Growing Gracefully: Thankfulness
Awake Us Now
Some Biblical virtues mirror God's character, but this one -- thankfulness -- exalts God's character. Thankfulness promotes humility in us and strengthens our faith. ThankLESSness, by contrast, is an exceptionally dangerous sin.
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GOD ACTS! (Chapter 11) - The Disciples Were Called Christians
Awake Us Now
God’s Gospel Goes Global After Peter told the story of his vision and going to Joppa to the home of Cornelius, we read in Acts 11:18 that “… the believers in Jerusalem had no further objections and praised God saying, ‘So even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.’” And now the barriers that had existed between the Jewish world and the non-Jewish world are down in a single moment. The believers in Jerusalem that had grown up as devout Jewish people had their eyes opened to understand the new age that God promised had arrived. AND God’s Gospel Goes...
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Armor of God #11 - Full Armor
Awake Us Now
We are to be strong in the Lord (with His strength), and to put on the full armor of God (His equipment), so that we are both prepared and equipped for spiritual warfare!
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Growing Gracefully: Kindness
Awake Us Now
Kindness is not weakness. Kindness reflects the character and strength of God, and is seen throughout the ministry of Jesus Christ. Followers of Jesus should show that same character in their lives!
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Growing Gracefully: Forgiveness
Awake Us Now
Jesus not only taught the importance of forgiveness, He practiced it, even from the cross (Luke 23:43). The example of Jesus and the magnitude of His love changes people and gives them the power to forgive even the most bitter of enemies!
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Growing Gracefully: The Ultimate Indicator
Awake Us Now
Our devotion to the Living God is demonstrated in the way we love other people - including even our enemies. Genuine love is the truest expression of right doctrine (teaching) - and without love, the doctrine collapses.
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Dig Deeper - Acts Chapter 10: All the Centurions
Awake Us Now
Using the Bible and Roman sources, Pastor teaches us about Centurions. In Sunday’s message we met the Centurion, Cornelius. (See teaching here ) Acts 10:1-2 Cornelius was a centurion in the Italian Regiment. What we know about Centurions Backbone of the Roman Army Tested and dependable leaders Commanded 80-100 soldiers - 6 Centurions to a Cohort (600) and 10 Cohorts to a Legion (6000) Mentioned more that 20 times in the New Testament - Luke 7:1-10, Matthew 8:5-13, Matthew 27:54, Mark 15:39, Luke 23:47, Acts 10:1-7, Acts 21:32, Acts 22:25-29, Acts 23:17, Acts 23:23, Acts...
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Growing Gracefully: In Joy
Awake Us Now
Unlike happiness, joy is not an emotion, dependent on particular circumstances. Joy is anchored in God, and through Jesus it is triumphant even over the sufferings of this world! Growing Gracefully In Joy - We are living in a time of chaos and uncertainty, a time of unbridled anger on all ends of the spectrum and if ever there was at time that the people of God needed to remember and reflect the joy of the Lord, THIS IS THE TIME! This is a great time to be growing in joy as we rely on the Holy Spirit to empower and strengthen us every day and in every circumstance and situation. The Bible is...
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Growing Gracefully: Renewed Minds
Awake Us Now
True faith is not simply a matter of knowing certain truths. It is a matter of knowing Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and allowing the Holy Spirit to change us from the inside out!
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GOD ACTS! (Chapter 10) - Impure or Unclean
Awake Us Now
Day 1 of our story Today’s story takes place in Caesarea - Acts 10:1-8. Cornelius, a Roman soldier, a Centurion, lives there. (Pastor shares pictures of this city, still visible today!) Cornelius was one who worshiped the God of Israel but was not a full convert. He and his family were devout and God-fearing. Then he receives a vision of an angel. The angel tells him to bring a man from Joppa named Simon known as Peter. We see Cornelius respond immediately to what the angel told him to do. Day 2 Story moves location to Joppa where Cornelius’ servant and one of his...
info_outlineThe Shroud of Turin is a relic housed in the cathedral in Turin Italy and claimed to be the burial cloth of Christ.
The Gospels give us some details:
- Matthew 27:59-60 ESV “And Joseph (of Arimathea) took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away.”
- Mark 15:46 ESV “And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking Him (Jesus) down, wrapped Him in the linen shroud and laid Him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.”
- Luke 23:53 ESV “Then he (Joseph) took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid Him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.”
- John 19:40 ESV “So they (Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus) took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of Jews.”
Shroud of Turin
- A linen shroud approximately 14 feet long, 3 1/2 feet wide.
- Pastor shares a picture of the shroud. It’s very hard to discern what shows on the shroud.
- But on May 28, 1898 Secondo Pia (1855 - 1941) received permission to take a picture of the shroud. The photographic negative ended up being an image of a man’s brutalized face. He said “I think I may have been the first person in centuries to see the face of Jesus!”
- In the following years many others have used developing technologies in photography to take photos of the shroud.
- Pastor shares his pictures and how it shows the person has been crucified and brutally whipped with over 300 lacerations.
- Many people have asked the last 100+ years if this is indeed Jesus.
Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP) a group came to examine and test the Shroud
- 1978 - 40 U.S. scientists, multiple institutions and laboratories.
- Went to Turin Italy - 5 days, 122 hours, to study the shroud, fully expected to find a forgery
- Tests- large variety of tests and equipment
- And in the following years 1978-1981 they spent an additional 100,000 - 150,000 hours of intensive study on the results of their testing. And made their final report in 1981.
1981 STURP Report Findings
- Image is on the top surface of linen fibers. The image is only .2 - .7 microns - that’s several hundred times thinner than a human hair)
- Identity - it is the image of a scourged and crucified man. Approx 5’ 11” tall around 178 lbs.
- Origin - No evidence of paint of pigment
- Bloodstains were found of hemoglobin + serum albumin - which is evidence of a person having been horrifically tortured.
- 3D data - used a VP8 Image Analyzer (developed for the space program) and discovered that what is recorded on the shroud had 3 dimensional properties.
- Mechanism - how was it produced - unknown
For an insider’s view of the study “Report on the Shroud of Turin” published in 1983 by John Herbert Heller. (A member of the Shroud team). The book caused many questions to start emerging. Pastor shares an article “On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ” from the JAMA Journal of the American Medical Association from March 21, 1986, Volume 256 and the impact that article had on him.
Pastor goes further into the continued testing over the years. Here are the latest results:
- 2013 - (FTIR) Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy indicated the Shroud was 2,000 years old
- 2013 - Raman Spectroscopy also reported the Shroud to be 2,000 years old
- 2022 - (WAXS) Wide-Angle X-Ray Scattering was used and it showed the Shroud to be 2,000 years old.
Research continues: Physicist Paolo di Lazaro and team at ENEA Labs, after 5 years and hundred of failed attempts to reproduce an image like the shroud, concluded that to make the imprint on the Shroud it would take 34 trillion watts of radiant energy for 1/40 billionths of a second. (An energy level greater than all the energy plants in the world combined)
Final Observations:
- 2000 year old Linen Shroud
- Crown of Thorns
- Abrasions on shoulders from carrying Crossbeam
- Nailed to the cross, not tied
- Has a side wound, no broken bones
- Rushed burial - as body was not washed
- Brief entombment
Could this be the burial shroud of Jesus? Pastor shares an interesting quote from the book by Heller and then shares that he believes it is certainly possible that this is the burial shroud of Jesus!
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