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!
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Questions - Week 13: Is Marriage Outdated?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!
info_outlineScripture - Luke 18:1-8; “The Widow’s Plea”
The Parable: “The Widow’s Plea” is an earthly narrative with a heavenly meaning - We should always pray and not give up!
This is a story that lets us know that there will be challenges and difficulties that we all will face. But in this parable Jesus is teaching us to endure - to not give up and to do so through prayer - leaning into Him and trusting Him.
The parable begins be telling of a judge that didn’t know God and didn’t care at all about people - and there’s a widow that continues to go to the judge for justice against her adversary. Over and over again and again she goes to him and each time he refuses to help her until he gets so tired of her continually pursuing him for justice that he finally gives in so she would leave him alone.
Jesus goes on, “and will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off?”
Many interpret this to mean we need to be relentless in pounding on God’s door for what is just and what is right and what we need. But what Jesus is actually doing is challenging us to compare what we know of the unjust judge to what we know about him, the righteous judge,The Living God, who cares for us all.
The unjust judge doesn’t care about this widow, he only care about himself. God is NOT like that! GOD CARES!
Jesus is saying that if even an unjust judge responds to pleas, don’t you know God who sees His children as precious will care so much more and will respond to His children. God is good and gracious and nothing like this unjust judge.
When things are rough and it seems that God is not listening, that is NOT the case! For our God is a righteous and caring judge!
Let’s compare the two:
The Judge
⁃ Unjust
⁃ Unloving
⁃ Uncaring
⁃ Merciless
⁃ Evil
⁃ Rude
God
⁃ Just
⁃ Loving
⁃ Caring
⁃ Merciful
⁃ Good
⁃ Gracious
God wants us to always pray and not give up. The Lord wants us to bring our needs to Him, our concerns and worries to Him, our struggles, our cries and our pleas and to understand how good He is.
PRAYER MAKES GOD REAL!
When we talk to God and bring to Him the cares and concerns of our lives - His presence becomes real - in that circumstance we are living by faith! We’re not giving up hope - We’re praying by faith to the Living God.
Jesus finishes with, “I tell you, He (The Father) will see that they (His children) get justice, and suddenly. However, when the Son of Man (Jesus) comes, will He find faith on earth?”
Jesus is saying here for us not to give up hope. Don’t allow the threats of opposition and attacks of the enemy to drive us away from Him, Living God who alone delivers us.
Don’t allow the opposition of others to take our eyes off the goodness of God and the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Hang on to your faith!!! Hang on to your faith as never before!
How?
1. Pray to God - because prayer makes Him real!
2. Listen to and meditate on His Word
3. Be encouraged by fellow believers, those who have faith to live for God.
Pastor shares a powerful story of God’s victory in pain from the book “Walk On” by Ben Malcolmson.
In Summary, hang onto the Lord!! It’s a battle out there, but our God has won the victory. We will win because Jesus has already won!!
Our website – https://www.awakeusnow.com
Watch the video from our website! https://www.awakeusnow.com/2-year-study-of-the-gospels-upper
Watch the video from our YouTube Channel!! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOzMkhPyiNWwlJRpV6Bwpu01
St. Luke’s Account is part three of our Two Year Study of the Gospels. This book written by Luke, a non-Jew, offers a unique perspective into the story of Jesus’ life.
This study is great for large group, small group or home group study.