Big Questions - Obey... Everything I Have Commanded
Awake Us Now
Obedience is not optional - it is command from Jesus Himself. But we are not saved because we obey; rather, we obey the Lord because He has saved us!
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Big Questions - All Authority... in Heaven and on Earth
Awake Us Now
God has chosen you and me not simply to be religious, but to be disciples. We are to follow Jesus faithfully, grow in the knowledge and love of Him, and share with others the powerful things He has done so that they become disciples too!
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Questions - Week 13: Is Marriage Outdated?
Awake Us Now
In this message we will look at what the Scriptures have to say about marriage, analyze concerns and questions raised in our day, overview the cultural changes that have led to many questioning the value and benefit of marriage, and do so from a Christian worldview. We will also take a look at some secular contemporary research and what it indicates. Common Reactions: 1. The culture has changed: - Married Couples comprised: 1950 — 78% of all US households 2020 — 47%...
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Kings & Prophets: From Solomon to Jeremiah - Week 4
Awake Us Now
Our study opens with a look at Civil War between Rehoboam and Judah vs. Jeroboam and Israel (931-910 BC). 1 Kings 12:1 We read that Rehoboam went to Shechem, “for all Israel had gone there to make him king.” Shechem was an historic site for the nation from about 500 years early when Levitical priests recited the blessings and the curses from Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. Shechem is the city near these two mountains. In verses 3 and 4 we read that Jeroboam challenges Rehoboam. Reheboam goes to 2 advisory boards. One was the elders that had served under his father, Solomon. They...
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Big Questions - Lord and God! Jesus' Amazing Claims
Awake Us Now
Lord and God? A great moral teacher? A very good man? What claims did Jesus actually make about His identity?
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Big Questions - Stop Doubting and... Believe!
Awake Us Now
Faith is essential ... but in what do place our faith? The scriptures make it clear that we are to place our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, the Savior of all the nations, and the Hope of all the earth!
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Big Questions - Receive... the Holy Spirit!
Awake Us Now
When Jesus says to His disciples, "Receive the Holy Spirit," it is not a "one-and-done" activity. He desires us all to live continually in the Spirit!
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Dig Deeper - Week 1: In the Beginning
Awake Us Now
Genesis 1:1 - “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Let’s look at the words “God” and “created.” in this verse in Hebrew the word used for God is a plural noun and created is a singular verb. What day did God create the world? It says God created everything in 6 days and He rested on the 7th day, the Sabbath, and that is Saturday. Which means the first day of creation was on Sunday. What was the day of the week that God began a new creation? That was on the day Jesus arose from the grave. The Bible tells us this was on the first day of the week, on a...
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Big Questions - All Nations: How Close Are We?
Awake Us Now
From Genesis to Revelation, God's plan remains the same - to reach all nations and bring people back to Him. How close are we to seeing that happen? Why is belief in Jesus growing at such an astounding pace in much of the world, but not in Europe and North America?
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Big Questions - Israel Reborn: How Significant is it?
Awake Us Now
The nation of Israel was reborn suddenly in 1948, and the Jewish people have returned to the Promised Land in great numbers after 1900 years of exile. What does show about God's faithfulness and promises? What does it mean to believers in the Messiah?
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.