Podcasts about o israel the lord

This Sunday in our study of Deuteronomy we will hear the Shema, Israel's central confession: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deut. 6:4–5). At the very center of faith is love—love for God that overflows in love for neighbor. In an age discipled by violence and contempt, Deuteronomy reminds us that God's people are called to be shaped by love, embodying a different way of being human together.

How many Gods are there? What does it mean that “God is a Spirit”? In this episode of Scripture Dive, guest teacher Jonathan Mathews joins us as we explore two foundational Bible Quizzing topics:2A: How many Gods are there?2B: God is a SpiritThis podcast is designed for teenage Bible Quizzers who want to dig deeper into Scripture and understand the Word of God with clarity and confidence.We'll walk through powerful passages from both the Old and New Testaments, including:

Remember: Back to school reminds us of uncertainty. How do we get through the unknown? Moses remember one thing, and do one thing. He said: Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Remember that the…

1 “Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2 that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. 4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

In Deuteronomy chapter 6 we read: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD your God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” The Oneness found here is more than just one being; it has to do with a unity of thought, of purpose, and of desire. It is an agreement of thought and action. The Lord invites us to come into agreement with Him, to speak the same thing He speaks, for His desires to become our desires.Daylight Meditations is a daily podcast from CFO North America. Please visit CFONorthAmerica.org to learn more about our retreats, and online courses. If you are encouraged by this podcast, please consider supporting us. Contributors: Michelle DeChant, Adam Maddock, Joy Peyton and Phil Reaser

Crumbs From The Table MESSAGE SUMMARY: We need to create a Culture of Grace and Kindness in our families, our churches, our work, and in our country. What is a Culture of Grace and Kindness? This culture involves: 1) an atmosphere or environment in which there is no griping or complaining – no putting people down; 2) giving others the benefit of the doubt; 3) visibly valuing other people; and 4) being filled with the fruit of the Holy Spirit. A Culture of Grace and Kindness flows from: 1) keeping Jesus Lord – as Jesus instructed us in Mark 12:29-30: “Jesus answered, ‘The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'”; 2) loving your neighbor as yourself – as Jesus instructed us in Mark 12:31: “'The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these.'”. 3) practicing the “Golden Rule” – “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”; and 4) “having the attitude of the Canaanite Woman” – in Matthew 15:25-28, she exhibited humility without pride: “But she came and knelt before him, saying, 'Lord, help me.' And he answered, ‘It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.' She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.' Then Jesus answered her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.' And her daughter was healed instantly." Too often in our families, work and church, we forget, in the way we treat others, that we to are sinners and not perfect. Therefore, we exhibit a culture without grace and kindness. Without a Culture of Grace and Kindness, we miss the blessings. In Matthew 15:25-28, the “Canaanite Woman” received the blessing, in her faith and humility, from Jesus when “her daughter was healed instantly”. Additionally, some are unhappy in their “Christian walk”.  Those, who are unhappy in their Christian walk, have forgotten that what Jesus wants from them is for them to “love Him”. The Lord, in ; Revelation 2:4, was telling the Church in Ephesus three things will enable us to get back to our love of Jesus: 1) remember – remember how we loved God when we first started walking with the Lord; 2) repent and return to the Lord – ask God to fill you with a sense of longing for Him; and 3) repeat the things we performed when our faith was on fire for God – don't get away from doing those things that provided a direct link for you to have a personal relationship with God and made you, in your eyes and the eyes of others, a follower of Jesus. Are you communicating, in your works, actions, words, and deeds inherent in a Christian Culture of Grace and Kindness? If not, why not?   TODAY'S PRAYER: Father, I confess that when difficulties and trials come into my life, large or small, I mostly grumble and complain. I realize the trials James talks about are not necessarily “walls,” but they are difficult to bear, nonetheless. Fill me with such a vision of a transformed life, O God, that I might actually consider it “pure joy” when you bring trials my way. I believe, Lord. Help my unbelief. In Jesus' name, amen. Scazzero, Peter, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 94). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:13). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Galatians 5:22; Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31; Matthew 15:21-28; Ephesians 4:29-32; Colossians 3:12-17; Revelation 2: 1-7; (Click the Bible References, in blue, below to read the full Bible text for these Scripture References.). A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH'S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “Jesus Followers Are the Enemy's {devil's} Target to Mess You Up and To Destroy Your Relationship with God”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

We parents try to do all the things we can to help our children to grow up. We advise. We admonish. We even end up preaching at them sometimes. But it's not what we say, it's what we do, how we live – what they see our life to be, that has the greatest impact in shaping them as they grow up.   A Godly Example Well, this is the last message in a series that I have called, “Building a Godly Family” and what I've decided to do; I talked to a friend of mine in the U.S., his name is Mark. He has nine children of his own and I thought I'd ask him for his top three or four tips. Now if you want to find out what they are, stick with me today on the programme because we are going to explore what a father of nine had to say. Now I don't know how things are in your neck of the woods but one of the really hot topics around where I live is binge drinking amongst teenagers. I mean, blind Freddy can see that alcohol abuse is so incredibly destructive. I was listening to a doctor at the head of the Emergency Ward in our local hospital and he was saying that something like eighty percent of the young people under thirty, who get admitted to the Emergency Ward of the hospital on a weekend, are there because of alcohol related issues. Now that's amazing – violence, injury, illness – it's pretty scary and it kind of begs the question: "How does that happen?" I mean how does a kid go from being this beautiful little baby to a drunken teenager in the gutter? And to combat this teenage binge drinking they have been running an ad on television – a bunch of Australian men in the back yard drinking beer and one of the dads send his young son to the fridge to get him another bottle of beer. And the punch line is about making the point that our children are taking in our habits. They're watching us, they are taking it all in, they pick up things by what rubs off from us. Do you know something? That kind of makes sense. Where there is drinking, child abuse, all those things are so negative, so destructive and yet this powerful imprinting thing happens to children in a family. And parents ... we as parents, we're right up there; we are the authority figures and when a child is growing up the only reality that it has is the family that it's living in. That's all that child knows; you grow up in the family and that's it. You don't know any different whether it's anger, violence, alcohol abuse, whatever it is, if that's a powerful part of your reality growing up, it's going to leave an imprint. Now, our DNA determines who we naturally are but our personalities; our characters, our view of ourselves and others, our morals, our values, our patterns of behaviour – all of those things are hugely ... hugely shaped by our environment. God's plan is for a loving family, not just a nuclear family, the way we are used to in the West, I guess but the wider family. If you have a Bible, I want you to grab it, open it up with me. We are going to the New Testament, the Book of Titus chapter 2, beginning at verse 2. This is what it says: Tell the older men to be temperate, serious, prudent, and sound in faith, in love and endurance. Likewise, tell the older women to be reverent in behaviour, not to be slanderers or slaves to drink; they are to teach what is good, so that they may encourage the younger women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be self controlled, chaste, good managers of the household, kind, being submissive to their husbands so that the word of God may not be discredited. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self controlled. Show yourself in all respects a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, gravity and sound speech that cannot be censured; then any opponent will be put to shame, having nothing evil to say. You see what's happening here? Paul is writing to Titus and he's saying, "Look, Titus, look, here's how it is: older men should set an example; older women should set an example so that the younger men and the younger women will learn from the older ones, so that needs to be handed down from the older men and women to the younger men and women and then, from the younger men and women, to their children." See, so much of our behaviour comes from the behaviour we learn from older people, both as children and as adults. That's why mentorship is so important. You may have heard me talk about a man, Graham, my business partner for twenty years. Now Graham is about seventeen or eighteen years my senior and he taught me so many things – I watched his behaviour. He was good and descent and effective in so many ways and I learned from him. I became all that I am by watching him and learning from him, like ... like a life's apprentice. We have been talking these last few weeks about building a godly family and today I want to get really down to earth with some practical things. I believe ... I truly believe that the most powerful thing that you and I can do to build a godly family is to be a godly person and to live a godly life. Let me say that again; this is important. The most powerful thing that you and I can do to build a godly family is to be a godly person and to live a godly life. Are you an older man or woman? Some societies respect their elders, other like mine, well; we're not quite as good at this as we should be. Anything old is out of date; it's beyond its use-by date; it's old fashioned. We take older people and we stick them in nursing homes. I don't generalise, but as a society, mine doesn't value older people as much as some other societies do. But you older people can be such a godly influence in your family. You've been around, you know something. You should have godly wisdom that comes from a life-long faith in and walk with Jesus Christ. You are not involved any more, by and large, in the daily cut and thrust and pressures of bringing up children. What a godly influence you can be on your grandchildren! You can be gentle, yet powerful. The glow, the radiance of God that shines through your eyes and your mouth can be such an influence. And you parents! What a godly influence you can be on one another and on your children, husband and wife, by your behaviour and your countenance and your attitude and deeds and encouragement, how you can support one another. Maybe one of you is behaving badly – under pressure, you're tired – the other one draws alongside and in love, steers things down the right path. And then the kids, instead of seeing their mother and father arguing and pulling in different directions, they see them trusting in God and supporting one another. What sort of lifelong imprint do we think that is going to leave on our children? Each of us have bad habits – sin, anger, selfishness, low self-esteem, pride, dishonesty, whatever it is, those things can be handed down – in fact, they will be handed down to our children. But when we choose to deal with them; when we sacrifice them to God; when we let Him into that space, to change us, the fruit will be to our children and to their children and to a thousand generations. When the simple daily habits of our lives are godly, Christ honouring, humble, this is a powerful blessing on our children. This is the most powerful thing that we can do to build a godly family, to be godly. Now I mentioned earlier on, Mark, my friend in the U.S., he kind of lives in Lincoln, Nebraska. I asked him to tell me what was one of the most important things that he knew about building godly family? Listen to what he says: Everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher. (Luke chapter 6, verse 40) While not usually thought of as a verse on parenting, the implications are clear. “We cannot hope to produce that in our children which we ourselves, do not possess”, writes Mark. “Our children, after all of our teaching, creative or not, intentional or not, verbal or not, will be like us. So, watch your own heart for it is the wellspring of life and don't forget that the first things that must be dealt with, should be dealt with first, including keeping our marriage the priority in our family.” Um, them's wise words, don't you think?   Faith Comes by Hearing This "building a godly" family thing, you know what I think? I think it is about realising that we all, each one of us, in our families, need to see things through a fresh set of eyes. Every time I look up at the stars and the moon, I'm gob-smacked. The whole Milky Way thing, it's almost like a cloud, like countless specks of stardust strewn across the sky, and then like clockwork every morning, this amazing ball of fire and light and warmth comes over the horizon – the sun, it never fails. Now I'm wondering, if you or I had never been taught anything about the earth and the solar system and the sun and the moon and the universe, if we knew nothing about any of that, what would we make of it? If we stood here on planet Earth and watched this whole heavenly light show go on, day by day, what would we make of it without the knowledge scientists have given us? Well, actually, we don't have to look too far. There were so many theories down through the ages: the earth is flat, the earth's at the centre – everything else revolves around it, the stars are little holes in the firmament – the skin that is stretched up where the sky is somewhere. See, what happens is we look at this incredible cosmic light show that rolls past every day from our miniscule perspective, not realising how small and how narrow our view is and we get a distorted picture. We think the earth is the centre of the universe; we think that we're the biggest most important thing in this cosmos and this whole light show revolves around us. You see what happens? And it's exactly what's happened down through the ages but once we got the facts we started looking at things completely differently – at least a trillion, trillion stars in the known universe and how the sun is just one of them. I mean, even our galaxy of billions of stars is such a small pinprick on the map of the universe – it's just so infinitesimally small even though it takes light, travelling at 5.88 trillion miles per year, over a hundred thousand years to travel from one end of the galaxy to the other. You see how radically the facts transform our understanding of reality? It's mind blowing stuff! Well, what, if anything, does this have to do with the subject that we have been talking about these last few weeks on the programme, ‘Building a Godly Family'? Well, as it turns – everything! I talked earlier about Mark, my friend. I shared that he has nine children and I shared with you what he had to say about setting a godly example because ultimately our children will end up being like us and so how we live our lives ends up being the most important sermon we'll ever preach. Well, here's the next thing he said, in his top three – his second tip for building a godly family. Have a listen: Faith, he says, comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. What do we mean by this? The written Word of God is absolutely central to everything we do in parenting and to birthing faith in the hearts of our children. My wife and I, we can talk, lecture, admonish, discipline, correct, nag ... whatever we want to do until we are blue in the face and it will be no good at all unless the Spirit of God takes His own Word and does a work in the hearts of our children. Therefore, we believe we must expose and challenge our kids with God's Word as often as possible. In our home, that has taken the form over the years, of bedtime stories, Scripture readings at the dinner table, family devotion times, Scripture memory, using real life experiences to show how God's Word speaks into every situation. To someone who hasn't grown up in this environment, well, that may seem a little odd, but it makes so much sense. See, we started out by talking about the different perspectives we can have on the cosmic light show, depending on whether or not we know the truth about how it works. If we know the truth we understand the earth is a tiny little speck of dust, if we don't we imagine that it's the centre of the universe. We only learn the difference when we hear the truth. And it's exactly the same for us as people. If we don't know the truth about God – who He is, what He did for us through Jesus, His Son, who we are when we believe in Jesus, how we can respond to His incredible love that God has lavished upon us – unless we know those things then we are going to live out our lives in complete ignorance; completely from the wrong perspective. It's when we teach our children the Word of God that they develop a godly perspective that bears so much fruit. It's exactly what God taught His people, Israel, just before they crossed into the Promised Land. If you have a Bible, open it up at Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses 4 to 9: Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, will all your soul, with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise up and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. So in other words, if you want to build a godly family, tell the kids about Jesus. Here's the amazing thing: I actually ask Mark's children for their comments. What do they like about being in their family? Do you know what they said, the kids? Reading the Bible together, the creative teaching, the family prayer time; these were some of the things the KIDS said they liked about their family. Well, go figure!!   The Olive Trees Around the Table I want to share with you a story that blew me away, that Mark, my friend, shared with me. And my prayer is that it will blow you away too. It's all about fruit, in fact, it's about olives – the fruit of investing in and building a godly family. Now you and I both know that whenever we invest in anything, what the word "investment" really means is sacrifice now to reap a harvest later because investing is about putting something that we have in hand now; something that we could use or spend in another way. Investing is about taking that thing and planting it somewhere else to reap a reward down the track. If we save for our retirement, we take money that we could blow on things that we'd enjoy today, we set it aside in some form of investment plan, so that the seed grows into a tree that will feed us when we are retired. If we decide to lose weight and get fit, we sacrifice today's ‘eat whatever I want' plan – we sacrifice that in order to reap the reward of a healthier body. We give up time that we would rather spend watching television to exercise to reap the reward. As it turns out, exactly the same principle applies when we invest the time and the effort and the emotional energy that's required to build a godly family. This friend of mine, Mark, with nine children, which I still shake my head at – Mark's final take when I ask him the top three things; tips that he had on building a godly family, well, it comes from Psalm 128. Now grab your Bible, open it up – Psalm 128 is written to the father in the family – it's a message specifically to dads. Have a listen; it's actually a very short Psalm: Happy is everyone who fears the Lord and who walks in his ways.  You shall eat the fruit of the labour of your hands; you shall be happy and it shall go well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around the table. Thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. The Lord bless you from Zion. May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. May you see your children's children. Peace upon Israel. Now, I guess to our twenty first century ears maybe that take on family might seem a tad patriarchal. Remember it was written to a people who lived very much in a patriarchal society, so let's go with it. Verse 1: Happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways. We are blessed; "happy", blessed is everyone who fears the Lord. That's what we have been talking about over these last few weeks – putting God first in everything … every part of our lives, including the way we do family – that brings blessings. Verse 2 describes that blessing: You shall eat the fruit of your labour; you shall be happy and it will go well with you. You know, that's the natural consequence of when we honour God. But now, have a listen to verse 3: Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Yes, patriarchal, the wife is the fruitful vine but it comes back to the Old Testament view of what blessing is. Blessing in the Old Testament equalled lots of children and your own lands, pretty simple, so to the person reading that Psalm when it was written, that's what verse 3 means. The first part is about the wife having a lot of children but have a listen again to the second part of that verse: Your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Olive shoots ... they grow up into might olive trees that bear one of the staples of the Eastern diet, olives, from which comes the precious commodity of olive oil. Now have a listen to what my friend Mark wrote about this particular verse. Here it is word for word from this father of nine children and it just rocked my socks off. I hope you are blessed by what Mark wrote too. God impacted us with this idea out of our own family study of the Scriptures some time back. It comes out of Psalm 128, verse 3 which says: “The children will be like olive shoots around the table of the man who fears God.” When learning that olive plants take between sixteen and eighteen years of careful cultivation, pruning and watering and during that time, typically they bear very little fruit and that after the eighteenth year they bear abundant fruit for many, many years to come, it gave us a reason to persevere and not be weary in well doing. That is an incredible truth from Scripture that has kept us going through some really tough times with our kids. Don't you love how God packs so much into His Word, it's so full of truth. What an amazing picture of these olive shoots around the table and we invest in them – this fresh, young shoot – all that effort and investment that the farmer puts into the tree for years. It occupies a part of his orchard, takes investment and work and it bears almost no fruit and then ... then one day, just as God had always planned, all along, that tree produces olives. I love olives! There's a cafe just down the road from us, owned by a Greek man, Alex, and he makes these olives that are to die for and you get them with some Turkish bread, and bit of Greek dip and ... AH, fabulous! But imagine, Alex's olives come from one of those trees ... a tree somewhere, that some farmer has nurtured and cared for for sixteen to eighteen years until finally, it bears fruit. You see this wonderful picture? And just to top it off the Psalmist, at the end of the Psalm, helps us to realise that it doesn't end with just the olives of that first tree – there is so much more. Psalm 128, verse 6: “May you see your children's children. Peace be upon Israel.” This investment in these little olive shoots, sitting around the table of the parents who fear God; who honour God; these parents who are prepared to invest tirelessly, day after day, is going to bear fruit in a little while - fruit that will last for generations. I look at my three: Simon almost thirty now, Michael in his late twenties and Melissa our baby who has just turned eighteen and Jacqui and I, we are so proud of whom they are. We are so delighted to see the fruit finally growing – to see them making their way in this world, rising up to be the people who God naturally made them to be. Now I have to tell you, really, doing the whole little kid thing, it's not my naturally gig ... it's just not. It was hard work for me. So for me, many days, it was such a tough road – being a dad, going through teaching the children over and over and over again, but the fruit ... the fruit that that investment is now bearing is so incredibly worth it, I have to tell you. I want to encourage you today that wherever your family is, whatever is going on, whatever dysfunction you perceive will absolutely prevent you from building a godly family, I want to encourage you that the Word of God is true. That when we begin to honour God and to fear God and we step out and we say, “I am believing God for a godly family,” I got to tell you, the Spirit of God will come in power. He will show us what to do. He will show us what to say. He will show us how to live and it might take a while, but I have to tell you, my God and your God – that God is about building a godly family.

Crumbs From The Table MESSAGE SUMMARY: We need to create a Culture of Grace and Kindness in our families, our churches, our work, and in our country. What is a Culture of Grace and Kindness? This culture involves: 1) an atmosphere or environment in which there is no griping or complaining – no putting people down; 2) giving others the benefit of the doubt; 3) visibly valuing other people; and 4) being filled with the fruit of the Holy Spirit. A Culture of Grace and Kindness flows from: 1) keeping Jesus Lord – as Jesus instructed us in Mark 12:29-30: “Jesus answered, ‘The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'”; 2) loving your neighbor as yourself – as Jesus instructed us in Mark 12:31: “'The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these.'”. 3) practicing the “Golden Rule” – “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”; and 4) “having the attitude of the Canaanite Woman” – in Matthew 15:25-28, she exhibited humility without pride: “But she came and knelt before him, saying, 'Lord, help me.' And he answered, ‘It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.' She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.' Then Jesus answered her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.' And her daughter was healed instantly." Too often in our families, work and church, we forget, in the way we treat others, that we to are sinners and not perfect. Therefore, we exhibit a culture without grace and kindness. Without a Culture of Grace and Kindness, we miss the blessings. In Matthew 15:25-28, the “Canaanite Woman” received the blessing, in her faith and humility, from Jesus when “her daughter was healed instantly”. Additionally, some are unhappy in their “Christian walk”.  Those, who are unhappy in their Christian walk, have forgotten that what Jesus wants from them is for them to “love Him”. The Lord, in ; Revelation 2:4, was telling the Church in Ephesus three things will enable us to get back to our love of Jesus: 1) remember – remember how we loved God when we first started walking with the Lord; 2) repent and return to the Lord – ask God to fill you with a sense of longing for Him; and 3) repeat the things we performed when our faith was on fire for God – don't get away from doing those things that provided a direct link for you to have a personal relationship with God and made you, in your eyes and the eyes of others, a follower of Jesus. Are you communicating, in your works, actions, words, and deeds inherent in a Christian Culture of Grace and Kindness? If not, why not?   TODAY'S PRAYER: Father, I confess that when difficulties and trials come into my life, large or small, I mostly grumble and complain. I realize the trials James talks about are not necessarily “walls,” but they are difficult to bear, nonetheless. Fill me with such a vision of a transformed life, O God, that I might actually consider it “pure joy” when you bring trials my way. I believe, Lord. Help my unbelief. In Jesus' name, amen. Scazzero, Peter, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 94). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:13). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Galatians 5:22; Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31; Matthew 15:21-28; Ephesians 4:29-32; Colossians 3:12-17; Revelation 2: 1-7; (Click the Bible References, in blue, below to read the full Bible text for these Scripture References.). A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH'S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “Jesus Followers Are the Enemy's {devil's} Target to Mess You Up and To Destroy Your Relationship with God”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Why the Disciples Failed . . . and How We Can Avoid It This Homily begins with the Shema . . . “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone” . . . . . . as a call to attentive listening, not just speaking or acting on our own plans. Scripture shows the consequences of listening or failing to listen: Adam disobeyed because he did not listen, while Abraham, Mary, and the saints prospered in God's will because they did. “Israel” refers to those who cling to God, even in struggle. God alone is to be valued above all else . . . above self, possessions, and ambitions . . . and loved with heart (passions), soul (spiritual being), and strength (talents). St. Augustine's counsel . . . love God in all things and all things for God . . . reminds us to see Him behind all creation and relationships. How? The Homily tells us! Why Did The Disciples Fail Today's Gospel account of the disciples failing to heal a possessed boy illustrates that without God's direction, we can do nothing, even if we have succeeded before. Only by allowing God to lead us, through the Holy Spirit, can we truly forgive, heal, and love. The Homily ends with a prayer for openness and surrender to God's guidance. Hear more within this Meditation Media. Listen to: Why the Disciples Failed . . . and How We Can Avoid It --------------------------------------------------------- The Exhortation to the Apostles: French Painter: James Tissot: 1886 Part of the online collection of the Brooklyn Museum. --------------------------------------------------------- Gospel Reading: Matthew 17: 14-20 First Reading: Deuteronomy 6: 4-13

Phil Dickson continues our series on Mark by looking at one of the most important moments in Mark 12. Jesus is asked, “What's the greatest commandment?” His answer? Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength — and love your neighbor as yourself. Phil reminds us that “hear” (Shema) in Hebrew means more than listening — it's hearing with the intent to understand, obey, and respond. This is not just religion, routine, or law-keeping, but a personal, wholehearted devotion to God. Drawing from Peter, Paul, Deuteronomy, and Hebrews, he shows how the old covenant pointed to the new promise in Jesus — one sacrifice for all time, writing God's law on our hearts. Sin separates us from God, but through faith in Christ, we move from darkness into His wonderful light. The challenge? Don't just hear — believe and respond. Love God with your whole being, and love people with the same sacrificial, selfless love God has shown us. Key points: • You are God's chosen people, His special possession. • There is no distinction — Jew, Greek, Gentile — all are called through faith. • The wages of sin is death, but God's gift is eternal life in Christ. • “Hear” means listen + understand + obey. • True love for God is active, intimate, and all-encompassing.The post Phil Dickson: Hear, believe, love first appeared on Jubilee Church Wirral.

Cory Morgan (Pastor of Modern Worship & Young Adults), "Into the Deep".                 4.  “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  5.  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  6.  And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  7.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  8.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  9.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.          (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ESV)          1.  On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret,  2.  and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3.  Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.  4.  And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”  5.  And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”  6.  And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.          7.  They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.  8.  But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”  9.  For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken,  10.  and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”  11.  And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.          (Luke 5:1-11 ESV)

Pastor Jeff shares today from Deuteronomy 6:4-6 and talks about a prayer called the Shema and how families should pray together. Deuteronomy 6:4-6 4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.

Cory Morgan (Pastor of Modern Worship & Young Adults), "Into the Deep", Modern Worship Praise Team (11:15 Service).                 4.  “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  5.  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  6.  And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  7.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  8.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  9.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.          (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ESV)          1.  On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret,  2.  and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3.  Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.  4.  And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”  5.  And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”  6.  And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.          7.  They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.  8.  But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”  9.  For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken,  10.  and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”  11.  And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.          (Luke 5:1-11 ESV)

Cory Morgan (Pastor of Modern Worship & Young Adults), "Into the Deep", Choir, Blended Worship Praise Team (8:45 Service).                 4.  “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  5.  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  6.  And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  7.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  8.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  9.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.          (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ESV)          1.  On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret,  2.  and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3.  Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.  4.  And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”  5.  And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”  6.  And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.          7.  They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.  8.  But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”  9.  For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken,  10.  and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”  11.  And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.          (Luke 5:1-11 ESV)

Art: Hi Rabbi Mordecai. Thanks for coming.Rabbi: Of course, Art. I'm looking forward to our conversation today. I want to know more about how I can have eternal life. And also I don't understand how there can be one God comprised of three persons.Art: Mordecai, I think answering your second question first would be best because that will lay an important foundation. Let's read from the Torah. Rabbi, would you please read Deuteronomy 6:4 in Hebrew first, and then in English?Rabbi: Sure. Let me begin. Deuteronomy 6:4Shema Yisrael Adonai Elohenu Adonai Echad.“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One!Art: Mordecai, surely the Shema tells us unequivocally that God is One. Do you agree?Rabbi: Of course.Art: Good. We are in agreement. Now as an Orthodox Rabbi, you know the Hebrew language well. So, I'm going to ask you to comment on the grammar of some of the words in this verse, Deuteronomy 6:4. OK?Rabbi: Sure. I'm happy to do that.Art: OK. I'm going to read the verse in Hebrew and then I'll ask you about the grammar.Shema Yisrael Adonai Elohenu Adonai Echad.Mordecai, what is the grammatical form or morphology or part of speech of the Hebrew word Elohenu?Rabbi: Elohenu is a plural noun. It's derived from the plural noun Eloheem. If we want to get technical Elohenu is a common masculine plural construct noun. It means our God.Art: Thanks Rabbi. Now what is the grammatical form of the Hebrew word Echad?Rabbi: Echad is singular. It is the number one, a cardinal number. It is absolutely singular, Art.Art: Thank you, Mordecai. Let me read another verse to you. Numbers 13:23Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol, and there cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes; they carried it between two of them on a pole. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs.Now here Echad, the singular number one, is used to name something that is complex, something that is made up of more than one item namely a bunch or cluster of single grapes. Let me read one more verse to you, Rabbi:“Dan shall judge his people As one of the tribes of Israel.This is from Jacob's famous prophecy at the end of his life in Genesis 49, verse 16. In this verse one is Echad. But again Echad is describing one of a number of single things namely one of the tribes of Israel.Rabbi, I believe that Echad is nearly always, if not always, used in this manner. I could give you many more examples. Echad is therefore one but it's a complex one. Do you agree with this Rabbi?Rabbi: I have to say that you're correct, Art. In fact, come to think of it, there is a word in Hebrew that I'd like to define for you. Let me read you a verse first, Genesis 22:2:Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”Art, this verse is talking about the Akeedaah, the sacrificing of Isaac by his father Abraham. Now of course the LORD intervened and the sacrifice didn't occur. Abraham was being tested by the LORD. But the point here is that the word only is in Hebrew, yachid. Perhaps a better translation would be “Take now your son, your one and only, Isaac”. One in this verse is clearly not a complex one. It is a one that is indivisible. Abraham had only one son of promise, Isaac.Art: That's fascinating, Rabbi. Rabbi, I'm going to now pose to you an amplified translation of the Shema, Deuteronomy 6:4:“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God has a plural nature. He is Lord, the one and only Lord, and He has a complex makeup”.Rabbi: So, Art, let's say that I accept your explanation that God is a plural God, that He is a complex one. How does that help me to have eternal life?Art: Mordecai, I'm going to answer that question by reading three more verses. They're from the Gospel of John:John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.Mordecai, Yeshua is often called the Word in the New testament. He is the Son of God. Whoever believes in Him will never perish but will have everlasting life.Rabbi: I'm beginning to see something. Yeshua is equal to God. He is God. So if I believe in Him, He can grant me eternal life? Is Yeshua also the Messiah?Art: Rabbi, He is the Messiah and He can grant you eternal life if you believe in Him. Let's meet next week. I'll show you where the Tanach tells us that He's the Messiah.Rabbi: My head is exploding again Art. But in a good way. See you next week. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit awolinsky.substack.com

Cory Morgan (Pastor of Modern Worship & Young Adults), "Into the Deep".                 4.  “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  5.  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  6.  And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  7.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  8.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  9.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.          (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ESV)          1.  On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret,  2.  and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3.  Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.  4.  And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”  5.  And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”  6.  And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.          7.  They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.  8.  But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”  9.  For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken,  10.  and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”  11.  And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.          (Luke 5:1-11 ESV)

Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'" - Mark 12:29-30

TODAY'S TREASUREHear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.Deuteronomy 6:4-7Send us a comment!Support the show

It's Friday, July 25th, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Adam McManus Victory for Dutch homeschool families Earlier this year, the Home School Legal Defense Association highlighted the story of the Hinrich Family, who fought for over a year for the right to homeschool their children in the Netherlands. Just this month, the Public Prosecutor's Office publicly stated that parents who refuse to send their children to compulsory school, based on a qualified religious objection, will no longer be prosecuted. Like the Hinrichs, over 2,100 children were exempt from compulsory attendance in 2024 in the Netherlands, due to objections by their parents that no school in their area reflected their religious convictions. This is one of the lawful reasons to homeschool in the country. Nevertheless, parents were criminally prosecuted for truancy and found themselves, as did the Hinrichs, in a court battle to defend their natural right to raise their children according to their religious convictions. Thankfully, this decision changes that. The Public Prosecutor reported there were 160 criminal cases against parents in 2024. These prosecutions occurred despite Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which requires states, including the Netherlands, to respect “the liberty of parents…to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions.” Please pray that the authorities in the Netherlands will stop harassing homeschoolers for good. Deuteronomy 6:4-7 underscores the role parents should play in the education of their children. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up.” Epstein files controversy dragging Trump presidency down The Epstein files controversy is dragging down the Trump presidency.  Gallup reports that his approval rating has sunk to 37%. The revolt of House Republicans who favor releasing the Epstein case documents surprised White House officials and multiple members of GOP leadership, reports Politico.com. Some have questioned whether President Trump himself is implicated criminally. In an interview with Major Garrett on CBS' The Takeout, House Speaker Mike Johnson emphasized the need to be transparent. JOHNSON: “We want full transparency. We want everybody who is involved in any way with the Epstein evils -- let's call it what it was -- to be brought to justice as quickly as possible. We want the full weight of the law on their heads.” GARRETT: “But when the Justice Department said in that same two-page memo, there's no reason to pursue further prosecutions, many said, ‘How can those two things be properly aligned?'” JOHNSON: “These are good questions. I don't know. I've never seen the Epstein evidence. It wasn't in my lane, but I have the same concern and question that a lot of people do. I mean, there are real victims here.” Murder victim's mother forgives murderer Bryan Kohberger Bryan Kohberger, who admitted to brutally stabbing four University of Idaho students to death at their home in November 2022, was given his sentence on July 23rd.  Sadly, the judge sidestepped Biblical justice found in Genesis 9:6 which says, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind." The judge gave Kohberger four consecutive sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole. He was also ordered to pay a combined $200,000 in fines and $5,000 in civil penalties to the families of each victim. He was also sentenced to an additional 10 years in prison and ordered to pay a $50,000 fine in connection with a count of burglary associated with the crime.  Amazingly, the mother of one of Bryan Kohberger's murder victims forgave her daughter's killer in court Wednesday, expressing hope that he would find Jesus Christ and said she'd be praying for him.  Cara Northington, the mother of murder victim Xana Kernodle, expressed confidence that “Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, now has her in His loving arms in Heaven, where she can never be harmed ever again for eternity.”  “Ozzy” Osbourne, who championed hell, wanted to go to Heaven And finally, "Ozzy" Osbourne, who rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, died on July 22nd at the age of 76, reports The Guardian. The English musician adopted the nickname "Prince of Darkness.” Osbourne's signature song entitled “Black Sabbath” included these lyrics: “What is this that stands before me? Figure in black which points at me Turn 'round quick, and start to run Find out I'm the chosen one.” In their 1970 song entitled “N.I.B.”,  they feature the lyrics, “My name is Lucifer, please take my hand.” And a 1980 song  entitled “Mr. Crowley” referenced Aleister Crowley, an English occultist often labeled as "the wickedest man in the world." Ozzy explored Crowley's legacy with curiosity and mystique. The lyrics said, “Mr. Crowley, what went on in your head? Oh Mr. Crowley, did you talk to the dead?” Osbourne sold over 100 million albums, including his solo work and Black Sabbath releases. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Black Sabbath in 2006 and as a solo artist in 2024. In the early 2000s, Osbourne became a reality television star when he appeared in the degrading, profanity-filled MTV reality show The Osbournes. It aired from 2002 to 2005 alongside Sharon, his second wife, and two of their children, Kelly and Jack.  Sadly, Osbourne abused alcohol and drugs most of his life.  He also was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in his twilight years. For someone who championed hell, he appeared to want to go to Heaven. In a 2010 interview with The Sunday Times, he said, “I genuinely believe that if you're a good person, you go to Heaven. But I can't imagine what that is. There has to be more to life than this.” There is indeed more to life than what we can see in the physical realm.  But, in Romans 3:10, the Bible says, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” And Isaiah 64:6 says, “All our righteousness is like filthy rags.” Finally, Romans 10:9 proclaims, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” If you've never repented of your sin and asked Jesus Christ to be your Savior and Lord, there is no time like the present. Close And that's The Worldview on this Friday, July 25th, in the year of our Lord 2025. Follow us on X or subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  Plus, you can get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Thank you for joining me today and following us throughout Project 23. If you would like to learn more about this project, click the link to discover more and partner with us. Our text today is Mark 12:28-34: And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the most important of all?" Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." And the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions. — Mark 12:28-34 In a moment filled with debates and trick questions, one man dares to ask something sincere: "What's the most important commandment?" That's the right question. And Jesus doesn't hesitate. He quotes the Shema from Deuteronomy 6—words every Jewish boy and girl had memorized: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself. That's it. That's the whole law in two lines. Love vertically. Love horizontally. The man nods. He gets it. He says it back to Jesus, and Jesus replies: "You are not far from the kingdom." We complicate faith. Jesus simplifies it. It's not about rules or rituals. Not about knowledge or appearances. It's about love—real love. Do you love God with your whole being? Do you love people as you love yourself? That's the measuring stick—not how much you know, but how well you love. And it's convicting, because most of us are pretty good at loving ourselves. We think about ourselves. Protect ourselves. Excuse ourselves. But Jesus says: That same energy you give yourself? Give it to others. And more than that—give all of yourself to God. The love God wants is total. Not partial. Not occasional. Not reserved. All of it. This command doesn't leave room for compartmentalized faith. It pulls everything into the light: affections, thoughts, decisions, actions. So live all in for him who lived all in for you. #GreatestCommandment, #Mark12, #LoveGodLovePeople ASK THIS: Why does Jesus say these two commands summarize the whole law? Which area of love is hardest for you—heart, soul, mind, or strength? Who is someone God may be calling you to love more intentionally? What does “not far from the kingdom” mean in your life? DO THIS: Ask God to show you where your love for Him has grown thin, and who around you needs the love you've been withholding. PRAY THIS: God, help me love you with all that I am—and love others the way you love me. Let my faith be full of real love, not empty religion. Amen. PLAY THIS: “The Heart of Worship”

To become a follower of Jesus, visit: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/MeetJesus (NOT a Morning Mindset resource) ⇒ Join the MMM Prayer Team: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/PrayerTeam ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Mark 12:28–34 - [28] And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” [29] Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. [30] And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ [31] The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” [32] And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. [33] And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” [34] And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions. (ESV) ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ FINANCIALLY SUPPORT THE MORNING MINDSET: (not tax-deductible) -- Become a monthly partner: https://mm-gfk-partners.supercast.com/ -- Support a daily episode: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/daily-sponsor/ -- Give one-time: https://give.cornerstone.cc/careygreen -- Venmo: @CareyNGreen ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ FOREIGN LANGUAGE VERSIONS OF THIS PODCAST: SPANISH version: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/Spanish HINDI version: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/Hindi CHINESE version: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/Chinese  ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ CONTACT: Carey@careygreen.com  ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ THEME MUSIC: “King’s Trailer” – Creative Commons 0 | Provided by https://freepd.com/ ***All NON-ENGLISH versions of the Morning Mindset are translated using A.I. Dubbing and Translation tools from DubFormer.ai ***All NON-ENGLISH text content (descriptions and titles) are translated using the A.I. functionality of Google Translate.

To become a follower of Jesus, visit: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/MeetJesus (NOT a Morning Mindset resource) ⇒ BECOME A MONTHLY PARTNER: (not tax-deductible) You can find out how to become a monthly partner including how to receive your "thank you" gift - our bonus podcast called "Digging Deeper." God t: https://mm-gfk-partners.supercast.com/ ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ TODAY'S SCRIPTURE:   ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ FINANCIALLY SUPPORT THE MORNING MINDSET: (not tax-deductible) -- Become a monthly partner: https://mm-gfk-partners.supercast.com/ -- Support a daily episode: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/daily-sponsor/ -- Give one-time: https://give.cornerstone.cc/careygreen -- Venmo: @CareyNGreen ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ FOREIGN LANGUAGE VERSIONS OF THIS PODCAST: SPANISH version: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/Spanish HINDI version: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/Hindi CHINESE version: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/Chinese  ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ CONTACT: Carey@careygreen.com  ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ THEME MUSIC: “King’s Trailer” – Creative Commons 0 | Provided by https://freepd.com/ ***All NON-ENGLISH versions of the Morning Mindset are translated using A.I. Dubbing and Translation tools from DubFormer.ai ***All NON-ENGLISH text content (descriptions and titles) are translated using the A.I. functionality of Google Translate. To become a follower of Jesus, visit: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/MeetJesus (NOT a Morning Mindset resource) ⇒ BECOME A MONTHLY PARTNER: (not tax-deductible) You can find out how to become a monthly partner including how to receive your "thank you" gift - our bonus podcast called "Digging Deeper." God t: https://mm-gfk-partners.supercast.com/ ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Mark 12:28–34 - [28] And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” [29] Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. [30] And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ [31] The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” [32] And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. [33] And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” [34] And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions. (ESV) ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ FINANCIALLY SUPPORT THE MORNING MINDSET: (not tax-deductible) -- Become a monthly partner: https://mm-gfk-partners.supercast.com/ -- Support a daily episode: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/daily-sponsor/ -- Give one-time: https://give.cornerstone.cc/careygreen -- Venmo: @CareyNGreen ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ FOREIGN LANGUAGE VERSIONS OF THIS PODCAST: SPANISH version: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/Spanish HINDI version: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/Hindi CHINESE version: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/Chinese  ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ CONTACT: Carey@careygreen.com  ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ THEME MUSIC: “King’s Trailer” – Creative Commons 0 | Provided by https://freepd.com/ ***All NON-ENGLISH versions of the Morning Mindset are translated using A.I. Dubbing and Translation tools from DubFormer.ai ***All NON-ENGLISH text content (descriptions and titles) are translated using the A.I. functionality of Google Translate.

To become a follower of Jesus, visit: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/MeetJesus (NOT a Morning Mindset resource) ⇒ Listen to our other podcasts: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Mark 12:28–34 - [28] And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” [29] Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. [30] And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ [31] The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” [32] And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. [33] And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” [34] And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions. (ESV) ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ FINANCIALLY SUPPORT THE MORNING MINDSET: (not tax-deductible) -- Become a monthly partner: https://mm-gfk-partners.supercast.com/ -- Support a daily episode: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/daily-sponsor/ -- Give one-time: https://give.cornerstone.cc/careygreen -- Venmo: @CareyNGreen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FOREIGN LANGUAGE VERSIONS OF THIS PODCAST: SPANISH version: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/Spanish HINDI version: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/Hindi CHINESE version: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/Chinese  ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ CONTACT: Carey@careygreen.com  ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖~ THEME MUSIC: “King’s Trailer” – Creative Commons 0 | Provided by https://freepd.com/ ***All NON-ENGLISH versions of the Morning Mindset are translated using A.I. Dubbing and Translation tools from DubFormer.ai ***All NON-ENGLISH text content (descriptions and titles) are translated using the A.I. functionality of Google Translate.

Preacher: Jeremiah Fyffe Deuteronomy 32:7-14_ Deuteronomy 32:7-14 | Remember the Days of Old from CrossPointe Coast on Vimeo. REMEMBER THE DAYS OF OLD THE SOVEREIGN PROVIDER THE LORD FINDS, FORMS AND FILLS HIS PEOPLE Genesis 10:1 (ESV) These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood. Isaiah 2:2 (ESV) It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, Hebrews 13:14 (ESV) For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Matthew 5:14–16 (ESV) You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Deuteronomy 6:4–5 (ESV) Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Habakkuk 3:19 (ESV) God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places. 1 Corinthians 10:4 (ESV) and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.

According to Harvard Business School, any company that offers a product or service is in the business of solving problems. That's not just true about companies; it's true about churches. And we're facing a massive problem in the church today: We're losing the next generation. Studies project that 35 million youths raised in Christian families will stop following Jesus by 2050, which would be the largest and fastest shift in religious association in American history. Before the Israelites entered the Promised Land, Moses gathered them all together and spoke these words—words that we must also impart to our children—to ensure they would maintain God's favor: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, NIV). Every day, in every way, our generation must point the next generation to God.

Mark 12:28-34One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these.”"Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

Transformative Truth:  Divine love is revealed and expressed by Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Paul prays (1) That God might strengthen us with power through his Spirit in our inner being (Ephesians 3:6-17a) (2) That we might have power to grasp the limitless dimensions of the love of Christ (Ephesians 3:17b-19) Divine Love is revealed and expressed by Father, Son, and Holy Spirit First, to live with an ever-increasing awareness of Divine Love, Consider: Triune love Exists    Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Deuteronomy 6:4) The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  2 Corinthians 13:14 WBC doctrinal statement He (God) is inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all honor, confidence, and love. He eternally exists in three persons, who are equal in every divine perfection, and who execute distinct but harmonious roles in the work of creation, providence and redemption. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.  1 John 4:8  "It is common when speaking of the Divine happiness to say that God is infinitely happy in the enjoyment of Himself, in perfectly beholding and infinitely loving, and rejoicing in, His own essence and perfection..."  (Jonathan Edwards) And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;  and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." Matthew 3:16-17 Second, to live with an ever-increasing awareness of Divine Love, Consider: Triune love is Expressed "His self-giving affection for his image-bearing creatures and his unselfish concern for their well-being, that leads him to act on their behalf and for their happiness and welfare "  The God who is love - is the Father who sends his Son.   For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly (Son) Romans 5:6 But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Father) Romans 5:8 And when he (the Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.... (John 16:8 ) Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  John 3:5  You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:13-14, NLT Third, to live with an ever-increasing awareness of Divine Love, Consider: Triune love is Extended In other words, the shape of the Father-Son relationship (the headship) begins a gracious cascade, like a waterfall of love: as the Father is the lover and the head of the Son, so the Son goes out to be the lover and the head of the church. "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you," the Son says (Jn 15:9). And therein lies the very goodness of the gospel: as the Father is the lover and the Son the beloved, so Christ becomes the lover and the church the beloved. That means that Christ loves the church first and foremost: his love is not a response, given only when the church loves him; his love comes first, and we only love him because he first loved us (1 John 4:19) Divine Love is revealed and expressed by Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

Passage: 4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4–9 ESV) Song: Every Mother Every Father by Andy Bast and Bruce Benedict Lyrics: Every mother every father Called to raise up sons or daughters May your heart be patient May your mind be clear May our God be with you and calm your fears Prayer: This is another day, O Lord. I know not what it will bring forth, but make me ready, Lord, for whatever it may be. If I am to stand up, help me to stand bravely. If I am to sit still, help me to sit quietly. If I am to lie low, help me to do it patiently. And if I am to do nothing, let me do it gallantly. Make these words more than words, and give me the Spirit of Jesus. Amen. -The Book of Common Prayer

This message draws us into a deep reflection on Deuteronomy 6:4-9, known as the Shema—one of the most sacred affirmations in Jewish and Christian tradition: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.” In this passage, Moses calls God's people to love the Lord with all their heart, soul, and might, and to pass on this love intentionally to the next generation. In this sermon, we explore how authentic faith is not just spoken but lived—written on the hearts of children, youth, and communities through everyday acts of love, mentorship, and presence. The preacher shares a personal testimony of choosing a life of ministry with young people, reminding us that sacred work is often found in quiet, consistent faithfulness rather than fame. Just as Moses commanded the people to teach these words diligently to their children, the church today is called to be a spiritual family—where faith is formed not only in programs, but through relationships. We are invited to consider how we are imprinting God's love on others, and how our lives can become visible expressions of devotion. In a culture that often prioritizes individual achievement, this message calls us back to communal faithfulness. What are we writing on the hearts of those around us? Who are the saints helping to shape the next generation? In a world that is watching, this message asks: what kind of legacy are we leaving? Are we choosing to live the Shema?

Morning Worship sermon with Rev. Bud Hance Scripture reference Deuteronomy 6:4-9 4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on yourgates.

Deuteronomy 6:4–5 – “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”I don't know if this resonates, but I feel as if I'm neglecting something when I'm engaged in another way. Life is full. Our cups are overflowing. But there is a better way to navigate and thrive despite it all. In this episode, we will pause and reflect on what's essential and how being anchored to it allows us to show up better for those we love and in all that we do.Let's dive in and get anchored!Reflect and Deep Dive:*How are our life “great things becoming the ultimate thing?*What's the difference between essentials and non-essentials in your life? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit courageousradiance.substack.com

Daily Dose of Hope May 2, 2025 Day 5 of Week 5   Scripture - Mark 12:18-34   Prayer:  Lord, How we need you.  Thank you for your presence, thank you for the way you continue to pursue us.  Lord, in these next few moments of silence, help us set aside our scattered thoughts and focus on you...In Your Name, Amen.   Welcome to the Daily Dose of Hope, a Deep Dive into the Gospels and Acts.  Today is day 2 of Mark 12.  Like I said yesterday, there is a lot here!  Today, we will talk about Jesus' comments regarding marriage at the resurrection and the greatest commandment.   Let's start with marriage at the resurrection.  The Sadducees were a group of Jewish wealthy and aristocratic leaders who did not believe in the resurrection.  It's not clear if they were trying to trap Jesus or possibly discredit him, but they ask him a question based on levirate law as outlined by the law of Moses.    Levirate law was intended to protect widows without a male heir.  When a brother died, leaving his wife without children, a surviving brother marries the widow with the sole intention of producing an heir.  If a son is conceived, he is actually considered to be the deceased brother's child.  In ancient near-East culture, a widow without any connection to a male would either starve or be forced to beg or prostitute herself.    Thus, the Sadducees question makes a little more sense even though it is a bit absurd.  A woman's husband dies and she marries a brother.  That brother dies and she marries another brother and so forth until she has been married to all seven brothers.  Then she dies.  Whose wife will she be at the resurrection?  Keep in mind, they ask this question knowing that they think the resurrection is false.  They have an ulterior motive here – possibly make a fool of Jesus?   Jesus basically tells them they are totally missing the point. In the resurrection, our bodies will be different – perfect and glorious.  There will also be a change in our spiritual nature.  Jesus is saying that in regard to marriage and sexual matters, we will be like the angels (note that he did not say we will be angels but we will be like them.)    But the Sadducees were mistaken so significantly not because of this absurd question but because they didn't believe in the resurrection.  This is a fundamental aspect of Jesus' teaching and they missed it entirely.  “You are badly mistaken!” Jesus says to them.   Let's move on. To the other part of today's text, the greatest commandment.  A scribe comes up to ask Jesus a question.  Unlike the Pharisees and Sadducees, he isn't combative and patronizing.  He saw how well Jesus answered questions and he genuinely wanted to hear from Jesus.  He asks Jesus for the greatest commandment.   Jesus begins his answer with the Shema which comes from Deuteronomy 6, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.    The Shema recognizes the uniqueness and oneness of God. There aren't other gods but only one true God.  God calls his people to love him and obey him with every part of their being.  He called the ancient Israelites to this this and he calls us to do this as well.  Jesus took the Shema and added an important element.  In Mark 12, we read that Jesus says this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no commandment greater than these.”  Yes, we love God with our whole being but we also love others.  In fact, love of God is demonstrated by love of others.  As Christians, we cannot separate the two.    Love of God and love of others cannot be separated.  How often do we try to say that we love God while we hate another person?    Blessings, Pastor Vicki    

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matt 5: 17 - 20When was the last time you read any of the ‘law' books in the Bible – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers or Deuteronomy? Some of it can be hard going, but all of it is God's Word. Not all the commands are practised by Christians today (for example, child circumcision, animal sacrifice), but every instruction tells us something about God and the world we live in. Jesus said he came to fulfill the law. What does that mean?Some have suggested that the whole of the Old Testament (including the law books), can be summarised by Deuteronomy 6: 4 – 5: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”[1] Jesus agreed with this and then added, “Love your neighbour as yourself” in Mark 12:29 - 31. In fact, it can be argued that much of Jesus' teaching was rooted in quotes or principles found in the Old Testament. We see this in the next section of the Sermon on the Mount. For example, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:27-28)Jesus fulfilled the law by teaching a deeper understanding of it. Another way Jesus fulfilled the law was by pointing us to the Father, so that we may obey Him and love Him. We know the law was given to reveal God's holiness, to set Israel apart from the other nations, define and expose sin, introduce justice and point us to Christ. But it was also given to reveal the heart of God. Every commandment and every principle said something about God's love, generosity and kindness. And they revealed a holy God who will judge. So for those who never saw past a list of do's and don'ts, Jesus embodied The Lord's love and holiness. He fulfilled the law by living it for all to see. No wonder he said that those who practice the commands (those who follow His example) will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. Not in a self-righteous way like the Pharisees but like Jesus – motivated by a desire to please His Father in Heaven. [1] E.g. Experiencing God by Henry and Richard Blackaby p 82

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 New King James Version   4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

A Triumphant Church Part 11: Gives No Offence 1 Corinthians 10:31-33 31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.32 Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God,33 just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. 1 Corinthians 11:1-16 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. 2 Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. 3 But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. 4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, 5 but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. 6 For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head. 7 For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. 8 For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. 9 Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10 That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; 12 for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God. 13 Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, 15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. 16 If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God. Genesis 2:7 7 then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. Genesis 2:18:24 18 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19 Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Deuteronomy 6:4-5 4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 1 Peter 3:1-7 3 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct. 3 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— 4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. 5 For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening. 7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. John 13:35 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Is your spiritual life thriving at Home? Could you play a part in helping those in your household become more spiritually and emotionally healthy. More connected to God. to Jesus Christ. to His will for us and to the Peace He alone can provide.This week Pastor Paul discussed the teachings of Deuteronomy 6.These words that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Deut. 6:6 Words? What words?  the ones Just before…  Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Deut. 6:4-5and it goes on to tell us how: Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deut. 6:8-9Let's listen...Support the show IN NEED OF PRAYER? SEND US YOUR PRAYER REQUESTS ONLINE JOIN A LIFEGROUP CONTRIBUTE TO OUR CHURCH AND MINISTRIES

2 Year Gospel Study - week 64 (Friday, 03–21-25) Up To Jerusalem - Teaching 6 Scripture - Matthew 21:45-46, Matthew 22:1-45, Revelation 7:9-17, Job 19:26, Isaiah 26:19, Daniel 12:2, Exodus 3:6, Mark 12:28-34, John 14:6, Micah 6:8 Today's teaching centers on Jesus' encounters with the religious leaders in the temple as recorded in the 4 gospels and enlightened by some of the latest findings of archeologists and others who have uncovered things that have been hidden for generations but that clearly testify to the truthfulness of God's Word.  We will see the display of absolute brilliance as Jesus encounters the religious aristocracy, as He answers the critics and as He clearly demonstrates the Divine plan to redeem the human race. Jesus is in the temple courts teaching - This is where we start today - Matthew 21:45-46 “When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus' parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.” They wanted to arrest Him but also saw that the crowds were listening to Jesus and receiving Him with joy. Normally the Chief Priests and Pharisees did not see things the same way, but they did as far as how they both felt about Jesus.  Their desire to eliminate Jesus brought them together. Jesus' Teachings     ⁃    The Parable of the Wedding Banquet  (wedding feast / resurrection life / our destiny as true believers in Jesus) This is a banquet we do not want to refuse to come to!  In this parable Jesus also predicts the ultimate destruction of the city of Jerusalem which would happen in 70AD. Pastor dissects the part of the story about the man at the feast that wasn't dressed appropriately, in light of the teaching of Jesus found in Revelation 7:9-17.      ⁃    Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar - following the Wedding Banquet parable the pharisees came together with the Herodians to lay out a plan to trap Jesus. Herodians were strong supporters of Herod's dynasty and of Rome and the pharisees hated Roman rule and their taxes. But the two groups unite to trap Jesus with this question that would force Him to choose either the Pharisees or the Herodians: “what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”  But to this hot button issue on Roman taxes - Jesus answers: “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought Him a denarius and Jesus asks, “whose image is this and whose inscription?”  Their response is “Caesar's” Then Jesus said to them, “give back to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is Gods” When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away. Their trap had failed.     ⁃    Marriage at the Resurrection - this onslaught against Jesus comes from the Sadducees with the story of seven brothers and the law in the Torah and Jesus again avoids their trap by confronting them with wisdom and scriptures.     ⁃    The Greatest Commandment -  “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these.” We are called to show love because God love us through His Son, Jesus. And then we read, “And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.”     ⁃    Whose Son is Messiah? Now Jesus decides to ask a question, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David.” Then Jesus adds a quote from King David. “David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: “‘The Lord said to my Lord:“Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”' David himself calls him ‘Lord.' How then can he be his son?”  Jesus is calling them to really think hard about what David is saying. Pastor shares an enlightened look at what David is saying and what Jesus is desiring for the crowd to understand. The teaching concludes with a look at some archeological  discoveries and a peek into next week's class. Our website –  https://www.awakeusnow.com Watch the video from our website! https://www.awakeusnow.com/2-year-study-of-the-gospels-upper Watch the video from our YouTube Channel!! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOzMkhPyiNWwlJRpV6Bwpu01 Up to Jerusalem is a study of the final weeks of Jesus' ministry concluding with His resurrection and ascension, using the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John together with material from ancient sources and recent discoveries.  Up to Jerusalem is part four of our Two Year Study of the Gospels. Up To Jerusalem is the story of the plan of God to redeem the world, and the story of a Savior willing to obey the Father's plan. As we study Jesus' final days, we will be impacted as we discover the Love of God for each one of us.  This study is great for large group, small group or home group study and can be started at any time.

A Sermon for the First Sunday in Lent St. Matthew 4:1-11 by William Klock Our Gospel today from Matthew picks up right after Jesus' baptism by John.  Matthew tells us: Then Jesus was led out into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tested by the devil.   Picture the desert.  It was hot and dry and dusty as Jesus made his way from that fertile strip of land along the Jordan up into the Judean wilderness, into the place that the Old Testament calls Yeshiymon.  It means “devastation”.  It's a land of sand and broken limestone and shingle.  Ridges of stratified rock twist here and turn there and everything in between them is filled with dust, jagged rocks, and broken stone shingles that can easily slide out from under foot.  Into that hot and desolate wilderness Jesus walked at the Spirit's prompting.  I expect that when he first set out he found beauty in the desert.  I know from experience: There's a lot of beauty in the desert when you first start out.  Look at that formation over there.  Look at those colours.  Look at the amazing sunset.  And then the clear night sky and the stars.  But eventually the heat gets to you.  Last summer Veronica and I rode the KVR from Penticton to Oliver and back.  On the way out we were admiring the lake and the wildflowers and the wonderful smells all around.  But it was over 100° that day and even after a stop for ice cream, the ride back to Penticton became a real slog.  We just wanted to get back and out of the heat.  We've had similar days on foot hiking down in the Anza-Borrego Desert.  Everything's a wonder on the way out, but by the time you're on the way back, it's hot and your sweaty and your exhausted.  Your feet hurt from walking over rocks, and you're tired and hungry and you just want to get back to the car.  I expect Jesus felt something like that the further he walked into that wilderness of devastation.  But as he put one foot in front of another, as he wiped the sweat from his face, he thought about his forefathers and their wilderness trek from the Red Sea to the promised land.   The Lord, the God of Israel, was about to do something very much like that again.  A new exodus.  And Jesus was at the centre of it.  Why did Jesus do this?  Why did he put himself in such a harsh and difficult space.  Why did he starve himself?  He did it to put himself in the place of his people who so badly needed and who so longed for deliverance.  Even if no one saw him in the wilderness, he was acting out a prophecy, repeating the life and story of his people and putting himself in their place. Eventually Jesus found a spot in the middle of that wasteland, maybe with a little spring of water in the shade of one of those twisting ridges, maybe with a few bushes or even a palm tree for a bit of shade.  He arranged some rocks and scrub to make a (somewhat) comfortable place to sit or lie or to kneel in prayer.  And he communed with God, meditated on the scriptures, pondered the nature of his ministry which was just beginning, and prayed for wisdom to follow the path his Father had set before him.  And, I expect most of all, he prayed for the strength and grace to follow that path to its end.  He was preparing to take the role of Israel up himself, to be and to embody the people of God.  Where they had failed to be what the Lord had called them to be, Jesus would be faithful.  For years he had meditated on his own miraculous birth, he'd heard how people like Simeon and Anna, even is own mother, had seen in him the fulfilment of the Lord's promises.  He meditated on the Scriptures and there he found his messianic calling and worked out what he was to do and even how it would end—and how that end would really be the beginning.  And if there was any doubt in his mind, it was driven away in his baptism.  Even though he had no need of repentance, he identified himself with his people as he waded into the Jordan to be baptised by John, and when he came up out of the river heaven had opened, the Spirit had descended upon him, and the Lord had spoken, “You are my beloved Son.”  That confirmed everything.  “My beloved son”: that was Israel's title, given by the Lord in the exodus.  It's what he'd called his people when he demanded that Pharoah let them go.  It's what he called them later after they'd crossed the Red Sea and arrived at Mount Sinai.  Israel was the Lord's beloved son.  So, now, like Moses, Jesus seeks the solitude of the wilderness for forty days and nights, waiting for the Lord to speak again to his son.  But instead, the devil comes to him.  I doubt Jesus was surprised by this.  After all, if Israel was tempted in the wilderness, he had to be tempted in the wilderness too.  Matthew writes: He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and at the end of it he was famished.  Then the tempter approached him.  “If you really are God's son,” he said, “command these stones to become bread.” (St. Matthew 4:2-3) Again, Jesus is prophetically reenacting the story of his people, so this is what we should expect would happen.  They were tempted in the wilderness and so is he.  The devil leverages his hunger.  “The Lord has declared you to be his Son.  If you believe that's who you really are, satisfy yourself and turn these stones into bread.”  No doubt, Jesus had spent much of those forty days and nights contemplating what it meant to be the Son of God—and probably also pondering why the Spirit wanted the Son of God to be so hungry.  But Jesus was obedient.  To embody his people and to follow in their footsteps, being faithful at every step where they had failed, that was the Lord's plan for him.  That was how he would redeem his people. The devil's temptation here is subtle.  He doesn't tempt Jesus to disobey the Spirit overtly by leaving the desert.  He tempts Jesus to turn the rocks into bread—in other words, he tempts him to remake the wilderness itself.  There was that one rock—over there—that looked just like a loaf of bread.  Jesus had been eyeing it for days in his hunger.  Just turn it into real bread.  But Jesus knew that the Spirit had brought him to the wilderness for a reason and to undermine that, however it was done, was to be unfaithful, to be disobedient.  It was to reject his Father's plan.  So he rebukes the devil with the words of Deuteronomy 8:3. Jesus answered, “It is written,  “‘Man shall not live by bread alone,          but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'” Jesus reminds the devil of the sermon that Moses preached to the Israelites as they were preparing to march into Canaan.  Moses said: Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands.  Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors.  He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 8:2-3) There was a reason why the Lord allowed the Israelites to be hungry: it demonstrated their faith in his provision.  Were they willing to trust him even when it meant hardship?  The Lord taught them that there's more to life than bread.  What good is living today if you miss out on the life of the age to come?  Remember that the Israelites had failed that test, grumbling against Moses and wanting to go back to the fleshpots of Egypt.  But now, where Israel failed, Jesus passes the test.  He trusts his Father to provide where he has led and shows that he knows that obedience to God's call is more important than physical comforts and even life itself.  If he can't endure fasting, how will he endure the cross?  And Brothers and Sisters, if we can't endure fasting, how can we expect to live sacrificially as Jesus calls us to live, giving up everything that is not him in faith as we look forward ourselves to the age to come?   Back to Matthew: The devil tries a second time, taking a different tack.  Verses 5-6: Then the devil took him to the holy city and stood him on the pinnacle of the temple.  “If you really are the God's son,” he said, “throw yourself down.  It is written,  “‘He will command his angels concerning you,' and  “‘On their hands they will bear you up,          lest you strike your foot against a stone.'” (Matthew 4:5-6) Now the devil tempts him to jump from the highest point in Jerusalem, to force God's hand.  Angels would deliver him and all of Israel would recognise him as Messiah.  What a temptation this must have been.  During those forty days of fasting and prayer, Jesus contemplated that rejection was going to be a significant factor in his ministry.  A few would follow, but Jesus would largely be rejected by Israel—and eventually that rejection would culminate in his death.  But what if he could prove to all of Israel that he really was the Messiah?  What if he could side-step the rejection and go straight to the throne?  This was his chance.  But Jesus knew that this was not his Father's plan.  If he became King that way, he'd be no better than David.  There would be no means of redemption for his people.  There would be no Spirit poured out on them to renew their hearts.  He would be King, but the Lord's promises to Abraham, to Moses, to the Prophets would go unfulfilled.  Without the cross, Jesus might put Israel's earthly enemies under his feet, but they would still be slaves to sin and death.  And without the cross, the nations would know that Israel had a king who worked miracles, but that would never be enough to draw the gentiles to Israel's God in awe.  No, the gentiles and their nations were to be drawn to the God of Israel as they saw his faithfulness manifest in the death and resurrection of Jesus. The devil throws two bits of Psalm 91 at Jesus.  It's a psalm about the Lord's protection.  It sounds good, but it's not the whole psalm.  Other parts of the psalm qualify God's provision for his people.  The first two verses read: He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” The shelter of the Most High is a wonderful place to find yourself, but to live under his protection requires that we first abide in his shadow.  He is our “refuge and fortress”, but we put ourselves in his care as we trust in him.  In verse 14 the Lord says, Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. The devil loves to plucked portions of Scripture out of context in order to twist their meaning, reminding us of God's promises of blessing and care, while neglecting to remind us of the need for faith, for holiness, and for obedience.  God's people show their love for him through obedience.  Jesus later said, “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).  The same goes for Jesus' relationship with his Father.  The Lord's blessings would come only as Jesus walked in faithful obedience. So Jesus rebukes the devil with the words of Deuteronomy 6:16. Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'”   Where Israel had failed, Jesus is again obedient.  Israel had tested the Lord.  Jesus, instead, expresses his trust in the Lord's plan, knowing that only through his rejection would the Lord's promises be fulfilled. Now, the devil makes one last attempt at dragging Jesus away from the path to the cross.  Look at verses 8 and 9: The devil took him off again to a very high mountain.  There he showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to him, “I will give the whole lot to you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Israel, too, was tempted to idolatry in the wilderness and failed—and failed and failed and failed throughout her history.  Jesus is tempted just as his people were.  “All the kingdoms of the world will be yours,” the devil says, “just submit to me.”  Jesus and the devil both knew that if the Lord's promises through the prophets were true, Jesus' lordship would extend beyond Israel to all of Creation.  Gabriel had announced to Mary: “He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:33).  When the Father had spoken at Jesus' baptism, he had spoken words from Psalm 2 where we also read of the great King: Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possessions.  (Psalm 2:8) The devil again offers Jesus a shortcut to his throne—a shortcut that would bypass the heart of his messianic ministry.  Again, Jesus knew that what would bring the nations to his throne was the redemption of Israel through his death and resurrection and the display of the Spirit's power in the hearts of his people.  In these events the nations would see the greatness and the faithfulness of the God of Israel and they would be drawn to give him glory and to submit themselves in faith to the Lord Jesus.  That was to be God's means of welcoming the gentiles into his presence and into his kingdom.  And yet, if Jesus followed the devil's shortcut, there would be no kingdom—at least not the sort of eternal kingdom in which all was set to rights, in which God himself was king, the sort of kingdom that Israel had always looked forward to as the “age to come”. No, the Lord had charged his people in the wilderness, saying: Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might…. It is the Lord your God you shall fear.  Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.  You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you—for the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God. (Deuteronomy 4-5, 13-15a) Israel had failed.  Even in the wilderness, while Moses was on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments, Aaron had led the people as they made and worshiped a golden calf.  Most of Israel's history was marked by the worship of foreign gods.  But Jesus responds to the devil's temptation with the command God had given through Moses: “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,  “‘Worship the Lord your God          and serve him alone.'” (Matthew 4:10) Where Israel failed, Jesus is faithful.  He chooses the hard path of obedience that will bring not only kingship, but also redemption.  Jesus was destined not only to be King of the Jews, but Lord of all Creation and conqueror of sin and death.  For that to happen, evil had to be concentrated all in one place, to rise up to its full height, to do its worst to Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah—so that God could raise him from death, overturn the false verdict the people had announced, and vindicate his Son.  Jesus knew that to restore the life of God to his people, the way to inaugurate the age to come in which all would be set to rights, he must first let evil do its worst—he had to walk the path of rejection, suffering, and death.  By his faithfulness, Jesus redeemed those in Israel who were faithful to him.  By his faithfulness, Jesus created a new people of God in whom God poured out his Spirit.  By his faithfulness, Jesus was declared Lord with power and authority.  And because of his faithfulness, the nations have seen the faithfulness of Israel's God and now give him glory as they—as we—submit ourselves to him in faith. And now we, you and I, walk—or, at least, we should be walking, in faithfulness to the glory of God.  As Lent puts before us the suffering of Jesus and reminds us that God's life for us came through his submission to death, it reminds us that we, too, must die to self and walk the narrow path, the way that leads to suffering and rejection, in order to know the life of God and the age to come.  We take our first steps down that narrow path as we repent and turn aside from everything that is not Jesus, as stop grasping everything that is not Jesus, and then take hold of him with both hands in faith, trusting in him for the forgiveness of sins, for the life of the Spirit, and for the hope of God's world set to rights.  Lent calls us to set aside our distractions and our idols so that we might fix our gaze on Jesus, taking up our crosses and following him. St. Paul warned the Corinthians in our Epistle “not to receive the grace of God in vain”.  What a splash of cold water that must have been.  They thought they were doing so well, but Paul rebukes them for tolerating sins that horrified even the pagans; for abusing spiritual gifts, using them selfishly rather than to edify the church; for allowing the values of pagan culture to twist their understanding of the gospel; for abusing the Lord's Supper—the list is long and troubling.  Brothers and Sisters, fast and pray these next forty days that the gospel might permeate ever deeper into our hearts and minds, and let us submit ourselves to the renewing and regenerating work of the Spirit.  Let us not receive the gospel in vain.  Instead, may we each day die to self that we might emerge the other side of death into the life of God and know his glory. Let's pray: Lord Jesus Christ, for our sake you fasted forty days and forty nights: give us grace so to discipline ourselves that our flesh being subdued to the Spirit, we may always obey your will in righteousness and true holiness, to the honour and glory of your name; for you live and reign with the Father and Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Healing, forgiveness, and restoration are all blessings from God. As James wraps up his letter to the church he shows us how God blesses his church with these gifts through other people, showing us that when it is all said and done we need each other to experience the fullness of God's love.  James 5:13-20 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.Mark 12:28-31And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these.”

[teaching text]4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[b] 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.Deuteronomy 6:4-910 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent[a] have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. Hebrews 13:10-13HEART, HOME, CHURCH, CITYALTAR OF THE HOMEIt will take the average Christian 64 years to hit 10,000 hours and become an “expert” at following Jesus.Shift 01. Moving from “Following Jesus through the Church” to “Following Jesus through daily habits”Shift 02. Moving from “Following Jesus because it's a good habit” to “Following Jesus because my life depends on it.”1. “Following Jesus through the Church” to “Following Jesus through daily life”6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.Deuteronomy 6:6-9Phylactery photos***Mezuzah photo***It's much easier to wear a gold cross on our person than to bear Christ's cross in daily life, and to hang Scripture texts on the walls of our homes than to hide God's Word in our hearts. If we love the Lord and cleave to Him, we will want to know His Word and obey it in every area of our lives.Warren Wiersbe16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:168 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God that we know as He talks to us and guides our lives. He can efficiently talk to us to the extent to which we know the Word. That is the language He uses.Kenneth Wuest2. “Following Jesus because it's a good habit” to “Following Jesus because my life depends on it.”4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[b] 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.Deuteronomy 6:4-6 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.Deuteronomy 6:3LONG LIFE, PEACE, AND PROSPERITY.13 It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. 14 You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— 15 for the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.Deuteronomy 6:13-1523 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.Romans 6:235 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.John 15:5Tight rope photo***

February 9, 2025Identity: Healthier RelationshipsPastor JF WilkersonMatthew 22:36-40 NIV36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”1) What is STEWARDSHIP of SELF?Stewardshipnoun. the responsible overseeing and protection of something considered worth caring for and preserving.1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.Mark 12:28-31 NIV28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” 29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these.”1) What is STEWARDSHIP of SELF?2) What is Healthy SHARING?Proverbs 4:23 NIV23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.Matthew 7:6 NIV6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.Ephesians 5:31 NIV31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”James 5:16 NIV16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.1) What is STEWARDSHIP of SELF?2) What is Healthy SHARING?3) What/Who Really is Your SOURCEJeremiah 17: 5-6a NIV5 This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. 6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes.Philippians 4:19 NIV19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

“I don't know what's more exhausting about parenting: the getting up early or acting like you know what you're doing.” – Jim Gaffigan3 Truths About Parenting:Parenting requires HARD WORK.Genesis 3:16a To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children.Raising children is a person's greatest LABOR but it is also a person's greatest LEGACY.“The purpose of your life might not be something you do but someone you raise.”—Andy StanleyPsalm 127:3-4 Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Likearrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.Parenting requires LEADERSHIP.“The things that impresses me most about America is the way that the parents obey their children.” Edward, Duke of WindsorEphesians 6:4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.Are you LEADING your children or are your children LEADING you?Lead your children into a healthy ROUTINE.Proverbs 22:6 NKJV Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.Routines should not create STRESS, they should REDUCE it.Proverbs 29:17 Discipline your children, and they will give you peace of mind and will make your heart glad.Lead your kids into GENUINE faith.Children don't need a MOTTO to say, they need a MODEL to follow.Deuteronomy 6:4-8 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.2 Timothy 1:5 I remember yourgenuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you.Lead your children into enjoying FAMILY TIME.Life is not measured in MINUTES, it is measured in MOMENTS.Psalm 39:6a NLT We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. Ecclesiastes 4:6 GN Maybe so, but it is better to have only a little, with peace of mind, than be busy all the time with both hands, trying to catch the wind.Parenting needs GOD'S GRACE.Psalm 127:1 Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.Matthew 11:28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary andcarry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.Romans 8:1-2 So now there isno condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. 

Chaplain Don Moldstad was preacher for this service. Deuteronomy 6:4-9: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Order of Service: - Blest are Those Who Love You: Singers: Blest are those who love You, Happy are those who follow You, Blest are those who seek You, O God. All: Blest are those who love You, Happy are those who follow You, Blest are those who seek You, O God. S: Happy all those who fear the Lord, and walk in God's pathway; You will find what you long for, the riches of our God. A: Blest are those who love You, Happy are those who follow You, Blest are those who seek You, O God. S: Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the midst of your home, your children flourish like olive plants rejoicing at your table. A: Blest are those who love You, Happy are those who follow You, Blest are those who seek You, O God. S: May the blessing of God be yours all the days of your life, may the pace and the love of God live always in your heart. A: Blest are those who love You, Happy are those who follow You, Blest are those who seek You, O God. - Deuteronomy 6:4-9: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. - Devotion - Prayer - Hymn 570 - Now the Light Has Gone Away - Blessing - Postlude Service Participants: Chaplain Don Moldstad (Preacher), Cyril Palm (Singer), Rev. Prof. Dennis Marzolf (Pianist), William Stottlemyer (Singer)

Scripture: Exodus 20:1-3, Psalm 19:1, Psalm 14:1, Psalm 33:8, Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Matthew 22:36-38, Proverbs 3:5-6.  It's God alone that we are to worship, honor and follow. Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me.” The 10 Commandments have shaped so much of Western civilization and culture. Yet these ten words/commandments are often ignored  - And what we see as people's god is the god of chance. Our culture, and much of the time our educational system, teach us that all that exists is the result of a gigantic cosmic accident.  That chance is the author of life. This is seen in our media, our movies, and every direction we turn. A view that is accepted even though the science goes against it.  In the last 50 years we've learned much about the complexity of life and that it points to a Designer - not to a chance explosion. Our culture has not caught up to some of the remarkable discoveries in recent history. In the 1980's MIT discovered that the likelihood of self replicating DNA is 1 chance in 10 to the 65th power - that's 10 with 65 zeroes behind it showing us creation didn't start by “chance,” it started with a Designer, a Creator.  Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Not only do the heavens declare the glory of God, even at the microscopic and sub-atomic levels the complexity of creation screams that there is a Creator! Psalm 14:1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”  Not chance, but Creator… and it is because of the profound truth of a Designer, a Creator, that the Ten Commandments need to be re-examined in our day by believers and non-believers. God broke into human history on Mt. Sinai, proclaiming His goodness and power and delivering the Ten Commandments. God also stepped into history through Christ's resurrection. The Living God took on human flesh and lived among us, lived a servant life, willingly went to the cross, shed His blood for all, and is risen from the grave, ascended to the Father's right hand and He IS returning! God breaking into history changes how we look at our lives and it changes how we look at the Ten Commandments.   How do we see the Ten Commandments?     ⁃    As Painful Demands that God says we better do?     ⁃    As a Joyful Response to the move of God in history and in our hearts and lives? God has intervened in our history and intervened in our lives and He is good. He is asking us to listen to His voice. He is telling us He is our Designer and he knows what is best for us, to what will bring the greatest blessing in our lives. And that starts with the commandment that says, “You shall have no other God's before me.” It's God and God alone! He says YOU - in Greek this is singular - making this command personal. He is speaking individually to each of us. He's speaking to me. What does it mean for me to have no other gods?     ⁃    I am to revere Him alone He is to be the object of reverence in my life and my source of our awe. Psalm 33:8 says, “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him.” Fear God - is to be in awe of Him, fear God means I am accountable to Him.     ⁃    I am to love Him above all  Because He is my Creator, because He is good, because He sent Jesus my response to Him is to love Him. Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” And in Matthew 22:36-38 Jesus is asked, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” And Jesus replies: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment.”      ⁃    I am to commit my life to Him and to trust Him with all my heart. Proverbs 3:5-6 says,  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight” He will guide and lead me. When I commit to Him I'm desiring to allow His Holy Spirit and His Truth to guide me, and to allow Jesus to reign as Lord in my life. Who is “The Lord?” In Deuteronomy 6:4 we read that He is ONE, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.“ One God: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. One God but yet three unique persons and He is telling us in the first of His Words from Mt. Sinai to follow, trust, revere, love, worship and honor Him.  He offers us Salvation when we admit we need a Savior. “Lord, I need you, I am a sinner, and I desire to receive all that You have for me through my faith in Jesus, my Savior. Thank You.” Now What? Learn about God at  https://www.awakeusnow.com EVERYTHING we offer is FREE. Check out the video from our website: https://www.awakeusnow.com/ten-words Check out the video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AwakeUsNow/streams Watch via our app. Text HELLO to 888-364-4483 to download our app.

Happy New Year on the Gregorian Calender. We are concluding the Festival of Dedication on January 2 or Tevet 2 . The beginning of the Gregorian calender year is coordinating exact with the Hebrew calender month of Tevet which is very rare. This is the month of purification for both the Gregorian calender and Hebrew calender. Tevet or is from Hebrew word Tov which means Good ! This is a good month to start the new year and preparing our hearts and souls for purification. We dedicated our temple and now purification through fasting, praying and giving can begin! Watch my monthly teachings on first fruit to learn more the power of fasting, praying and giving in your purification. The vital scripture for this month is Matthew 22:36 where Jesus speaks of the greatest commandment which is the 1st commandment. A scribe approaches Him and says, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. ‘“Then in book of Mark 12:28 -31 we read, “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”Our temples house the fire of the Holy Spirit and God is calling us to wash our souls with the truth of resting in our temples to break the power of toiling in 2025! We are called to Receive and Rest and Give out of the overflow! This year God is going train you away from your fear, anxiety, depression and overwhelming pressure of life and catapult you in to a belief that will bring the kingdom of heaven to earth! You will start walking in the new eternal order of Melchizedek.In Deuteronomy 6:4 “The Essence of the Covenant Principles “ are stated, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”God is calling us to learn to Rest to Ascend in 2025! He wants to give us soul rest so we can carry the blessing of His provision in the earth!God cares for us and cares for the earth and we need to begin to rest in these truths as He activates His double grace in this new year! He wants you to be dependent on Him not independent of Him!Read Deuteronomy 11:12 , “It's time to rest in this revelation and pass it on! God cares for us from the beginning of the year to the end of the year and we need to remember to live out His goodness and love!NEW YEAR RESOLUTION- Join DREAM MENTORS and BECOME A CERTIFIED COACH!Do you want to be trained as good disciples or biblical life coach ? Do you need to experience transformation in your souls so you can be the best God is calling you to be. Go to www.dreammentors.orgIt's time now to sign up for our next Ascension class and join Dr. Candice's Glory Road Community!Maximize Your Prophetic Potential monthly class is Monday January 6 at 10 am and 6 pm EST. You can choose which one. Sign Up here —http://bit.ly/4gfRKXmOnly $30 each month and join Candice Live Zoom!

LOVE Updated: 1 day ago   Mark 12:26-27 ESV   26 And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? 27 He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”       Mark 12:28-31 ESV   28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these.”       Galatians 5:22-23 ESV   22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.       John 13:34-35 ESV   34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”                     Luke 6:27-28, 32, 35-36 ESV   27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.       32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them…       35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.       John 3:16 ESV   16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.       1 John 4:8 ESV   8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.       James 2:14-17 ESV   14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.       Galatians 5:6 ESV   6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.       1 John 3:16-18 ESV   16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.       "Agape love is the greatest virtue of the Christian life. Yet that type of love was rare in pagan Greek literature. That's because the traits agape portrays—unselfishness, self-giving, willful devotion, concern for the welfare of others—were mostly disdained in ancient Greek culture as signs of weakness. However, the New Testament declares agape to be the character trait around which all others revolve. (MacArthur, J. The Power of Integrity : Building a Life Without Compromise, page 133. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books)       1 Corinthians 13:1-7, 13 NIV   If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.   4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.       13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.      

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these.”Start your day in God's Word with our Daily Verse Reflections! Each weekday, our pastors offer insights and encouragement to help you apply Scripture to your daily life. Whether you're seeking inspiration, comfort, or guidance, these Daily Verse Reflections will keep you grounded in your faith throughout the week!You can also watch the video versions of our Daily Verse Reflections at https://watch.timeofgrace.org/browse, where you will also find a wide variety of videos that will help you learn more about Jesus and grow in your faith!To receive special text offers and stay up to date with the Time of Grace, text the word "Grace" to 45321 to subscribe!

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.Start your day in God's Word with our Daily Verse Reflections! Each weekday, our pastors offer insights and encouragement to help you apply Scripture to your daily life. Whether you're seeking inspiration, comfort, or guidance, these Daily Verse Reflections will keep you grounded in your faith throughout the week!You can also watch the video versions of our Daily Verse Reflections at https://watch.timeofgrace.org/browse, where you will also find a wide variety of videos that will help you learn more about Jesus and grow in your faith!To receive special text offers and stay up to date with the Time of Grace, text the word "Grace" to 45321 to subscribe!