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.
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The Gospel According to Matthew - Week 3
Awake Us Now
In our study of Matthew this week we look at chapters 2 and 3, with an emphasis on deliverance through Jesus the Messiah and the fulfillment of the New Covenant through Him as well.
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The Gospel According to Matthew - Week 2
Awake Us Now
This week our study of Matthew takes us into chapter 2 and the story of Jesus’ birth focusing on the Magi, their interaction with Herod, and their interesting gifts to Jesus.
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Dig Deeper - Week 10: The Two Emmaus Disciples
Awake Us Now
Join us as we dig deeper into the teaching on “What’s the answer: What did Jesus tell them?”, found in Luke 24:13-27 - the story of 2 men “On the Road to Emmaus.” Two men are on their way, walking to the town of Emmaus are joined by Jesus. Let’s focus in on who these men were. For one of them we are given his name. Luke 24:18 “ One of them, named Cleopas, asked Jesus, …” Cleopas is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible, but there is another name very similar - Clopas - and this name is mentioned other places in the Bible. Over the centuries, many believers, scholars...
info_outlineQuestions about the Trinity are often asked this way:
• Is the word “Trinity” in the Bible?
• Do Christians worship three Gods?
• Was “Trinity” invented by the Church?
• Isn’t the notion of “Trinity” irrational?
• Don’t you think this is a minor issue?
Pastor digs into the question of the Trinity by starting at the beginning, in Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In Hebrew the word for God that is used in this verse is Elohim. Elohim is a plural noun. God is being described in plural terms!
Genesis 1:2 “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” In Hebrew the Spirit of God is “Ruah Elohim”. This is describing God as the Holy Spirit.
Genesis 1:3 “And God said, “Let there be light, and there was light.” The word that stands out here is “said”.
Observation: Genesis 1
1. Plural noun for God the Creator
2. Spirit of God involved in Creation
3. God’s Word brings forth the Creation
This three-fold pattern continues throughout the Hebrew Scriptures:
1. Father - Deuteronomy 32:6 “Is He not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?”
2. Spirit - Job 33:4 “The Spirit of God has made me, the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”
3. Word - Psalm 33:6 “By the Word of the Lord the heavens were made and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.”
But the Old Testament also says there is but ONE God. Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel; The LORD our God, the LORD is one.”
And yet one God is describe in a multiplicity of terms. One God and three very distinct Persons. This pattern continues in the New Testament:
1. Father - 1 Peter 1:2 “…chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.”
2. Spirit - Acts 5:3-4 “…you have lied to the Holy Spirit…you have not lied just to human beings but to God.”
3. Word - John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
In John 1:14 we read more about the Word, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
THE WORD is none other than Jesus, Himself.
The Bible sets forth clearly that the One God has revealed Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus says in Matthew 28:19 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”
The word that stands out in this verse is the word NAME - singular - yet THREE are named.
2 Corinthians 13:14 “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
This is clear Biblical teaching that the One true God has revealed Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is complex!!! His ways are higher than ours!
God who created us….
• Planned to Save us (God knew we would wander away from Him, but His plan from the beginning was save us)
• Came to Save us (we cannot save ourselves, we need a divine rescue. Our Divine Rescuer is Jesus who came to earth taking on human flesh and enduring the cross)
• Dwells in us to Save us (the God who created us dwells in us, brings us to faith, changes hearts, gives power and testifies to Jesus the Savior)
God works as a unity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - each unique and distinct but also uniquely ONE.
Is the word “Trinity” in the Bible? The word is not but “the Trinity” is found: Father, Son and Holy Spirit in both Old and New Testaments.
Do Christians worship three Gods? No, there is but ONE God, but has revealed Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We do not need to comprehend this to know God’s power and presence and truth.
Was “Trinity” invented by the Church? The term is invented but The TRUTH of THE TRINITY has been there since the beginning.
Isn’t the notion of “Trinity” irrational? This is a profound mystery, but not irrational. Pastor shares a lesson from Dr. Walter Martin and the Triple Point of Water where water is solid, gas and liquid all at one time. Three yet one. Is it irrational that the God of the universe can “three yet one.”
Don’t you think this is a minor issue? No because when we start ignoring what God says about Himself and what the Bible teaches we go into false teaching and false testimony. This is where false religions come in. We’re living in a culture that has walked from God and it is disastrous. This is NOT a minor issue - God is above ALL things and He is worthy of our worship and praise.
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