Dig Deeper - Acts Chapter 19: Did You Receive the Holy Spirit?
Awake Us Now
Let’s did deeper into the first few verses of Acts chapter 19. Acts 19:1-3 Paul arrives in Ephesus, finding some disciples and asks them if they received the Holy Spirit when they believed. They respond that they had not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit and that they did receive John’s baptism. So these are followers of John the Baptist but did not have the full picture. (That the coming the Messiah had come in the person of Jesus who was crucified for our sin, raised on the 3rd day, seated at the Father’s right hand, and returning. And that Jesus brings...
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Daniel: When Kingdoms Collide (7) - Babylon's Last Supper
Awake Us Now
Belshazzar celebrated his reign in pride and mockery of God... and lost everything. But to those who approach God in humility, repentance, and belief, God offers everything worth having: forgiveness and eternal life!
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Daniel: When Kingdoms Collide (6) - Testimony
Awake Us Now
King Nebuchadnezzar gave powerful testimony to the One God, but only after God first leveled his pride and then restored him to the kingship. Like Nebuchadnezzar, we in the 21st Century are often blind to our own sins of pride, lack of mercy, and moral failure. What will it take to make us see them as God sees them?
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GOT ACTS! (Chapter 19) - Who is Worshipped
Awake Us Now
Pastor opens with Who and what was worshiped then: Athens - Athena - Knowledge Corinth - Aphrodite - Sex Ephesus - Artemis - Money Rome - Emperor - Power As we look at this list, all of the what’s still apply to us today. Pastor’s question now becomes personal: “Who or What do you worship? What is at the heart of your life?” Acts 19:1-8 - Then - Paul goes to Ephesus and for 3 months speaks in the synagogue boldly arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God - God’s rule in the lives of true believers. Today we too need to hear about the kingdom of...
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Armor of God #1 - Be Strong!
Awake Us Now
It is by God's power, it is by being strong in Him, it is in using the armor of God that you and I can not only stand against the devil's schemes, but also witness to others whom God is leading out from the power of the devil. Pastor Dodge also shares a personal testimony of spiritual warfare that shows the power of God to defeat the enemy, because God IS stronger! Ephesians -11
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Daniel: When Kingdoms Collide (5) - In the Fire
Awake Us Now
Salvation in Jesus Christ is free - but there is a cost to discipleship. Jesus said, "If anyone desires to follow me, let that person take up his or her cross and follow me daily." Daniel and his companions remind us the the cost can be huge, but the reward is far greater!
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Daniel: When Kingdoms Collide (4) - Tough King Meets LIVING GOD
Awake Us Now
In today's message, we see that it was God who gave Daniel the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream -- a dream sent to show that God alone knows the future and that though empires crumble, God's Kingdom will be established forever over the entire earth!
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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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Dig Deeper - Acts Chapter 18: Coworker Apollos
Awake Us Now
After 18 months in Corinth Paul, Aquila and Priscilla sail from Corinth to Ephesus and Paul goes on to Antioch. Luke picks up the story in Ephesus. Acts 18:24-26. We are introduced to Apollos, who had been instructed about the Lord and taught accurately about Jesus. Priscilla and Aquila heard him speaking boldly in the synagogue and graciously invited him to their home and taught him even more. Acts 18:27-28 Apollos then wanted to go to Achaia and they encouraged him and wrote to disciples in that town to welcome him. When Apollos arrived in he was a great help and...
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Daniel: When Kingdoms Collide (2) - Mixed, Not Melted
Awake Us Now
God calls His people not to blend in to society, but to stand out, to reflect the mercy and goodness of God, so that He may be exalted through all the nations!
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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