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Christmas: The Great Good News!

Awake Us Now

Release Date: 12/19/2025

The Gospel According to Matthew - Week 8 show art 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 show art 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 show art 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 show art 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 show art 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? show art 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 show art 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 show art 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 show art 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 show art 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.

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Scripture: Luke 2: 1-20

The Christmas Story is familiar to most of us - a story we’ve heard over and over, year after year.  When something becomes so familiar we can easily be deceived into treating it too casually without the awe and gratitude this story should cause in our hearts.  Familiarity can cause us to forget this is a REAL story, with REAL people and our REAL Savior.  

So let’s look at this very familiar story in Luke 2:1-20 with new eyes and new ears and new hearts. May we experience and receive THE GREAT GOOD NEWS as the best gift ever given.

As Pastor reads the Christmas Story he shares insights about the location of where Jesus was born, and other interesting historical information, even specific insights into the shepherds in the fields and the intended use of their lambs.

Mary and Jospeph arrive in Bethlehem for a census, Jesus is born, and then the angels announce the Great Good News to the shepherds. When the angels broke through the skies the shepherds went from experiencing great fear at the appearance of the angels to great joy because of the Great Good News they were told.

“You will find the Babe wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  The Shepherds hurried off to find Jesus - an encouragement for us, too! Have you found Him? That is our prayer, that you find and know Jesus for The Great Good News has come, Jesus the Messiah!

The host of angels fills the sky above the shepherds singing, “Glory to God in the Highest!” Praising God in this Christmas season is a calling to us as well.

Let us hurry to find Him, seek Him and adore Him. The shepherds’ desire to find Jesus is to be our attitude too. Let this familiar story touch your heart in new ways this Christmas.

After seeing baby Jesus in the manger the shepherds spread the story about what the angels had told them and about the baby they met. May we also, like them, share the Great Good News of a Savior.

The Great Good News is:
    ⁃    Real - this really happened, this is true. There is overwhelming evidence from both believers and skeptics that the Messiah is real. 
    ⁃    Risen - He is risen and this victory is ours.
    ⁃    Returning - the reality is that He is returning. He is coming back - we have a forever life ahead of us!
    ⁃    Response - God loved us so much He was willing to take on human flesh, live the perfect life we could not, willingly give Himself for us on the cross in a most inhumane way as the sacrifice for our sins. Then He rose victorious from the grave….THAT demands a response!  One of repentance and belief. A response of receiving the Great Good News by walking with Him, following Him, surrendering to Him and watching what He will do.

Receive Him today as your Savior!

The Christmas story is not simply a story of our culture - it is the story of God’s love to each one of us.

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