Dig Deeper - Week 12: What Did They See?
Awake Us Now
Dig Deeper - Week 12 - What did they see? Today we take a look at what John and Peter saw when the got to Jesus’ grave. John 20:3-7 ESV tells us, “So Peter went out with the other disciples, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen...
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The Gospel According to Matthew - Week 11
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Matthew’s writings continue to show and tell us who Jesus. This week we see Jesus as the Rock, the firm foundation. We finish exploring the Sermon on the Mount and begin working through Chapter 8, where we see Jesus has authority!
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The Gospel According to Matthew - Week 10
Awake Us Now
In this section of Scripture, Jesus addresses common issues that all of us deal with.
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Questions - Week 24: Is the Shroud of Turin Genuine?
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The Shroud of Turin is a relic housed in the cathedral in Turin Italy and claimed to be the burial cloth of Christ. The Gospels give us some details: Matthew 27:59-60 ESV “And Joseph (of Arimathea) took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away.” Mark 15:46 ESV “And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking Him (Jesus) down, wrapped Him in the linen shroud and laid Him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone...
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Daniel: When Kingdoms Collide (2) - Mixed, Not Melted
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God calls His people not to blend in to society, but to stand out, to reflect the mercy and goodness of God, so that He may be exalted through all the nations!
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The Gospel According to Matthew - Week 9
Awake Us Now
Prayer is an amazing gift from God! We have His plea to talk with Him. Genuine prayer; not showy prayer, but rather simply experiencing the presence of our Living God, the Father. Other topics covered are Jesus’ teaching on fasting and possessions. Based on Matthew 6:5-24.
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The Gospel According to Matthew - Week 8
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Pastor points out the Old Testament’s words, “Thus says the LORD,” and compares them to the words of Jesus in the New Testament that say, “But I tell you.” What does this tell us about who Jesus is? Pastor explores the “But I tell yous” as found in Matthew chapter 5 and we learn what Jesus calls us to. That call is to a changed heart, which can only happen when we come to faith in Jesus. God’s call is personal! He wants to change each one of us by the shed blood of Jesus, the Son of God.
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The Gospel According to Matthew - Week 7
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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
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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
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We finish Matthew 4 on following Jesus, and begin the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 that opens with the Beatitudes.
info_outlineAs the church began to grow with believers both Jew and Gentile, a division between the two started, especially as Jews began to be out numbered by gentile believers who brought in their customs.
Many gentile believers were God-fearers who believed in the Old Testament but weren’t circumcised and didn’t eat kosher, yet went to the synagogue to worship God. Other Gentiles were proselytes and were circumcised and ate kosher and followed rituals prescribed by the Hebrew Scriptures.
As a result of the growing number of God-fearers, a division between Jew and Gentile began to grow. One group of Jews wanted to mandate circumcision and kosher eating so they brought the issue to the elders and apostles.
Peter addresses the gathering with the story of how God had given the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles just as He had done for the Jews and that God did not discriminate between Jew and Gentile, because He gave them both faith. Peter then challenged the group to not test God because God had already made it clear that He gave the Holy Spirit and faith to gentiles just as He had for Jews. Peter concludes by saying that it’s no longer Jew and Gentile. It’s that both are now coming to faith in Jesus and are united by God’s grace for both.
We are only saved through Grace Alone! Not by how religious we are or because we’ve obeyed the commandments, or been good.... We are saved by grace and grace alone.
The Cause of our salvation is that Jesus died for us.
The Cause of our salvation is the grace of God in Christ (who reached in when we were God’s enemies).
It’s all about grace through faith in Christ.
The Result is we change - we grow and mature. Salvation is not earned, it’s something we receive and it has a powerful impact in our lives. Growing and maturing are not the Cause of our salvation, they are the Result of it.
When Peter had finished, James, Jesus’ half brother, spoke and he said it was his judgement that they shouldn’t make it difficult for gentiles coming to faith. James ends the gathering with encouragement to both Jew and Gentile to not stand in the
way of what God was doing and not to offend each other by how each lived.
Through the forthright words of Peter supported by James and through the power of the Holy Spirit, the division dissipated.
This story has clear directives for us today with new believers, different cultures and those converted from other faiths.
It teaches us that:
1. We are Saved by grace alone, so we will not make requirements of others that Jesus did not make. We are not to judge.
2. We are Saved by grace alone, so we will gladly restrict our freedom for the sake of others, so as not to offend.
Grace alone motivates us to receive others the way God does, with His love and mercy because all of us have been saved by the grace of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
Jesus is the key to knowing the Father. Many religions acknowledge God the Father but do not acknowledge God the Son and because they don’t know the Son, they truly don’t/can’t know the Father. It is through Jesus that we come into relationship with the Father. Only knowing about the Father is just that, it's knowing ABOUT Him. When we receive Jesus into our hearts and what He did for us (death on the cross, victory over the grave, returning for us) when we receive Jesus, it takes us from knowing about the Father to KNOWING Him. That’s when we finally step into relationship with the Father because it’s then that we understand the Father’s true character - one of grace and mercy and love. We see who the Father truly is when we know Jesus.
John 14:7 - Jesus said, “If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.”
Scripture for the message: Acts 15:1-21
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