Christmas Message 2025
Awake Us Now
Merry Christmas! The Christmas story from Luke 2 may be a story that is new to some of us and to others it may be very familiar. We are going to look at the part of the story that is about the shepherds. Luke 2:8-9 we read, “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.” Did you know that being a shepherd in Jesus’ day was one of the lowliest jobs one could have? They were in the fields all the time, they smelled like sheep and...
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Rescued by Truth: Week 52
Awake Us Now
A difficult and challenging message, this week we address the reality of hell. Hell is not a topic of regular conversation, yet the reality of hell is true. Therefore, it is essential we understand the consequences of our beliefs, our actions, and our behaviors, and that we understand what the future holds. The Bible teaches we have only two destinies: With God (heaven) - or - Apart from Him (hell). Which destiny are we living for?
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Two Year Gospel Study Week 104
Awake Us Now
The Gospel of John Week 26 Scripture: John 20:19 - 21:25. Today’s study will conclude our two year study of the Gospels with a dramatic and amazing ending. We begin with John 20:19, it is the first day of the week (Sunday) and the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly Jesus was standing among them saying “Peace be with you.” This is a phrase in English that sounds so common, like “have a good day.” But in Hebrew it carries much more meaning. Shalom (peace) more than just an absence of conflict or warfare, it refers to all creation - it...
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Merry Christmas
Awake Us Now
Merry Christmas!
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Christmas Message
Awake Us Now
Merry Christmas!
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Christmas Eve Message
Awake Us Now
Merry Christmas!
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Kings & Prophets: From Solomon to Jeremiah - Week 15
Awake Us Now
This is the final week in our study of 400 years of Kings and Prophets from Solomon to Jeremiah. King Josiah • Young King seeks God • Spiritual cleansing of Jerusalem • Book of the Law discovered • Reform beyond Judah • Passover observance - King Josiah gives an order to all people to observe God's Passover. This had not been celebrated according to what was written, not even in the days of the judges, nor in the days of any of the kings of...
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The Christmas Story 2
Awake Us Now
Merry Christmas!
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The Christmas Story
Awake Us Now
Merry Christmas!
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Questions - Week 11: What About the Virgin Birth?
Awake Us Now
The message starts with Matthew 1:18 “This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.” Pastor explores today’s question: “What about the Virgin Birth?” by tackling these 5 questions: ⁃ Is the “Virgin Birth” really that important? ⁃ Why do only Matthew and Luke mention it? ⁃ Couldn’t this have been a later development? ⁃ ...
info_outlineLuke 10:25-37.
Jesus often answered a question with a question. But when asked "Who is my neighbor?," He answered by telling a story - a story that asks the same question of us.
Today’s study is The Good Samaritan, a 2000 year old parable from Jesus that still speak into our culture today.
This story starts with an expert of Jewish law asking Jesus a question. Jesus answered the question with a question. A tactic Jesus used frequently. Why? Because He knows questions are how one gets to a person’s heart. Questions force one to think things through.
Jesus answers the first few questions from the expert with questions but then He answers the “who is my neighbor” question with a parable (but it ends with a question as well.)
The Parable Jesus tells is about a man that is beaten, robbed and left for dead on the road side and the reactions of three by-passers.
1. Priest - a religious person who just ignored the beaten man and just kept on walking
2. Levite - a church worker, stops to look at the man but decides to walk away without helping
3. A Samaritan - a person not liked by the jewish community, considered the low of the low. The Samaritan cared for the injured man and took him where he received additional help and paid for it all.
Jesus ends the telling of this parable with the question, “Which of the three was a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?”
The answer is the Samaritan - the one who knew the heart of God and acted on that - the one who had mercy on the robbed and beaten man.
Jesus said to the expert, “Go and do likewise.” It’s not that we earn our way into heaven by doing nice things. There’s only one way to heaven and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Only One way into eternal life and that is the Lord Jesus Christ - through the willingly shed blood of the Lamb of God who laid down His life the sins of the world - for each of us. And when we know and understand that - it changes us from the inside out, because when the change happens we look at people differently and we’re looking at ourselves differently.
We tend to think we’re “better than so and so,” but what God is saying is - we all desperately need what only He can provide; mercy, kindness, forgiveness and life. These He offer us, not because of what WE do but because of what JESUS has
done.
There’s a realization:
- God is good - so so good
- We can no longer look at ourselves as better than others
- We want to be more and more like Jesus
We put our faith into practice by the things that we do. Fatih is shown by our behavior. It is not a matter of religion. Instead, faith tells us that because of what God has done, we want to do whatever He would have us do.
Jesus is still asking us the question today: “Which of the three was a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?” Do we, like the Samaritan, understand the heart of God and love others as we have first been loved by God. Do we hear Jesus saying
today, “Go and do likewise.”
“We love because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19
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.