The Living One - Week 3: They Were Clueless
Awake Us Now
The way of the Messiah leads to the cross, and that is the measure of the love of God. But we discover that many (including Jesus’ disciples) were clueless! This message takes a look at the events of Palm Sunday, and how Jesus had repeatedly predicted his crucifixion and His resurrection on the third day. However, “they were clueless.” Let us not be clueless!
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The Living One - Week 2: Why Reject Him?
Awake Us Now
Today’s question is an exploration of why people reject Jesus. What is it that causes people to doubt Him? Why do people turn their backs on what God is offering to everyone through Christ Jesus? Pastor Dodge examines these assumptions and counters them with the truth of the scriptures.
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Questions - Week 14: Why Am I So Tempted?
Awake Us Now
Common questions on this age old topic: ⁃ Why is sin so tempting? ⁃ Why do I do things I don’t want to do? ⁃ How can I conquer temptation? ⁃ Where can I find strength to resist? ⁃ Why is this so difficult? Genesis 3:1-7 - First sin in the Bible. But prior to sin, Adam and Eve were in a time of blissful innocence. A perfect creation, perfect relationship with God, perfect relationship with each other. No death, no sorrow, no pain, but that...
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Kings & Prophets: From Solomon to Jeremiah - Week 5
Awake Us Now
Pastor begins with a brief overview of Solomon’s divided kingdom. Judah was in the south with two tribes ruled by a descendant of David, Reheboam. Israel in the north with ten tribes was ruled by Jeroboam (1 Kings 11-14) 931-910 BC. God had said that Jeroboam’s kingship would be blessed if he followed the Lord, but he chose the exact opposite path. In today’s class we will look closely at three incidents with Jeroboam. In 1 Kings 12:31-33 we read some of the first things he did that were against God, everything Jeroboam did was counterfeit, just like what the enemy always tries to...
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The Living One - Week 1: Did He Really Live?
Awake Us Now
This teaching compares non-Christian writings of Tacitus, Josephus, Suetonius and Pliny from the first and second centuries to the New Testament writings. The evidence is clear and calls us to recognize we are sinners in need of a Savior, The Living One!
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Big Questions - Power... When the Holy Spirit Comes
Awake Us Now
Pentecost, the gift of the Holy Spirit to believers, is all about the power of God -- the power to live a new life, the power to give glory to the Living God, the power of faith that transforms us and that beckons to others to come to God as well!
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Big Questions - My Witnesses... To the Ends of the Earth
Awake Us Now
It is easy to get distracted by other things — some of them perhaps important things — but Jesus makes it clear to His followers that our primary task is make disciples. To that end, we are to be His witnesses, "even to the ends of the earth."
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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!
info_outlineScripture: Matthew 1:18-25, Micah 6:8
Being in the Scripture is a great place to be because God DOES speak in His Word, both 2,000 years ago and today!
Today’s text from the Bible is a powerful Word, a life-changing Word…
Matthew tells the Christmas story from the vantage point of Joseph, who after finding out about Mary being pregnant decided to divorce her quietly, but…
Joseph receives a visit by an angel in a dream and the angel tells him that he is not to divorce Mary, that she is pregnant by the Holy Spirit, and that he is to name the child Jesus because He will save His people from their sins. Following the dream, Joseph stays engaged to Mary, doesn’t consummate the marriage until after Jesus’ birth, and he names the baby, Jesus.
A virgin birth is implausible if there is no god. But there IS a god! He is the God who reveals Himself in the Scripture and through His Holy Spirit and like in today’s reading, through angelic beings.
What prophets predicted, is fulfilled in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth.
Immanuel: God with us.
Fully human: suffers as our substitute for our sin
Fully God: eternal redemption by His blood
Apart from Christ our lives hold no hope. No matter how good we are it’s not good enough. We cannot save ourselves for we have all sinned and we need the Perfect One to save us. Apart from Jesus - nice guys finish last. With Jesus there is life, forgiveness, peace, strength, joy, hope and the assurance we will live forever with Him.
Today’s Bible story still speaks powerfully to us today. God revealed the identity of Jesus to Joseph - and for us God is still speaking and revealing His identity to each of us through Joseph’s story.
In Joseph we see an example of what a godly person ought to be:
⁃ Our faith is based on the truth that God has revealed to us in His Word
⁃ Our faith is more than head knowledge
⁃ Our faith informs our behavior
Joseph’s example:
⁃ Faithful to God’s Word and wanted to live for God. He knew God is to be trusted, honored and obeyed.
⁃ Merciful in a culture that looked at Mary’s pregnancy as a disgrace, that recommended a public divorce, Joseph did not want to humiliate Mary.
⁃ Obedient to what God revealed in his dream and also obedient to the Word in the Bible of “the virgin will conceive and bare a son” and so he took her as his wife.
⁃ Courageous individual who put family first and God over all. An individual who did what God told him to do despite pushback and persecution. He understood that it is more important to follow God than to worry about public opinion.
Joseph wasn’t saved because he was a good man.
He was a good man because He was saved.
So we too are encouraged to live lives as a response to the incredible gift of the grace and goodness of God in Christ.
Micah 6:8 says:
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
May we exhibit that kind of a life-style in response to the revelation of who our Lord Jesus Christ is.
Lord Jesus help us live courageous lives for You!
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