messages from Pastor Steve starting when he arrived at Northwest Church in 1991 plus approximately 2000 pages of sermon and Bible study notes. With its built-in indexes and search engines, specific dates, titles, scripture and topics will be easy to find. There are also approximately 75 video messages and even some music written and led by Pastor Steve as worship leader. Also added is a narrated video by Pastor Steve from one of his trips to Israel.

Today Pastor Steve is back in the book of Genesis with the familiar story of Cain and Abel. Although this story took place eons ago, it has a timely message for our "victim" culture in America. Each of us have areas of weakness and are under intense pressure to give in to temptation ... but there are ways to avoid giving in. Stay tuned for encouragement and wisdom on how to play this mental game and live a victorious life.

From the very beginning, from the very first sin of Adam and Eve, God made a way for mankind to come back to Him. And He’s still at work today, drawing each one of us to Him. But there’s a problem ... Pastor Steve refers to it as the "rain coat" syndrome: people take God out of the closet when it "rains" and put Him back in the closet when circumstances are "sunny" again. Today Pastor Steve shows us how important it is to continually position ourselves to receive God’s blessing in his message, "Recapturing Adam." Stay tuned for encouragement and wisdom on how to have a close, abiding relationship with God in both the good times and the bad.

Today on Life Lessons, Pastor Steve takes us back to the 3rd chapter of Genesis where we find verses that have raised a lot of questions throughout history. What does it mean that women will have pain in child birth? Are men supposed to be in charge of women? And why did God curse the ground? Pastor Steve answers these questions in ways that might surprise you in his message, "Recapturing Adam."

When Adam and Eve took the first bite of the forbidden fruit everything changed. They no longer walked with God in the cool of the afternoon, they experienced guilt and shame, they experienced death. But all is not lost. God keeps alive the hope of a relationship with Him and the hope of eternal life. In today’s message, "Recapturing Adam", we’ll see the relentless pursuit by God to drive Adam, and Adam’s children - you and me, back to Himself.

There are lots of Sunday School stories we’ve heard and know well. Or do we? Have we read them recently? Or did we just see the movie? Unfortunately, there are many misunderstandings and even lies we believe to be the gospel truth. Today Pastor Steve is going to dispel some of these confusions as he takes us to the familiar story found in Genesis 3, the so-called "curse of Eve."

The word judgment congers up lots of ill feelings and unfortunately God is part of the package deal. Today, as Pastor Steve looks at the familiar story of Genesis 3, the story of the first judgments, we’ll begin to see how the loving, merciful character of God is fundamental to His role as judge. If you’re confused about how the Lord deals with us after we sin, then this is a perfect message for you.

Many of us don’t really know the true character of God. So when we do wrong we act just like Adam and Eve - we hide, lie and blame. Today Pastor Steve tells us that when we’re in trouble, even when we’re at fault, running to God - not away from Him - is the wisest, in fact the safest, thing to do.

We have two paths to take after we sin. We can be like Adam and Eve and hide, lie and blame - or - we can run to God and experience His abundant mercy. If your life is characterized by avoidance, denial, victimization and other unhealthy responses to sin be sure to stick around and learn a much better way.

You know how one lie leads to another the covers up the first one? And then we lie again to cover up the first two. It becomes a vicious cycle with no end in sight. Well, that’s how we often handle our failures. Instead of turning to God we resort to our own devices. In today’s message, "Hiding, Lying and Blaming", Pastor Steve shows us that what we do after we sin can be just as damaging as the sin itself.

Today, as we look at how Adam and Eve’s sins led to fear, shame and alienation, we’ll see how we too, are led down similar paths. But there is hope - God’s plan for us is abundant life! If you need courage and discernment to walk away from sin and experience all God has for you, then this is a message for you.

Have you ever believed there’s a shortcut to blessing, justified wrongdoing or loved the blessings of God more than God Himself? Well, you’re not alone. You’re in good company - the company of Adam and Eve! Today Pastor Steve looks at the heart of each of their sins and explains what happened when their "eyes were opened" to the knowledge of good and evil.

It’s important to understand what caused Adam and Eve to rebel against God. The very same things cause us to also! Hopefully, by recognizing Satan’s tactics, we’ll be able to stop the downward spiral and walk in faith. Stay tuned for encouragement and wisdom on how to stand firm against temptations that come our way.

From the very beginning God created men and women to be in relationship, both with Him and with each other. But something definitely went awry. What does the Bible really say about divorce and what about those who are single? Pastor Steve answers these questions and shows us the designed interdependence of men and women in his message, "Adam and Eve."

Beginning with Adam and Eve, man and woman needed one another. Now we might know this to be true idealistically, but how does that work in the 21st century? What if I prefer independence? What if I’m divorced? I invite you to stick around for today’s balanced, biblical look at our unique need to have people in our lives.

As Christians, we don’t need to follow the Old Testament ritualistic Law - but that doesn’t mean it’s not good for us. Today, as Pastor Steve concludes his message, "The Seventh Day of Creation", we’ll learn some great reasons why a day of rest is beneficial and some practical ways to incorporate it into our busy lives. If you need some refreshing and refocusing in your life be sure to stick around!

We don’t need to pray or read the Bible to get to heaven. But I bet we agree these disciplines are good for us. Likewise, we don’t have to take a rest day each week, but, as you’ll learn today, there’s some definite benefits from slowing down to be restored and refreshed.

What should the Christian life look like? Full of peace, joy, purpose - these words come to mind. But in reality many of us feel the opposite - turmoil, anger and wandering. What if there was something that would change the angst and be an antidote to the despair and loneliness we often feel. Well, Pastor Steve says God has a way and it might surprise you. Stay tuned for a clear, balanced look at taking a day of rest.

Why doesn’t God stop evil? How much longer will it continue? Is the waiting worth it? Can we, as humans do anything about it? Well, if you’re like most of us, tough questions like these have crossed your mind. Get your Bibles ready - Pastor Steve is going to take us on a whirlwind tour of the Old and New Testaments giving great biblical answers to these perplexing questions.

Here’s the universal question: why did God allow evil to enter the world? Today Pastor Steve asks another one - why did He put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden in the first place?! Why doesn’t He stop evil? He’s got the power to ... don’t you think? Well, in his message, "Questions About Evil," Pastor Steve doesn’t leave us hanging ... he has great answers to a long list of questions on this perplexing topic of evil.