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!
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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...
info_outlineScripture: Exodus 20:4-6, Psalm 115:4-8, Matthew 6:24, Exodus 18:20, Deuteronomy 24:16, Colossians 3:5
Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me.”
We are to worship God.
Pastor begins today’s teaching by talking about the different numbering of the commandments and how it does’t matter how we number them, what matters is whether we listen to them and apply them to our lives.
Exodus 20:4-5 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.”
So is this saying we have to take down pictures on our walls, or throw out figurines? This is not what God is saying. Pastor shares biblical examples supporting that God is not talking about banning all artwork. What God’s talking about is idolatry - something that’s become more important to us than He is.
What does it mean - God is a “jealous God?” Pastor explains that this doesn’t mean God is sinfully jealous. God means that His desire, as our Creator, is that we know Him, worship Him and do not worship other objects or things. He wants us to worship Him alone and to place nothing else in front of our devotion to Him.
The verse speaks of the “third and fourth generations…” and the consequences of individuals and especially parents, on how setting an example to the children ends up getting passed down to the next generation and the next. This is why it’s important to teach them about God and show them by how you live. Exodus 18:20 says, “Teach them His decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave.”
But if individuals and parents choose not to live in faith to God and instead live as being part of the world, with all its idols, the next generation is taught idolatry and that gets passed down. God says this in Deuteronomy 24:16 says, “Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.” A child will not be condemned as an idolator if they come to know Jesus as their Savior. God’s desire is that all people turn to Him and belong to Him. Idolatry and the consequences of it are important to understand because when we worship God and follow Him, there is an amazing blessing.
Exodus 20:6 “but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” What a powerful promise from our God who is merciful and gracious and who desires to bring blessings upon individuals, families, and generation after generation.
IDOLATRY
Psalm 115:4-8 summary: Idols are lifeless and they make their worshiper as dead as they are.
We can look at these verses and say as a believer, “I don’t have an idol set up in my household. No statues, I don’t offer incense before a statue and I don’t bow down to poles or chant incantations.” But…
Is there more depth that needs to be understood around the meaning of idolatry? John Calvin’s quote: “The human heart is an idol factory.” As part of our fallen nature we worship things over God. There are many contemporary idols. Here’s a sampling of six:
APPEARANCE - becomes an idol when we’re more concerned about how we look, how people perceive us, and how we appear before others, than how we appear before God. There’s nothing wrong with looking nice - it’s good to take care of ourselves, but appearance can become an idol when its one of the most important things in one’s life, outstripping the concern of what God thinks of us.
EDUCATION - is a good thing but it can easily become a god in our lives where it becomes the most important thing, where we boast about our educational achievements, or put education above the what and who of God in our lives.
ENTERTAINMENT (sports, music, TV, movies) - can become the most important thing in our lives when we worship what’s on the TV screen, worship the latest pop star, when icons are who we dream of or dream of becoming, when we try to look like, talk like, act like them…. Entertainment can become an abject of worship that crowds God out of our lives or reduces Him to an after thought.
MONEY - can become a dominant force in our lives. Matthew 6:24 says we cannot serve both God and money. The love of money - greed - can become our motivating source for our actions, desires, our future, our work and God ends up being left behind.
POWER - is the desire for influence, to be recognized by others, to be in control, but God is the One who is in control. We are to serve and respond to Him through faith in Him, not faith in ourselves.
SEX - It’s morally neutral but can become an idol, especially in our sexually crazed environment today: wide spread pornography, sexual immorality not just winked at but encouraged. However, sex is a gift from God for procreation, intimacy and joy.
The Scriptures say we are not to worship an idol - instead we are to worship God alone as it says in Colossians 3:5 “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.”
Martin Luther says, “We should fear, love and trust in God above all things.” God is good and because He is, let us respond in repentance and believe in Jesus whose death covers our sin and who we know is coming back so that we will live forever with Him. Therefore my desire is to fear, love and trust in Him above ALL things!
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