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In this sermon, we are considering what to do when God has not said “yes,” and He has not said “no.” He's just said… “Wait.” And it is in that place—that long, painful, uncertain place—that Isaiah 40 speaks with such tenderness, such hope, and such power. You see, if we are honest—we all hate to wait. We hate it because waiting reminds us we are not in control. And we like control, don't we? We like plans. We like progress. We like seeing the next step. We like speed. But then life hits the brakes, and we hit a wall. And we find ourselves in that painful, confusing, in-between space—the space where God has not said “yes,” but He has not said “no” either. He's just said… “Wait.” And the truth is—we do not know what to do with that. Contact us @ 4faithfoundations@gmail.com For more Bible teachings, studies, and resources visit our website @ faithfoundations.church
Glory of the Lord (Isaiah 6:1-7) - Morning Sermon
Message from Michael Wright on May 11, 2025
The Branch of the Lord (Isaiah 4:2-6) - Evening Sermon
This week we continue in our series in ISAIAH called "DWELL". Today's message from Isaiah 58, is from pastor Cole Tawney and is titled “Delight in the Lord”. As followers of Jesus Christ we are called to live our relationship with Him based on our delight in knowing Him and not in the delight of our own ambitions. Thanks for watching!
How had Israel and Judah failed? Who is this branch of the Lord?
Listen, read, watch, or see further resources: https://clarence-cc.squarespace.com/podcast-feed
The Day of the Lord (Isaiah 2:6-22) - Evening Sermon
What do you do when events in the world seem to be crashing in on you? The temptation is to put all your energy and focus on the circumstances and try and come up with a solution. But that is a recipe for disaster when it makes us forget the Lord.
What do we do when life doesn't make senseeven when we've done everything right? In this sermon, Megan reflects on the powerful question John the Baptist asked from prison: Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else? Through Jesus response, we explore what it means to find hope, not just in answers, but in the character and work of Christ. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting. Read the transcript Today's reading is from Luke chapter seven, verse 18 to 35. Jesus and John the Baptist. Scripture Reading: Luke 7:1835 John's disciples told him about all these things, calling two of them. He sent them to the Lord to ask, are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else? When the men came to Jesus, they said, John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, are you the one who is to come? Or should we expect someone else? At that very time, Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses, and evil spirits and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk. Those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me. After John's messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John. What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No. Those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you. I tell you, among those born of women, there is no one greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus' words, acknowledged that God's way was right because they had been baptized by John. But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God's purpose for themselves because they had not been baptized by John. Jesus went on to say, to what then can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other: We played the pipe for you and you did not dance. We sang a dirge and you did not cry. For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say he has a demon. The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. But wisdom is proved right by all her children. This is the word of the Lord. Introduction Well, my name is Megan. If I haven't met you before. I'm the senior minister here at Deep Creek. If you were here last week, I wasn't, and so thank you to Lily and Pedram, for holding down the fortress, but particularly to Pedram for an excellent sermon that I had the opportunity to read during the week, starting our series on questions of hope. It's very powerful to have Jesus as someone who doesn't simply, download content to us, but who asks us questions who, as he interacted with people throughout his ministry, asked such powerful questions that people's hearts had to open to answer them. During the season of lent, the practice of asking questions of ourselves and hearing the questions that Jesus asks is really important. As we discern our way forward and as we reflect on whether we are in fact living the way that God wants us to live, asking questions about our life, about our soul, about what we love, about what we value is essential. And of course, if you find yourself in a hard place, feeling confused, feeling under pressure, or perhaps in the midst of suffering or injustice, questions can be powerful there too. But some of the questions that often come to mind in these hard times might not be the most powerful question we could ask. John the Baptists Question from Prison Sometimes we ask: why me? Is God punishing me? what am I supposed to be learning from this hard thing? who's to blame? Why is this happening? Well, today we meet a man who is in a very hard place. He's in jail, John the Baptist. And we read in Luke chapter three that he is in prison because he has been ministering for God. He's been speaking God's truth, encouraging people to ask very, very hard questions of their lives, of their spirit. And he did that to a leader. He spoke truth to power, as the saying goes. And that leader Herod threw him in prison. So Luke chapter three, when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother's wife, and all the other evil things he had done, Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison. This was a great injustice. There was no reason for John to be in prison. And yet Herod added this to his list of many injustices. And so John the Baptist, in prison in this hard place, has a choice of the sort of question that he might ask. Will he ask, why me? Will he ask who's to blame? Will he ask, was it worth it? Will he ask who will get him out? Well, instead of any of those, he asks this question. Are you the one who is to come? Or should we expect someone else? Now, I know that the youth on Friday those ones on their devices, up on the couch were looking at Mark chapter two, and, they... (Yeah, I see everything!) they were looking at Mark chapter two, where friends helped a friend come to Jesus. So, someone is lowered through the roof, and the conclusion is friends can help friends find faith in Christ. Well here, the friends of John are doing the same. They can't get him out of prison to go and see Jesus, but they can help him with the question that might get him out of his dark place. So they take the question to Jesus. Are you Jesus, the one who is to come? Or should we expect someone else? Seems like a funny question for someone who'd been so set on Jesus being the Messiah to ask. John had been the one who had identified Jesus as the Lamb of God. In John's gospel, we see John the Baptist say, there he is, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It could not be clearer. John says, this is the Messiah. John's Expectations of the Messiah Luke's Gospel, he describes the sort of work that he expects that Messiah to do. The people were waiting expectantly around John getting baptized, and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. John answered them all, I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn. But he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. And with many other words, John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them. John the Baptist was sure that he was the forerunner of the Messiah, preparing the people, because if they had not been given the opportunity to repent, the clear and swift immediate judgment being brought by the Messiah would take them unawares. And when the Messiah came, he would bring fire. He would be the one that was dividing the evil and the good. He would be the one who was making sure that those who were following the Lord were gathered together into the Lord's barn, and those who were not were destroyed. And so you can imagine, as John is a victim of injustice in prison, suffering greatly for this message, and hearing the reports of Jesus healing, eating and drinking and partying, including others, showing great mercy and compassion, he might have had a moment of dissonance. I'm in his suffering. The injustice that I am suffering is exactly the sort that the Messiah should be overturning. And yet Jesus is out there partying. Are you the one who is to come? Or should we expect someone else? Jesus Response to John Well, Jesus is not at all concerned to have John ask a question like that. It's not offensive to Jesus. He doesn't shut John down his friends. He doesn't send back, "He knows who I am. He should toughen up." No, there is commendation for questioning in this way. And Jesus provides evidence that yes, John, you were right. And the mission for which you have been jailed is worth it. You will find evidence in me for hope. And so he replies to the messengers, Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard. The blind receive sight. The lame walk. Those who have leprosy are cleansed. The deaf hear. The dead are raised. And the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me. Jesus doesn't say a yes or no to the question, are you the one who is to come? Or should we expect someone else? But he points to the evidence of his character and his action. I might have shared this story before, but when I was asking many questions of the Lord about where I should do my first ministry placement, my first curacy, I sat with him in a church and was praying and asking for guidance. And and as I've said before, if you've heard it I did not receive clear guidance. I did not receive an answer to my question. But what I did receive was an assurance of the character and works of Jesus. So as I was praying in the church, I had a strong sense of Jesus himself coming from behind the communion table or altar and sitting next to me, that the answer to my question was actually in the character and work of Jesus, the companion, the one who would bring me to the table, the one who was the Savior through his own death and resurrection, and who would never leave me. When Jesus answers John the Baptist with this, he is encouraging John that the works that he is doing are the works of the Messiah, and the character that he is displaying is the character of the Messiah. And so he's actually quoting from these Old Testament passages that look forward to or describe the promised servant of the Lord Isaiah 35, Isaiah 29, Isaiah 61 and is showing that he is fulfilling exactly the mission statement that he gave when he went to the synagogue and said, see, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. This partying, this inclusion, these acts of mercy, actually are exactly the sorts of acts that John should have been expecting from the Messiah, as well as the works of justice. Jesus wants him to know that his works of mercy are indeed the Messiah's work, and that as he suffers injustice, the work that is happening outside that prison is the work of the one who he was preparing the people to receive. The Great Reversal in Jesus Ministry But interestingly, I also think he wants John to know that these works in some way are a work of justice. So I've been thinking about healings, and I was reading some articles about whether there's evidence of resuscitation from the dead in our world today someone who was investigating the claims in this passage, see, the dead are raised. And a lot of the evidence is from parts of the world that we would consider still developing the two thirds world, the global South, parts of the world that are far more marginalized and under the impact of poverty and war than our own. So, Craig Keener, who is a Bible scholar some of you might know he's married to an African woman, and her family are all involved in church life in Africa and she kind of got him in touch with a whole bunch of people who could testify to miracles of resuscitation from the dead. And he, thinking about the incredible kind of percentage of experience that happens there (maybe in the Philippines, in Indonesia, other places), but not always in his homeland of America, not always in our experience in Australia. Well, part of the reason for that is not simply that they are more open to spiritual things or they don't live in such a scientific worldview. Sometimes we can bring quite an inappropriate lens to looking at miracle accounts in the non-Western. But is it perhaps because Jesus' acts of healing, of mercy, of raising up, are in fact symbols of the great reversal that he is bringing and has brought into the world, that those who cannot heal themselves, that those who suffer great injustice actually, when they see miracles, it is because the Lord is showing that his task is to turn this broken, unjust world upside down. We have so many resources at our disposal now. That's not the only reason God does miracles, and we know that he does miracles amongst us. And that's not the only reason God does not do miracles. But I think that the teaching of Luke's gospel would be that Jesus, in everything that he does, turns the world upside down. That the great reversal, the lifting up of the lowly that Mary worshipped about in the Magnificat, is seen here in Jesus' works of mercy, healing, and restoration. Jesus' works of mercy ... are also works of justice, because they reverse the marginalization and the poverty of those who are under the big system of broken, unjust world. But he would say to John, absolutely question your way out of your hard place, but be prepared for surprises. Jesus Affirms John the Baptist And so Jesus now moves into two questions of his own. The first is, What did you go out into the wilderness to see? He's talking to the people around him. And then he asks, To what shall I compare this generation? After John's messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John. What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No. Those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes. I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: 'I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' I tell you, among those born of women, there is no one greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. The crowd hearing John bring this question to Jesus may have started to wonder whether he himself had been the forerunner that he had understood himself to be. Well, if John's asking the question now, we're all feeling confused. Is John gone soft? Did we make a mistake? And Jesus says, no. You know John, you know how tough he is. You went out not to see someone swayed by the wind. You went to see a rock solid tree trunk in the ground quite austere and possibly quite unusual fellow this is a prophet of the Old Testament school. You went out to see him and he asks this question. Well, I can confirm to you that he is exactly who he said he was. He was the messenger sent by God ahead of me. He asks, are you the one who is to come, or should we await someone else? No. He was the messenger of the one who is to come. Be sure of it. But he says, even though John was the greatest, the greatest prophet, the preparer of the Messiah, yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. Question your way out question, but don't stop too soon. John's message of preparation, of asking people to reflect on their lives, to question whether they were living for God, whether they needed to repent was absolutely right. But it was not the end of the story. John was in the period of expectation of promise, but Jesus was now in the kingdom of fulfillment. John's answers John's questions and answers could only bring a person so far: to repent before God, to weep and bemoan your sins and your wickedness, as we sometimes say in our Anglican liturgy, was absolutely what needed to happen. But to stop there would not be enough. The one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than John. Not because John's not now in the kingdom of God, but because the fulfillment of what John was pointing to was here in Jesus. And so the questions that John asked and then the questions that Jesus asked must be heard together. The ministry that John had, and then the ministry that the Messiah has must be embraced together. So Jesus asks his next question: to what then can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? An Unresponsive Generation He's speaking now not to those who have heard John's message he's told them, don't stop too soon, come into the kingdom. Now he's speaking to the Pharisees and the experts in the law, those who should have both heard John's message and then seen him as the forerunner to the Messiah. But what happened? To what then can I compare the people of this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other: 'We played the pipe for you and you did not dance. We sang a dirge and you did not cry.' For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine. And you say he has a demon. The Son of Man came eating and drinking. And you say, 'here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' But wisdom is proved right by all her children." Jesus looks around at a people who have not heard either the call of John nor the call of Jesus, and he says nothing. Nothing is going to please you if you cannot hear a person who's calling you to Old Testament repentance, and yet you cannot also see someone inviting you into the love of God. The dirge and you did not cry well, that's John out in the wilderness, eating his locusts and honey and being very smelly and very serious and calling people well, calling them a brood of vipers. Calling them to repentance. Because so clearly have they broken the law of God for justice and care. But they didn't cry to that dirge. They didn't repent. They didn't want to hear. And then Jesus comes eating and drinking, partying on, embracing those on the margins, healing people who needed it. And they didn't dance. They didn't rejoice. John, they said, oh, all that fasting and smelling piss and yelling at us. He's got a demon. Jesus coming, eating and drinking. Oh, he's just a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. And that's not actually just a charge of saying, oh, he's a total party boy. That's actually from Deuteronomy a quote from Deuteronomy that a parent would say about his or her rebellious son, taking them to the elders of the village and asking for punishment: Here my child, is a glutton and a drunkard. And Jesus is saying, actually, God can't win with you. You want someone to be serious and call you to repentance. You have it. You want someone to show you the love and justice and inclusion of God. You have it. God can't. I just think of Jesus having to rejoice and celebrate being amongst people who he is restoring to the kingdom of God. But God can't win. Wisdom is proved right by all her children, John's way and Jesus' way sit together to bring people into the wise kingdom of God and all those who follow them. But it's very possible to avoid the answers if you really want to. We live in a world where there are many, many arguments against faith, and it's really important to grapple with those at various times, probably not all at once. But it's important for us to know that even for ourselves, you can avoid the answer if you really want to. You can find the next objection. You can change what you're looking for. You can change the standards, the goalposts. Can God win? So I just want us to close today by asking you. If you got answers to some of your questions, if you're in a hard place, would the answers to the questions you're asking really be enough? What Are You Really Looking For? If you got answers to some of your questions, if you're in a hard place, would the answers to the questions you're asking really be enough? Maybe you're asking who's to blame.Maybe you're asking, why me?Maybe you're asking, what should I do next?Maybe you're asking, what's the system that's underneath all of this injustice? If you got answers to that, would it really be enough? And I want you to ask yourself and I ask myself this, too what are you really looking for? If you had God, if you had Jesus right here, what is the question that you really want to ask him? Is it really who's to blame? Is it really why me? Could it be do you really love me? Could it be are you the one that we're looking for? Or should we expect someone else? Just take a moment in quiet. If you feel comfortable to close your eyes in a group, then please do that if that helps you. Jesus does not turn away your questions. So I'm encouraging you now and as we spend some time in worship as well what are the questions, right down at the bottom of your heart, that you really want to ask. And then I'm going to pray that Jesus' works and Jesus' character will show you what you're looking for. Closing Prayer Loving and most merciful Lord, we know that you are the Holy One, and we know that you never overlook injustice. We know that you will set things right. We know that one day we will see you face to face. And as we sit here now, Lord, we have our questions: Do you love us? Did you love our loved one who died? Are you the one? Is it worth it? What do you want to say to me? Lord Jesus, as we bring our real questions to you, we ask that you would show us who you are. Point us to the evidence in our own lives, in the world, and most clearly in the scriptures, illuminated by Your Holy Spirit. Speak to our hearts of the ways in which you can be trusted, of your great love for us, each one, and your joy over us as we come into your kingdom. As we journey through lent, we ask Lord, that you would help us to ask the right questions, that we might know you truly as the one we've been waiting for. Amen.
The Mountain of the Lord (Isaiah 2:1-5) - Evening Sermon
Isaiah 4:2-6 shifts from judgment to restoration, with God promising hope through “the Branch of the Lord,” a title for the coming Messiah. This promise signifies that God will preserve a holy remnant after judgment, purifying them from their sins for His presence. This passage's relevance goes beyond ancient Judah. Isaiah reminds believers that true beauty is in Christ alone amid external beauty, materialism, and pride. In times of moral corruption, God calls His people to be sanctified remnants for His purposes. Despite life's uncertainty, it points to the unshakable security in the Messiah, the Branch of the Lord, who is the eternal source of redemption and refuge.
Isaiah – The Old Testament Evangelist foretold the complete plan of salvation fulfilled in Jesus Christ. In today's study, we uncover 10 key steps to salvation as revealed in the book of Isaiah, showing how God's redemptive plan was always centered on Jesus, the Messiah.
The Rev. Nick Lannon preaches a sermon on Isaiah 6 (in which the prophet sees the throne room of God) and Luke 5 (in which Peter asks Jesus to depart from him). The law of God makes us want to run away, but this same God acts—in Christ—to save.
The prophet Isaiah was sent with a message of warning and condemnation to Judah. Unless Judah repented, she would experience the judgment of the Lord. Isaiah's message fell on deaf ears, but the Lord kept reaching out to His people. Now Isaiah sings a love song – a song in which the Lord's love is unreturned by His people. The Lord had done everything possible to care for and show grace to His people, and they responded with self-centered rebellion. And so the Lord tells them that destruction is about to come upon “The Vineyard of the Lord” (Isaiah 5:1-30)
The prophet Isaiah was sent with a message of warning and condemnation to Judah. Unless Judah repented, she would experience the judgment of the Lord. Isaiah's message fell on deaf ears, but the Lord kept reaching out to His people. Now Isaiah sings a love song – a song in which the Lord's love is unreturned by His people. The Lord had done everything possible to care for and show grace to His people, and they responded with self-centered rebellion. And so the Lord tells them that destruction is about to come upon “The Vineyard of the Lord” (Isaiah 5:1-30)
Sunday Sermon // Pastor Ed Romero // Isaiah 49:14-26
One of the most essential parts of Isaiah's message to Judah was the warning that their abandonment of the Lord would inevitably lead to an unjust and wicked society. And such a society was harmful to them! If they thought that was the only consequence of their sin, the Lord further describes how He will bring judgment upon them to shake them free of their idolatry and sin. The description is comprehensive and terrifying. But as He always does, the Lord also brings a word of hope: there will come “The Branch of the Lord” (Isaiah 3:1-4:6) to redeem and set all things right.
One of the most essential parts of Isaiah's message to Judah was the warning that their abandonment of the Lord would inevitably lead to an unjust and wicked society. And such a society was harmful to them! If they thought that was the only consequence of their sin, the Lord further describes how He will bring judgment upon them to shake them free of their idolatry and sin. The description is comprehensive and terrifying. But as He always does, the Lord also brings a word of hope: there will come “The Branch of the Lord” (Isaiah 3:1-4:6) to redeem and set all things right.
Preacher: Michael Beck Gracenet Community Church No
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Readings for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord - Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7; Luke 3:15-16, 21-22;It's odd, right? Just last week Jesus was an infant receiving gifts from the Magi. And here he is, all grown up and being baptized. And we are still in the Christmas season. How do we put this all together? I'm glad that you asked. Because it really all does fit. This season points to where we stand right now.Special thanks to Bridget Zenk for her composition and performing of our intake and outtake music. And thank you for continuing to listen, share and rate this podcast. I'm humbled at the places it's gone and for the notes I've received. Thank you for your support. Have a question or comment? I can be reached at pdjoezenk@gmail.com
Today's Devotional "We Need You To Remember, Lord" Isaiah 43:26 lmjministries.org 1/7/25 Join us for coffee, conversation and community.
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In Isaiah 2:5-11, the prophet paints a vivid picture of the Day of the Lord, calling God's people to abandon their idolatry, humble themselves, and walk in His light. It is a day that reveals the futility of human pride and the supremacy of God's glory. Isaiah's message is not merely historical; it speaks powerfully to today's Church. Like Judah, the Church lives in a world of wealth, technology, and self-reliance. Society often mocks the idea of divine judgment and eternal accountability, but Isaiah reminds the Church that the Day of the Lord is inevitable and inescapable. How should believers respond to the certainty of this coming day?
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Teaching manual on Stepping into 2025 Summary: To prepare believers for an outpouring of God's Spirit, equipping them to embrace and steward the Overflow and Harvest of 2025. I. Introduction: A Vision of the Desert Transformed Isaiah 35:1: “The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.” Declare: “Thy Kingdom has come, and I am thirsty for God and a greater influence of His Spirit on the earth!” Many lives, cities, churches, and nations are Experiencing as Spiritual Draught and Famine II. Types of Spiritual Drought and Their Implications 1. Meteorological Drought: Absence of God's presence and outpouring. 2. Agricultural Drought: Lack of spiritual fruit due to neglect of God's Word. 3. Hydrological Drought: Depletion of spiritual resources like prayer, fasting, and fellowship. 4. Socioeconomic Drought: Loss of the Church's influence on society. Matthew 5:6: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Joel 2:28-29, Acts 2:17-18: God's promise to pour out His Spirit. III. Identifying Famine in the Church 1 Samuel 3:1: The rarity of God's Word. 2 Chronicles 15:3-6: The need for teaching priests to guide the Church. 1 Samuel 13:19-23: The absence of “blacksmiths” (trainers and equippers) weakens the Church. Declaration: “We must restore the Word, equippers, and God's tangible presence in our lives and gatherings!” God is granting Grace and mercy by Sending the Holy Spirit as rain IV. The Gathering Clouds: The Rain is Coming 1. Prophetic Declaration: The RAIN is here Joel 2:23, Hosea 6:3: God is sending the former and latter rain together. 1 Kings 18:41-46: Elijah's prayer brought the rain; the same prayerful persistence is required today. Leviticus 26:4: “I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit.” 2. Our Preparation as Stewards: Believers Need to carry an Axe daily in 2025 Jeremiah 1:9-10: Uproot, tear down, and plant for God's purposes. 1 Corinthians 6:12, 9:27: Remove distractions, discipline your body, and prioritize God's will. Practical Application: Equip believers with spiritual “tools” (axes, shears, excavators) to prepare for this season. Believers need Take up Responsibility: The Call to Build and Establish Call for responsibility over apathy to establish what God is building for generations. Nehemiah 4:6: The people had a mind to work. VI. Unlocking the Deluge of Heaven - Five Keys for 2025: 1. True and Persistent Prayer (James 5:16-18): Lead a lifestyle of intercession. 2. Waiting on the Lord (Isaiah 40:31): Cultivate reflective worship. 3. Fasting with Purpose (Joel 2:12): Teach and engage in regular fasting. 4. Swift Obedience (1 Samuel 15:22): Immediate action unlocks breakthroughs. 5. Partnering with God: Discover the “ancient ways” to steward revival. VII. The Results of the Overflow Psalm 84:11: “The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” 3.Seven Expectations for 2025: 1. Direction: God as our Sun. 2. Protection: God as our Shield. 3. Grace, Favor, and Honor: For the faithful. 4. Provision: Abundance in every area. 5. Revival: An outpouring of the Spirit with Deeper hunger for God, Passion for holiness, witnessing, and discipleship. 6. Harvest: Many Souls coming to Christ 7. Miracles: Signs and wonders marking the season. +++++++ You can find our service times on our website: https://www.anctally.com/ You can find sermon highlights on Twitter here: https://x.com/allnationstally
In this message Jesus announces the reason God sent His Son into the world.
Promises | Hope Is On The Way | Pastor Cody Podor
During Advent, our music and worship team are performing Handel's Messiah in lieu of scripture readings. The performance includes the following pieces, and their scriptural basis. THE WORD IN SONG “Messiah” George Frideric Handel Overture Scene One: God's Comforting Promise Recitative: Comfort, Ye My People (Isaiah 40:1-3) Aria: Every Valley Shall Be Exalted (Isaiah 40:4) Chorus: And the Glory of the Lord (Isaiah 40:5) Scene Two: The Purifying Messiah is Prophesied Recitative: Thus Saith the Lord (Haggai 2:6-7) Aria: But who may abide? (Malachi 3:1) Chorus: And He shall purify (Malachi 3:3)
Sometimes it is in our most difficult hour that we see God's greatest power. In darkness, a light shines even brighter. It was in difficult and dark times that God predicted that He would send His Son, the Messiah.
Isaiah 12. From the "Special Services" sermon series. Preached by Lucas Weeks.
All Saints' Day, November 3, 2024 LIVE LIKE YOU'LL LIVE FOREVER. If you really thought it was your last day, that belief would shape how you lived that day. The theme for today's service: Live a Knowing Life Only Gets Better.First Reading: Isaiah 25:4-6.Second Reading: Revelation 20:4-6.Gospel: John 11:32-44.Sermon Text: Isaiah 25:4-6: Saints Rejoice on the Mountain of the Lord. Pastor Nate Kassulke
A new MP3 sermon from Mission Africa is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: What I Have Heard From The Lord Isaiah 21 by Ellis Subtitle: Old Paths Readings Speaker: Jim Robinette Broadcaster: Mission Africa Event: Devotional Date: 10/4/2024 Bible: Isaiah 21 Length: 2 min.
Psalm 113:1-9, Isaiah 65:17-66:24, Ephesians 5:8-33. It is also possible to ‘displease' the Lord (Isaiah 66:4c) The apostle Paul wrote, ‘Find out what *pleases the Lord*' (Ephesians 5:10), or as *The Message* translation puts it, ‘Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it
Psalm 113:2-3, Isaiah 65:17-19, 66:2, Ephesians 5:8-33. It is also possible to ‘displease' the Lord (Isaiah 66:4c) The apostle Paul wrote, ‘Find out what *pleases the Lord*' (Ephesians 5:10), or as *The Message* translation puts it, ‘Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it
Psalm 113:1-9, Isaiah 65:17-19, 66:2, Ephesians 5:8-33. It is also possible to ‘displease' the Lord (Isaiah 66:4c) The apostle Paul wrote, ‘Find out what *pleases the Lord*' (Ephesians 5:10), or as *The Message* translation puts it, ‘Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it
Dennis & Benedicta discuss the difficulty and benefits of waiting on God as they consider Isaiah 27:14 and Isaiah 40:31.To find out more about Dennis & Benedicta Pollock please visit the Spirit of Grace website, where you can find other wonderful resources such as videos and articles. You will also find out how you can support the work of Spirit of Grace by becoming a Friend of Grace .Please send questions, comments, and feedback with us at grace@spiritofgrace.org.
After prophesying the unexpected deliverance of Israel through Cyrus, Isaiah then points to the true servant of God, the Messiah of the Lord, who will bring ultimate deliverance and salvation. Jesus is the fulfillment and true servant of God who came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Through his obedience, God proves his love, care, and mercy for us. Through his obedience, we are healed. He served us completely so that we may serve in full obedience and trust.
After prophesying the unexpected deliverance of Israel through Cyrus, Isaiah then points to the true servant of God, the Messiah of the Lord, who will bring ultimate deliverance and salvation. Jesus is the fulfillment and true servant of God who came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Through his obedience, God proves his love, care, and mercy for us. Through his obedience, we are healed. He served us completely so that we may serve in full obedience and trust.
Come let us reason together, says the Lord—Isaiah 1:18 I. The Imperative to Do Apologetics A. Defend Christianity as objective true, compellingly rational, and existentially pertinent to all of life (1 Peter 3:15) B. Consider apologetic method, but don't fixate on it. Know your epistemology! C. Fideism: defense by not engaging in the battle 1. Cannot dispense with logic and keep your head 2. Scripture challenges us to engage apologetically (chapter 2) 3. History is replete with good apologists: Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, Pascal, C.S. Lewis, etc. D. Take it to the streets: apologetics without works is dead (James 2) II. The Laws of Logic A. God and logic (John 1:1-2) B. Noncontradiction: A cannot be non-A 1. To deny it, is to affirm it: “The law is false.” 2. Light-particle duality (physics) does not break it 3. Existential conflict is not a violation of the law C. Excluded middle: Either A or non-A 1. Jesus is Lord or not 2. Buddha was enlightened or not 3. Things being “gray” does not refute excluded middle D. Bivalence: statements are true or false; not neither, not bothWhat if sentences have many meanings? That is a matter of interpretation (epistemology), not truth or falsity E. Identity: A=A 1. Used to refute physicalism about mind and brain (more in chapter 17) 2. “I'm not myself today” does not break it F. Forms of argument: induction, deduction, abduction (best explanation); logical fallacies (ad hominem, circular reasoning, false dichotomy, etc.) III. Worldview Hypothesis Evaluation A. Christianity as a hypothesis or worldview B. Build a cumulative case using many lines of argument 1. Biblical basis for apologetics2. Objective truth is real and knowable3. Explain the Christian worldview4. Theistic arguments: cosmological, design, moral, ontological, religious experience5. Reliability of the Bible6. Identity of Jesus Christ: claims, credentials, achievements C. Present the case carefully, point by point 1. Know the Christian worldview (chapter 4) 2. Know what the worldview rivals are: live hypotheses 3. Know the plausibility structure of your culture (Peter Berger, A Rumor of Angels) 4. Present Christian worldview as intellectually superior to other by testing it according to rational, objective criteria 5. Do not make the criteria internal to Christianity; if so, no apologetics is possible, because you can have no common ground. D. Constructive or positive apologetics: Arguments in support of Christian theism E. Two kinds of negative apologetics 1. Rebut, defeat attacks on Christianity 2. Show the rational weaknesses in other worldviews IV. Criteria for Worldview Evaluation: Play Fair, Play Smart A. This is epistemology: our philosophy of knowledge 1. Truth: correspondence view 2. Knowledge: justified true belief (internalism) B. Criteria are applied in other areas of life and are intuitively credible C. The eight criteria for worldview assessment (pages 53-60) 1. Should explain things adequately without excessive opacity 2. Internal logical consistency 3. Coherence: the web of beliefs is consistent4. Factual adequacy: history, science, human experience 5. Existential viability (not pragmatic theory of truth; see chapter 6) 6. Intellectual, cultural fecundity (fruitfulness) 7. No radical ad hoc adjustment of the worldview 8. Simpler explanations are preferred to complex ones, all things being equal V. The Limits of Apologetics A. Bible itself can be difficult to explain and defend; be patient; study well Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction—2 Peter 3:15-16 B. Our weaknesses as sinners: we may hold the truth poorly Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers—1 Timothy 4:16. C. God's providence may convert people with or without the kind of apologetics we can offer Resources 1. Kenneth Boa, Robert Bowman, Faith Has it's Reasons, 2nd ed. (InterVarsity Press, 2006).2. Steven Cowan, ed., Five Views of Apologetics (Zondervan, 2000).3. Douglas Groothuis, Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith (InterVarsity Press, 2011). Also translated into Korean, 2015 by Christian Literature Center, Seoul, Korea.4. Douglas Groothuis, Truth Decay: Defending Christianity Against the Challenge of Postmodernism (InterVarsity Press, 2000).5. Os Guinness, Fool's Talk: Recovering the Christian Art of Persuasion (InterVarsity Press, 2015).6. Gordon Lewis, Testing Christianity's Truth Claims (orig. pub., 1976; University Press of America).7. Brian Morely, Mapping Apologetics (InterVarsity Press, 2015). Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.
In this episode of Pray the Word on Isaiah 37:20, David Platt asks God for His grace in our and others' lives so that He might be glorified.
How do we walk in the light of the Lord? Find out with Nathan Jones and Vic Batista on the podcast, The Truth Will Set You Free!
In this episode of Pray the Word on Isaiah 33:2, David Platt encourages us to trust God today for all the grace, strength, and help we need.