A1:8 Ministries - Matt Privett

Jesus takes His disciples, who were fewer than before to Caesarea Philippi, and He asks them who people are saying He is. The answer and the follow up are well known, but are they rightly understood-- Was Jesus talking about the church-- Listen and think about it.

In this conclusion to our series through John 6, we see Jesus emphasize the sovereignty of God in salvation, the absolute necessity of faith in Jesus, and the rejection by Israel of their Messiah.

Jesus continues His -Bread of Life- discourse with the Jews by telling them no one comes to Him unless the Father draws Him, but they must believe in Him.

Jesus continues His declaration that He is the Bread of life that the Father has sent.

We continue our look at John 6 by inching closer to Jesus calling Himself the Bread of Life. After feeding the masses, Jesus walked on water, invited Peter to do the same, then addressed Israel in their faithlessness.

One of Jesus' most famous miracles is more than meets the eye. As Jesus feeds 5000, plus women and children, He creates matter and the question lingers- Will Israel be satisfied in the Messiah, the Prophet, the One who is God--

Our miniseries on John 6 can't start until we deal with the context in the last half of John 5. There, we see Jesus unequivocally equate Himself with His Father - a clear declaration of the fact He is Yahweh, God. Jesus makes it clear to the Jews that if they don't believe -in- Him, they don't really believe God and His word.

How are we to read and understand the Bible-- This question is incredibly important to knowing and applying the truth, and avoided -perhaps fatal- error. Listen in as I talk about whether we should take the Bible -literally,- and what that even means.

John the Baptist is more - MUCH MORE - than the first chapter of the Christmas story. Listen as we see how God chose John to proclaim the Messiah and announce the inauguration of the last days, culminating in Israel in the promised kingdom.

Jesus knew His future included crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, and that He would not be physically on the earth. He would need men to carry out His work. This, Jesus commissioned twelve as apostles. In this lesson we look at His plan for these men to minister to the lost sheep of Israel, and how some of His statements apply to us.

Is the unpardonable sin something we can commit today-- Listen as we examine the text and different views and see that, just maybe, the word of God is screaming at us about how to interpret this text.

Jesus continues to show He is the Messiah and the Son of God. In the case of our passages this morning, He exhibits authority over death, continuing to preview kingdom conditions.

We continued our look at the Sermon on the Mount with a view toward the self-righteousness of the Pharisees -and us- contrasted with Jesus' instructions.

We began looking at the purpose of Jesus' most famous sermon and the context in which it was given. Some very interesting questions raised.

Kind of a scatter-brained forty-five minutes to be honest, but I touched on the significance of Jesus' statements in light of the Sabbath, and also had some good discussion on text criticism and what is and is not Scripture.

In this lesson there are some finishing thoughts on Jesus healing the paralytic, then we move on to Jesus calling Matthew to be His disciple. Finally, we arrive at questions about fasting. And- do we, the body of Christ, today need to be fasting--

In the early days of His Galilean ministry, Jesus made it clear through His acts that He is the Christ, the Son of God - just as Mark 1-1 states. Jesus heals, cleanse, and forgives.

As John's ministry decreased, Jesus' ministry was increasing. Rather than be jealous of Jesus' ministry, John was happy that the Bridegroom was with His bride. Jesus' ministry then continued to Samaria and Galilee, where He was believed, and then rejected.

In light of recent events, we talked a bit about how the church ought to be thinking about Israel.

The most famous verse in the New Testament has a context, and that context is Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus about the necessity of being born from above and faith. Jesus draws upon the account of Moses, Israel, and the fiery serpents to illustrate that belief in Himself, the Son of Man, is required for everlasting life. At all times, we must believe all that God has revealed.

After Jesus performed signs in public at the temple during Passover, Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. This is a very familiar passage to us, but listen with fresh ears as we see some things in this text you may not have considered before.

When you consider all of Jesus' miracles, turning water into wine usually doesn't reach the very top of anyone's list of amazement. Why, then, did God will that this be Jesus' first sign-- There's a good reason for it. Listen as we Jesus start giving a preview of His kingdom from the outset of His ministry.

Jesus was immediately cast into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil. Listen as we talk about Jesus in His role as Israel's great high priest, and how He responded to the temptation, and how believers today can resist temptation.

Why was Jerusalem, all Judea, and the district of the Jordan flocking to the wilderness and the Jordan to be baptized by John-- This is the key to understanding not just John's baptism, but that of Jesus as well. Listen and think.

In this first part of what will be a two-parter, we get into John the Baptist, his message, his baptism, and more.

Continuing to look at Paul's instruction about what happens before the day of the Lord, in this passage we see that the Antichrist to come is Christ's Antichrist. God is One in charge, so we can have confidence and never lose hope or faith.

Jesus' time at the temple as a twelve year old is often focused on because his parents lost Him for three days. What really stands out, however, is His perfect obedience.

This is an odyssey in Bible study and interpretation which gives way to hope for all those who are in Christ. Listen in as we see what Paul teaches must happen before the Day of the Lord.

The King was born. Now Jesus would be sought out, for worship at the temple and by the magi, for death by Herod. Listen in as we walk through these verses and see some amazing stuff in what are very familiar passages.

Paul considered the Thessalonian church an assembly of believers worthy of giving thanks to God. Part of their comfort was the knowledge that God will judge evil. In this sermon I address what it means to -obey the gospel,- what -the penalty of eternal destruction- entails, along with some misconceptions about hell. The ultimate end is the glory of God, which permeates this text.

Christ is born in Bethlehem- In this study we look at the familiar narrative and what the Bible actually says, rather than some of our traditions. We also look at the prologue of John, how the Word has been made flesh, and what that means.

In this lesson we take a look at what God revealed to Mary and Joseph, and how they both faithfully responded. --This is part one. The audio got cut off when my wife, who I haven't seen in three weeks, crashed my lesson. ---

In this lesson we take a look at what God revealed to Mary and Joseph, and how they both faithfully responded. --This is part two. The audio got cut off when my wife, who I haven't seen in three weeks, crashed my lesson. ---

After four centuries of no new revelation, God broke into history again by sending an angel, Gabriel, to announcement the coming of the two messengers referred to at the end of the Old Testament. Listen as we look at the coming of John and Jesus.

What are the Gospels-- What are they not-- And what are they all about-- That's what we talk about in this overview of these four biblical books and what they say about Jesus.

Before we actually dive into the New Testament, we talk about why we can trust it, and all of the word of God. Understanding these things is foundational to being able to know and defend the word of God.

All of Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for us, so any attempt to intentionally or unintentionally downplay the Old Testament undercuts the foundation upon which the New Testament was given to us. In this lesson we walk through several passages to see how God, in long ages past, pointed the Hebrews to their coming Messiah- Jesus.

We finish up discussion of a time during which God did not speak, though He did speak about it. The idea of partially fulfilled vs. fully fulfilled prophecy is discussed, as well as some very important principles of biblical interpretation as we head into the Gospels.

God didn't speak through a prophet for 400 years, but that doesn't mean He didn't speak ABOUT these years. In fact, God have Gabriel intricate details of world history before the fact. Listen to part one of this overview of what God revealed to Daniel about all of this, and how it helps ground our understanding of the Gospels and Acts.

Malachi closes out our Old Testament with an indictment of Israel's religious leaders and the telling of two messengers to come.

With the third stage of the return from exile, the rebuilding of the temple, and now the wall in the rear view mirror, it was past time for God's word to once again take center stage and be central to the worship of Yahweh by the people of God. Listen as we see Israel's response to the word of God.

Nehemiah had never laid eyes on Jerusalem, but upon the report of the condition of the city it broke him and he prayed. After all, this was the land Yahweh had promised Israel. In this lesson we see how he led the rebuilding of the walls, and its tie to Israel's future.

When Ezra led the second return to Israel from exile he found the sons of Israel intermarried with the very people Yahweh had told them not to back in Deuteronomy 7. Ezra's response provoked repentance in Israel and provides valuables examples for the body of Christ in this age.

The word -God- isn't found in the book of Esther, yet it is impossible to escape His presence and His work. Listen to how God uses Esther and Mordecai to save his covenant people spread all across the Persian empire. You will see help from God arise through gods, use of imperfect but faithful people.

God stirred the spirit of a foreign king to send His people back to the land He had given them. In this lesson we look at the early days of Israel's return and the fascinating ways in which Scripture addresses them.

Job was at his lowest point, and for good reason. But amidst his suffering he had a certain hope -- his resurrection. Listen as Pastor Matt explains how Job knew his Redeemer, and what he knew about that Redeemer. The resurrection, Jesus' and that of the believer, is our hope. You don't want to miss this good news.

From Jeremiah 31 we look at what the Scriptures actually say about the New Covenant. What is it-- Who made the covenant-- Who was it made with-- The background of the covenant-- What's it all about-- This lesson helps us understand better how to approach the Bible to understand context and intent.

From Babylon, Yahweh put His hand on the priest Ezekiel and gave him a vision of His glory, commissioning Him as a prophet. In this Resurrection Sunday morning Sunday School lesson, Matt talks about how Ezekiel describes this vision and how he -and others in the Scriptures- have responded to the glory of God, and thus, how we ought to respond.

A break from our normal Sunday School routine for some Q-A. The first question is on how to approach transgenderism. Things flow from there to touch on homosexuality, the image of God, marriage and divorce, the gospel, and the authority and sufficiency of God's word.

An aging Daniel was a very influential and powerful man in the Babylonian Empire, but because of his God he was hated by others, who sought to and did entrap him, to bring him to death. But God delivered Daniel, who continued to serve Him faithfully. And He used Daniel to speak to several powerful earthly kings.

Three Hebrew youths refused to bow down to a false god. They knew their God, even if He decided not to deliver them, was able to deliver them. Yahweh showed His glory to His enemies and rewarded His own by stepping into the flames of affliction to deliver Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.