The Gospel According to Matthew - Week 7
Awake Us Now
In Week 7, we hear more of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Jesus calls us salt and light. What does He mean when He uses these words to describe how we are to be? As historians have looked at world history, more and more of them are coming to the realization Christianity changed everything. Jesus has had a greater impact on the human condition than anyone in all of history. What Jesus produces in people, changes them!
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Dig Deeper - Week 11: Two Pictures of the Messiah
Awake Us Now
We will look at the two pictures of the Messiah found in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). 2 Pictures of Messiah Reigning King Humble Substitute This double picture is what led some of the great Hebrew rabbis to suggest there might be two Messiahs that would come at different times and in different manners. And that then became the dominant tradition: Messiah will raise the dead Messiah will be victorious Messiah will reign in Jerusalem Messiah will bring peace If we look at the New Testament the early followers of Jesus believed this same thing about the Messiah....
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The Gospel According to Matthew - Week 6
Awake Us Now
We finish Matthew 4 on following Jesus, and begin the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 that opens with the Beatitudes.
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The Gospel According to Matthew - Week 5
Awake Us Now
Week 5 of our Matthew study digs into chapter 4 on the Temptation of Jesus, His three temptations and the reality of an unseen spiritual world.
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Questions - Week 23: How Are Minds Opened Today?
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This message focuses on the question: “How are minds opened today?”, which is part of our ongoing series: “What’s the answer?” Pastor explores how people’s lives are changed and what changes their attitudes about God, about Jesus, the resurrection, and about the power of God’s Word. Pastor takes us through Luke 24:36-47, an encounter with Jesus that His disciples have with Him after His resurrection. Jesus tells them: “This is what I told you while I was still with you; Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets...
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Daniel: When Kingdoms Collide (1) - Daniel's God
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The Book of Daniel is the story of the collision of two kingdoms, a spiritual war that is still being fought in the heavens and on the earth. In the end, the Kingdom of God wins!
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The Gospel According to Matthew - Week 4
Awake Us Now
Week 4 of our Matthew study is all about John the Baptist and his message of repentance, a message that can be difficult for the religious to accept.
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The Gospel According to Matthew - Week 3
Awake Us Now
In our study of Matthew this week we look at chapters 2 and 3, with an emphasis on deliverance through Jesus the Messiah and the fulfillment of the New Covenant through Him as well.
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The Gospel According to Matthew - Week 2
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This week our study of Matthew takes us into chapter 2 and the story of Jesus’ birth focusing on the Magi, their interaction with Herod, and their interesting gifts to Jesus.
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Dig Deeper - Week 10: The Two Emmaus Disciples
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Join us as we dig deeper into the teaching on “What’s the answer: What did Jesus tell them?”, found in Luke 24:13-27 - the story of 2 men “On the Road to Emmaus.” Two men are on their way, walking to the town of Emmaus are joined by Jesus. Let’s focus in on who these men were. For one of them we are given his name. Luke 24:18 “ One of them, named Cleopas, asked Jesus, …” Cleopas is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible, but there is another name very similar - Clopas - and this name is mentioned other places in the Bible. Over the centuries, many believers, scholars...
info_outlineIn the parable of the sower, Jesus compares the Word of God to seed falling on four different kinds of soil - hardened, shallow, thorny, and productive. Which soil does God's Word find in you?
Pastor shows us a picture of a wheat field in Israel that is actually a battlefield, in the Valley of Elah, where David battled Goliath. It’s an amazing battle in which God won the victory. The picture of this field reminds us that as Jesus tells the story of The Sower, He is speaking about warfare, spiritual warfare. God desires to bring every man, woman and child into His loving presence, but there is a battle raging over the human heart and in the human soul and it is a life or death matter.
Seed has power and that’s how it is with God’s Word. His word that does not change is a powerful word. It is a life-changing word. God’s word is a Living Word, and a word for us today.
Seed= God’s Word
Four kinds of Soil. Which soil are you?
1. Pathway soil - hardened - where God’s Word (seed) cannot grow. God pleads, “break up the hard ground” Jeremiah 4:3
2. Rocky soil - shallow - where the God’s word - the Seed - sprouts and starts to grow but the roots cannot go down deep - shallow faith without deep roots cannot continue to mature. God desires we have deep roots and are firmly planted.
3. Thorny soil - divided - thorny soil is a picture of those who have divided loyalties in their lives. They know the Lord, but are also into this or that, or are enamored with things or stuck in worries about riches, paying the bills, the worries about health, the worries about how is it all going to turn out in the end, etc. These things can so quickly divert your attention from God and His Word and from the only thing that endures, and that is the living God. So He is telling us to weed out all of the thorn bushes in our lives, to make sure that those things are not choking out our faith, or driving us away from Him.
4. Good soil - produces fruit - God’s desire is that we allow His Word to penetrate and permeate our lives, that we are people of prayer, people who practice our faith, that we be faithful, trustworthy, dedicated disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that we produce much fruit. That means that our lives show more and more the power of God at work in us. It means that others can see in us, living examples of what it means to walk by faith in every situation, in the good days and in the difficult times as well. Jesus is calling us to be good soil.
When Jesus told this story, The Parable of the Sower, He wasn’t simply telling a story that people could recount generation after generation. He was speaking profound divine truth. God’s Word has power. It’s transforming. In His word we have the death and resurrection of Jesus, Who gives life to all who repent and believe. His promise is that He will bring forth incredible fruit in our lives as we walk by faith, as we cling to His Word, as we trust Him in every circumstance, as we show His love to others, as we call on God in prayer, and experience daily the joy of His presence and the power His Holy Spirit.
I Peter 1:23, “You have been born again.” You been reborn. You have a new birth. How? Not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring Word of God.” It is a powerful Word. Seed does amazing things. It imparts life and God’s Word is life. Jesus Christ, the living Word of God is life. In Him there is life and hope and joy and peace.
Scripture sources: - Luke 8:4-9; 11-15; Jeremiah 4:3; 1 Peter 1:23; John 8:31-32
The Parables of Jesus is part two of our Two Year Study of the Gospels. Jesus is known for telling some of the greatest stories ever told. In telling these stories He uses the form of a parable which is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Jesus’ parables resonate in every culture and in every generation around the world.
This study is great for large group. small group or home group Bible study.