The Gospel According to Matthew - Week 17
Awake Us Now
This week’s text is Matthew 12:3-37. Jesus continues to be challenged by the Pharisees' anger, bitterness and scheming as Jesus continues to show who He is. He shows us how a heart-change is needed!
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Dig Deeper - Week 13: Of First Importance...
Awake Us Now
Pastor takes us through an exploration of one of the earliest Christian statements of faith. 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 Paul said, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.” Of FIRST Importance is that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. Jesus is the sacrificial victim who pays for the sins of the world. Only an innocent victim can pay for...
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The Gospel According to Matthew - Week 16
Awake Us Now
This week’s text is Matthew 11:13-12:4, with a continued study of John the Baptist as fulfilling the prophecy of “Elijah who was to come” as he points to Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophesied Savior. The class continues exploring Jesus’ identity through the teachings on repentance and forgiveness found in Jesus, as we learn that it is through Him alone that we can come to know the Father.
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The Gospel According to Matthew - Week 15
Awake Us Now
In Matthew 10:29 - 11:15 we learn we are ambassadors for Christ with the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. The Holy Spirit enables us to be effective witnesses wherever we go. We are called to live for Christ, and that has phenomenal consequences both for us and for others. In chapter 11, Matthew shows us Jesus’ identity.
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Questions - Week 25: What if the Shroud is Genuine?
Awake Us Now
This is a controversial topic. The Shroud of Turin is the most studied, most scientifically tested artifact in history. It has been subjected to literally hundreds of thousands of hours of intensive study by people of multiple disciplines. What do we know for certain…. The Foundation: 1 Corinthians 15:1-5 “Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.For what I...
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Daniel: When Kingdoms Collide (3) - God Reveals
Awake Us Now
Jesus never promised His followers an easy journey. What He does promise is a great destination, and He assures us of the presence of His Holy Spirit to uphold, to guide, and to reveal, so that His people may be equipped to lead the nations back to Him!
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The Gospel According to Matthew - Week 14
Awake Us Now
Pastor continues his verse by verse study of the book of Matthew. Today’s teaching is on Matthew 10:7-31. This section of Scripture is filled with some challenging instruction from Jesus that is filled with Divine Wisdom.
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The Gospel According to Matthew - Week 13
Awake Us Now
Pastor continues his verse by verse study of the book of Matthew. Today’s teaching is on Matthew 9:18 - 10:10. This week’s study shows us Jesus as the Son of David, the Messiah. We also explore Jesus’ encouragement to spread the Gospel message to all, both Jew and Gentile.
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The Gospel According to Matthew - Week 12
Awake Us Now
This week Matthew’s writings reveal the authority of Jesus; even the winds and the waves obey Him! This authority, His authority, identifies Him as the Living God.
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Dig Deeper - Week 12: What Did They See?
Awake Us Now
Dig Deeper - Week 12 - What did they see? Today we take a look at what John and Peter saw when the got to Jesus’ grave. John 20:3-7 ESV tells us, “So Peter went out with the other disciples, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen...
info_outlineThe Gospel of John Week 5
Scripture: John 3:1-14, Ezekiel 36:25-27, Numbers 21:5-9, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 2 Kings 18:4, Mark 1:14.
Today’s class explores the story of Nicodemus. Nicodemus is a Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin Council. Pharisees were a group Jesus often had harsh criticism for. They are all about religion and following rules, and about what they do instead of what God has done and having a relationship with Him.
Nicodemus acknowledges Jesus is a teacher come from God because of the miracles there have been and Jesus responds, “No one can see the Kingdom of God unless they are born again from above.” Born again is something God does individually in each person. Nicodemus replies with how does one do that? And Jesus goes on to say we must be born of water and the Spirit. Ezekiel 36:25-27 “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”
Jesus is saying what the prophets have said all along - it is now coming true - A New Covenant - the time of the New Covenant has come and Jesus is saying He’s bringing it! God Himself washes us clean and pours out His Spirit on us and gives us a new heart. He changes us from religion to a relationship with God that endures forever.
Nicodemus was a Pharisee - he was into religion - but not relationship with God. Jesus is calling Nicodemus to take his eyes off himself and put his eyes on God and take his eyes off his own accomplishments and put his eye on the Messiah who is going to deliver, redeem, restore and renew. Jesus is breaking Nicodemus’ paradigm. It’s not what we do, it’s what God does!
Jesus goes on to say, “so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” Jesus is saying He will be lifted up and all who look to Him will be saves. He’s saying we need a Savior and that Savior is Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Jesus goes on to speak these marvelous words, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”
The Light shows us for what we are - hypocrites- looking good on the outside but inside we are dead. But now the Son has come and He’s come not to condemn us but to save us! To redeem us! When we live by the Truth - we come into the Light.
Jesus is calling Nicodemus to set aside what he has always believed and instead yield himself totally to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is breaking into Nicodemus’ life and He wants to break into our lives too! To give us a new heart and to pour out His Spirit into us.
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⁃ The Gospel of John study is part five of five of our Two Year Study of the Gospels.
⁃ The Gospel of John may be one of the most powerful books ever written. Many people have come to faith after reading only this book of the Bible. Scholarly and archeological discoveries in recent decades give us new insight on details in the Gospel of John. We can now understand it as the most Jewish rather than the most “Gentile/Greek” of the Gospels, and when we do that we see many things that we missed before.
Our 2 year study of the gospels is great for large group, small group or home group study and can be started at any time!