Podcasts about living one

Today, we're talking about the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Revelation 1:18 says, “I am the Living One. I was dead, but look, I am alive forever. I have power over death and hell.” Jesus died on the cross and rose again three days later; even death could not overpower Him. The miracle of His resurrection is life-changing for believers now, and forever. In John 11:25–26, Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” This means that through faith in Jesus, we too can have eternal life—even after physical death. As believers, we have access to this resurrection power. This power is not only for the future, but also for the present. It gives us the ability to overcome any challenge or difficulty that we face in life. We can have hope even in the midst of trials, because we know that Jesus has overcome death and has the power to give us victory. Nothing we experience in this life is truly the end—because our souls are eternal.Whatever you face, remember that Jesus has the power to bring you out of it. Call on His name and believe in His resurrection power. Jesus is alive forever, and He brings life to any dead situation.Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. Help us to always remember that we have access to this power and that through it, we can overcome any obstacle. Strengthen our faith and give us hope in every situation. In Jesus' name, we pray, amen. Change your shirt, and you can change the world! Save 15% Off your entire purchase of faith-based apparel + gifts at Kerusso.com with code KDD15.

Have you ever wondered… When Jesus died on the cross, did He really die, or just partially die? How did that work? Well, when He breathed His last on the cross, death attempted to take down the author of life. Without a doubt, He did die. He even lay dead in the grave for three days. Revelation 1:18, says this, Jesus says, I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive forever and forever! And I hold the keys to death and Hades. At the moment of His death, the earth shook! There was a massive earthquake, and inside the temple, a thick veil was torn in half. That veil symbolized the separation between us, sinful humans, and our holy God. Because of Jesus' sacrifice, all who choose to follow Him are made clean. Always remember there is hope with God. I'm Andrew Palau. radio.hopewithgod.com

Have you been saved by Jesus? Salvation is the deliverance from sin and death that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus overcame sin and death, and gave us the opportunity to have eternal life.Revelation 1:18 says, “I am the Living One. I was dead, but look, I am alive forever. I have power over death and hell.”As believers, we can have confidence that our salvation is secure in Jesus Christ. No matter what happens during our temporary earthly lives, we can be sure of our eternal destiny. This knowledge gives us lasting peace, and hope that transcends our present circumstances.The power of salvation also gives us, through God's grace, the ability to overcome sin and withstand temptation. And by obedience to the Holy Spirit, we can daily try to live a life more like Jesus, and grow in our faith. If you haven't yet received the salvation that Jesus offers, we invite you to do so today. Simply believe in Jesus, ask forgiveness for your sins, and ask Him to be the Lord of your life. A personal relationship with Jesus Christ is a gift that lasts for all eternity. Let's pray. Dear Lord, thank you for the power of salvation that comes through faith in Jesus. Help us to live a life that is pleasing to you, and to share this message of hope with others. It's in Jesus' name that we pray, amen. Change your shirt, and you can change the world! Save 15% Off your entire purchase of faith-based apparel + gifts at Kerusso.com with code KDD15.

As we enter the Easter season, we join Christians throughout the world in focusing our attention on Jesus, “The Living One," as He calls Himself. In this message, Pastor Derrill introduces the series "The Living One" by teaching on the context of the key text, Revelation 1:17–18, and deciphering principles about how we, too, can see Jesus. Listeners will come to see the role their worship, focus, and reverence play in their ability to see Him.

Please visit www.thehikmahproject.com for accompanying notes

Introduction (Bruce Almighty movie clip) It is possible that you are here today and are wondering how and why it is that a good God would allow some of the hard things you were forced to experience so far. Maybe you have said or identify with Bruces description of his own experience with God: God is a mean kid sitting on an anthill with a magnifying glass, and I'm the ant. He could fix my life in five minutes if He wanted to, buthe'd rather burn off my feelers and watch me squirm. If God is good, and if he is infinitely and perfectly sovereign how and why does He allow so much suffering in the world? How is it that He allows so much evil when he is the measure of all that is holy and good? There seems to be a great divide between the God we read about in our Bibles and the world we live in. What are we supposed to do with the confusion, disappointment, anger, evil, and suffering God has allowed into our lives? Is it okay to be angry with God when we suffer? I plan to answer the above questions, but we must start with the nature and character of God as He revealed Himself to Moses after 40 years in the desert as a fugitive of Egypt after he murdered one of Pharoahs guards. Moses Encounter with a Holy God Here is what you need to know about what led up to Moses experience with the burning bush. God made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and then to Jacob that their children would become His people; the promise was threefold and included the promise of land, the increase of their people, and that their people would eventually be a blessing to the nations. However, God also promised that they would spend years in a land where they would be afflicted (see Gen. 15:13; Exod. 12:40-41). When Moses was born, the Hebrew people had spent centuries living in Egypt. The Hebrew people were first welcomed as honored guests under Joseph (one of the sons of Jacob) who was second to Pharaoh, but as the years past, so did the memory of Joseph. The Hebrews eventually became the slaves of another Pharaoh; he was so threatened by the birth rate of the Hebrews, that he implemented infanticide as the law of the land and wrote into law that every Hebrew son born was to be thrown into the Nile. Moses mother refused to murder her baby, so she kept his birth a secret until she could not do so any longer; she put baby Moses in a basket covered with tar and pitch, put him in it, and floated it down the Nile where Pharaohs daughter eventually found the basket with baby Moses whom she raised as her own. Moses grew up in Pharaohs house, but he was also aware of his roots as a Hebrew man. We know that Moses had a temper, and on two occasions, it cost him much. On one such occasion, after seeing an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, Moses killed the Egyptian and buried his body in the sand (see Exod. 2:11-12). When Moses learned that others knew that he killed the Egyptian, he fled and hid in the land of Midian. Moses spent the next 40 years of his life in Median, got married, and worked for his father-in-law Jethro. What We Learn About God Through Moses Encounter Before we can answer where or not it is okay to be angry with God, we need to consider the God who found Moses in Midian; against the backdrop of Josephs 13 years of suffering, the generations of slavery the Hebrews suffered in Egypt, and Moses 40 years in Midian. God is Holy: He is not like us. Moses approached the burning bush not only because it was weird, but because God called to him, from the midst of the bush and said, Moses! Moses! Moses response was simple: Here I am. Notice that as Moses got closer to the burning bush, God said to him, Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. What made the ground holy? The presence of God made it holy. As R.C. Sproul wrote in his timeless and classic book, The Holiness of God: God alone is holy in Himself. Only God can sanctify something else. Only God can give the touch that changes it from the commonplace to something special, different, and apart.[1] Now, just so that you are aware, it is not only Moses, a mere mortal human, who must remove his sandals in the presence of holiness. The seraphim whose sole purpose is worship above the throne of God are not exempt from the kind of respect and reverence that was expected of Moses in the presence of the Holy One. Isaiah was invited into the throne room of Almighty God, and this is what he saw: In the year of King Uzziahs death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim were standing above Him, each having six wings: with two each covered his face, and with two each covered his feet, and with two each flew. And one called out to another and said, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of armies. The whole earth is full of His glory. And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. (Isa. 6:14) The great Seraphim must cover their face and their feet in the presence of a Holy God even though they have not been stained by sin, but because they, like us, are creatures and God is the Creator. Isaiahs response before the Holy One was appropriate: Woe to me, for I am ruined! Moses response was not only to remove his sandals, but to hide his face, for he was afraid to look at God (v. 6). Why? Because God is holy, and we are not. God is not like us. God is Omniscient: He sees the big picture. When we come to verse 6, God let Moses who it was that was speaking to him: I am the God of your fatherthe God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And just as God was intimately acquainted with the lives of Moses forefathers, He was aware of the suffering of Moses kinsmen in Egypt: I have certainly seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their outcry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings (v. 7). When the Hebrews entered into Egypt, they were the size of a small clan, but after hundreds of years in Egypt, they had become the size of a small nation. When Moses fled to Midian, he was a 40-year-old used to royalty; the Moses who stood before the burning bush was any eighty-year-old shepherd. What the Hebrews did not understand, and what Moses could not have fathomed was that God was using the ugly, the hard, and the pain for something far greater than they could have imagined. God was aware of their suffering all along, and now in that moment was the right time to, rescue them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from the land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey... (v. 8) just as He promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob centuries before. So, God said to Moses: And now come, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt (v. 10). To which, Moses appropriately responded: Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt? All that the Hebrews could see was their slavery and suffering; all that Moses could see was his failures and incompetence. What God saw was that He alone can use the foolish to shame the wise and the weak to shame the strong (see 1 Cor. 1:26-31). What God saw was that His timing was infinitely better because He saw the big picture. God is Faithful: He keeps His promises. Remember that the Hebrew slaves in Egypt were surrounded by an Egyptian culture that worshiped Egyptian gods who were not gods, but demons (see Deut. 32:17). Moses questioned what name he was to give to the Hebrew slaves if they were to ask Who it was that sent Moses to deliver them (v. 13). Here is Gods answer: And God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM; and He said, This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: I AM has sent me to you (v. 14). Then God continued: This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is the name for all generations to use to call upon Me (v. 15). In other words, God told Moses: You tell them that Yahweh sent you! At the heart of Gods answer are four facts about His nature for why the Israelites should believe the He could and would deliver them: Yahweh is self-existent and not dependent. God was unlike the Egyptian gods who were created by their own culture. Yahweh is the Elohim over elohims. The great I AM was bigger than the plight of the Israelites as He is greater than any trouble in our own lives. Yahweh is creator and sustainer. Who wrote the Law of Thermodynamics? Who governs the laws of gravity?Who grants the Sun permission to get up in the morning? Who gave the song for the birds to sing? Who owns the cattle on a thousand hills? Who brings men into power, raises nations into prominence and then brings them to naught? Is it not the great I AM who keeps His covenant promises. Yahweh is unchanging. Yahweh is the great I AM whose personality does not change. He does not suffer from a multi-personality disorder. He does not change with the ideas of his devotees. He is unmovable because He does not change. Because Yahweh is unchanging, He is constant unlike the gods of the Egyptians or whatever idol we may have set up in our own heart. Yahweh is eternal. Because He is the great I AM, Yahweh will never have a beginning nor will he ever have an end. Even though the fool has said there is no God, Yahweh is absolute reality with nothing before or after Him. The great I AM does not sleep, slumber, slack off, or slip into a daydream stupor. What God told Moses is this: Moses, you tell My people that the Covenant Keeper who promised their forefathers that He would make them into a great nation, would give them land as a nation, and would make them a blessing to the nations... you tell them the Faithful and Living One sent you! God keeps His promises because He alone is faithful even when we are not. Conclusion So, the question you may still be asking is whether it is or is not okay to be angry with God? Is it okay to be angry with He who is Holy and infinitely unlike us creatures? Is it okay to be angry with the One who sees and knows all things perfectly? Is it okay to be angry with the One who keeps His covenant promises because He is faithful while we are faithless time and time again? Is it okay to be angry with Yahweh who is Almighty God? As you know, God did use Moses to lead the Hebrews out of the bondage of slavery from Egypt, and He did it miraculously and profoundly. Yet, even after God delivered them, Moses found himself shepherding and leading a people who demonstrated over and over again just how faithless they really were. After their grievous sin of idolatry with the golden calf, Moses pleaded with God for mercy for His people who sinned, and God granted it. In Exodus 33:17-34:9 we are given a glimpse into Moses heart as a shepherd absolutely in love with Yahweh, and in that exchange asked to see God. God told Moses that he could not see His face and live, but this is what God did say He would do: I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion to whom I will show compassion (Exod. 33:19). When God did pass, He hid Moses in the cleft of a rock, and allowed His goodness to pass by him and when it did, Moses heard God proclaim of His goodness: The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in faithfulness and truth; who keeps faithfulness for thousands, who forgives wrongdoing, violation of His Law, and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, inflicting the punishment of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations (Exod. 34:67). So, what does Gods goodness include? It includes His mercy, patience, faithfulness, truth, and grace. But it also includes His justice and wrath in response to sin. So, again I ask you: Is it okay to be angry with the God who is Holy and infinitely unlike us creatures? Is it okay to be angry with the God who sees and knows all things perfectly? Is it okay to be angry with a holy God who is faithful while we are faithless time and time again? Is it okay to be angry with Yahweh who is Almighty God? Let me reframe the question for you: If God is infinitely good and we are the ones who need to improve upon being good, do we have any right to be angry with God? Now, think about the effects anger has on a relationship. When you are angry with someone because you believe you have been wronged by that person, it interferes with communication. Anger towards a friend or a member of your family often drives a wedge between you and that person. Anger typically results in the one offended distancing himself/herself from the person who wronged them. If there is no need for God to improve, especially in being good, then to suggest that it is okay to be angry with Him is to suggest that it is okay to accuse Him of wrongdoing. Psalm 145 is a great Psalm to visit while suffering or confused why God would allow you to suffer; verses 8-9 say the following: The Lord is gracious and compassionate; slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works. Again in Psalm 145:17-18, The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and kind in all His works. The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. I have head Christians and Pastors console the suffering and confused: It is okay to be angry with God. To which I ask, How is it okay to be angry with He who is infinitely holy, how is it okay to be angry with Him who sees all while my vision is limited, how is it okay to be angry with the Almighty whose faithfulness has been proven time and time again while my faithfulness has been found wanting more than I count? Listen dear friend, not only are we not given permission in all of Scripture to be angry with God, but we also have no right to be angry with Him. Here is what is permitted and even expected by God: We can be confused, frustrated, and even hurt emotionally. If God is infinitely good, which He is, then we can run to Him with our confusion, we can run to Him with our frustration, and we can run to Him with our wounded and bleeding hearts knowing that even though we cant see His goodness in and through our pain, we can trust that He is still good and will turn it around in His way and in His time for His glory and our good! After Moses experienced the goodness of God when His glory passed by while he was in the cleft of the rock, Moses responded on behalf of the sins of Israel: If in any way I have found favor in Your sight, Lord, please may the Lord go along in our midst, even though the people are so obstinate, and pardon our wrongdoing and our sin, and take us as Your own possession (Exod. 34:9). Dear brothers and sisters, if your faith and trust is in Jesus as proof of Gods infinite goodness, then my plea to you is not to run from Him in anger but to him with all your pain, confusion, and frustration. Run to the God of Romans 8:28-32, And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? [1] Sproul, R.C., The Holiness of God (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers; 1998), 39.

Introduction (Bruce Almighty movie clip) It is possible that you are here today and are wondering how and why it is that a good God would allow some of the hard things you were forced to experience so far. Maybe you have said or identify with Bruces description of his own experience with God: God is a mean kid sitting on an anthill with a magnifying glass, and I'm the ant. He could fix my life in five minutes if He wanted to, buthe'd rather burn off my feelers and watch me squirm. If God is good, and if he is infinitely and perfectly sovereign how and why does He allow so much suffering in the world? How is it that He allows so much evil when he is the measure of all that is holy and good? There seems to be a great divide between the God we read about in our Bibles and the world we live in. What are we supposed to do with the confusion, disappointment, anger, evil, and suffering God has allowed into our lives? Is it okay to be angry with God when we suffer? I plan to answer the above questions, but we must start with the nature and character of God as He revealed Himself to Moses after 40 years in the desert as a fugitive of Egypt after he murdered one of Pharoahs guards. Moses Encounter with a Holy God Here is what you need to know about what led up to Moses experience with the burning bush. God made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and then to Jacob that their children would become His people; the promise was threefold and included the promise of land, the increase of their people, and that their people would eventually be a blessing to the nations. However, God also promised that they would spend years in a land where they would be afflicted (see Gen. 15:13; Exod. 12:40-41). When Moses was born, the Hebrew people had spent centuries living in Egypt. The Hebrew people were first welcomed as honored guests under Joseph (one of the sons of Jacob) who was second to Pharaoh, but as the years past, so did the memory of Joseph. The Hebrews eventually became the slaves of another Pharaoh; he was so threatened by the birth rate of the Hebrews, that he implemented infanticide as the law of the land and wrote into law that every Hebrew son born was to be thrown into the Nile. Moses mother refused to murder her baby, so she kept his birth a secret until she could not do so any longer; she put baby Moses in a basket covered with tar and pitch, put him in it, and floated it down the Nile where Pharaohs daughter eventually found the basket with baby Moses whom she raised as her own. Moses grew up in Pharaohs house, but he was also aware of his roots as a Hebrew man. We know that Moses had a temper, and on two occasions, it cost him much. On one such occasion, after seeing an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, Moses killed the Egyptian and buried his body in the sand (see Exod. 2:11-12). When Moses learned that others knew that he killed the Egyptian, he fled and hid in the land of Midian. Moses spent the next 40 years of his life in Median, got married, and worked for his father-in-law Jethro. What We Learn About God Through Moses Encounter Before we can answer where or not it is okay to be angry with God, we need to consider the God who found Moses in Midian; against the backdrop of Josephs 13 years of suffering, the generations of slavery the Hebrews suffered in Egypt, and Moses 40 years in Midian. God is Holy: He is not like us. Moses approached the burning bush not only because it was weird, but because God called to him, from the midst of the bush and said, Moses! Moses! Moses response was simple: Here I am. Notice that as Moses got closer to the burning bush, God said to him, Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. What made the ground holy? The presence of God made it holy. As R.C. Sproul wrote in his timeless and classic book, The Holiness of God: God alone is holy in Himself. Only God can sanctify something else. Only God can give the touch that changes it from the commonplace to something special, different, and apart.[1] Now, just so that you are aware, it is not only Moses, a mere mortal human, who must remove his sandals in the presence of holiness. The seraphim whose sole purpose is worship above the throne of God are not exempt from the kind of respect and reverence that was expected of Moses in the presence of the Holy One. Isaiah was invited into the throne room of Almighty God, and this is what he saw: In the year of King Uzziahs death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim were standing above Him, each having six wings: with two each covered his face, and with two each covered his feet, and with two each flew. And one called out to another and said, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of armies. The whole earth is full of His glory. And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. (Isa. 6:14) The great Seraphim must cover their face and their feet in the presence of a Holy God even though they have not been stained by sin, but because they, like us, are creatures and God is the Creator. Isaiahs response before the Holy One was appropriate: Woe to me, for I am ruined! Moses response was not only to remove his sandals, but to hide his face, for he was afraid to look at God (v. 6). Why? Because God is holy, and we are not. God is not like us. God is Omniscient: He sees the big picture. When we come to verse 6, God let Moses who it was that was speaking to him: I am the God of your fatherthe God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And just as God was intimately acquainted with the lives of Moses forefathers, He was aware of the suffering of Moses kinsmen in Egypt: I have certainly seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their outcry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings (v. 7). When the Hebrews entered into Egypt, they were the size of a small clan, but after hundreds of years in Egypt, they had become the size of a small nation. When Moses fled to Midian, he was a 40-year-old used to royalty; the Moses who stood before the burning bush was any eighty-year-old shepherd. What the Hebrews did not understand, and what Moses could not have fathomed was that God was using the ugly, the hard, and the pain for something far greater than they could have imagined. God was aware of their suffering all along, and now in that moment was the right time to, rescue them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from the land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey... (v. 8) just as He promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob centuries before. So, God said to Moses: And now come, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt (v. 10). To which, Moses appropriately responded: Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt? All that the Hebrews could see was their slavery and suffering; all that Moses could see was his failures and incompetence. What God saw was that He alone can use the foolish to shame the wise and the weak to shame the strong (see 1 Cor. 1:26-31). What God saw was that His timing was infinitely better because He saw the big picture. God is Faithful: He keeps His promises. Remember that the Hebrew slaves in Egypt were surrounded by an Egyptian culture that worshiped Egyptian gods who were not gods, but demons (see Deut. 32:17). Moses questioned what name he was to give to the Hebrew slaves if they were to ask Who it was that sent Moses to deliver them (v. 13). Here is Gods answer: And God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM; and He said, This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: I AM has sent me to you (v. 14). Then God continued: This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is the name for all generations to use to call upon Me (v. 15). In other words, God told Moses: You tell them that Yahweh sent you! At the heart of Gods answer are four facts about His nature for why the Israelites should believe the He could and would deliver them: Yahweh is self-existent and not dependent. God was unlike the Egyptian gods who were created by their own culture. Yahweh is the Elohim over elohims. The great I AM was bigger than the plight of the Israelites as He is greater than any trouble in our own lives. Yahweh is creator and sustainer. Who wrote the Law of Thermodynamics? Who governs the laws of gravity?Who grants the Sun permission to get up in the morning? Who gave the song for the birds to sing? Who owns the cattle on a thousand hills? Who brings men into power, raises nations into prominence and then brings them to naught? Is it not the great I AM who keeps His covenant promises. Yahweh is unchanging. Yahweh is the great I AM whose personality does not change. He does not suffer from a multi-personality disorder. He does not change with the ideas of his devotees. He is unmovable because He does not change. Because Yahweh is unchanging, He is constant unlike the gods of the Egyptians or whatever idol we may have set up in our own heart. Yahweh is eternal. Because He is the great I AM, Yahweh will never have a beginning nor will he ever have an end. Even though the fool has said there is no God, Yahweh is absolute reality with nothing before or after Him. The great I AM does not sleep, slumber, slack off, or slip into a daydream stupor. What God told Moses is this: Moses, you tell My people that the Covenant Keeper who promised their forefathers that He would make them into a great nation, would give them land as a nation, and would make them a blessing to the nations... you tell them the Faithful and Living One sent you! God keeps His promises because He alone is faithful even when we are not. Conclusion So, the question you may still be asking is whether it is or is not okay to be angry with God? Is it okay to be angry with He who is Holy and infinitely unlike us creatures? Is it okay to be angry with the One who sees and knows all things perfectly? Is it okay to be angry with the One who keeps His covenant promises because He is faithful while we are faithless time and time again? Is it okay to be angry with Yahweh who is Almighty God? As you know, God did use Moses to lead the Hebrews out of the bondage of slavery from Egypt, and He did it miraculously and profoundly. Yet, even after God delivered them, Moses found himself shepherding and leading a people who demonstrated over and over again just how faithless they really were. After their grievous sin of idolatry with the golden calf, Moses pleaded with God for mercy for His people who sinned, and God granted it. In Exodus 33:17-34:9 we are given a glimpse into Moses heart as a shepherd absolutely in love with Yahweh, and in that exchange asked to see God. God told Moses that he could not see His face and live, but this is what God did say He would do: I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion to whom I will show compassion (Exod. 33:19). When God did pass, He hid Moses in the cleft of a rock, and allowed His goodness to pass by him and when it did, Moses heard God proclaim of His goodness: The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in faithfulness and truth; who keeps faithfulness for thousands, who forgives wrongdoing, violation of His Law, and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, inflicting the punishment of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations (Exod. 34:67). So, what does Gods goodness include? It includes His mercy, patience, faithfulness, truth, and grace. But it also includes His justice and wrath in response to sin. So, again I ask you: Is it okay to be angry with the God who is Holy and infinitely unlike us creatures? Is it okay to be angry with the God who sees and knows all things perfectly? Is it okay to be angry with a holy God who is faithful while we are faithless time and time again? Is it okay to be angry with Yahweh who is Almighty God? Let me reframe the question for you: If God is infinitely good and we are the ones who need to improve upon being good, do we have any right to be angry with God? Now, think about the effects anger has on a relationship. When you are angry with someone because you believe you have been wronged by that person, it interferes with communication. Anger towards a friend or a member of your family often drives a wedge between you and that person. Anger typically results in the one offended distancing himself/herself from the person who wronged them. If there is no need for God to improve, especially in being good, then to suggest that it is okay to be angry with Him is to suggest that it is okay to accuse Him of wrongdoing. Psalm 145 is a great Psalm to visit while suffering or confused why God would allow you to suffer; verses 8-9 say the following: The Lord is gracious and compassionate; slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works. Again in Psalm 145:17-18, The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and kind in all His works. The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. I have head Christians and Pastors console the suffering and confused: It is okay to be angry with God. To which I ask, How is it okay to be angry with He who is infinitely holy, how is it okay to be angry with Him who sees all while my vision is limited, how is it okay to be angry with the Almighty whose faithfulness has been proven time and time again while my faithfulness has been found wanting more than I count? Listen dear friend, not only are we not given permission in all of Scripture to be angry with God, but we also have no right to be angry with Him. Here is what is permitted and even expected by God: We can be confused, frustrated, and even hurt emotionally. If God is infinitely good, which He is, then we can run to Him with our confusion, we can run to Him with our frustration, and we can run to Him with our wounded and bleeding hearts knowing that even though we cant see His goodness in and through our pain, we can trust that He is still good and will turn it around in His way and in His time for His glory and our good! After Moses experienced the goodness of God when His glory passed by while he was in the cleft of the rock, Moses responded on behalf of the sins of Israel: If in any way I have found favor in Your sight, Lord, please may the Lord go along in our midst, even though the people are so obstinate, and pardon our wrongdoing and our sin, and take us as Your own possession (Exod. 34:9). Dear brothers and sisters, if your faith and trust is in Jesus as proof of Gods infinite goodness, then my plea to you is not to run from Him in anger but to him with all your pain, confusion, and frustration. Run to the God of Romans 8:28-32, And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? [1] Sproul, R.C., The Holiness of God (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers; 1998), 39.

In the book of Genesis, a pregnant slave called Hagar was running away from her slave-owner Sarai who had been cruel towards her. The Lord sent an angel. Then the angel of the LORD told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.” The angel of the LORD also said to her: “You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” Genesis 16: 9−13A well was dug at that place called “Beer Lahai Roi” meaning “well of the Living One who sees me”. There is a beautiful moment in the Hollywood movie Avatar. Neytiri, the Na'vi warrior and princess of Pandora recognises the call and destiny of the movie's hero, Jake Sully, the one she has been falling in love with. She says to him, “I see you!” meaning “I understand you; I see into your heart”. “I know who you are.”Hagar must have felt very alone when she was running away from Sarai. Perhaps she even thought God had abandoned her. After all, Sarai and her husband Abram were recipients of the promises of God. God had spoken to them, and they were prosperous by His hand. Hagar had effectively run away from the people of God's favour. Why would God care about her?But God hadn't forgotten her. He had seen her in the desert. He had seen her in her sadness, and after the angel spoke to her with instructions and promises, she could encourage herself with a new truth in her experience: ‘God sees me, too'; “I have now seen the One who sees me.”Perhaps we can draw comfort from these words too. Maybe nobody was watching when that guy treated you unkindly, or when you were passed over again for that promotion. Perhaps no other soul was aware of how alone you felt the other day, and no-one can possibly understand the ordeal you have just been through. But He sees you. And understands you and knows you. And He loves you. The One who, at times, may appear to only bless others, sees you too. Maybe like Hagar, we too can pray, “You are the God who sees me.”

I have officiated dozens of funerals over the years as a pastor, which means that I was involved in the planning of the service, the delivery of a sermon, and some form of committal service involving the burial of the deceaseds body or placement of the ashes of those bodies that were cremated. The first funeral I officiated was that of my 47-year-old father and since I have been responsible for burying people of all ages as young as grade school to the oldest who was 101 years old. I have been asked to memorialize people from all walks of life, many of whom loved and walked with Jesus as fellow Christians and some who were not Christian. The one thing that every one of the funerals and memorial services I officiated have in common is that every family and friend of the diseased who asked me to officiate the service of their loved one believed and articulated their belief that he/she was in a better place. Just as the old spiritual is true: Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. So, it is true that we will grope for reasons to believe that our loved ones are in a better place regardless of what they believed or even how they lived. Most people do not want death for anyone they love, and when death does come, we want heaven for those we love. After officiating so many funerals, I had come to the place in my experience as a pastor that I believed that I had experienced just about everything there was to experience related to funerals and grieving family member. I am old enough and have seen enough to know better. I remember Ian Whites family who reached out to Northwest Baptist Church (the first church I served as the Lead Pastor in Colorado). Ian was not a Christian, nor was his family; he was found dead on the front steps of his apartment and was 34 years old. I remember their response when I sat down with them to plan Ians memorial service and their request after I asked if they would like a song or two for those present to sing in honor of Ians life. I expected something like Amazing Grace, but Ians family wanted everyone to sing Free Birdby Lynyrd Skynyrd. I remember a woman who started attending the church I planted in Colorado and the grief she carried with her with the death of her husband. I still remember the Sunday she wanted me to know that her dead husband was with her. In that moment I thought she meant his spirit or memory, but no... I discovered what she meant when she opened her purse to show me the urn that contained the ashes of her deceased husband. She brought the urn with her every Sunday she came, and I believe that she even sat her husbands urn on the chair next to her. I guess for this woman, the better place for her husband was in her purse. How do you know if a person who has died is really in a better place? What evidence does one have to make such a claim? What Happens After We Die? One of the things I say at every funeral is that when we die, we will experience the immediate judgment we are warned about throughout the Bible. In Hebrews 9:27-28, we have one such warning: And just as it is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him. But what kind of judgment are we destined to face? To begin, you need to know that there are two types of judgment every human will face, the first has to do with where our disembodied soul must go, which is temporary. The second judgment we will all face is permanent. For the Christian, the day that you die will be the moment you will be in the presence of Jesus just as we are promised in the Bible: Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lordfor we walk by faith, not by sightbut we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:6-8). Jesus told a parable in the Gospel of Luke about a rich man who lived a life of luxury while ignoring the poor man by the name of Lazarus (not to be confused with Jesus friend who Jesus raised to life in John 11:1ff.). In Jesus parable, both men died; Lazarus soul went to where Abrahams soul dwelled while the rich mans soul went to Hades where he suffered torment. Of Hades, the rich man begged for a drop of water to ease his torment because, his words: I am in agony in this flame (see Luke 16:19-31). Before Jesus told His parable about the rich man and Lazarus, He said this about money: No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth (Luke 16:13). The rich man was not in hell because he ignored Lazarus, he was in hell because he loved his money more than God. Had he loved God, he would not have been able to ignore Lazarus. Jesus spoke more about hell than he did about love or heaven, and he did so for a reason. He spoke so much about hell because he came, to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). The reason why Jesus described the distance between the rich man in hell and Lazarus in heaven as a great chasm is because hell is the place where those are sent who, will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power (2 Thess. 1:9). Jesus described the place the rich man went to immediately after he died in the following ways: A place of torture (Matt. 18:34), a place where the wicked are cut to pieces (Matt. 24:51), and a place of scourging (Luke 12:47-48), a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 8:12; 13:42; 24:51; Luke 13:20), and a place of outer darkness (Matt. 22:13; 25:30). Just as there is a new heaven and earth that is promised to the Christian, at the same time there will exist the lake of fire where the devil and his demons will be cast into forever. The lake of fire is described as a place where, ...their worm will not die and their fire will not be extinguished; and they will be an abhorrence to all mankind (Isa. 66:24b). In Revelation 20:11-15 we are told of a second judgment that we all will face: Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.... Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyones name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. There are only one of two outcomes every person will face the moment of death: eternal life with Jesus that will eventually include a physical resurrection and life on a new and resurrected earth, or eternal death apart from Jesus that will eventually result in eternity in the lake of fire. Neither the lake of fire nor a resurrected life with Jesus on a new earth are temporary, but eternal. So, the question we need to answer is if it is true that every person who dies is in a better place? Jesus Is the Hope of a Better Place There are scores of Bible passages we could have looked at today to discover whether it is true or not that all people eventually go to a better place after they die, but I thought we could settle on Revelation 1:12-18. For me, this is one of the most hopeful and encouraging passages in all the Bible! In verses 12-16, we are given certain details about Jesus to clue us into who He really is. There is a lot packed into these verses that we simply do not have the time to examine, but there are some things that I must show you in order to address the topic of this sermon. Jesus is a Better High Priest First, Jesus is a better priest. Every year, on the Day of Atonement, a high priest would go into the temple in Jerusalem to enter a place called the Holies of Holies to bring a sin offering into the presence of God on behalf of Israel. The high priest would do it with a rope around him just in case he died, and his corpse had to be pulled out due to any sin not yet addressed in his own life before entering. The High Priest wore a long robe and was fitted with a type of belt or sash that was laced with gold. Once a year, every year, the High Priest would act as a representative and advocate for all of Israel. As you know, Jesus died on a cross as the Lamb of God for our sins; when John turned to see the voice that was speaking, He saw Jesus dressed as a High Priest because the sacrifice He made was sufficient to cover all our sins for all time, once and for all. For this reason, Hebrews describes Jesus in the following way: But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things having come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made by hands, that is, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all time, having obtained eternal redemption (Heb. 9:11-12). Jesus is the Only Sufficient Savior What follows in verses 14-17 are characteristics which reveal why Jesus is sufficient to redeem and save sinners such as us. First, His hair is white like wool and as bright as snow because He is profoundly and divinely wise. Yes, Jesus is fully man, but He is also fully God; Jesus is the Son and at the same time He is the ancient of Days with all the wisdom of eternity (see Dan. 7:9-14). Second, Jesus eyes were like a flame of fire which speak of His ability to see and know all things as God can only do. Third, His feet were like burnished bronze to symbolize His omnipotent strength to judge the nations, crush Satan, and triumph over death as the author and giver of life. Forth, Jesus holds the seven stars that serve as the seven messengers to the churches of which He holds in the palm of His hand; the point is that Jesus is also divinely sovereign. Fifth, out of the mouth of the Savior comes a sharp two-edged sword symbolizing His right to Judge as King of kings and Lord of lords. Sixth, the face of Jesus shines like a powerful sun because of His holiness, majesty, and absolute beauty as One worthy of our worship because He is God. Jesus is presented in Revelation 1:14-16 in the way that He is because of what Adam lost in the garden due to his sin and rebellion; Jesus is the only One qualified to redeem what was lost, for He is the second and greater Adam who is fully man and fully God in one Person. Simply put, because of Adams sin, we are sinners under a curse that God alone is able to sufficiently and completely reverse; Jesus was qualified to do just that! Jesus is the Great I AM The One titled the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5), the Lord of Glory (1 Cor. 2:8), the Pioneer and Perfecter of our Faith (Heb. 12:1-2), and the King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16), is the first and the last. Where else have we seen that kind of language: I am the first and the last? I will tell you! We see it in a host of passages, but Isaiah 44:6 will suffice: This is what the Lord says, He who is the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of armies: I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me. Because He is the first and the last He conquered death because, as the Living One, ...it was impossible for Him to be held in its power (Acts 2:24). When John saw Jesus, he fell at His feet like a dead man, but Jesus declared to him: Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore... John had no reason to fear because Jesus stood as a greater High Priest on Johns behalf, He was the sufficient savior John spent a lifetime following, and Jesus was the only One qualified to pay the penalty for Johns sin by becoming a curse in his place. John not only believed this, but trusted that Jesus was all that he needed, and that is why he had not need to fear. Conclusion This Jesus is the Almighty and the Alpha and Omega (Rev. 1:8; 22:12-13). He is the Author of Life (Acts 3:15). He is the Bread from Heaven (John 6:32), the Bread of Life (John 6:35), and the Bright Morning Star (Rev. 22:16). He is the Chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4) and He is the Deliverer (Rom. 11:26). He is the Good Shepherd of the 23rd Psalm (John 10:11). He is the rightful Heir of All Things (Heb. 1:1-2). Jesus is the Holy and Righteous One (Acts 3:14), the Horn of our Salvation (Luke 1:69), and the Great I Am (John 8:58-59). He is the Light of the World (John 8:12), the Gate for the Sheep (John 10:7), the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25), and He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6)! If all who die eventually go to a better place when there exists a very real hell designed by God for the punishment of sinners, then why did Jesus who is the first and the last willingly take on flesh to become like us for the purpose of dying for us to redeem sinners like us? If some dont go to a better place, but most morally good people do, then why did Jesus say in conclusion to His sermon on the mount: Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it (Matt. 7:13-14). If religious people end up going to a better place, then why did Jesus warn us of the following possibility? Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness (Matt. 7:22-23). If there is another way to a better place other than through and with Jesus, then why in the world did He so confidently and boldly declare the following: If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, this is the one who will save it. For what good does it do a person if he gains the whole world, but loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and the glory of the Father and the holy angels. (Luke 9:23-26) There is a judgment we must all face. The verdict from the moment of conception is this: ...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), and judgment for our guilt: The wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our lord.

I have officiated dozens of funerals over the years as a pastor, which means that I was involved in the planning of the service, the delivery of a sermon, and some form of committal service involving the burial of the deceaseds body or placement of the ashes of those bodies that were cremated. The first funeral I officiated was that of my 47-year-old father and since I have been responsible for burying people of all ages as young as grade school to the oldest who was 101 years old. I have been asked to memorialize people from all walks of life, many of whom loved and walked with Jesus as fellow Christians and some who were not Christian. The one thing that every one of the funerals and memorial services I officiated have in common is that every family and friend of the diseased who asked me to officiate the service of their loved one believed and articulated their belief that he/she was in a better place. Just as the old spiritual is true: Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. So, it is true that we will grope for reasons to believe that our loved ones are in a better place regardless of what they believed or even how they lived. Most people do not want death for anyone they love, and when death does come, we want heaven for those we love. After officiating so many funerals, I had come to the place in my experience as a pastor that I believed that I had experienced just about everything there was to experience related to funerals and grieving family member. I am old enough and have seen enough to know better. I remember Ian Whites family who reached out to Northwest Baptist Church (the first church I served as the Lead Pastor in Colorado). Ian was not a Christian, nor was his family; he was found dead on the front steps of his apartment and was 34 years old. I remember their response when I sat down with them to plan Ians memorial service and their request after I asked if they would like a song or two for those present to sing in honor of Ians life. I expected something like Amazing Grace, but Ians family wanted everyone to sing Free Birdby Lynyrd Skynyrd. I remember a woman who started attending the church I planted in Colorado and the grief she carried with her with the death of her husband. I still remember the Sunday she wanted me to know that her dead husband was with her. In that moment I thought she meant his spirit or memory, but no... I discovered what she meant when she opened her purse to show me the urn that contained the ashes of her deceased husband. She brought the urn with her every Sunday she came, and I believe that she even sat her husbands urn on the chair next to her. I guess for this woman, the better place for her husband was in her purse. How do you know if a person who has died is really in a better place? What evidence does one have to make such a claim? What Happens After We Die? One of the things I say at every funeral is that when we die, we will experience the immediate judgment we are warned about throughout the Bible. In Hebrews 9:27-28, we have one such warning: And just as it is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him. But what kind of judgment are we destined to face? To begin, you need to know that there are two types of judgment every human will face, the first has to do with where our disembodied soul must go, which is temporary. The second judgment we will all face is permanent. For the Christian, the day that you die will be the moment you will be in the presence of Jesus just as we are promised in the Bible: Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lordfor we walk by faith, not by sightbut we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:6-8). Jesus told a parable in the Gospel of Luke about a rich man who lived a life of luxury while ignoring the poor man by the name of Lazarus (not to be confused with Jesus friend who Jesus raised to life in John 11:1ff.). In Jesus parable, both men died; Lazarus soul went to where Abrahams soul dwelled while the rich mans soul went to Hades where he suffered torment. Of Hades, the rich man begged for a drop of water to ease his torment because, his words: I am in agony in this flame (see Luke 16:19-31). Before Jesus told His parable about the rich man and Lazarus, He said this about money: No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth (Luke 16:13). The rich man was not in hell because he ignored Lazarus, he was in hell because he loved his money more than God. Had he loved God, he would not have been able to ignore Lazarus. Jesus spoke more about hell than he did about love or heaven, and he did so for a reason. He spoke so much about hell because he came, to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). The reason why Jesus described the distance between the rich man in hell and Lazarus in heaven as a great chasm is because hell is the place where those are sent who, will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power (2 Thess. 1:9). Jesus described the place the rich man went to immediately after he died in the following ways: A place of torture (Matt. 18:34), a place where the wicked are cut to pieces (Matt. 24:51), and a place of scourging (Luke 12:47-48), a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 8:12; 13:42; 24:51; Luke 13:20), and a place of outer darkness (Matt. 22:13; 25:30). Just as there is a new heaven and earth that is promised to the Christian, at the same time there will exist the lake of fire where the devil and his demons will be cast into forever. The lake of fire is described as a place where, ...their worm will not die and their fire will not be extinguished; and they will be an abhorrence to all mankind (Isa. 66:24b). In Revelation 20:11-15 we are told of a second judgment that we all will face: Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.... Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyones name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. There are only one of two outcomes every person will face the moment of death: eternal life with Jesus that will eventually include a physical resurrection and life on a new and resurrected earth, or eternal death apart from Jesus that will eventually result in eternity in the lake of fire. Neither the lake of fire nor a resurrected life with Jesus on a new earth are temporary, but eternal. So, the question we need to answer is if it is true that every person who dies is in a better place? Jesus Is the Hope of a Better Place There are scores of Bible passages we could have looked at today to discover whether it is true or not that all people eventually go to a better place after they die, but I thought we could settle on Revelation 1:12-18. For me, this is one of the most hopeful and encouraging passages in all the Bible! In verses 12-16, we are given certain details about Jesus to clue us into who He really is. There is a lot packed into these verses that we simply do not have the time to examine, but there are some things that I must show you in order to address the topic of this sermon. Jesus is a Better High Priest First, Jesus is a better priest. Every year, on the Day of Atonement, a high priest would go into the temple in Jerusalem to enter a place called the Holies of Holies to bring a sin offering into the presence of God on behalf of Israel. The high priest would do it with a rope around him just in case he died, and his corpse had to be pulled out due to any sin not yet addressed in his own life before entering. The High Priest wore a long robe and was fitted with a type of belt or sash that was laced with gold. Once a year, every year, the High Priest would act as a representative and advocate for all of Israel. As you know, Jesus died on a cross as the Lamb of God for our sins; when John turned to see the voice that was speaking, He saw Jesus dressed as a High Priest because the sacrifice He made was sufficient to cover all our sins for all time, once and for all. For this reason, Hebrews describes Jesus in the following way: But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things having come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made by hands, that is, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all time, having obtained eternal redemption (Heb. 9:11-12). Jesus is the Only Sufficient Savior What follows in verses 14-17 are characteristics which reveal why Jesus is sufficient to redeem and save sinners such as us. First, His hair is white like wool and as bright as snow because He is profoundly and divinely wise. Yes, Jesus is fully man, but He is also fully God; Jesus is the Son and at the same time He is the ancient of Days with all the wisdom of eternity (see Dan. 7:9-14). Second, Jesus eyes were like a flame of fire which speak of His ability to see and know all things as God can only do. Third, His feet were like burnished bronze to symbolize His omnipotent strength to judge the nations, crush Satan, and triumph over death as the author and giver of life. Forth, Jesus holds the seven stars that serve as the seven messengers to the churches of which He holds in the palm of His hand; the point is that Jesus is also divinely sovereign. Fifth, out of the mouth of the Savior comes a sharp two-edged sword symbolizing His right to Judge as King of kings and Lord of lords. Sixth, the face of Jesus shines like a powerful sun because of His holiness, majesty, and absolute beauty as One worthy of our worship because He is God. Jesus is presented in Revelation 1:14-16 in the way that He is because of what Adam lost in the garden due to his sin and rebellion; Jesus is the only One qualified to redeem what was lost, for He is the second and greater Adam who is fully man and fully God in one Person. Simply put, because of Adams sin, we are sinners under a curse that God alone is able to sufficiently and completely reverse; Jesus was qualified to do just that! Jesus is the Great I AM The One titled the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5), the Lord of Glory (1 Cor. 2:8), the Pioneer and Perfecter of our Faith (Heb. 12:1-2), and the King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16), is the first and the last. Where else have we seen that kind of language: I am the first and the last? I will tell you! We see it in a host of passages, but Isaiah 44:6 will suffice: This is what the Lord says, He who is the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of armies: I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me. Because He is the first and the last He conquered death because, as the Living One, ...it was impossible for Him to be held in its power (Acts 2:24). When John saw Jesus, he fell at His feet like a dead man, but Jesus declared to him: Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore... John had no reason to fear because Jesus stood as a greater High Priest on Johns behalf, He was the sufficient savior John spent a lifetime following, and Jesus was the only One qualified to pay the penalty for Johns sin by becoming a curse in his place. John not only believed this, but trusted that Jesus was all that he needed, and that is why he had not need to fear. Conclusion This Jesus is the Almighty and the Alpha and Omega (Rev. 1:8; 22:12-13). He is the Author of Life (Acts 3:15). He is the Bread from Heaven (John 6:32), the Bread of Life (John 6:35), and the Bright Morning Star (Rev. 22:16). He is the Chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4) and He is the Deliverer (Rom. 11:26). He is the Good Shepherd of the 23rd Psalm (John 10:11). He is the rightful Heir of All Things (Heb. 1:1-2). Jesus is the Holy and Righteous One (Acts 3:14), the Horn of our Salvation (Luke 1:69), and the Great I Am (John 8:58-59). He is the Light of the World (John 8:12), the Gate for the Sheep (John 10:7), the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25), and He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6)! If all who die eventually go to a better place when there exists a very real hell designed by God for the punishment of sinners, then why did Jesus who is the first and the last willingly take on flesh to become like us for the purpose of dying for us to redeem sinners like us? If some dont go to a better place, but most morally good people do, then why did Jesus say in conclusion to His sermon on the mount: Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it (Matt. 7:13-14). If religious people end up going to a better place, then why did Jesus warn us of the following possibility? Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness (Matt. 7:22-23). If there is another way to a better place other than through and with Jesus, then why in the world did He so confidently and boldly declare the following: If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, this is the one who will save it. For what good does it do a person if he gains the whole world, but loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and the glory of the Father and the holy angels. (Luke 9:23-26) There is a judgment we must all face. The verdict from the moment of conception is this: ...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), and judgment for our guilt: The wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our lord.

"I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades." Revelation 1:18   Life can often feel like an uphill battle, filled with challenges that threaten to overwhelm us. But take heart! As we reflect on Revelation 1:18, where Jesus declares, “I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades,” we are reminded that our Savior has already triumphed over the greatest adversities. His victory is not just a historical event but a personal promise to each of us.   Consider the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15:4-7. Just as the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to find the one that is lost, Jesus pursues us relentlessly, ensuring that we are never alone in our struggles. His love empowers us to rise above our circumstances and claim the spoils of His victory: eternal life, peace, and purpose. Remember that with every challenge you face, there's an opportunity to witness God's faithfulness in action.   When we embrace this truth, we can declare boldly that we are more than conquerors through Him who love us (Romans 8:37). The keys that Christ holds signify not only His authority but also our access to a life filled with hope and promise. Don't let fear or doubt dictate your path; instead, step into the light of His victory and walk confidently in the plans He has for you.   As you navigate the ups and downs of life, keep this powerful reminder close to your heart: You have been given divine authority to overcome. With Jesus by your side, nothing can thwart His purpose for you. Trust in His guidance, lean on His strength, and allow His victory to transform your mindset from one of defeat to one of triumph. Amen. John 14:19 says, "In a little while the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live."   Prayer for the Day! Heavenly Father, thank You for the incredible victory that we have through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Help us to remember that we are never alone in our battles, and grant us the courage to claim the spoils of His triumph. May we walk in faith, trusting in Your promises, and sharing Your love with those around us. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. — Revelation 1:16 As Jesus taught and as John experienced, following Jesus will likely mean that others will resist and reject us. In some places, identifying with Jesus might even lead to prison, beatings, and death. The darkness of people who are opposed to the light of Christ can be powerful and violent. John notes here that as followers of Christ we are companions in suffering and, as well, in “patient endurance” as we await Jesus' return. John knew Jesus. He had lived with Jesus for three years. He was there at Jesus' transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8). He saw Jesus after the resurrection and when Jesus ascended into heaven. John knew what Jesus looked like. But none of that prepared John for when Jesus showed up in all his brilliance. John fell down like a dead man. Yet in this encounter Jesus immediately extended hope, saying, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!” Jesus said this to John, and he says it to us. Death, the greatest weapon that is opposed to God's abundant life, has not diminished Jesus. The present darkness that we experience has already lost the war. Jesus' reign has begun. He is alive and overflowing with more glory and light than we could ever imagine. Lord Jesus, strengthen us with certainty in your victory over death. Give us glimpses of your brilliance to sustain us now, even as we look forward to the fullness of your presence. Amen.

Our study continues in 1st Peter 4 verses 1 thru 6. Dr. Mitchell deals with the conduct of the believer in his walk with the Lord in doing the will of God. Dr. Mitchell brings out that Christ's whole life was about doing the will of God. The believer is to have this same mind as Christ. In Philippians 2:5 we are exhorted to have this mind which was in Christ Jesus who did the will of God by humbling Himself. Dr. Mitchell shares John 8:29 where Jesus says, "I always do the things that please Him" that is, God His Father. In these verses, the one who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. What does that mean? Dr. Mitchell explains. Let's open our Bibles and turn to 1st Peter 4 verse 1 with Dr. Mitchell, here on the Unchanging Word Bible Broadcast.

How can we live above the problems of everyday life? Habakkuk tells us how, and it's all about getting God's perspective. There is unspeakable joy in embracing, accepting, and submitting to whatever burden God has called each of us to endure. With His help, we can live above it! Jill taught this message at a conference on the spiritual art of leadership. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1141/29

Scripture: Revelation 12:11, Romans 9:10, Acts 21-26. Pastor opens and closes today's teaching with Revelation 12:11 and everything in-between these bookends focuses on the goodness of God through Jesus and the power and impact of our testimonies. Here's Revelation 12:11, “They triumphed over him (the enemy) by the blood of the Lamb (Christ Jesus) and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” Testimony - What's your testimony? The Bible teaches if we confess Jesus is Lord with our mouth and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead we will be saved. (Romans 9:10) Let's learn from Paul - Paul continually was sharing his testimony of what Jesus had done in his life. In today's chapters of Acts we follow Paul as he gives his testimony to:         An angry crowd at the temple in Jerusalem         The Jewish high counsel in Jerusalem         The Jewish high counsel in Caesarea         The Roman governor Felix         The Roman governor Festus         The Jewish King Agrippa and his Sister Princess Bernice Paul's testimony: He shares how he lived as a Pharisee and opposed the teaching of Jesus, and on the authority of the chief priests imprisoned those believing in Jesus and supported many being put to death. But then his story changes as he tells of being on the Damascus Road when a bright light blinded him and a voice from heaven spoke to him saying, “I am Jesus, who you are persecuting.” God broke into Paul's life and Jesus told him, “I am sending you to them (the Gentiles) to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' (Acts 26:17b-18) As Paul goes on with his testimony he shares how God had helped him share the Gospel message of Jesus' suffering, death, resurrection, ascension and return. Jesus is the Light to all. In Him alone is life forever and forgiveness. Paul's personal testimony shared over and over and over again is an encouraging example for us to do the same. Personal Testimony - it is something we want to share - a declaration of what God has done in our own lives. Like Paul, our testimonies impact the lives of those we share it with. Pastor Dodge shares his personal testimony. If you have not ever written down your testimony or bullet pointed it we encourage you to do so! When we are prepared, it helps us share more confidently and boldly! In closing, Pastor encourages us to be bold with our own testimonies and to watch what God can do as we overcome the enemy through the blood of the Lamb (Jesus Christ) and the word of our testimonies. (Revelation 12:11) https://www.awakeusnow.com Check out the video on our website https://www.awakeusnow.com/living-one Check out the video on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOwUarSm3uJrzLI4thAJNXQj Watch via our app. Text HELLO to 888-364-4483 to download our app.

How do we know what God's will is? Our Acts story continues: Paul leaves Miletus for Jerusalem and stays at the house of Philip the Evangelist. A couple days after Paul arrives at Philip's home a prophet named Agabus comes to visit Paul. Agabus takes Paul's belt, wraps it around his own hands and feet and says, “The Holy Spirit says, “In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and hand him over to the Gentiles.” The people gathered in Philip's home pleaded with Paul not to go to Jerusalem after they heard this word, but Paul responds, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart. I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” Paul makes it clear that he is willing to risk his life to give glory to His Lord, Jesus Christ. In Acts 21:14, we read that when the group could not dissuade him they gave up and said, “The Lord's will be done.” The Holy Spirit had given Paul a warning through Agabus - that he would be captured by the Jewish leaders and then turned over to the Gentiles. So this is the question: Was Paul disobedient when he decided to go on to Jerusalem? Were the words of the Holy Spirit a warning to say do not go to Jerusalem or could they perhaps be words of warning meant to prepare Paul for what was coming? Could these words be asking Paul's obedience in going to Jerusalem but God in His goodness is giving Paul a heads up of what he will suffer for Christ's sake in obeying. Theologians are split on this but here are some reasons to see Paul's decision to go on to Jerusalem as being obedient. We will use Bible texts:         Acts 9:15-16 - from Paul's conversion story we hear God tell Ananias that Paul will be a chosen instrument to proclaim God's name to many and God goes on to say, “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” Paul as Saul had caused many believers to suffer, but as a transformed believer in Jesus - Paul would come to see that suffering would come into his life over and over again. (Beaten, ship wrecks, jailed, and many more difficulties) these were all part of Paul's life. Paul understood suffering.         Acts 20:22-23 - When Paul had announced to the leaders in the Miletus meeting that it was time for him to move on, he said, “I am COMPELLED by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are ahead.” He already knew that difficulties were ahead. The Holy Spirit had already warned him, nonetheless he says he was compelled. This text speaks nothing from God about NOT going - only that ahead were hardships.         Acts 23:11 - Several chapters after today's text, Jesus speaks to Paul, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify in Rome.” These are more warning words - no correction for disobedience, but rather kindness and encouragement for Paul - Take Courage! The Lord says! These words are words of kindness to prepare Paul for what more is to come. What we can learn from Paul:         Comfort is NOT job #1. Comfort is not our primary focus.         Obedience IS job #1. We are not saved by obedience, but by the death and resurrection of Jesus our Savior. Saved by and through Him alone, by grace. However, when we know Him - we desire to follow Him. Salvation leads us to obedience.         God's glory is paramount - What matters MOST is that our glorious God receives glory in each of our lives. In thanks and gratitude for what the Savior bought for us (life forever with God) and so we give Him glory with our lives in response to His gift of salvation to us.         God's plan is incredible - our destiny is to be made new - transformed with glorified bodies with Christ forever. As a result of Paul going to Jerusalem he         WAS ACCUSED FALSELY         WAS ATTACKED         HIS LIFE WAS ALMOST TAKEN         HE WAS PUT IN CHAINS         SOME PLOTTED TO KILL HIM         HE WAS JAILED FOR 2 YEARS         THEN SENT BY SHIP BACK TO ROME AS A PRISONER TO APPEAR BEFORE THE EMPEROR But look at what happened as a result of Paul going to Jerusalem - Paul's Gospel testimony went to:         Huge temple crowds         Sanhedrin         2 governors         King Agrippa         Emperor Nero So to the question: Did Paul disobey by going to Jerusalem? Will we see the Holy Spirit warning as God's way of giving Paul the strength for what was going to happen in Jerusalem, because God wanted to use Paul's difficulties to get the Gospel message to many who otherwise may not have heard.  As Paul walked faithfully before God, God used his faith in remarkable ways.  God uses our faithful walk before Him in remarkable ways as well. Check out the video on our website https://www.awakeusnow.com/living-one Check out the video on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOwUarSm3uJrzLI4thAJNXQj Watch via our app. Text HELLO to 888-364-4483 to download our app.

Scripture: Acts 20:32-38 Pastor continues with the story of Paul's talk with the leadership of the church in a gathering in the town of Miletus - it is Paul's farewell speech to this group of believers. Paul finishes his time with these friends and leaders with them all in prayer together. There are tears as the leaders are grieved at knowing they will not see Paul again. Paul knew he had complete his work here and in the surrounding cities and areas. The chapter closes with them walking him to the ship to leave. But let's focus on one of the words from Paul's speech as it draws to an end. He talks about our inheritance in Christ.  What does inheritance mean in the Bible?   The biblical definition of inheritance is speaking of what God gives to us through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:13-14 tells us that when we believed in Christ, Christ identified us as His own by giving us the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the guarantee that Jesus will give us the inheritance He promised and that He has purchased us to be His own people.  1 Peter 1:3-4 tells us of an inheritance that comes to us through the death and resurrection of Christ and is an inheritance that can never perish or fade away. Jesus' death and resurrection is the heart of our inheritance. BUT there's more! The Essential Fundamentals of the Faith:     1.    Deity - Jesus is true man and true God     2.    Death - Jesus, the Lamb of God, through His death, paid for our sins on the cross     3.    Resurrection - Jesus' resurrection assures we too shall rise. The resurrection is God's declaration that the sacrifice of Jesus is accepted.     4.    Return - Jesus is alive forever more and is coming back. His second coming- He's coming back for us. These fundamentals are pointed to in the Old Testament, and are fulfilled in the New Testament. Jesus' return is the heart of Paul's teaching and Christ's return is what assures us of our inheritance. Are you doubting the Resurrection of Christ? Dr. Gary R. Habermas is a scholar of the resurrection of Christ and has written several books. Here are two we suggest for those wanting to read about the evidence of Jesus resurrection: “On the Resurrection: Evidences” And “On the Resurrection: Refutations” Anthony Flew, a renown atheist debated Gary Habermas. Several years later Antony rejected atheism because the evidence for God is convincing. The evidence for the existence of God and for the resurrection of Jesus is powerful and convincing. Many people have never examined the evidence but instead they have just bought into what they've been told by the world rather than the things they could have discovered. What does it mean for us that Jesus is alive?  What is our destiny? It is NOT as a spirit in heaven. The Bible teaches the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Pastor sites these verses for what the New Testament says about the:  Deceased Believers Luke 23:43 - in paradise Philippians 1:23 - with Christ, better by far 1 Thessalonians 3:13-14 - asleep BUT on our destiny we read in  1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 1 Corinthians 15:22-26, 51-52 Titus 2:13-14 John 5:28-29 that:     1.    Jesus will come down from heaven with a trumpet call and a loud voice of the archangel     2.    The dead will rise     3.    We will be with the Lord forever     4.    A new heaven and a new earth     5.    Death will be destroyed     6.    We will all be changed in the twinkling of an eye - imperishable! Our destiny is to be raised to life forever with God with transformed glorified bodies in a new heaven and a new earth - ALL things new. May the truth that we too shall rise anchor us in our faith in God and give us strength in opposition, joy in the face of loss and assurance in the face of death. https://www.awakeusnow.com Check out the video on our website https://www.awakeusnow.com/living-one Check out the video on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOwUarSm3uJrzLI4thAJNXQj Watch via our app. Text HELLO to 888-364-4483 to download our app.

Today's message is a continued study of Paul's farewell words of encouragement and warning to the gathering of church leaders. Paul shares honestly that he understands his time left on earth is short. He states how he has proclaimed the whole will of God. What is the Whole Will / Counsel of God? CREATOR - We and the world are intentionally created by a pure, loving, holy creator who shows us how brilliant a Creator / Designer He is. His design points us right back to Him, our Designer. CONDITION - Our condition is that - All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. None of us is righteous.  CHRIST - we all need a Savior and that Savior turns our lives around. Christ is the prophesied Messiah:     Deity - God     Death - on the cross for us - paid the price of our sin by taking it on Himself that we might be saved.     Resurrection - His resurrection ensures our victory over death.  We will be raised on the last day when He returns.     Returning - He will return and we will have eternal life with Him forever. Paul encourages the leaders to take care of themselves and the flocks God has given them. They are to be shepherds of the church of God. Paul warns them of the spiritual war that is all around and to be cautious not to fall prey to the eternal and internal threats against the truth of God's word. Paul closes by telling them to be on guard because remaining on guard is a life and death matter. Not just a life and death matter temporally (on this earth). It is a life and death matter eternally! (Our eternal destiny).  We must be on guard - in Greek this is one word.  That word is AWAKE! We need to wake up to the truth of what God says in the Bible. BE AWAKE - be prepared because Jesus is coming back! He will return, so…. Be awake in prayer Be awake in faithfulness to God Do not be deceived! https://www.awakeusnow.com Check out the video on our website https://www.awakeusnow.com/living-one Check out the video on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOwUarSm3uJrzLI4thAJNXQj Watch via our app. Text HELLO to 888-364-4483 to download our app.

"The fruits of accepting a true master are immense. Unfortunately, true teachers are few and difficult to find... A spiritual master who is wise, pure and a practitioner of the Yoga of Divine Sound gradually imparts his or her virtues to the student. The good will of the spiritual teacher cannot but help affecting the aspirant in a positive manner because one is affected by the power of a higher vibration." (Maharshi Mehi, The Philosophy of Liberation) My Ode to the Sant Satguru: In Praise of the Sant-soul of love who has reached the Spiritual Realm above, and merged in God. Hail to the Competent Living Master, the Qualified Teacher, rare to find in this world, so few and far between, the True One, a genuine mentor of souls, righteous and worthy Guide, a Fearless Being, Light-giver, leader of a spiritual community. With gratitude to the Competent Living One! In a Sea of Samsara -- illusion and world of changes, of falsehood and posing, there is a bright Light in the darkness. A silent Music becomes audible. At the feet of such a Loving, Radiant One, the soul can not help but find inner Light and slip into deep samadhi meditation. In the eyes of a Saint are love, wisdom, light, compassion, grace, a reflection of God in this realm of the material plane. The Master-Power connects the soul with the Supreme Lord of Love. (my Guru Purnima Ode to the Living One, The Sant Satguru) References, Subjects, and Sources Include: No Guru 'Bling' Factor - on Spiritual Not Worldly Wealth; Masks of Spirituality, commentary on Guru Nanak's Asa Di Vaar by Ajaib Singh from, In the Palace of Love; my Guru Purnima Ode to the Living One, The Sant Satguru; The Worth of Spiritual Satsang Discourses, mystic poetry by Sant Ramdas of Maharashtra; Buddha Mani-Christ: You Rescued Souls from Samsara Ignorance and Gave Wisdom, from the Great Song of the Gnostic Prophet Mani, some mystic poetry from Manichaeanism; Eavesdropping on Hathras, Teachings from the Hathras Tulsi Sahib Satsang on Complete Mahatmas, Genuine Saints; An Accomplished Living Teacher, by Shri Swami Santsevi Ji Maharaj; On the Recognition of a True Spiritual Master, by Maharshi Mehi Paramahansa Ji Maharaj from, The Philosophy of Liberation (Moksha Darshan); Every Day is an Opportunity to Meditate and Study the Teachings of the Masters, by Baba Ram Singh; The Eye Through Which I See God is the Same Eye Through Which God Sees Me, by Meister Eckhart; The Third Eye in Meditation, by Sant Kirpal Singh; a Satsang Discourse by Baba Ram Singh; Loving God With His Own Love, from the Spiritual Letters of Hadewijch, a Beguine Mystic from Antwerp, Belgium; and, In Praise of the Name, mystic poetry by Sant Eknatha of Maharashtra (peace and blessings to all) In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami (Radhaswami) James Bean Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts Santmat Satsang Podcasts Sant Mat Radhasoami A Satsang Without Walls Spiritual Awakening Radio Website: https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com    

Revelation, Session Five Christ the Savior, Anderson SC Fr. Anthony Perkins Sources: The translation of the Apocalypse is from the Orthodox Study Bible. Lawrence R. Farley, The Apocalypse of St. John: A Revelation of Love and Power, The Orthodox Bible Study Companion (Chesterton, IN: Ancient Faith Publishing, 2011), Bishop Averky, The Epistles and the Apocalypse (Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, Volume III. (Holy Trinity Seminary Press, 2018). Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse, ed. David G. Hunter, trans. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, vol. 123, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011). Jack Norman Sparks, The Orthodox Study Bible: Notes (Thomas Nelson, 2008), 1712. Venerable Bede, The Explanation of the Apocalypse, trans. Edward Marshall (Oxford: James Parker and Co., 1878). William C. Weinrich, ed., Revelation, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005). Review – from the Orthodox Study Bible Introduction and Blessing 1:1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants – things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John. 2. Who bore witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. [speaking of the Gospel of St. John]  3.  Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. Greeting to the Seven Churches 4.  John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,  5.  and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.  To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,  6.  and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever.  Amen. (OSB) 7.  Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him.  And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him.  Even so, Amen. 8. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord (God), who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” 10.  I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,  11.  saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last.” And, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. 12-13.  Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me.  And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment  down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.   New Material – from the Orthodox Study Bible 14-20.  His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.  I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.  Amen.  And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.  Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.  The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.   1:14. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire OSB.  Further, Christ is here described as God, His hair (v. 14) being that of Daniel's vision of God as the “Ancient of Days” (7:9; see also 1En 46:1). His eyes signify knowledge; His feet (v. 15), permanence and stability; His voice, authority or teaching; His right hand (v. 16), power; His two-edged sword, complete discernment. This imagery continues throughout Revelation to affirm the preexistence and eternal divinity of the Son of Man (see also Jn 1:1–18). Thus, in Christ man (v. 14) and God (vv. 15, 16) are united. St. Bede.  14. white. The antiquity and eternity of majesty are represented by whiteness on the head, to which all the chief ones adhere, as hairs, who, because of the sheep which are to be on the right hand are white, like wool, and because of the innumerable multitude of the white-robed and the elect, who come forth from heaven, are glistering like snow. eyes. The eyes of the Lord are preachers, who, with spiritual fire, bring light to the faithful, and to the unbelieving a consuming flame. Andrew of Caesarea. 1:14. His head and his hair were white as white wool, as snow, and his eyes as a flame of fire. For even though he is recent amidst us, nonetheless he is ancient; rather, he is before time. His white hair is a symbol of this. And his eyes are as a flame of fire, on the one hand, illuminating those who are holy and, on the other hand, burning the sacrilegious. 1:15.  His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; OSB. 1:15 Dan 2:31–44 indicates this mysterious metal foundation not only provides stability but has the ability to forcibly crush all opposition as well. These images are contrasted with the feet of clay found in Dan 2:33, 43: the kingdoms of this world are not permanent, nor ultimately triumphant. St. Andrew of Caesarea.  1:15a. And his feet were like glowing brass, red-hot as in a furnace. [21] The divine Gregory also understood that the feet meant the divine condescension through the flesh. For his feet by treading on the divinity achieved our salvation. The feet are also the foundations of the Church, like glowing brass, which physicians say is a sweet-smelling incense, which they call masculine incense. Or otherwise: On the one hand, meaning the human nature by the glowing brass, and on the other hand the divine nature by the incense, through both of which is also shown the sweetness of the faith and the unconfused union . Or the fine brass signifies the beautiful melody of the gospel proclamation, and the incense is the return of the nations by which the bride is summoned. And the feet of Christ are also the apostles, who have been tested by fire in the furnace of trials in imitation of their Teacher. 1:15b. And his voice like the sound of many waters. Naturally. His voice is in common with that of the Spirit, from which “rivers of living water flowed from the belly” of the faithful, and it made a penetrating sound over all the earth.   St. Bede.   15. feet. By the “fiery feet” he means the Church of the last time, which is to be searched and proved by severe afflictions. For orichalcum is brass, which, by much fire and various ingredients, is brought to the colour of gold. Another translation, which renders it, “like orichalcum of Lebanon,” signifies that in Judæa, of which Lebanon is a mountain, the Church will be persecuted, and especially at the last. The temple also frequently received the name of Lebanon, as there is said to ito, “Open, O Lebanon, thy gates, and let the fire devour thy cedars.” voice. The voice of confession, and preaching, and praise does not resound in Judæa alone, but among many peoples. 1:16.  He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. OSB: 1:16 The Lord holds the stars that represent the seven churches (1:20), and hence, the Church. For Christ is Lord of the Church. In His just judgment, the sword He wields is the Word of God, which cuts effortlessly to the very marrow and heart of humanity (see 2:16; 18:15; Is 11:4; 49:2; WSol 18:15; Eph 6:17; 2Th 2:9; Heb 4:12). The brilliance of His face recalls the Uncreated Light John saw radiating from the Savior at the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor. Andrew of Caesarea. 1:16. And he had in his right hand seven stars, and coming out from his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword, and his appearance as the sun shines in its power. [22] Further down he says that the seven stars are the seven angels of the churches. The sharp, double-edged sword means his decision against the wicked, “sharper than any two-edged sword,” or the sword of the Spirit circumcising our inner man.38 Like the sun his face shines, not in a splendor to the senses, but to the intellect. For he is the “sun of righteousness,” shining with his own power and authority, not like the sensory sun, which as a created object by God-given power and divine command.   St. Bede. 16. right hand. In the right hand of Christ is the spiritual Church. “On Thy right hand,” he says, “stood the queen in a vesture of gold.” And as it stands on His right hand, He saithq, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom.” mouth. He, the Judge of all things visible and invisible, “after He has killed, has power to cast into hell fire.” countenance. Such as the Lord appeared on the Mount, will He appear after the judgment to all the saints, for at the judgment the ungodly will behold Him Whom they pierced. But all this appearance of the Son of Man belongs also to the Church, for He Himself was made the Christ in the same nature with it, and He gives to it a sacerdotal dignity and a judicial power, and to “shine as the sun in the kingdom of His Father.” 1:17-18. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.  Amen.   OSB. 1:17, 18 Mortal humanity cannot bear the revelation of divine glory, a frequent biblical theme (see Ex 19:21; 33:20; Is 6:5). Just as he fell prostrate at Mount Tabor (Mt 17:6), so also does John here, in the presence of the glorified Savior (see Ezk 1:27; Dan 10:7–9; see also 1En 14:24). Do not be afraid is a revelatory formula from the OT. As a signal for the theophany, it was carried over into the NT (see the Annunciation, Lk 1:30; Jesus walking upon the water, Mt 14:27—“Fear not, I AM”; the Transfiguration, Mt 17:7). In the OT God was called “the first and the last” (Is 44:6; 48:12), and so, too, is the Messiah. Some early heresies (e.g. Docetism) held that Jesus only seemed to die. But the Lord Himself testified, I … was dead, affirming the authenticity of His death; alive forevermore, His Resurrection—the power of which effects His lordship over death and its realm. The Orthodox icon of the resurrected Christ depicts Him with these keys (v. 18) in hand, standing triumphantly on the open gates of Hades. Fr. John Farley.  Like those receiving such theophanic appearances in Old Testament days (e.g. Ezek. 1:28; Dan. 8:17), John fell at His feet as if dead. Even though he had leaned in familiarity upon His breast at the Last Supper (John 13:23), yet such is the power of the Lord in His heavenly exaltation that even the beloved disciple is overwhelmed. The Lord restores him in preparation to write the things he has seen and will see. He tells John, “Do not be afraid,” and in this He tells all of John's churches not to fear. They need not fear death, martyrdom, or anything in all the world. Why? Because Christ has overcome the world, trampling down death by death. He became dead, but now He is alive to ages of ages. As such, He is the first and the last, sovereign over all (compare God as the Alpha and Omega in 1:8) and the Living One, the source of all life. He had authority over death and Hades by His Resurrection. Death cannot now separate us from Him, for He is Lord of both the living and the dead. St. Andrew of Caesarea.  Christ revived the Apostle himself who had suffered through the weakness of human nature like Joshua son of Nun and Daniel, by saying to him, “Do not fear, for I have not come near to kill you, since I am beginningless and endless, having become dead for your sakes.” 1:18b. And I have the keys of Hades and of death. [23] Instead , he has authority over bodily and spiritual death. St. Bede.  17.  I fell. As a man, he trembles at the spiritual vision, but his human fear is banished by the clemency of the Lord. the first. He is the first, because “by Him were all things made;” the last, because in Him are all things restoredu. 18. keys. Not only, He saith, have I conquered death by resurrection, but I have dominion also over death itself. And this He also bestowed upon the Church by breathing upon it the Holy Spirit, saying, “Whose sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them,” and the rest. 1:19.  And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.  Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.   OSB.  John's visions have to do with both the present (things which are) and the future. Fr. John Finlay.  Then Christ gives John a command: he is to write the things which he has seen, and the things which are, and the things which are about to happen after these things and send them to the main churches under his care in Asia. (From these seven main locations, they could be sent out to other smaller church communities as well.) This gives a basic outline of the Book of Revelation as a whole: it relates what John has seen (the vision of Christ in ch. 1), the things which are (the present state of the churches, described in chs. 2–3), and the things which are about to happen in the future (the prophecies of chs. 4–22). St. Andrew of Caesarea.  [nothing] St. Bede.  Reveal to all the things which thou alone hast seen, that is, the various labours of the Church, and that the evil are to be mingled in it with the good unto the end of the world. 1:20.  The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches. OSB. The angels of the seven churches have been variously interpreted as being (1) the guardian angels of the church communities; (2) the pastoral leadership of these local churches; (3) a personification of the prevailing spirit of the given congregations; or (4) simply the messengers responsible for delivering the letters. The term “angel” (heavenly or earthly messenger) is used over 60 times in Revelation. Fr. John Farley.  The introduction concludes with an explanation of the meaning of the seven stars in His hand and the seven lampstands among which He stands. The seven lampstands are the seven churches of Asia, and the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. This is a reference to what may be termed the individual corporate personality of each church community. Each local church is thus portrayed as having an angel, even as each person has his guardian angel. Just as a person's guardian angel resembles that person (see those who reacted to the announcement that Peter was standing unexpectedly at the door by suggesting that it was not Peter but his angel; Acts 12:15), so the church's angel sums up and embodies the local church. The angel of the church is an image of the strengths and weaknesses of each church. In writing to the angel of the church of Ephesus, the Lord actually speaks to the church of Ephesus in its corporate aspect. We see this today as well, in that church communities have corporate characteristics—some are loving, some judgmental, some zealous, some lax. The reference to each church's “angel” is a way of addressing each community as a community, using the language of the apocalyptic. St. Andrew of Caesarea.  Since Christ is the “true light,” because of this, those abundant in his light are lamps as they shine in the night of this present life. Naturally, the churches are called lampstands, because, as the luminaries, they “have the word of life” according to the Apostle. The lamps and lampstands are gold because of the honor and purity of the faith in them. An angel has stood guard for each of these, just as the Lord says,44 and Gregory the Theologian had understood the present chapter: he figuratively called them “stars” because of the brightness and clarity of their nature. St. Bede.   stars. That is, the rulers of the Church. For the priest, as Malachi says, is “the angel of the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 2:7.  “for the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth, for he is the messenger (malakh/angel) of the Lord Almighty.”  

God's word is compelling and so very practical.  It thoroughly equips us and it still speaks to us today. Today's story takes place in the town of Miletus where Paul is speaking to leaders of the church sharing the difficult challenges and testing he experienced in his three years of mission work in Ephesus. He shares how he humbly did the work God gave him even in the most despairing times he humbly hung on tight to God who brought him through it all. What can we learn from Paul's speech?     1.    Humble Service - we are called to humility before our awesome and mighty God, recognizing all we have and are comes from Him and that we are all in the same condition - sinners. We need a Savior and only God can save us. Humility is needed in understanding this.  We are called to serve God in humility and to humbly server others to use our gifts, time, talents, abilities and opportunities that God gives us to serve Him and bless others.  Our lives are to be lives of Humble Service. Paul goes on to summarize what he taught while in Ephesus: that all must turn to God in repentance and have faith in Jesus. He taught the full counsel of God, not just the popular things but also the things that weren't. He did so without camouflaging God's word or avoiding those things that could be heard as upsetting.  He spoke the full truth to all. Repent and believe the good news is the heart of the Gospel message - come back to the living God in the way we live and walk with a change of heart and mind through Christ.     2.    Steadfast Truth - Speaking the truth in love - that we need to repent before God. Martin Luther says, “When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said repent, He willed that entire life of a believer be one of repentance.”  Repentance is a calling - a daily calling to turn back to God, to daily recognize the importance of walking with Jesus. We are not called to simple religion, we are called to a relationship with God through faith in Jesus, God's Son, who died, rose and is coming again!  We are to live in this truth and to share that truth with others As the story continues, Paul shares how he will go where God leads even though he does not know what lies ahead. He shares how the Holy Spirit has warned him that prison and hardships are coming but even in the face of this knowledge, Paul follows willingly where the Holy Spirit compelled him to go, regardless of danger and threats ahead.     3.    Spirit Directed - we too have a calling from God - to know Him, to rejoice in Him, to receive hi forgiveness in Christ, to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to allow the Spirit of God to guide and direct our lives.  It's not always easy or comfortable, but it is for our benefit and God's glory. We are called to listen to the Holy Spirit, walk in the Holy Spirit, to follow the Holy Spirit, to allow the Holy Spirit to reveal and show us God's goodness. Paul's story concludes with him stating his life's aim is to complete the task the Lord Jesus had given him - the task of testifying to the Good News of God's grace. Pastor shares a personal story regarding this verse, a conversation with a college professor and the place he had this verse inscribed prior to his wedding day. This verse had a profound effect on Pastor life and he shares the impact of visiting the city of Miletus several years ago and being where Paul had spoken these words of Acts 20:24. Without Jesus we are lost - when Jesus breaks into our lives we are changed!!     4.    Life's Commitment - we are to live our lives committed to Jesus. We are to live our lives for Jesus and “finish the race,” the course of our lifetime as planned by God.  Our life is a “race.”  Towards the end of Paul's life he writes the following in 2 Timothy 4:7 - “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” That is our calling, too! We are to run the race with endurance, to follow Jesus as our Savior and Guide, to honor, worship and praise our Heavenly Father, to listen to the Holy Spirit as He speaks into our hearts, to follow where God leads NO MATTER THE DIRECTION.  NO MATTER THE COST. Scripture: Acts 20:17-24, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 https://www.awakeusnow.com Check out the video on our website https://www.awakeusnow.com/living-one Check out the video on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOwUarSm3uJrzLI4thAJNXQj Watch via our app. Text HELLO to 888-364-4483 to download our app.

Today's teaching is on enemy territory and the reality of spiritual warfare. In a fallen world the battle is not between people - it is between the Living God and the powers of darkness, It is between the Body of Christ and those under the spell of the devil. Ephesus was the center of worship of Artemis and also a hotbed of the occult, magic, eastern religions, drugs, alcohol and many of the same things we encounter in our world today. Ephesus is where Paul carried out some of his most important mission work and it is where God shows us some important lifetime truths through how He worked in Ephesus nearly 2000 years ago. Where we left off last week was with Paul spending two years teaching daily in the Hall of Tyrannus. Verse 10 of Acts chapter 19 tells us that all Jews and Greeks in the area heard the word of the Lord. Paul and others were training up believers to share their faith and so the Gospel message was shared all over Asia.   During Paul's time in Ephesus he experienced more push back than ever before. God was doing extraordinary miracles through Paul and many were healed physically but Paul was also casting out demons and healing people from spiritual illness. DIVINE POWER         We need to be connected to the Living God. Our faith is not to be a little bit of head knowledge, a song and a prayer. Our faith is to be life changing, it is to be the heart of who we are.         Because God was doing amazing miracles through Paul, news traveled that Paul was not only healing physically but also doing spiritual battle and that He was healing in the name of Jesus.         Ephesus was a town filled with evil but the DIVINE POWER of God was so obviously being displayed in the miraculous healings done in Jesus' name, that it caused the name of Jesus to be held in high honor and it caused a reaction of believers to openly confess what they had done as part of the evil in Ephesus. TAKE GOD SERIOUSLY         A massive move of God caused people to take Him very seriously.         Our faith molds and transforms us because we are delivered from bondage to sin and death. God offers deliverance from the power of the demonic and the things that can so easily destroy our lives. CLEANING HOUSE         People who had practiced sorcery burned their scrolls publicly and the word of the Lord continued to spread and grow in power.         as believers changed and non-believers become believers people grew and matured in their faith and suddenly began to realize they needed to do a house cleaning in their lives.         God's Holy Spirit is gracious and reveals things to us as we grow and mature in faith. We are not fully mature the moment we believe - It is a life-long process.         God's desire is that we clean house in our lives, in our homes, in anything that gets in the way of our love and worship of God, anything that controls us in ways that are dangerous and spiritually defiling.         With all the awakening to the reality of the Gospel Power of Jesus and the importance of a God-pleasing life of faith, those who didn't have that faith were began to try to stop all that was happening in Jesus' name. WORLD VIEWS COLLIDE         A worker who made silver shrines to Artemus was very concerned about his economic future in light of the amazing growth of Christianity. And so he spoke out publicly, drawing a crowd and the two sides began to collide. World views are colliding in our world today. The world view of our culture is:         All that matters is me         All that matters is what I want         All that matters is that you don't stand in my way and say anything to upset me. The world view of the Bible is:         All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God         God sent His one and only Son          The Living God took on flesh and brought life and forgiveness through His sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection from the grave.         In Jesus there is life, forgiveness and power. The power to live a new life. And so their two world views clashed then and they are still clashing today. We are called not to fight with human weapons, but to recognize the reality of spiritual war and to use the weapons of the Holy Spirit:     Prayer     Trust in God     God's Word     The power of our testimonies Today's scripture reading ends with the whole city in an uproar - both sides shouting and many joining in the near riot. CROWD FOLLOWERS         It can be easy to just go along with the crowd         Yet God warns us not to follow the crowd. Exodus 23:2 says, “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.”         Wise words for us today! Scripture: Acts 19:11-41, Ephesians 6:12 and Exodus 23:2 https://www.awakeusnow.com Check out the video on our website https://www.awakeusnow.com/living-one Check out the video on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOwUarSm3uJrzLI4thAJNXQj Watch via our app. Text HELLO to 888-364-4483 to download our app.

This week's teaching shows us the importance of growth in faith. Today's scripture is on the story of Paul's mission work in the city of Ephesus. As he begins to meet people he asks several believers if they received the Holy Spirit when they came to faith in Jesus. Their response was no, that they had never heard of the Holy Spirit.  Sadly, this is much the condition of the christian church in America today. The Holy Spirit has often been ignored.  Paul learns that the Christians there had received John's baptism. They had heard the teachings of John the Baptist and had been baptized in a baptism of repentance. Paul taught them that the One (Jesus) that John had predicted was coming was here and this was Jesus. John had said that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Paul fills them in on Jesus, the one John had said was coming. So after hearing this they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke in tongues. Today speaking in tongues has become very controversial. How do we deal with spiritual gifts?  Spiritual Gifts  Expired - A view that many have is that these once were, but have now ended with the end of the apostles and the end of the New Testament. But the TRUTH is that there is NO expiration on the gifs of the Spirit. We are to earnestly desire the gift of the Spirit. (1 Corinthian 12 and 14) And Jesus says in Luke 11:13 “…how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” There is nothing in the New Testament to indicate that these gifts have expired.  Everyone - People say everyone has to have the same gifts or we all have to have the gift of speaking in tongues and yet the New Testament, in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul says that the Holy Spirit gives different gifts to different believers, that not all have the same gifts.  Eliminate - Many desire the gifts of the Spirit be eliminated because they are controversial. This attitude is basically trifling with the gifts of God and in effect encourages the church to remain weak and spiritually deficient. However, Paul says to earnestly desire the gifts and don't forbid speaking in tongues. We need to take to heart what Paul says.  The gifts aren't badges to impress others with our spirituality, but they are gifts from the Holy Spirit given to build up the body of Christ, encourage believers and to empower us to carry out the work God has given us to do.  These opening verses of Chapter 19 of Acts - while controversial - show us that the gifts are still very important and require us to take a look at what the Bible actually says about them. We need to make sure we are allowing the scriptures to guide us rather than our own prejudices, our own practices and our own jealousies.  As we continue looking at more of Paul's work in Ephesus where he spent around 3 years, we discover more that we can learn.  In the synagogue, Paul spoke out boldly about the kingdom of God, but after 3 months, individuals refused to believe and began to publicly malign the teachings on Jesus the Messiah. So Pal moves from teaching in the synagogue to teaching daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus for the next two years so that all the Jews and Gentiles who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the God.  Paul was a tireless worker for the Lord, but what was it that he shared with the people of Ephesus? We can discover the answer to this in his epistle/letter to the Ephesians.  The Book of Ephesians  Messiah - Firstly, Paul concentrated on sharing the Good News of Jesus the Messiah and that through Him we receive every spiritual blessing, we come to know the deep love of Jesus, that we are saved by grace, and to know the fullness of God.  Maturity - Paul encourages us to grow in our faith, in our knowledge and love of Jesus our Savior. He shares how to not grieve the Spirit of God through impurity, but instead to grow in fellowship with God and to be filled with the Spirit. Paul also teaches to always give thanks for everything and to put on the full armor of God. In summary of today's text, Christ is to be in the center of our lives and we are to grow up in our relationship with Him. This is God's desire for His children.  We do not want to hold to a form of religion and deny it real power. We want to hear the Holy Spirit's testimony We want to respond to what the Word of God has to say We want to live in a dynamic relationship with Jesus, that we might not only be blessed by Him but may be used by Him to be a blessing for others The Gospel message of Jesus transforms! It has POWER! We encourage you to read the book of Ephesians. Scripture: Acts 19:1-10 and 2 Peter 3:18   https://www.awakeusnow.com   Check out the video on our website https://www.awakeusnow.com/living-one   Check out the video on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOwUarSm3uJrzLI4thAJNXQj   Watch via our app. Text HELLO to 888-364-4483 to download our app.

God's word teaches endurance: how to face the difficulties and challenges of life. The Bible doesn't tell us we will get through life without difficult days and trials. God's Word gives us encouragement because God's word is true, it is genuine and it speaks directly into our lives. Paul at Corinth is a story that shows us how God gives His children encouragement even in the most difficult of times, difficult of places and the most trying of circumstances. Paul went on missionary journey to Corinth (in Greece) a very corrupt seaport city. They had a temple to Aphrodites and Paul found himself very discouraged at the evil he found there. But God brings encouragement in a way that teaches us to see the ways that God ministers to us in the darkest of days. Observations: Provision: Paul meets Aquila and Priscilla - God provides as he brings people into our lives who will minister and encourage us. Support: Silas and Timothy - God's support through colleagues that helped Paul be able to devote full time effort into preaching the Gospel. Opportunity: Jews from the synagogue didn't want Paul teaching any longer in the synagogue, so Paul went to a man's house next door to the synagogue and there he preached the gospel to the gentiles. Even in the difficulty of being rejected by the Jewish community, God gave Paul an opportunity to teach Gentiles. Assurance: Corinth was a difficult city to share the Gospel, but Jesus speaks by a vision to Paul, saying, “Do not be afraid - Keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you and no one is going to attack or harm you because I have many people in this city.” God says this to you and me as well, “Don't give up because I am with you!” So Paul stayed in Corinth a year and a half teaching them the Word of God. Protection: There is dissension between the Jews going to synagogue and the Jews and Gentiles that believed in Jesus as the Messiah. Consequently, after teaching for 1 1/2 years, Paul was arrested and charged with the crime of practicing an illegal cult. They wanted him imprisoned or killed. But Gallia - the court judge - says the one bringing Paul to trial needed to figure things out on their own and that he would not rule on the charges, nor would he punish Paul and Gallia dismissed the case. God knows how to deliver His people! He did it for us at the cross! And the final victory is now ours. We win! Surprise!: Surprisingly, following the dismissal of the case against Paul, the Jews from the synagogue attack the synagogue leader and beat him up instead of Paul! God's additional surprise is that in 1 Corinthians 1:1 we read that this synagogue leader, Sethenese, becomes a believer in Jesus and part of the house church in Corinth. And God has surprises for us in the difficult times, too, because our God is a good and gracious God. He loves His children. He is always with us in difficult times and easy times. He brings joy and hope, endurance and assurance to those who call on Jesus, the Messiah, our Savior! Scripture: Acts 18:1-17, Romans 15:4 https://www.awakeusnow.com Check out the video on our website https://www.awakeusnow.com/living-one Check out the video on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOwUarSm3uJrzLI4thAJNXQj Watch via our app. Text HELLO to 888-364-4483 to download our app.

How can we live above the problems of everyday life? Habakkuk tells us how, and it's all about getting God's perspective. There is unspeakable joy in embracing, accepting, and submitting to whatever burden God has called each of us to endure. With His help, we can live above it! Jill taught this message at a conference on the spiritual art of leadership. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/508/29

How can we live above the problems of everyday life? Habakkuk tells us how, and it's all about getting God's perspective. There is unspeakable joy in embracing, accepting, and submitting to whatever burden God has called each of us to endure. With His help, we can live above it! Jill taught this message at a conference on the spiritual art of leadership. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/508/29

This account takes place on Paul's second missionary trip, on his trip to the city of Athens, A city that prided itself on knowledge and education, learning, culture and the arts. It was also a city filled with idols. As Paul looked around and saw all the idolatry it just really riled him up and he began passionately sharing the gospel message in the synagogues and even in the market places. He worked to draw people to Jesus and not to idols. His impassioned message caused much interest, but also much controversy. Paul teaches us to not give up - when we are confronted with issues or by people who reject what we believe we don't give up - we are kind, gracious, we are generous and merciful, but we can be encouraged by Paul's example. In this story we learn that we do not need to hesitate to say what we believe and why. Paul's persistence cases those listening to become curious. They ask questions and want to know more and more. While they were curious, they were still not wanting to believe. So Paul says that he noticed how “religious” they are, but what they took as a compliment Paul meant as a warning because what is necessary is a relationship with the Living God and not mere religious behavior. But stating he noticed their “religiosity” was a great starting point for keeping them listening. He tells about all the idols he's seen and points out an altar they have with the world, “to an Unknown God” on it. He points out to this group of people (who despised ignorance and prided themselves on wisdom) and goes on to say that he will tell them about the Unknown God. Paul will make the Unknowns KNOWN! Today many are influenced by an Unknown God: 1. Never heard of Him 2. Never understood anything about Him 3. Never cared to know about Him 4. Never believe in Him These were the issues Paul was facing - the same issues we face today. Paul goes on to say that the God who made the world is not a statue and is not confined to a building. He's not served by human hands (like their idols are) and it is God that gives everything life and breath. God, from one man, made all nations, thus showing His concern for all nations and that God has mapped out each nation's appointed time in history. Nothing that happens on earth happens without God's foreknowledge and without His plan coming to fruition. Paul's life had been transformed when he came to know Christ, and it is Paul's desire that these people experience that same thing. 1. Talks about the natural knowledge of God which all have instinctively - that we innately know there must be a divine being. 2. Talks about the revealed knowledge of God, that He has revealed Himself as Creator of all and loves us and desires we know Him. 3. Tells them that having natural knowledge and revealed knowledge requires a response, that human ignorance is not overlooked by God. God calls us to repentance, making a U-turn in our lives and having a changed mind and attitude - re-directed lives. If God truly is God — He cannot be manipulated through statues. We are called to yield to Him. Paul ends with the story of Jesus Deity, Death, resurrection and Return. Without Jesus and a relationship of faith we are lost. God is God! Many listening to Paul repented and received relationship with the Living God through Jesus Christ - the Savior or ALL nations. The fruit of Paul's efforts were many becoming believers and followers of Jesus because Paul had the courage to share Jesus with them and confront them with TRUE Wisdom. Scripture for the message: Acts 17:16-34 https://www.awakeusnow.com Check out the video on our website https://www.awakeusnow.com/living-one Check out the video on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOwUarSm3uJrzLI4thAJNXQj Watch via our app. Text HELLO to 888-364-4483 to download our app.

As the church began to grow with believers both Jew and Gentile, a division between the two started, especially as Jews began to be out numbered by gentile believers who brought in their customs. Many gentile believers were God-fearers who believed in the Old Testament but weren't circumcised and didn't eat kosher, yet went to the synagogue to worship God. Other Gentiles were proselytes and were circumcised and ate kosher and followed rituals prescribed by the Hebrew Scriptures. As a result of the growing number of God-fearers, a division between Jew and Gentile began to grow. One group of Jews wanted to mandate circumcision and kosher eating so they brought the issue to the elders and apostles. Peter addresses the gathering with the story of how God had given the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles just as He had done for the Jews and that God did not discriminate between Jew and Gentile, because He gave them both faith. Peter then challenged the group to not test God because God had already made it clear that He gave the Holy Spirit and faith to gentiles just as He had for Jews. Peter concludes by saying that it's no longer Jew and Gentile. It's that both are now coming to faith in Jesus and are united by God's grace for both. We are only saved through Grace Alone! Not by how religious we are or because we've obeyed the commandments, or been good.... We are saved by grace and grace alone. The Cause of our salvation is that Jesus died for us. The Cause of our salvation is the grace of God in Christ (who reached in when we were God's enemies). It's all about grace through faith in Christ. The Result is we change - we grow and mature. Salvation is not earned, it's something we receive and it has a powerful impact in our lives. Growing and maturing are not the Cause of our salvation, they are the Result of it. When Peter had finished, James, Jesus' half brother, spoke and he said it was his judgement that they shouldn't make it difficult for gentiles coming to faith. James ends the gathering with encouragement to both Jew and Gentile to not stand in the way of what God was doing and not to offend each other by how each lived. Through the forthright words of Peter supported by James and through the power of the Holy Spirit, the division dissipated. This story has clear directives for us today with new believers, different cultures and those converted from other faiths. It teaches us that: 1. We are Saved by grace alone, so we will not make requirements of others that Jesus did not make. We are not to judge. 2. We are Saved by grace alone, so we will gladly restrict our freedom for the sake of others, so as not to offend. Grace alone motivates us to receive others the way God does, with His love and mercy because all of us have been saved by the grace of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Jesus is the key to knowing the Father. Many religions acknowledge God the Father but do not acknowledge God the Son and because they don't know the Son, they truly don't/can't know the Father. It is through Jesus that we come into relationship with the Father. Only knowing about the Father is just that, it's knowing ABOUT Him. When we receive Jesus into our hearts and what He did for us (death on the cross, victory over the grave, returning for us) when we receive Jesus, it takes us from knowing about the Father to KNOWING Him. That's when we finally step into relationship with the Father because it's then that we understand the Father's true character - one of grace and mercy and love. We see who the Father truly is when we know Jesus. John 14:7 - Jesus said, “If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.” Scripture for the message: Acts 15:1-21 https://www.awakeusnow.com Check out the video on our website https://www.awakeusnow.com/living-one Check out the video on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOwUarSm3uJrzLI4thAJNXQj  

This teaching is on Acts 14:8-22, “Incident in Lystra,” and is an account on idol worshipers. We are living in a time of great idolatry and how do we as followers of Jesus respond, react, and live? In today's story, Paul is teaching about Jesus in the town square of Lystra and sees a man lame from birth, but Paul also sees the man has great faith and Paul says, “Stand Up and Walk” and the man is healed. While this story is nearly 2,000 years old, God has not changed and God still moves in remarkable ways. So let's take note of the following OBSERVATIONS FROM THE STORY: 1. The Power of the Messiah - the power of faith in Jesus. We see the testimony that All Authority has been given to Jesus the Messiah and in His name this man was healed and God still heals today. 2. Inherently Religious Nature - human beings are inherently religious, longing for a power higher than themselves, a need. People find something to worship in their lives because we need purpose. We look for meaning for our lives in someone, something or in ourselves - a need to find something for our focus. 3. Created to Worship - We long for things greater than ourselves or things that matter most in our lives. People worship many deities today - we think we've outgrown idols, but we worship what those very idols of old represented: power, money, sports, sex, politics, living for things. How does a follower of Jesus respond to these, how do we deal with the pull of idolatry? Do we turn away? Engage? Do we demonstrate by our actions and words the power of God in our lives and do we worship Him alone? 4. Living God is Creator - at this time in history there is more evidence for the existence of our Creator than ever and that evidence points to the existence of God! Do we point people to the Living God, our Creator, and help them see we are created? This is a springboard to sharing the message of Jesus Christ. Without Jesus people are lost forever. 5. Gospel Proclamation - Paul was stoned and left for dead. He left Lystra and headed to Derba. However, he returned to Lystra to share the good news of Jesus because he had a passion to share Jesus and had compassion for the lost to know Jesus as their Savior. 6. Reality of Hardship - Paul and Barnabus knew there would be difficult times, but they held to the truth of God's assurance that He will take even the difficult times and turn them around for His glory and our good. It can be hard to be a follower of Jesus, but it is worth it. And this Lystra story continues in a later chapter of Acts... In Chapter 16 we meet Timothy - a man Paul meets on his return trip to Lystra. God uses, to His glory, all that Paul suffered in Lystra the first time, as we see Paul become a spiritual father to Timothy. We learn more about Timothy later in Acts. Today, many are blinded by idolatry and have lost sight of the Living God (who delivers us through Jesus His Son) so it's important for us to practice what we learn from early missionaries as we share Jesus and honor, worship and serve the Living God. https://www.awakeusnow.com Check out the video on our website: https://www.awakeusnow.com/living-one Check out the video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOwUarSm3uJrzLI4thAJNXQj

2 Empower U  Living one day at a time. Podcast Show # 225. Aug 19th 2024   A podcast dedicated to my younger self and anyone who needs help strengthening their relationship with God.   Quote of the day:   "Release the weight of tomorrow; embrace the gifts of today with a grateful heart.”   "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”   Matthew 6:34   We love to hear from you!   Reach out to Pastor DeLoach on Instagram and tell him how he inspired you today.  https://www.instagram.com/thomasadeloach/?hl=en   Pastor DeLoach also offers a variety of counseling services. You can contact him about a FREE consultation here:   info@thomadeloach.com   Help support Pastor DeLoach and the Word of Life Outreach Ministries to keep this podcast going and share the word of God by donating here:   https://buy.stripe.com/bIY16oe7Pcz26l25kk     Go to the website to sign up for the monthly newsletter From The Pastor's Pen:   https://www.thomasadeloach.com/ 2 Empower U 

Think about it. How often do you picture Jesus as He was? He was a baby in a manger. He was a broken man on the cross. He was dead. But God wants to reveal to us who His son is. In the book of Revelation, Jesus Himself says, “I AM the First and the Last. I AM the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I AM alive for ever and ever!” There's a big difference between what was and what is. Tune in for a powerful revelation of the King and Savior of the world!

Think about it. How often do you picture Jesus as He was? He was a baby in a manger. He was a broken man on the cross. He was dead. But God wants to reveal to us who His son is. In the book of Revelation, Jesus Himself says, “I AM the First and the Last. I AM the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I AM alive for ever and ever!” There's a big difference between what was and what is. Tune in for a powerful revelation of the King and Savior of the world!

As pastor takes a look at the word “Christian,” its definition, what it means for us and for the world today, we will see a blueprint God has laid out for believers not just in Antioch long ago but also for us today! The word “Christian” came about from non-believers in the city of Antioch. As persecution caused the Jewish believers in Jerusalem to seek other cities in which to live, many chose to move to Antioch. It was a welcoming city without persecution and the message of Jesus exploded. It was then that Barnabus was sent to encourage these new believers. Barnabus, led by the Holy Spirit, taught these new believers to HOLD FAST to... 1. God's grace - Barnabus shared the truth of what Jesus did on the cross. In our crazy world it's important for us to hold fast to God's grace too, and not allow the enemy to confuse us. 2. Solid instruction - Barnabus and Paul worked to impress the truths of the God onto the hearts of believers, instructing them on how to apply God's truths in their lives and in their hearts. They encouraged them to continue to mature in their faith and to live God-pleasing lives. In our culture, applying God's truths is becoming increasingly confused and corrupt, so it is vital that believers today understand what God desires and what He says, not what is culturally acceptable. Solid instruction and time in the Bible are key. 3. Christian = Disciple - It was here in Antioch that the word “Christian” was first used. It was used by non believers to describe those who wouldn't stop talking about Jesus. The literal translation is “Christ-ers.” Christian only appears 3 times in the Bible but Disciple, Jesus' favorite word for His followers, is mentioned over 200 times in the New Testament. “Followers of The Way (Jesus)” were referred to as Christians - Disciples. Being Jesus' disciple is what God still desires today. He does not want people to simply believe He exists - He wants individuals who willingly follow Him, know the Father, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, walk faithfully, and to seek to demonstrate what Jesus taught. 4. Prophetic gifts - God also desires that we use the gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially the gift of strengthening and encouraging and comforting others. God desires that we earnestly desire the gifts of the Holy Spirit that enable us to carry out the His work. 5. Holy Spirit - The Spirit of God gives insight to what the Lord desires - and the Holy Spirit helps us follow where God leads. What started in Jerusalem with Jews coming to know Jesus as their Messiah, spread to Antioch when persecution moved the “Followers of the Way” to this city. From there, Antioch became the hub of evangelism to the world through the power of the Holy Spirit. These believers relied on the Spirit of God and we too are to rely on the Holy Sprit, like them, to bring us: Understanding Conviction Comfort Guidance Insight Direction And to lead us to faith to win the world for Christ. The Hold Fast Antioch blueprint of Barnabus and Paul is still the blueprint God desires for us to use today. He says for us to Hold Fast to these truths: That we live in the Grace found at the cross. That we soak up solid instruction so that we might be filled with an understanding of God's will and His word. That as Disciples we talk about Jesus all the time and live for Jesus and follow Jesus. That we seek God's prophetic gifts so that we are able to share what God is revealing to the world. That we keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit. Scripture: Acts 11:19-26 and Acts 13:1-3 https://www.awakeusnow.com Check out the video on our website https://www.awakeusnow.com/living-one Check out the video on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOwUarSm3uJrzLI4thAJNXQj  

The sight was so overwhelming that John fell down on his face like a dead man. But Jesus, in his tender mercy, put his right hand on John's head, and spoke the words we hear God and angels say to trembling humanity throughout the Bible, “Fear not.” In other words, don't be afraid, John. It's me, your Jesus. I have not come to destroy you. But to give you a glimpse of my glory and power so that you may have confidence to face a hostile world.

The sight was so overwhelming that John fell down on his face like a dead man. But Jesus, in his tender mercy, put his right hand on John's head, and spoke the words we hear God and angels say to trembling humanity throughout the Bible, “Fear not.” In other words, don't be afraid, John. It's me, your Jesus. I have not come to destroy you. But to give you a glimpse of my glory and power so that you may have confidence to face a hostile world.

This teaching is taken from Acts 12. It is a story of Peter being set free from prison chains by an angel, but also set free from the destructive thoughts and emotions and feelings that can rise up inside us during challenging times. Peter shows us how to hold on tight to what we know about God and let Him carry us through difficult times. In uncertain and challenging times, this story teaches us that like Peter, we are: 1. Set Free from fear - Peter was at peace, sleeping between two guards, not fearing the eminent death sentence awaiting him, when the angel came to rescue him. John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” 2. Set Free from worry - Peter knew the Lord cared for him. Peter knew the Lord was at work in his life and that God had a plan and that plan is that God will win in the end! Peter did as the verse says, “Cast all your anxieties on God because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 We can rest in God's arms - at peace - because Jesus is our Victor! 3. Set Free from despair - Peter was at peace not wringing his hands in despair or saying how can this be happening to me... Peter understood that God is in control and that God would give him everything needed to get through the trial. 1 Peter 5:10 “And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” 4. Set Free from death, both the fear of death and the finality of death. We are, like Peter, to face our days with confidence and assurance. Heaven/life forever with God is a promise through our faith in His Son Jesus Christ. God setting Peter free still speaks to us today - Our God sets us free, too! Cling to the Lord Jesus for dear life! Scripture: Acts 12, John 14:27, 1 Peter 5:7, 1 Peter 5:10, 2 Peter 1:11 awakeusnow.com

This teaching is taken from the Acts 10, the story of Peter and Cornelius the Centurion. Both Peter and Cornelius experienced divine encounters through visions. Cornelius sees an angel with a message, Cornelius obeys and has Peter brought to his home. Peter receives a vision in which God gives Peter eyes to see beyond his cultural rules of clean and unclean. Peter was a prisoner of his culture until God gave him a vision of truth and that breakthrough brings Peter to a Gentile's home, Cornelius' home, and Peter, going against the culture, obeys God and enters the house of a Gentile. Barriers were broken as Peter allowed God to broke into his heart. Peter understood that God wants ALL people to know and believe in Him. Peter shares the gospel story with Cornelius and the people gathered to listen. Before Peter was even finished sharing, the Holy Spirit descended onto the group, just like what had happened to the disciples on Pentecost. The ministry to the non-Jewish world takes off because God has intervened and God has directed it! God uses Peter (the apostle to the Jewish people) to bring the Gospel message to Cornelius and opens up the message of Jesus the Messiah to the Gentile world! This story still speaks to us today: 1. Culture or Scripture - am I following my culture or am I following the Scripture? 2. Self or Spirit - will we go with our own plans or will we heed the Spirit of God? 3. Home or World - am I concerned about my own little group, the people I'm comfortable with or will I let God use me to reach all? 4. Works or Gospel - It's not about how good I am, it's about how good God is! Remember: It's about CHRIST ALONE! It's easy to mirror your culture, rather than reflect the teaching of the Living God. God calls us to be faithful and obedient, to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, and thus reflecting the very teachings of Christ. Scripture Romans 12:2; Acts 10 awakeusnow.com

Today's teaching show us the significance of the Conversion of Paul. Not only is it a remarkable event, it brings forward remarkable truths. New archeological discoveries of Paul's tomb help emphasize these verses are not just a story. This is an actual account of an actual event, that happened to an actual person, and it changed the world! This account of Paul's conversion calls us to a deep relationship with God and demonstrates how God desires to be at work in our lives not just back then, but today in the 21st century as well. God took Paul from being a bulldog for the enemy's use against those following The Way, Jesus, but Jesus turned Paul into one of His sheep in His flock for His use in sharing the Gospel. God used Paul's testimony of Jesus changing his life to reach into the hearts of the people of his day and that testimony is still reaching all the way into our hearts today. Paul's story testifies to the heart of God to be in relationship with each one us no matter who we are or what we've done. God's arms are open to us all. Come along with us today as we explore Paul's testimony and allow it to open our hearts to what God wants to do in our own hearts and lives. Scripture text: Acts 8:1-20 awakeusnow.com

Reacting to Matt Strahm vs. Shohei Ohtani in a high leverage spot. Strahm's reaction, and an update on Bryce Harper.

Today's teaching shows us what happens when we follow where God leads and when we share the Good News of our Savior Jesus. Philip used “Isaiah's Prophecy” to teach the man in today's story, all about Jesus.  Scripture text: Acts 8:26-40, Isaiah 52:13-52:12  awakeusnow.com

A study on how God uses opposition, and how to handle it. Pastor teaches us to deal with opposition through the applied truths found in the Bible. These words of God will encourage, build up, and carry us through our times of opposition!

A study of the story of Stephen, a man who understood the truth of Jesus and experienced the consequences of speaking the wisdom the Holy Spirit gave him. God is calling us today to have the faith of Stephen, to follow the Lord Jesus, to be faithful, to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us, and to speak God's truth in love.

A prayer based on Daniel 2:27-28. God has a plan. Our ignorance of the plan does not mean it doesn't exist. Only sometimes do we get glimpses of the master plan, but with great knowledge comes greater responsibility.God is God, and I am not, and there are good reasons to be in the dark about the plans. They might look scary and confusing to my human eyes, which might cause my faith to falter. In the end, it's a mercy to be allowed to live one moment at a time. In what areas of your life would you really like to see the master plan? Have you found it hard to trust what you can't see? Listen to today's podcast episode from Christie Thomas. Would you like to have today's episode in written form? Consider joining our Patreon! It's a fantastic place to connect with other praying moms, and get lots of free prayer resources to help you make prayer a more practical priority!  Your support helps Million Praying Moms keep this podcast going—all funds provide for the work of the team and systems necessary to bring you a new episode each weekday Would you be a part of His provision? GO DEEPER FREE RESOURCE: Summer of Prayers FREE: Join the Everyday Prayers Podcast Facebook Group Discover more Christian podcasts at LifeAudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at LifeAudio.com/contact-us. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Pastor examines the statement “I'm not a Christian because of all the hypocrites.” Hypocrisy is play acting that one has faith, rather than having genuine faith. In this message, we see a tragic example of hypocrisy in contrast to an example of bold faithfulness. The lesson of this story is to take God seriously. It is not about having a little religion, but rather a lifetime commitment to a loving God who gives life and forgiveness to all who repent and believe in Jesus.

What does luxury mean to you?In this episode, you'll learn:How small, everyday indulgences can significantly enhance your well-being and joy.My personal definition of luxury and how it incorporates beauty and intelligence.Eight of my favorite little luxuries and why they add value to my life.If you liked today's episode, please leave me a rating and review in Apple podcasts. Check out the House Calls for Physicians Website. Join the House Calls for Physicians Private Facebook Group Check us out on Instagram!

Peter and John were bold witnesses of the power and authority of Jesus. It is in Jesus' name alone that we find Salvation. Peter and John's courage in telling others about Jesus astonished others, and the people noted that Peter and John had been with Jesus, eyewitnesses that had spent time with Him. We, too, can spend time with Jesus and get to know Him like Peter and John did.

In this episode, I speak with Perry Boyle. Perry shares with me his multiple lives and how he reinvented himself as his life goals evolved and as his values broadened. We talk about his initial career in investment banking and private equity, his pivot to equity research, and then his decision to reframe his purpose towards scaling a successful NGO tackling acute poverty in Africa. Perry shares his outrage at the threats to the liberal rule based order by autocracy, and how he decided to put all his life experience to use in setting up an investment bank focusing on developing Ukraine's defence industry. This is a broad ranging and personal conversation about living one's beliefs, reinvention, leaning in and letting go.Recorded on 17 May 2024.Instagram: @at.the.coalfaceConnect with Perry on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/perryboyle. BOMA's website is  boma.ngo.And don't forget to subscribe to At the Coalface for new episodes every two weeks.Help us produce more episodes by becoming a supporter. Your subscription will go towards paying our hosting and production costs. Supporters get the opportunity to join behind the scenes during recordings, updates about the podcast, and my deep gratitude!Support the Show.

In the midst of cultural lunacy, craziness, confusion and deception, how are Christians to live? (Hint: It's not through a mindset of judgement.) Pastor points us to a heart of devotion and encourages us to submit ourselves to the authority of God's word, to seek an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, to be a people of prayer, to pray for God to open people's hearts and minds, and to pray for awaking and transformation.

In the last several decades, there has been a pendulum swing. No longer are the majority of Christian, non-Christian, agnostic and atheist theologians and historians viewing the story of Jesus as Biblical theology that was developed gradually over time. Most are now in agreement on 7 key points regarding Jesus' life, death and resurrection. No longer do they see Jesus' story as an evolving story. Instead, their attitudes have been transformed by recent historical, archeological and linguistic evidence. The question is: Will you allow the evidence to transform your attitude as well?

Pentecost is a Jewish holiday (Shavuot, or Feat of Weeks), thanking God for His provision; a festival that gives us understanding of the Bible and also for God's will and purpose for each of us in our walk with Him. The verses Pastor explores today are a fascinating section of Scripture that hold a mystery around the word "house." Was the place of the first Pentecost in a house, like maybe the Upper Room? Or was it referring to The Temple, the Holy House, the House above all other houses? And why does that make a difference?