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,...
info_outline
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!
info_outline
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!
info_outline
Questions - Week 13: Is Marriage Outdated?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%...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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?
info_outline
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!
info_outline
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!
info_outline
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_outline
Big Questions - All Nations: How Close Are We?
Awake Us Now
From Genesis to Revelation, God's plan remains the same - to reach all nations and bring people back to Him. How close are we to seeing that happen? Why is belief in Jesus growing at such an astounding pace in much of the world, but not in Europe and North America?
info_outlineScripture: 2 Samuel 5, Ephesians 2:14, 16, Luke 21:24, Revelation 21:1-2.
Why is Jerusalem important not only to the Jewish people, but to Christian people? Let’s see what we will discover in today’s study of 2 Samuel 5.
King Saul has died and civil war has broken out in Israel. David is the reigning King of Judea but the Israelites in the northern kingdom are at war amongst each other and realize David is their only hope for unity and for bringing the kingdom back together. A delegation comes to David saying that it is clear the Lord has anointed him as His king and that it is now time for all Israel to come together and acknowledge his kingship. And that is precisely what happened. But what follows is incredibly significant, not just for David’s lifetime, but your ours as well.
After being anointed and accepted as king of all Israel, David proceeds to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites who lived there. But the question is why Jerusalem for his city and not a different city? Herschel Shanks puts it this way, “In non-Israelite hands, Jerusalem separated Israel’s territory in two.” David taking Jerusalem would mean unity of the country because of Jerusalem’s location. It’s also an easily defended city as it is on top of a hill with valleys on all sides except the north which was highly fortified. The Jebusites claimed that there was no way for David to defeat them and take the city.
David realized there was a way in. It was through the water shaft. Pastor shares the history and archeology of this water shaft and the location of Jerusalem bringing fascinating evidence and clarity to this story of David conquering the Jebusites.
Pastor shares the discovery by Charles Warren in the late 1800’s and also more on the archeological work that has been done recently in which we have learned there is an ancient shaft and a spring in the southern end of the City of David, when Jerusalem was located more on the eastern side of Old Jerusalem. The Gihon Spring lies in the Kidron Valley and the spring has a tunnel area and it is this tunnel area that ends inside the walls of Jerusalem that the Jebusite never dreamed would be what was used to enter the city and defeat them.
David then takes up residence and calls it the City of David and in verse 9 we read that David became more and more powerful because the Lord God Almighty was with him. And that is when Jerusalem became part of the heart of the ancient Jewish people, but also where it becomes an incredibly important part of the entire Bible story about God’s deliverance of not only Israel but of all nations through “David’s greater son”, the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Pastor digs deep into what we see about Jerusalem and why it has such significance not only in David’s day but in our day:
Jerusalem
• Peace - called a City of Peace but has much blood shed over it, the greatest blood being that which was shed by the Messiah, Jesus, for all people, the Prince of Peace.
• Proof - the ancient City of David is one of the largest archeological sites in the world. Solomon’s Wall and David’s palace have been recent discoveries along with others like the Pool of Siloam and the road to Temple Mount that show the stones are crying out that these things really happened!
• Prophecy - Luke 21:24 of Jesus predicting how Jerusalem would be destroyed and trampled on by the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles are fulfilled. This was reality in the 70 AD when Romans leveled Jerusalem and then in 1967 for the first time in almost 2000 Jerusalem was no longer trodden down by Gentiles. It was occupied by the Israelis. This is prophetic fulfillment.
• Perfection - the Book of Revelations ends by talking about the Holy City, a New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. A city where God will reign and live with His people.
Jerusalem is an historic city, but it is also at the heart of the message of the Gospel of Jesus, and it is at the very heart of the character of God where we will all be gathered together in the the New Jerusalem, the City of Our God!
Now What? Learn about God at https://www.awakeusnow.com EVERYTHING we offer is FREE.
Check out this video series from our website: https://www.awakeusnow.com/david-and-gods-heart
Join us Sundays
https://www.awakeusnow.com/sunday-service
Watch via our app. Text HELLO to 888-364-4483 to download our app.