Podcasts about gentiles

If a foundation is bad, the building will collapse. Therefore, one must ask, “What is the foundation of the church?” By the grace of God, the church has a stable foundation in the apostles and prophets, with Christ as the chief cornerstone. In this sermon on the foundation of the church from Ephesians 2:20–22 titled “The Only Foundation,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches on the nature and importance of that foundation. He argues that the church is a miracle. Paul argues that the unthinkable has happened: Jews and Gentiles are brought together in Christ. The foundation of the church is found in two statements: 1) “the apostle and prophets,” and 2) “Jesus Christ himself being the cornerstone” (verse 20). According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, the first is referring to the people themselves, but also the doctrines that they set forth. The second refers to Jesus and means that everything is held together by Him. Dr. Lloyd-Jones argues that nothing can be added to or taken away from that foundation and there can be no unity apart from this foundation. One cannot be a Christian if they deny the person and work of Christ. Therefore, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones challenges the listener to question what they believe about Jesus, if they know Him, and if they are in Him. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/603/29?v=20251111

Luke 20Andrew and Edwin discuss Jesus's parable of the wicked tenants and are comforted by learning in the resurrection we cannot die anymore. Praise the Lord!Read the written devo that goes along with this episode by clicking here.    Let us know what you are learning or any questions you have. Email us at TextTalk@ChristiansMeetHere.org.    Join the Facebook community and join the conversation by clicking here. We'd love to meet you. Be a guest among the Christians who meet on Livingston Avenue. Click here to find out more. Michael Eldridge sang all four parts of our theme song. Find more from him by clicking here.   Thanks for talking about the text with us today.________________________________________________If the hyperlinks do not work, copy the following addresses and paste them into the URL bar of your web browser: Daily Written Devo: https://readthebiblemakedisciples.wordpress.com/?p=26988The Christians Who Meet on Livingston Avenue: http://www.christiansmeethere.org/Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TalkAboutTheTextFacebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/texttalkMichael Eldridge: https://acapeldridge.com/ 

What if the thing God is asking you to walk into isn't a loss at all, but the doorway to a kingdom far bigger than the one you've been living in? Graham Cooke follows Peter across the threshold of Cornelius's house, where an apostle who had never set foot in a Gentile home discovers that God "doesn't care anything for the traditions of man" and that "hundreds of millions of people" were lining up behind that one door. Then Saul, the academic theologian who was "100% on a mission from God," has "a violent encounter with grace" on the Damascus road, and thick scales fall from his eyes. Discover why God gave you a Comforter ("so that he could mess with you"), why some things have to be forcibly removed before we can see, and why Graham insists that "if grace is not scandalous, it's not grace" — because "if it's not too good to be true, it's not God."Key Scriptures:+ Acts 10:28. "And he said to them, 'You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.'"+ Matthew 15:3. "And He answered and said to them, 'Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?'"+ Philippians 3:5-6. "circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless."+ Acts 9:3-5. "As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' And he said, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.'"+ Acts 9:17-18. "So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, 'Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.' And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized."Want to explore more?

Did Daniel actually kill a dragon? And why isn't this story in most modern Bibles?In Episode 54 of the Ancient Roots of Life Podcast, JT and Josh dive into Bel and the Dragon, the fascinating addition to Daniel preserved in the Septuagint tradition. Daniel exposes the priests of Bel, destroys their idol, kills a creature the Babylonians worship as a god, and then finds himself thrown into a lions' den — again.From there, we tackle one of the biggest debates in Christianity: What actually changed under the New Covenant? We examine Jeremiah's prophecy, Acts 15, Paul's writings, the Ten Commandments, Sabbath observance, Torah, and what it means for God's law to be written on the heart.Finally, we finish our journey through the Gospel of Nicodemus / Acts of Pilate, including its extraordinary traditions surrounding Christ, Hades, the resurrection, and Pilate's reported testimony concerning Jesus.This one goes all over the ancient world — Babylon, Daniel, dragons, Torah, the New Covenant, Hades, Pilate and the resurrection.What do you think: Is Bel and the Dragon preserving a genuine ancient tradition about Daniel? And what should we study next?The New Covenant discussion begins from Jeremiah's prophecy that God would establish a covenant “not according to” the covenant made at the Exodus and would put his laws into the people's minds and hearts. ancient-roots-of-life-54 The conversation then moves into Acts 15 and the dispute over whether Gentile believers had to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/jt-s-mix-tape--6579902/support.Please support our sponsor Modern Roots Life: https://modernrootslife.com/?bg_ref=rVWsBoOfcFPatreon: https://patreon.com/JT_Follows_JC?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLinkJESUS SAID THERE WOULD BE HATERS: https://jtfollowsjc.com/product-category/mens-shirts/JT's Hats: https://jtfollowsjc.com/product-category/hats/Coaching Program: https://www.echoesoftruthnetwork.com/joinTelegram Group: https://t.me/jtsmixtapeNew Trucker Hat: https://www.shopmmca.com/shop/p/jt-follows-jc-hat

Thursday, 1 October 2026   They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, Matthew 23:6   “They affectionate, also, the first-reclining in the suppers, and the first-sittings in the synagogues.” (CG)   In the previous verse, Jesus noted how the scribes and Pharisees widened their phylacteries and enlarged the tassels of their garments. He continues with their self-serving attitude, saying, “They affectionate, also, the first-reclining in the suppers.”   There are a couple of new words. The first is prótoklisia, a first-sitting. It is derived from protos, foremost (in time, place, order, or importance), and klisia, reclination, as when sitting in a lounge chair or lying back on something.   The idea here is the most important seat at a meal, where people recline at low tables. This is a meal, as seen in the next new word, deipnon, the chief meal, usually in the evening. Of this seating, the Pulpit Commentary says –   “The custom of reclining on cushions set in horseshoe fashion at three sides of the table was now prevalent... The place of honour is said to have been at the upper end of the right side, the president being placed, not in the centre of that end of the table which faced the opening, but at the side. The most honoured guest would be at his right hand... There was often much manoeuvring to obtain this post, and many petty squabbles about precedence arose on every festal occasion.”   The point is that even during meals, these men strove to be recognized as the most important by being seated more honorably than others. Along with this, Jesus says, “and the first-sittings in the synagogues.”   Another new word is seen, prótokathedria, the first sitting. It is derived from protos, foremost, and kathedra, a bench. Again, the Pulpit Commentary, citing Edersheim, provides an explanation of the intent –   The synagogue “was built of stone, with an entrance generally on the south, and so arranged that the worshippers might direct their prayers towards Jerusalem. In the centre was placed the lectern of the reader; the women's gallery was at the north end. ‘The inside plan is generally that of two double colonnades, which seem to have formed the body of the synagogue, the aisles east and west being probably used as passages. At the south end, facing north, is a movable ark, containing the sacred rolls of the Law and the prophets. Right before the ark, and facing the people, are the seats of honour, for the rulers of the synagogue and the honourable.' These were the places for which the Pharisees contended, thinking more of gaining these, where they could sit enthroned in the sight of the congregation, than of the Divine worship which nominally they came to offer.”   This was a me-centered aspect of the religious life of the scribes and Pharisees. They wanted to be seen as important in the eyes of everyone, and these were ways they could obtain such recognition.   Life application: Jesus has already given His disciples instruction on such attitudes –   “But Jesus called them to Himself and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. 26 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.'” Matthew 20:25-28   Paul wrote about this mindset as well –   “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3, 4   In James 2, we read of showing partiality, something similar in thought, but from the other side of the matter. In these and other examples, we can learn that God does not look with favor on those who are consumed with themselves or who treat others poorly.   Each of us, therefore, should evaluate ourselves and our actions toward others, understanding that we are just people, like all others. Conducting our affairs in life as God desires is what assigns value to us. Therefore, let us endeavor to be pleasing to Him in this manner as we live our lives in His presence.   Heavenly Father, help us not to seek to exalt ourselves in the eyes of others, but to live with humility, knowing that You are evaluating us. May we always think of others as better than us, showing them kind respect no matter who they are. To Your glory, we pray. Amen.  

Study Guide The Gemara discusses a contradiction regarding the time for redeeming a firstborn donkey (peter chamor). One braita states that is can be done immediately, while another states that it cannot be performed before thirty days. Three resolutions are brought. Rav Nachman explains that if one redeemed it within thirty days, it is redeemed post-facto (b'dieved). Rav Sheshet suggests that the thirty-day timeframe teaches that one does not violate the prohibition against delaying the mitzva during this period. Rava resolves the conflicting opinions and explains that the dispute depends on whether one follows Rabbi Eliezer, who compares a firstborn donkey to a firstborn son, or the rabbis, who do not. The Mishna rules that if the owner does not wish to redeem the firstborn donkey, he decapitates it from behind and buries it. The commandment of redemption takes precedence. The Mishna lists additional mitzvot that have an order of precedence: the commandment of designation (ye'ida) takes precedence over the commandment of redemption for a Hebrew maidservant; the commandment of Levirate marriage (yibbum) originally took precedence over chalitza, but nowadays the commandment of chalitza takes precedence because people do not intend it for the sake of the mitzvah; and the commandment of redemption by the owner takes precedence over any other person in redeeming sanctified non-kosher animals. At the opening of the second chapter, the Mishna rules that if an Israelite buys, sells, enters a partnership in, or receives on a sharecropping contract (kibalat) a fetus or an animal of a Gentile, the offspring is exempt from firstborn status of kosher animals, as it is stated in the Torah "in Israel," excluding animals under joint or full ownership of Gentiles. Kohanim and Levites are obligated in the firstborn of a kosher animal, as their exemption applies only to pidyon haben and peter chamor. The Gemara asks why the masechet begins with laws of firstborn donkey and then of kosher animals given that kosher animals possess intrinsic sanctity (kedushat haguf) while a donkey possesses only monetary sanctity (kedushat damim). The Gemara answers that matters regarding non-kosher animals are few, and therefore the matter was concluded first, or because a firstborn donkey is cherished. Regarding transactions with a Gentile, Rabbi Yitzchak bar Nachmani said in the name of Resh Lakish, who quoted the words of Rabbi Oshaya, that an Israelite who gave money to a Gentile (and a Gentile who gave money to an Israelite) acquires through money alone, and does not require physical pulling (meshikha). This derives this from the verse "from the hand of your neighbor" (mi-yad amitekha), teaching that meshikha is required only between an Israelite and his neighbor, whereas a transaction with a Gentile is effected through money. Ameimar holds a dissenting opinion – that a transaction between a Gentile and an Israelite is effected through money. The Gemara analyzes how to understand the verse of amitekha according to Ameimar according to the positions of both Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish. A difficulty is raised from a braita against the position of Rabbi Oshaya regarding one who buys pieces of silver (gruta'ot) from Gentiles and finds an idol inside, where ownership depends on whether money was given or physical pulling (meshikha) was performed. The Gemara resolves the difficulty through four different explanations.

School of Divine Metaphysical Research. SDMR Is a school to help you Find and Know Yahweh, OurElohim, and his Purpose or Plan for Salvation.  You can also view these Lectures on YouTube. By clicking the link below.    Oceanside Class https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChYh0NTf5pyoID-P7e-zPTA Syracuse Class  (43) syracuseclass - YouTube Lansing MichiganClass  (43) Pattern of theUniverse - YouTube Hamilton Class https://www.youtube.com/@hamiltoncanadastudyclass964 Albuquerque  https://www.youtube.com/@TrueGospelofTheKingdom-ABQ Tampa Class https://www.youtube.com/@tampaclass444 Charlotte North Carolina https://www.youtube.com/@charlottenorthcarolinazoom8187 Chicago Northside Class https://www.youtube.com/@chicagonorthsidezoomclass4923 Arkport Class https://www.youtube.com/@arkportclass360 Charts referred to in these podcasts can be found on the http://www.gatesclass.com/Website, by choosing the charts tab at the top of thepage.   

Ephesians Series  Message: 06 Episode: 2 of 3 Broadcast: September 30, 2026 Key Verses: Ephesians 3:1-13 In this episode of Walk in Truth, Pastor Michael Lantz continues the study in Ephesians with a teaching titled "The Mystery of Christ," based on Ephesians 3:1–13. Paul explains the mystery that had been revealed to him by God: through Christ, Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise. What was once hidden is now made known through the gospel, revealing God's plan to bring people together in Christ and display His wisdom through the church. Paul also speaks about his calling to proclaim the riches of Christ and make this mystery known. As Pastor Michael walks through this passage, you'll be encouraged to see the depth of God's plan of salvation and the privilege believers have in being part of what He is doing through Christ. This teaching will help equip you to walk through life as a Christian with greater understanding of God's purpose, confidence in the gospel, and a willingness to live out the calling He has given you. Welcome to Walk in Truth! These are the Bible teachings of Pastor Michael Lantz. Equipping you to reach out with God's truth to all people. And how to apply that truth to today's issues, trends, and culture.  Leave your question or comment contact@walkintruth.com  

00:00:00 Romans 1 – Gospel Revealed, Wrath Against Unrighteousness, and Heathen Depravity00:04:04 Romans 2 – Impartial Judgment, Doers of the Law, and Inward Circumcision00:07:37 Romans 3 – All Have Sinned, Justification by Faith, and Boasting Excluded00:10:58 Romans 4 – Faith Imputed for Righteousness and Promise to Abraham00:14:12 Romans 5 – Peace with God, Grace Abounding, and Death Through Adam00:17:07 Romans 6 – Dead to Sin, Alive to God, and Servants of Righteousness00:19:57 Romans 7 – Dead to the Law, Inward Conflict, and Flesh vs Spirit00:23:11 Romans 8 – Life in the Spirit, Joint-Heirs with Christ, and More Than Conquerors00:27:59 Romans 9 – Election of Grace, Sovereign Mercy, and Israel's Stumbling-Stone00:32:00 Romans 10 – Righteousness of Faith, Confessing the Lord, and Preaching the Gospel00:34:36 Romans 11 – Remnant according to Election, Wild Olive Tree, and Mystery Revealed00:39:16 Romans 12 – Living Sacrifice, Diversity of Gifts, and Overcoming Evil00:41:47 Romans 13 – Subjection to Higher Powers, Love the Fulfilling of the Law00:43:58 Romans 14 – Weak in Faith, Judgement Seat of Christ, and Stumblingblocks Avoided00:46:59 Romans 15 – Bearing Weakness, Minister to Gentiles, and Paul's Travel Plans00:50:58 Romans 16 – Salutations to Saints, Warning Against Divisions, and Final Doxology

Who is this Jesus? He is the Chief Cornerstone. In the last four verses of chapter two we see a marvelous revelation of redemption. Jew and Gentile alike, dead in sin, have been made one temple for the purpose of God dwelling among His people! By redemption in Christ, we are living stones, part of this temple of God which our Lord Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone. What a privilege to be a part of the temple that the living God resides in! Jesus asked his disciples "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” They gave several answers as to whom people thought Jesus was. Then Jesus asked them the most important question they were ever asked, "But who do you say that I am?” Every person must answer this question!Join Pastor A.J., as we answer this question throughout a series of Bible studies. Understanding who Jesus is makes all difference in this life and the one to come!If you prayed the prayer of Salvation please fill out this form so that we can mail you a free gift!https://gospeltabernacle.breezechms.com/form/salvationIf you would like to check out all our resources, send a message, or sow a seed into the ministry work please visit:https://www.faithformygeneration.com

Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles had a very simple and clear approach to church planting and missionary endeavours: preach repentance towards God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles had a very simple and clear approach to church planting and missionary endeavours: preach repentance towards God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

This episode walks through Ephesians 3, where Paul explains the mystery of Christ now revealed. Gentiles are fellow heirs in the gospel. The discussion also connects Paul's imprisonment, his calling, and the church's role as the place where God's wisdom and grace are made known. Daniel, Erick, and Caleb unpack why Paul frames his suffering as service to others, how the church functions as the means by which God reveals his mystery, and why the riches of Christ are never exhausted. Have a listen. More from 1517: Support the work at 1517 1517 on Youtube 1517 Podcast Network on Apple Podcasts 1517 Events Schedule 1517 Academy - Free Theological Education 1517 Podcast Listeners Get a Free Book When They Sign Up for Memento This August   New Books from 1517 Publishing: The Turk at the Door by Adam Francisco Luther and the Lion: A Narnian Catechism by Samuel Schuldheisz By Water and the Word by Brian Thomas Being Family by Dr. Scott Keith   More from the hosts: Daniel Emery Price Erick Sorenson   Follow 1517:  Instagram X/Twitter Facebook

I have typically read Paul's letter to Rome like it was an essay written for the church at large for all times and for all places.  In fact Paul, Jesus' apostle to the nations, in about 57 A.D., wrote a pastoral letter to several house churches in Rome. He mentions 26 members of the Roman church by name in chapter 16.  He knew a lot about the churches and he was very concerned with simmering divisions within those churches.  The churches were composed of a great diversity of folks, Jews and Gentiles, slave and free, as well as male and female.  A dispute was heating up in the church between a group that Paul called the "Weak," primarily Jewish believers, and a group that Paul called the "Strong," primarily Gentile believers.  Neither group had much use for the other and that was the problem!  He had strong words for both groups. The issues have to do with the place of circumcision, sabbath keeping, and the Jewish food laws in the life of the Churches.  Paul used eleven chapters to give the churches a solid Christ centered foundation on which to live together as "One People of God."  His overriding message was that one church, composed of Jews and Gentiles, living to the Glory of God, is the will of the LORD God.  He declared in chapter 12, "All of us are members one of another."  He followed up this declarative in chapter 15 with the imperative:  "Welcome each other as Christ has welcomed you, for the Glory of God." Tom Wright was recently asked, "What about today's church would most disturb the apostle Paul?" To which he replied. "Our many, many divisions and our LACK OF CONCERN about it." Come on this journey with us through Paul's wonderful letter which invites us to rediscover the "Power of Oneness."

a bookstore he was associated with the Lib Bookstore--Join the Milwaukee Mafia Newsletter and get updates about the Mafia and Gavin https://milwaukeemafia.com/join-the-mailing-list/Got a question about this episode? Email Gavin and Eric at milwaukeemafia@gmail.comExplore the Milwaukee Mafia Wiki: https://milwaukeemafia.com/Become part of the Family: https://www.patreon.com/Milwaukeemafia--Gavin Schmitt is the leading historical expert on the mafia in Wisconsin. He has written several books on the subject and regularly speaks across the country.Get Gavin's Books: https://www.amazon.com/Gavin-Schmitt/e/B00E749XFSBook Gavin for a Presentation: https://gavinschmitt.com/

Ephesians Series  Message: 06 Episode: 1 of 3 Broadcast: September 29, 2026 Key Verses: Ephesians 3:1-13 In this episode of Walk in Truth, Pastor Michael Lantz continues the study in Ephesians with a teaching titled "The Mystery of Christ," based on Ephesians 3:1–13. Paul explains the mystery that had been revealed to him by God: through Christ, Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise. What was once hidden is now made known through the gospel, revealing God's plan to bring people together in Christ and display His wisdom through the church. Paul also speaks about his calling to proclaim the riches of Christ and make this mystery known. As Pastor Michael walks through this passage, you'll be encouraged to see the depth of God's plan of salvation and the privilege believers have in being part of what He is doing through Christ. This teaching will help equip you to walk through life as a Christian with greater understanding of God's purpose, confidence in the gospel, and a willingness to live out the calling He has given you. Welcome to Walk in Truth! These are the Bible teachings of Pastor Michael Lantz. Equipping you to reach out with God's truth to all people. And how to apply that truth to today's issues, trends, and culture.  Leave your question or comment contact@walkintruth.com  

Tuesday, 29 September 2026   For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. Matthew 23:4   “They bind, indeed, burdens, weighty and oppressive, and they lay upon the ‘shoulders, the men'. The, also ‘finger, theirs', not they will to stir them.” (CG).   In the previous verse, Jesus told those He was talking to that they were to guard and do the things the scribes and Pharisees told them to do, but they should not do according to their works. He next explains why, saying, “They bind, indeed, burdens, weighty and oppressive.”   Three new words are seen here. The first is desmeuó, to be a binder. This includes the thought of enchaining a prisoner or tying a load on another. It is from desmos, a chain, bond, band, etc. One gets the sense of these men putting fetters on others, binding them with loads that burden them.   The next new word is barus, weighty, as in burdensome or grievous. The third word is dusbastaktos, an adjective signifying something oppressive or grievous to be borne. It is derived from dus, hard or grievous, and bastazó, to bear or carry. Thus, it signifies a load that is miserable to carry around. One easily gets the sense of Jesus' words.   It is as if these men have bound those under them with fetters attached to balls and chains, weighing them down and causing them to be oppressed and grievously burdened. And more, Jesus says, “and they lay upon the ‘shoulders, the men'.”   Another new word is seen, ómos, the shoulder. Strong believes it may be derived from the alternate of the word pheró, to bring or carry. The NAS Concordance thinks it is a primary word. Either way, it refers to the shoulder. It will only be seen again in Luke 15:5.   One can think of Jacob Marley from A Christmas Carol, weighed down and burdened with the torments that oppressed him. Jesus says that this is what the doctrines of these men were like. And more, He says, “the, also ‘finger, theirs', not they will to stir them.”   Two more new words are seen. The first is daktulos, the finger. It is probably derived from deka, ten, the normal number of digits a person has on his hands. The last new word of the verse is kineó, to stir. It is from kio, to go. It can be used literally or figuratively to indicate movement in various ways, such as moving through life, provoking others into an insurrection, and so on.   One can see the ancient granddaddy of our word kinetic. That is derived from kinetikos, which is from kinein, a word cognate to kineó. The imagery is that of people overburdened by the rules and regulations of these religious leaders. They are grievously burdened, unable to move through life with any source of freedom or enjoyment. And yet, these men won't assist them in the slightest.   Life application: Although the people of Israel had the law and they were expected to live under it and by it, the additional burdens cast upon the people only made their lives more difficult. The law itself was already a burden the people could not carry –    “Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.” Acts 15:10, 11   Peter, a man who was born and lived under the law, saw this and understood it to be true. He also knew that Jesus fulfilled the law for those who were under it. As such, that yoke was removed from the people when they came to Christ.   And yet, there are people today who reimpose the law upon people of Israel who never properly lived their lives under the law. But as soon as they profess Christ, some heretic comes along and tells them that they have to observe Moses. And more, they take people who were never under the law, meaning any non-Jewish person on the planet, and they tell them they must now observe Moses!   Think of it. These are the scribes and Pharisees of today. They cast a burden on those they instruct that the people of Israel were never able to bear and that the Gentiles never had to bear. Instead of leading them to Christ, who is the fulfillment of these things, they lead people into the bondage of legalism and law observance.   If Jesus' words about the scribes and Pharisees are actively condemning of them and their actions, imagine how much trouble these false teachers will be in! And more, if all of Israel were swept away because of the teaching of its leaders, how much more do you suppose those who follow these law-observing heretics will also receive their just condemnation?   It is hard to imagine how thoroughly duped people allow themselves to be. But there is a remedy. Pick up the Bible and read it! In the Bible, one finds freedom in Christ. May you find it today.   Lord God, help us to live our lives faithfully in Christ Jesus our Lord, trusting in His fulfillment of all works necessary to restore us to You. We can rest in His accomplished word, apart from any deeds of our own. Hallelujah and amen.  

Traditions of men addressed. A Gentile "dog" ? Feeding of the 4,000. Blind man healed.

IntroductionThe stories of Aeneas and Tabitha can seem like small transitional narratives in the book of Acts. We can read Acts and note that the historical record is fine without these stories. Luke, the inspired writer and researcher, records these stories in his orderly account. These two stories testify to Peter's credibility as a witness and apostle of Christ. These stories also assure us that Christ is present with his church even as he is in heaven. In Acts 9:32-43, Luke records two significant miracles that Peter performs. These miracles are not ultimately about Peter. They point beyond Peter to Christ. The people who witness the healing of Aeneas do not turn to Peter in worship. They turn to the Lord in worship. The other thing we note is that Peter's actions echo the ministry of Christ and demonstrate that he is a commissioned messenger sent by God. He is not just the man who denied his Lord three times. No, he is a credible apostle who brings the gospel to the nations, breaking down the clean/unclean distinction. How does Luke establish all this? Healing AeneasPeter performing a miracle that restores Aeneas' mobility is remarkable. The story itself is pretty straightforward. This seems like a good time to review what we understand about the Lord giving his people signs and miracles. We might think that this is done so the person can be in the spotlight. That is not the case. In fact, signs and miracles establish the credibility of the messenger and point people to the God who sent him. When Moses asked how Israel would know that the Lord had truly sent him, God gave him signs. The signs demonstrated that Moses was not simply making claims on his own authority. (Exodus 4)The same principle is evident with Peter. Peter had denied Christ three times. Luke records this failure on Peter's part. Now Peter is ministering in Lydda and Joppa, bearing witness to Christ and performing signs in Christ's name. The man who once denied his Lord is now being used by Christ as a credible witness to his resurrection and saving work. So, as Peter travels, he ministers the gospel. He bears witness to Christ's work. The Lord gives signs that testify to Peter's apostolic authority. Like Moses, Peter brings the Lord's revelation, and the signs and wonders authenticate his ministry as a witness of Christ.This is important because Peter is not the centerpiece. He is not saying, “Look at me.” In fact, Peter's ministry echoes what Jesus himself had done. When Peter tells Aeneas, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” (Acts 9:34), Luke echoes the healing of the paralytic in Luke 5. Peter is not replacing Christ; he is bearing witness to Christ. Luke is assuring us that Peter is a credible witness with apostolic authority.We need to remember that the purpose of spiritual gifts and ministry is not to elevate the messenger but to build up the body of Christ. The ultimate call is to direct the congregation's attention to Christ. The result of Aeneas' healing makes this unmistakable: the people who saw what happened turned to the Lord. The miracle accomplished its purpose because Christ received the glory.Healing TabithaTabitha, also called Dorcas, is introduced to us through her gracious and charitable life. Her name means gazelle. This is an animal that is thought to be full of beauty and gracefulness. Her beauty is a life that is shaped by grace. The widows show Peter the garments she made for them, demonstrating her kindness. Their showing the garments implies they are proud of the garments. Dorcas/Tabitha/Gazelle does not make garments that display their poverty, but garments that express their dignity. We have no idea if Peter knows this woman or ever met this woman. One thing we know is that he meets her in a tragic scene: her funeral. However, we should not see this scene as dire and hopeless. The scene intentionally echoes Christ's own ministry. The language here echoes Christ raising Jairus' daughter in Mark's Gospel. The people are grieving. There is a body prepared for burial. Peter arrives and puts the people outside just as Christ has done with Jairus' daughter. He prays. Peter then commands her to arise and takes her by the hand after she sees Peter. Remember the story with Jairus? First, Jairus requests Christ to heal his sick daughter, but then the girl dies. Christ goes to his house and assures the grieving crowd the girl is sleeping. He takes her by the hand and says, “Talitha (little girl) cumi (I say to you, arise)!” Peter is imitating the pattern of his Lord's ministry, not independently exercising Christ's divine authority. The point is not that Peter has somehow become Christ. Rather, the miracle demonstrates that Peter is a credible apostle whose ministry bears a correlation to the same Lord who conquered death. Christ is still at work after his ascension into heaven. The Lord of life has not abandoned his people. He continues to care for his church, to strengthen his people, and to demonstrate that death does not have the final word. The gospel is not simply a message about something Christ did in the past. It is the proclamation of the living Christ who continues to work among his people.Luke tells us that she was called Tabitha, which is translated as Dorcas. He gives us both her Aramaic name and its Greek equivalent. The gospel is going to the Roman world and to the Gentile peoples, and Luke continues to give us subtle hints that the Lord's intention is for the gospel to go forth.Peter stays in Joppa with Simon, the tanner. A tanner worked with animal skins and dead animals. This is a career that is offensive to Jewish people and to someone concerned about remaining clean. Yet Peter stays with Simon the tanner. And immediately afterward, Luke takes us into the events of Acts 10, where Peter begins wrestling with whether he can enter the home of a Gentile and eat with him.Luke is already beginning to prepare us for the answer. Peter can enjoy the hospitality of a man who would be considered unclean. Surely, he can have a meal with a Gentile, and build fellowship with one who was at one time unclean. Christ is in heaven, but the gospel is going forth. A kind woman makes clothing to build up dignity rather than to shame. Peter can stay with a man who is engaged in an unclean, but not necessarily sinful, occupation. The gospel therefore brings people together not because they share the same nationality, genealogy, background, or outward identity, but because they share the same Redeemer. Christ is bringing his people together in himself.ConclusionThese stories are not some filler so Luke can meet a requirement. First, Peter is shown to be a credible apostolic witness. His past denial of Christ does not define him. Christ has restored him, commissioned him, and is working through him. The signs Peter performs point beyond Peter to the authority of Christ.Second, we are reminded that Christ is still the Lord of life. He has ascended, but he has not abandoned his church. He continues to work through his people, and his gospel continues to bring life where there was death. The gospel is the message of redemption that restores man to receive his glorious inheritance while tasting Christ's blessings today. And finally, we see the gospel beginning to break down the barriers that once separated God's people from the nations. The Lord is gathering his people together in Christ. The distinctions that once marked out clean and unclean are giving way to the greater reality of cleansing in Christ.So when we read these stories, we should not simply marvel at the miracles. No, we should see our Christ. We should trust the apostles who bear witness to Christ. Let us therefore go forward in that gospel not to glorify ourselves, but to be humbled so our Lord can be glorified. Let us walk in Christ, find our life in Christ, and trust the Lord who continues to work in his church.

In this study we will take a look at the women within the Bible. We will look at each one of them and see how their story influences our lives today.As we continue our study in this fantastic insight of the Women of the Bible, this morning we will finish our study on Deborah and Jael.Deborah (a bee) & Jael (wild or mountain goat) – Warrior WomenDeborah is one of the major judges (other words more of a charismatic military leaders, not a justice type judge figure) in the story of how Israel takes the land of Canaan. Deborah summons Barak to lead the battle against the Canaanites; he agrees, but only if she accompanies him. Barak and his warriors destroy all the Canaanites except Sisera, who seeks refuge with but is killed by Jael. Later rabbis acknowledged Deborah as a prophet but, due to their discomfort with women leaders, blunted her impact by speculating about her husband, reading her self-identification in the Song of Deborah in Judges 5 as hubris, and minimizing her role as judge. Deborah led the Israelites in peace and in war. She was a prophetess, but when war came she devised a battle strategy that gave the out-numbered and badly equipped Israelite troops victory over their Canaanite enemy. Meanwhile woman, Jael, used a tent peg and a mallet to finish off the unfortunate enemy general, Sisera.The story of Deborah describes the unlikely victory of the Israelites, led by the wisdom of Deborah, over superior Canaanite [do you remember who these people were?] forces. After the battle, the defeated Canaanite general Sisera was killed by a Kenite woman called Jael. Deborah's achievement was significant because the battle gave the Israelites their first access to the fertile and prosperous Plain of Esdraelon and part of the Plain of Sharon.Jael's story is similar to the one told about David and Goliath. A small, weak person, Jael, triumphs over a terrifying and apparently invincible warrior, Sisera. The story celebrates the defeat of Israel's enemies and the power of Israel's Elohim. The story of Deborah and Jael contains four main sections: 1 Deborah, a judge of Israel, summoned Barak (Judges 4:1-11, 5:1-18). When war and oppression come, Deborah acted as a leader of the people. She chose the most able military general and told him what he must do. 2 The battle was fought: Sisera fled (Judges 4:12-16, 5: 19-23). The superior enemy forces were routed, their troops were slaughtered, and the Israelites were jubilant. Their faith in their Yahweh was strengthened. Sisera, the enemy general, fled from the battlefield towards the encampment of Jael the Kenite woman. 3 Jael met Sisera, and killed him (Judges 4:17-24, 5:24-27). Jael called Sisera into her tent, hid him and fed him. After he fell asleep Jael killed him by driving a tent peg through the side of his head. She was hailed as a national heroine by the pursuing Israelite forces, led by Deborah and Barak. 4 The mother of Sisera (Judge 5:28-30). Sisera's mother and the noblewomen who surrounded her waited for her son to return. But as the reader knows, he was already dead by Jael's hand. The Song of Deborah (Judges 5) is dated at about 1285-1265BC, near when these events happened. It is a vivid picture, giving more details than Judges 4. For example, it contains a series of curses on those tribes who did not help in the battle, planting the seed for a later separation of the northern and southern tribes of Israel.Deborah is the only woman judge mentioned in the Book of Judges. The people of her time had no difficulty in accepting her as a judge. This suggests that judges were seen as ‘Yahweh's people', and their gender was unimportant.It is always sin which puts things out of Yahweh's order, and all kinds of complications follow. At this time, the children of Israel did evil in the sight of Yahweh, and "Yahweh sold them into the hand of Jabin “one who is intelligence', king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor “village”; the captain of whose host was Sisera “battle array”, which dwelt in Harosheth “workmanship” [so called from the different races, possible giants included]of the Gentiles." Again and again, this history had been repeated. Yahweh had fulfilled His word, "If ye will not hearken unto Me, and will not do all these commandments; and if ye shall despise My statutes, or if your soul abhor My judgments, so that ye will not do all My commandments, but that ye break My covenant: I will also do this unto you;…I will set My face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you." (Lev. 26:14-17.) The Battle: Phase 1Deborah summoned as many Israelite tribesmen as she could get – the main contingent was from Naphtali and Zebulun. Some of the tribes would not come, but those who did camped at Mount Tabor.It was hilly ground, easily defensible, with a flanking position facing the Jezreel Valley. There was excellent visibility in all directions. The sloping ground gave the Israelites security against any Canaanite chariot attack.The main Canaanite army base was at “Harosheth of the Gentiles.” This must have been close to the Valley of Jezreel, for the site of the decisive battle was near Megiddo, in the western section of the valley.Just before the battle, a flash flood swelled the nearby Wadi Kishon and turned the battleground into deep mud (documented in the Song of Deborah 5:4-5), giving the Israelite foot soldiers the advantage over the Canaanite chariots. The Battle: Phase 2Deborah guessed that when Sisera was told about the Israelite deployment, he would concentrate all his forces at Mount Tabor, to contain Barak.Eventually, Sisera would have reasoned, Barak would be forced out into the open to fight on the open plain – where he could be defeated.But Deborah had a second force at her disposal, militia she had gathered from Ephraim. She used this body of soldiers to draw Sisera away from his vigil opposite Mount Tabor, towards the swampy area of the Kishon River in the western part of the Jezreel Valley.She must have provided good reason for him to abandon his first position – tantalizingly, the Bible does not tell us what it was.But it must have been a movement threatening the unprotected plain. Only this would have induced Sisera to break camp and move in the direction of the Kishon River, to secure the narrow pass between the Carmel and the Tivon hills leading from the Jezreel Valley into the coastal plain. Whatever this feint was, it worked.The Battle: Phase 3The opposing forces watched each other for a few days. One guesses that Deborah was waiting for rain to turn the Kishon and its tributaries into a mire. When she received the confirmation she hoped for, she gave Barak the sign to attack: ‘Up, for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand' (Judges 4:13).Her assault caught Sisera's troops in the flanks or rear, or possibly both. At that point the Ephraimite force joined the main battle. ‘And the Lord discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak' (Judges 4:15).There was a wonderful irony in this. Baal, the main god of the Canaanite forces, was god of storms and weather. He was worshipped by the Canaanites, with Anat, a fierce goddess who fought vigorously to protect her family. Yet the Canaanites lost the battle because of a storm!The Israelites could hardly believe their luck. Yahweh, their Elohim, was clearly superior to the gods of the Canaanites.Abandoning his army, Sisera fled on foot away from the battlefield, towards the encampment of Jael, the Kenite woman (Judges 4:12-16).Jael had her own tent, separate from her husband's tent. At this period in Israelite history it was still common for several women to be married to one man. In such a case, each wife had her tent, which she made, pitched and maintained herself. When she had children, they lived with her in this tent.‘So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty”. She opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. He said to her “Stand at the entrance of the tent, and if anybody comes and asks you “Is anyone here?” say “No”.When Sisera arrived at the encampment in the last stages of exhaustion and terror, Jael saw him and called him to her tent.  One point to notice is that Sisera went into Jael's tent, not the tent of Heber her husband. The ancient laws of hospitality in the Middle East were very strict. A guest, once ritually invited into the home, had to be protected and cared for, even at the expense of everyone else in the house. But only the chief man of the household could offer ritual hospitality. Sisera went into Jael's tent. She covered him with a rug, which suggests that he was afraid and wanted to hide. He asked for water. She gave him a drink of goat's milk. Exhausted from the battle and his flight, he fell asleep.Faced with a man who was far superior to her in physical strength, Jael used her wits and courage. She took the wooden hammer used to put up her tent and one of the pegs that held the tent ropes, and then with one expert blow she drove the peg deep into the side of Sisera's head. Join me as we go Chapter by Chapter, Verse by Verse, Unraveling the Words of Yahweh!Have any questions? Feel free to email me; keitner2024@outlook.com 

Traditions of men addressed. A Gentile "dog" ? Feeding of the 4,000. Blind man healed.

Anna and Matt follow Paul and Barnabas as they travel to Antioch sharing the good news about Jesus. Some people believe and others reject their message, but Paul and Barnabas keep going because they know the results belong to God. ⭐ What Kids Will Learn:

Episode Synopsis:Gentiles had a difficult time understanding why Jews would circumcise their male children. There was no Gentile heritage or memory of Abraham.  Further complicating the situation was the fact that, among Jews in Rome—as with Jews across the Greco-Roman world—circumcision was understood to be a meritorious act.  Those who were circumcised were numbered among the people of God, and those who were not were not.  Imagine the difficulty of converting from Gentile paganism to Judaism and then having to undergo a very painful surgery in a very delicate place.  Proselytes not only needed to embrace monotheism, embrace Jewish feasts and ceremonial washings, follow the dietary laws, and obey the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments), but also undergo circumcision as adults.But just as Paul challenged the Galatian Judaizers—the covenant God made with Moses at Mount Sinai was not to be confused with the gracious covenant God made with Abraham—so too the true meaning of circumcision was not found in the cutting of flesh.  The cutting of flesh was an outward sign of the cutting of the heart—a way to speak of faith in Jesus Christ.  In Romans 2:17–29, Paul is not only correcting the Jewish misunderstanding of circumcision—a serious error in its own right—but also letting Jewish Christians know that uncircumcised Gentiles could be numbered among the people of God and become true children of Abraham without undergoing circumcision.Paul's discussion of circumcision (verses 25–29) flows out of his efforts to take the Jews to task for their hypocrisy in verses 17–24.  The Jews demand certain behavior of others—stop stealing, stop committing adultery, stop robbing temples.  But many Jews were doing the same things themselves.  The Jews are supposed to instruct those who live in ignorance and walk in darkness—the Gentiles.  They were to show them that truth is found in the law of Moses, the very embodiment of God's will.  But instead of leading and teaching the blind and foolish Gentiles, the Jews commit the very same sins themselves.  Imagine the blatant hypocrisy of insisting upon something permanent like circumcision, all the while committing the same sins that you insist the person about to submit to the procedure is supposed to stop doing.This leads to one of the most tragic lines in the whole of the New Testament (verse 24): “For, as it is written, `The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.'”For show notes and other recommended materials located at the Riddleblog as mentioned during the Blessed Hope Podcast, click here:  https://www.kimriddlebarger.com/

Caleb Cole teaches from Ephesians 2:14–18 that Jesus has reconciled us to God and one another. Discover why Christian unity is not uniformity and how the church grows stronger when believers share, challenge, love, and build together. (00:00) - Team Is Our Strength (01:51) - Jesus Makes Us One (03:52) - Jews, Gentiles, and the Call to Peace (05:35) - The Temple's Dividing Wall (10:27) - One New Humanity in Christ (13:50) - Why We Need the Church (15:41) - We Share With Each Other (20:30) - We Push Each Other (22:14) - Peacemaking and Honest Challenge (26:05) - We Love One Another (27:38) - Reconciliation and the Good Samaritan (33:16) - We Build the Church (35:00) - What Is a Good News Christian? (37:53) - Together Is What Jesus Purchased (38:39) - An Invitation to Receive Jesus

Greg, Emily, and Rachel discuss Peter travels to Cornelius's home after his vision, explains that God shows no partiality, proclaims Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, and the Holy Spirit dramatically falls on the Gentiles to confirm their full inclusion in the new covenant.Transcript: https://haltingtowardzion.substack.com/p/2c080afa-5aa7-4d7e-ad0c-e9496fcb7696

Three reasons why Christians must no longer live like Gentile pagans, who are darkened in their minds, and depraved in their hearts, alienated from God, and greedy to practice every kind of impurity. I. Because Christians have come to know Christ, v20-21. II. Because Christians have put off their old self, v22. III. Because Christians have put on the new self, v24. IV. How can we do this? Keep being renewed by God in the spirit of your minds, v23.  

Luke 24:44-4944 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”Acts 26:22-2322 But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen—23 that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”Romans 16:25-2725 Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith—27 to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.

Speaker: Gabe DavisSeries: NehemiahNehemiah 2:1-8In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. And the king said to me, Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart. Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire? Then the king said to me, What are you requesting? So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' graves, that I may rebuild it. And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), How long will you be gone, and when will you return? So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. And I said to the king, If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy. And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.Ezra 4:21-22Therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt, until a decree is made by me. And take care not to be slack in this matter. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?Matthew 10:29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.Hebrews 1:3He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,Job 12:23-24He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away. He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth and makes them wander in a trackless waste.Acts 17:26And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,Psalm 139:16Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.1 Samuel 2:6-7The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts.Proverbs 21:1The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.Proverbs 19:21Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.Genesis 50:20As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.Job 1:21-22And he said, Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.Psalm 135:6Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.Psalm 100:5For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.Mark 10:18And Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.Acts 4:27-28for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

Verse by verse study through the book of Acts Chapter Thirteen and Verse Forty Two

John 10:1-10 ESV1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. • • •1. Jesus knows those who belong to Him by name. • • •John 9:35-38 ESV35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. • • •2. Those who belong to Jesus know His voice and follow Him. • • •2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. • • •3. Jesus gives abundant life to those who belong to Him. • • •Psalm 23:1-4 ESV1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul.He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. • • •Matthew 6:31-33 ESV31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?' or ‘What shall we drink?' or ‘What shall we wear?' 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. • • •Application:Follow Jesus and live the abundant life He offers.

The sermon explores the theological distinction between the Church and the nation of Israel, emphasizing that the New Covenant is specifically for Israel while Gentiles have been grafted into God's plan through the mystery of grace. It clarifies that the Church is not the replacement for Israel but a separate entity created by God's foreknowledge, citing Ephesians and Colossians to demonstrate the unfathomable riches of this inclusion. The teaching distinguishes between the 'fullness of the Gentiles,' which precedes the Rapture, and the 'times of the Gentiles,' a period of Gentile dominion over Jerusalem that will end with Christ's return. By analyzing Luke 21 and Romans 11, the message warns against spiritual ignorance and self-righteousness, urging believers to understand that God's promises to Israel remain irrevocable despite their partial blindness. The tone is instructional and corrective, aiming to align the congregation's understanding with a literal interpretation of Scripture regarding end-times events and divine election.

Our study continues in Luke 21:20 with Jesus' words concerning the city of Jerusalem. Here the Lord gives conditions and warnings to His own. As we learn, these predictions came to pass some 40 years later in 70 A.D. All these things will come to pass in order to fulfill Scripture. There are Scriptures which reference Israel such as Deuteronomy 28:63-66. The times of the Gentiles are here in Luke 21:24. Luke only uses this phrase, “the times of the Gentiles” found in this verse. As Dr. Mitchell explains, the times of the Gentiles is the entire period of time that the Jewish nation is under Gentile domination. This domination began with the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 2 and following in 603 B.C. andcontinues to this day.Let's hear more from Dr. Mitchell, on the Unchanging Word Bible Broadcast, Luke 21:20-24.

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. (1Timothy 3:16)

What happens when faith encounters silence, discouragement, and an answer that challenges our expectations? In Matthew 15:21–28, a Canaanite mother approaches Israel's Messiah, pleading for her daughter's deliverance. Her response reveals a faith Jesus calls great. Pastor Brandon Holthaus examines four barriers—silence, discouragement, priority, and entitlement—and what they reveal about our trust in God. This woman persisted through difficulty, accepted Israel's priority, and sought mercy without demanding Israel's place. She understood that the Messiah could bless her without taking anything away from His people. Discover why religious privilege cannot substitute for personal faith, why Gentile blessing does not require Israel's displacement, and how to pray confidently while respecting God's promises, purposes, and timing.

9.27.2026 - Acts - The Holy Spirit & the First Disciples - The Gentiles Accepted - Acts 11:1-18 by Anacostia River Church

Welcome to the Podcast of Southwest Bible Fellowship in Tempe, Arizona. WHO ARE WE? • We are a group of people who are committed to living the grace life as set forth by the apostle of the Gentiles, the Apostle Paul. • We come together to study our Bibles, and yes, we believe we have God's perfect Word in the King James Bible. It and it alone is our final authority in all matters of faith and practice! • We do not come together and study our Bibles for the intent of being smarter than others. We understand that knowledge for the sake of knowledge is purely vain and serves no Godly purpose. • We do come together and study our Bibles for the intent of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ and the power of His resurrection. (Philippians 3:10) • We do come together and study our Bibles to understand that we have been crucified with Christ; nevertheless we live; yet not us, but Christ liveth in us: and the life which we now live in the flesh, we live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us. (Galatians 2:20) • We do come together and study our Bibles to understand that because Jesus Christ shed His blood for us and we should not live for ourselves but for Him, who died for us and rose again. (2 Cor. 5:15) • We do not claim to have attained to these lofty goals, but we press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14) You can donate to this ministry through www.butnow.org and the PayPal button on the homepage.

Welcome to the Podcast of Southwest Bible Fellowship in Tempe, Arizona. WHO ARE WE? • We are a group of people who are committed to living the grace life as set forth by the apostle of the Gentiles, the Apostle Paul. • We come together to study our Bibles, and yes, we believe we have God's perfect Word in the King James Bible. It and it alone is our final authority in all matters of faith and practice! • We do not come together and study our Bibles for the intent of being smarter than others. We understand that knowledge for the sake of knowledge is purely vain and serves no Godly purpose. • We do come together and study our Bibles for the intent of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ and the power of His resurrection. (Philippians 3:10) • We do come together and study our Bibles to understand that we have been crucified with Christ; nevertheless we live; yet not us, but Christ liveth in us: and the life which we now live in the flesh, we live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us. (Galatians 2:20) • We do come together and study our Bibles to understand that because Jesus Christ shed His blood for us and we should not live for ourselves but for Him, who died for us and rose again. (2 Cor. 5:15) • We do not claim to have attained to these lofty goals, but we press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14) You can donate to this ministry through www.butnow.org and the PayPal button on the homepage.

TO THE END OF THE EARTH: A Sermon Series Through the Book of Acts–––––––––––––Jesus called them, taught them, and prepared them. But would the Apostles and the early church be able to continue the work without Him? The Book of Acts tells the story of how the Holy Spirit empowered the church to spread the gospel. Through His power and the faithful obedience of the people, Christianity exploded, spreading from Jerusalem to the end of the earth. Two thousand years later, the mission is still ours. We must continue to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. Please join on this amazing and challenging journey! –––––––––––––Message Focus: For all our differences, we share one far greater need: we all need Christ. Selected Scriptures from Luke 5, Matthew 15, and John 4 Speaker: Matt Thornton, Pastor Date: September 27, 2026

Lead Pastor Jamey Miller preaches on Romans chapters 9-11. He shows how God's promises to Israel are fulfilled in Christ, enabling both Jews and Gentiles to come together to worship Him.

Send us Fan Mail Ken Corkins and pastor Rocky Ellison return for Season 18, Episode 26 of “Pondering the Bible,” finishing Romans 11:22–36. They discuss God's kindness and severity, including debate over whether believers can lose salvation, with Rocky arguing “once saved, always saved” while acknowledging traditions that read “cut off” as loss of salvation and offering sanctification as evidence of genuine faith. Using Paul's olive tree imagery, they explain how Gentiles are grafted in by grace and Jews can be grafted back in through faith in Christ, cautioning Gentiles against arrogance and anti-Jewish exclusion. They unpack Paul's “mystery” about Israel's hardening until the Gentiles come in, consider differing views of “all Israel will be saved,” affirm God's irrevocable promises, and end with Paul's doxology meant for congregational singing. 00:00 Welcome Back Intro 00:17 Travel Catch Up 00:45 Romans 11 Setup 01:26 Kindness And Severity 05:09 Can You Lose Salvation 08:42 Grafted In Again 10:55 Mystery Of Israel 15:02 All Israel Saved Debate 17:28 Irrevocable Promises 18:12 Mercy For All 20:12 Doxology Explained 22:15 Final Reflections OutroNEW!: Rate us at Podchaser  Find us at www.pondergmc.org. Feedback is welcome: PonderMethodist@gmail.com Music performed by the Ponder GMC worship team.Cover Art: Joe WagnerRecorded, edited and mixed by Snikrock 

Sunday Morning Service Series - A Series covering the Book of Romans: Today we cover Romans 8: 1-4, No Condemnation in Jesus! Romans is a theological letter written by Paul the Apostle explaining the gospel and how God saves humanity through grace by faith in Jesus Christ. It teaches that all people—both Jews and Gentiles—are sinners in need of salvation, and that righteousness comes not through the law but through faith in Christ. The letter also calls believers to live transformed lives marked by humility, unity, love, and obedience to God. If you are interested in attending our LIVE teachings (Wednesdays @ 7:00 pm & Sundays @ 10:00 am), you are invited to visit us at 4218 Boston Ave. Lubbock, Texas. To connect with us, you can call us at (806) 799-2227, email us at calvarylubbock@hotmail.com, or checkout our website at CalvaryChapelLubbock.church. You can also watch us on Facebook and contact us through Facebook Messenger. Please feel free to let us know about your walk with Jesus, as we would love to hear it and pray with you. If you'd like to partner with us to help us take the Gospel to the world, just click on the DONATE button on our website, let us know through Facebook Messenger, or in person. We pray that the rest of your week be blessed and that you share the love of Jesus with everyone that you encounter.

This sermon examines the doctrine of the Trinity through specific passages in the book of Isaiah, identifying the distinct roles and relationships of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The analysis begins with Isaiah 42, where the Father is presented as the commissioner who delights in the Son, the Servant, who is empowered by the Holy Spirit to bring gentle justice to the Gentiles. The teaching continues with Isaiah 48, exploring the debate over whether the Father or the Son is the speaker, while emphasizing the unity of the divine persons in the sending of the Messiah. Finally, the sermon introduces Isaiah 61 alongside Luke 4, highlighting the anointing of Christ by the Spirit to preach good tidings and bind up the brokenhearted. Throughout the discussion, the preacher emphasizes that the three persons of the Trinity are united in purpose and authority, rather than operating in a hierarchy of subordination, providing a cohesive Old Testament foundation for understanding the triune nature of God.

Grant Clark continues the How to Build a Life series through Proverbs with a message on wisdom, mercy and justice. Caring for the poor and oppressed comes up more than forty times in Proverbs, and Grant uses four of those verses as a springboard into a biblical theology of mercy and justice that runs from Micah 6:8 through the life of Jesus to Paul's commission in Galatians 2. The argument is that God identifies himself with the poor, that the gospel makes his people into a community defined by mercy and justice, and that this has to translate into concrete action: praying, listening, speaking up and acting.## Proverbs on the poor and oppressedGrant opens with stories from Durban, South Africa, where he grew up and planted a church before moving to San Diego: the country with the highest income inequality in the world, a wealthy family whose crane business shaped the city skyline, students who could afford one meal a day, and a financial advisor in his church who drove across the city during xenophobic riots to bring a Congolese nurse working as a car guard into his home, waking him each morning with a cup of tea like one of the family.He then reads four proverbs on the poor.Proverbs 31:8-9Proverbs 14:31Proverbs 19:17Proverbs 21:13One striking theme across these verses is how closely God identifies himself with the poor. When we are generous to those who lack, we are being generous to the creator. When we oppress or mistreat the poor, we insult God. And when we ignore the poor, God will ignore our prayers. Grant cites Matthew Henry's commentary: God will be deaf to the prayers of those who are deaf to the cries of the poor. By his count this is one of eight ways in Scripture that God will not answer prayer.## Micah 6:8: do justice, love mercy, walk humblyMicah 6:8 (NIV)Grant grew up singing this verse in a small Pentecostal church, and one of the commentaries he read says of it:"This is one of the most significant and profound verses in the entire Bible… Here God condensed the spirit of the entire Old Testament law down to three simple principles."Other commentators call it the finest summary of practical religion in the Old Testament, and early rabbis called it a one line summary of the whole law. Proverbs is a father showing his son how to walk, and Micah 6 does the same thing in one line.Mercy is the Hebrew word hesed. Daniel Block defines it this way:"Hesed cannot be translated with one English word. It is a covenant term, wrapping up in itself all the positive attributes of God: love, covenant faithfulness, mercy, grace, kindness, loyalty. In short, it refers to acts of devotion and loving kindness that go beyond the requirements of duty." – Daniel BlockJustice is the Hebrew word mishpat, a concept based on God's character. God is just, so he wants his people to be just. In Micah 6 the word for justice puts the emphasis on action, and the word for mercy puts the emphasis on the attitude underneath the action. Justice without mercy produces self-righteousness: ticking all the boxes and looking down on those who don't, which Grant connects to shame, cancel culture and virtue signaling. Mercy without justice is false love. Love has to translate into doing something, whether praying, serving, giving, or inconveniencing yourself for someone else. Just as faith without works is dead, love without action is dead.To walk humbly is the opposite of sinful and selfish pride. Humility says, I believe God, I trust God, so I obey God. It is walking carefully in God's ways, in line with the design of the universe and of ourselves, a theme that has run through the whole series. Grant illustrates it with his son Elliot taking every favorite toy into the bath, including the ones not designed to go in water.## Jesus and the more important matters of the lawMatthew 23:23Jesus seems to have Micah 6:8 in mind when he rebukes the scribes and Pharisees. He honors their careful tithing, down to the spices, but they have neglected the more important matters of the law: justice, mercy and faithfulness. They were doing all the right things on paper, but their hearts looked nothing like the heart of God. We don't want to do all the right things on paper and miss the things God cares about most.## What is justice?Justice became a polarizing term in recent years. Western society thinks of justice mostly in legal terms, but the Hebrew vision of mishpat, mentioned over two hundred times in the Bible, is a vision of order and flourishing for all of life, personally, socially, globally and cosmically. It means treating people fairly and impartially regardless of race, gender or background, and bringing God's order into the disordered and broken realities of the world. Picking up last week's message on work, each of us has a sphere of influence where we can be salt and light."Justice is what love looks like in public." – Cornel WestJustice is not an obscure niche concept. It is at the heart of the biblical vision of the Kingdom of God and of what God our King is like.Psalm 9:7 (ESV)Isaiah 61:8 (CSB)Zechariah 7:9-10 (NIV)## God identifies with the vulnerableA word study on justice in the Old Testament turns up the same groups again and again, known as the quartet of the vulnerable: the widow, the fatherless, the immigrant and the poor. God identifies with them directly.God is called the "father of the fatherless" (Psalm 68:5), the husband to the widow (Isaiah 54:5), the provider for the poor (Psalm 140:12), and the refuge for the immigrant (Psalm 146:9).Jesus was born to a single mother, into a poor family (we know this from the offering they brought to the temple in Luke 2), became a refugee in Egypt immediately after his birth, and was most likely the son of a widow, since Joseph is absent by Mark 3.In the Old Testament, God identified with the marginalized; in the New Testament, God came down and became one of them.Our God can identify with the poor and oppressed because he has been the poor and oppressed. If you are in that space right now, you are not alone. Jesus then displayed justice in the most shocking way on the cross: the perfectly righteous and just one died in the place of the wicked. The judge took the place of the judged. The just took the place of the unjust.## The gospel creates a people of mercy and justiceSeeing his grace toward us changes how we see the people around us. The gospel gives us eyes to see people the way God sees them, because we were those people. We were the poor, the broken, the needy, and we experienced his grace. We don't do good things to earn God's love, to avoid punishment or to earn an identity. We do them out of what Jesus has already given us. God saw us when we were poor and broken, saved us, and gave us a new heart, a new life and a new identity, and from that place we take those same things to the world.## Remember the poorGalatians 2:9-10 (CSB)After Jesus called him, Paul went to the pillars of the first church, Peter, John and James the brother of Jesus, to check his calling against theirs. They recognized the grace of God on him and commissioned him to the Gentiles, the way a church commissions and sends a new church plant. They asked only one thing: remember the poor. The word "remember" is an active, ongoing remembering, not a one-off thought. Paul says that was already something he was eager to do.Grant illustrates with an episode of The Studio (not an endorsement of the show), where Adam Scott, accepting a Golden Globe, spontaneously thanks Sal Saperstein, the unimportant friend at the back of the room who let him sleep on his couch when he first moved to LA. Winner after winner then thanks Sal, and the spotlight keeps landing on the powerless man in the dark at the back until he is all anyone is talking about. In Proverbs and in Galatians 2, God shines a spotlight on the people at the back of the room who no one was going to notice. Peter, James and John say: we are talking about the Kingdom of God, so let's not forget the people who have no voice, who can't advocate for themselves, who have no power in this room. Freely we have received his grace, and freely we give.Romans 15:25-27Paul kept that commitment. Years later he was carrying a collection from the Gentile churches in Macedonia and Achaia to the poor among the saints in Jerusalem, and he describes it as a debt gladly owed: those who have shared in spiritual blessings owe it to share their material ones.## How do we respond?The world's brokenness can feel so overwhelming that we withdraw. Habakkuk felt the same way.Habakkuk 1:2 (CSB)Habakkuk's protest prayer brings the injustice and evil of the world before God as a petition: would you move, would you help, would you save? Grant lays out several ways to respond.Pray and lament. Begin with prayer and lament over the brokenness around us, ask God to move and to use us, and pray as Jesus taught in Matthew 6: your kingdom come, your will be done, in this city and this world as it is in heaven. When Grant lived in Durban he would look out over the city and pray about the gap between what he saw and what he knew God's kingdom looks like.Listen. Listen to the stories of people who are different from us and of people who fall into these categories of poor and oppressed. Christians can be quick to talk; James 1 calls us to be slow to speak and quick to listen. Dietrich Bonhoeffer called this the ministry of listening.Speak up.Proverbs 31:8-9 (CSB)Most of us don't have the authority or platform to speak for the nation, the state or the city. But in which rooms can we speak up? In which groups? Where do we have a space where we can speak?Act.Proverbs 21:3 (CSB)Each of us needs to prayerfully consider what response God is calling us to make to a message like this. We can't do everything, but we can do something, in small or big ways."The righteous are willing to disadvantage themselves to advantage the community; the wicked are willing to disadvantage the community to advantage themselves." - Bruce WaltkeThere is a heart to serve in this church, and over the coming weeks the church will look at concrete ways to give, pray and serve people in the city who don't have a voice, power or influence. Supporting a new church plant, a community transformed by God's grace and mercy forming an outpost of the Kingdom, is one of the ways we remember the poor, seek first his kingdom, and act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.Micah 6:8Grant closes in prayer that God would teach the church the breadth and depth of his love, help us understand the gospel in fuller and deeper ways, and show us how to act justly and love mercy and walk humbly with him, whether in small responses this week or bigger ways he is stirring.Verses referenced:Proverbs 31:8-9 (CSB)Proverbs 14:31 (CSB)Proverbs 19:17 (CSB)Proverbs 21:13 (CSB)Micah 6:8 (NIV)Matthew 23:23 (CSB)Psalm 9:7 (ESV)Isaiah 61:8 (CSB)Zechariah 7:9-10 (NIV)Psalm 68:5Isaiah 54:5Psalm 140:12Psalm 146:9Luke 2:22-24Mark 3:31-35Galatians 2:9-10 (CSB)Romans 15:25-27 (CSB)Habakkuk 1:2 (CSB)Matthew 6:9-10James 1:19Proverbs 21:3 (CSB)

WATCH NOW:  “Does God Require Your Gratitude?” – Rabbi Steve Weiler (09/11/2026)Erev Shabbat Service, Sept 11, 2026More videos available on the Shoresh David Messianic Synagogue of Tampa Youtube channel https://youtu.be/4XHKVVzwCSs Copyright Licensing InformationCCLI Profile #: 3931821Shoresh David is a congregation where Jews and Gentiles worship together. Whether you are an interfaith couple, Jewish person or a Christian, Shoresh David is a place where you can belong.  We look forward to seeing you at Services. Shalom!Website: http://www.shoreshdavid.orgFacebook: http://facebook.com/shoreshdavid - You can watch services live, Friday night 7:00pm ET / Saturday morning 11:00am ET via the Shoresh David Facebook Page.Shoresh David Messianic Synagogue of Tampa4320 W Bay to Bay Blvd, Tampa, FL 33629Phone: (813) 831-5673#messianicjudaism #yeshua #tampaSupport the show

This sermon examines the character of Jonah in the first chapter of his book, highlighting the tension between his divine commission and his subsequent flight to Tarshish. The central message addresses the spiritual danger of disobedience, illustrating how a 'down-slidden' state erodes a believer's communion with God and their compassion for others. Through the narrative of the storm and the sailors' reaction, the text contrasts Jonah's hollow profession with the genuine fear and repentance displayed by the Gentile crew. The preacher emphasizes that while God chastens His children, He also uses their failures to reveal His sovereignty and mercy, ultimately pointing to Christ as the greater Jonah who appeases God's wrath. The sermon concludes with a call for believers to recover from spiritual decline through reverent fear, sacrificial praise, and resolute vows to live consistently with their faith.

What makes people unified? Is it the way they act? The same interest? In this sermon on unity from Ephesians 2:19 titled “Christian Unity,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones states “Nothing else can bring men together truly but this—this gospel.” In Ephesians, Paul is addressing the reality that both Jew and Gentile were side by side in standing before God through Jesus. This reality would have stunned the readers of Ephesians. No “righteousness” that Jews had would earn right standing before God and no lack of religious heritage for the Gentile would hinder salvation through Christ. Their righteousness was as filthy rags before God and all are on the same plane (Isaiah 64:6). All sinners are absolutely helpless before God. However, as Dr. Lloyd-Jones notes, Christians are those who are agreed upon the cross, know Jesus Christ, and share Christ's righteousness. Also, Christians are one because they are brought to one Father by one Spirit (Eph. 2:18). Dr. Lloyd-Jones also notes that all who are in Christ are fighting the same battle, have the same struggles, and are able to carry each other's burdens as they journey through this life. They are also comforted by one savior. Though living this life may be challenging, Christians are marching towards one eternal hope. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/603/29?v=20251111

The נַעֲנוּעִים are not some devil-worship ritual, but rather a sublime Maimonidean-Logical rite of acknowledging God's sovereignty over everything, even the Heavens. The great impact of Modena's explanation upon Gentile intellectuals

Did Jesus expect to return within the lifetime of his first hearers? Dr. Craig takes up one of the most debated questions in the doctrine of the last things: the timing of the Second Coming. In the Olivet Discourse of Mark 13, Jesus predicts false messiahs, wars, earthquakes, famines, persecution, cosmic signs, and the preaching of the gospel to all nations before the end. Paul adds more in 2 Thessalonians 2, where the rebellion and the man of lawlessness must come first, and in Romans 11, where the full number of the Gentiles comes in before all Israel is saved. Taken together, these texts suggest Christ's return lies far in the future. Yet Jesus also says "this generation will not pass away before all these things take place" (Mark 13:30), and that some standing before him would not taste death before seeing the kingdom come with power (Mark 8:38–9:1), a saying Matthew 16:28 makes sharper still. Dr. Craig sets these two lines of evidence side by side and frames the puzzle he resolves in the next lesson.