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Questions - Week 13: Is Marriage Outdated?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!
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Big Questions - Receive... the Holy Spirit!
Awake Us Now
When Jesus says to His disciples, "Receive the Holy Spirit," it is not a "one-and-done" activity. He desires us all to live continually in the Spirit!
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Dig Deeper - Week 1: In the Beginning
Awake Us Now
Genesis 1:1 - “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Let’s look at the words “God” and “created.” in this verse in Hebrew the word used for God is a plural noun and created is a singular verb. What day did God create the world? It says God created everything in 6 days and He rested on the 7th day, the Sabbath, and that is Saturday. Which means the first day of creation was on Sunday. What was the day of the week that God began a new creation? That was on the day Jesus arose from the grave. The Bible tells us this was on the first day of the week, on a...
info_outline2 Year Gospel Study - week 64 (Friday, 03–21-25)
Up To Jerusalem - Teaching 6
Scripture - Matthew 21:45-46, Matthew 22:1-45, Revelation 7:9-17, Job 19:26, Isaiah 26:19, Daniel 12:2, Exodus 3:6, Mark 12:28-34, John 14:6, Micah 6:8
Today’s teaching centers on Jesus’ encounters with the religious leaders in the temple as recorded in the 4 gospels and enlightened by some of the latest findings of archeologists and others who have uncovered things that have been hidden for generations but that clearly testify to the truthfulness of God’s Word.
We will see the display of absolute brilliance as Jesus encounters the religious aristocracy, as He answers the critics and as He clearly demonstrates the Divine plan to redeem the human race.
Jesus is in the temple courts teaching - This is where we start today - Matthew 21:45-46 “When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.” They wanted to arrest Him but also saw that the crowds were listening to Jesus and receiving Him with joy.
Normally the Chief Priests and Pharisees did not see things the same way, but they did as far as how they both felt about Jesus. Their desire to eliminate Jesus brought them together.
Jesus’ Teachings
⁃ The Parable of the Wedding Banquet (wedding feast / resurrection life / our destiny as true believers in Jesus) This is a banquet we do not want to refuse to come to! In this parable Jesus also predicts the ultimate destruction of the city of Jerusalem which would happen in 70AD. Pastor dissects the part of the story about the man at the feast that wasn’t dressed appropriately, in light of the teaching of Jesus found in Revelation 7:9-17.
⁃ Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar - following the Wedding Banquet parable the pharisees came together with the Herodians to lay out a plan to trap Jesus. Herodians were strong supporters of Herod’s dynasty and of Rome and the pharisees hated Roman rule and their taxes. But the two groups unite to trap Jesus with this question that would force Him to choose either the Pharisees or the Herodians: “what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?” But to this hot button issue on Roman taxes - Jesus answers: “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought Him a denarius and Jesus asks, “whose image is this and whose inscription?” Their response is “Caesar’s” Then Jesus said to them, “give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is Gods” When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away. Their trap had failed.
⁃ Marriage at the Resurrection - this onslaught against Jesus comes from the Sadducees with the story of seven brothers and the law in the Torah and Jesus again avoids their trap by confronting them with wisdom and scriptures.
⁃ The Greatest Commandment - “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” We are called to show love because God love us through His Son, Jesus. And then we read, “And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.”
⁃ Whose Son is Messiah? Now Jesus decides to ask a question, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David.” Then Jesus adds a quote from King David. “David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: “‘The Lord said to my Lord:“Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?” Jesus is calling them to really think hard about what David is saying. Pastor shares an enlightened look at what David is saying and what Jesus is desiring for the crowd to understand.
The teaching concludes with a look at some archeological discoveries and a peek into next week’s class.
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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.