Awake Us Now
Dig Deeper Preview: Why does Jesus have two family trees shared in the Bible? Today’s class is a special preview of the upcoming Tuesday Bible Class series: Dig Deeper. Why does Jesus have 2 family trees? 1. One in Matthew 1:1-16 2. One in Luke 3:23-38 And they are different. So let’s look a little deeper. The major accepted answer has been that one tells the genealogy of Jesus’ mother, the Virgin Mary, and the other the genealogy of His step father, Joseph. There is evidence to support and suggest that that is the case. ...
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Scripture: 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...
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Scripture: 1 Samuel 16. There are many Biblical characters of faith in the Bible, but none with as many Old Testament chapters devoted to them as David. Abraham - 14 Chapters Joseph - 14 chapters Jacob - 11 chapters Elijah - 10 chapters David - 66 chapters (and this does NOT include the Psalms written by him!) Our story takes place around the year 1025 BC. We read in 1 Samuel 13:14 that God is going to replace the Israelite’s first king, King Saul. In 1 Samuel 13:14 we read about Elijah telling Saul the following, “But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man...
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Merry Christmas! The Christmas story from Luke 2 may be a story that is new to some of us and to others it may be very familiar. We are going to look at the part of the story that is about the shepherds. Luke 2:8-9 we read, “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.” Did you know that being a shepherd in Jesus’ day was one of the lowliest jobs one could have? They were in the fields all the time, they smelled like sheep and...
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A difficult and challenging message, this week we address the reality of hell. Hell is not a topic of regular conversation, yet the reality of hell is true. Therefore, it is essential we understand the consequences of our beliefs, our actions, and our behaviors, and that we understand what the future holds. The Bible teaches we have only two destinies: With God (heaven) - or - Apart from Him (hell). Which destiny are we living for?
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The Gospel of John Week 26 Scripture: John 20:19 - 21:25. Today’s study will conclude our two year study of the Gospels with a dramatic and amazing ending. We begin with John 20:19, it is the first day of the week (Sunday) and the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly Jesus was standing among them saying “Peace be with you.” This is a phrase in English that sounds so common, like “have a good day.” But in Hebrew it carries much more meaning. Shalom (peace) more than just an absence of conflict or warfare, it refers to all creation - it...
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Merry Christmas!
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Merry Christmas!
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Merry Christmas!
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This is the final week in our study of 400 years of Kings and Prophets from Solomon to Jeremiah. King Josiah • Young King seeks God • Spiritual cleansing of Jerusalem • Book of the Law discovered • Reform beyond Judah • Passover observance - King Josiah gives an order to all people to observe God's Passover. This had not been celebrated according to what was written, not even in the days of the judges, nor in the days of any of the kings of...
info_outlineScripture: Matthew 5:44, Romans 5:8 and Acts chapters 6 & 7.
Today we will look at an incredibly powerful aspect of God’s character: He is a forgiving God. This is what the scriptures have declared and it is what God Himself says. He leaves His fingerprints on a cross to demonstrate to us just how incredible His forgiveness is and the depth of His remarkable love.
Pastor shares a heart-wrenching story of unimaginable forgiveness, setting the stage for the lessons we learn from God’s love and forgiveness. The story shows the divine, all powerful love of God and His love alone is what can bring forgiveness to even the most difficult, painful, tragic, and horrific situations.
God forgives us with amazing love. He allowed His Son to stretch out His arms on a cross and to pay the full penalty for our rebellion against the Father - He showed us amazing forgiveness in the person of Jesus, the Messiah, the Savior of the world. And THAT changes everything.
His incredible love has the power to change any life, and to bring healing and forgiveness into even the darkest of places.
This is not saying that because God loves us we excuse or accept evil that is done to us. God doesn’t say we need to approve of those who wrong or hurt us. Evil is still evil. Tragedy is still tragic, but what God says is that He gives us the power to rise above it, to overcome evil will good, to rise above tragedy so then we do not live in the past, grieving and full of despair. Instead, the Lord frees us, frees us to speak truth, but to speak the truth in love, and to forgive even those who have been our enemies.
Pastor has us take a look at the story of Stephen, as told in Acts chapters 6-7, who as he was being unjustly stoned and killed, speaks truth, mercy and forgiveness. Stephen’s Prayer as he was being stoned to death - Acts 7:59-60 “While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.” (Died). Stephen knew the words Jesus spoke from the cross, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” And Stephen now takes that example of love and forgiveness and with his dying breath spoke forgiveness.
God tells us as He has forgiven us, so we also are to forgive others.
Matthew 5:44 “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” It’s not about liking them or accepting their actions - It’s about loving them - genuine love is not a matter of feelings. Instead it is an act of the will.
We, as an act of will by faith in Jesus Christ, can love even our enemies. We are encouraged to allow the incredible love of God to deeply impact our lives.
Pastor shares three truths for why we are to forgive and shares insight into the benefits of forgiveness. When we reflect the character of God in our lives, it not only honors Him, it strengthens others and changes us.
⁃ God
⁃ Others
⁃ Self
The class closes with another story that gives a profound example of forgiveness that is motivated only by the goodness and grace of God. A gut-wrenching testimonial that’s the result of a powerful act of will that shows unexpected, unexplained love and forgiveness that changed the lives of all involved in this tragic event.
We are called to love and forgive because God has loved and forgiven us.
Watch the video from our website https://www.awakeusnow.com/tuesday-bible-class
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