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Questions - Week 13: Is Marriage Outdated?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_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.