Dig Deeper - Week 2: The "Submission" Passage
Awake Us Now
Today’s class is a study of Ephesians 5:21-33. A group of verses that are controversial, often attacked and many times misunderstood. Ephesians 5:21-22 “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, [submit] yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.” In the original Greek text the second [submit] word is not there. There is not a verb in this sentence and so in traditional Greek practice, you take the verb from the previous sentence and insert it into the next sentence. Please note that this is really important - because what this is saying is,...
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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Questions - Week 13: Is Marriage Outdated?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?
info_outlineScripture: Acts 20:32-38
Pastor continues with the story of Paul’s talk with the leadership of the church in a gathering in the town of Miletus - it is Paul’s farewell speech to this group of believers. Paul finishes his time with these friends and leaders with them all in prayer together. There are tears as the leaders are grieved at knowing they will not see Paul again. Paul knew he had complete his work here and in the surrounding cities and areas. The chapter closes with them walking him to the ship to leave.
But let’s focus on one of the words from Paul’s speech as it draws to an end. He talks about our inheritance in Christ.
What does inheritance mean in the Bible?
The biblical definition of inheritance is speaking of what God gives to us through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:13-14 tells us that when we believed in Christ, Christ identified us as His own by giving us the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the guarantee that Jesus will give us the inheritance He promised and that He has purchased us to be His own people.
1 Peter 1:3-4 tells us of an inheritance that comes to us through the death and resurrection of Christ and is an inheritance that can never perish or fade away.
Jesus’ death and resurrection is the heart of our inheritance. BUT there’s more!
The Essential Fundamentals of the Faith:
1. Deity - Jesus is true man and true God
2. Death - Jesus, the Lamb of God, through His death, paid for our sins on the cross
3. Resurrection - Jesus’ resurrection assures we too shall rise. The resurrection is God’s declaration that the sacrifice of Jesus is accepted.
4. Return - Jesus is alive forever more and is coming back. His second coming- He’s coming back for us.
These fundamentals are pointed to in the Old Testament, and are fulfilled in the New Testament.
Jesus’ return is the heart of Paul’s teaching and Christ’s return is what assures us of our inheritance.
Are you doubting the Resurrection of Christ? Dr. Gary R. Habermas is a scholar of the resurrection of Christ and has written several books. Here are two we suggest for those wanting to read about the evidence of Jesus resurrection:
“On the Resurrection: Evidences”
And
“On the Resurrection: Refutations”
Anthony Flew, a renown atheist debated Gary Habermas. Several years later Antony rejected atheism because the evidence for God is convincing.
The evidence for the existence of God and for the resurrection of Jesus is powerful and convincing. Many people have never examined the evidence but instead they have just bought into what they’ve been told by the world rather than the things they could have discovered.
What does it mean for us that Jesus is alive? What is our destiny? It is NOT as a spirit in heaven. The Bible teaches the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
Pastor sites these verses for what the New Testament says about the:
Deceased Believers
Luke 23:43 - in paradise
Philippians 1:23 - with Christ, better by far
1 Thessalonians 3:13-14 - asleep
BUT on our destiny we read in
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
1 Corinthians 15:22-26, 51-52
Titus 2:13-14
John 5:28-29 that:
1. Jesus will come down from heaven with a trumpet call and a loud voice of the archangel
2. The dead will rise
3. We will be with the Lord forever
4. A new heaven and a new earth
5. Death will be destroyed
6. We will all be changed in the twinkling of an eye - imperishable!
Our destiny is to be raised to life forever with God with transformed glorified bodies in a new heaven and a new earth - ALL things new.
May the truth that we too shall rise anchor us in our faith in God and give us strength in opposition, joy in the face of loss and assurance in the face of death.
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