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Questions - Week 13: Is Marriage Outdated?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_outlineScripture: 1 Samuel 17-51, Ephesians 6:10, 2 Corinthians 10:4, 1 Corinthians 15:57.
Today’s story is the most familiar, famous and well-known battle in the Old Testament - David and Goliath - but is there still something we can learn from a story we know so well?
This is a battle between Goliath and the Philistines and the Israelite army. Goliath challenges them every day for 40 days: “send a man to battle me, if I kill him you become our slaves and if your man kills me we will become your slaves.”
40 days are significant in the Bible - it is a time of preparation and renewal that at its end brings forth mighty things from God.
On the 41st day of the challenge - David arrives with food for his brothers and others in the army and he learns of Goliath’s challenge. David is in his teens - younger than age 20 and he arrives at a critical moment. He is concerned for God’s honor. Seeing this challenge as a spiritual battle, he speaks bravely. His brothers ridicule him - yet he says he will take Goliath on.
To King Saul, David shares stories of past bravery and says the Lord will rescue him from the hand of Goliath. David is Spirit-filled, knows his strength is in God alone, is confident and bold and recognized it is God who saves. David trusts the Lord who delivered him in the past to deliver him again.
So Saul tells David to fight Goliath and he outfits David in his armor but David takes it all off as he’s never worn anything like that before.
Comparisons:
⁃ David a young teen and untrained in battle vs Goliath a well trained warrior
⁃ David is of small stature vs Goliath who stood at 9 feet 9 inches tall
⁃ David is dressed in a shepherd’s simple clothing vs Goliath with a bronze helmet wearing 125 pounds of body armor
⁃ David’s weapons were his shepherd’s staff, a slingshot and 5 smooth stones vs Goliath carrying a 15 pound spear plus a javelin.
And David goes out to meet Goliath and says, ‘you come against us with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the Name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the Armies of Israel and this day the Lord will deliver you into my hands - I will strike you down and cut off your head for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give all of you into our hands.”
David runs toward Goliath and slings a stone hitting Goliath in the head and Goliath falls down dead.
This is not simply an historic battle record - it is clear insight into what the New Testament describes as spiritual realities.
Spiritual Realities
⁃ Spiritual warfare - life is a battle but we know God wins.
⁃ Spiritual weapons - we put on the armor of God: prayer, the Name of Jesus, God’s word, daily filling of the Holy Spirit
⁃ Spiritual victory - is in Christ Jesus.
From this familiar story we are to learn we are to be familiar with the lessons that
⁃ We are in the midst of a battle
⁃ The Lord provides strength to triumph through faith in Jesus Christ.
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