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Questions - Week 13: Is Marriage Outdated?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_outlineUp To Jerusalem - Teaching 8
Scripture - Matthew 24:15 - Matthew 25:13
Luke 21, Mark 13 and Matthew 24-25 all have the story of Jesus’ Mt. Olivet Discourse with His disciples.
In today’s opening verses in Matthew 24:15ff, we hear Jesus answering the questions we left off with last week.
The two questions the disciples asked Jesus:
1. When will these things you are telling us happen to the temple
2. What will be the sign of your return
They are thinking that these two questions coincide one with the other…. As we now know - that was not the case.
Jesus is giving a forewarning of what would befall Jerusalem. (The fall happened in the year 70AD when the Roman General Titus laid siege to Jerusalem and ultimately leveled it to the ground.)
Jesus’ answer contains responses for both the questions.
The Abomination that causes Desolation - three options of what this might be were shared last week - but only one seems to fit the time frame: An event in winter 67/68AD - the temple was profaned by Jewish insurgents. Pastor reads about the event from Josephus’ writing: The Jewish War. During this event the insurgents caused division within the Jewish community. It’s a good possibility that this event caused believers in Jesus in the city of Jerusalem to begin fleeing the city by those who took Jesus’ words literally. They left because they could see what was coming and Jesus had warned them about what was coming. They fled across the Jordan River and they were protected from the siege by Titus which began shortly after the insurgent uprising. Those who fled were protected from all that followed. Over 1 million people died in the siege of Jerusalem.
In Luke 21:20-24 we read: “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”
UNTIL THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES ARE FULFILLED - This passage in Luke has been fulfilled in our day. Pastor shares a brief history of the city of Jerusalem from 70AD to the mid 20th century of when the city of Jerusalem was dominated by gentiles.
Romans
Byzantines
Persians
Byzantines
Crusaders
Ottoman Turks
WWI
British control
WWII - The Jewish people were given a homeland in 1948
Six Day War - 1967 City of Jerusalem came under control of the Jewish people and has remained in their control in an uneasy peace. THIS IS SOMETHING JESUS SAID AND IT WAS FULFILLED IN OUR LIFE TIME.
"The times of the gentiles are fulfilled"... what does that mean? Does that refer simply to gentile control of Jerusalem? Or does it mean far more? Romans 9, 10, and 11 talk about the Jewish people returning to the Messiah. When they return to Him - the end comes! We don’t know the day or hour - but He tells us when we see these things happening, look up because our redemption is drawing near.
Jesus’ final return will be like lightening filling the sky. He will come on cloud in great glory!
As the discourse continues in Matthew 24 - 25 we read about the following:
⁃ Fig Tree Imagery - Jesus prophesies that the end is near when we again see Israel beginning to flourish then we know “summer is near” (the end is coming)
⁃ Jesus says, “This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.” THIS GENERATION - generation in Greek has multiple meanings - one meaning refers to “this people” the other to “this nation” and in Aramaic (Jesus’ language of the day) the word for generation and the word for nation are the same word. It may well be that what Jesus is declaring is that the Jewish people will not come to an end - they will survive. And they have.
⁃ Judgement by fire
⁃ Be awake!
⁃ Do not grow weary in doing what is right
⁃ Follow Jesus - receive Him as King, Savior and Lord
⁃ Last days and times will be difficult - so we are called to walk close to God
⁃ Then Jesus shares several parables to emphasize what He has been teaching.
⁃ The Parable of the Ten Virgins - Be ready for Jesus’ return. Pastor shares what Jewish weddings were like in Jesus’ day and how knowing that brings insight to this parable to be encouraged to be awake and to be ready for Christ’s return.
Join us next time as we continue with the story of “Up to Jerusalem” as Jesus travels to the cross.
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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.