Daniel: When Kingdoms Collide (2) - Mixed, Not Melted
Awake Us Now
God calls His people not to blend in to society, but to stand out, to reflect the mercy and goodness of God, so that He may be exalted through all the nations!
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The Gospel According to Matthew - Week 9
Awake Us Now
Prayer is an amazing gift from God! We have His plea to talk with Him. Genuine prayer; not showy prayer, but rather simply experiencing the presence of our Living God, the Father. Other topics covered are Jesus’ teaching on fasting and possessions. Based on Matthew 6:5-24.
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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
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
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
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
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?
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
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
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.
info_outlineUp To Jerusalem - Teaching 1
Scripture - Matthew 20:17-19, Mark 10:32-34, Luke 18:31-33, John 11:55-57
Jesus is the most courageous man who ever lived. He knew what lay ahead and yet He chose the road that led to the cross anyways! Clearly, we matter to God. God loves us each individually so much that He was willing to go Up to Jerusalem.
Up to Jerusalem
1. Biblical
2. Jewish
3. Chronological
4. Teleological (meaning it is by design - God’s deliberate plan)
In Matthew 20:17-19 we read “Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way He took the Twelve…. “ And He shares that the Son of Man (Himself) would be arrested, condemned to death, mocked, flogged, crucified and on the 3rd day He will be raised to life.
Jesus is up front with telling of His death and resurrection but the disciples did not understand what He was saying. In Mark 10:22 and 32 Mark reports that they were on their way up to Jerusalem and Jesus told them what was going to happen to Him. There is a sense of fear and uncertainty in the air…..
Luke 18:31-33 as well tells us that Jesus took them aside and said that they were going up to Jerusalem and He told them everything that is written by the prophets on the Son of Man would be fulfilled…. He would be arrested, mocked, flogged, killed, and on the 3rd day He will rise again.
John tells us in John 11:55-57 that Jesus was going up to Jerusalem but adds the piece that the chief priests and pharisees had plans to arrest Jesus.
Comparing all four sources, we can determine a specific time when this conversation happened. This is just days before the Passover festival (a festival commemorating the deliverance of the Israelites by God from bondage in Egypt, when they put the blood of a lamb on their door posts and the Lord passed over their homes - saving them from the 10th Plague and then God used Moses to lead them out of Egypt.)
From these four sets of verses we learn that:
God will carry out His purpose!
Jesus will do the Father’s will!
And God wins!
Everything in the Bible points to these final days of Jesus and everything that follows flows out of these days - because the Final Return of Jesus is coming!! He has already won the victory! And because of that victory, we are assured that God wins and so do we as His believers!
The story of Up to Jerusalem is truth that transforms- it is life-giving - it changes EVERYTHING! And so let’s head Up to Jerusalem!
Pastor digs deeper into who the chief priests were: their politics, their duties, their influence, their teachings, and their opposition to Jesus. They viewed Him as a threat to their power, influence, wealth and futures.
What we learn is that what God desires from us is not religion - He desires relationship with Him: to know Him, to listen to Him, to follow Him.
Pastor explores a few more verses in Matthew as they are on the road up to Jerusalem. Jesus teaches the disciples that life is not about achievements and being “top dog”. This life is about serving. Jesus says, “serving, even as I have served.” Jesus is a servant - and we are called to be like that. Jesus tells that serving Him and others is the way the Father would have us do things, not the way the world does - of looking out for only one’s self. Jesus teaches and shows us that with God it’s all about self sacrifice and service - being humble and obedient, it’s not about self-promotion and self-aggrandizement. Did you know the word leader is mentioned only 6 times in the King James Bible, but servant is mentioned 900 times! Kinda’ emphasizes the point!
Jesus says, “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
This is our model and we are called to be more and more like Him
Our website – https://www.awakeusnow.com
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Up to Jerusalem is a study of the final weeks of Jesus' ministry concluding with His resurrection and ascension, using the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John together with material from ancient sources and recent discoveries. Up to Jerusalem is part four of our Two Year Study of the Gospels. Up To Jerusalem is the story of the plan of God to redeem the world, and the story of a Savior willing to obey the Father’s plan. As we study Jesus’ final days, we will be impacted as we discover the Love of God for each one of us.
This study is great for large group, small group or home group study and can be started at any time.