Podcasts about moses god

Today we want to take this chat and explain the importance of the synagogue in the days of Christ and the early church.   First, what is a synagogue? The basic definition is a synagogue is a Jewish house of worship. A synagogue is for Jews what a church is for Christians, or a mosque for Muslims, or a temple for Hindus. The word comes from the Greek roots “sun” which means "together", and “agein” which means "to go” or “to bring together". Wuest Word Studies gives this explanation: “It refers to the act of a group of people "going with one another," thus congregating in one place. Finally, it came to refer to the place where they congregated. The word was used to designate the buildings other than the central Jewish temple where the Jews congregated for worship.”   Though some Jewish traditions claim synagogues existed “from the time of Moses,” history notes that the practice of meeting in synagogues emerged during the period of Israel's Babylonian captivity. During this time, the Jewish temple was unavailable for worship, requiring an alternative gathering place for dispersed Jews who desired to gather for prayer and communal worship.   By the time of Jesus and the New Testament period, synagogues had become a common local fixture. The New Testament mentions synagogues over 60 times, largely in connection with the ministry of Jesus and the apostles. On the Sabbath, local Jews would meet for prayer and Scripture reading. Of course, the Sabbath in the Bible is the seventh day of the week which has its beginning in Genesis 2:1-3 when God rested on the seventh day of creation and as verse 3 says, “He blessed the seventh day and sanctified it…”. Then in the Law of Moses God makes the seventh day of the week a special day set apart for worship for the Jews and no work was to be done. This is why the Jews go to the synagogues on Saturday.   Jesus was fulfilling the law as He went from synagogue to synagogue teaching the law and the prophets and worshipping with the Jews in that region. Jesus might have argued that the "religious system" was corrupt, or that He didn't need the instruction; but instead, He made His way on the Sabbath to the place of prayer. From verses in Luke 4:16-21 we can observe many synagogue customs: First, the meeting took place on the Sabbath (Saturday). Second, Jesus stood to read. Third, He read from a scroll. Even today, scrolls are found in synagogues and are used for weekly readings (see also Acts 15:21). When finished with His reading, Jesus sat down to teach, another synagogue tradition.   Paul and the other apostles would use the synagogue as a launching point for missionary activities. Upon arriving in a new community, Paul would show up at the synagogue and request to speak. He would then present Jesus as the Messiah and begin his local outreach. This sometimes resulted in many people believing in Jesus. Historically, the synagogue has continued to play an essential role in the practice of Judaism. After the destruction of the Jewish temple in A.D. 70, worship could no longer take place in the temple, making the synagogue the central place of worship. The synagogue has served as an important fixture in Judaism and early Christianity. Its importance during the time of Jesus and the apostles provided one of the key ways the gospel spread in the earliest years of the church.   Today, as believers we meet on the first day of the week in celebration of the resurrection of Jesus on that day! That is when the New Testament believers met. It should be our custom, our regular practice, to come together with other believers to pray, to worship, and be taught the Word of God. In Hebrews 10:25 we are exhorted: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”   God Bless!

Helpful links for more information, signups, and getting connected at Schweitzer Church: - www.schweitzer.church - schweitzer.church/next - schweitzer.church/groups

Helpful links for more information, signups, and getting connected at Schweitzer Church: - www.schweitzer.church - schweitzer.church/next - schweitzer.church/groups

The time has come for Moses to return to Egypt. God intended for Moses to have face to face interaction with Pharaoh. What's really going on is that through Moses God would have His demand delivered directly to the man at the top. But God warned Moses that Pharaoh would refuse to listen. Jesus gave us the same warning, “if they reject me, they will reject you", "you will be persecuted for teaching what I tell you".https://ucgraleigh.blogspot.com/2024/03/moses-returns-to-egypt.html

A Personal God The God of History The God of Liberation A Holy God Takeaway: God – not nature – is the ultimate foundation of our existence. And, as he has shown us in history, he is on our side.

Trick questions never fool Jesus. He uses a question about marriage in heaven to reveal the truth revealed long ago to Moses: God is the God of the living, not the dead.

John's gospel narrative is organized around 7 miracles that demonstrate that he is the Messiah, the Promised One, the Deliverer, the Savior. But in addition to these ministry signs Jesus gives other signs. After he cleansed the Temple he was challenged concerning his authority. He gave them the sign- Destroy this Temple and I will raise it up in three days. He was prophetically speak of the temple of his body that would be raised back to life after he was killed. The climaxing sign in John's gospel is Jesus resurrection from the dead.Nicodemus , a ruler of the Jews, came to visit Jesus during the early days of his ministry in Judea. He said to Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus startled him with a discourse on his need to be born again by the sovereign work of the Spirit. He then gives Nicodemus this sign which explains how it is possible for God to forgive sinners and have access to God. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,  that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.' John 3:14-15This was a reference to what happened during the wilderness days of the Hebrews in route to the Promised land. When they grumbled and spoke against Yahweh and Moses God visited them in judgment by poisonous snakes that bit thousands who died. The people beg Moses to ask God to take the snakes away and to stop the punishment. God told Moses to make a bronze snake image and put it on a pole so that when a person was bitten by a serpent he could look on the snake imaged on a pole and live.  (Numbers 21:4-9)Jesus told Nicodemus this was sign pointing to him. It was a prophecy of his destined death by crucifixion when he would take the judgment due his people and when they looked to him in faith they would live . He will some 3 1/2 years later speak his being lifted up to some Greeks who came seeking him. (John 12:32-34) Paul explains the meaning of Jesus death in terms that explain the divine transaction that took place with Jesus in 2 Corinthians 5: 19, 21 In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them. ...For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.Bible Insights with Wayne ConradContact: 8441 Hunnicut Rd Dallas, Texas 75228email: Att. Bible Insights Wayne Conradgsccdallas@gmail.com (Good Shepherd Church) Donation https://www.gsccdallas.org/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJTZX6qasIrPmC1wQpben9ghttps://www.facebook.com/waconrad or gscchttps://www.sermonaudio.com/gsccSpirit, Truth and Grace MinistriesPhone # 214-324-9915 leave message with number for call backPsalms 119:105 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

Nicodemus , a ruler of the Jews, came to visit Jesus during the early days of his ministry in Judea. He said to Jesus, -Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.- Jesus startled him with a discourse on his need to be born again by the sovereign work of the Spirit. He then gives Nicodemus this sign which explains how it is possible for God to forgive sinners and have access to God. -As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.' John 3-14-15-This was a reference to what happened the wilderness days of the Hebrews in route to the Promised land. When they grumbled and spoke against Yahweh and Moses God visited them in judgment by poisonous snakes that bit thousands who died. The people beg Moses to ask God to take the snakes away and that the punishment. God told Moses to make a bronze snake image and put it on a pole so that when a person was bitten by a serpent he could look on the snake imaged on a pole and live. -Numbers 21-4-9-Jesus told Nicodemus this was sign pointing to him. It was a prophecy of his destined death by crucifixion when he would take the judgment due his people and when they looked to him in faith they would live . He will some 3 1-2 years later speak his being lifted up to some Greeks who came seeking him. -John 12-32-34- Paul explains the meaning of Jesus death in terms that explain the divine transaction that took place with Jesus in 2 Corinthians 5- 19, 21 In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them. ...For our sake he made him to

Nicodemus , a ruler of the Jews, came to visit Jesus during the early days of his ministry in Judea. He said to Jesus, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." Jesus startled him with a discourse on his need to be born again by the sovereign work of the Spirit. He then gives Nicodemus this sign which explains how it is possible for God to forgive sinners and have access to God. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.' John 3:14-15This was a reference to what happened the wilderness days of the Hebrews in route to the Promised land. When they grumbled and spoke against Yahweh and Moses God visited them in judgment by poisonous snakes that bit thousands who died. The people beg Moses to ask God to take the snakes away and that the punishment. God told Moses to make a bronze snake image and put it on a pole so that when a person was bitten by a serpent he could look on the snake imaged on a pole and live. (Numbers 21:4-9)Jesus told Nicodemus this was sign pointing to him. It was a prophecy of his destined death by crucifixion when he would take the judgment due his people and when they looked to him in faith they would live . He will some 3 1/2 years later speak his being lifted up to some Greeks who came seeking him. (John 12:32-34) Paul explains the meaning of Jesus death in terms that explain the divine transaction that took place with Jesus in 2 Corinthians 5: 19, 21 In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them. ...For our sake he made him to

Pastor Caleb Kinney Wednesday Evening 1/31/24

A Prophet Greater than Moses Hebrews 3:1-14 Last Sunday we began a brief advent series in Hebrews. Hebrews is probably not the first book of the Bible that comes to mind when you think of Advent or Christmas. However, the whole book is about Jesus. It speaks clearly about his coming, his nature, his glory, and as we considered last week, his offices. As a reminder, that word office is the official capacity of his ministry – who this child that we celebrate at Advent is… who he is…  and what he has come to do. His offices are Prophet, Priest, and King. The first few verses of Hebrews chapter 1 introduce Jesus as the Son of God in those redemptive roles. This week, we'll be focusing on Jesus' prophetic office. A prophet is one sent by God, to speak the word of God, on behalf of God. Our text is Hebrews chapter 3 verses 1-14. You can find that on page 1188 in the pew Bibles. As you are turning there, let me note that if we had time, we would read all of chapter 3 and chapter 4. Those two chapters are really one message. Our text this morning in chapter 3 is a good summary of the larger section. The opening 6 verses compare Jesus to Moses. Then in verses 7-14 the author of Hebrews quotes Psalm 95:8-11 and gives a brief explanation and application. They call us to hear and believe in Christ, holding fast to our faith in him. Let's now come to his Word. Reading of Hebrew 3 Prayer As you know, the Old Testament is full of history. Of events, of people, places, festivals, wars, promise, families. But out of all of them, one event stands out as the most significant in the life of God's people. The Exodus. It was ultimate demonstration of deliverance in the Old Testament. It's amazing what God did and how he did it. It's hard for us to even wrap our minds around some of it. God sent Moses to the king of Egypt, Pharoah, multiple times calling him to free God's people. Each time, Pharoah rejected the call. And after each rejection, God sent plages on Egypt. Terrible plagues. The worst was the tenth. The angel of death came and all the firstborn in Egypt died. Yet, the Lord passed over the homes of the Israelites, if the blood of the lamb was on the their doorposts. It was that moment that Moses led God's people out of Egypt. God went before them with a pillar of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night. The people rejoiced, thinking they were set free but then the Egyptians began pursuing them, and they ended up at a dead end - the Red Sea. It appeared that all was lost. They couldn't cross. But yet again, God displayed his power and salvation. First, the pillars of smoke and fire held off the Egyptian army. But even more amazing was what happened next. Moses raised his staff, struck the water and the Red Sea parted. Another miracle. Moses led them across on dry land. And as soon as the last Israelite crossed, the waters came crashing down on the Egyptian army… destroying them all. Imagine all that had transpired. Imagine being a father or mother or child and seeing and experiencing all of it. And that wasn't the last of it. Even the small miracles displayed the provision of God. The soles of their shoes didn't wear out. God gave them manna from heaven - daily provision of food. They were there when Moses went up on the mountain and returned with the commandments. They were there to see the pillar of smoke and fire above the tabernacle revealing the Lord's presence. They witnessed so many things. And at the center of it all, besides, of course, God himself, was Moses. He had been the one to boldly speak to Pharoah. He had been the one to lead them out. God parted the Red Sea through Moses. God had revealed himself to Moses in the burning bush and on the mountain. He was used to bring the tablets of stone, the ten commandments. Moses was the man. And besides all that God had done through Moses in the Exodus, God also revealed to Moses his laws. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Moses wrote down the creation account, their history including the patriarchs, the ceremonial and civil laws. Moses was and is the central figure in Judaism…  perhaps only paralleled by Abraham. Moses was their guy. So, when the author of Hebrews brings up Moses, you better believe it that his readers would be paying very special attention. Verse 3 would have been a particular eye opener to them – It says, “Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses.” For some of the Jewish reader, this would have been shocking. More glory than Moses? Moses had to veil himself (cover his face) when he descended from Mount Saini because he reflected the glory of God. But Jesus was counted as more glorious than Moses. Now, to be clear about the audience, Hebrews was written to Jewish people who believed in Jesus as the Messiah. We read that right there in verse 1. The author calls them “brothers” and, as it says, they “share” in the same “calling” and “confession.” But they still would have been startled by the emphasis of Jesus over Moses. We know from other New Testament books that Jewish background believers often struggled by overemphasizing Moses and the law. Sometimes the law was elevated above grace (the book of Galatians deals with that), and other times the law was put on the same par as faith. Like grace plus circumcision, or we're saved by grace plus the law (the book of Romans deals with some of that). So, what the author of Hebrews is doing here is making really clear that Jesus is greater than Moses. But note: the author is not diminishing Moses, no, rather Moses, as great as he was, is being put in his proper place compared with Jesus. Jesus is the greater prophet. Now, I said that, but some of you probably noticed, the word “prophet” is not found in our text this morning. In fact, the word “prophet” is not found anywhere in chapters 3 or in 4. So, first, let me explain why the underlying emphasis is Jesus as the greatest prophet – greater than Moses. ·       Number 1 - we often don't think of Moses as a prophet, do we? But he was the most preeminent prophet in the Old Testament. In Deuteronomy 18, which we read earlier, Moses calls himself a prophet. And that makes sense. God sent Moses to speak and through Moses God gave his Word and law to the people. And related to that, the prophets often performed signs and miracles as a testimony to their prophetic role. And that was certainly true for Moses. He was a prophet. ·       The second reason - in the same Deuteronomy passage, Moses writes that God will raise up a prophet like him from their brothers. Moses says, “it is him you shall listen.” Well, there are two places in the New Testament that quote that Old Testament verse. Both pronounce that Jesus is the prophesied prophet. We read one of them earlier in the service - Acts 3 – Peters sermon. Stephen also says the same thing in Acts 7. Jesus is the prophesied, capital “P” Prophet. ·       Third, in Hebrews 3 verse 1, Jesus is called THE apostle. He's “the apostle and high priest of our confession.” That word apostle in the Greek means “sent one.” It's a different word than prophet, but both have been explicitly sent by God and they share the divine authority to speak his word. So even though these verses don't use the word prophet, yet they still convey the role of prophet. ·       And last, these two chapters, 3 and 4, are about God speaking and our listening. In fact, the beginning of verse 7 reminds us that God is the one speaking through his Word. Look at what it says: “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says” and it quotes Psalm 95. The thing is, King David is the one who wrote Psalm 95, but he was carried along by the Holy Spirit. Many of the Old Testament quotes in Hebrews are attributed directly to God. To be sure, it doesn't diminish the human author's intent or context, but it's a good reminder that God has given and directs his Word. OK, now flip forward to chapter 4 and jump down to verse 12. Basically, the end of chapter 3 and the beginning of chapter 4 are an exposition of Psalm 95. The author has made the case to listen to the Word of God and to believe it. And then he writes these well-known words. Starting in verse 12 of chapter 4: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Again, he's talking about the word of God. Now listen carefully to verse 13. “And no creature is hidden from his sight…” Did you hear that? It doesn't say “its sight” but “his sight.” The author of Hebrews is speaking of Jesus as the Word of God. And the second half of verse 13 makes that abundantly clear: “but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Jesus is the one to whom we will be accountable on the last day. He is God's Word. Let me boil it down this way. Earlier, I gave you a definition of a prophet. A prophet is sent by God to speak the word of God on behalf of God. Moses certainly fits that definition. But Jesus fulfills that definition. He is sent by God as THE apostle – God the Son sent into the world. He speaks the word of God because he is the word of God. And he's come on behalf of God because he is God. Jesus is considered worthy of greater honor than Moses for all those reasons. Let me pause here. Why does this matter? You may be thinking, “Isn't this just an intellectual discussion? Can't we just get to application?” Well, look at verse 1. What's the imperative in verse 1? Do you see it there? It's the word “consider.” “Consider Jesus, the apostle and High Priest of our confession.” Beloved, there's nothing and no one greater to consider. He IS the application. Now, we're going to get to our response in a few minutes, but I wanted to point that out. And just to be sure, these verses don't minimize Moses. Verse 2 makes that clear. Moses was faithful. He was a faithful leader. God called him to faithfully speak to Pharoah. He faithfully obeyed God. The people saw Moses' faithfulness to God – they knew Moses had a special role in God's kingdom. Look at the phrase at the end of verse 2: “Moses… was faithful in all God's house.” That term "house” describes God's people – as in the family of God. Moses faithfully served the family of God. Jesus was also faithful. Faithful to speak the truth and grace of God. Faithful to God the Father in fulfilling his task on earth - salvation. Faithful in perfect obedience to God's law. You see, both were faithful. But faithful in different ways. And what these first 6 verses highlight is that Jesus is categorically more faithful than Moses. Jesus is worthy of greater glory than Moses. Why? Well, he writes, “the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.” Verse 5 explains: “Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant…” and in verse 6 “but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son.” So, on the one hand, you have Moses. He's a servant in the house. And on the other hand, you have Jesus, as the builder of the house, as over the house. This last summer, we vacationed in Washington DC. And one of the things we did was go on a White House tour. The most famous house in the world. It was very interesting. We didn't see the west wing or the oval office, but we entered the east wing and were able to walk through the lower level and then the rooms on the main floor. And there were pictures everywhere (and painting, too). Almost every picture included one of the presidents… but he was with a foreign dignitary, or a famous musician or movie star, or the queen, or the first lady, or the family dog. Pictures of president after another president after another president. It was a good reminder that each president merely serves in the house. He didn't create the office of President or build the house and he doesn't own the house. No, the president serves the country. It's the constitution which established the office 250 years ago. The President, though important, is merely a servant in the house… appointed by the people. It's not a perfect analogy, but you get the point. Moses served in the house. He's described as a servant. And what did Moses do? End of verse 5: he was there “to testify to the things that were to be spoken later.” There it is again, by the way… prophet. Moses was a prophet pointing to a greater prophet. That's Moses… faithful in the house. Jesus, on the other hand, is described as “the builder” – verse 3… and “the son” – verse 5. He has more honor because he is over the house. It's his house. He established the house. Again, we're talking about the household of God – the people of God. The reason that Jesus is over the house is that he is God. Verse 4 notes. “For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.” So after being described as the builder, Jesus is equated with God. Moses is a servant in the house. But Jesus, as God the son, owns the house. We're to consider him: Jesus is not another faithful prophet like Moses, rather he's THE prophet, the Word of God. He's the one whom Moses prophesied would come. He's over Moses and over the whole house of God, the church. Greater and more glorious as the builder of the house. Response And that brings us now to our response. We've considered Jesus, but what does that mean for us? Well, look at the middle of 6. “And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and hope.” Verse 14 is very similar to verse 6. Look down at 14. “we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” “Hold our original confidence.” And earlier, “Hold fast our confidence.” Those two verses are saying the same thing. We're to hold onto Christ. We're to see and hear and have a believing heart. The Psalm 95 quote illustrates the opposite - an unbelieving heart. In fact, verses 7-11 take us back to the Exodus and the wilderness. The sad reality is that even though they witnessed the 10 plagues…. Even though their firstborn had been passed over by the angel of death…  even though they were there when God protected them from the Egyptian army… even though they crossed the red sea… even though they experienced God's provision in the wilderness… yet they did not believe. They witnessed and experienced it all, yet constantly displayed unbelieving hearts. Things got to a boiling point at Meribah – the place of the rebellion. They needed water, yet they didn't trust the Lord to provide, even though he had provided all along the way. So they rose up against Moses. “Why have you brought us into this wilderness to die?” They wanted to go back to Egypt, back to slavery. They hardened their hearts. That's how Psalm 95 describes their rebellion in verse 8. It's the same phrase used to describe Pharoh's heart. Suppose you had not gone to your doctor for years. You thought you were fine. But then one day, you notice that you get out of breath really easily and your chest feels tight. So, you go see your doctor. After performing some tests and scans, he or she sits you down and says, Tell me about your diet? Well, I don't eat green things. Usually, it's ice cream for breakfast. For lunch sometimes grilled cheese sandwiches or a burrito. For dinner, my all-time favorite is BBQ, but pizza or fried foods will also do. You then learn that your arteries are 80% blocked. Your terrible diet is causing your heart to slowly harden and die. You have congestive heart failure and the risk of a massive heart attack is high. The doctor says, Your diet needs a radical change or you will die. How do you respond? Do you think, I don't believe it. I'm fine. Or will you believe and realize your grave condition. The generation in the wilderness had spiritual heart disease. Because of it, sadly they would not be allowed to enter the promised land. As Psalm 95 puts it they would not enter God's rest. You see that in Hebrews 3:11. It's referring to the eternal rest in God's presence for eternity. And why would they not enter it? It's because of their unbelief. You can see that down in verse 19. We didn't read that verse, but it directly answers the question why. Let me take a brief tangent here. Some have suggested that verse 12 means we can lose our salvation. It says that you should not have “an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” However, it's not saying that we can have true faith in Christ and then later lose that true faith in Christ. Rather these verses are emphasizing that a true testimony of faith is revealed by someone who demonstrates their faith over time. Who indeed, “holds fast our confidence,” as it says. The Israelites in the wilderness demonstrated they never had a believing heart. It wasn't a matter of believing and then losing that belief, rather it was witnessing the deliverance and provision of God, but never believing. Now, you may be asking yourself this question: “If that generation had all those reasons to believe, yet they didn't believe, what hope is there for us and our generation?” Well, we have even more reasons to believe. Moses was a shadow of the greater prophet who has come. And the Exodus, despite how God miraculously delivered his people and displayed his glory, was also just a shadow. The deliverance that Christ has brought is greater. Deliverance not from bondage in Egypt but bondage from sin and shame, and not through the blood of a lamb, but through the blood of THE lamb of God, Jesus. And we have the prophecy fulfilled because the Word of God has come – Jesus himself. What was veiled in the past, we now see clearly… the faithfulness and mercy of God in Christ. And speaking of veiled… let's go back to when Moses had to veil his face. Exodus 34 describes Moses' face radiating the glory of God after being in his presence on the mountain. So much so, the people were afraid to come near him. So he put a veil over his face. But over time, that reflected glory of God on Moses face faded away. But not so the glory of God in Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6 says that God has shown the light of his glory in our hearts. What is that glory? It says: “The light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus.” Not a reflected glory, but the glory of God himself in Jesus. As Hebrews 1 says, Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God. This advent, may we consider Jesus, the one greater than Moses, the great prophet of our confession, and may we believe. May our hearts not be hardened by the deceitfulness of our sin,” as it says, but instead, may we believe and behold the one who delivers us from our sin.

Message from Stephan Gustavsson on October 22, 2023

A new MP3 sermon from Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Following Moses: God’s Servant Speaker: Dr. Michael Barrett Broadcaster: Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary Event: Chapel Service Date: 10/4/2023 Bible: Exodus 34:29-35 Length: 34 min.

Hosts: Forest Antemesaris and Hiram Kemp  |  Released Monday, September 25, 2023 To hold fast to our confession, Christians must consider Jesus. Because Jesus was faithful in God’s house as a Son, He has more glory than Moses and is worthy of our steadfast allegiance. Unlike the nation of Israel who perished because of sin and unbelief, […]

Today's scripture comes from the book of Exodus, Chapter 14, verses 19 through 31, where we delve into the incredible story of the Israelites' escape from Egypt. As they stood at the shores of the Red Sea, facing seemingly insurmountable odds, God's miraculous intervention became evident. Join us on this journey of faith and discovery. In this sermon, Pastor Rick explores the profound meaning behind the parting of the Red Sea. It's not just a miraculous event but a lesson in trusting God during our own Red Sea moments. We all encounter challenges in life where it feels like there's no way forward, and the enemy is closing in. However, as we learn from this ancient story, when we say "yes" to God's guidance and do not succumb to fear, we open the door to God's provision and salvation. Discover the courage of the Israelites as they step into the unknown, the mud beneath their feet, and the waters parted by God's hand. This powerful narrative reminds us that God's grace is big enough to cover any situation, and He leads us through the difficulties to reach the other side. As you watch this sermon, reflect on your own Red Sea moments. Have you faced challenges that seemed insurmountable? Are you willing to trust and follow God, even when the path forward seems uncertain? Let Pastor Rick's words inspire you to say "yes" to God's guidance and discover how, in the end, God provides. Join us in this transformative message of faith, courage, and God's unwavering love. Don't forget to listen for the special word Pastor Rick has included in the sermon for our youth to find! Listen, reflect, and be inspired.

Exodus 2:1-10 - Rev, Schuyler Schnell, Senior Pastor - Sunday, September 10, 2023

Moses used every excuse in the book to not be used by God to free the Israelites. In this episode of The Breakdown Nick and Brennon explore what it looks like for God to qualify us to be His vessel and how we can overcome anxiety, by faith, to do God's will.

Moses: …God..show me your plan… God's response: I will go with you. And I will give you victory. Of course, no one likes to be kept in the dark. God has given Moses an assignment to lead His people from Egypt to the land He promised them. This was a hard job for Moses. He asked God for His plans. The way He intends to orchestrate the mass exodus, the emigration, of His people from Egypt. As a matter of fact, in any profession, you will need a plan in order to execute your job effectively. Of course, God has a plan but it was not as Moses or any of us will view things because God does not think the way man thinks; He does not work the way man work. (Isaiah 55:8-9) God responded by informing Moses that His presence will go with Him and give him rest. “The Lord replied, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.'” ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭33‬:‭14‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬ Further, in the same chapter, God showed Moses a sign of His greatness; also to assure Moses of His guaranteed presence and rest He will always have. I'm so many ways, we can relate to this story. We desire to know God's plans, His ways, His purpose, His assignment for us as a child, student, adult…, We put the cart before the horse. Invariably, when we put the cart before the horse; our movement get thwarted; because something done in the wrong order will not be effective. God's order is -seek My presence -love me with all your heart -Fellowship with me -Commune with me And as we take time in God's presence, being conscious of His presence, as apostle Peter mentioned in 1 Peter 1:18 and I quote - “Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God…” ‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬-‭21‬ ‭MSG‬‬ God will open up to us, as a book, page by page, the purpose and plans / ways to execute the assignment He has given us. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/abimbola-arawande/message

Content No sacrifice for sin Jesus greater than Moses God of vengeance Become a CTC Partner for access to hours of NCST course videos: https://crosstocrown.org/partners/ Free resources: http://crosstocrown.org/books/ My books: Exalted: Putting Jesus in His Place -- https://www.amazon.com/Exalted-Putting-Jesus-His-Place/dp/0985118709/ref=tmm_pap_title_0 God's Design for Marriage (Married Edition) -- https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Design-Marriage-Married-Amazing/dp/0998786306/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1493422125&sr=1-4&keywords=god%27s+design+for+marriage God's Design for Marriage (Pre-married Edition) -- https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Design-Marriage-What-Before/dp/0985118725/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top Websites and social media: crosstocrown.org newcovenantschooloftheology.org @DougGoodin @CrossToCrown

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The burning bush story! In the midst of being overwhelmed by the presence of God, facing a bush burning brightly and white-hot, Moses hides his face, and God speaks. 1 - We're all functionally blind, just like Moses. We have no idea what the future holds. But God sees. God sees reality for what it is - and God has a preferred future for all of us, a future with milk and honey. That doesn't mean it will be easy - but milk and honey will be there. 2 - Okay, so what do we do? God says, "Go." Even though you're blind, you can't see - just like Moses - God says, "Go." Keep moving. Keep taking steps. Trust. And the last thing God says is, "I'll be with you." Speaker: Aaron Vis Scripture: Exodus 3:1-12 http://bible.com/events/49050135

My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he that walks in the way of perfection, he shall serve me – Psalm 101:6 When you wish to know something about Godly living, where do you look? Is there a better to look at then to the men of the Bible? The Lord in all His sovereign wisdom didn't leave us without a wonderful textbook, the Holy Scriptures. Some make the mistake of worshiping these heroes of the faith. Others make the mistake of only highlighting these men's weaknesses. But somewhere in the middle is what God intended, and if our heart is right, we can learn all we need to know about healthy, rewarding Christian living from these incredible men of the Lord. Men of the Bible Contents Abraham – Faith and Obedience Moses – God's Voice Naaman – God's Methods Nehemiah – Uncompromising Vision Herod and John the Baptist – Dealing with Sin The Blind Man and Joseph of Arimathaea – Boldness The Penitent Thief – It's Not Too Late

Joshua 1:1 - Joshua 1:1 (NIV) After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua, Moses my servant is dead. Moses who may be the greatest man of the OT has died. Moses is also a type of Christ. Moses brought God's people out of darkness and slavery of Egypt to freedom. Christ brought believers out of the dominion of darkness of this world who were slaves to sin into HIS glorious light. After the death of Moses God's work expanded. Likewise, after the death of Christ God's work expanded. This world doesn't understand that of God's kingdom expands in adversity. The Jewish leaders had this same misconception.

Shortly into their time in the desert, Israel began to grumble about their lack of food and lack of God's provision. God provides quail and bread for his people. In time, Jesus claims he is the Bread of Life.

In every generation, there's always that one person that stands up for the good of the entire generation! Changing lives and restoring peace, this sermon will guide you through and open your eyes to the advantages of having someone standing in the gap! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/enochaminupodcast/message

Pastor Marq Toombs continues our sermon series "The Promises" in Exodus 12. God draws close to Abraham by appearing to him in a burning bush. Now now God draws close to Pharaoh and reveals Himself to him. Come with us as we wrestle with this difficult passage and find out what it means for us.

Pastor Marq Toombs continues our sermon series "The Promises" in Exodus 3. There are many names for God in the Bible... But God reveals to Moses His forever name, His eternal name to Moses. What is it? Why should we care? How will bearing His eternal name change us? Let's find out.

Kelly Brady, John Vandervelde, Simone Halpin and Matt Marron discuss issues of faith and respond to questions from Kelly's sermon on March 6, 2022

Kelly Brady, John Vandervelde, Simone Halpin and Matt Marron discuss issues of faith and respond to questions from Kelly's sermon on March 6, 2022

 Audio recordingGod did many important things through Moses. God did many “new” things through Moses. We are not accustomed to thinking about things being “new” when it comes to God, and that is not a bad attitude to have. When it comes to God, new things are probably lies, coming from the father of lies, who loves to deal in all things spiritual. Nevertheless, with Moses God did all kinds of new things. First of all, the number and power of miracles that are done through Moses is a definite difference from the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God did miracles for them too, but they were much more connected to their family life. God caused Abraham and Sarah to conceive and bear Isaac even though they were both extremely old. God gave Isaac his wife at the well. God caused Jacob to flourish with his flock of sheep when he lived with his father-in-law Laban. These signs and wonders should not be poo-pooed. Every time the sun rises and gives its warmth, every time a flower blooms, God's wonder-working power is what is behind it. Every day we are the beneficiaries of God working and working. We would have a better sense of what is going on if we understood that miracles happen every day and every moment as God does his work, but that is not how we normally understand the word “miracle.” We take the word “miracle” to mean that God does something unusual. He doesn't use the ways and means that we are accustomed to him using. With Moses God does things that are very unusual. God called him to be his servant at the burning bush. From that time forward there is practically one unusual thing after another. God does signs through him before Pharaoh. God pours out one bowl of wrath after another on the nation of Egypt until Pharaoh decides to let his slaves go. God opens up the Red Sea for his people to pass through on dry ground, but Pharaoh and his army and destroyed by those same waters. He rains down bread from heaven and makes quail fly into camp with the wind. He causes water to flow out of the rock. God manifests his glory with the pillar of cloud and fire. When he takes up residency at Mt. Sinai it is with fire, smoke, thunder, earthquakes, and all manner unusual things. God sends fiery serpents. He opens up the ground to swallow his enemies. There is just one thing after another that God does. How can we explain this? One explanation might be that it was necessary. Pharaoh had to have his stubborn will broken. The Israelites needed to be gathered together as a nation numbering many hundreds of thousands. (God wasn't just dealing with a family anymore.) Plus the Israelites themselves were stiff-necked and hard-hearted. They had to have their own will broken over and over again, and this was done by God's miracles. So the number and power of miracles that God does through Moses is something that was unprecedented. These sorts of miracles have not been done since that time, as our reading from Deuteronomy said. The other thing that is new with Moses is all manner of religious things. God reveals his name to Moses at the burning bush. God gives his people their first festival, which is Passover. God gave his people a succinct statement of his Law with the Ten Commandments. God instituted worship for the Israelites down to the smallest details. He gave them the tabernacle, sacrifices, blessings, and the Aaronic priesthood to carry this all out. From the time of Moses onward God blessed his people and they returned their prayers and praises according to the way God set things up through Moses. The Old Testament is dominated by what God did through Moses. The word “testament” or “covenant” is about an arrangement between two or more parties. God made an arrangement with his people whom he had chosen. The most extensive covenant was set in place through Moses. Even at the time of the New Testament, all the people we hear about—including Jesus—are still doing things that God set in place with Moses. With the coming of Jesus, however, we have someone who is greater than Moses. Hebrews says, “Jesus is worthy of greater glory than Moses, in the same way that the builder of a house has more honor than the house.” The apostle John says, “The Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were put into place through Jesus Christ.” Jesus performed miracles. Jesus's miracles were different than Moses's. Moses did not have power within himself to bring about miracles. The source of that power was God. Moses was the means through which God worked. With Jesus we are dealing with God himself. He is true man, born of the virgin Mary, and true God, begotten of the Father from eternity. Jesus performed miracles because he is God. This is hugely different than how it was with Moses. Jesus's miracles lack no power, but Jesus's miracles are at the same time deeper and more homespun. Jesus deals with the most fundamental aspects of our lives as human beings. He casts out countless demons. Our willingness to submit to the devil goes all the way back to the first disobedience in the Garden. There is no more fundamental problem for us than that we are born in subjection to the devil until and unless Christ sets us free. Jesus's miracles also tend to have to do with people's domestic lives. He raises the dead on account of the grieving members of the family. He restores sight, hearing, and speaking so that life may be lived to the full. Most of Jesus's miracles are kind of like the miraculous things that God did at the time of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—things connected with daily life. And, of course, Jesus does things that are of supreme importance religiously speaking. It is in Jesus that we have been given the authority to become children of God. Jesus became one of us. Thereby we are given the gift to become like him. The Son took on our flesh and blood. Having joined himself to us we are given what he has. This is fully and completely communicated to everyone who is baptized. It is by baptism that we are born again by the water and the Holy Spirit to be a child of God—not figuratively speaking, but literally. “Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved,” Jesus said. “Whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Jesus does not institute a whole raft of statutes and regulations like God did at Mt. Sinai. The statutes and regulations at Mt. Sinai take up well over a dozen chapters in Exodus and the whole book of Leviticus. Instead Jesus leaves behind a simple ceremony, the Lord's Supper. Although this ceremony is extremely simple—so simple that a seven year old understands perfectly what is going on—it is also extremely profound. It is so profound that most people, and even most Christians, can't bring themselves to believe it. Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and distributed it to the disciples. He said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” A seven year old understands that Jesus is speaking about his flesh which was crucified on the cross. Then Jesus gave them a cup of wine. He said, “This cup is the new testament—the new arrangement between God and you. This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you drink it, do so in remembrance of me.” A seven year old who was unfamiliar with the Christian church came to a service not too long ago and asked his grandma, “Are they drinking blood?” The correct answer is, “Yes. That is Jesus's blood, in, with, and under the wine. It is the blood that was shed as the atonement for our sins.” Jesus leaves behind this simple ceremony. He says that we should do it often. When we do it we should remember him. In remembering Jesus we remember how he fulfilled God's Law for us—the Law that otherwise cries out for our condemnation and punishment. By Jesus fulfilling the Law for us we are freed from death. Paul says, “As often as we eat this bread and drink this cup we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.” When Christ comes again we will enter into the fullness of our promised land. Our promised land is not the land of Canaan, as it was for Moses and the Israelites. Our promised land is the place that Jesus has prepared for us. Jesus says in John 14: “Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have said to you, ‘I go to prepare a place for you?' And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you along to myself, so that where I am, you may be also.” Moses was a great man. God hammered together a people into a nation through him. Jesus is beyond orders of magnitude greater. He makes poor miserable sinners into holy children of God. How does he do this? By the sacrifice of his body and his blood on the cross. This is obviously at the very heart of the sacrament that he has left behind for us. He, in this sacrament, comforts us with the forgiveness of our sins. When we believe what he says in this sacrament, we may be sure that we have exactly what he says. The cross also looms large in Jesus's transfiguration that we heard about this morning. However, it is mentioned so unassumingly that it is easy to overlook. When Peter, James, and John see Jesus transfigured he is with two men, Moses and Elijah. Luke says that he is speaking to them about his “departure which he was going to bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem.” What Luke literally says is that Jesus is speaking with them about his “exodus” that he is about to fulfill in Jerusalem. The term “exodus” is loaded, particularly when Moses is involved as he is here at the mount of transfiguration. Moses led the exodus of God's people from their slavery under Pharaoh. All the signs and wonders that we have been talking about were connected with that whole exodus process. Jesus has the greater and more fundamental exodus in mind. The exodus Jesus brings about is the exit from slavery under the devil. Through Jesus we become not only God's people, but even his children. We do not just enter a promised bit of geography, but the eternal dwelling God has prepared for us. We will not have our interactions with God through a tent or a temple. We will see him face to face. Without a shadow of a doubt, Jesus's exodus is greater than Moses's exodus. To say the least, however, not everyone would agree with me about this. If we put the grand and magnificent miracles that God did through Moses on one side of the scale, and Jesus's exodus—his mistreatment, suffering, death, and resurrection—on the other, our reason would go with the miracles done through Moses every time. Our reason is impressed with the manipulation of earthly forces. But our reason is very foolish when it comes to the things of God. The biblical record bears this out even with the events that we have been talking about. God shook the earth and all the powers thereof at the time of Moses. Our reason says that this should work like a charm for making people believers and obedient. But what were the Israelites like? Over and over and over they disbelieve. They want to return to their slavery. Despite the power and the glory they are constantly breaking the first and most important commandment. God many times over says that they are a stiff-necked people. This is not the greater exodus. The greater exodus is through Jesus. Grace and truth are established through him. The gift of the Holy Spirit, who creates faith and softens our stony heart, is a greater miracle than what God did at the time of Moses. You are beneficiaries of Jesus's exodus. You have been made into God's children, having been born again by the water and the Word. Embrace this life of fellowship that Jesus has established between God and you. Believe the promises. Wait for their fulfillment.

Resources Used: Exodus: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture (Volume 2) (The New American Commentary), 2006 by Douglass K. Stewart The Life of Moses: God's First Deliverer of Israel Hardcover – April 2018, by James Montgomery Boice Sailhamer, John. The Pentateuch as Narrative: a Biblical-Theological Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995.

Resources Used: Exodus: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture (Volume 2) (The New American Commentary), 2006 by Douglass K. Stewart The Life of Moses: God's First Deliverer of Israel Hardcover – April 2018, by James Montgomery Boice Sailhamer, John. The Pentateuch as Narrative: a Biblical-Theological Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995.

0 (0s): Good morning. Welcome to church. Will you stand as we begin to worship and good morning to everyone who's in our other locations and visiting us online or with the sunlight. 0 (8s): thank you. 0 (4m 34s): Jesus. We praise you. Worship your name this morning. 0 (4m 41s): Jesus. 0 (13m 41s): We thank you so much this morning. We lift your name. Amen. Thank you so much. 1 (13m 58s): Good morning. And you go ahead and have a seat. That would be great. My name is Ron and I will be your host today. Whatever that means. I just made that up by the way I needed up here. Thanks Dave. Hey, what we decided to do this year 2021 is on family Sunday. So today's family Sunday, the fourth, Sunday of each month, which we designate for a couple of things. One is we have communion together on family Sunday. So we're going to be enjoying convenient together today. In fact, if you didn't get the communion cup, when you came in, like to ask the greeters in each venue, sanctuary loft, and also in the patio to get and grab the, grab the tray and walk around and make sure everybody's got a communion cup. 1 (14m 45s): Cause we're going to be, as I said, having communion today as a, as a group, and then also what we do on communion Sunday, family Sunday is we encourage families to worship together. So we don't have our normal classes for first grade and up. We do have class available for those under first grade. So if you've got some kids that for whatever reason, you want to have them in class, you can take them there and that'd be fine. Or if you want to keep them with you, that'd be great. One of the things that, that we feel is sort of a, a symptom of a, a vibrant growing church is a sound of kids could be crying. Kids could be fussy kids. We love kids. 1 (15m 26s): And so, yeah, as long as they're not, you know, distracting me, that's fine. We love them. Also, what we've done this year is the mission. The missionaries that we support and we support about a dozen is we designate each, each family Sundays. We want to introduce you to a missionary that we are involved with. That could be financial, certainly prayerfully, and the couple of money to introduce you to in just a moment. We've actually been involved with them for a long, long time. And so I'll let them tell you their stories. I'd like to go ahead and invite chef Cheryl and land up to the front. So Sherrilyn Lynn, come on up. 1 (16m 7s): And Dave, where did you put your mic? It's oh, here it is. There it is. Okay, so let's give a warm welcome when you is this one. Here you go then. All right. Is that good height? Do you want it lowered? You good? All right. Okay. All right. 2 (16m 32s): I don't want it to fall over. Well, good morning, everybody. It's really a blessing for us to be here. I mean, you know, we're in Israel. Most of the time we have been, except for when this COVID hit. And I was in Israel when the COVID hit and I had to come back to the states when I was in Texas, I was in Israel and I had to first extend my stay in Israel. And then there were no flights. So I was waiting and waiting for a flight, but I didn't want to end up in one of those quarantines and New York and New Jersey where they fly you into. So I was just praying because I thought if I ended up in the hospital, I'll never get out. They'll find something wrong. So anyway, I had this window of time. 2 (17m 14s): I got the flight and June 18th of last year and I got back and lympic me up in Dallas. I didn't have to quarantine. Few days later, they started the quarantine again in New York, New Jersey. So God is good. Yeah. What's good about doing mission field or doing any ministry. And a lot of you're involved in ministry. You get to see the Lord working through you and working around you. You know, it's like watching them. I'm sure the apostles disciples were when they were following them. They'd probably wake them go, oh, I wonder what he's going to do today. And that's how we feel is like, what is he going to do today? And so many different surprises happen, you know, from attacks to people getting saved. The last two days were ministry days for us and they were long and we needed more sleep than we got. 2 (17m 58s): But you know, it was good. It was really good. We got to pray with our brothers and all kinds of good stuff happened. Okay. I'll stop talking. What I'd like to do is tell you that the ministry that we're involved in, that we do is called love without borders. And it started with a smiley who was a Muslim, became a Christian. And we worked together to go to these different Muslims, especially and tell them about the Lord. And they were coming in the kingdom like that. It was fun. You know, they would walk up to me and goes, I wonder to be baptized, you know, like, whoa, okay. You know, you go down, they believe you. They go down as a Muslim. They come up as a Christian. Not that that's their theology or whatever you want to call it. 2 (18m 39s): But they have to do that first after wash all that off and come up. And when they come up out of the water, they're just shining like crazy, you know, it's wonderful. So that's, you know, Jesus said, you know, not what food I have. You know, like when he was at the whale, when some area I have food over there and then knows this, you just get so invigorated, you forget about eating. You forget about sleeping and you just go and do the ministry. So anyways, a little bit, our borders doesn't just go to Muslims or go to arrows. But it also goes to the Jewish people. So we have a mixture. We were doing more Muslims and Jews. And now it's like mix secular Jews, ultra Orthodox Jews, regular Orthodox Jews, and just you name it all kinds. 2 (19m 21s): So it's a fun ministry. And the Lord just kind of puts us in their path. We don't go looking for them. They just come in our path and then we minister to them. So Len is going to share a little bit and while I rest. And so he's just got something to say to you, and then I will finish 3 (19m 38s): Up. Thank you. Okay, good morning. I'm going to start with something just a little off the ball. Since we moved to Texas from Israel by way of California. And when, when we first moved to Texas, I would hear people say y'all and I thought it meant y'all. But what y'all means in Texas is y'all one person y'all. So if I were to address everyone here, it's all y'all. And that was my reaction. 3 (20m 20s): So that gets me to relax a little bit. Thank you. So, as Cheryl said, it's and it's whoever the Lord brings in front of us, that's who we minister to. And, and so that's what we have to be open to wherever we're at in the United States, England, but in Israel. So I want to focus on the Jewish people in Israel now and the Jewish community. So what the Lord revealed to me a couple of years ago, a few years ago, was that the Jewish community ultra Orthodox, Orthodox Jews read scripture pretty obvious. 3 (21m 6s): But what was interesting to me is that they read portions of scripture every week around the world, the same portions. And so the Lord revealed to me in my little brain, why don't you read the same portions for a couple of reasons? One, I was blessed, but two, it gave me an opportunity to open a small door, to start speaking to the ultra Orthodox and Orthodox Jews, which in general, you feel like there's a little bit of a wall there. It broke open the wall. 3 (21m 47s): All I had to do was ask a question. What do you think of? And man, when you ask that question, the it's like a flood gate and they love to talk about scripture and argue. So, but yeah, it also gave us an opportunity to share the Lord. It's somewhat of a struggle. We do this a lot, but it's there. And it opens up that opportunity. And it just turns out that yesterday was the beginning of the next portion. I'll call it biblical portion. 3 (22m 26s): And they started reading Deuteronomy 3 23 through seven 11, and every Orthodox and ultra Orthodox Jews in the world is right now reading and studying with their families. The same scripture, the same. Yeah. All of them. Thank you. The same scripture. So that's what I started doing. And yesterday we started studying that scripture and buried in the scripture, not buried obvious to him, to me in the scripture is Jesus. 3 (23m 10s): So our prayer is that God uses his word to reveal Jesus to all of the Jewish people. That, especially those that are reading his word. Yeah. So if I were to ask everyone to, to pray for Israel, that's what I would first ask, pray into the word that God will reveal himself to the Jewish people. Thank you. Thank you. Wow. Okay. That turned out really good 2 (23m 45s): Reinforcement. I need, we use each other a lot. It has been a real blessing. We got married in 2014 and well, I mean the relationship grows all the time. And I found out about his sense of humor when I was in Israel stuck and I got back and he's joking with all the neighbors and I'm just watching this going, oh my gosh, she's funny. And now we get to have a funny time. So it's great. Love it. Okay. So what we just want to say is that tour portion or the biblical portion that he's referring to, we have an update. We put out every month and in that update, we put the portions. So if anybody wants to follow along, they know what the Jews are reading that week around the world. 2 (24m 29s): And if you run across a Jew, even on an airplane or something, you can just sit down and go, Hey, what about that in book? You know, what do you think about that? And you're right there with them on the same scripture. And it does open those doors. So we're going to have a table out in the middle, somewhere up there and we'll have the, we'll have the, no, we won't have the Torah portions out there now. Okay. So we have stuff on the table. Things you can take and cards and you know, information. So just please do that. If you can't, oh, by the way, we do have a sign up sheet. So if you want those tour portions, we call them Torah portions in Israel. So it's what I'm used to. But anyways, our biblical Bible portions, if you want that, we put that in our update. 2 (25m 12s): You can come and sign your email address there, and you will get that every month now in the update is not just that, but it's about what God's doing, what guys doing in our lives, maybe a little personal section. And then I put paragraphs of news because our cover in Israel is we're journalists. You can't be a missionary in Israel. As a matter of fact, I talked to this massaged agent and I had no idea that he was in my computer because I was babysitting his kid two kids. And anyway, she went in my computer to see who I was, you know, and do a background check on me. And he told me in 2018 in front of land, what happened? We checked me out in 2005 or six, whatever it was. And he kept seeing the word mission and mission this and mesh it. 2 (25m 55s): And he said in Israel, that means operation. And so he thought we were doing an operation tourist operation. So don't write mission to me, don't get me in trouble. But anyways, it's really fun to be over there. And we have this cover as a journalist, but we really have to do the work. So I'm on the government press office list. I get all the emails, all the Presley releases that come out in a day. I get all the press releases that come out in from the white house every day also. So I get all this news what's really happening before it goes into the paper. And some of it doesn't even make the paper. It's amazing. What does not make the paper? So that's our cover. And we tell all the people we go to minister to, they say, what are you doing here? 2 (26m 35s): We can't say missionary. So we say, we're doing journalism. We have to turn in our work at the ministry of interior. So they can see that we're actually doing journalism. We have our credentials, our press credentials in both America and in Israel. So that's pretty cool to have that. And the Lord opened the doors so that we could get journalists fuses. We're not on journalists abuses now because when you go in and you get an automatic three months in Israel, we bought a house as Len said in Texas, because we couldn't afford one here. And I miss it here. Oh my gosh, I miss it. I love California. I was born in California, but we needed a place we can come to. And God knew that the COVID was going to hit because in 2019, we bought the house, went back to Israel and the COVID hit. 2 (27m 20s): And we would have had to stay in hotels or with friends or family here in America, because we didn't have anything before this. So now we have a home where we have all our things out of the storage units. What timing God is good. I see it all the time. So yeah, so we write articles. We do television, we do radio and we're traveling around well, this time we're traveling up and down California, but we speak in England and Canada and Australia, wherever we're invited. We go to these places and speak about Israel. What's happening there. Current affairs, biblical prophecies, and how the current affairs match what's in the Bible and you're going to go, oh my gosh, I get, we'll leave. They're getting so close. And wow. Yeah, there's a lot to tell you guys what's going on. 2 (28m 1s): And it takes longer than what we can do up here. So what we're going to do on Friday, the 30th is we're going to be in the loft in the evening. We're going to start at five 30. We're going to have snacks. People can come and do it like a meet and greet thing. And then at six o'clock, we're going to have music. One gentlemen is going to come and he's going to be singing in Hebrew. He's going to sing the national Anthem in Hebrew, the Israeli national Anthem. And he's got the words he's going to hand out. So you can see in English and in Hebrew, what it is. And then he's going to do Psalm 23 and Hebrew. And it's beautiful. It's beautiful. And then DJ will be coming and she's going to lead worship. And she's going to do Hebrew and English songs among some others. 2 (28m 42s): I think. So maybe Gary is going to join her. I don't know. She said something about Gary will be playing with her. So then we'll talk, we'll do a PowerPoint presentation so people can see pictures. What's going on. We're going to cover current affairs. And then we're going to do a question time and discussion because people want to know what's going on. How does America match with peers or what's going on? Since both, we have two new administrations, one in Israel, one here, and there's a lot going on and a lot festering up right now. And we're going to let you know what all those things are. So Friday you can go up. You're welcome to come. Anybody's welcome to come on that table. We have flyers. So you can come up and get a flyer. It has all the details, but I just gave them to you. 2 (29m 25s): It'll be a little off. We start at five 30 program starts at six. Please come. If you're interested in what's going on in Israel, you're more than welcome. And I think that's about it. I think I covered everything right. 3 (29m 37s): I think so. Okay. 2 (29m 38s): So yeah. So we're going to go ahead and sit down and enjoy the service ourselves for a change. And hopefully we'll see you on Friday, but we'll be out there at the table if you want to talk to us. Okay. Thank you. 1 (29m 55s): Thank you, Lynn. Thank you, Cheryl. Today is really sweet sweet day for, for me in particular. And here's why, so Amanda, who is leading worship this morning, I've known her parents, Jim and Kim Coles before she was born. She is their first born of seven. And so I've got to see Amanda since day one girl up and now she's, you know, loving the Lord, serving the Lord, leading us in worship, and that's really special for sure. And then, so Cheryl began attending a church that I was a part of pastoring and Avalon beach, the Applebee's Christian fellowship. She started, she gave her life to the Lord in 1989 and began coming to the church novela back then. 1 (30m 39s): And so we have a lot of history. We helped get her on the mission field. She came to me one day and said, you know, I really believe the Lord is asking me, calling me to move to Israel. And so we talked about that and what I encouraged her to do is just go on a, going a tourist trip, go to Israel and spend some time there and, and see if God, you know, confirms that. And I think she went maybe twice as, as a tourist. And then she sold everything and moved full time to Israel. And again, that was in the we, that was in the early nineties when she did that. And so it's really special for me to be a part of seeing what God is doing in, in the lives of, of, of people that are friends of mine. 1 (31m 26s): And, and so what I want to do this morning, again, a little background, oh, by the way, did everybody get a communion cup? Is there anybody that did not get one? Okay. If you didn't get one, raise your hand and Kay, Amanda, could you grab the communion tray right there and kind of wander around and, and in the other venues, if you need to get one, there is communion tray there as well. Because as I mentioned, we are going to be having communion this morning. So Cheryl gave you a little bit of her background. I came to know Len later because they got married a little bit later. And so we have a lot of history. Cheryl used to work at Diablo canyon and she's from California. She mentioned that both Lennon and Charlotte, both from California. 1 (32m 7s): And so th you know, this is their life. This is what they know, their, their history, their background. So here, here's my question. I'm going to be asking a few questions this morning. The first question is this, why would Cheryl and LAN leave the central coast of California to move to Israel? Okay. Many of you know, Daniel and Solvay kinda, so Daniel is from here. He was born and raised in Santa Maria. Central coast grew up here. Solvay actually is from Denmark. She was born in the Faroe islands, just off the coast of Denmark. So think about Daniel for a minute. 1 (32m 48s): So he, you know, again had good career here in California, and yet God put a call upon his life. Now his original call, if he was up for telling you was actually to go to Uganda and now why would God send Daniel? This is pre pre-sold by days. He sent Daniel to Uganda. And so Daniel spent about seven years in Uganda doing mission work there, and guess who he met in Uganda. He met Sylvia from Denmark and Uganda. So they got married there and then got a bigger work, a bigger calling for them. So the two of them together moved to green. And in fact, I have a few pictures. I want to show you just to kind of refresh your memory of Daniel and Solvay. 1 (33m 32s): So what do we have here? So this is Daniel. So VI, this is their home in the village of Casa yang wit I can say it, I cannot spell it. And then the next picture is this is the village that they live in, in Greenland, Casa yang wit, and jumped to the next one, where is Greenland. And so the lower circle is where we are California. And you go all the way, you see Canada above us, and then to the east, that's where Greenland is. And I circled the area where they live and then jump to the next slide. Okay. I talked to take that one down just for a moment. So on Friday, this last Friday, Daniel had told me that they were going to be taking a trip. 1 (34m 17s): You know, they own a boat together. Daniel, the self I do, and the purpose of the boat is to be able to get to the villages in Greenland to minister there. And so he, he told me that he had a couple of young men, that he was going to be baptizing. And then he was going to be taking a trip. He and Sova and two crew to another village to show the gospel there. And so a Friday. So just a few days ago, I was at home and I get a phone call and I see that Daniels. So I take the phone call. Now this is sort of just a side note. So here I am in California, erode grand Grandy, and he's seven miles off the coast in Greenland. In fact, go back to that map. He's he's on his journey on his boat going along the coast of Greenland. 1 (35m 0s): And here we are talking, it was though he was sitting like in the same room. Isn't that amazing? Truly amazing. So what he did first, so this is the journey in the Southern or the lower portion that sort of that's the V the village they live in cosying with, through that little inlet there, and they're going to a village up on the top, but for, they did that, show me the next picture. As I said, they did some baptizing. This is Ian. So that's Daniel baptizing, Ian in a lake near where they live. And then the next one is Ian coming up out of the water, new creation in Christ. Isn't that awesome. All right. Jump back now. Okay. That's the boat. The, yeah, jumped back to the boat. 1 (35m 41s): That'd be good. The common leak. So that means the light. All right. So here's, here's my question. You can take the picture down now. So why would Daniel and Daniel particular move from central California? Sell everything, pack up, move to Greenland. We're going to look at that question. Yeah. And answer that question this morning. Many of you met maybe for the first time, or you got to see Shane Coke come up front. Steve invited him up front. He's been fellowshipping here for a number of years. So the Lord has called him on a five month missions trip to Zimbabwe, whereas Zimbabwe. 1 (36m 27s): Okay. Here's a map of Africa and I circled Zimbabwe for you. So you could get, get an idea of where it is. Okay. So Shane he's from here, he's from the central coast of California. So for the next five months, he's going to be in some Bob way, Africa sharing the gospel there with Mike and Cindy, Madam, some of you know, Mike and Cindy. All right. So the answer to this question actually is found in the title of this morning's message. So why would someone Lennon Cheryl, Daniel and Solvay Shane move from where they were settled, where their roots, where their foundation and move to a distant, distant country. So the answer is actually the title of the messages live your life on mission. 1 (37m 13s): Now that's, that's actually the answer live your life on mission, but we want to unpack that just a little bit for you this morning and to do that, we need to look at a few scriptures. So before we get into the scripture, let's pray for a moment. Lord, we just look to you. Holy spirit. We're thankful that you are the teacher. And so as I speak, and as we look through the script, sure, Lord, we want our heart to be impacted by you. We want to be touched by you. We want to hear your voice and, and the calling that you have on us. Lord, there's a calling on you. Each of us, Lord, help us to discover that calling and help us to respond to that calling. And so Lord, our time together this morning to you in Jesus' name, we pray. 1 (37m 55s): Amen. So you remember this story in mark chapter one, beginning with verse 16, Jesus walked by the sea of Galilee. So this is in the Northern part of Israel. And he saw Simon, Andrew, his brother casting a net into the sea for, they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, follow me. And I will make you become fishers of men. So they immediately left their nets and followed him. So we see Simon and Andrew Simon, Peter. So we're talking about Peter here. Another verse in Matthew chapter nine, verse nine, Jesus was walking along and he saw a man named Matthew, sitting at his tax collector's booth. 1 (38m 39s): And he said, follow me and be my disciple. Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him, Simon, Peter, and Andrew. They were fishermen by trade fact, the story it shows that they were actually with, with their dad. I mean, it's a family business. Well-rooted in the Galilee area, fishermen by trade. And Matthew was a tax collector. When Jesus called them, they left their occupation. They left their situation and they followed him. Cheryl had a career. As I mentioned earlier, working at Diablo canyon. She had a pretty awesome position there if I have it right, Cheryl, I think I do. 1 (39m 22s): She was insecurity at Diablo canyon for many years. In fact, she actually got to carry a weapon. I mean, how cool is that? Right? Blonde, a blonde girl, like her carrying a weapon out of Debola canyon, Supreme, scary Daniel. On the other hand, he was in the aerospace industry doing very, very well here. Then something happened to them. Jesus calls them. And they said, yes. And then he gave them a new direction. He gave them a new purpose in life, a different, a different calling in their life. 1 (40m 3s): So Jesus was, he was with his disciples. You guys, you know the story it's just before his Ascension. So he had already been to the cross. He had been put in a tomb and he had been raised from the dead. And we're in that interim time before his Ascension into heaven. And so this is what he said to the disciples, as they were gathered together, be being assembled together, acts chapter one, verse four, Jesus commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait two, wait for the promise of the father, which he said, you have heard from me for John, truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the holy spirit, not many days from now. 1 (40m 49s): So he was looking ahead to the day of Pentecost when they would be gathered together in that upper room. And the holy spirit would be given. Now, this was a very unique experience because prior to this time of the giving of the holy spirit at Pentecost, the holy spirit would come upon people. But from the day of Pentecost forward, he would dwell, he would indwell and live within believers. So Jesus continues that conversation in verse eight, he said, you shall receive power when the holy spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and Judea Samaria and to the end of the earth. 1 (41m 37s): So back to my original question, why would a person leave the comfort? It's comfortable here, central coast to California, it's comfortable. Why would a person leave their comfort in their current life and make that radical change and take a completely new direction in life. A new mission, a new mission in life. So there's really only one answer to that question. And here's, here's the answer. When a person makes the decision to believe in and to follow Jesus Christ as savior and Lord, the holy spirit begins a supernatural work in the life of that person. 1 (42m 25s): And it affects everything. Every area of life is touched by the work of the holy spirit. God gives us. Now I'm talking about us. Those of us who are followers and believers, Jesus Christ is our savior. And Lord God gives us a far greater purpose in life and eternal purpose. And as a result of that, that's a radical change. We tend to look at at life differently, but maybe more importantly, we see people differently. 1 (43m 5s): You see what happens when the holy spirit is in us. We now see people through God's eyes, the way God sees people. We discover we have a mission. We live our lives on mission. We discover our mission in life, beyond our occupation, beyond our current situation. If you are a follower of the Lord, Jesus Christ, you are on mission that there's, there's no, no question in that. You may or may not have realized it yet. 1 (43m 47s): Today's your day. You are in fact a missionary. Now, when we think of missionaries, we think of like the apostle Paul type of people that, you know, went on these fast campaigns and, and that may occur. It has occurred in Lennon. Cheryl's life, Daniel's life, Shane's life. Your, your mission field may be entirely different. So to be clear, you may not be called to move to a foreign country. And I know many of us, it's like one of the first things we think about as we become a Christian, like, oh Lord, don't call me to Africa. No, don't call me there. 1 (44m 34s): You may not be called to a foreign misfit mission field like Len and Cheryl and Daniels Solvay and, and Shane. But wherever you are are is your mission field, wherever you are, by the way, you don't, you, you may not have to leave your current job, your current situation to be on the mission field because you're on the mission field. So that the key is serve him right where you are. I love what Cheryl said about how God just brings people to her and Len, and then he, he opens those doors to speak about eternal things. I've found that's often what God will do. 1 (45m 15s): So the fear factor is alone. I, you know, I got, I can't talk to people and all that. And yeah, what God will do is he'll bring people to you, you know, open a door, a conversation. So you're just, you're just speaking into their lives words. Yeah. Of eternal life. So your current situation may not change. You serve them right where you are. What does that mean? So being on missions really means this, that you are an evangelist. What does an evangelist do? And evangelists, proclaims declares the things God has said about himself and about, about people. We share truth with people. 1 (45m 57s): So we're on mission, right? Where we are. We live on mission. So what does that mean? Well, it means evangelize your kids. It means evangelize your coworkers person. You're a student in elementary, junior, senior college evangelize your fellow students, your neighbors evangelize your parents. If they don't know the Lord evangelize your, your friends and, and your siblings, maybe your siblings don't don't know him, your extended family. So, and I want to say this as a word of encouragement, don't ever limit what God can do through you. 1 (46m 39s): God, God is an expert at using weak and broken people to accomplish his purposes. If there is a secret in all this, I think, I think the secret is this. When God calls you and he will call you, I promise you that he may lead you. The answer is always the same name. Yes, Lord. That's the answer. Now God knows human nature. We may struggle. We may resist him. We may fight him. I'm a bit, let him win. 1 (47m 19s): Let him win it. It's no, no greater life, no greater joy in life than to be on mission for the Lord, Jesus Christ. And to be able impact people for now and for eternity. You know, of course, there's a transformation that occurs when we see a person come to Christ and it's like, there's this amazing change that occurs, but they also get to go to heaven. And we've, we've played a part in that and how awesome that is. So one of the verses that I read a moment ago, it was act chapter one, verse eight, where Jesus, again is speaking. You shall receive power. When the holy spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and Judea and Sumeria to the end of the earth. 1 (48m 4s): He was speaking to a crowd that lived there that was home base. Pentecost was in Jerusalem things saying, Hey, start local. I'm going to call many of you to be local, but I'm going to call some of you broader. So Jerusalem would be for us, maybe the five cities local Judea could be, I don't know, St. Louis county and beyond a bigger part of California. Samira could be all of California, maybe even, maybe even the entire west coast. And the ends of the earth is the ends of the earth. I mentioned that because we have to think in terms of what is God's heart, what is the desire of God's heart, his, his overall plan, and it's this to get as many people into his kingdom as possible before the end of the church hates. 1 (49m 3s): That's what we live. We live in a church, H there's gonna come a time where the church age is going to end. And depending on how you look at eschatology, it could be at the time of the rapture of the church. It's when the tribulation period begins. There's that seven year tribulation period. And then after that is the millennial kingdom, but we're, we live here. We're in the church age, God wants to use us to reach as many people as possible with a gospel of the Lord, Jesus Christ, so that we can take as many people as possible into his eternal kingdom. So wherever life takes you, wherever God leads. You just like the disciples you were born. You've been born for greater purpose than just, you know, the mundane status quo more than just working more than just surviving, more than just living for yourself. 1 (49m 58s): I know that's, that's a human dilemma. We're pretty selfish creatures. It's more than just living for ourselves. You may never leave the central coast as I mentioned, but don't, don't be close to the possibility that God might call you out. And wherever he calls you, it's going to be amazing. It's going to be great. It's for sure. Going to be an adventure of the lifetime, perhaps God is calling you to go. We don't know. I don't know. God will show you. God will speak you. I promise you that God has given each and every one of us, a mission field. And, and it's, it's it's here. It starts here. It's right before us, right where we are right now. 1 (50m 40s): So why, why would God call people like us imperfect, broken, messed up people. We're all the same. Really? Why does, why would God call people like us to be his evangelists, to be his missionaries going forth, to answer that question, we'll look at a scripture. It's in second Corinthians. Chapter five begins with verse 17. Here's what it says. If anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things have passed away and behold, all things have become new. Now, all things are of God who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 1 (51m 31s): And that is that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them. And he has committed to us the word of reconciliation. What does that mean? Now? Then we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God were pleading through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf. Be reconciled to God for he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteous righteousness of God in him. 1 (52m 15s): So God calls his people on mission because people are dying without knowing him. And he's given us a word for them, a message for them before they die. God calls us on mission because people are dying without knowing him. People are dying without knowing what God has provided for them through Jesus Christ. Maybe they've never heard the gospel. Maybe you're the perfect person. You've got that relationship, that open door to share the gospel with them. They may not listen to anybody else, but they'll listen to you, which is why he's given each of us a ministry emission. 1 (52m 60s): So it's, it's it's what is the ministry? I mean, if you could define it it's it's this what I just read? It's the ministry of reconciliation. What does that even mean? Well, it really that, that ministry of reconciliation, it really, in essence, it is, it is the gospel here at harvest church. We try to talk a lot about the gospel, but more, we need to know what the gospel is. It's super important that if we are given the ministry of reconciliation and we are that we're able to, to both know the gospel and articulate it to another person, to communicate it to another person. 1 (53m 40s): I want to give you a homework assignment that is to use whatever resource you need to, or just go to the scripture and try to try to discover what the gospel is. And there's some key verses that really seemed to summarize it super well. And I'm going to leave you on your own, define what those scriptures are, but I think it's a really good idea to memorize those scriptures. Just make them part of, part of your mind, part of your heart so that when you have opportunity and you may not have your Bible with you, you can't, well, let me, let me, let me look that up, but it's, it's coming out of you and you can communicate the gospel, you know, at, at, at the drop of a hat, anytime, anywhere I can tell and what the gospel is. 1 (54m 26s): So that's your homework assignment, but I am going to give you a little bit of the gospel. Okay. There's more about them to give you some of, well, by definition, the gospel is good news, but that, that just seems so minor. Okay. Good news. All right. Well, what, what does that mean? Well, it's, it's, here's what it is. And it's back to the verse. I read a moment ago. It's second Corinthians 5 21. Again, this is just one place you can find. And the gospel for he, that he, there that's God, the father for he made him that him that's Jesus, the Messiah for the father, God, the father made Jesus. 1 (55m 6s): The son who knew no sin. So Jesus was a spotless sinless person. The lamb of God, God, the father made Jesus. The son who knew no sin to be sin for us. What does that even mean? We think about it on the cross. Jesus, some of the, the things that occurred on the cross when Jesus was nailed to the cross, it says that the sins of the world were placed upon him in effect. They were, they were nailed to him. Our sins were put upon him. 1 (55m 47s): And in effect, he became sin. He that knew no sin sin. Our sin was placed upon him on the cross. Why did he do that? Why did God do that to his son? Well, again, it tells us so that we might become the righteousness of God in him, in Jesus Christ. This is a, this is a wonderful, amazing thing. And yeah, as you unpack it, as you understand the gospel to a greater degree, you're going to realize not only this good news, I mean, this is the best news. The, yeah, that ever could be that literally the picture is this, that we were lost in sin and death. 1 (56m 35s): We had a curse, a death sentence upon us, no relationship with God, no place in his kingdom. And then Jesus came and he died on the cross for us. He was buried Nina rose again and that as we place our faith and hope and trust in him, that my sin was put upon him on the cross. The supernatural thing that happens is that we're now made spiritually alive. The curse has gone. It's been lifted. And now we have a place reserved in heaven by the power of God. That's undefiled that cannot be taken away. So the gospel is really all about this from God's perspective. 1 (57m 17s): I think it's all about this. It's it's the restoring of a broken relationship. God loves you so much. He loves people so much. He sent his son. It's not that he just allowed his son to go to the cross. He sent his son to the cross. That's why Jesus came to restore a broken relationship. Our relationship with God was broken because as of sin in Christ based and through Christ, our relationship with God has been restored. We're we're back with him. We're one with him. We're reconciled. That's what that word means. The ministry of reconciliation, the word of reconciliation. 1 (57m 60s): We're reconciled to God, the father through Jesus, the son by the work of the holy spirit, it in us. So I mentioned earlier that we're going to be having communion. So in a moment, we're going to have community together. So we often call it communion or the Lord's supper. And I'm gonna read a verse about that. Then we're going to in a moment, have communion together. So Matthew chapter, sorry, in mark chapter 14, beginning with verse 22, as they were eating. So they're gathered together. This would be like the last supper before Jesus was going to be taken into custody and tortured, and then ultimately put on the cross as they were eating. 1 (58m 46s): So they're having to go Passover together. Jesus took bread and he blessed it and he broke it and he gave it to them and said, take eat. This is my body. And then he took the cup. And when he'd given thanks, he gave it to them and they all drank from it. And he said to them, this is my blood, the new covenant, which is shed for many assuredly. I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. So communion, if we think about it, it's really meant to be an illustration. It's a picture. It's a picture of what God has provided for us through, through his son, Perry. 1 (59m 32s): I don't have a communion cup. Could you go grab one for me, please? Thank you very much. So it's a picture of what God has. Thank you. Perry has provided for us through, through Jesus Christ, his son. So I'm going to go ahead and take out the wafer. It's kind of tough to get to and be careful. Don't once you get the wafer out, don't spill the juice on your lap. Not good, no bueno, go ahead and open up the juice so that we're ready to go. 1 (1h 0m 18s): I long for the good old days, when we used to just pass the cumin and trays, right? We didn't have to do this. Maybe we'll go back to that someday. So the bread, that's what we have right now. The bread, it's a picture of Christ body. And the fact that his body was broken, what does that mean? Well, when he was taken captive in the garden of guests Semini he was beaten. He was, well, he has beard plucked out. He had a crown of thorns put upon his head. 1 (1h 1m 0s): He was whipped. He was scorched. They put a robe on him after they scourged him and mocked him. As you know, you call yourself the king of the Jews and look at you and then they rip the robo off. So he, his body was, the Bible, says his, his visage, his appearance was marred more than any man. He suffered deeply on the cross. And that's what this represents what he went through to purchase for us, our salvation. Why? Thank you. Thank you. As we, you know, we can't fully, fully comprehend what you did for us, but we know that you, you gladly went to the cross for the joy that was set before him. 1 (1h 1m 50s): He endured the cross. The solar was so thankful that you did that for us. So Lord, we, as we partake of what represents your body, your broken body, Lord help us to comprehend in a deeper way, understanding a deeper way, all that you did for us and purchasing for us, our salvation. We'll go ahead and take the away. So the juice represents shut the Passover feast. There were four cups of wine. When Jesus picked up the cup that he shared at communion, it was called the cup of redemption. 1 (1h 2m 35s): He was in the process of redeeming us, buying us back, literally from slavery, from bondage. The wine is a picture of the blood that he shed. So I'm sure, you know, not only the crown of thorns was a put upon his head, but as he was nailed to the cross, his side was pierced the sword. And it says that blood and water came out. So this picture is the blood that he shed for us. It's a picture of the sacrifice that he made as a spotless lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 1 (1h 3m 15s): Lord, thank you that you were faithful unto death, even the death of the cross. Lord, help us to understand more fully, all that you did and provided for us by purchasing for us. Our salvation. Thank you Lord. So Jesus held up that cup. I'm going to just talk about it a little bit more. He said, this is my blood of the new covenant. So it's interesting. He brings up a term that many of us might not fully understand very well. This is my blood of the new covenant. What is a covenant? 1 (1h 3m 56s): A covenant covenant is a pledge. It is a promise that has been made. The covenant is a promise that God made. So if we go back and we look at some of the covenants that God made, there's a covenant that God made to Noah. And the promise that the pledge that he gave us this, I won't destroy the earth with a flood ever again. That was a covenant he made with Noah. God made a covenant with Abraham, and here's the promise he made to Ammar Abraham through your seed, Abraham, through your seed, your kids, all the nations of the earth are going to be blessed. 1 (1h 4m 37s): He's still in the process of fulfilling that God made a covenant with Moses that through Moses God gave the nation of Israel, the law, which was in effect that conditions that were necessary so that the people could approach him. So the covenant with Moses gave the people a way to have relationship with God, the father, but Jesus here, he says, I'm going, I'm, I'm fulfilling something profound, the new covenant and new, it's not new in the sense that it's, it's never been seen before done before. It's new in the fact that it's, it's the completion. 1 (1h 5m 17s): It's a completion of all the covenant that God has made. And when he went to the cross and shed his blood and died for us, the covenant was complete. It's been fully ratified and fulfilled. The promise has been complete. So all these covenants that I mentioned a moment ago, all these promises really were given directly to the people of Israel, not to people that aren't Jewish by birth. So what about us? What about us? Those of us that are not Jews by birth, as it turns out there is another covenant or maybe an addition to the covenant. 1 (1h 5m 58s): Another promise given in scripture, I want to, I want to share this one with when I found this one, it was like, my eyes just kind of opened my understanding Isaiah chapter 42, verse six, that God speaking. And here again, it's it's God the father speaking to Jesus, the son, he says, I, the Lord have called you. I got the father. The Lord have called you my son in righteousness. And I will hold your hand and I will keep you. And I will give you, he's talking about the cross. I will give you as a covenant to the people, not just the Jewish people. 1 (1h 6m 42s): It goes on as a light to the Gentiles, the Gentiles, or all the other people, non Jews. I'm going to give you Jesus, my son, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison. And those who sit in darkness from the prison house. It's like, I've come. The covenant is fulfilled. When Jesus held up that cup and said, this is the blood of the new covenant. This is what he was talking about. I've come to set the captive free and to open the prison doors to those who are bound up. 1 (1h 7m 22s): So this is why this is why Jesus came into the world. Not only for the Jewish people, but for everyone to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners, to deliver those who are in darkness to fulfill the covenant. The promise that God had previously given. Now, how did Jesus, the Messiah accomplished this? The fulfillment? So there's a few key verses in Isaiah chapter 53. I'm going to look at, we're going to be closing out just a couple of minutes, Isaiah chapter 53, verse five. When it says he he's talking about Jesus, the son, the Messiah, he was wounded for our transgressions. 1 (1h 8m 4s): He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And by his stripes, we are healed talking about the whipping, the beating, the scorching, the torture by his stripes, by what he endured, we are healed. You know, I think a bit from God's perspective, why would God, the father asked his son to do this? You know, Jesus didn't have to go to the cross. He was obedient to go to the cross on our behalf. Why did God allow his son to endure such suffering while we're told why? 1 (1h 8m 46s): And Isaiah chapter 53, verse 10, it says it pleased the Lord to bruise him. It pleased God to Bruce, his son. He has put him to grief. When you make his soul and offering for sin, he shall see his seed. I think he was talking about us. He shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands. God, the father shall see the labor of his son. 1 (1h 9m 28s): He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied. And by his knowledge, my righteous servant, Jesus shall justify many for he shall bear their iniquities. You see God sent his son into the world for the purpose of setting us free and restoring that broken relationship. So back to the verse in Matthew 14, for a moment, Jesus said to them, this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many as surely I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day. He's talking about a specific day until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God, I think, I think he's talking about the marriage, supper of the lamb. 1 (1h 10m 17s): We shall see. But when I say what I want to say to you this morning, I want to say this was absolute certainty. Jesus is coming back again to bring us home, to take us to heaven, to assure you and I into his eternal kingdom. And this could happen at any time. It might happen at the day of your death because to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. We don't know when we're going to die. We may be feeling great today this morning. And we just don't know what a day is going to bring forth. 1 (1h 10m 60s): Could happen anytime at our day of our death, perhaps, or this could happen at the time of the rapture of the church. The point is this, are you ready? Are you ready to meet God? Are you ready to meet him face to face? Because we're going to stand before God saved and unsaved alike. We're going to stand before God. And we're going to give an account. The account that we give as believers in the Lord, Jesus Christ. Why should I let you into my kingdom? Because Jesus paid for my sin on the card. Cross of Calvary. That's the only reason why. So Jesus in John chapter one, it says he came to his own. 1 (1h 11m 42s): He came to the Jewish people, his own people in his own people didn't receive him. Some did, but most did not. But as many as received him to them, he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name. I want to urge you this morning. If you've never believed in Jesus before, believe in him today, as many as received him. So then he gave the privilege the right to become children of God. Even to those who believe in his name, Romans chapter 10. This is one of those places where the gospel is quite clear. 1 (1h 12m 26s): Romans 10 verse nine. If you confess with your mouth, that Jesus is the Lord. And if you believe in your heart, that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved for it as well. I believing in your heart that you're made right with God. And it's by confessing with your mouth that you are saved in Romans 10, 13. You guys know it. Well, everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So there's believing and there's confessing. Believing is like an internal thing. I don't fully understand. We never will, but I believe Jesus, that you did go to the cross. And I believe that my sin was placed upon you on the cross. 1 (1h 13m 6s): So I, I believe it with everything that I can muster it. I understand by faith, I believe this to be true. And then the confession is part is it's weak. First confessed to God, Lord, I, I need you. I ask you to come into my life to be my Lord and savior. We're confessing our belief to God. And then I think, I believe we confess it to others. It's a powerful thing. When we tell another person I gave my life to Jesus Christ and he is my Lord and savior. It's like, it's feels it seals. It seals the deal. And then the transformation begins and it's awesome. 1 (1h 13m 47s): It's great. You'll never regret it. I promise you that. So Jeremy mentioned earlier, invite the worship team to go ahead and come on up. Now that we have a baptism planned today and we've got some folks are going to be baptized right after this service, we're going to baptize some folks. And then at right after a second service, we're going to baptize some folks as well. Why am I mentioning this? So in the book of acts, the book of acts, it was common. The common thing was for those who made a decision to believe in and to follow Jesus Christ, they were baptized immediately. It wasn't like months later years later decades later, it was I believe, and I want to get baptized. 1 (1h 14m 30s): So baptism is really, it's a, it's a, it's a declaration. Maybe that's the confession part. I'm going to go in the water road represents I'm, I'm dead. I've died with Christ. And even as Christ raised from the dead, I'm, I'm rising again out of the water to new life. So if you've made this decision today to follow Jesus as your Lord and savior, and you've never been baptized, I would encourage you to do that today. Go up to the patio area. We're going to, we've got towels for you, shorts for you, shirt for you and a place to change all for you. Before you do that, though, you got to give your life to Jesus Christ. 1 (1h 15m 10s): And it's actually super simple. And I kind of modeled it a moment ago. Lord, I need you. I don't understand, but I know that Jesus went to the cross for me. And so I invite you into my life to give me new direction, to set me free in Jesus name. Amen Lord. Thank you. Thank you for all that. You did what? I pray for those here in the sanctuary, the loft and the patio and those online Lord, that many will call upon your name for the first time. 1 (1h 15m 52s): Many will be saved and the Lord we are on mission. Our life is on mission. Lord, confirm that calling in us, show 0 (1h 15m 59s): Us open, open up for us 1 (1h 16m 3s): And understanding of what our mission is and the mission field that is before us. Lord, thank you so much so we can impact lives both now and for eternity in Jesus name, we pray God's people said 0 (1h 16m 28s): thank you. 0 (1h 23m 11s): That you have made the way through Jesus by the blood of the cross, by his body. Given that and lunch today, Lord Jesus. Fill us with your spirit. Let us be on mission for you just for your glory. Bless you in Jesus name. Amen. And today, if you have made that decision to follow Christ, God has been speaking into your heart and you need to come to faith in Jesus. 0 (1h 23m 54s): We're going to have prayer teams up here. Ready for you. If you have other needs, maybe God's calling you to the mission field. Maybe there's something on your heart that God is working in you, and you want to respond to that. Do you want to, you want to let somebody know. Today is the day you come forward. You need healing. You need a touch from God, any reason at all that you have for healing, please come. If you don't need prayer right now, go up and celebrate the baptisms. I know there's at least three after this service. I don't know what about second service, but have a great time. And Lord bless you and we'll see you all next week. 0 (1h 24m 43s): .

Moody: A Biography, by John Charles Pollock John MacArthur: Servant of the Word and Flock, by Iain H. Murray Reformation Women: Sixteenth-Century Figures Who Shaped Christianity's Rebirth, by Rebecca VanDoodewaard (a 100-page book, each short chapter is a bio of one of the women) The Little Woman by Gladys Aylward (Author), Christine Hunter (Contributor). There is another book named almost the same thing, not by Gladys herself. Get this one. The Life of Moses: God's First Deliverer of Israel, by James Montgomery Boice Marriage to a Difficult Man: The Uncommon Union of Jonathan & Sarah Edwards by Elisabeth D. Dodds. As a side note, I really enjoyed Ligonier's short series by Steve Nichols of the Life of Jonathan Edwards. It was fascinating and interesting and worth it! Here is a link to a summary of the 6-part series. The teaching series is here. Susie: The Life and Legacy of Susannah Spurgeon, wife of Charles H. Spurgeon, by Ray Rhodes Jr. Newton on the Christian Life: To Live Is Christ, by Tony Reinke Amy Carmichael: Beauty for Ashes by Iain Murray. A short but packed little biography of an important figure. Iain Murray wrote several other biographies, too. Borden of Yale '09 by Mrs Howard Taylor Biography Recommendations according to Tim Challies, book reviewer: “Christians you should know”- Fearless Pilgrim: The Life and Times of John Bunyan by Faith Cook. A fast-paced and interesting account of Bunyan's life. Faith Cook is a well-known biographer who also wrote, Lady Jane Grey - the short, tragic life of Lady Jane Grey. Eric Liddell: Pure Gold: The Olympic Champion Who Inspired Chariots of Fire, by David McCasland. An Olympic hero who left it all behind and died on the mission field. This episode is also available as a blog post: http://the-end-time.org/2021/05/12/what-are-some-good-biographies-to-read/

Today we talk about burning bushes, holy ground, and God's promise to Moses (and us). Links mentioned in today's episode: Good News Bible Annie Vallotton (illustrator of the Good News Bible) Dr. Tony Hopkins, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church, Greenwood Chrismons (the Christmas ornaments that Mary Balfour is making) President Joe Biden's Bible

In this episode we read the text of Hebrews 3:1-6 and consider God's faithful servant Moses as compared and contrasted with the One declared to be greater than Moses: God's own Son, Jesus Christ.