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_outlineScripture: Acts 1:3, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, Galatians 1:18-19, 1 Timothy 1:13-17.
In today’s study we take a look at a Credal Statement. What is a Credal Statement?
⁃ It is a fundamental of faith
⁃ It enable people to talk about what they know and believe
⁃ It is easily memorized
⁃ It is easily understood
⁃ It is easily shared
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 “What I received I passed on to you. And it is the most important of all. Here is what it is. Christ died for our sins, just as Scripture said he would. He was buried. He was raised from the dead on the third day, just as Scripture said he would be. He appeared to Peter. Then he appeared to the 12 apostles.” (The Credal Statement in bold.)
Then Paul continues with verses 6-8, “After that, he appeared to more than 500 brothers and sisters at the same time. Most of them are still living. But some have died. He appeared to James. Then he appeared to all the apostles. Last of all, he also appeared to me. I was like someone who wasn’t born at the right time.”
Paul mentions three men in these verses: Peter, James (Jesus’ 1/2 brother) and himself. 2000 years later we have evidences of authenticity: There is convincing physical evidence of Peter’s home in Jerusalem. Pastor shares pictures. There is a bone box, The James Ossuary, which has also been discovered and has an inscription, “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.” The basic consensus of scholarly opinion is that this is very likely authentic.
Who were these men?
Peter: denied Jesus publicly three times
James: his brother, was an unbeliever - did not believe Jesus was who He was, and James ridiculed his brother Jesus
Paul: persecuted and killed believers and denounced Jesus
Who did they become?
⁃ Peter became an apostle of Christ and bold preacher of God’s Word. Even arrest, beatings, and threats didn’t lessen Peter’s determination to preach the risen Christ.
⁃ James, after seeing Jesus risen from the grave, became a believer and also became the leader of the early Christian church in Jerusalem.
⁃ Paul was born Saul and he persecuted believers, but after meeting Jesus on a walk to Damascus Saul became Paul the Apostle and defender of the Gospel.
What did these three have in common?
⁃ They had all failed Jesus
⁃ A denier
⁃ A radical
⁃ A persecutor
⁃ All come to faith in the Risen Lord
⁃ Their lives are changed
⁃ They give powerful testimonies to Christ’s love for all sinners
What else do they have in common?
⁃ The PARDON of Christ - Forgiveness in full.
⁃ Each of their stories is a story of redemption in Jesus and a testimony that not a single one of us is beyond the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
⁃ In these three men we see that God saved the worst of us so that He might save all of us. Their changed lives are a testimony to the heart of God wanting us all.
How do their stories speak to us today?
Applications of the Pardon of God
⁃ Christ’s mercy and grace is for us too - 1 Timothy 1:13-14 “I used to speak evil things against Jesus. I tried to hurt his followers. I really pushed them around. But God showed me mercy anyway. I did those things without knowing any better. I wasn’t a believer. Our Lord poured out more and more of his grace on me. Along with it came faith and love from Christ Jesus.”
⁃ Christ’s saving power is for us too - 1 Timothy 1:15 “Here is a saying that you can trust. It should be accepted completely. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I am the worst sinner of all.”
⁃ Nothing we have done can cause Jesus not to want to win us over to Himself
⁃ Nothing that would cause Him to say He’s done with us
⁃ God wants ALL to be saved.
⁃ Christ’s patient renewal is for us too- 1 Timothy 1:16 “But for that very reason, God showed me mercy. And I am the worst of sinners. He showed me mercy so that Christ Jesus could show that he is very patient. I was an example for those who would come to believe in him. Then they would receive eternal life.”
Incredible Love - Incredible Grace - Incredible Pardon
And Jesus’ mercy and grace, saving power, patient renewal and incredible love are for us, too!
Paul, Peter and James were living examples of God’s incredible grace - we too are living examples of His incredible grace.
Pardon - God offers pardon, forgiveness to all who will repent and believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and we become the children of God…. FOREVER!!
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