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 3
Scripture - Luke 19:11-27, John 12:1-11, Psalm 45:4, 6-8, Mark 14:10-11, Hebrews 1:8-9
Jesus has set his face toward Jerusalem and will carry out the heavenly Father’s will.
People were expecting the Kingdom of God to appear suddenly - political deliverance - a great king to rule - but Jesus continued to emphasize the difficulties that lie ahead as well as the glory that would come in the future.
Today’s teaching begins with the Parable of the Mina. A mina is equivalent to 3-4 months pay. The story tells of a king and 10 servants, each are given a mina, the king goes away and then returns asking for an accounting of the mines each had been given.
In this parable - Jesus is trying to show how he too will go away. The kingdom of God is coming - but the final fulfillment is in the future - His second return. But while the king is away and we await His return - those of us that follow Him are called to wisely use what He has given us.
As Jesus continues heading “Up to Jerusalem” He stops in the town of Bethany to dine with friends: Mary, Martha, Lazarus and others. Just weeks earlier Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. During the meal, Mary pores expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet - perfume worth about 1 year’s wage. Judas speaks up that it was a waste of money that could have/should have gone to the poor, but Jesus speaks up in Mary’s defense saying, “You will always have the poor but you will not always have Me.”
Anointing with perfume had remarkable application and significance for devout Jewish people in the 1st century. They were eagerly anticipating the arrival of the Messiah - Messiah means the Anointed One and now Mary anoints Jesus. She even wipes His feet with her hair - showing complete surrender - she gave Jesus everything, possibly even her life savings in this act of devotion.
On the next day Jesus would be riding into Jerusalem on a donkey as their king to the cheers of Hosanna (Save Us!) - as Mary does the symbolic, prophetic act of anointing Jesus, she’s not just showing devotion to Him and not just preparing His body for death, she is announcing to all that He’s her King, she serves Him and that He is the fulfillment of the Scriptures.
Judas is angered so much by Mary’s act that he goes to the chief priests to betray Jesus. These chief priests had seen the miraculous healings, they knew of Jesus raising Lazarus, and they knew what people were saying about Jesus, but their own hearts were hardened. They wanted to kill Jesus and Lazarus as well. Mere recognition of something being true doesn’t always change the heart and mind, only God changes them. Only when we encounter Jesus for who He really is are we then changed and that is an action of God. This is why we are called to be humble before God, to believe and repent and to follow him.
The next day (Palm Sunday) Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. Did He still smell of the perfume Mary had put on Him? He was hailed with Hosannas and the waving of palm branches. Riding in on a donkey was a symbol of peace.
Something else was coinciding with Jesus coming into Jerusalem on this specific day. This was the 10th Day of Nissan for the Jewish people, which was the day that all the lambs that would be sacrificed for the Passover in 4 days were herded into Jerusalem. The very day that Jesus, the Sacrificial Lamb of God, also enters the city. This is not a coincidence.And 4 days later as the lambs were slaughtered for the Passover meals to celebrate their freedom from bondage to Egypt, Jesus would be hung on the cross shedding His blood for our freedom from sin’s bondage. Nothing here is coincidental. Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Father has promised!!
3 Key Events that lead to Jesus’ arrest, death and crucifixion:
⁃ Resurrection of Lazarus
⁃ Anointing by Mary
⁃ Jesus in the temple courts
These three incidents enraged the chief priests and were the final straw in their desire to get rid of Him earlier than originally planned.
We will pick up next week with the cleansing of the temple.
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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.