Podcasts about old testament psalm

Through Christ's death and resurrection He won the victory over sin and death, defeating the powers of evil. Then...He brought back the spoils of that war and as He ascended to Heaven He dispersed them to His Church. In Ephesians 4, the Apostle Paul uses an Old Testament Psalm to show us what happened through that victory and how we have been given Gospel Purpose because of it.

Welcome to Day 2549 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Day 2549 – Old Testament Orientation – The Grand Narrative of the Old Testament Putnam Church Message – 01/12/2024 Sermon Series: Old Testament Orientation Message 2: The Grand Narrative of the Old Testament Last week, we started a new series called Old Testament Orientation. We answered the question, “What is the Old Testament?” We explored how it is ultimately linked to the New Testament and that The entire Bible is a unified story that leads to Jesus. This week, we are continuing our series and exploring ‘The Grand Narrative of the Old Testament.' Opening Prayer Heavenly Father, we gather here today to explore the beauty and depth of Your story revealed in the Old Testament. Open our minds and hearts to see Your hand at work, weaving redemption and hope through every page. May we learn to trust You more deeply and understand our place in Your grand narrative. Guide us now by Your Spirit. In Jesus' name, Amen. Introduction The Old Testament isn't just a collection of ancient laws, prophecies, and genealogies. It is a grand narrative—a sweeping story of God's work among humanity, beginning with creation and pointing forward to ultimate redemption. For the ancient Israelites, this story was not just history; it was their identity, faith, and hope. The difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament is that the Old Testament is the story primarily of Israel. Starting with Genesis 12 all the way through the Old Testament, the story is focused on Israel. After the world implodes in Genesis 1-11, God decides to preserve a remnant so He can get what He desires, and what he desires is a human family. So, out of the chaos and depravity, he calls Abram, changes his name to Abraham, and starts over the Edenic (Garden of Eden) plan. God says, “I want a human family. That is why I created humanity. Things have gone terribly, but I am not giving up. I am going to take this one guy and his wife who cannot have children, and I am going to supernaturally create a people from them, and that is how I am going to keep the plan alive to eventually bring all nations back to me.” The nations dispersed at Babbel were reunited when Jesus Christ began God's kingdom on earth, and Pentecost was bringing together all nations under Christ. Today, we'll walk through the grand narrative of the Old Testament from an ancient Israelite's perspective. We must take on the mindset of an ancient Israelite. (Bulletin) We'll focus on: God as Creator and Sustainer God's Covenant with His People The Consequences of Disobedience The Hope of Redemption Let's immerse ourselves in the story and see how it speaks to our lives today. God as Creator and Sustainer The story begins with God's act of creation. Genesis 1:1 declares, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” For the Israelites, this was not just an explanation of origins but a proclamation of God's authority over all creation. From a Divine Council worldview, this narrative also introduces the unseen realm, where God presides over a council of divine beings who...

Welcome to Day 2544 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Day 2544 – Old Testament Orientation – What is the Old Testament? Putnam Church Message – 01/05/2024 Sermon Series: Old Testament Orientation Message 1: What is the Old Testament? Last week was the final Sunday of 2024, and our focus was to press forward with a message titled “A Christ-Centered Perspective on the New Year.” This week, we are starting a new series called Old Testament Orientation. Unlike a deep dive into a particular book, this series will be a mile wide and a foot deep. We will take on the mindset of an ancient Israelite and God's plan of redemption for humankind. We will invest the first quarter of 2025 covering an Old Testament Orientation, and the second quarter of 2025 with a New Testament Orientation. Opening Prayer Heavenly Father, we come into Your presence with hearts eager to learn and grow. As we begin this journey through the Old Testament, help us to see Your story of redemption, love, and purpose. Open our minds to understand, and let our hearts be transformed by Your Word. Guide this time together, and may all we do glorify You. In Jesus' name, Amen. Introduction What is the Old Testament? For many, this question stirs thoughts of thick genealogies, ancient laws, or confusing prophecies. Yet, the Old Testament is the foundation of our faith and the beginning of God's grand story. It sets the stage for the New Testament and introduces us to the God who creates, redeems, and sustains. I like the tagline that The Bible Project uses. The Bible is a unified story that leads to Jesus. In both of our series, we will connect this unified story. (Tapestry) The Old Testament is like a vast tapestry, each thread holding a unique story that contributes to the overall masterpiece of God's plan. When we study it, we uncover the deep emotions of loss, hope, and faith. It teaches us that even during the most challenging times, like the Israelites in exile, God's presence is a promise of restoration and love, urging us to keep our eyes fixed on Him. This message will cover three key aspects: The Authorship and Structure of the Old Testament How the Old Testament Was Preserved The Authority and Relevance of the Old Testament Today Let's dive in, not just to gain knowledge, but to deepen our relationship with the Author behind the text. The Authorship and Structure of the Old Testament The Challenge of Anonymous Authorship Most Old Testament books do not name their authors explicitly. For example, Moses is traditionally considered the author of the Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy), yet his name does not appear in the opening verses. This anonymity reflects the communal and oral culture of the ancient Near East. Story Illustration #1: Imagine a group of people passing down family stories at a campfire. Each storyteller adds vivid details, but the heart of the story remains the same. Similarly, the Old Testament emerged from a culture that valued the collective preservation of truth over individual credit. Story Illustration #2: Consider a seasoned storyteller sitting by the fire, narrating tales of ancient...

Pastor Al Dagel wants us to understand that the Old Testament Psalm of Lament he shares today has a strong link to the Advent of Christ, which we have been exploring this month. 

Ever have a week where you felt like you were emotionally drowning? Hit hard by a wave of the sea. Scripture has many references for us overcoming rough waters! Old Testament: Psalm 18: 1-6 New Testament: John 6: 16-21 Piano: 'Wade in the Water' arr. Gary NorianRev. Raymond G. CoffmanPodcast HostZachary SmithPianist Audio Engineer Clark CoffmanLog Cabin Community ChurchVinings Georgia

Old Testament- Psalm 33-8-22-New Testament- 1 Peter 4-12-19

Old Testament- Psalm 85-New Testament- John 14-18-27

Old Testament- Psalm 85-New Testament- John 14-18-27

Old Testament- Psalm 33-8-22-New Testament- 1 Peter 4-12-19

Old Testament- Psalm 143-New Testament- 2 Corinthians 4-6-18

Old Testament- Psalm 143-New Testament- 2 Corinthians 4-6-18

We all seek a desire to be apart of a community, to be involved and engaged. What does it mean then to be a part of God's family and a child of God. Old Testament: Psalm 78: 1-4New Testament: Romans 8:12-17 Piano: 'Blessed Assurance' arranged by Mark HayesRev. Raymond G. CoffmanPodcast HostZachary SmithPianist Audio Engineer Clark CoffmanLog Cabin Community ChurchVinings Georgia

Old Testament: Psalm 33:8-22New Testament: 1 Peter 4:12-19

Let's look at a crippled woman and a man crippled by his rigidity.  How can we let go of  something heavy emotionally,  to be  a little more flexible. Old Testament: Psalm 90: 1New Testament: Luke 13: 10-17 Piano: 'Be Thou My Vision' arranged by Mary McDonaldRev. Raymond G. CoffmanPodcast HostZachary SmithPianist Audio Engineer Clark CoffmanLog Cabin Community ChurchVinings Georgia

We at times are searching for what gives meaning and peace to our everyday lives. On this podcast let's look at how in our search we can find elements of God's peace.Old Testament: Psalm 121: 1-8New Testament: Philippians 4: 8-9 Piano: 'Near to the Heart of God' arranged by Teresa WilhelmisRev. Raymond G. CoffmanPodcast HostZachary SmithPianist Audio Engineer Clark CoffmanLog Cabin Community ChurchVinings Georgia

Part of our series of verse-by-verse studies through the Bible. Drawing Near is a ministry of FBC Tipp City. Reggie Osborne: Pastor/Teacher. regosborne1@gmail.com 

John 15:4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.  In this wonderful section of Scripture we will see that unless we abide we can nothing that God has ordained for us to do. I believe abide first of all means we are saved if we abide in Him and He abides in us, Romans 8:9, John 14:20, 17:23. Then, when we are filled with the Spirit we bear much fruit.  Being filled with the Spirit is talked about in Eph 5:9, 5:18-21, and Col 3:16-23. If we are not saved we are unable to do anything that is a supernatural God work. In other words, if you are saved you know that before you were that you were unable to change and get rid of those sin areas in your life that plagued you. You also now have an ability to live for God and also do great works in His name (see Mt 5:16, Eph 3:20). The Fruit of the Spirit is spoken of in Gal 5:22, but it also is shown in the passages above where Paul says it will be shown by; Speaking about the Word of God (What dominates your thought life) Singing and Making Melody in your Heart (Joy) Thankfulness Being Submissive to God and Others in your household and your workplace and treating others like they should be treated. It also will glorify God  Verse 4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. Abiding in Christ is fundamental and essential. But just what does it mean to abide in Him? Our understanding of this great text depends upon our understanding of the word “abide” (KJV) or “remain.” The NET Bible has chosen to consistently render the Greek term (menw) “remain” in our passage.[i] The difficulty with the Greek term is that it conveys more than any one English word is able to capture. Let me illustrate this by pointing out the various ways this word is rendered by the translators of the King James Version. Out of 120 occurrences in the New Testament, menw is rendered “abide” 61 times, “remain” 16 times, “dwell” 15 times, “continue” 11 times, “tarry” 9 times, “endure” 3 times, and still in other ways 5 more times. In our text, the idea of “remaining” is clearly present, but the word “remain” somehow fails to convey the full force of our Lord's words. A number of times in John's Gospel, the term is used of “dwelling” in a certain place, of staying somewhere as one's dwelling place:  Salvation = Abide in this usage Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; In addition to these instances, where abide speaks of one's dwelling somewhere as a place of residence (even if only for a day or so), there are the two occurrences of the related term (monh) in John 14:1 and 23, which refer to the “rooms” (sometimes rendered “mansions”) or “dwelling places” that await us in heaven, in the Father's house. Because of John's use of these terms, I would suggest that we render the term abide “make one's home” or “make one's abode.” To “abide” in Christ as the True Vine is to “make our home” in Him, just as He also “makes His abode” in us. If we wish to stress the “remain” aspect of the term, we might translate menw “to make our permanent home.” The idea of having God as our “dwelling place” is found as well in the Old Testament:   Psalm 90:1, A Prayer of Moses the man of God. LORD, You have been our dwelling place in all generations Psalm 91:1, 9-10 - 1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. … 9 Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, 10 No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling (, NKJV, Psalm 61:3 For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy (, NKJV, Proverbs 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe (, NKJV, emphasis mine). Consequently, it would seem that “making your permanent dwelling place” is not far from the meaning of abide in our text. This helps us discern the message that our Lord is seeking to convey to His disciples, and ultimately to us. What, then, does it mean to “make the Lord Jesus our permanent dwelling place”? Let's simplify this definition, and say that Jesus is instructing us to make Him our “home” as He makes His “home” in us. Think about what “home” means to us: Home is where your heart is; it is where you want to be (especially during holidays). Home is the place to which you return, the place to which you are eager to get back to (e.g., when you've been on vacation). Home is where you feel comfortable, and can really be yourself. Home is a place of safety and security. Home is where you bring your friends when you wish to have fellowship with them. Home is our base of operations; it is at the center of what we do. Home is where you find your strength for life; it is where you eat and sleep. Home is where the people and the things we love the most are found. Isn't this what Jesus Christ should be for the Christian? Shouldn't He be our place of refuge and security? Should He not be the source of our life and strength? Shouldn't He be the reason for our fellowship with others? Shouldn't He be where our heart is?  5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. That Christ would be at home – i.e. Living in close fellowship with Christ. = Abide in this usage?  Eph 3:16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, Eph 3:18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Col 1:29 To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. Abraham and Lot  The teaching of our Lord concerning “abiding” in Him is based upon a fundamental premise, stated in verses 4 and 5: “Apart from Me, you can accomplish nothing.” This is a very basic biblical principle. Jesus means us to understand that the term “nothing” refers to spiritual fruit. There is a certain sense in which men can do nothing at all without Christ. They cannot live or breathe or eat, apart from the provisions God has made: Acts 17:24-28 -24 “The God who made the world and everything in it, who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives life and breath and everything to everyone. 26 From one man he made every nation of the human race to inhabit the entire earth, determining their set times and the fixed limits of the places where they would live, 27 so that they would search for God and perhaps grope around for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 For in him we live and move about and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring'” In and of ourselves, we can do nothing to earn God's favor or to merit His salvation. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We are all under divine condemnation, helpless and hopeless, apart from Christ (Ephesians 2:1-3). So, too, apart from abiding in Christ, Christians cannot do anything that will please Him. This is the point of Romans 7. Romans 6 teaches us the necessity of dying to sin and of living righteously, but Romans 7 informs us of the impossibility of doing so in the power of our flesh. And so Paul cries out, “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). It is only through the work of our Lord Jesus Christ that we are enabled to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law (Romans 8:3-4). The way to bear much fruit is for the branch to maintain unhindered fellowship with the vine by allowing the vine to have its way with the branch. The alternative would be resisting the Holy Spirit's work by neglecting and disobeying God.  6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. Lost People in this verse. So the vine, then, sends life into the branch and the branch bears fruit. All the branch has to do is abide, and the fruit is Christ-likeness, it is the idea of confessing praise of God, it is a contribution in love to somebody in need, it is communication that blesses others, rather than selfishly designed for yourself, it is conduct in general--all our good works, and it is converts--souls won to Jesus Christ. All of that in the New Testament is considered to be fruit of an abiding branch-, and I'll tell you that it's a marvelous thing to realize that Christ is producing in us all of those things, And-if we're not enjoying them, and if we're not experiencing them, and we're not seeing them totally fulfilled in our lives, then the reason is simple. We just aren't abiding experientially as God designed us to abide.  7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Walking in the Spirit = Abide in this usage? First blessing of abiding is answered prayer Effective prayer is based on faith in Christ and on His words remaining in believers. Christ's words condition and control such a believer's mind so that his prayers conform to the Father's will. Since his prayer is in accord with God's will, the results are certain—it will be given you (cf. 1 John 5:14-15).  8 "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. Second blessing of abiding is the father is glorified We bring glory to the Father (verse 8), and we prove ourselves to be disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ (verse 8). Jesus Christ is the “abiding place” for the Christian. He is the One from whom we derive spiritual life and strength and the means to become Christ-like. It is only through Him that we can “bear fruit.” It is by “abiding” in Him that we also enter into the deepest union and fellowship. Thus, Jesus urges His disciples to “abide” in Him when He departs to be with the Father, assuring them that He will likewise “abide” in them. His “abiding” in us is not exactly the same as our “abiding” in Him. By abiding in Him, we draw life and strength, and thus we bear fruit. As He abides in us, He imparts His life, truth, and strength to us. Thus, Christ is manifested both to us and through us. He does not draw His strength from us, but imparts it to us. Our abiding is that of dependence; His abiding is the gracious manifestation of His presence and power in and through us. Third blessing of abiding is bearing much fruit Fourth blessing of abiding is that you will prove you are His true disciple  He now gives us some specifics as to how we are to abide in Him. He also spells out some of the benefits of abiding in Him. Believers are commanded to abide in (1) prayer (v. 7; 14:14); (2) obedience (v.10, 20); (3) joy (v. 12); and (3) love (v. 12). These are all evidences of a personal relationship with God.[ii]   John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today. hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F   “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32 The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions. [i] I much prefer the rendering “reside” which the NET Bible suggests in its footnotes. [ii] Utley, R. J. D. (1999). Vol. Volume 4: The Beloved Disciple's Memoirs and Letters: The Gospel of John, I, II, and III John. Study Guide Commentary Series (140). Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International.

John 15:2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. In today's lesson we will see that Jesus tells us that the people who do not bear fruit are not really saved and He takes them away.  We will see later they are burned in the fire (sent to hell).  He tells us that the true disciples are the ones the Father prunes; they are the ones that bear fruit.  This chapter says very clearly that if you are saved your life will show it by the fruit you bear because you are connected to the True Vine (Jesus).  He also says that they have been washed clean from their sins by the Word of God. (Titus 3:5, Ephesians 5:26-27). He lastly tells us the only way we can produce fruit is if we are connected to the vine and live in a close intimate relationship with him. To say it another way is that we are filled with the Holy Spirit.  No one can do anything unless God empowers us to do it.  The Vine and Its branches, John 15:2-4. In John 15:2- 2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.  Note the word “every,” used twice in this verse, so that “every” unfruitful branch is removed, just as “every” fruitful branch is cleansed or pruned. I believe that John intended for us to recognize this repetition of “every” as significant. The fact that “every” branch that does not bear fruit is removed seems to speak of one thing—the eternal destiny of the fruitless. All unbelievers will perish in the lake of fire, away from God's presence (Revelation 20:11-15), while “every” true branch will go through various cleansings to make it more fruitful. The “every” in both instances presses me to conclude that Jesus is contrasting true believers and unbelievers. It is in these two instances that the destiny or experience of each is all-inclusive. In our text, Jesus employs the imagery of a vine to describe the new relationship which His disciples are about to enjoy with Him and with the Father. Our Lord is the “vine”; unbelievers are the fruitless branches,[i] while believers are the fruit-bearing branches. The grapes are the “fruit” which God produces in and through the saints as they draw their life and strength from the “vine,” the Lord Jesus Christ. And God the Father is the gardener, who tends the vine, removing dead branches and purifying the living branches. Jesus is speaking of those whom appear to be in Christ but are not, see also Lu 8:18 "Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him." I believe the weight of the evidence falls on the side of that interpretation which concludes that the unfruitful branches are removed from the vine and destroyed.[ii] In much more blunt language, the unfruitful branches burn in the eternal fire of hell. If this is the case, then how do we explain the phrase “in Me” (verse 2)? If you are a true Christian you will bear good fruit, Mt 7:16 "You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?  17 "Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 "Therefore by their fruits you will know them. 21 ¶ "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' 24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall." 28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.. In John 15:2- He cleanses every branch. God does the pruning so that we might bear more fruit, see Matthew 7:19-20. It is not our job to be a self-appointed fruit inspector. God is committed in shaping the character of Jesus in us. God will use what ever it takes to get our attention. Mark 4:1-20 The parable of the soils and seeds, only one bears fruit Ro 11:17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, "Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in." 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. Jewish branches were removed from the olive tree because of their unbelief, even as Gentile branches are grafted into the tree by faith. In John 15:3- Jesus is talking to the Eleven Apostles about already being cleaned, the means by hearing and believing. John 15:4 is referring sanctification; remain close to the Lord for we must draw energy from the Vine. The Vine and Its bounty, John 15:5-11. The abiding life is what brings us abounding life. To abide in Christ is to be filled with the Spirit, Colossians 2:6. This needs to be our attitude in everything we do; as branches we desperately need the Vine! We don't need to compare ourselves to other Christians, See John 15:6 And also Joh 10:28 "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. If we are not attached to Him/The Vine we are destined for judgment, see Mt 3:7 ¶ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 "Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 "and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 "And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire... Jesus is contrasting Himself to fruitless Israel, see John 15:6 and also Eze 15:6 "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 7 'and I will set My face against them. They will go out from one fire, but another fire shall devour them. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I set My face against them... In John 15:7-8 by abiding in Jesus and in the Word we will want what He wants and therefore we need to ask …  … and it will be done.  First, notice that the purpose of the vine is to bear fruit. We know from the Synoptic Gospels that our Lord cursed the unfruitful fig tree (Matthew 21:18-19). Our purpose as Christians is to abide in Christ so that we might bear fruit. Just what is the “fruit” which is either absent or present? What is the difference between a “fruitful” branch and an “unfruitful” branch? Some think that the “fruit” our Lord refers to here is the “fruit of the Spirit” (see Galatians 5:22-23). Others think of the “fruit” as new converts—those who have been saved as a result of the witness of the branches. I understand the term fruit a bit more broadly. I believe that as we abide in Christ, He abides in us, and when He abides in us, Jesus Christ becomes evident in and through us. The “fruit” then, is being Christ-like. The church is the body of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 4:12). I believe we bear fruit as Christ is manifested in and through our lives. He is seen in us as we manifest His character (Galatians 5:22-23). He is evident in us as we carry on the work He began when He was on this earth (see Acts 3:6, 12-16; 4:13). Being fruitful, then, is manifesting Christ in our lives. Second, the branches are the instrument through which fruit is produced. While our Lord produced much “fruit” when He was physically on the earth, He now produces “fruit” through those (branches) who believe in Him. Third, these branches only bear fruit in union with the vine. The branches obtain life through the vine; they are sustained by the vine; they produce fruit through the vine. The only way to bear fruit is for the branches to abide in the vine. Fourth, the Father is the gardener, who tends the vine. He removes the lifeless, fruitless branches—those branches which were never truly “in the vine,” but only supposed themselves to be. He “cleanses” (some versions render this “prunes”) the branches, so that they will bear even more fruit. We really need to pause here for a moment, to reflect on what these words of our Lord really mean. There is a way in which Christians can very quickly and easily turn things around, losing the emphasis and focus we should have. For example, we think of the Lord's return, and rather than seeing this as the time when our Lord will prevail over His foes and receive the glory He deserves, we think of it mainly in terms of the cessation of our suffering and pain, and in terms of the benefits we will gain. When our pleasure becomes paramount, rather than God's glory, then we have fallen far short of what God's Word teaches. Our purpose in life is not to “fill our cups” with all the pleasure we can experience; it is to abide in Christ so that we may bear fruit for Him. The process by which this fruit-bearing is promoted is often painful. Thus, the Father cleanses or prunes us, so that we will be more fruitful. And lest you think the Father is being arbitrary, do not forget that the “fruit” which our Lord produced by His life and sacrificial death at Calvary came at great cost to Him, and to the Father. 3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Fifth, the Word is the instrument which the Father employs to tend the vine. The Word is the instrument which God employs to cleanse the branches (15:3; cf. also 17:17). Put in different terms, the Word is the super-sharp cutting instrument by which God prunes us (see Hebrews 4:12). Further, it is also my opinion that the Word is often the “cutting instrument” which the Father employs to “remove” the unfruitful (and unbelieving) branches (15:2). As I read through the Book of Acts, I see the closing of a chapter for Israel and the Jews.[iii] The gospel is proclaimed, and some Jews receive it. But many are those who reject the Word of God, bitterly opposing Paul and others who proclaim it. It is in response to the proclamation of the Word that some are “cleansed” and others are “clipped off.” The Word of God is at one and the same time the instrument which separates some from the vine, while drawing others all the more closely. Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 1Pe 1:22-23 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Personal Application: 1. Are you abiding in Christ? Obeying Him, in communion with Him- it's not automatic because we have choices. We need to cultivate it! 2. Is God pruning you, so there can be seasons of fruit? 3. Are you a real or a fake branch - are you born again or is it plastic fruit? If you are saved you will bear fruit as a by-product. An unbeliever will have no real fruit. Verse 4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. Abiding in Christ is fundamental and essential. But just what does it mean to abide in Him? Our understanding of this great text depends upon our understanding of the word “abide” (KJV) or “remain.” The NET Bible has chosen to consistently render the Greek term (menw) “remain” in our passage.[iv] The difficulty with the Greek term is that it conveys more than any one English word is able to capture. Let me illustrate this by pointing out the various ways this word is rendered by the translators of the King James Version. Out of 120 occurrences in the New Testament, menw is rendered “abide” 61 times, “remain” 16 times, “dwell” 15 times, “continue” 11 times, “tarry” 9 times, “endure” 3 times, and still in other ways 5 more times. In our text, the idea of “remaining” is clearly present, but the word “remain” somehow fails to convey the full force of our Lord's words. A number of times in John's Gospel, the term is used of “dwelling” in a certain place, of staying somewhere as one's dwelling place:  Salvation = Abide in this usage? Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; In addition to these instances, where abide speaks of one's dwelling somewhere as a place of residence (even if only for a day or so), there are the two occurrences of the related term (monh) in John 14:1 and 23, which refer to the “rooms” (sometimes rendered “mansions”) or “dwelling places” that await us in heaven, in the Father's house. Because of John's use of these terms, I would suggest that we render the term abide “make one's home” or “make one's abode.” To “abide” in Christ as the True Vine is to “make our home” in Him, just as He also “makes His abode” in us. If we wish to stress the “remain” aspect of the term, we might translate menw “to make our permanent home.” The idea of having God as our “dwelling place” is found as well in the Old Testament:   Psalm 90:1, A Prayer of Moses the man of God. LORD, You have been our dwelling place in all generations Psalm 91:1, 9-10 - 1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. … 9 Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, 10 No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling (, NKJV, Psalm 61:3 For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy (, NKJV, Proverbs 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe (, NKJV, emphasis mine). Consequently, it would seem that “making your permanent dwelling place” is not far from the meaning of abide in our text. This helps us discern the message that our Lord is seeking to convey to His disciples, and ultimately to us. What, then, does it mean to “make the Lord Jesus our permanent dwelling place”? Let's simplify this definition, and say that Jesus is instructing us to make Him our “home” as He makes His “home” in us. Think about what “home” means to us: Home is where your heart is; it is where you want to be (especially during holidays). Home is the place to which you return, the place to which you are eager to get back to (e.g., when you've been on vacation). Home is where you feel comfortable, and can really be yourself. Home is a place of safety and security. Home is where you bring your friends when you wish to have fellowship with them. Home is our base of operations; it is at the center of what we do. Home is where you find your strength for life; it is where you eat and sleep. Home is where the people and the things we love the most are found. Isn't this what Jesus Christ should be for the Christian? Shouldn't He be our place of refuge and security? Should He not be the source of our life and strength? Shouldn't He be the reason for our fellowship with others? Shouldn't He be where our heart is?  John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.  hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/110230052184687338/charity/145555 “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32 The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.   [i] In the context, unbelieving Jews are in focus, but in its broader application “fruitless branches” would include all unbelievers, especially those who falsely suppose themselves to be true believers in God. [ii] The best defense of this interpretation I have seen is that of James E. Rosscup, Abiding in Christ: Studies in John 15 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1973), pp. 248-249. [iii] We know from Romans 11 that this “hardening of Israel” is not total, but partial; not permanent, but temporary. [iv] I much prefer the rendering “reside” which the NET Bible suggests in its footnotes.

Old Testament: Psalm 34: 1-8 New Testament: John 11: 38-42 Piano: 'Give Thanks' arranged by Mark HayesRev. Raymond G. CoffmanPodcast HostZachary SmithPianist Audio Engineer Clark CoffmanLog Cabin Community ChurchVinings Georgia

Psalm 67 is an outstanding example of a missions Psalm. The key phrases highlight for us how to read and look for God's missions purposes woven throughout the Old Testament. The purpose of God's blessing on His people is so that those resources would be used to draw people from all the earth to acknowledge and worship the one true God.  We see similar phrases and usage in the great books of Isaiah and Ezekiel.

As we enter the season of thanksgiving we all can find things in our lives for which we are thankful. Here are four ways we can express our thanks to God in our everyday lives! Old Testament:  Psalm 103:1-5 New Testament:  Luke 17: 11-17 Piano: 'Give Thanks' arranged by Mark HayesRev. Raymond G. CoffmanPodcast HostZachary SmithPianist Audio Engineer Clark CoffmanLog Cabin Community ChurchVinings Georgia

This episode is a reading from the Old Testament Psalm 103, a Psalm of David Praise for the LORD'S Mercies. Blessings, Elder Barbara AMP

Time is a gift! What would you do if you knew your time was limited? How can we make the most of our time and use it wisely to accomplish important things. Old Testament: Psalm 31:9-15 New Testament:  Luke 1: 21-31Piano : 'Resting in God's Arms' written by Mark HayesRev. Raymond G. CoffmanPodcast HostZachary SmithPianist Audio Engineer Clark CoffmanLog Cabin Community ChurchVinings Georgia

Old Testament: Psalm 33: 1-8 New Testament: Revelations 5: 9-10 Throughout various places in the Bible, we are instructed to sing to God a new song. The following scripture reference, a new song: Psalm 40: 3, 96:1, 98:1, 144:9, 149:1, Isaiah 42:10, & Revelations: 14: 3. What does it mean to sing to God a new song? And why should we sing “new” song? Singing is a form of praise and worship, and our God is worthy to be praised. We should always have a “new” song ready because it prevents our praise and worship from being stale, predictable, and routine. God's creation should keep us wonder-struck and should inspire us to stay focus on him and remember who He is. Singing a “new” song will help us focus on the following: Remaining unified as a body Remaining hopeful even as we are being attack by the enemy Remaining focused on praise and worship Remembering victory is guarantee

Psalm 150 calls us to hallelujah the world, by urgently calling on them to join us in praise to the LORD.

Psalm 150 calls us to hallelujah the world, by urgently calling on them to join us in praise to the LORD.

The Son of David (Christmas According to the Old Testament -- Psalm 89) 12/18/22 AM by First OPC of South Holland

Christ spoke to his disciples about finding peace. Still today 2000 in the future we all struggle with living a peaceful life. The message of Christmas is peace.  Join us as we discuss three important types of peace, and what we can do to accept peace and offer peace. to others. Old Testament: Psalm 37:1-11New Testament: John 20: 19-29 Piano : 'The First Noel' arranged by Mark HayesRev. Raymond G. CoffmanPodcast HostZachary SmithPianist Audio Engineer Clark CoffmanLog Cabin Community ChurchVinings Georgia

THE LAMB - ENDTIMES CHAT with GJ and DAN THE LAMB His centrality - in the middle of the seven lampstands (churches) His condition - as if it had been slain His Characteristics - "Having seven horns and seven eyes” “Horns” are symbols of authority and power, sometimes representing individual rulers and at other times representing nations (Daniel 7). It is possible that the seven horns represent the fullness of the slain Lamb's power and authority to rule and reign. The “seven eyes” of the Lamb of God are said to be “the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.” These “seven Spirits” were mentioned in Revelation 3:1. They were compared with “seven stars,” which represent angels (Revelation 1:20). It seems that these “seven Spirits” are the seven angels who often appear in the book and carry out the wishes of Jesus Christ. According to Zechariah 4:10, the “seven eyes” represent the Lord's knowledge of what transpires on earth: “Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. (These seven are the eyes of the Lord which range throughout the earth.)” Nothing happens on earth that is not known by the Lord. He sees it all and is controlling all events and circumstances. His sovereign will is being executed through the seven angels who stand before Him, ready to do what He wants. They are the instruments through whom His message to the seven churches was given, and they are the ones who blow the trumpets and pour out the plagues, announcing His judgments upon planet earth. John simply declares: “He came and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who sat on the throne” (Revelation 5:7). In great symbolism, we are reminded that the kingdom of the Messiah is given to Him by the heavenly Father. The Son is to be honored and worshiped as the Father, and that comes with the Father's approval and blessing. The Song to the Lamb (Revelation 5:8-14) John speaks of Jesus Christ in this book with many wonderful titles given to him by Jesus Himself. But the key title is the one John uses twenty-eight times: “Lamb.” Jesus is the Lamb of God! The Reaction to the Taking of the Scroll (Revelation 5:8-10) Two things happened immediately-the four living creatures, and the twenty-four elders “fell down before the Lamb,” and “they sang a new song.” The first was an act of humility and submission; the second an act of praise and worship. They reacted with submission, recognizing His sovereignty. What a picture - bowing down in front of a lamb! This all happened when He took the scroll out of the right hand of the One Who sat on the throne, the heavenly Father. At that moment, the worship leaders of heaven knew what to do, and as we learned earlier, whenever the four living creatures respond in worship, the twenty-four elders do the same. The harps these elders played were a part of that worship response, reflecting the traditional instrument of worship from the Old Testament (Psalm 33:2-3; Psalm 98:5; Psalm 147:7). It is with some amusement that people speak of harps being played by heavenly beings. However, the Bible speaks of it as reality, not fantasy. Since the twenty-four elders represent the completed body of believers, we call “the church,” perhaps we shall all be harpists in heaven! We are told the elders also have “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” (cf. Revelation 8:3-4). The altar of incense in front of the second veil of the tabernacle and temple was the place where the priest symbolized his role in representing the people to God (Luke 1:8-10). The incense spoke of the people's prayers rising to the nostrils and the attention of God (Psalm 141:2). It is possible that the prayers of the elders reveal that the church in heaven will be interceding for those who become believers in the tribulation period and for the nation of Israel. It is also possible that these prayers represent the long-standing prayer of God's people, which our Lord instructed us in Matthew 6:10 to pray - “Your kingdom come.” They reacted by singing, recognizing His salvation. The twenty-four elders have the harps and the golden bowls of incense; they also are the ones who sing the new song. This new song speaks of redemption, something the angels desire to understand but, in fact, do not experience (1 Peter 1:10-12). PRAY. PREPARE. PROTECT. PROCLAIM. PERSIST. PERSEVERE. PRAY AGAIN. PASS IT ON. POWER UP. POSITION PROPERLY. PAY ATTENTION. PRAY WITHOUT CEASING. Check out endtimes.chat

What is the season of advent? Let's look at meaning and significance of this sacred and unique time of the year. Old Testament: Psalm 25:1-10 New Testament: Matthew 3:1-3 Piano : 'In Highest Majesty' written by Lani SmithRev. Raymond G. CoffmanPodcast HostZachary SmithPianist Audio Engineer Clark CoffmanLog Cabin Community ChurchVinings Georgia

Text:  Mark 12:35-37   Jesus is the Expected Son of David Jesus' question points us back to the Old Testament (Psalm 110). Jesus' question reminds us that all of Scripture points to Him.   Jesus is the Enthroned Lord of All Jesus' identity is revealed as the Son of David who is the Son of God. Jesus' question is one of eternal significance that all must answer.  

Jesus spoke to a large group of religious leaders and said, I am the bread of life.  Bread is a universal part of many diets, but Jesus was not talking about feeding ourselves physically but spirituality. How do we take this message and reinforce this principle that Christ is the sustenance that powers us in our Christian lives. Old Testament : Psalm 47 New Testament: John 6:41-51 Piano :  'On the Wind of Spirit' written by Mark HayesRev. Raymond G. CoffmanPodcast HostZachary SmithPianist Audio Engineer Clark CoffmanLog Cabin Community ChurchVinings Georgia

We have all heard the expression, those were some dark days. Yes, there is darkness in our world yet Christ represents light and love. Let's look at the passage in John where we can contrast darkness and light and be reminded that love overcomes hate. Old Testament: Psalm 18:1-5 New Testament: John 13: 31-35 Piano : 'To the Kingdom!' by Zachary SmithRev. Raymond G. CoffmanPodcast HostZachary SmithPianist Audio Engineer Clark CoffmanLog Cabin Community ChurchVinings Georgia

Have you ever been helped by a stranger and said, "you are an angel in disguise."  Today we reverse that and are encouraged to always be hospitable to all, as we might just be talking to a modern day angel! Old Testament: Psalm 119: 145-151 New Testament: Hebrews 13: 1-8 Piano : 'Great Is Thy Faithfulness' arranged by Larry ShackleyRev. Raymond G. CoffmanPodcast HostZachary SmithPianist Audio Engineer Clark CoffmanLog Cabin Community ChurchVinings Georgia

Today we look at a portion of the sermon on the mount, where Christ addresses the subject of true happiness and joy.  In our busy world we often get our priorities confused. How can the words of Christ help us in 2022 to find meaning and purpose in our lives that leads to happiness, peace and joy. Old Testament:  Psalm 34:8-18New Testament:  Luke 6:20-26Piano : 'Rejoice, the Lord is King' arranged by John InnesRev. Raymond G. CoffmanPodcast HostZachary SmithPianist Audio Engineer Clark CoffmanLog Cabin Community ChurchVinings Georgia

Do you know what were the last seven words Jesus spoke from the cross? If you don't, grab your bible and listen to this episode where we reflect on each one of them. We unpack references to the Old Testament (Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53), Gustavo shares an interesting theory on St. Dismas and we not so secretly hope Jonathan Roumie can play Jesus on the big screen at some point.

You in 5 Years Sermon: You – Completely Secure Romans 8:35-39 Sermon Summary The Big Idea of this study is that in spite of the challenges that we face in life we can rest assured that God loves us and is actively working on our behalf. In the final lesson on this series from Romans chapter 8 we hear the Apostle sum up what he is trying to help us understand. God is for us. God loves us. Nothing can separate us from his great concern for our wellbeing. Remember, love in this context is not simply affection. In fact the way the Bible describes God's love; it is not at all about warm fuzzy feelings. That is a modern and secular concept of love. God's love for us is seen in benevolent action on our behalf. It stems from his commitment to us and is unaffected by our circumstances. Paul assures us that nothing can come between us and his love for us because of Jesus Christ. He lists two kinds of problems we might encounter. The first kind come from challenges thrown at us because of our faith in Jesus. The kinds of challenges and trials Paul faced throughout his life. Paul quotes the Old Testament Psalm to remind us that difficulties for the faithful are not new to our generation. The book of Revelation calls these “tribulations.” The second category of challenges we face come simply from life on planet Earth. But whatever we face, Jesus is near. The whole chapter is summed up in these last few lines. Why is there no condemnation? Why does the Spirit live in us? Why has he promised heaven? Why are we more than conquerors? Because he loves us and will never allow anything to separate us from that love. Questions for Discussion: 1. What challenges might you face in the next 5 years? 2. What is your level of confidence in facing what may lie in your future? On a scale of 1 to 10 are you scared to death or boldly optimistic about your ability to thrive? Why? 3. Have you experienced tribulation? Tribulation is pressure that comes against those who endeavor to remain faithful to Jesus. This is an age old problem for those who love God. 4. People who attend church regularly are the happiest people on earth. That statistic shows up all the time in surveys. Why is that the case? 5. Can you commit to meditating on the truth of Romans chapter 8? What habit might help remind you to do just that?

Old Testament: Psalm 37:1-11, 39-40 (Link to text: https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=507892198) New Testament: 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50 (Link to text: https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=507892353) Sermon Doubting Thomas or Divine Fool? Focus: What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Speaker: Matthew Walker Series: How to Study the Bible Effectively Our series on learning to study the Bible effectively continues tonight with a look at one of the poems of the Old Testament. This section of Scripture encompasses the five books between Job and Song of Solomon. The poem we will consider is attributed to Asaph and is part of book 3 of the Psalms. Tonight's sermon: Understanding the Poems of the Old Testament. (Psalm 82)

How can Psalm 144 fuel your praise to the Lord when trouble comes your way? Pastoral intern Garet Halbert helps us see how in this devotional.

What motivates us to praise and thanksgiving when we don't feel like it? Pastoral intern Scott Kemp gives the answer in this devotional.

How could the utter abandonment of the Psalmist in Psalm 88 be good news for us? Pastor Caleb Abernathy shows us this glory from the darkest Psalm in this devotional.

What is the antidote to fear and how did the Lord Jesus Christ demonstrate that antidote? Pastor Eric shows the answer from Psalm 56.

When King David faced the threat of death itself, the Lord rescued him. Pastor Mitch shares why David's rescue is good news for you, too.

Is it possible to actively serve Christ and miss Him all at the same time? It sure is! I don't want to miss Him, though. Cody Carnes' song, "Nothing Else," inspired me to consider what it looks like to sit at the feet of Jesus, taking in his preeminence, and ultimately repenting for where I've gone off track. Join me in exploring a few Scripture areas as we discover that "nothing else will do" besides Jesus. In this episode, I discuss: Taking a B.I.T.E. out of Scripture - our Bible Interaction Tool Exercises this week are: Remember, the people described in the Bible were real Compare and contrast Make observations Utilize outside resources (this week, it was my study Bible) Meditate on Scripture The 30 Day Music Challenge - ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE HERE Sitting at the feet of Jesus - Luke 10:38-42 The "good portion" discussed in the Old Testament - Psalm 73:26, Psalm 16:5 How the preeminence of Christ inspires us to sit at his feet as disciples - Colossians 1:15-20 Returning to our first love - Revelation 2:2-7 How we can get so much right and so much wrong at the same time -- requiring our repentance - Revelation 2:5 The three steps we should take Remember Repent Return Christ's preeminence in our lives should reflect a centrality that emanates, impacts, and rules every other part of our lives.   Additional Resources Lyrics and chords - WorshipTogether.com The story behind the writing of the song "Nothing Else" by Cody Carnes - YouTube ESV Study Bible - Amazon This Week's Challenge Read and ponder the account of Mary and Martha in Luke 10. Don't forget that these ladies were real, not merely an object lesson. Make observations and compare and contrast as you interact with this section of Scripture. Head over to Colossians 1 to meditate on the preeminence of Christ. Finally, get your marching orders on how to return to your first love in Revelation 2. Only after you've studied these sections of Scripture on your own should you enhance your study time through outside resources like commentaries or study Bibles.  

Rev. Dr. Agbiji continues the series, "A Light to the Nations", based on our 2020 theme, "The Whole Church taking the Whole Gospel to the Whole World."    Old Testament: Psalm 27:1-3  New Testament: John 1:4-9  To learn more about FPC Irvington & our ministry, visit our website: www.fpcirvington.com.  FOLLOW US  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fpcirvington Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fpc.irvington Twitter: https://twitter.com/fpcirvington #psalm27 #john1 #bibleverses#fpcirvington #sermons #sundaysermon #lightoverdarkness #nomorefear #Jesus #God #Christianity #alighttonations

MORNING PRAISE AND PRAYER From the United Methodist Hymnal, “This service is for use by groups or individuals at dawn or as they begin their day in prayer. The service is most effective when morning sunlight is visible. The people may participate by using An Order for Morning Praise and Prayer in UMH 876.” You may find a link below to the order of service. Please like, comment, and share with others. Peace, Pastor Matt Podcast: https://anchor.fm/fumc-morning-prayer Order of Worship for Morning Prayer: https://storage.snappages.site/PBGHPB/assets/files/UMC_MorningPrayer.pdf Old Testament Psalm 93 Psalm Deuteronomy 5:22-33 New Testament I Peter 3:8-12 Daily Lectionary Link: https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/daily.php?year=A Prayer Requests Sent to: prayer@fumcrm.org To Give: https://fumcrm.org/give Hymn: Song of Zechariah https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rYw41Tkk_c&t=7s Hymn: O Zion Haste https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otmdb-afNJM

Pastor Brent teaches on Psalm 22 as David cries out to God in desperation that he would not forsake him.

The sermon from Sunday, March 29, 2020, the Fifth Sunday in Lent.Throughout Lent and Holy Week, we will be using the devotional booklet entitled “Deliver Us: Jesus Sets Us Free” from Lutheran Hour Ministries. These will serve as the basis of the message for each evening devotion worship service. You can download a copy here: https://www.lhm.org/lent/The readings for this service:Old Testament: Psalm 25:1-7 https://bit.ly/2UdVTny Epistle: Romans 8:31-39 https://bit.ly/33Hpp7W Gospel: Mark 14:32-42 https://bit.ly/3blmt3DGive Offering Online: https://christfortworth.com/giving/ Submit Prayer Requests: https://bit.ly/2vKqoHNSupport the show (https://christfortworth.com/giving/)

The sermon from Sunday, March 22, 2020, the Fourth Sunday in Lent.Throughout Lent and Holy Week, we will be using the devotional booklet entitled “Deliver Us: Jesus Sets Us Free” from Lutheran Hour Ministries. These will serve as the basis of the message for each evening devotion worship service. You can download a copy here: https://www.lhm.org/lent/The readings for this service: Old Testament: Psalm 46 https://bit.ly/399cwov Epistle: Philippians 3:12-21 https://bit.ly/2xhx3K8 Gospel: Matthew 21:33-46 https://bit.ly/3dg8WfwGive Offering Online: https://christfortworth.com/giving/ Submit Prayer Requests: https://bit.ly/2vKqoHNSupport the show (https://christfortworth.com/giving/)

The sermon from Sunday, March 15, 2020, the Third Sunday in Lent.Throughout Lent and Holy Week, we will be using the devotional booklet entitled “Deliver Us: Jesus Sets Us Free” from Lutheran Hour Ministries. These will serve as the basis of the message for each worship service. You can download a copy here: https://www.lhm.org/lent/The readings for this service: Old Testament: Psalm 71:1-6 https://bit.ly/3aIz3JO Epistle: Romans 5:1-11 https://bit.ly/2vdVgjX Gospel: John 8:1-11 https://bit.ly/38HaPypGive Offering Online: https://christfortworth.com/giving/ Submit Prayer Requests: https://bit.ly/2vKqoHNSupport the show (https://christfortworth.com/giving/)

FamilyLife Today® Radio Transcript  References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete. What Do You Want Your Kids to Be? Guests:                      Dennis and Barbara Rainey                       From the series:       Art of Parenting: What Every Parent Needs (Day 2 of 3)  Bob: Do you and your spouse have the same set of parenting priorities as you raise your children? Barbara Rainey remembers when she and her husband, Dennis, sat down and compared notes. Barbara: What was surprising to me was how different our lists were. I shouldn't have been surprised, because we had been flashing over this; but nonetheless, I think, when you get married, you think, “Oh, we have so much in common,”' and then—after a few years or maybe after the kids come along—you realize, “Well, maybe we're operating off of two different sets of instructions.” Bob: This is FamilyLife Today for Tuesday, October 30th. Our host is Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine. What can you do, as parents, to make sure you're on the same page and that your values are in sync together as you raise your children? We'll spend time talking to Dennis and Barbara Rainey about that today. Stay with us. 1:00 And welcome to FamilyLife Today. Thanks for joining us. We're spending some time this week doing some pre-parenting counseling. We talked about the fact that a lot of couples get premarital counseling; and a lot of couples, when they're expecting a baby, go to birthing classes; but nobody's doing parenting classes. Well, we're doing parenting classes now with the Art of Parenting™ video series and with your new book, The Art of Parenting, that is now available. Your goal with that book, and our goal with the series, is to equip moms and dads to have a big-picture perspective on what God's calling them to do. Dennis: Exactly. We're joined again on FamilyLife Today with Barbara. Welcome back to the broadcast, Sweetheart.  Barbara: Thank you much! Glad to be here. Dennis: Here's the thing about children—I think most of us look at our children way too simplistically.  2:00 Let me depart from a conversation about children at this point and just talk about the Weekend to Remember® marriage getaway. One of the things we do at the getaway is—we cast marriage in the grand scheme of things—of what God is up to on planet earth. We say to couples: “Your marriage isn't just about two people trying to get their needs met. Your marriage is supposed to demonstrate who God is to a fallen planet. There are angels looking onto the planet—they're in the audience, watching how you two handle your conflict.” Well, you know what? The same thing is true about children. It's not just a little person—you're talking about an eternal being. In the Art of Parenting video series, which we just launched, we've got a number of marriage and family experts in there, one of whom is Tim Kimmel. Tim and Darcy have been on the Weekend to Remember speaker team for a number of years.  3:00 One of the things that he said in this series on the art of parenting was—he said, “I know how long children live. They're eternal! They last forever.” That means, Bob, that they are worth so much more than any of us ever imagine at a point in time.  I think it's why we need to go back to the Book—back to the Bible—and just read and see how children are described. I'm going to go to, I think, a classic passage in the Old Testament—Psalm 127, verses 3-5, that describes children. It says: “Behold! Children are a heritage from the Lord. The fruit of the womb is a reward,”—not a curse, but a benefit/a reward—“Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them.” The picture here—I want every parent to imagine this with me— 4:00  —God could have chosen any metaphor in existence to describe children, but he chose arrows. He pictures a warrior: “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior.” What's the warrior doing? He's engaged in battle. What are you, as a parent, doing? You are engaged in a battle over the soul—the moral condition and the development of your child—to be used by God in his generation.  So the question is: “Are you viewing your assignment as a sacred assignment?—children being a heritage—a reward/a blessing. I'm sorry to get so intense here, at the beginning of the broadcast here, Bob; but I just think there's a lot of really lazy thinking about children. We forget—it's so easy, in the midst of the battle—we aren't raising rug rats. We're raising image-bearers, who reflect who God is, and will carry on in the next generation. 5:00 Bob: If you were sitting down with a couple, who were about to begin that journey—Barbara, one of the things I know you would tell them is: “You need to begin your parenting journey with the end in mind. Rather than thinking about the first six months, think about a 20-year-old, who is ready to be launched. Start now, thinking: ‘What do we want that 20-year-old to be shaped by? What do we want the influences in that 20-year-old's life to look like?” so that all the choices you're making, along the way, are choices that support that vision. Barbara: Exactly. I think a lot of parents don't think about that. They are trying to survive today. [Laughter] They might be worried about what's happening tomorrow, because they've got a to-do list longer than their arm; but they're not thinking about what the outcome is for their kids, when they're 18, 20, or 21. They're thinking about surviving the immediate future.  We all know, if we can think ahead to what we want something to become, then we're going to make decisions today that will help achieve that outcome.  6:00  Parenting is really no different: “What do you want your kids to be like when they leave your influence?—when they leave for college, or go into the military, or get married, or whatever?” “What characteristics—what qualities/what attributes—do you want to invest in your children to see grow and determine who your kids become?” Bob: And I think, with us, we were pretty nebulous. We kind of knew, in a general way, what we wanted for our kids; but I don't think we put words, or even values, to it. Barbara: Yes. Bob: So if you had said to me, when my child was two years old, “What's your hope or dream?” Well, you know, I would have said: “I want them to love the Lord. I want them to have a good work ethic. I want them to know how to get married to someone and be a good spouse.” Barbara: But mostly, you just wanted them to be potty-trained at two! [Laughter] Bob: You're right! [Laughter] 7:00 Bob: I might have been able to go to a big picture; but honestly, my big picture probably would have been shaped more by suburban American values than by what God says ought to be the values you're raising your kids with. Barbara: Well, we were essentially the same. We didn't really start thinking about values in specific terms until, maybe, our oldest was, say, mid-elementary? Dennis: Right. Barbara: Somewhere in that time frame, we started realizing that Dennis and I—and the reason we did this was practical, because Dennis and I came with different values into our marriage, which most couples do. You have a lot of things in common—and we had a lot in common—but we also had a lot of values that were different. Bob: There was a Saturday where this became clear to you— Barbara: Yes. Bob: —that you were not valuing the same things. Barbara: Yes; because on Saturday, in my house, we worked—we washed windows. My dad had us—you know, he had spent some time in the Army in World War II, and he had his kids lined up and ready for battle on Saturday mornings. [Laughter] 8:00 Bob: You got up early? Barbara: We'd get our chores done. Bob: Yes. Barbara: So I thought that was—I thought that was what every family did. It never occurred to me that anybody else lived any other way, because I had no comprehension of how other families spent their Saturdays other than what I did. Bob: Did you not do chores on Saturdays at your house? Dennis: I do not remember ever being told to do chores. I thought it was every child's American right to be able to nuzzle in next to my dad and watch the game of the week. Bob: —on TV? Dennis: —on TV. Bob: —a baseball game? Dennis: A baseball game, because my dad was into baseball. That was just what we did on Saturdays.  Bob: Saturday was about fun at your house. Dennis: It was! And I'm sure I had to do some things, but I really don't remember about chores. [Laughter] Bob: So there was a particular Saturday—I've heard you say—  Dennis: Oh, my goodness! Bob: —you were packing the kids up for a fishing trip; right? Dennis: Oh, yes!  9:00 I still remember Barbara on the back porch, with her arms folded, as I backed out of the driveway and pulled off to go fishing. [Laughter] Bob: Do you remember this? Barbara: Your face is getting—[Laughter] Dennis: I mean, I'm reliving the moment! [Laughter] I had a couple of the kids—Daddy was being the playful Daddy: “Let's go fishing!” I took a couple of the kids. Barbara: Well, you took a couple of the older ones and left me with the little ones, who needed naps and diapers. Bob: Were you scowling a bit? Barbara: Oh, I'm sure I was scowling a lot!! Dennis: So I get out there, and we're in this boat; and it wasn't much of a boat—it was just a little aluminum boat—it was rocking, and the fish weren't biting. Bob: Yes. Dennis: And I kept thinking about Barbara on the back porch. I didn't just keep fishing—I said: “You know, this is the wrong picture right here. This is a husband, who is being selfish.” I said: “Come on, kids! We're going back home to see Momma.” Bob: And I think, truth be told, you were probably thinking, in the back of your mind, “The longer I stay out here, the more trouble I'm going to be in when I wind up getting home.” Don't you think? [Laughter] 10:00 Dennis: You know, I guess, Bob, I was just kind of ashamed at what I'd done. I pulled out of the driveway and looked at Barbara, and I thought about it at that moment—it was like: “What are you doing? Oh, I'm going to do it anyway.” So I drove off, but I turned around pretty quickly. That day of fishing didn't last very long. Bob: So that led to the two of you actually getting some time away together— Barbara: Yes. Bob: —to map out: “What are the things we value?” and “What matters to us?” Barbara: Right. Bob: Was this something that you just came to off the top of your head? Dennis: It really was. I think it was because of all these clashes around our values. Barbara: Exactly. Dennis: So we were on a retreat, north of Little Rock, about an hour-and-a-half away on Greer's Ferry Lake. Bob: Where you could do some fishing?! [Laughter] Dennis: Where we could do some fishing, but I— Barbara: There were no kids! Dennis: I just remember that—I think what was happening, Bob, was that the pain of our differing values had reached such a point that I was looking for some relief. I thought, “This just isn't—this is not good.” Barbara: You would say, “This doesn't feel good.” [Laughter] Dennis: “It doesn't feel good.”  11:00 So I told Barbara—I said: “You get alone by yourself, and you pray, and read the Bible, and think. List out your top ten values that you want to teach the kids; I'll do the same. You're going to be over there; I'm going to be over here. Let's take about an hour,”—as I recall—“Then, after you've got your top ten, I want you to prioritize the top five; and let's get back together.” Honestly, Bob, no one told me to do this. It was just—I was facing a time when I wasn't agreeing with my wife about a lot of things in raising the kids. I felt a need for us to be singing off the same song sheet. So she did that; I did that, and we got together. Our lists were the same on a few, and very different on others. Barbara: Yes; and we had decided that we were not going to put “Love God and walk with Him,” on our list. Dennis: —not overly-spiritualize the whole thing. 12:00 Barbara: Right, because we both knew that we both valued that. That was a commonality that was without dispute or without question in our relationship. We knew that was important to us; we knew that that was the most important thing we wanted to instill in our kids; so we said: “That's going to be off the table. Let's put all of the other things,”—so like: “work ethic,” and “having time to play together,” and “learning how to forgive and love other people,” and “having good manners.” We just went on and on, down the list.  What was surprising to me was how different our lists were. I shouldn't have been surprised, because we had been flashing over this; but nonetheless, I think, when you get married, you think, “Oh, we have so much in common.” Bob: Right. Barbara: And then—after a few years or maybe after the kids come along—you realize, “Well, maybe we're operating off of two different sets of instructions.” Bob: There are really two points you're making here, and both of these are things you have counseled parents with.  13:00 One is— mom and dad need to be on the same page— Barbara: Yes. Bob: —when they're raising the kids. And two, they need to spend the time talking about: “What is it that we really value?” Dennis: And what I didn't anticipate is how many problems this would address later on, in raising teenagers. It was immediately practical to our young family. As I recall, at that point, what did we have—four or five children? Barbara: Probably four. Dennis: And we were making decisions out of our values, and we were comparing our decisions with our friends. It is so easy to doubt your decisions; but if you have hammered out what you agree to, and “What our family's going to stand for,” it enables you—not to do what the Joneses are doing—but to do what you're supposed to do. Bob: Yes. Barbara: Exactly; and so one of the things that we did, when our children became teenagers is—that all of our kids began to work at Chick-fil-A®. We did that for several reasons. One was—we wanted them to learn to follow direction from somebody besides mom and dad.  14:00 We wanted them to learn how to serve other people with a good attitude, and we wanted them to learn how to have a good work ethic for someone else besides mom and dad too. Dennis: Yes. Barbara: And it taught them how to build relationships. But we did that in such a way that they worked on Saturdays, but they didn't work all day Saturday. So, sort of our pattern became, “Get your chores done and get your work done in the first half of the day.” And then, in the second half of our Saturdays—when we were home—that would be when we would do fun. Having fun was a reward for getting your chores done, or your work done, or after you'd put in your time at Chick-fil-A. Then, we went and did whatever was fun.  We did both of those things. We found a way to keep both of those values that we each brought into our marriage and into our parenting—to keep them both alive and to feed off of each other. Dennis: One other thing—Barbara, I want you to tell the story of how our core values ultimately helped us make a decision that we couldn't agree to.  15:00 It had to do with Rebecca and gymnastics. Barbara: Yes; I know. I thought about that a minute ago, when we were talking about it. Our fourth, Rebecca, was born limber—I don't know where she got it—she didn't get it from me, I don't think; and I don't think she got it from you, either; did she? [Laughter] But she just naturally knew how to do the splits. She could just sit that way if she wanted to. So, anyway, when she was in first or second grade—somewhere along the line—we put her in gymnastics. It was just great fun, and she loved it. Because she was naturally good at it, she advanced pretty quickly. By the time she was in fifth grade, she was being recruited to go to the next level. We were trying to decide what we were going to do about this, because it meant more hours a week—it meant farther driving time, because the gym that she would have to go to was, at least, 45 minutes one-way—and it meant that she was going to be spending more and more time at the gym after school every day and into the evenings. It would mess up our family dinner hour and all kinds of things. 16:00 Dennis and I began a three-month conversation. Have you ever had a conversation that lasted three months? [Laughter] Bob: I don't think so! Barbara: You don't think so! Dennis: Would you like to know why it lasted three months? [Laughter] Bob: “Cause we never got to agreement”? Barbara: We never solved it. [Laughter] Dennis: We didn't get to an agreement. I was determined not to just: “Boom! Decision made!” Bob: Right. Dennis: I wanted to honor my wife, because I believe she's perfect for me; and, together, we reflect what God wants our kids to be about. So I was listening to her for all of her reasons why she wanted Rebecca to continue on in competition.  Barbara: And we didn't talk about it every day, but it did take us three months to finally come to a consensus. It was lots of conversations, where we went back and forth over the same things over and over again. I kept thinking: “Maybe she'll get a college scholarship. Maybe she can go to the Olympics.” You know, I had these visions and dreams of what she might do.  Dennis's side of the conversation was always: “Yes; but she'll be spending more and more time away from us,” and “The coaches will have more influence on her than we will.”   17:00 And I go, “Yes; you're right, but I really don't want her to quit!” You know, it was one of those kind of things—I really understood what he was saying, and I agreed with him; but I was trying to find a way we could have both. Bob: Yes. [Laughter] Barbara: And so we went back and forth for a long time. Finally, I thought: “Okay; we are not coming to a solution; we are not coming to an agreement,” and “One of us needs to give.” I thought: “I need to be the one to give; because Dennis is my husband, I have to trust that God is working through him for—not just for my good—but for Rebecca's good and for her well-being.”  I said to the Lord, before I said to Dennis—I said: “Okay! I'm going to be the one to give on this; and we're going to go with his value system, which is: ‘We have more time with her,'”—which I agreed with; I wasn't disagreeing with it—but “I'm going to follow his leadership in this decision in our marriage and in our family.”  18:00 I said: “I think he's wrong, and I think I'm right; so I'm going to give You 24 hours to change his mind. I want You to change his mind. [Laughter] And then I'll tell him!” I kind of had this little deal going with God, and I don't think I said anything to him right away. Dennis: I'd forgotten about that prayer. Barbara: Oh, I did pray that prayer!—I remember it vividly.  And God didn't change his mind. I went: “Okay; Lord, then that must mean that's not what you want for Rebecca. You want her to come home and be with us.” I told him that, and I was so surprised at how easily Rebecca took it. I thought she would be disappointed; I thought she would be heart-broken; I thought she would really miss it. She hardly skipped a beat, and we gained an hour-and-a-half-plus every day of just car trips and carpooling with other families to get these girls to this gym. It was such a remarkable shift, and such a clear confirmation from God—that it was like: “Okay; you were right. Clearly, you were right; and I'm so glad that I was willing to trust God in this.” 19:00 So that was a values decision that we went, back and forth, over for months. Most parents are going to do that, over one thing or another, in the course of raising children to adulthood. Bob: And again, we're back to the two big ideas here, which are: “Mom and dad need to be on the same page.  Barbara: Yes. Bob: —“If you're divided on this, and if the kids know you're divided, that's not good for them.” Barbara: No. Dennis: No! They'll exploit it. Bob: That's right. In fact, our kids knew—instead of coming to me and saying, “Can I do this?” They learned to come to me and say, “Would you talk to mom about this so that I can get an answer?” [Laughter] They just knew!—anything they were going to ask, “Can I do this?”—my answer was going to be, “Your mom and I are going to talk about that.” Dennis: Yes. Bob: We made that a default decision in our home. Dennis: And weren't you a little bit more of a softie than Mary Ann? Bob: I was a little more. Mary Ann said, at one point, “You will probably never be too firm with the children.” [Laughter]  20:00 And she was right! It was going to be my natural tendency to be soft and pliable. I needed her to balance out my soft side on that.  So they [parents] need to be on the same page; and then, if you've got some core values that you can look at and say: “You know, this is important to us—time with our kids is probably more important than them excelling in some skill area.” Barbara: Exactly. Bob: And honestly, you look at it today, Barbara—and you see what it takes for a kid to become an Olympic gymnast, or football player, or whatever it is—  Barbara: Yes. Bob: —and how to get to that level—the compromises and the things that are given up can often be detrimental in the child's life. Barbara: Exactly; and it really does rob you, as a mom and a dad, of time with your kids that you will never get again. You know, it's so easy, when you're in it, to feel like you're never going to get beyond the parenting years; but they really are so short.  21:00 If you allow your child to give his or her life to a sport, or a cause, or something that takes them away from the family, and away from your influence, you never get those years back. Bob: You include instructions for how to do the core values project— Dennis: That's right. Bob: —in the book. Do you include what your list of core values were? Dennis: We give folks a pretty comprehensive list for them to choose their own, because what ours were— Bob: —doesn't really matter. Dennis: —it doesn't matter. I'm not trying to adopt our core values—I'm trying to get you to pray—decide as a couple, and then begin to hammer it out; because you're going to be far more effective, as a couple, if you are in agreement and God is leading that agreement, going forward. Bob: Well, you can get a copy of Dennis and Barbara's book—and the core values project is a part of that—the list of some potential core values / things that may help spur your thinking about what your core values really are. It's included in the book, The Art of Parenting. The book is available in our FamilyLife Today Resource Center.  22:00 You can order the book from us, online; or you can call 1-800-FL-TODAY to get your copy of the book. Of course, we've got the companion Art of Parenting video series that's available for church use. You can order that from us online as well at FamilyLifeToday.com. The core values project is a part of the small group series as well. So, again, look for the book or the small group series when you go to FamilyLifeToday.com; or call to order either resource at 1-800-358-6329—that's 1-800-“F” as in family, “L” as in life, and then the word, “TODAY.” You know, I wish there was some way to measure what happens in a family when mom and dad are aligned on their core values—what that brings to a family. We know the power that there is in having that kind of alignment, but there's really no clear-cut way to measure how important that is.  23:00 I say that just because I want our listeners—and especially, those of you who support this ministry and who make it possible for everyone else in your community—part of what you're supporting is this kind of dialogue and interaction as we seek to equip, and to train, and to encourage, and to challenge moms and dads / husbands and wives all around the biblical principles related to marriage and family. We want to effectively develop godly marriages and families; and we're grateful to those of you who share that mission with us and who make it possible for FamilyLife Today to be heard by more people, more regularly. Thanks for your support. In fact, if you can help with a donation today, we have a gift we'd like to send you. It's our 2019 “Year of Togetherness” calendar. It's all about things your family can do to help build togetherness in your home—activities that you can do throughout the year; verses that you can memorize together; ways that you can connect, relationally—and we've talked today about how important that is.  24:00 Again, the calendar is our thank-you gift when you donate today, online, at FamilyLifeToday.com or call to donate at 1-800-FL-TODAY.  And we hope you can join us back tomorrow as we continue our conversation about what we need to be, as parents, to help the next generation thrive as we raise them. Dennis and Barbara Rainey will be with us, again, tomorrow. I hope you can be here as well. I want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, along with our entire broadcast production team. On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine. We will see you back next time for another edition of FamilyLife Today.  FamilyLife Today is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas; a Cru® Ministry. Help for today. Hope for tomorrow.  We are so happy to provide these transcripts to you. However, there is a cost to produce them for our website. If you've benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider donating today to help defray the costs?   Copyright © 2018 FamilyLife. All rights reserved. www.FamilyLife.com  

The post The Gospel in the Old Testament (Psalm 2) appeared first on Grace Baptist Church.

Why does a prophecy from the Old Testament (Psalm 40:6-8) get altered here when quoted in Hebrews 10:5-6? Psalm 40:6 reads "My ears You have opened" but Hebrews writes it as "“a body you have prepared for me." Why this change?

Why does a prophecy from the Old Testament (Psalm 40:6-8) get altered here when quoted in Hebrews 10:5-6? Psalm 40:6 reads "My ears You have opened" but Hebrews writes it as "“a body you have prepared for me." Why this change?

All people at some point in their lives feel abandoned by God, but Jesus is the only person to actually experience that abandonment. The words he spoke from the cross are a quote from the Old Testament—Psalm 22—and give us insight as to what that felt like. And it’s loaded with prophecy of things that really happened to Jesus on the day he died. Epic Every Day is available on Radio Public, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Sticher and YouTube. Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EEDCast/ Twitter: @AKindOfLying @ElizFrerichs @EEDCast EpicEveryDayNow.com Liz’s book: Tales From A Spacious Place Music by: Nu Skiffle Brigade used under creative commons license

Old Testament: Psalm 86:1-10; 16-17 and Genesis 21:8-21

Discussion on Midweek Lenten Preaching series texts for Wednesday, Mar. 29, 2017: (Old Testament) Psalm 103:1-3; Psalm 134; (Epistle) Acts 21:1-6; (Gospel) Mark 1:40-42. Recorded at Luther Seminary, Saint Paul, Minn., for WorkingPreacher.org. read more...

Mechanical Music in the Old Testament - Psalm 150

I. The Difficulty of Accepting Change In one of the most beautiful Psalms in the Old Testament (Psalm 103) it is written, "As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field. The wind blows over it and it is gone and its place remembers it no more." That is the changeable-ness of human experience, isn't it? Have you ever gone back to some place that you are familiar with in your childhood or in your teen years and you realize that the physical things, many of them are still there, but it's just not your time for that place anymore. Time has moved on and you don't belong there, anymore. I remember returning to my high school, I only did it once to visit all my teachers and talk to them, and I never went back. It wasn't that they were unfriendly. It was more... I just sensed that the time had moved on and it was actually odd for me to be there. And the hymn "Be still my soul", It speaks about how, when change and tears are past we are welcomed into eternity with great joy. Change. Change itself can be very depressing, very discouraging, and yet, this is the very thing we are yearning for... We want to be transformed, and want to be liberated from these bodies of death, don't we? We want to be transformed and be made like Christ. But the process itself can be very painful. I would say there's been no era in history that has seemed more radical changes to everyday life than those that have lived through the 20th century on into the 21st century, spent a time of extraordinary change. Just think about the years that have passed, since the end of World War II, the incredible changes, political changes the rise and fall of communism in that period of time. How for the longest time, it was a beast that seemed unbeatable and now seems to be completely discredited, not entirely gone but on the down spiral of its existence. We've seen technological changes it's even somewhat humorous now, Best Buy where you can buy some of the hottest newest electronic equipment is kind of spoofing their own and actually coming up with a program that if you buy something and it then becomes obsolete in the next six months, you can buy the new improved version. So there's an ad, a guy standing at the front step as they're delivering his 3D TV and there's an ad for 4D TV going by. And he is distressed, and his daughter running around saying you bought the wrong TV, you silly head. And things just transforming right in front of us at every moment. Technology, Twitter, and YouTube, and all of these things. We're just used to change, but it's very destabilizing. It can make us feel insecure. We forget that underneath are the everlasting arms, that we are resting on the eternal covenant of all mighty God and God's intention showed us have never changed. Difficult Changes for First Generation Jewish Christians But for all of the great changes that we have personally experienced that we continue to experience were almost used to it by now, I think there have been no greater spiritual change is no generation ever had to endure greater spiritual changes than the generation that lived around the time of Christ and beyond. The Jews who lived in Palestine and who were completely accustomed to the sacrificial system around the temple to the thrice annual pilgrimages that they were required under the law of Moses to make to go up and render to God animal sacrifices, blood sacrifices. To be told that the temple sacrifices and the Levitical priesthood was now obsolete. And that we have an entirely new way of approaching God is staggering and bewildering. And some Jews even Jewish Christians that had come to faith in Christ, I'm certain reeled at the implications of Jesus's death on the cross. The Point of Hebrews 7: There is a Change of the Priesthood And I believe that that's the whole point of Hebrews 7, is to announce very clearly that there is a change of the priesthood, and if there is a change of the priesthood there must of necessity, be a change of the law, the time has come for change. So if you were to look at Hebrews 7:12, it says, "For when there is a change of the priesthood there must also be a change of the law." So the Aaronic priesthood, the Levitical priesthood had now become obsolete, so also the Mosaic Covenant that had established it, that is the staggering implication of the life, the death, the resurrection, the ascension, of Jesus Christ for centuries, the Levitical sacrificial system with the sons of Aaron as high priest administered by the command of God. Generations of Jews had then born had grown up had lived their lives and had died under the ministrations of the Levitical priesthood. The priest who were the sons of Aaron. Millions and millions of lambs and sheep and goats and bulls had been sacrificed. A river of blood had flowed. In redemptive history, the tabernacle, that movable tent of Moses, of the days of Moses, and of the exodus a given way eventually, to a stable building the temple of Solomon. Because of the sins of the people God had allowed the Babylonians to destroy the temple, flatten it, raise it to the ground. But then in the providence of God under Cyrus the Great of Persia some small number of Jews, 42,000 have been allowed to return to Jerusalem and begin to rebuild their lives and under the leadership there, under Ezra the priest and Haggai the prophet. The temple had been rebuilt smaller, not so glorious, but the animal sacrificial system had been re-established and had resumed. And so they continue to minister from that time until the time of the Book of Hebrews, 1st century AD, the temple had been the focal point of the entire nation spiritual focal point of the nation of Israel. Three times a year, all Jewish men were commanded to go up and to offer sacrifices that that one place that God had chosen out of all the tribes, and they had offered their sacrifices, there but now all of it was obsolete. Book of Hebrew said what is obsolete and aging would soon disappear. From the moment that Jesus Christ stated of those marvelous words, "It is finished", curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, the doors of Heaven had been thrown open wide to any who believe in Jesus, the time for animal sacrifice was over, there was a new high priest and his name was Jesus. The Remedy: To Prove from Scripture that God Had Planned to Make this Change And this would be incredibly difficult for the Jews to accept more than we can possibly imagine. And so the remedy that the Lord has given us here in Scripture, through the author to the Book of Hebrews was to prove from Scripture that God had planned this all along, that this had been the plan of God all along. That the Levitical priesthood was just temporary. So the argument of Hebrews 7 is that God had established the priesthood of Jesus in the order of Melchizedek before he established the priesthood Aaron; and that this priesthood in the order of Melchizedek, had always been infinitely superior to the priesthood of the house of Aaron. Jesus was the fulfillment of all priesthood, but specifically of this new order, established by his death and his resurrection, his ascension a priest in the order of Melchizedek, and that this had been foreshadowed in the days of Abraham, their father. Way back in Genesis 14, had been recorded, mysteriously had been picked up on by a single verse in Psalm 110. Psalm 110:4, King David had written, "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind who are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek." Psalm 110:4. Hebrews 5 has already introduced this theme. Hebrews 5:6 says, "So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, 'You are my son today, I have begotten you.' And he said in another place, 'You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.'" So that's in chapter five we've already brushed against this idea. And then in 5:10, Jesus was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek. Suddenly in mid-stride, the author of the Hebrews stops himself says we have much to say about this. This theme of Melchizedek, we have a lot to tell you about Melchizedek we want you to understand about Melchizedek. But it's hard to explain because you become literally lazy listeners to the Word of God. By this time, you should have made further or greater progress, than you have. And so, he stops and he addresses them with great concern with great intensity, with passion and He warns, them of the danger of apostasy in chapter 6, of not continuing to make progress, of keeping step with the Spirit, as God is unfolding redemptive history before their very eyes. And as things are changing, and as things are developing, that they need to keep up with what God is doing is revealed in the written word. So throughout Hebrews 6, he warns them, he encourages, he exhorts them and at the end of the chapter, he returns to Melchizedek, he says that we have through the ministrations of Jesus, the high priest, we have this hope in Jesus hope and the promises of God as an anchor for the soul that enters this hope, this chain that holds us to the promises of God and to hope it enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest in the order of Melchizedek. So at the end of chapter six, He returns to this theme that he'd been wanting to develop but he needed to stop and deal with them personally. And so, we have returned now to Melchizedek. Melchizedek was a type of Christ, who will give them a deeper and richer understanding of Jesus Christ as our great high priest. The Types of the Old Testament Now, what do we mean by the word type? What is a type? Well, a type is in biblical study we use the word type to refer to an Old Testament person or practice or ceremony that has a counterpart technically called an anti-type, I think more simply just a fulfillment because types are prophecies a fulfillment in the New Testament. So in that sense, types are predictive. They are predictive prophecies, but they're acted out in history, they're different from verbally predictive properties in which something's just laid out verbally, and we're told what's going to happen. These things are acted out in history, things are acted out, and then they're fulfilled. And there are many, many examples of types, I think Noah's ark in the midst of that flood was a type, a picture of the salvation that Jesus gives, us rescue from the wrath of God, one place only must be on that arc. And so there is no other name under heaven given to men, by which we must be saved, than Jesus Christ. Jesus is the ark of our salvation. It's a picture acted out or Abraham's offering of his son Isaac, on Mount Moriah, which God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there…" It's a picture of what God would do with Jesus, a picture of Christ. Certainly, the Passover lamb in Exodus Chapter 12, that would be slaughtered and its blood painted over the door posts, etcetera, which delivered them from the angel of death before the right before the exodus a clear picture of the death of Jesus, the blood of Jesus rescuing us from our sins. The Exodus as a whole, the whole movement of the people of God out of bondage out of slavery in Egypt, and through great trials and on into the promised land, a type of the whole salvation of sinners. We are edeemed from slavery to sin, and brought into the promised land of heaven of our Sabbath rest. The bronze serpent is a type how the Jews and their sinfulness were being judged by God with poison of snakes and God commanded them to make a bronze serpent. All you had to do is look at the serpent if you looked you would be saved from death. And so in the same way, God sent his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life, the bronze serpent, a picture of saving faith. So many types and pictures, and this Melchizedek, is a type of Christ. He's a picture of Christ ahead of time. Now, I just think this is marvelous. Isn't it? Isn't this awesome that God plays history, like a virtuoso violin plays a magnificent piece and it's even better than that, because God wrote the piece that's being played, he writes the music and then he acts it out, sovereignly and just put in scatters like diamonds. These types throughout history to show God's in charge of history and history has meaning. It's just a beautiful thing in Melchizedek is a type of Christ. The Goal: to Establish the Infinite Superiority of Christ as our High Priest And God's purpose here in Hebrews, is to establish the infinite superiority of Christ to any other priest you could possibly imagine, certainly superior to the ironic the Levitical priest. And so the author desires to remove uncertainty, and doubt from the minds of these first century Jews who are so tempted and so, afflicted and such a strong pull on them to forsake Christ because they're being persecuted and they're being pressured, by their Jewish neighbors and relatives and authority figures, to give up on Jesus as though he's a cult leader, a deceiver of the people, and turn away from Jesus and go back to Old Covenant Judaism. And what the author's saying is, you can't do that, you can't go back. Because Jesus is the fulfillment of all of that and the priesthood of Jesus is infinitely superior to the priesthood of Aaron and his descendants. His goal then is to free these Jewish Christians from any temptation to go backward, to forsake Christ and to go backward. And it's a message, a timeless message to us who are not Jews, living in the first century were under no pressure to go back to something we never knew. We're under no pressure we're not being tempted sorely to offer a cat or a dog for our sins, in the backyard or a sheep or a goat. We're not under that kind of pressure, but you under the same pressure to forsake Jesus, that they were. You're under the exact same pressure to turn your back on Jesus and go back to your life of sin. And so these words show us the certainty of our faith, and the greatness of our high priest, at the right hand of Almighty God. He was constantly praying for you. And so this message is for us who are Gentile believers as well. II. The History of Melchizedek (Genesis 14) So who is this Melchizedek? When I was growing up in the Catholic church, I was an altar boy and a week after week the priest would say different things in the mass that had been written out, and one of the sections was a prayer centered around the offering. And the priest would say, "look, with favor on these gifts and accept them as you once accepted the gifts of your servant Abel. And the gifts of Abraham our father in faith, and as you accepted once the bread and wine, offered by your servant Melchizedek." I heard about Melchizedek every week of my life. And at least five of you have asked me over the last week and a who is Melchizedek. Today is your day. And mine. Finally get an answer. Now, I must admit, I didn't ever ask, "Who is Melchizedek?" It just wasn't the question wasn't raised and certainly no priest ever explained it, but today we get a clear explanation of who this individual was. Melchizedek was a man, a figure in history, flesh and blood man, not an apparition, not a ghost. I do not believe he was a pre-incarnate Christ. We talk about all that. He was a man who lived at a certain moment in history. His first mentioned in Genesis 14. So put your finger here on Hebrews 7 and go back to Genesis 14, if you like, or just listen but he's mentioned in Genesis 14, with Abraham's involvement in the defeat of King Chedorlaomer around the year 2000 BC, somewhere around 2000 BC. Talk more on this in a moment but I'm just easing into it now. He is next mentioned in Psalm 110, in verse 4, up out of nowhere in the middle of the salter he pops up again. Melchizedek just kind of does it, he just pops up and then he pops up again in Hebrews five and six and seven and then that's it. But in Psalm 110 Verse 4, as we already quoted, "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek." David wrote this approximately 1000 years after Abraham and approximately 450 years or so after Moses wrote the account of Abraham. So David wrote around a thousand or so BC Psalm 110. It's a mysterious statement prophecy of strange meaning almost certainly I have to believe that this was uniformly ignored by the Jews as some arcane mystery. So the author to Hebrews picks up this mysterious theme a thousand years later in the first century AD, I think no ordinary Jew living between the time of Abraham and the time of David would have given much of a thought at all to Melchizedek. Ephesians 3, talks about mysteries hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through Jesus. And I just don't think he was a major theme, and I think no ordinary Jew living between 1000 BC in the time of Hebrews would have even tried to figure out what Psalm 110 verse 4 was talking about. Jesus surprised them with Psalm 110 when he said, "How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him [the messiah] 'Lord'"? because it says there in Psalm 110, "The Lord said to my Lord: 'sit at my right hand till I put all your enemies under your feet." "If David calls him Lord, how can he be his son?" Gee, we never saw that before. Scurrying back to the salter, reading and there it is Psalm 110, had never noticed that before. Do you think they noticed Melchizedek too? I don't think they were ready for Melchizedek at that point they weren't ready for verse 1 of Psalm 110. This is a mystery locked into human history, a spiritual mystery that really happened in space and time, but God had a deeper meaning for that, a deeper significance. So as you're there in Genesis 14, look at verses 18-20. "Then Melchizedek, King of Salem, brought out bread and wine, he was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, creator of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High who delivered your enemies into your hand, then Abram gave him a tenth of everything." That's it. That is the entire account, other than Psalm 110:4, in the Old Testament of this mysterious figure Melchizedek. There is not another mention. Next time he's mentioned after Psalm 110 is Hebrews 5. Context of Genesis 14 So what is the context of Genesis 14? Abram not yet called Abraham had left Ur of the Chaldees by faith, traveled to Palestine to receive the promise from Almighty God, that that land would belong to him, and to his descendants forever. His wife Sarai, not yet called Sarah, and his nephew Lot, traveled with him in the course of time, Lot and Abram could not continue to sojourn together. They had too many heads of cattle, too many livestock too much livestock and so they had to separate Lot went down to live in the fertile grounds around Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abram continued in the promised land. At that time, a mighty king named Chedorlaomer ruled the region in which Sodom was and he demanded that the lesser kings who are subservient to him, vassal kings pay him yearly tribute. He was the great king they were the lesser kings. And this, they did for a long time, but at a certain point, a handful of them rebelled and would pay Chedorlaomer no longer. Well, that's very bad for great king business. Vassal kings need to keep the money coming in, and so, Chedorlaomer has to deal with this. So he gathers together the vassal kings that are still loyal to him, and they rally together and they fight a war, four kings against five. This is the closest thing they had to a World War at that point. Very significant moment in that region of the world. So the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah were defeated by Chedorlaomer and he and his allies, captured Lot and all of his possessions, and hauled them off. Abram, Lot's uncle, heard of this and gathered his own army and rescued Lot helping to defeat Chedorlaomer. After the battle two kings came out to greet the victorious Abraham. The king of Sodom came with plunder from the battle, which Abram refused. But Melchizedek, the king of Salem, came out to bless him with spiritual blessings, which Abram received. This encounter is the focus of Hebrew 7. Now go back to Hebrew 7:1-3, And now let's try to understand the symbolism of Melchizedek. We've seen the history of Melchizedek and that's all we can say. III. The Symbolism of Melchizedek (vs. 1-3) But what is the symbolic significance of Melchizedek ? What is the author to Hebrews telling us? Well, look again in verses 1-3. "This Melchizedek was king of Salem, and priest of God Most High, he met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything first, His name means king of righteousness, then also King of Salem, means King of Peace. Without, father and mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days, or end of life, like the son of God, he remains a priest forever. So we have this individual, and he is significantly a priest-king or a king-priest. Both king and priest. He is king of Salem, and he is priest of God Most High. Now, what the author to the book of Hebrews is going to do with this is say, that this combination was impossible under the Law of Moses. It was forbidden. And what he's going to do in Hebrews 12:7 is make the argument that in order for Jesus to be a priest, you have to have a change of the law, thus the Old Covenant is over. That's what he's doing. I'm telling you, very plainly what the point, the whole point here is the Mosaic covenant is done, the Levitical priesthood is finished, it's obsolete. We have a new priesthood now and we have one priest and that is Jesus, that's where he's going with all this. So the priests were all Levites, they were descended from Aaron, priests were sons of Aaron and kings were sons of David. Kingship was given to Judah, and there was a wall of separation between the two. Priestly duties of animal sacrifice were relegated exclusively to Aaron and his sons forever under the Mosaic covenant. So as long as the Mosaic Covenant endured, the priesthood was theirs. When King Saul dared to offer sacrifice, the kingdom was taken from him. Centuries later, when King Uzziah dared to enter the temple and offer incense he was confronted by Godly High Priest Azariah and 80 other courageous priests who confronted this king, who is otherwise a godly king, but got arrogant, got prideful with his successes, his piety, and went too far. Thought he could offer incense as the king allowed to do that and he was confronted. It is not right for you to be here, Uzziah. Uzziah got angry and thought to throw the burning, smoldering incensor at the high priest, but before he could do it, God struck him with leprosy broke out on his forehead and they hustled him out of the temple and the scripture said he was "eager to go." And he lived the rest of his life as a leper excluded from all fellowship with humanity, as a severe punishment on an otherwise godly king. This is the Uzziah, that is famous in Isaiah 6, who died. And so there is a strong separation between the kingship and the priesthood. But Melchizedek was a picture of this combination, a new order priesthood, in which our king would be our priest and Jesus is the perfect fulfillment of this new order, priest-king in Hebrews 8:1. "The point of what we are saying is this, we do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven." We have a priest-king. That's what we have. And so this man was king of Salem. Now, the word Salem refers to Jerusalem, that ancient city later became known as the city of David, the city, the earthly city is a picture of the future city of God called the New Jerusalem, which will come down as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband, prepared for God and man to live together forever. Jesus will be the first and final king of the New Jerusalem. Melchizedek was the first king mentioned of the old Jerusalem, we don't know that he was the founding king but he's the first one that's mentioned. Melchizedek then as king ruled over his people, his word was law his generosity was their blessing his courage and power was their protection from their enemies. He was king of Salem in verse two, we'll just jump ahead there, I'll go back after talking about this word peace. But, the author tells us that Salem means peace. And so Melchizedek was king over a city whose name is peace. This Violent History of Jerusalem, the City of Peace A bit ironic if you think about the history of Jerusalem, anything but the city of peace. And David conquered Jerusalem from the Jebusites in 1005 BC, from then on it was called, as I mentioned, the City of David, but then the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar conquered it from the Jews, the Persian king, Cyrus the Great conquered it from the Babylonians, Alexander the Great conquered it from the Persians, Roman commander Pompey conquered it from the Greeks and then they ruled over that region for centuries, the Eastern Roman Empire, called the Byzantine empire and they ruled until the Muslims rose up and under Caliph Omar took the city from the Byzantines, for Islam in AD 637. The European Crusaders thought that they needed to get the land back. You know what they needed to do? They needed to have a bible study, instead, man, let's just have a Bible study. It'll save you a lot of wear and tear and a lot of bad blood. They should have studied John four and what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." Jesus knew what kind of worship was coming and animal sacrifice wasn't going to be any part of it, but the Crusaders came and they conquered it for Christendom from the Muslims in the year 1099. The Muslims under Saladin got it back for Islam in 1187, the Crusaders got it back briefly after that but it didn't last, and then the Muslims got it. Final version of that were the Ottoman Turks, the British took it from the Turks in 1917 in World War I and they ruled it until they gave it over to an assembly of Jews and Arabs who together were kind of going to get along around the administrations of the City of David. That hasn't worked too well. There have been all kinds of wars fought since 1948, as each side seeks to gain control over the city of peace. So that is a brief history, bloody history of the city of peace, but it was originally called peace I think prophetically. Because the final version of Jerusalem, the New Jerusalem that descends out of heaven, prepared as a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband will be the absolute picture of peace. It will be radiant with peace, gloriously so, its walls will be high and mighty more powerful than any foe could ever muster. There'd be no possibility of crumbling those walls, but it doesn't matter because the gates are standing open constantly, and the wealth of the nations streaming in and there's a constant freedom to enter the city of peace. Isaiah’s Vision of Jerusalem And Isaiah had a vision of the future of Jerusalem, Isaiah 2, "This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the last days, the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as chief among the mountains. They will be raised above the hills and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, "Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, so that we may walk in His path." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, He will judge between the nations and settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore." And the beautiful prophecy in Zechariah chapter nine. Jesus Christ came to bring this peace, this everlasting peace and to establish a city of eternal peace called the New Jerusalem. And Zechariah 9:9-10 says, "Rejoice greatly oh daughter of Zion. Shout daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king comes to you righteous, having salvation gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem and the battle bow will be broken, He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth." Oh, how awesome is that city of peace that is coming? And peace will reign between God and man, we who are at one point, enemies and adversaries Colossians 1 says that because of our evil behavior, he has now reconciled us to God through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. How Jesus stood under the wrath of God and took our punishment in our place and shed His blood so that we could be reconciled to God, and God could be at peace with us. And therefore Romans 5:1, "since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Priest of God Most High This man, not just the king of Salem. He was also priest of God Most High. He was a priest as well, a priest of God Most High. Now, the title, God Most High is a universal title for God. It's not a tribal title, a focus on one nation, the Jews like Yahweh was their covenant name for God. But this was more of an indication that Almighty God rules over all nations. And isn't it marvelous that God was doing something in the time of Abraham that wasn't connected directly with Abraham? But then God brought them together, and so God is at work all over the world, and revealing Himself in marvelous ways, but you still have to have missionaries to go bring the ultimate son of Abraham, Jesus, the message of Jesus, to them so that they can believe in trust, for the forgiveness of their sins and God brings them what he's doing out in the Gentile world with Melchizedek together with Abraham, the father of the Jews, and they come together. And so he was priest of God Most High. What was the nature of his priestly religion? We don't know, we just don't know much about this man, but he was a priest. And so in some way an intermediary between sinners and God. And he came, it says, and he blessed Abram saying, "Blessed be Abram, by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High who delivered your enemies into your hand." So there he is as a priest, kind of between Abram and God Most High, and from God Most High through Melchizedek, Abraham is getting blessed. And on behalf of Abraham, up toward God Almighty God, God is blessed and so he's just got that priestly ministration. The author of Hebrews is going to comment on the blessing in Hebrew 7:6-7, we'll talk about that God willing next week, but it says that Melchizedek "collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. And without doubt, the lesser person is blessed by the greater." And so I think the blessing of Abraham is representative of the ministry of Jesus Christ through whom all blessings come to us. Oh, dear Christian brother and sister. You have no blessing in your life that didn't come to you through the cross. It all comes to you through the cross, and through the priestly ministry of Jesus, all of them, your blessings come through Jesus. And so it says in Ephesians one three, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." And so he blessed him and Abraham, it says, gave him a tenth of everything. We're going to talk more about the tithe next week, but the author of Hebrews is just following the Genesis account here in Genesis 14, in any case, Abraham's giving of the tithes to Melchizedek is representative of all of our worship and our praise offerings to God going to the Father through Jesus's priestly ministry. Can I say it this way right back up? We can't give anything to God that He'll accept except through Jesus. Every good work, all of your prayers, all of your acts of kindness, all of your money, everything that you give to God would be worthless and unacceptable except through Jesus's blood shed for you. And so Jesus is that perfect intermediary. And so he gives him a tenth of everything. more on that next week, He is called King of righteousness. Literally, this is a straight translation from the Hebrew. Melchi means King. Melchi literally my king. And Tsedek... Tsedek is righteousness, the righteousness of God. And so we have the King of righteousness. This is the deep yearning isn't it, of all governed people? To have a righteous king over us, to have a righteous government. King David, at the end of his life said in 2 Samuel 23, "The God of Israel spoke the Rock of Israel said to me, 'When one rules over men and righteousness, when He rules in the fear of God, he is like the Light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth.'" that's what it's like to have a righteous king. Oh, how sweet is that and if it that's true of the sinner, David, infinitely so is it of our king of righteousness, Jesus. He will reign over us in righteousness, and justice forever more and You will be delighted to obey Him in Heaven, delighted to do it Now on earth, delighted to have a king of righteousness. This is the great tragedy, I think, of all human governments. Proverbs 29:2, says, "When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice when the wicked rule, the people groan." That groan has hurt all over the Earth. Well, Melchizedek, then symbolizes a yearning for what we will actually have in Jesus a perfectly righteous king. But at a deeper level, let me tell you something, you don't need a priest, if you're not a sinner, The priest is an intermediary between sinners and God, Because we have sinned, we need a priest, we need grace, We need sacrifices we need forgiveness, and so the real hungering and thirsting for righteousness is not just that we would have a righteous king because frankly, apart from atonement we're in trouble with the righteous king. Because he would condemn us, but we would like to be righteous ourselves and the beauty of our king of righteousness is that Jesus has become for us righteousness from God. Isn't that wonderful, 1 Corinthians 1:30, said that Jesus is our righteousness. Jeremiah 23, says the branch, from David. Will come and sit on the throne and this will be His name, the Lord our righteousness. He will be our righteousness, He will reign in a righteous kingdom because He loves righteousness and hates wickedness, but He will reign over people who used to be wicked but are now righteous. That is the beauty of the cross of Jesus Christ and of the kingdom that He brings. Without Father or Mother, Without Genealogy Now we get to the interesting stuff without father or mother, without genealogy, I don't know. So let's go on to the next part. Alright? I don't know, but I'm going to take a few guesses. Okay. I have two explanations for this, Okay? I'm at verse 3, "Without father or mother, without genealogy without beginning of days, or end of life, like the son of God, he remains a priest forever." Well, some of our brothers in Christ, Commentators and pastors and others have said this is clear in verse 3, that Melchizedek had to be Jesus, the pre-incarnate Christ. Well, that just fails on the word "like." Okay, I just don't think that Jesus is like Jesus, I just don't think that's much of a statement to say Jesus is like the Son of God just doesn't get us very far. Furthermore, although he would have been pre-incarnate at that point, he eventually did have a father and mother, not a human father but he definitely had a human mother, and he definitely had two genealogies. Matthew chapter 1 and Luke chapter 4. Melchizedek can't be an apparition or a ghost. Because we already learned in Hebrews 5:1 every high priest, is selected from among men, he has to be a human being. We believe theologically, that Adam and Eve are the father and mother of all human beings that God didn't create Melchizedek up out of the dust of the earth or out of some banana leaves or some other thing, God can do anything, but I think he wanted the entire human race to center from Adam and Eve. So, I've cleared out what it isn't. What does it mean, without father or mother? Well, I think the first way I have come to understand this, I don't know if this is true, but the author to Hebrews has a remarkable and unique way of looking at the Bible. You remember how in chapter 4, he said, "The Word of God is living and active," it's a living thing, a living entity, a living world and when you read the Bible, you are stepping into that world, by faith. And if you step into the Genesis 14 world, Melchizedek just pops up without a genealogy, without a father or a mother, and he then just disappears and doesn't die. And so in the Bible, account these things are true. There's no genealogy of this man, there's no father or mother, there's no death, he just seems to go on living forever. It's the way he is going to treat Abel later on in chapter 11, when He says though dead, he still speaks. Again you can understand that two ways, namely he is still alive up in heaven absent from the body, present with the Lord. Okay, that's fine. But I think he's really meaning through the scripture, he speaks by his actions. Anyway, that's my first crack at it. If that's not satisfying. This is my second and final attempt. I think really the best reason is that his priesthood, itself doesn't depend on a genealogy unlike Aaron and his sons. And I think that's the better answer of all the priesthood doesn't derive from his ancestry, it's not a genealogical priesthood unlike the Levitical priesthood. If you came back in the time of Ezra and you could not produce your genealogical records you could not serve as a priest. It was a genealogical priesthood and in the same way, without beginning of days, or end of life. It's the same way, the ironic priest had a very definite beginning to their priestly ministry at age 25 and they had to retire at age 50. I was really struck by the fact that there actually is retirement in the Bible, and it's even more pointed, it's for priests and even worse, it's 50. So I better get going. Whatever dreams or hopes or aspirations I have for my priestly ministry. I have two years. If you're going to hold to that. Thankfully, we're not, we're in the New Covenant, amen. The Levitical priesthood is done. So please, if God wills extend me beyond age 50 if I live that long. But the point is, the priesthood itself, it's not genealogically-based and it doesn't end like there's duties. 50. And even more significantly, ended death, Jesus can never die again, death has no mastery over him, he's finished and so he will go on ministering in this order of Melchizedek until his days end, which will never happen. And so I think that's what it means. Hebrews 7:24-25, "Because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. And therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them." If you have another interpretation come and tell me, and I'll listen it'll probably be very interesting. So I want to hear what you would say about it. Like the Son of God, [Melchizedek] Remains a Priest Forever Final statement he makes here is like the Son of God Melchizedek remains a priest forever. Amazingly Melchizedek who pre-dates Jesus of Nazareth by two millennia is said to be like the Son of God. In this way he's very much like John the Baptist, who said He who comes after me, has surpassed me because He was before me. Jesus opens up the ministry in the order of Melchizedek before the foundation of the world. God the Father and God the Son had worked out, this ministry before God said, "Let there be light" in Revelation 13, Jesus is said to be the lamb, that was slain from the foundation of the Earth. This priesthood pre-dates Melchizedek and so Melchizedek is just like the Son of God, He's compared to Him, Jesus will later be compared to Melchizedek but Jesus pre-dates him just as he said in John Chapter 8, "before Abraham was I am." That's the eternity of Jesus. This is dear friends the true priestly ministry, the only one that has ever really stood before God on behalf of sinners. Jesus is the true the eternal, the first, and the final high priest. So in summary Melchizedek was conformed to the pattern of Christ in some amazing ways set forth centuries before Aaron was established as high priest by the laws of Moses. Melchizedek was a pattern of Christ first as priest of God Most High. Second as a priest king. Third as the king of righteousness. Forth as the King of Peace. Fifth as the one who blessed Abraham. Sixth as the one who received gifts and offerings from God's people represented by Abraham. Seventh as a priest who did not owe his position to genealogy. And eighth as a priest who's ministry is not restricted to 50 years of age, but who continues as priests to the end of his days, which in Jesus' case, is forever. IV. Application That is, Melchizedek. And so what shall we do with this? Come to Christ, I come to Christ, the only priest who can save you. Melchizedek 's a picture, Jesus the reality and fulfillment. Jesus shed His blood once for all, we'll get to that later in Hebrews. What once for all, never again, does a sacrifice need to be offered. Perhaps you were invited here today, you don't have faith, you haven't trusted in Christ, until today, I pray that God would open your eyes, that he would give you a vision of Jesus, such as you've never had before, and I ask that you would come to Christ Jesus is in the person of this message pleading with you, to turn away from your sins, and to come to the cross and receive mercy and forgiveness through faith. Let Jesus be your priest, king, bow the knee to Jesus take his kingly yoke upon you, let Him be your king, of righteousness. Secondly, brothers and sisters, marvel at the depth of scripture scriptures deeper than we can possibly imagine infinitely, and marvel over God's control of history. God controls the unfolding of history and all the types and patterns and thirdly, brothers and sisters immerse yourself in the ministry of Jesus as your great High Priest. Know how completely your sins are atoned for. Just know that you're forgiven in Jesus. If you're struggling with sin, bring it to Jesus bring your weakness, "Cast all your burdens on Him because He cares for you. Don't carry them anymore they're crushing you. If you're discouraged, if you're depressed, if you're weary go to the cross, go to Jesus go to your great high priest, he is a priest forever for you go to him and he'll care for you. Close with me in prayer. Father this passage is really deep infinitely so it's meat the author is told it's not milk. Thank you for the attentiveness of my brothers and sisters in Christ. Take the words that I've said, and press them into our hearts, we pray, in Jesus' name, amen.

I. The Difficulty of Accepting Change In one of the most beautiful Psalms in the Old Testament (Psalm 103) it is written, "As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field. The wind blows over it and it is gone and...