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Showing posts with the label Jesus

God's Glory - Preaching Jesus

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" We do not preach about ourselves. The subject of all our sermons is Jesus, the Anointed One. He is Lord  and Master  of all. For Jesus’ sake we are here to serve you.  The God who spoke  light into existence,  saying, “Let light shine from the darkness,” is the very One who sets our hearts ablaze to shed light on the knowledge of God’s glory  revealed  in the face of Jesus, the Anointed One." 2 Corinthians 4:5-6 in the Voice Bible Version [This is the 4th lesson of this series] Christians are called Christians for a reason. And it should be obvious. Because they are followers of Christ. In the same way, Christian preaching and sermons ought to be about Christ. John wrote: " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and

Inconvenient Biblical Teaching - Christians are Out of Whack

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" They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world." -Jesus of Nazareth, 1st century John 17:16 [ 12th  message of the Why I Don't Believe Series] The messages in this series discuss how some people who reject Christianity do so because they either cannot accept an inconvenient biblical teaching, or they have an irreconcilable stance against the teachings of Jesus the Christ, or they have found something they think is wrong with Christianity. Most People Do Not Know Christ Because They Have Not Yet Met A Christian Estimates vary but a huge number of people all over the world still have not heard about Christ or the gospel -- mostly because they have been largely unreached. Some Do Not Believe Because They Have Met Christians Sadly the opposite is also true, about a third of those who don't believe in Christ is because they have met someone who does. Jesus Prayed For Believers Before Jesus went to the cross, He prayed for His followers and then He pray

Inconvenient Biblical Teaching - Jesus Didn't Say He Was God

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' I and the Father are one.” Again the Judean leaders picked up stones to stone Him. Yeshua answered them, “I’ve shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone Me?” The Judean leaders answered, “We aren’t stoning you for a good work, but for blasphemy. Though You are a man, You make Yourself God! ” ' -Jesus of Nazareth, 1st century John 10:30-33 TLV [ 11th message of the  Why I Don't Believe Series ] [ The Name Jesus in their language is Yeshua, t he TLV uses Yeshua in place of Jesus] The messages in this series discuss how some people who reject Christianity do so because they either cannot accept an inconvenient biblical teaching, or they have an irreconcilable stance against the teachings of Jesus the Christ, or they have found something they think is wrong with Christianity. But Jesus Didn't Say He Was God? We have heard some people swear that they are sure that Jesus didn't say He was God. They also contend that His

Feeding the Lambs - Name of Jesus

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 Ask in My Name "In that day you will no longer ask Me anything. Truly, truly, I tell you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. An hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you this way, but will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in My name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and entered the world. In turn, I will leave the world and go to the Father.” His disciples said, “See, now You are speaking plainly and without figures of speech. Now we understand that You know all things and that You have no need for anyone to question You. Because of this, we believe that You came from God.” -Jesus of Nazareth John 16:23-3

Feeding the Lambs - Reading God's Love Letter

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"This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.  For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone.  This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time." -Apostle Paul writing to Timothy, leader of the first church in Ephesus 1 Timothy 2:3-6 [2nd message of the New Believer Series] So if there is a God, how do you suppose He would reveal Himself to His creation, and how would humanity know who He is? God chose to made Himself known through the person of Jesus Christ. I know, this sounds arrogant or too out of this world. But if it was true, then it will indeed be totally unbelievably out of this world, our world and the arrogance it brings is to be just as we expect it to be (nothing less). Son of God Accounts of Jesus of Nazareth did not directly mention that He said that He is the Son of God.  It wo

The First Unbelievers

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Israel Early First Century Scriptures record and tell us that most of the people in the Promised Land saw Jesus walked and talked and perform miracles but only a few really listened, believed and followed Him. On Sunday after Jesus was executed, some of the women followers of Jesus went to his tomb and something astonishing was recorded to have happened. Let us read about this from the writings of Luke the physician. From Luke 24 (Contemporary English) Jesus Is Alive The Empty Tomb Very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, carrying the spices that they had prepared.  When they found the stone rolled away from the entrance,  they went in. But they did not find the body of the Lord   Jesus,  and they did not know what to think. Suddenly two men in shining white clothes stood beside them.  The women were afraid and bowed to the ground.  But the men said,  “Why are you looking in the place of the dead for someone who is alive?  Jesus isn’t her

It is Finished!

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Israel Early First Century Scriptures have foretold the savior of this fallen world. And it was recorded in the Old Testament Bible or the bible of the Jews. The New Testament records the life of Jesus and it shows us that the prophesies that were written long before he was born were fulfilled and culminated on the cross of Calvary on what we now call as Good Friday about 2,000 years ago. Let us read that from the writings of John: From John 19 (New King James) It Is Finished After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said,  “I thirst!”   Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put  it  on hyssop, and put  it  to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said,  “It is finished!”  And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. Jefferson Bethke puts it this way in his viral video: Religion says Do, Jesus says DONE! Religion s

Still Making the Wrong Choices

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Israel Early First Century The gospels recorded the clandestine and mock trials that were held when they arrested the man they call Jesus of Nazareth. Charges and witnesses were brought up against him  and he was made to defend himself first against the Jewish high priest at that time, Annas. Then he was sent to the Roman prefect (governor) at the time Pontius Pilate who then brought him to King Herod Antipas who sent Jesus back to Pilate. Let us read that narrative: From Luke 23 (The Message) Archaeological Find: The Pilate Inscription Then Pilate called in the high priests, rulers, and the others and said, “You brought this man to me as a disturber of the peace. I examined him in front of all of you and found there was nothing to your charge. And neither did Herod, for he has sent him back here with a clean bill of health. It’s clear that he’s done nothing wrong, let alone anything deserving death. I’m going to warn him to watch his step and let him go.” At that, th

Teaching the Teacher

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Israel Early First Century In the short time when Jesus walked the earth, the most prominent interpreters and teachers of God's law in the Promised Land were the Pharisees. Nicodemus was one of those so-called Pharisees. Having heard about Jesus and having heard him personally, he was mystified if not curious about this man, who was a miracle man who was teaching a totally different interpretation of God's law, if not a totally and radically different God. In the gospel of John, there is recorded a narrative of what transpired when one night, Nicodemus "secretly" visited Jesus to ask him a few questions. Let us read that narrative: From John 3 (The Message) Born from Above Nicodemus and Jesus There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews. Late one night he visited Jesus and said, “Rabbi, we all know you’re a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren’t

Winning the Powerball Jackpot

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Lottery Last night, the biggest lottery jackpot in recorded history was up for grabs. And it was miracously won not once, not twice, but three times by three different individuals in three different  states. Jackpot And the jackpot won was for 1.6 billion US dollars. To put in perspective how big that amount is, it is actually bigger or roughly equivalent to the gross domestic product of 30 countries. Meaning the winner (if it was won by one person) would have been richer than 30 nations. Easy to Win? And all you had to do to obtain that ridiculous amount was to correctly choose just 5 numbers plus pick 1 red power ball number. Easy right? Not quite, the odds were less than 1 chance in over 292 million -- meaning it would have been easier to be voted in as the next US President. Th Real Jackpot What most people are forgetting is that the real jackpot is far more easier to receive than that. And all one needs to do to obtain it is to choose the real red power ball. A