The Gospel According to Matthew - Week 8
Awake Us Now
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
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?
Awake Us Now
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
Awake Us Now
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
Awake Us Now
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.
info_outlineThis week’s teaching shows us the importance of growth in faith.
Today’s scripture is on the story of Paul’s mission work in the city of Ephesus. As he begins to meet people he asks several believers if they received the Holy Spirit when they came to faith in Jesus. Their response was no, that they had never heard of the Holy Spirit.
Sadly, this is much the condition of the christian church in America today. The Holy Spirit has often been ignored.
Paul learns that the Christians there had received John’s baptism. They had heard the teachings of John the Baptist and had been baptized in a baptism of repentance. Paul taught them that the One (Jesus) that John had predicted was coming was here and this was Jesus. John had said that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Paul fills them in on Jesus, the one John had said was coming. So after hearing this they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke in tongues.
Today speaking in tongues has become very controversial. How do we deal with spiritual gifts?
Spiritual Gifts
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Expired - A view that many have is that these once were, but have now ended with the end of the apostles and the end of the New Testament. But the TRUTH is that there is NO expiration on the gifs of the Spirit. We are to earnestly desire the gift of the Spirit. (1 Corinthian 12 and 14) And Jesus says in Luke 11:13 “…how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” There is nothing in the New Testament to indicate that these gifts have expired.
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Everyone - People say everyone has to have the same gifts or we all have to have the gift of speaking in tongues and yet the New Testament, in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul says that the Holy Spirit gives different gifts to different believers, that not all have the same gifts.
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Eliminate - Many desire the gifts of the Spirit be eliminated because they are controversial. This attitude is basically trifling with the gifts of God and in effect encourages the church to remain weak and spiritually deficient. However, Paul says to earnestly desire the gifts and don’t forbid speaking in tongues. We need to take to heart what Paul says.
The gifts aren’t badges to impress others with our spirituality, but they are gifts from the Holy Spirit given to build up the body of Christ, encourage believers and to empower us to carry out the work God has given us to do.
These opening verses of Chapter 19 of Acts - while controversial - show us that the gifts are still very important and require us to take a look at what the Bible actually says about them. We need to make sure we are allowing the scriptures to guide us rather than our own prejudices, our own practices and our own jealousies.
As we continue looking at more of Paul’s work in Ephesus where he spent around 3 years, we discover more that we can learn.
In the synagogue, Paul spoke out boldly about the kingdom of God, but after 3 months, individuals refused to believe and began to publicly malign the teachings on Jesus the Messiah. So Pal moves from teaching in the synagogue to teaching daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus for the next two years so that all the Jews and Gentiles who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the God.
Paul was a tireless worker for the Lord, but what was it that he shared with the people of Ephesus? We can discover the answer to this in his epistle/letter to the Ephesians.
The Book of Ephesians
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Messiah - Firstly, Paul concentrated on sharing the Good News of Jesus the Messiah and that through Him we receive every spiritual blessing, we come to know the deep love of Jesus, that we are saved by grace, and to know the fullness of God.
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Maturity - Paul encourages us to grow in our faith, in our knowledge and love of Jesus our Savior. He shares how to not grieve the Spirit of God through impurity, but instead to grow in fellowship with God and to be filled with the Spirit. Paul also teaches to always give thanks for everything and to put on the full armor of God.
In summary of today’s text, Christ is to be in the center of our lives and we are to grow up in our relationship with Him. This is God’s desire for His children.
We do not want to hold to a form of religion and deny it real power.
- We want to hear the Holy Spirit's testimony
- We want to respond to what the Word of God has to say
- We want to live in a dynamic relationship with Jesus, that we might not only be blessed by Him but may be used by Him to be a blessing for others
The Gospel message of Jesus transforms! It has POWER! We encourage you to read the book of Ephesians.
Scripture: Acts 19:1-10 and 2 Peter 3:18
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