Podcasts about samarian

Overcoming Impossible “I slipped out during the night, taking only a few others with me. I had not told anyone about the plans God had put in my heart for Jerusalem. We took no pack animals with us except the donkey I was riding. After dark I went out through the Valley Gate, past the Jackal's Well, and over to the Dung Gate to inspect the broken walls and burned gates. Then I went to the Fountain Gate and to the King's Pool, but my donkey couldn't get through the rubble.” ‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭2‬:‭12‬-‭14 -In chapter 2, we read of 43 different groups who took responsibility for a section of the wall. It starts and finishes at the Sheep gate. -2 1/2 miles of wall which translates to 13,200 feet  Expect Opposition “Sanballat was very angry when he learned that we were rebuilding the wall. He flew into a rage and mocked the Jews, saying in front of his friends and the Samarian army officers, “What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they're doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap—and charred ones at that?” Tobiah the Ammonite, who was standing beside him, remarked, “That stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it!” ‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭ Expect Fatigue “Then the people of Judah began to complain, “The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves.”” ‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭4‬:‭10‬ ‭  Expect to finish with God's help “So on October 2 the wall was finished—just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God.” ‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭6‬:‭15‬-‭16‬ ‭ -What should have taken 10 years to finish, was completed in a mere 52 days. -Hard work by the people + God's divine protection and empowerment = a victory every time. -There is power in a Spirit-led community of believers-in our case Kingdom Writers-coming together to rebuild what the enemy has broken down.  This is how we overcome impossible!   Resources: If you're ready to take a step of faith and finally finish your book we have a few ways we can help you.  1. Free Writing Week Challenge: Create a Writing Habit in 15-Minutes a Day Even if you feel overwhelmed or stuck in procrastination, sitting down to write for just 15 minutes a day is the best way to finally reach your writing goals. Most writers think they need hours of uninterrupted time to make progress in their writing. However, in this free challenge, we will show you how much you can accomplish in just 15 minutes of focused writing. Click here to create a consistent writing habit this week.   2. Book Writing Lab Workshop - Map Out Your Book in Just 90 Minutes If over the last year, you've struggled to get your book written, this workshop is for you. Choose your book topic, write an outline, and create a writing plan in just 90-minutes! Finally, feel confident that you will actually finish your book. Get started now for just $27 3. Want More Support? Join Christian Book Academy Most writers stay stuck and never finish their first draft. Inside Christian Book Academy, we help you partner with God to write your book so you can become a published author. Finally, ditch your self-doubt and take a step of faith so you can finish your book. Join Christian Book Academy (coupon code PODCAST) Get 50% off your first month by using the coupon code PODCAST at checkout.  

Amos | On the Development of Prophecy, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom In this brief introduction, I discuss the development of prophecy in Israel, the evolving definition of "Navi" and the development of "literary prophets". We then study the first set of prophecies found in the book of Amos, with an ear towards the oratorial genius of Amos and the many tools he harnesses to effect a suasive presentation to his Samarian audience. This shiur was given at the YU Seforim Sale to introduce my new volume "Amos: The Genius of Prophetic Rhetoric". The book is available at https://theseforimsale.com/collections/english-tanach-1/products/koren_0199  Source sheet >>

What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth? Pastor Nate Harlan preaches further on Christ's conversation with the Samarian woman. Listen above or download the audio file here. Photo by Em bé khóc nhè on Unsplash

Pastor Nate Harlan examines the meeting of Jesus and the Samarian woman at Jacob's well, and the connections between it and the promises God made to Israel in Hosea. Listen above or download the audio file here. Photo by Em bé khóc nhè on Unsplash

Our Pastor meticulously guards against presenting messages motivated by worldly trends, philosophy, or theology. Jesus said, "In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men' (Matthew 15:9). Like the Samarian women Jesus met at the well, billions of people worship "what they do not know."

Join us this week as we continue our Bible study with the Gospel of John, Chapter 4 verses 39-45. There are four main lessons we can learn from Jesus' encounter with the Samarian woman at the well, which can help us make an assessment of our own spiritual health. Come and see what those lessons are and how we can apply them!

The Why Behind the Work- Sermon 3 Series: Rebuilding Nehemiah 4:1-6 NLT 4 Sanballat was very angry when he learned that we were rebuilding the wall. He flew into a rage and mocked the Jews, 2 saying in front of his friends and the Samarian army officers, “What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they're doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap—and charred ones at that?” 3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was standing beside him, remarked, “That stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it!” 4 Then I prayed, “Hear us, our God, for we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back on their own heads, and may they themselves become captives in a foreign land! 5 Do not ignore their guilt. Do not blot out their sins, for they have provoked you to anger here in front of the builders.” 6 At last the wall was completed to half its height around the entire city, for the people had worked with enthusiasm. Pray, Plan, Persist What has God put in your heart to do? Share The Vision Encourage The People Start Stay Focused. Are You On The List Of Workers For The Kingdom? The Why Behind The Work Nehemiah 4:13-14 NLT So I placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas. I stationed people to stand guard by families, armed with swords, spears, and bows. Then as I looked over the situation, I called together the nobles and the rest of the people and said to them, “Don't be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!” The Why Behind The Work? God Is fighting For Us!

Raamattupiirisarja Maan ääriin asti käsittelee Apostolien tekoja ja on kuin seikkailukertomus. Seuraa kanssamme kristillisen kirkon syntyä ja sen uskomatonta leviämistä 35 vuodessa koko Rooman valtakuntaan – vastustuksesta ja vainoista huolimatta. Ihastu Paavaliin, tuohon seurakunnan vainoojaan, josta Jeesuksen kohtaaminen teki innosta palavan pakanain apostolin.

Join Monte Judah as he looks at the state of the world and the Holy Land. In the latest episode, Monte discusses the developments in Israel's war in Gaza and the upcoming conflict with Hezbollah, the changes in the U.S. political landscape, and the legalization of Jewish communities in Judean and Samarian areas. He also touches on the Israeli Supreme Court's ruling on drafting ultra-Orthodox men into the IDF and the implications of the U.S. election on global politics.HaYovel: https://serveisrael.com/ TheIsraelGuys.com Support Charities: United Nations for Israel: https://unitednationsforisrael.org/unify-donations/ Israeli Red Cross: https://secure.afmda.org/site/Donation2?df_id=2000&2000.donation=form1&s_src=GNRLWEB&FURL=UR The Nazarine Fund: https://donate.mercuryone.org/site/Donation2?df_id=1501&mfc_pref=T&1501.donation=form1 Featured Products: Dark Blue Jerusalem Kippah: https://messianicmarketplace.org/products/dark-blue-jerusalem-kippah For more information: Your donations make this show possible: https://www.messianicworldupdate.com/ambassador-level Newest DVD Teaching by Monte Judah: https://www.messianicmarketplace.org/search?type=product&q=messianic+teachings+for+christians Other Monte Judah Links: https://thegreaterexodus.com/ https://www.messianicmarketplace.org/collections/monte-judah Other Lion and Lamb Links: https://www.lionandlambministries.org/ https://LionandLamb.tv/ https://www.messianicmarketplace.org/ https://www.yavohmagazine.com/ https://www.campyeshua.com/ Contact Us at: info@lionlamb.co

Discovered in Ahab's palace just as the Bible said! Thank you for listening! Please leave a 6 star review, share and subscribe!

Today's texts are Jesus' encounters with the Samarian woman at the well and the lame man by the pool at Bethesda. In both cases, Jesus engages them, knowing what He would do but needing them to allow Him to do it. God is trying to remind us who we are talking to. After He rose from the tomb, Jesus found the apostles fishing. He knew they had no fish when He asked, "Have you any meat?" He did not ask to embarrass them but to remind them who He was and who they were: fishers of men. We need to remember who He is and who He says we are. Don't let what we lack keep us from being what he wants us to be. Too many allow what they do not have to keep them from coming to God. Jesus asked Phillip where they would get bread to feed the multitude, but the bible says Jesus already knew what He would do. Jesus doesn't need what we have or what we don't have. He can work miracles with what little we have; all we have to do is let Him. Jesus tells the woman at the well to get her husband; He already knew she didn't have one. He knew she had been married five times and that the man she was with was not her husband. Even knowing all that about her, Jesus went to Samaria to meet her and reveal Himself to her. Jesus asked the man by the Bethesda pool if he would be healed. The man responded with excuses about what he didn't have. Jesus is more interested today in what we do have because he knows what he is going to do. He knows we have no bread. He knows we have no fish. He knows we have no man to help us. He knows we have no husband, but none of that matters because He knows what He wants to do. Jesus wants to work in our lives regardless of what we lack. We do not come with fear and worry because of what God lacks; we come with fear and worry because of what we don't have. It doesn't matter what we don't have because He has all we need.

Today's texts are Jesus' encounters with the Samarian woman at the well and the lame man by the pool at Bethesda. In both cases, Jesus engages them, knowing what He would do but needing them to allow Him to do it. God is trying to remind us who we are talking to. After He rose from the tomb, Jesus found the apostles fishing. He knew they had no fish when He asked, "Have you any meat?" He did not ask to embarrass them but to remind them who He was and who they were: fishers of men. We need to remember who He is and who He says we are. Don't let what we lack keep us from being what he wants us to be. Too many allow what they do not have to keep them from coming to God. Jesus asked Phillip where they would get bread to feed the multitude, but the bible says Jesus already knew what He would do. Jesus doesn't need what we have or what we don't have. He can work miracles with what little we have; all we have to do is let Him. Jesus tells the woman at the well to get her husband; He already knew she didn't have one. He knew she had been married five times and that the man she was with was not her husband. Even knowing all that about her, Jesus went to Samaria to meet her and reveal Himself to her. Jesus asked the man by the Bethesda pool if he would be healed. The man responded with excuses about what he didn't have. Jesus is more interested today in what we do have because he knows what he is going to do. He knows we have no bread. He knows we have no fish. He knows we have no man to help us. He knows we have no husband, but none of that matters because He knows what He wants to do. Jesus wants to work in our lives regardless of what we lack. We do not come with fear and worry because of what God lacks; we come with fear and worry because of what we don't have. It doesn't matter what we don't have because He has all we need.

Cub Kuker Supernatural™ Podcast EP309 You may have seen the recent headlines stating: "Researcher shows mummified biologic remains of purported "non-human" beings to Mexican congress at UFO hearing" According to the Ancient Astronaut Theory, the Samarian mythologies of the Igigi and the Enochian mythologies of the Watchers suggest that "gray aliens," the small humanoid extraterrestrials depicted around the globe, are not against humanity. Instead, they are bound by a universal code or law to watch over and uphold the systems and processes of our planet, while refraining from direct interference. The Igigi of Sumerian Mythology: The Igigi, traditionally seen as lesser deities, are reimagined as interstellar overseers in this speculative interpretation. These ancient cosmic beings, with advanced knowledge and technology, were tasked with safeguarding the Earth and its inhabitants from cosmic threats. Over millennia, they have observed human civilization from the shadows, ensuring that the delicate balance of our planet's systems remains intact. The Enochian Watchers from Biblical Mythology: The Enochian Watchers, typically portrayed as fallen angels, are reinterpreted as cosmic custodians in this scenario. Having watched over Earth since time immemorial, these beings have taken on the role of cosmic observers, their celestial abode serving as an advanced surveillance station. They adhere to a sacred cosmic code, passed down through the ages, which forbids direct interference in human affairs. Instead, they influence humanity subtly, guiding us toward enlightenment and self-discovery. Gray Aliens and the Universal Code: Gray aliens, the widely recognized extraterrestrial species in modern UFO lore, are presented as the emissaries of the Igigi and Watchers in this speculative narrative. These small humanoid beings are bioengineered cosmic entities tasked with discreetly monitoring Earth's systems and processes. The universal code they follow mandates non-interference in human affairs, as they believe that humanity must independently evolve and overcome its challenges. The Ancient Astronaut Theory weaves a narrative that suggests that gray aliens are not hostile but rather act as cosmic guardians, silently watching over humanity and our planet. They operate according to a universal code or law, adhering to the principle of non-interference while aiding humanity's progress from behind the scenes. Note: The Ancient Astronaut Theory remains a topic of debate and speculation rather than a widely accepted scientific or historical hypothesis. ×

Message for 08/13/2023 "When I Face Resistance" by Justin McTeer. *All verses are NLT unless otherwise noted* Ezra 1:1-4 - In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, the Lord fulfilled the prophecy he had given through Jeremiah. He stirred the heart of Cyrus to put this proclamation in writing and to send it throughout his kingdom: 2 “This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Any of you who are his people may go to Jerusalem in Judah to rebuild this Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives in Jerusalem. And may your God be with you! 4 Wherever this Jewish remnant is found, let their neighbors contribute toward their expenses by giving them silver and gold, supplies for the journey, and livestock, as well as a voluntary offering for the Temple of God in Jerusalem.” Nehemiah 2:5-8a - 5 I replied, “If it please the king, and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried.” 6 The king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked, “How long will you be gone? When will you return?” After I told him how long I would be gone, the king agreed to my request. 7 I also said to the king, “If it please the king, let me have letters addressed to the governors of the province west of the Euphrates River, instructing them to let me travel safely through their territories on my way to Judah. 8 And please give me a letter addressed to Asaph, the manager of the king's forest, instructing him to give me timber. I will need it to make beams for the gates of the Temple fortress, for the city walls, and for a house for myself.” Ezra 4:1-4 - The enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were rebuilding a Temple to the Lord, the God of Israel. 2 So they approached Zerubbabel and the other leaders and said, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God just as you do. We have sacrificed to him ever since King Esarhaddon of Assyria brought us here.” 3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other leaders of Israel replied, “You may have no part in this work. We alone will build the Temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, just as King Cyrus of Persia commanded us.” 4 Then the local residents tried to discourage and frighten the people of Judah to keep them from their work. 5 They bribed agents to work against them and to frustrate their plans. This went on during the entire reign of King Cyrus of Persia and lasted until King Darius of Persia took the throne. Haggai 2:1-5 - Then on October 17 of that same year, the Lord sent another message through the prophet Haggai. 2 “Say this to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of God's people there in the land: 3 ‘Does anyone remember this house—this Temple—in its former splendor? How, in comparison, does it look to you now? It must seem like nothing at all! 4 But now the Lord says: Be strong, Zerubbabel. Be strong, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people still left in the land. And now get to work, for I am with you, says the Lord of Heaven's Armies.5 My Spirit remains among you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt. So do not be afraid.' Nehemiah 4:1-3 - Sanballat was very angry when he learned that we were rebuilding the wall. He flew into a rage and mocked the Jews,2 saying in front of his friends and the Samarian army officers, “What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they're doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap—and charred ones at that?” 3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was standing beside him, remarked, “That stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it!” Nehemiah 4:6-13 - At last the wall was completed to half its height around the entire city, for the people had worked with enthusiasm. 7 But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the work was going ahead and that the gaps in the wall of Jerusalem were being repaired, they were furious.8 They all made plans to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw us into confusion. 9 But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves. 10 Then the people of Judah began to complain, “The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves.” 11 Meanwhile, our enemies were saying, “Before they know what's happening, we will swoop down on them and kill them and end their work.” 12 The Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again, “They will come from all directions and attack us!” 13 So I placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas. I stationed the people to stand guard by families, armed with swords, spears, and bows. Nehemiah 6:1-9 - Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies found out that I had finished rebuilding the wall and that no gaps remained—though we had not yet set up the doors in the gates.2 So Sanballat and Geshem sent a message asking me to meet them at one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But I realized they were plotting to harm me, 3 so I replied by sending this message to them: “I am engaged in a great work, so I can't come. Why should I stop working to come and meet with you?” 4 Four times they sent the same message, and each time I gave the same reply. 5 The fifth time, Sanballat's servant came with an open letter in his hand, 6 and this is what it said: “There is a rumor among the surrounding nations, and Geshem tells me it is true, that you and the Jews are planning to rebel and that is why you are building the wall. According to his reports, you plan to be their king. 7 He also reports that you have appointed prophets in Jerusalem to proclaim about you, ‘Look! There is a king in Judah!' “You can be very sure that this report will get back to the king, so I suggest that you come and talk it over with me.” 8 I replied, “There is no truth in any part of your story. You are making up the whole thing.” 9 They were just trying to intimidate us, imagining that they could discourage us and stop the work. So I continued the work with even greater determination. Expect Resistance 2 Corinthians 4:8-18 - We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. 11 Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies.12 So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you. 13 But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.” 14 We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. 15 All of this is for your benefit. And as God's grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. 16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. Ephesians 6:10-12 - A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Be determined Nehemiah 6:9 - They were just trying to intimidate us, imagining that they could discourage us and stop the work. So I continued the work with even greater determination. Hebrews 12:1-2 - Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.

Your King James Bible gives an amazing account of a good Shepard who, when just one of His flock had strayed, was willing to momentarily leave the 99 of His sheep to go and reclaim just one who had wandered away. That doesn't sound like very good management skills, does it? Leaving the majority of His flock just to get one back? Well, what if that one was you? We live in a hostile day and age, everywhere you look amongst the saved and lost, people seem angrier than they've ever been. People are willing to fight over just about anything and everything. But even in this late hour, as the spirit of Antichrist continues to rise, the Saviour is stilling tugging on men's hearts to go and look for little, lost sheep. We talk a lot about working to see lost people get saved, and we should, absolutely. But very little is said about working to reclaim and reconcile our saved brothers and sisters in Christ who have wandered away from the fold. What would Jesus do? He'd go get them. In the account of the good Samaritan, Jesus shows you a man who is beaten, robbed and left for dead. As he lay there, there comes upon him a priest, a Levite, and a man of Samaria despised by the Jews. The priest won't help, the Levite won't help, but the lowly Samarian not only helps, but gives sacrificially to see him made whole again. On this Sunday Service, I'd like to ask which one of these 3 men are you?

Recorded 06-25-2023. Pastor Larry Stephens brings a message from Acts 8:4-8 on the importance of living a joyful life in Christ. What drove the early church to go and preaching in spirit of persecution? What caused the people of Samarian to be overwhelmed with joy? Listen in and find out.   

Mike and Richie discuss the latest commitment in the class of 2024 in football from former UCF commit LB Samarian Robinson (Lincoln High School in Tallahassee, Florida). They close by discussing some basketball recruiting and what they're hearing about Caleb McConnell on the eve of the NBA Draft.

The Woman of Samaria (a meeting at the well) The Samarian woman with a reputation met a man at the well that knew everything about her and He accepted her and changed her life.

Ever since I was a young man of college-age, I've been obsessed with the book of Enoch. I remember picking this text up and reading it when the Internet was new.  I was able to read a PDF of the Book of Enoch online when I was around 17 years old. I remember being that many college-aged social events, discussing with other guys on the patio during the wee hours of the morning on many different occasions.  We would discuss in a deeply philosophical manner the secrets of the heavens, and the possible key to unlocking the truths in the Bible, all found within the book of Enoch! What are the secrets of the universe, how do the planets move and dance in their perfect patterns? What is the difference between something that is fated and something that is destined, as well as what are the the origins of humanity and the gods? The book of Enoch calls the gods "the watchers" you may be familiar with the biblical term “elohim“ which is plural of divinities or deities. The book of Enoch has stark ties to other mythologies, including the ‘Sumerian creation myth' detailing the Anunnaki gods. Even Noah himself has a Sumerian archetype present within the mythology that predates the stories of Noah, as well as a counterpart to Enoch himself detailed within the Samarian mythology. Zachariah Sitchin' books all detail these connections very closely and I have found some deep truths within his book “The Lost Book of ENKI” which I highly recommend, if you are looking to dive deeper and have a much higher view of how all of these mythologies are tied together. * please note always do your own research. This is purely my opinion, and the interpretation I have crafted from my studies based on the original texts. ✝️ Faith

Did you know that Noah actually has a Sumerian counterpart from a much earlier mythology? Within the Samarian mythology are the ANUN-NAKI ‘gods' hailing from planet NI-BARU rather than calling them watchers as the book of Enoch does they are depicted the little ‘g' gods.  ZI-SU-SUDRA is the Samarian counterpart of Noah and EN-MED-URAN-KI is the Prototypical Enoch who within the biblical mythology is said to have been taken up to heaven by God. However, within one particular mythology written in an early Semitic language this “EN-MED-URAN-KI”  was taken to heaven by the ‘gods' SHA-MASH and A-DAD EN-MED-URAN-KI appears as the seventh name on the Sumerian King List. Enoch is listed as the seventh figure in the list of patriarchs within the Biblical Genesis account. According to the mythology found within the ENUMA ELISH and other clay tablets it was around 450,000 years ago, ancient astronauts touched down on planet Earth in search of gold they established ER-IDU "home in the far away" they found a hominid on our planet, that they began to genetically modify and splice with their own technology to make Homo sapiens. The Sumerian and Akkadian clay tablets; Babylonian and Assyrian libraries; Egyptian, Hittite, and Canaanite mythologies; as well as the biblical stories, all depict the wars and unions between gods and men. The rest, as they say, is history, and has unfolded in an epic tale of gods, fallen angels, and humanity but what does all of this mean in context to our own ascension protocol? Today we will discuss that very thing. * please note always do your own research. This is purely my opinion, and the interpretation I have crafted from my studies based on the original texts. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cubkuker/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cubkuker/support

#123// Is your invitation falling flat because you haven't realized it's actually a process?I'm sharing a message I recently shared at my home church of REVIVE Church of Tampa around what it really takes to effectively invite someone to Come and See what Jesus and His Kingdom. Whether, for you, that means inviting someone to a church service or simply into a conversation about what Jesus has done for you, it's generally going to take more than just one "touch." As I've studied the story of Jesus inviting the Samarian woman at the well to Come and See, I've noticed seven distinct steps to an effective invitation.It's time to press back on the disappointment that has come from asking someone to visit your church, only to hear "No" repeatedly. It's time to let go of the false expectation that the direct invite is the only step in truly encouraging someone to Come and See. If you're ready to learn the seven steps of an effective invitation, I want you to grab your Bible, your journal and a pen, and . . . Let's Go!JOIN ERICA FOR OUR NEXT REVIVE WOMAN GIRLS NIGHT OUT ON FRIDAY MARCH 24 @ 7PM ET · Join Erica in person at the REVIVE Church of Tampa campus in West Tampa, FL or online via streaming on our REVIVE Woman Facebook page as we TESTIFY to the goodness, the glory and the grace of God. What's your testimony? Let's gather and be encouraged, empowered and equipped to make our sound into the earth for Jesus and His Kingdom. For more info and to RSVP go here: revivewoman.org/gnoinfo.

No Samaritans Need Apply! "No Irish," "No Chinamen," "No Colored"... the out-group may change, but prejudice remains. In a different time and location, the Samaritans were the despised race. Why was that? Why did "the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans?" The Bible gives us a fair bit of information on that question. Today Pastor Jim will help us gather the scattered references so that we can appreciate the absurdity of the idea of a "good Samarian." Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand. You can purchase a copy of this message, unsegmented for broadcasting and in its entirety, for $7 on a single CD by calling +1 (800) 984-2313, and of course you can always listen online or download the message for free. RS02012023_0.mp3Scripture References: Luke 10:25-37

Tämän päivän evankeliumiteksti jatkaa suoraan siitä, mihin viime pyhänä jäätiin. Jeesus on matkoillaan päätynyt Samarian kaupunkiin ja siellä saanut samarialaisen naisen uskomaan, vaikka juutalaisten ja samarialaisten välinen kanssakäyminen oli siihen aikaan käytännössä olematonta. Nainen palaa Jeesuksen kanssa käymänsä keskustelun jälkeen kaupunkiin ja ilmoittaa siellä asuville, että hän on kohdannut Messiaan. Osa heistä uskoo välittömästi kuultuaan naiselta Jeesuksen ihmeteoista, ja loput viimeistään silloin, kun Jeesus on kahden päivän ajan opettanut kaupungin ihmisiä.Tämän pyhän teema on ”Jeesus herättää uskon” ja se johdatteleekin meitä uskon peruskysymyksien luokse. Miten voimme ylläpitää omaa uskoamme ja saada muita uskomaan, kun Jeesus itse ei voi tulla kertomaan Jumalan pelastavasta suunnitelmasta? Saatamme ehkä kohdata tilanteita, joissa yritämme selittää uskoamme muille, mutta se tuntuu haastavalta. Kuulostanko minä nyt ihan typerykseltä, kun kerron evankeliumista ja Kristuksesta.Tämän päivän evankeliumitekstin äärellä minussa heräsi pieni kateuden tunne. Voi kunpa minäkin olisin voinut olla yksi heistä, joka kuulee itse Jumalan Pojan puhetta. Olisinpa minäkin voinut asettua hänen jalkojensa juureen ja ottaa vastaan kaiken sen viisauden, jota hän jakoi kansalle. Kuitenkin syventyessäni tähän tunteeseen huomaan, että en ole yhtään sen huonommassa osassa. Saanhan minäkin, miltei kaksituhatta vuotta Jeesuksen kuoleman jälkeen syntynyt ihminen, edelleen vastaanottaa tämän viisauden juuri sellaisena, kuin se on aikoinaan lausuttukin. Ne ihmiset, jotka ovat Jeesuksen aikana eläneet, ovat säilyttäneet ja pitäneet sydämessään kaiken sen, mitä heille on opetettu, jotta mekin saamme tulla osallisiksi siitä. Pyhä Henki on toiminut heissä, jottei Jumalan Pojan toiminta haihtuisi historian havinaan. Jumala on kutsunut luokseen ihmisiä sukupolvi toisensa jälkeen ja varjellut pyhää kirjoitusta, jotta mekin voimme kokoontua sen äärelle.Meillä on nykypäivänä etuoikeus tarttua Raamattuun hetkenä minä hyvänsä ja lukea, kuinka Jumala on alusta lähtien rakastanut ihmisiä, ja lopulta antanut oman poikansa sovittamaan ihmiskunnan synnit, jotta meidän ei tarvitse koskaan pelätä. Emme ole ainoastaan sen varassa, mitä joku toinen ihminen meille kertoo Raamatusta ja Jumalasta, vaan voimme syventyä evankeliumiin itse. Se jos jokin on Jumalan suurta lahjaa. Myös me saamme samarialaisten tavoin todeta: ”Nyt emme enää usko vain sinun puheesi perusteella. Me olemme nyt itse kuulleet häntä ja tiedämme, että hän todella on maailman pelastaja.”Mielestäni ei ole kuitenkaan hedelmällistä tehdä tämän perusteella sellaista päätelmää, että vain sellaiset kristityt, jotka tuntevat Raamatun kuin omat taskunsa, olisivat oikeanlaisia tai parempia. On totta, että Raamatun lukeminen voi auttaa meitä syventymään omaan uskoomme. Valitettavasti maailma on kuitenkin sellainen, ettei kaikilla ihmisillä edelleenkään ole samanlaisia mahdollisuuksia kuin meillä. Lukutaidottomuus tai raamatunkäännöksen poissaolo voivat tehdä evankeliumin vastaanottamisesta vaikeampaa. Sitä paitsi koko evankeliumin tärkein sanoma, kuten tiedämme, tiivistyy lauseeseen ”Jumala on rakastanut maailmaa niin paljon, että antoi ainoan Poikansa, jottei yksikään, joka häneen uskoo, joutuisi kadotukseen, vaan saisi iankaikkisen elämän”.Usko ei ole jotain, joka olisi meistä itsestämme kiinni. Sen on Jumala meille lahjoittanut, emmekä suinkaan ole itse voineet tehdä mitään sen eteen. Vaikka ihminen osaisi koko Raamatun ulkoa, ei se tarkoita, että hän sillä perusteella saisi uskon. Usko on Pyhän Hengen toimintaa meissä. Usko on myös jotakin syvempää, kuin raamatuntekstien lukemista ja ymmärtämistä. Eiväthän nämä Raamatun sanat merkitse meille mitään ilman uskoamme.Tämän päivän teema tuo mieleen Heprealaiskirjeen kohdan: ”Usko on sen todellisuutta, mitä toivotaan, sen näkemistä, mitä ei nähdä.”. ”Usko on sen todellisuutta, mitä toivotaan, sen näkemistä, mitä ei nähdä.”. Pysähdyn tuon kappaleen kohdalla usein. Se myös palautuu mieleeni usein. Tässä kohdassa käytetty kreikankielinen sana hypostasis, joka on käännetty Kirkkoraamatussa ”todellisuutena”, voi merkitä myös perustusta tai vahvistusta. Todellisuus, perustus ja vahvistus ovat kaikki sanoja, jotka helposti nousevatkin mieleen, kun ajattelee uskoa. Mielestäni tämä Heprealaiskirjeen lause pukee sanoiksi erittäin hyvin sen, mitä itse en oikein osaa sanallistaa. Kun me uskomme, tulee Jumalan äärettömästä rakkaudesta todellista. Pelastuksesta tulee käsinkosketeltavaa. Armosta tulee konkreettista. Uskossa me näemme toivon synkimmilläkin hetkillä. Me voimme nähdä toisessa ihmisessä Jumalan kuvan.Usko on ihmeellinen lahja. Joskus itsekin jään pohtimaan, miten voin olla niin varma siitä, että Jeesus on Vapahtaja. Mutta miten muutenkaan voisin nojautua niin vankasti tähän totuuteen, kuin uskon kautta? Heprealaiskirje jatkaa: ”Uskon avulla me ymmärrämme, että maailmat on luotu Jumalan sanalla: näkyvä on syntynyt näkymättömästä”. Ymmärrys on tässä yhteydessä hyvä sana. Maailmankaikkeus voi tuntua ihmisestä pelottavalta, liian suurelta ja liian kaoottiselta. Ihmisluontoon kuuluu totuuden etsiminen ja ymmärryksen tavoittelu. Tieteen saavutukset ovat esimerkkiä tästä. Silti voi jäädä tunne, että jotain puuttuu. Uskomme ei välttämättä vastaa kysymykseen ”Miten?” vaan ”Miksi?”. Hieman samalla tavalla kuin luotamme toteamukseen 1+1=2, luotamme siihen, että kolmiyhteinen Jumala pitää huolta meistä. Uskomme on elämämme, hypostasis, perusta.Jeesuksen viisaudet eivät ole meille enää vain mustetta paperilla, vaan usko ja Pyhän Hengen toiminta saa meissä aikaan samanlaisen luottamuksen, kuin tämän päivän evankeliumitekstin samarialaisissa.

| Devotional by Dan McCauley | Sometimes we have to go places that we don't necessarily want to go. This is clear in John 4:4 when Jesus had to go through Samaria as it would be easier than going around the area. The problem is the disciples didn't want to go that way as they haven't gotten along with Samaritans. If it wasn't for the fortitude to go into Samarian, they never would have met the woman at the well.

The Samarian woman at the well

The Samarian woman at the well

Since the garden of Eden, the devil has tirelessly counterfeited God's work on the earth. Jesus told the Samarian woman he met at the well, "True worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23-24). Moreover, Jesus told the woman, "You know not what you worship" (v. 22). If there are true worshippers, there are also false worshippers! Jesus stated, "In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines, the commandments of men" (Matthew 15:9). Brother Singh asks, "Do we know what we worship?"

Listen to the two wonderful stories from the Bible about the birth of Jesus, and the good Samaritan.Storybook Bundles has a variety of stories for children and parents to enjoy together on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, and much more.https://storybookbundlespodcast.buzzsprout.comStorybook Bundles Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/storybookbundlescurlyblue productionsletsread415@gmail.com#storybookbundlesBuzzsprout:Podcast website URL: https://storybookbundlespodcast.buzzsprout.comSpotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/6z6gbSiQaflljKhIZyRZAband so much more.Do You Need A Narrator For Children's Storybooks?If you have a Children's Short Storybook that you'd like me to do an audio narration, you can contact me regarding plans, and pricing. Use Storybook Bundles on Facebook Messenger, or email: letsread415@gmail.com.At this time I am only accepting Storybooks for ages 0-3, and NO more than 300 words long.Thank you,EGRStorybook Bundles PodcastIs on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, and much more.Storybook Bundles Links:https://storybookbundlespodcast.buzzsprout.comStorybook Bundles Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/storybookbundlesStorybook Bundles Instagram Page:https://www.instagram.com/storybookbundles/curlyblue productionsletsread415@gmail.com#storybookbundlesDo You Need A Narrator For Children's Storybooks?If you have a Children's Short Storybook that you'd like me to do an audio narration, you can contact me regarding plans, and pricing. Use Storybook Bundles on Facebook Messenger, or email: letsread415@gmail.com.At this time I am only accepting Storybooks for ages 0-3, and NO more than 300 words long.Thank you,EGR If You like the Storybook Bundles Podcast, please Like, Follow, Subscribe, and even share it with family and friends.Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

Esta semana venimos dispuestos a salirnos de los márgenes convencionales. Arrancaremos huyendo de los estereotipos de Hollywood en Nop! la película más divisiva de Jordan Peele, Continuamos con los márgenes de la sociedad donde se esconde Samaritan, un superhéroe vigilante dado por muerto para terminar con los márgenes de la sociedad inglesa en una historia más pequeña en Ali y Ava. Todo ello, como siempre, sin spoilers.

DIG IN QUESTIONSIn light of this week's message, we encourage you to consider these questions and dig in a little deeper with your personal study, with your family, or with your small group.1. Do you consider yourself more spontaneous or more intentional in life? Why do you think that is?2. Do you think Jesus was more spontaneous or more intentional in His life? Why do you think that is?3. In this Red Letter series, we learned how one of the character traits so powerful about Jesus is that he is intentional. Read John 4:1-26, 39-42. What is one thing that stood out to you in this story?4. Jesus amazingly showed a great intentional evangelistic plan. He intentionally:Sought- Went out of His way (Samarian woman)Shared Similarities- Found common ground (water)Shown Sin- Called out (many husbands/adultery)Shared Salvation- The Gospel (I am the Messiah)Have you ever intentionally shared the Gospel with someone like Jesus? If so, how did it go? If not, what has stopped you?5. Who (individual or group of people) has God placed in your life that you have been intentionally ignoring vs. intentionally engaging? What would it look like for you to live intentionally like Jesus, and go out of your way to engage, find common ground, share truth in love, and ultimately share the hope you have found in Jesus? Are you willing to live intentionally like Jesus?

Serving TogetherPastor Brian Farka Nehemiah 3:1-5 Then Eliashib the high priest and the other priests started to rebuild at the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set up its doors, building the wall as far as the Tower of the Hundred, which they dedicated, and the Tower of Hananel. People from the town of Jericho worked next to them, and beyond them was Zaccur son of Imri. The Fish Gate was built by the sons of Hassenaah. They laid the beams, set up its doors, and installed its bolts and bars. Meremoth son of Uriah and grandson of Hakkoz repaired the next section of wall. Beside him were Meshullam son of Berekiah and grandson of Meshezabel, and then Zadok son of Baana. Next were the people from Tekoa, though their leaders refused to work with the construction supervisors. Nehemiah 4:1-3 Sanballat was very angry when he learned that we were rebuilding the wall. He flew into a rage and mocked the Jews saying in front of his friends and the Samarian army officers, “What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they're doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap—and charred ones at that?” Tobiah the Ammonite, who was standing beside him, remarked, “That stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it!” Nehemiah 6:15-16 So on October 2 the wall was finished—just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God. Nehemiah 8:1-2 all the people assembled with a unified purpose at the square just inside the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had given for Israel to obey. So on October 8 Ezra the priest brought the Book of the Law before the assembly, which included the men and women and all the children old enough to understand. Matthew 16:18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock'), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. Reaching the Unreached … the Gospel SharedThe Gospel InterruptedThe Gospel Re-ignitedServing Together … How the Gospel Expands

"This isn't why I enlisted," said one soldier as he refused to stop people from reaching disputed Samarian town. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/yaar-ben-emmett/support

Welcome to Hope City Church! NEW If you are new to Hope City text “Welcome” to 502-754-3212 SERMON GUIDE Nehemiah 4:1-9 1 Sanballat was very angry when he learned that we were rebuilding the wall. He flew into a rage and mocked the Jews, 2saying in front of his friends and the Samarian army officers, “What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they're doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap—and charred ones at that?” 3Tobiah the Ammonite, who was standing beside him, remarked, “That stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it!” 4Then I prayed, “Hear us, our God, for we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back on their own heads, and may they themselves become captives in a foreign land! 5Do not ignore their guilt. Do not blot out their sins, for they have provoked you to anger here in front of the builders.” 6At last the wall was completed to half its height around the entire city, for the people had worked with enthusiasm. 7 But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the work was going ahead and that the gaps in the wall of Jerusalem were being repaired, they were furious. 8They all made plans to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw us into confusion. 9But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves. CONNECT Connect with us! Visit the Hope City Church website at https://realhopenow.com/ , connect through the Hope City Church Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/realhopenow or download the Hope City Church Louisville app from the android or apple app store. CARE If you or a loved one is in need of prayer or care, we would love to help! Simply open the Hope City Church Louisville app, click on "Pastoral Care" or "Prayer Request" and fill out the form so that we can know how we can help. Or go to https://app.textinchurch.com/groups/webform/MjYxMDg4 and send us your prayer request. GIVE Our heart is to share as much hope with as many people as possible, and you make that happen because of your generosity. Click the link below to give. http://www.realhopenow.com/give/ Thank you for tuning in to today's service. We'll see you soon!

We take a look at Jesus meeting the Samarian woman at the well and how this encounter points to WORSHIP as the true answer to living a life devoted to God.

Just like the famous Route 66 connects Chicago to Los Angeles in the United States, Route 60 in Israel connects the Bible's most famous events and people. From Abraham to Moses, Jacob to King David, and David to Jesus Christ... this Biblical Heritage Highway is the original Bible Belt and is in the works to become a new pilgrimage for the biblically minded tourist. Yishai Fleisher is the impetus behind the move to make Route 60 more than a two-lane highway, but an historic site commemorating shared lineages. The four-thousand-year-old path stretches the length from the Samarian city of Shechem thru Shiloh and Beth El where Jacob saw a vision of a ladder connecting Heaven and Earth, and thru Jerusalem and Bethlehem the birthplace of Jesus... all the way to Be'er Sheva, the capitol of the Negev desert "where Abraham and Isaac found water and taught wayfarers about the One God." On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Yishai Fleisher, the International Spokesperson for the Jewish Community of Hebron, talks about the importance to this highway as a shared culture between the three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islaam... and how Route 60 can be a true pathway to peace in the Middle East. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Season 2022 Episode 4: First, Yishai and Malkah marvel at the beautiful snow that covered Judea and fight against besmirchers of the Samarian hilltops. [00:30:40] Then, Masha Merkulova founded Club Z to help teens in North America face antisemitism and grown up as strong Zionists. [01:02:43] Finally, Table Torah on the parsha of Mishpatim: why God gives us the right to heal and to meet out corporal punishment.

Season 2022 Episode 4: First, Yishai and Malkah marvel at the beautiful snow that covered Judea and fight against besmirchers of the Samarian hilltops. [00:30:40] Then, Masha Merkulova founded Club Z to help teens in North America face antisemitism and grown up as strong Zionists. [01:02:43] Finally, Table Torah on the parsha of Mishpatim: why God gives us the right to heal and to meet out corporal punishment.Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:SHOW GUEST LINKS:Club Z Website: https://clubz.org/SPONSOR LINKS:The Israel Bible https://theisraelbible.com/Prohibition Pickle https://www.facebook.com/Prohibitionpickle/Hebron Fund https://hebronfund.org/The Jewish Press https://www.jewishpress.com/PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://yishaifleisher.com/podcast/ Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3mIsdfU Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3oP2Reo4JYnfIJdDUrQS2c RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1271258.rss YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/YishaiFleisherTV SUPPORT & CONNECT:Check out the sponsors above, it's the best way to support this podcastSupport on Givecloud: https://kumah.givecloud.co/Twitter: https://twitter.com/YishaiFleisherInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/yishaifleisherLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yishaifleisher/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YishaiFleisherSupport the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/yishai)

DISCLAIMER: The view(s) and opinions expressed on this show by the host(s) do not necessarily reflect those of the channel. Furthermore, the views and the opinions of the guest(s) do not reflect those of the host(s) and the channel.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Everything SA Music Premium South African Music Content Musa Keys (N/A)Shot: @reagopane & @blvcksteph Edited & Interviewers: @reagopane & @blvcksteph Sound by: @nkhaoticFollow : @musakeys@everythingsamusic

Why GOD sent me to Israel continues in GOD's plan for me.GOD came and talked. One man from the Israelite Samarian tribe came and talked.I have no control over what the spirit that visit me is going to talk about. I hope you understand it is not me to blame if it is something said that make you upset / angry.

GOD'S WRATH AND RECONCILIATION AND GOSPEL  Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed (apokalypto – uncovered) from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. (Note; This is present tense) God's wrath is an act of love nested in justice and truth as well as in mercy and forgiveness. God's wrath (orge – intense feeling of indignation) is an expression of his protection of humanity against the destructive effects of sin that we commit against each other. The main causes of the pain and harm that we inflict upon one another are the corruption of Justice and truth in the misuse of power over each other and our malevolent attitudes towards one another. This protective indignation of God is dealt out through his discipline upon us individually and corporately. This expression of God's justice goes hand in hand with God's offer of his mercy and forgiveness to all the world which brings about his great acts of redemption and reconciliation with all mankind.  So he exercises his discipline like a loving Father upon us as his children to change our character and very nature to be like his own. That has to be proclaimed, and that is the reason for the absolute necessity of the Gospel. The nature of God's wrath is also that it is revealed (apokolypto), which means that it acts by uncovering the sin of injustice and the suppression of truth that is occurring in the world.  The Bible shows us how God has acted upon the world throughout history as a loving Father to intervene when we go off track and to bring us back to himself, such as with the flood of Noah's time and with the judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah in Abraham's time. These have also been times of God's gracious intervention and deliverance of those faithful to him, as with Moses bringing God's people out of Egypt and the time of their entering into the promised Land under Joshua. The greatest of all interventions in a time of injustice and suppression of truth was the Incarnation of Jesus as the living God who came to us to give us his life and his heart of love to the Father through the Holy Spirit. We are currently living in a time of a rapid escalation of the corruption of justice and truth in our world. The Godly values which used to be a foundation of our society have been replaced in many cases with ideological values and virtues that compete with one another for a place of influence and political power. God is allowing many areas of injustice and suppression of truth to be uncovered (apocolypto) and to come under his hand of discipline, and in a widespread communal crisis like a pandemic where people do not know what to trust or who to trust anymore that uncertainty becomes a crisis of anxiety concerning the future. It also becomes a crisis of anxiety concerning a scarcity of outward things that were once expected to be on hand but are now often not even within reach. In an environment like that suspicion and blame and resentment is out there, and it is at times like this where God counters all of that negative activity with a Gospel of hope and an abundance of grace where God is always within reach and peace can abound in our inner lives.  God created us to be at one with him – that is, to be at peace with him (Eirene – peace – oneness). And even more than that, to be sharing in his divine nature. God lived in perfect oneness and harmony as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, where there was perfect love and perfect agreement. There was no need for forgiveness there because there was no sin of selfishness from one against the other, so there was no wrath because there was no sin, and there was no temptation because perfect love cannot be tempted. That was the perfect way to live in a perfect relationship.  So what happened? Why couldn't God create us as very nice people who loved one another with the same love that Father and Son and Holy Spirit have? Because only God is perfect and anyone and anything he creates is not perfect, and even the angels who are spirit beings are not perfect, and as we know, they are able to be tempted, like Lucifer. He was deceived into thinking he could have what he wanted without God, and so he became proud and independent and rebelled against God. And he deceived mankind into thinking the same way. It is obvious really - We believe a lie about who God is and what he is like and then we believe a lie about who we are as an independent self with a right to have certain things, and then we rebel against the authority that stops us getting what we want, and then we become disobedient and miss the mark of staying close to God and then we sin, and sin runs the show from there, causing harm to our own soul and to the people around us. God hates sin because it separates us from him AND it destroys our soul. Isaiah 59:1 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear. Only he can do something about that. Left to themselves people wander off track. So what does God do?' He uncovers all the disorder and corruption that is waiting to be exposed for his purpose of shaking and converting the minds and hearts of people who have resisted him. God's love feels the grief of the hostility of his children against him, and the pain and destruction that that hostility brings upon them. And that is all because our human independent mindset of a lie about what God is like robs us of the truth of his loving heart of goodness and blessing towards us.  His heart is constantly seeking to subdue or overcome that hostility and soften our hearts and to make us aware of his love.  How much would his love delight in there being a heart of love in the earth that loved him back as much as is humanly possible (like Jesus).      Also nested in his love is God's offer of forgiveness and mercy. We need this change of heart to get out of the ‘sin cycle'. We have to be rescued from the law of sin and death and receive his Spirit of life in Jesus. God has forgiven sin AND he does change the desire of our hearts to love him more than sin, and yet we still see the hostility of humanity against him happening in our human hearts. Only God can do something about that – we can't.  He cancelled out the sin factor of humanity that separated us from him and that allows us to be close to him and to love him back. RECONCILIATION God had to bring about reconciliation because our distrust towards God was too great an obstacle for our hearts to reach out to him.  So if God wanted peace and oneness only he could put away this estrangement between man and God. It had to be all his work.  And he was already perfect so he couldn't make himself become more perfect.  So what was he to do? Instead of remaining in his perfection of Heavenly Being who could not be tempted, he entered into our weakness as a human being who could be tempted. He came down as Jesus and so Father in Heaven had a Son in the Earth who was indwelt by his Spirit, and who could and would love him totally on behalf of all of us. But how does this change the rest of us, because we are still human beings who still can't trust God because we never have? A simplistic way to see the heart of reconciliation is this; Two friends who have fallen out decide to try and make up and bury the hatchet. Then one of them who has a very generous heart says ‘look I care deeply about our friendship and I want you to know that anything you might have done to offend me I forgive you for'. He then goes on to say ‘so are we good?' and the other one replies ‘yes we're good - thanks'  That is reconciliation – it's not a blame game. That is where the miracle of God's supernatural reconciliation comes to pass. He not only changed himself into one of us, he changed us into one of him. He died like a seed going into the ground and he rose like a plant springing up from the ground, a resurrected tree of life that bore fruit which was us as a New Creation humanity. We have his resurrected life sent from Heaven as the Holy Spirit who joins our spirit to the Spirit of God. We can now have Jesus' heart of love for his Father. That is reconciliation. The word reconciliation in the Bible is katalasso – that means a mutual change of two things to make one new thing. The supernatural miracle of God's act of reconciliation for us is that he caused both himself and us to experience a change of being. God became one of us – forever – as the risen Christ in Heaven, and he has made us one with him because the Bible says we are ‘partakers of his divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through sinful desires' (2Peter 1:4) That is the Gospel of Peace – oneness – that is what Paul preached. Paul was not told to tell the world to make peace with God, but to tell the world that God has made peace with them.  2 Corinthians 5:19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting men's sins against them but blotting them out. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others… That is the message of the Gospel – Accept the forgiveness of God through Jesus and begin to walk in a new way. There are examples of Jesus demonstrating both God's wrath and his reconciliation as he walked among the people and ministered to them. There is the story of the Jewish elders who approached Jesus and brought forward a woman who had been caught in adultery, and they placed her in front of Jesus and told him that the Law of Moses commanded them to stone such women. They asked Jesus what he had to say about that. The wrath of God was revealed (apocalypto – uncovered) upon these men as Jesus began to write in the sand, uncovering their sins before all that were there watching. Each of the men walked off in shame and guilt. Then Jesus turned to the woman and the reconciliation of God was ordained upon her as her sins were not charged to her but were forgiven. In a similar way in the Gospel of John chapter 4, Jesus was sitting by a well and a Samarian woman came to draw water and Jesus asked her to please draw some water for him to drink as he was thirsty. On this occasion God's wrath was nested in his love as a most effective tough love wake-up call about her disordered life. When Jesus said to her ‘you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband' the woman said to him, ‘Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet'. But Jesus did not berate her or condemn her. Jesus had just told her that he could give her more than just the water from the well, and that he could give her the living water of the Holy Spirit that would spring up within her, and she had said ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty'.  So in that story we have both tough love wake-up call of God's wrath uncovering her moral disorder, and the magnanimous bestowal of reconciliation in the promise of her being filled with the living water of the life of God. Her human weakness was her thirst  for love which she could never emotionally gratify, and that was satiated not only emotionally but now spiritually by God's love flowing within.  If you begin to search you will find many examples of God's wrath and God's reconciliation coming forth through the ministry of Jesus in the Gospels. A clear case of God's wrath is seen in Jesus overturning the money changers' tables in the temple uncovering the corruption and injustice of the Jewish stewards by overcharging the poor people and making a profit from the sale of the birds and animals required by law for the temple sacrifices for sin. He was expressing his Father's indignation against this corrupt abuse of power over the people in this holy place of prayer.  Notice how often the wrath is tempered by love and sadness. For example in the story of Jesus uncovering the sin of the rich young ruler's love of money, there was great sadness as he walked away from the offer to follow Jesus. There is also the beautiful example of both wrath and reconciliation in the story of the prodigal son.  Let me read this beautiful Scripture  from Romans where all that I have been sharing is encapsulated. Romans 5:8 God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us … having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him, for if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.  That solves the problem of God's wrath from his side – and now it is up to us to believe and to trust in that every moment of our lives.  That is the faith that saves our soul. THE GOSPEL Because of God's love, his wrath is a significant reality, and the very reason from God's point of view for making the Gospel so necessary and powerful. He hates the bad news of what sin does to people so he has good news about what forgiveness and reconciliation does for people. That is why there has to be a Gospel – both for those who wilfully do harm and for the poor people who get harmed. The good news is that there is forgiveness and the further good news is that there is the gift of the life of Jesus within. He gives us a new spirit - he gives us his Spirit and he gives us a new heart. People need to be told they are forgiven, and that they need no longer be separated because of the feelings of guilt and shame about their sinful behaviour, which makes them hide from God and cover up in front of each other. They need to have a new mindset – metanoia – which means repentance. The new mindset acknowledges that God is not at odds with them and they no longer need to be at odds with him. They are reconciled. They cannot have everything that they want, but they can receive every good thing that God wants for them. They are now able to have God's peace. They are now able to trust God. They can now know what it means to be saved. And they also need to know that God holds us to account to not neglect such a great salvation. Sometimes people need a wakeup call, and God is giving the world a wakeup call right now. It is like the story of the prodigal son who had to have things go so bad for him that he came to his senses and said ‘I will go home and return to my father'. He decided to settle the score with his conscience and to return to his father before the consequences of his life brought him complete ruin. I believe that in these days God wants to grow his Church as his loving and caring family that will find its voice to proclaim a loving and forgiving God who desires to turn the heart of  the world to himself - all of his sons and daughters, created in his image . Lost sheep will be found and prodigal sons and daughters will come home. The healing rain of the Holy Spirit will fall upon the hearts of men and women and grace will abound. People will call on the name of The Lord and be saved. They will receive the Spirit of wisdom and revelation of the knowledge of God. He will strengthen us with power through his Spirit in our inner being. He will do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power of his life that he has placed within us. Amen

Sam Raimi's cabin in the woods film par excellence The Evil Dead stands as the paragon of independent, cult, and horror films since it's release in 1981. It's influence is felt in the films of the Coen brothers, Peter Jackson, and Edgar Wright. It's dynamic direction and camera work declared a new and bold style for the 80s and 90s, but it's real influence for independent filmmakers is in it's success story as a bootstrapped production. (0:26) - Intro(5:32) - Trailer(8:19) - Synopsis(14:13) - Review(20:35) - Score(34:48) - Spoilers(1:20:10) - The Evil Dead Trivia Challenge(1:29:10) - Outro Art by Dustin Goebel (@dgoebel00 on Insta) https://youtu.be/NL6mioAlpJk Childhood Friends The Evil Dead launched the careers of childhood friends director Sam Raimi, and lead actor Bruce Campbell, which you probably recognize as Brisco County Jr. from Fox's 90s television hit The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. During and after high school they collaborated shooting short films on super 8 film. This film began shooting right after Sam Raimi turned 20, and he considers it a right of passage in his life. As first time filmmakers, Raimi, Campbell and producer Robert Tapert sought financing by shooting a "proof of concept" short film titled Within the Woods. The strategy worked, and as the result of many rounds of private investment, they were able to cobble together a budget of $375,000. Even Bruce Campbell's family's property in Northern Michigan was leveraged to finish the film and blow it up to the industry standard of 35 mm to be shown in theaters. https://youtu.be/6Ccmkooeo5g?t=617 Sam Raimi Talking about the budget of The Evil Dead Production Initial photography was shot over the course of 12 weeks from the end of 1979 to the beginning of 1980. It was a grueling experience for all involved. The production was shot on location in an actual cabin in the remote woods of Morristown Tennessee. The cabin had no running water, and actors would go days without showering. Campbell described being doused with fake blood so much that he could only ride in the back of a truck to get home. While filming, the cast and crew of 13 actually slept in the cabin. The conditions were so cold that Campbell said that after drying a blood soaked shirt outside, it cracked in half when he tried to put it on again. The ironic part is that Raimi and crew decided to shoot in Tennessee instead of their home state of Michigan to avoid extreme conditions in the winter. As it turned out, Michigan has an unusually tame winter, and Tennessee had one of the coldest winters in 1979. Ingenuity with a small budget The makeup and effects were accomplished by Tom Sullivan completely without CGI, relying on foam latex, corn syrup blood, and stop motion photography. The low budget production was creative in its use of makeshift camera riggings such as the "vas-o-cam" which slid the camera down wooden ramps. One of the most influential techniques was the "shaky-cam" which was accomplished by mounting the camera to a 2x4 and having two operators at each end to roughly simulate a steady-cam. This technique was used for the POV shots of the demons running through the woods, along with the final shot that was accomplished with a tripod mounted to a motorcycle driven by Raimi. The Coen brothers used the shaky-cam technique in Blood Simple after Ethan Coen was inspired as an assistant editor for The Evil Dead. Reception of The Evil Dead The film is so gory that it was unrated, and banned in many countries upon its release. The grueling and plucky production resulted in a unique and shocking film that has since become a cult icon in the horror community. Synopsis It tells the story of five Michigan State students vacationing to a remote cabin in the Tennessee country. During their playful and drug fueled exploration of the cabin, they stumble upon an ancient Samarian tome that is a translation of the Egyptian Book of the De...

Nehemiah 4 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1 Sanballat was very angry when he learned that we were rebuilding the wall. He flew into a rage and mocked the Jews, 2 saying in front of his friends and the Samarian army officers, “What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they're doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap—and charred ones at that?” 3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was standing beside him, remarked, “That stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it!” 4 Then I prayed, “Hear us, our God, for we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back on their own heads, and may they themselves become captives in a foreign land! 5 Do not ignore their guilt. Do not blot out their sins, for they have provoked you to anger here in front of the builders.” 6 At last the wall was completed to half its height around the entire city, for the people had worked with enthusiasm. 7 But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the work was going ahead and that the gaps in the wall of Jerusalem were being repaired, they were furious. 8 They all made plans to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw us into confusion. 9 But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves. 10 Then the people of Judah began to complain, “The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves.” 11 Meanwhile, our enemies were saying, “Before they know what's happening, we will swoop down on them and kill them and end their work.” 12 The Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again, “They will come from all directions and attack us!” 13 So I placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas. I stationed the people to stand guard by families, armed with swords, spears, and bows. 14 Then as I looked over the situation, I called together the nobles and the rest of the people and said to them, “Don't be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!” 15 When our enemies heard that we knew of their plans and that God had frustrated them, we all returned to our work on the wall. 16 But from then on, only half my men worked while the other half stood guard with spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. The leaders stationed themselves behind the people of Judah 17 who were building the wall. The laborers carried on their work with one hand supporting their load and one hand holding a weapon. 18 All the builders had a sword belted to their side. The trumpeter stayed with me to sound the alarm. 19 Then I explained to the nobles and officials and all the people, “The work is very spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. 20 When you hear the blast of the trumpet, rush to wherever it is sounding. Then our God will fight for us!” 21 We worked early and late, from sunrise to sunset. And half the men were always on guard. 22 I also told everyone living outside the walls to stay in Jerusalem. That way they and their servants could help with guard duty at night and work during the day. [...]

Welcome back to America's leading higher education podcast! In this episode of The EdUp Experience, sponsored by EvoLLLUtion we welcome Alfred Zaccagnino, Founder and President of the Samarian Group. Alfred gives his thoughts on higher education from a global perspective given his investment firm's impact. He discusses the critical nature of OJT (On-the-job-training) and he discusses how we are each a direct result of the five closes people to us. In his words, "health is the new wealth" given CV-19 and the change in perspective it has brought to our lives. You won't want to miss this episode for both personal and professional development! Alfred Zaccagnino is the Founder and President of the Samarian Group, a private equity firm based in NYC. Alfred Zaccagnino and his team manage many investments spanning all sectors. Under his leadership the company has explored new opportunities and expanded globally through strategic partnerships in the United States and abroad. Also a well-known charitable contributor, he supports nonprofits such Hank's Yanks and the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club. He is also an esteemed member of the Global Sustainability Network (GSN), a network of over 500 global change makers dedicated to eradicating extreme poverty, inequality and climate change by 2030. Thanks so much for tuning in. Join us again next time for another episode! Contact Us! Connect with the hosts - Elvin Freytes, Elizabeth Leiba, and Dr. Joe Sallustio ● If you want to get involved, leave us a comment or rate us! ● Join the EdUp community at The EdUp Experience! ● Follow us on Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter | YouTube Thanks for listening! We make education your business!

Download Amos 3-4 We are in the Exile Stream reading from the New King James Version this week. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Stream | Donate Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis Lord God, we want to be people who hear and heed your warnings. We are reminded of the words in Proverbs, that "a word to the wise is sufficient." May we hear you in the Words you have spoken, the whispers you send, the promptings you put in our hearts. Teach us aright and renew a right spirit in us.  Amen. 3 - The words of God's prophet must be heard and heeded for they are undeniably true and right. The word Amos gave was accurate [but ignored by the people of the northern kingdom]. They were deep in sinful behavior, strangely they were also very religious also. It was religion their way. Therefore God was prepping to send a vicious army against them. And they were deaf to the warning, however, since they were prospering and living in impressive luxury.  The symbolism and the questions Amos asks in ch. 3 are astonishing --> for the fact that the people of Israel just did not listen!  Horrid things would befall them and soon. It would be less than 20 years until the meanest army on earth trounced through like wolves on the attack. These palaces were the pride of the northern kingdom, but they were all going to come down for their terrible sins.  The Bethel that is mentioned is where one of the golden calves was set up in 930 B.C. thereabouts. The goal was to dis-tract people from God ... it worked. This altar in Bethel was especially slated to be taken down. 4 - The banquets in the Samarian palaces were quite something; events of wine and song and veal actually.  Amos talks of the palaces of Samaria.  They were beautiful, stocked with sumptuous food, leaders and ladies alighting around luxuriously. And the attitude of those in these palaces was heartless and callous to anyone outside and especially to those below them in status. These palace dwellers stole mercilessly, and they were violent to anyone who objected to the theft.  Be that as it may, the cows being readied for slaughter were as pampered as the women of these banquets.  This of course until it was time to serve up some tender beef when the cows were led out with hooks in their noses and killed for dinner.  Ironically when Amos talks of the "cows of Bashan" he isn't talking to cows - he's talking to the high falutin banqueters who are about to get the latter treatment that the cows get at banquet time. Assyrians would lead any survivors away by hooking people together like multiple fish displayed on a line after fishing all day. The hook was usually pierced through the lip. !--these are Assyrians doing this to Israeli humans--!  It could hardly get worse.  But God was at the end of His patience with a people who were religious in all their systems and schedules and also riotously sinful; like a weekend frat party gone wild that left nothing to the imagination in their lecherous quest for more and more double living.  God has warned them in smaller ways with various and usually localized famines, droughts, blight, plagues, attacks and losses in battles. Well, time's up for the Israelites and they best prepare to meet their God!

Occasionally, solitude may be beneficial and necessary for us but long-lasting solitude may become a state of loneliness, leading to poor quality of life, the development of illness and emotional distress. The reasons for such solitude are different, they may exist within an individual, family and society ...The path out of isolation can be long and painful. Especially if a person fights against it alone, because interpersonal psychological needs can not be satisfied by ourselves! We can only satisfy them through interpersonal relationships. Without that, there is no personal, social and emotional development, including the development of the brain ... For growth and mental health, we need others, loving touch and appropriate incentives. Loneliness reflects the lack of relationships with others, where they could satisfy the needs of acceptance, security, affection, and love. Even the feeling of self emerges and is sharpened through interpersonal relationships. The quality of relationships with others depends on the quality of the contact. Contact facilitates the presence, authenticity, words that are delineated by silence, conversation, action. A good listener provides space for conversation and the time for the caller to tell what he is experiencing, what he is facing with, what burdens him. He is invited to join his loneliness. Through a quality dialogue, the listener helps the caller to keep in touch with reality, because one can not change what he does not accept! Instead of combating loneliness with a caller, it is important that we help him to explore, understand and possibly recognize that it is not important to change what a person is, but what a person does with what it is. Accepting contact based on the awareness and sincerity is the foundation that will remove the limits of loneliness and unlock its core. Julija PELC - Psychologist Julija Pelc, gestalt and family psychotherapist EAGT, EAP, is experienced in counseling and therapeutic work within education, health and social care. She has experiences with children, adolescents and adults, she works also with clients who had various traumatic experiences. She acquired certificates in various postgraduate programs and schools in Psychotherapy and Supervision. She likes to use creative techniques and shares knowledge and experiences at professional meetings... At Red Cross she is instructor in the First Psychosocial Aid program. She runs the professional council of the Society of Psychologists of Slovenia and volunteers at Samarian - as supervisor on the telephone for people in distress. Recorded in Udine 4th July - IFOTES Congress "Leaving loneliness, building relationships"

John 4: 1 - 33. The Woman of Samaria. In this next instalment of our series on Jesus and the People, Blaque looks at this Samarian woman and Jesus relates to her. In doing so he encourages to be outcasts like the woman and live radical lives for Jesus.

In Acts 8:1-24, the gospel is propelled forth from Jerusalem by the persecution following Stephen's death and into the unorthodox soil of Samaria. In this first occasion of cross-cultural witness, Samaria receives the word of God.

Jos kirjoituksistani on ollut sinulle hyötyä voit osoittaa kiitollisuutesi lahjoittamalla satunnaisesti tai säännöllisesti Ystävyyden Majatalossa tehtävään toipumistyöhön. Samalla tuet tämän kirjoitustyönkin edistymistä. Kohtaaminen ry:n tili: Osuuspankki: FI81 5410 0220 4035 16 viite: 7773 Poliisihallituksen lupa nro RA/2020/470, koko maassa lukuun ottamatta Ahvenanmaata. Varoja käytetään kuntouttavan toiminnan aiheuttamiin kustannuksiin. KIITOS ja Hyää Joulua sinulle Sama tekstinä lähdeviitteineen . https://teoblogi.fi/2020/12/lapsen-syntyma-ja-paimenet/

What is Culture? Culture is a group’s implied MEANING or VALUE attributed to various experiences. Culture is like water to a fish - it surrounds us, it’s all we know. You are born INTO a culture, but you are not born WITH a culture. It is learned, adopted. It can be changed.  EXAMPLE:  In my family timeliness was a huge value. We would sacrifice an enjoyable family experience in order to be on time. We arrived anywhere we were supposed to be at least 15 minutes early.  Not so in my wife’s family - they would loligag and meander until there was no possible way for them to be on time. They valued timeliness, but they valued the experience of personal freedom even more.   My wife’s family was a very collective family, therefore the family’s timelines was only as good as the slowest member… they moved together. My family was individualistic, if you weren’t on time, you would be left at home.  Those were CULTURE differences. That’s a very simple example, but make no mistake - CULTURE is a VERY POWERFUL THING and it’s a VERY PERSONAL THING.  Now when Julie and I got married, things got very interesting. We found ourselves in a battle for the culture of our new family unit. Would we arrive early? Or would we arrive when we arrive? We are still trying to figure that one out.  I would suggest to you, that the information revolution with the advent of the internet and social media has made a very BIG nation, relatively small. We wake up in the morning and we are confronted with situations experienced in LOUISVILLE, KY. We have to make a judgment call on Nancy Pelosi’s choice of a hair salon. AND each one of us is interpreting those events based on the culture that is dominant in our life. What happens when distinct cultures are slammed together in cyber space? How many of you have heard the term - CANCEL CULTURE? Today, online trolls can dig into your online past and find something you said that is OFFENSIVE to their culture and cause enough drama to get you cancelled, fired, or released from a team.  Thus we find ourselves in the midst of a national quagmire that is NOT primarily RACIAL, it is NOT primarily RELIGIOUS, it is primarily - cultural.  Various cultures jockeying for dominance and superiority, and the right to decide what the future of our civilization will look like.  It’s not entirely unlike the first year of our marriage.  The book of Nehemiah chronicles the second wave of Jews returning to Israel from Persia. The deportation into Babylon, then into Persia had systematically erased the ethnic and cultural distinctions that identified these people as Jews. Some were more Persian than Jewish, other’s were more Samarian than Jewish.  What difference does it make? It’s make all the difference in the world if you are a leader. Leadership is influencing people to do what the leader believes is best, because they want to do it.  So you have to work WITH, not AGAINST your teams values, aspirations, and goals.  Nehemiah had successfully led them to build the wall in an unbelievable 52 days (I can’t remodel a bathroom in 52 days). What Nehemiah does next is VERY important -  Now he isn’t building the wall… now he’s building the culture… which is far more difficult. 

Jeff discusses the parallels between the Samarian kings list and the genealogy in Genesis chapter 5. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/oneminbible/message

Based on John chapter 4 verses 1 to 42 Life-Giving Water As Jesus and His disciples travelled north to Galilee they went through a part of Israel called Samaria, filled with people who weren't pure blooded Jews. The pure Jews looked down on the Samarian's and, the Samarian's hated the Jews. Both did everything they could to avoid each other. As they travelled through Samaritan territory, they came to the village of Sychar. Jesus was very tired from the long walk and sat down at the side of a well - at about midday, while His disciples went on into the village to buy some food. Now, normally, the women of the village would come at a certain times of day to collect water for their families. A woman wouldn't usually go on her own to the well unless there was some kind of trouble – maybe the other women were being nasty about her, or there was some kind of emergency. But, for whatever reason, today, as Jesus sat beside the well, a Samaritan woman came to draw water from the deep well. As well as not liking Samaritans, Jewish men – and especially teachers and leaders – avoided contact with all women outside their house, even Jewish women. They wouldn't even talk to a woman out on the street – it wasn't the ‘done thing'. So can you imagine this woman's surprise when a Jewish man looked over to where she was drawing water and actually spoke to her? A Jew talking to a Samaritan was unusual enough, but a Jewish man talking to a Samaritan woman! This was unheard of! ‘Please, would you give me a drink?' Jesus asked. As the woman poured a drink for Jesus she looked at Him with a puzzled look on her face. ‘You're a Jew,' she said, ‘and I'm a Samaritan woman! Why are you asking me for a drink?' ‘If you knew the gift God's got for you - and who I am,' Jesus replied, ‘then you'd be asking me for a drink and I'd give you living water.' The woman laughed to herself, how could this man, without bucket or rope, draw water from the well? ‘You don't have a bucket or rope,' she said. ‘So where are you going to get this ‘living water' from then?' She asked. ‘Those who drink the water from this well end up getting thirsty again.' Jesus replied, ‘But the water I give takes away thirst altogether. And not only that, it becomes a never ending spring inside them, giving them eternal life!' You see, Jesus wasn't talking about ordinary water He was talking about the Holy Spirit who gives eternal life! But the woman still hadn't understood, and thinking how wonderful it would be to not need to come to the well each day she said. ‘Oh, please sir, give me some of that water. That way I won't get thirsty again and need to come here everyday.' ‘Go and get your husband,' Jesus told her. This was suddenly getting uncomfortable for the woman. ‘I don't have a husband,' she replied. ‘That's right,' Jesus said. ‘In fact you've had five husbands and the man you're living with now you aren't even married to!' The woman hadn't expected this! Who was this man? She wanted to change the topic as quickly as she could. ‘I can see you're a prophet. Erm, tell me, why do you Jews insist on worshiping God at the Temple in Jerusalem while we Samaritans say we should worship God here at Mount Gerizim?' ‘A time's coming soon when it won't matter where you worship the Father.' Jesus replied. ‘You Samaritans don't really know much about the God you worship, while we Jews know all about Him, because salvation comes through the Jews. But a time's coming, in fact, it's already here, when true worshippers of the Father will worship Him in spirit and in truth.' The woman was beginning to struggle with all Jesus was saying, ‘I know the Messiah will come,' she said, ‘the one they call the Christ and He'll explain everything to us.' ‘I am that Messiah!' said Jesus. (PAUSE) As Jesus spoke, the disciples returned. (P) And they couldn't believe their eyes! Jesus was talking with a Samaritan, and to make things even more uncomfortable, a Samaritan...

Understanding the Samarian woman from the view of Jesus

In this episode we speak with David Ha'Ivri, a councilman on the Samarian regional council, about the incredible potential for North American Aliyah to towns in the Shomron. Please visit our website at: IsraelTorah.org and our inspirational video series at: YouTube.com/IsraelTorah If you like this podcast, please help us, by supporting the channel! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/joshua-wander/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/joshua-wander/support

[Quran Chapter 20] 77. And We inspired Moses: "Travel by night with My servants, and strike for them a dry path across the sea, not fearing being overtaken, nor worrying." 78. Pharaoh pursued them with his troops, but the sea overwhelmed them, and completely engulfed them. 79. Pharaoh misled his people, and did not guide them. 80. O Children of Israel! We have delivered you from your enemy, and promised you by the right side of the Mount, and sent down to you manna and quails. 81. Eat of the good things We have provided for you, but do not be excessive therein, lest My wrath descends upon you. He upon whom My wrath descends has fallen. 82. And I am Forgiving towards him who repents, believes, acts righteously, and then remains guided. 83. "And what made you rush ahead of your people, O Moses?" 84. He said, "They are following in my footsteps; and I hurried on to You, my Lord, that you may be pleased." 85. He said, "We have tested your people in your absence, and the Samarian misled them." 86. So Moses returned to his people, angry and disappointed. He said, "O my people, did your Lord not promise you a good promise? Was the time too long for you? Or did you want wrath from your Lord to descend upon you, so you broke your promise to me?" 87. They said, "We did not break our promise to you by our choice, but we were made to carry loads of the people's ornaments, and we cast them in. That was what the Samarian suggested." 88. So he produced for them a calf—a mere body which lowed. And they said, "This is your god, and the god of Moses, but he has forgotten." 89. Did they not see that it cannot return a word to them, and has no power to harm them or benefit them? --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mochzamroni/support

Tamar Yonah interviews 'Super Jew' Schmuel Hacohen, one of the most unique people you have ever met. Schmuel used to get beat up in school as a kid, until one day someone said something that turned him into someone you were AFRAID to mess with! Thus, people nicknamed him 'Super Jew'. Earning that name even further, we hear about his time serving in the IDF, his friend who was murdered, and the farm he has for troubled-teens. For over 20 years, Schmuel has been working with endangered youth on his farm in Nachliel, a village in the Samarian mountains of Israel. These Israeli Jewish boys had broken souls, who everyone (including their own families) had given up on, when Schmuel stepped into the picture. He’d ‘pick them up from the dirt, teach them how to believe in themselves, and train them how to run positive, spiritual yet also down-to-earth, healthy lives and ultimately families. NOW the farm is under financial threat of closing-down! But, YOU can keep it open! Schmuel is trying to raise money, but we, his friends, would like to help more because time is urgent. We know money could be tight, trust us when we say even a little can help because time is running out. Think about it – when you donate to a cause you become an active part of all it’s success and it’s like you’re also doing it yourself! Please click here: https://tinyurl.com/uohtujy and be a 'Super Jew' and make a difference now! The Tamar Yonah Show 18NOV2019 - PODCAST

Tässä jaksossa mietiskelemme kymmentä spitaalista, jotka lähestyvät Jeesusta ja parantuvat... Luuk. 17:11-19: "Matkallaan kohti Jerusalemia Jeesus kulki Samarian ja Galilean rajaseudulla. Kun hän oli tulossa erääseen kylään, häntä vastaan tuli kymmenen spitaalista miestä. Nämä pysähtyivät matkan päähän ja huusivat:»Jeesus, opettaja, armahda meitä!» Nähdessään miehet Jeesus sanoi heille:»Menkää näyttämään itsenne papeille.» Mennessään he puhdistuivat. Huomattuaan parantuneensa yksi heistä kääntyi takaisin. Hän ylisti Jumalaa suureen ääneen, lankesi maahan Jeesuksen jalkojen juureen ja kiitti häntä. Tämä mies oli samarialainen. Jeesus kysyi:»Eivätkö kaikki kymmenen puhdistuneet? Missä ne yhdeksän muuta ovat? Tämä muukalainenko on heistä ainoa, joka palasi ylistämään Jumalaa?» Ja hän sanoi miehelle:»Nouse ja mene. Uskosi on pelastanut sinut.»"

Subscribe to the podcast and notes: https://qurantalk.podbean.com/ Quran translation on iOS:https://apple.co/2C1YGXj Additional Resources: http://www.masjidtucson.org Contact: qurantalk (at) gmail (dot) com The one sin that God will not forgive if maintained until death [4:48] GOD does not forgive idolatry, but He forgives lesser offenses for whomever He wills. Anyone who sets up idols beside GOD, has forged a horrendous offense. [30:31] You shall submit to Him, reverence Him, observe the Contact Prayers (Salat), and—whatever you do—do not ever fall into idol worship. [30:32] like those who divide their religion into sects; each party rejoicing with what they have. Some submitters want to divide but in an attempt to avoid being an idol worshiper they label individuals that they deem as hypocrites as “no longer being believers” [4:94] O you who believe, if you strike in the cause of GOD, you shall be absolutely sure. Do not say to one who offers you peace, "You are not a believer," seeking the spoils of this world. For GOD possesses infinite spoils. Remember that you used to be like them, and GOD blessed you. Therefore, you shall be absolutely sure (before you strike). GOD is fully Cognizant of everything you do. [2:272] You are not responsible for guiding anyone. GOD is the only one who guides whoever chooses (to be guided). [28:56] You cannot guide the ones you love. GOD is the only One who guides in accordance with His will, and in accordance with His knowledge of those who deserve the guidance. How to Deal With the Hypocrites  [4:88] Why should you divide yourselves into two groups regarding hypocrites (among you)? GOD is the one who condemned them because of their own behavior. Do you want to guide those who are sent astray by GOD? Whomever GOD sends astray, you can never find a way to guide them. [4:89] They wish that you disbelieve as they have disbelieved, then you become equal. Do not consider them friends, unless they mobilize along with you in the cause of GOD. If they turn against you, you shall fight them, and you may kill them when you encounter them in war. You shall not accept them as friends, or allies. "I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong." Frederick Douglass [6:52] And do not dismiss those who implore their Lord day and night, devoting themselves to Him alone. You are not responsible for their reckoning, nor are they responsible for your reckoning. If you dismiss them, you will be a transgressor. [10:99] Had your Lord willed, all the people on earth would have believed. Do you want to force the people to become believers? Disbelievers use force and intimidation while believers use logic and reason [20:71] He said, "Did you believe in him without my permission? He must be your chief; the one who taught you magic. [7:88] The arrogant leaders among his people said, "We will evict you, O Shu'aib, together with those who believed with you, from our town, unless you revert to our religion." He said, "Are you going to force us? [3:7] He sent down to you this scripture, containing straightforward verses—which constitute the essence of the scripture—as well as multiple-meaning or allegorical verses. Those who harbor doubts in their hearts will pursue the multiple-meaning verses to create confusion الْفِتْنَةِ [l-fit’nati] (division / disputes), and to extricate a certain meaning تَأْوِيلِهِ [tawī-lihi] ( interpretation / determination). None knows the true meaning thereof except GOD and those well founded in knowledge. They say, "We believe in this—all of it comes from our Lord." Only those who possess intelligence will take heed. Example of the Samarian [7:150] When Moses returned to his people, angry and disappointed, he said, "What a terrible thing you have done in my absence! Could you not wait for the commandments of your Lord?" He threw down the tablets, and took hold of his brother's head, pulling him towards himself. (Aaron) said, "Son of my mother, the people took advantage of my weakness, and almost killed me. Let not my enemies rejoice, and do not count me with the transgressing people." [20:92] (Moses) said, "O Aaron, what is it that prevented you, when you saw them go astray, [20:93] "from following my orders? Have you rebelled against me?" [20:94] He said, "O son of my mother, do not pull me by my beard and my head. I was afraid that you might say, 'You have divided the Children of Israel, and disobeyed my orders.’ " [20:95] He said, "What is the matter with you, O Samarian?" [20:96] He said, "I saw what they could not see. I grabbed a fistful (of dust) from the place where the messenger stood, and used it (to mix into the golden calf). This is what my mind inspired me to do." [20:97] He said, "Then go, and, throughout your life, do not even come close. You have an appointed time (for your final judgment) that you can never evade. Look at your god that you used to worship; we will burn it and throw it into the sea, to stay down there forever.” [7:155] Moses then selected seventy men from among his people, to come to our appointed audience. When the quake shook them, he said, "My Lord, You could have annihilated them in the past, together with me, if You so willed. Would You annihilate us for the deeds of those among us who are foolish? This must be the test that You have instituted for us. With it, You condemn whomever You will, and guide whomever You will. You are our Lord and Master, so forgive us, shower us with Your mercy; You are the best Forgiver. If we equate every difference of opinion as being on par to the Samarian and the golden calf then we are equating the extreme case with the mundane. Does this mean that I will be mean and nasty so that the other party turns away on their own? [16:125] You shall invite to the path of your Lord with wisdom and kind enlightenment, and debate with them in the best possible manner. Your Lord knows best who has strayed from His path, and He knows best who are the guided ones. [41:33] Who can utter better words than one who invites to GOD, works righteousness, and says, "I am one of the submitters"? [41:34] Not equal is the good response and the bad response. You shall resort to the nicest possible response. Thus, the one who used to be your enemy, may become your best friend. [41:35] None can attain this except those who steadfastly persevere. None can attain this except those who are extremely fortunate.[41:36] When the devil whispers an idea to you, you shall seek refuge in GOD. He is the Hearer, the Omniscient.  [5:105] O you who believe, you should worry only about your own necks. If the others go astray, they cannot hurt you, as long as you are guided. To GOD is your ultimate destiny, all of you, then He will inform you of everything you had done. We need to practice being doers of the laws not just judges of the law James 4 Submit Yourselves to God  4 What causes fights and quarrels among you? 11 Do not backbite one another, brothers. Anyone who slanders backbites his brother or makes a verdict on a brother of his then is slandering the law and has decided the law. Then however the law you decide you are not a doer of the Law, but a judge. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, One who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor? Devil loves animosity and disputes can claim both parties by causing division Matthew 12:25 25 But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.   Sura 49 is entitled Al-Hujurãt (The Walls) Do not believe rumors about one another Do not ridicule or mock one another Do not be suspicious of one another Do not spy on one another Reconcile The Believers [49:9] If two groups of believers fought with each other, you shall reconcile them. If one group aggresses against the other, you shall fight the aggressing group until they submit to GOD's command. Once they submit, you shall reconcile the two groups equitably. You shall maintain justice; GOD loves those who are just. [49:10] The believers are members of one family; you shall keep the peace within your family and reverence GOD, that you may attain mercy. "The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools" - Thucydides [61:4] GOD loves those who fight in His cause united in one column, like the bricks in one wall. [90:10] Did we not show him the two paths? [90:11] He should choose the difficult path. [90:12] Which one is the difficult path? [90:13] The freeing of slaves. [90:14] Feeding, during the time of hardship. [90:15] Orphans who are related. [90:16] Or the poor who is in need. [90:17] And being one of those who believe, and exhorting one another to be steadfast, and exhorting one another to be kind. [90:18] These have deserved happiness. [17:53] Tell My servants to treat each other in the best possible manner, for the devil will always try to drive a wedge among them. Surely, the devil is man's most ardent enemy. [3:103] You shall hold fast to the rope of GOD, all of you, and do not be divided. Recall GOD's blessings upon you - you used to be enemies and He reconciled your hearts. By His grace, you became brethren. You were at the brink of a pit of fire, and He saved you therefrom. GOD thus explains His revelations for you, that you may be guided. [3:104] Let there be a community of you who invite to what is good, advocate righteousness, and forbid evil. These are the winners. [3:105] Do not be like those who became divided and disputed, despite the clear proofs that were given to them. For these have incurred a terrible retribution.  

Image by Shift and Sheriff from Pixabay What if the hated worthless one could save your life? Dying in A Ditcha sermon by Rev. J. Christy RamseyClick the title above for a mp3 recording Audio from Truckee Lutheran Presbyterian Church, on July 28, 2019edited from a flawless transcription made by edigitaltranscriptions; all errors are mine. Luke 10:25-37 Sermons also available free on iTunes Ditch the name “Good Samaritan”. It’s not in the Bible. It’s just something we call it, and we’re wrong. It is not the story of the Good Samaritan, at least for today. It is the story of Ditch Man. That makes it our story, because that is where Jesus needs us to be to hear the Gospel. We need to be in the ditch beside the man who asks the question. Did you notice the switch in the question between the beginning and end of the story? The first question was from the man: “Who is my neighbor?” Then Jesus says a man, about as generic as the Bible gets, so you can put yourself in his place. You, questioner, you are walking, and this happens to you. Not really talking about the qualities of a neighbor…but of you the questioner. The question at the end of the story posed by Jesus was who was a neighbor to the man. You see the switch? From the labeling of others to the personal relationship. We love to do the opposite. Oh, we love to do that. We love to take what is personal to us and put it out there as a generic label of other things and other people so we could say neighbor yes/no and judge others or even ourselves by external actions and appearances…never pausing to consider what it means to our soul and spirit when someone unexpected is a neighbor to us. Now, in technical terms, if you go to seminary, you learn that this is where you cross from preaching to meddling. Preaching to meddling. Meddling is about getting into my soul and spirit instead of Preaching about morality for other people, how they should act, so I can judge them. The question isn’t find generic neighbor and put a sticker on them. It is about who do you accept as your neighbor. Not the other’s behavior but your own bias. YIKES Meddling alert! You see, us Christians especially, us wonderful, fairly well off, First World Christians, we love to take these Bible stories of personal transformation and spiritual challenge and make it into some kind of morality play. We do it all the time. We say this is the way you should act. Here’s the rules for nice people in nice places. This is what we do best. We want to make, measure and mark Good Samaritans. That’s not what Jesus wants for us. Jesus is telling us about everyman and everywoman in the ditch. And that’s where we need to be, in a ditch. Stay in the ditch where Jesus puts us. Can you imagine? You’re having a bad day. You are going from Jerusalem to Jericho, not an easy trip, lot of low hills, lot of desert, not a good time, not a good trip. And it is the way to say, if you want to say “bad neighborhood,” you wouldn’t say “infested.” You wouldn’t say “Baltimore.” You wouldn’t say that. You would say as bad as “Jericho Road”. When folks heard on the road to Jericho, people were bracing themselves – that is a tough road. And ditch man gets robbed, beaten up and left for dead. And people walk by, and they go, yeah, that’s how it happens. I could get in trouble for helping the foreigners, they’re bad hombres, should have come in the country the right way. I wouldn’t do that, he’s on his own. You know it’s a bad part of the country, it happens, should have stay in their own country. Just when the audience knows this is the low point, Jesus kicks it up a notch, “And then the Samaritan comes.” And everybody gasps, “Of all the things, I thought we were at the worst part of the story passed us. But now that Samaritan comes.” The Samaritan was a half-breed. He was a half-breed traitor. He was a half-breed traitorous blasphemer. Wrong Race, Wrong Religion, Wrong Region. He didn’t do anything right. A collaborator with the enemy, probably a drug mule. They were they did worship all wrong, knelt when they should stand. Horrible sub-humans! You did not set foot in Samaria. You went around Samaria. If you touched Samarian sand, you made sure to take it off your feet because it was the original “S”-hole country. So get in the ditch. Imagine you’re in the ditch. You’ve been beaten up. You’re dying. You’re robbed. You’re naked. And your worst enemy comes down the road. What do you do? Maybe you crawl a little bit further down in the ditch, saying, “Oh, I don’t want THAT GUY to see me like this. He’s probably going to kick me again.” How can your day get worse than to have all this happen to you, and then be dependent, not on the help of strangers, that might be okay, but on the help of your worst enemy? The person you don’t want to be around, that doesn’t want to be around you. You totally agree on that, and that’s all you agree on. Your worst enemy. I don’t know, for some of you, maybe they’re wearing a MAGA hat. Some of you, maybe they have an Antifa shirt on, huh? Maybe they don’t speak English…maybe it is your EX! Whatever riles you up, that’s what they are. And they’re coming down the road, and you’re lying in the ditch. I can almost imagine the Good Samaritan coming over to help. The guy dying, he goes, “No, no, get away. I’m okay. I’m all right. I’ll be fine. It’s just a flesh wound.” Who comes to help changes how much I help I’ll accept. The one you hated helps you. That is a bigger soul struggle than a sermon on the five steps to being a good neighbor. Can you let someone that you hate help you? Can you see the hated other, the thing, the enemy, the traitor, the one we don’t need, the one that should go back where they came from. If you can talk, worship, clothe, salute right like us: Go back to your own place, help them not me. What are you doing here in decent people land? That one. Someone you need for your very life. Someone you need the help of right now. Can you be in that ditch of decision? You see, Jesus wants us in the ditch so that we are faced with that question. Soon as you jump out that ditch and start walking along, whether you’re the priest or the Levite, the religious person or the Good Samaritan, soon as you get out of the ditch, you’re out of the story that Jesus wants you in. Jesus wants you in that ditch. Jesus wants you in that ditch and seeing your hated enemy coming by. And he wants you right there. And he wants you to answer the question, who do I allow to be neighbor? Who do I recognize as my neighbor? Well, he didn’t used to be my neighbor, but I might reconsider now. It’s not just giving a dollar on the street to the guy who needs the help. It’s not giving a gold coin in the Salvation Army kettle at Christmastime. It’s not even going up and down mountain roads and picking up tourists that just can’t believe that the road is closed, like my daughter, God bless her. She was the one got picked up, not the truck. You see the other, the foreign one, the hated one is necessary for your survival. Not tolerated. Not put up with. Not diversity. But someone I need for my very survival. Now, I don’t want to tell you you shouldn’t help the poor. Or that you shouldn’t be a neighbor. Spoiler alert, yeah, you should. But we’re bigger. We’re better. We’re further than that. I mean, that’s Mr. Rogers, a Presbyterian minister, by the way. But I expect more of you, just like Jesus does. He expects you to be in the ditch and to consider who your neighbor is from the ditch, not the safety and superiority of the road. Who do I discount? Overlook? Discard? See as worthless? See as a drag on society? See as a pain in my side? See as someone I don’t need, someone I’d be better off without? Who can I see from the ditch that is necessary for my life to continue? Two out of five Fortune 500 companies, 45 percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded either by immigrants or children of immigrants. If we had banned them, if we went to zero immigration level, as some would like, we would still be an okay country, I suppose. But 45 percent of our Fortune 500 companies would not be there. Almost half would be gone. 3.2 million immigrants run their own business here and employ vastly disproportionate amounts of people. We would be okay…but not great. Are they the enemy? Are they the foreigner? Are they an invader? Should they go back where they came from? Or do we need them to get us out of the ditch? Jesus wants to know. Now, Jesus leaves us with a question. I ain’t going to tell you about how to be a good neighbor or look over there a neighbor acting person. He asked me the question of the ditch to me inside of me. Who is a neighbor to the guy in the ditch? And you can just hear the teeth clenched response. “I suppose it was the Samaritan.” He got it. No more questions wanting to justify himself as neighbor labeling pro. Can you hear his muttering? “Jesus, I’m never going to ask him another question. I could have quit when I was ahead, he said I had eternal life! But no, I just had to go on to justify myself. I don’t know who makes you clench your teeth when if you have to admit you are related to them and NEED THEM TO LIVE. That’s your neighbor, thank you Jesus. So I got installed in the first church I served for a time in a small, small town. Well, I guess compared to Truckee it wasn’t small. It was an average size town. It had one, one, count them, one hotel. One. The Rosedale. One hotel. That was it. You either stayed there, or you just kept driving. There was no bed and breakfast. There was no Airbnb. There was nothing like that. It was Rosedale or on the road you go for at least another hour. Well, a couple came up from – God bless them, Alice and Tom Derson, they drove hundreds of miles to come to my installation – from my home church where I grew up. They didn’t tell me they were coming. They just wanted to surprise me. They came and stayed at the Rosedale Motel. Just as they were checking into the only itty-bitty hotel in this itty-bitty town, far away from where they live, comes roaring up two dozen motorcycles. It was thunder on the plain. This amazingly clean-cut motorcycle gang gets off their bikes, come swarming in the hotel, and buys up every room there. And they all had guns. Every. One. Of. them. This was before open carry was a fashion statement. Well Alice came to my installation with barely opened eyes. She did not get one wink of sleep because she was surrounded by armed motorcycle gang. Trapped. There was nowhere to go. She was frightened for their lives. Any minute they were going to start carousing and break down their door. What could she do far from home and unarmed? She stayed up all night, and her husband with her. They checked out the next morning, bleary-eyed. Nothing had happened. The bikers were gone. She looks at the clerk and asks, “What was that motorcycle gang that was here last night?” And the hotel clerk says, “Who, them? Those were the Association of Motorcycle Police. They were on their way to the conference in South Bend.” Telling me this, Alice looked me in the eye and testified, “Last night I was the safest I have ever been in my entire life, and I spent my whole night in terror and fear.” That’s some ditch talking there. The people that you hate, don’t want you in the ditch, the people that don’t belong here, the people that you KNOW are against you, guess what, you need to see them as neighbor, your eternal sould needs to see them as neighbor. Not just they’re allowed to be here, if they behave and are grateful. It isn’t about how good you are at labeling them, You need them to live. We need them to live. Don’t stay hidden in your hotel room in terror. Helps all around, you’re the safest you’ve ever been. Amen. Rosedale Motel, Rochester, Indiana

At Jacob’s well near the Samarian town of Sychar, Jesus engages in conversation with a Samaritan woman. The disciples return from town to find Jesus speaking with the woman, who then rushes back to her town to tell others that she has found someone who may be the Christ. The disciples want Jesus to eat, and He tells them He has food to eat they know nothing about. The food is doing the work the Father has sent Him to do. Citizens of Sychar come to the well, and after seeing and hearing Jesus, they become convinced Jesus is the Savior of the world.

In this episode of Finding His Voice Naaman seeks Elisha and is cleansed of his leprosy in the River Jordan, But when Elisha's servant lies to Naaman to receive silver and clothes from him, the leprosy is transferred to the servant and to his seed forever. Jesus meets a woman at the well and asks her to draw Him water. She asks why she, a Samarian, should draw water for a Jew. Jesus informed her that if she knew who she was talking to, He would deliver unto her living water that she would never thirst again. She surmised that He was the Christ and left her waterpot to inform the men in the city that the savior had arrived. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/testimonies/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/testimonies/support

Philip’s bravery in share to gospel changed a city. Samaria was full of demonic oppression, sickness, and disease. Joy and laughter follow Philip through the Samarian streets as it should today, for the Gospel is good news.

Don’t Turn God’s Blessing into Idols  God gave each of us so many blessings  [16:18] If you count God's blessings, you cannot possibly encompass them. God is Forgiver, Most Merciful. [14:34] And He gives you all kinds of things that you implore Him for. If you count God's blessings, you can never encompass them. Indeed, the human being is transgressing, unappreciative.   When God blesses us we have a tendency to turn those blessings into idols that actually repulse us from God and from acting in a way that is pleasing to him [41:50] And when we bless him after suffering some adversity, he says, "This belongs to me. I do not believe that the Hour will ever come to pass. Even if I am returned to my Lord, I will find at Him better things." Most certainly, we will inform the disbelievers of all their works, and will commit them to severe retribution. [17:83] When we bless the human being, he becomes preoccupied and heedless. But when adversity strikes him, he turns despondent. Exodus 12:31-36 The Exodus Begins 31Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Get up, leave my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested. 32Take your flocks and herds as well, just as you have said, and depart! And bless me also.” 33 And in order to send them out of the land quickly, the Egyptians urged the people on. “For otherwise,” they said, “we are all going to die!” 34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, carrying it on their shoulders in kneading bowls wrapped in clothing. 35 Furthermore, the Israelites acted on Moses’ word and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold, and for clothing. 36 And the LORD gave the people such favor in the sight of the Egyptians that they granted their request. In this way they plundered the Egyptians. [20:87] They said, "We did not break our agreement with you on purpose. But we were loaded down with jewelry, and decided to throw our loads in. This is what the Samarian suggested." [20:88] He produced for them a sculpted calf, complete with a calf's sound. They said, "This is your god, and the god of Moses." Thus, he forgot. [20:89] Could they not see that it neither responded to them, nor possessed any power to harm them, or benefit them When we become slaves to these blessings we are making these blessings into our idols  When we idolize something we are slaves to that thing Slave to our children Our spouses Our business Our property Our selves  Our ego  [2:61] Recall that you said, "O Moses, we can no longer tolerate one kind of food. Call upon your Lord to produce for us such earthly crops as beans, cucumbers, garlic, lentils, and onions." He said, "Do you wish to substitute that which is inferior for that which is good? Go down to Egypt, where you can find what you asked for." They have incurred condemnation, humiliation, and disgrace, and brought upon themselves wrath from GOD. This is because they rejected GOD's revelations, and killed the prophets unjustly. This is because they disobeyed and transgressed. [14:7] Your Lord has decreed: "The more you thank Me, the more I give you." But if you turn unappreciative, then My retribution is severe. Whatever occupies our mind most of the day becomes our idol [33:41] O you who believe, you shall remember GOD frequently. [33:42] You shall glorify Him day and night. Those who make this world a priority are like those who only drink salt water. It will never quench their thirst and it will only make them more thirsty But those who make the hereafter their priority this is like drinking fresh water. Not only are you going to feel full but your body and soul will actually be hydrated. [24:39] As for those who disbelieve, their works are like a mirage in the desert. A thirsty person thinks that it is water. But when he reaches it, he finds that it is nothing, and he finds God there instead, to requite him fully for his works. God is the most efficient reckoner. [13:14] Imploring Him is the only legitimate supplication, while the idols they implore beside Him, cannot ever respond. Thus, they are like those who stretch their hands to the water, but nothing reaches their mouths. The supplications of the disbelievers are in vain. Idolizing Our Children Our Children Can be Idols [7:189] He created you from one person (Adam). Subsequently, He gives every man a mate to find tranquility with her. She then carries a light load that she can hardly notice. As the load gets heavier, they implore GOD their Lord: "If You give us a good baby, we will be appreciative." [7:190] But when He gives them a good baby, they turn His gift into an idol that rivals Him. GOD be exalted, far above any partnership. [7:191] Is it not a fact that they are idolizing idols who create nothing, and are themselves created? [64:14] O you who believe, your spouses and your children can be your enemies; beware. If you pardon, forget, and forgive, then God is Forgiver, Most Merciful. [9:85] Do not be impressed by their money or their children; God causes these to be sources of misery for them in this world, and their souls depart as disbelievers. [25:73] When reminded of their Lord's revelations, they never react to them as if they were deaf and blind. [25:74] And they say, "Our Lord, let our spouses and children be a source of joy for us, and keep us in the forefront of the righteous." Property as an Idol*  [18:32] Cite for them the example of two men: we gave one of them two gardens of grapes, surrounded by date palms, and placed other crops between them. Footnote [18:33] Both gardens produced their crops on time, and generously, for we caused a river to run through them. [18:34] Once, after harvesting, he boastfully told his friend: "I am far more prosperous than you, and I command more respect from the people." [18:35] When he entered his garden, he wronged his soul by saying, "I do not think that this will ever end. [18:36] "Moreover, I think this is it; I do not think that the Hour (the Hereafter) will ever come to pass. Even if I am returned to my Lord, I will (be clever enough to) possess an even better one over there." [18:37] His friend said to him, as he debated with him, "Have you disbelieved in the One who created you from dust, then from a tiny drop, then perfected you into a man? [18:38] "As for me, GOD is my Lord, and I will never set up any other god besides my Lord.  Important Commandment  [18:39] "When you entered your garden, you should have said, 'This is what GOD has given me. No one possesses power except GOD.' You may see that I possess less money and less children than you. [18:40] "My Lord may grant me better than your garden. He may send a violent storm from the sky that wipes out your garden, leaving it completely barren. [18:41] "Or, its water may sink deeper, out of your reach." [18:42] Indeed, his crops were wiped out, and he ended up sorrowful, lamenting what he had spent on it in vain, as his property lay barren. He finally said, "I wish I never set up my property as a god beside my Lord." [18:43] No force on earth could have helped him against GOD, nor was it possible for him to receive any help. [18:44] That is because the only true Lord and master is GOD; He provides the best recompense, and with Him is the best destiny.  [18:45] Cite for them the example of this life as water that we send down from the sky to produce plants of the earth, then they turn into hay that is blown away by the wind. GOD is able to do all things.  Rearranging Our Priorities  [18:46] Money and children are the joys of this life, but the righteous works provide an eternal recompense from your Lord, and a far better hope. [68:17] We have tested them like we tested the owners of the garden who swore that they will harvest it in the morning. [68:18] They were so absolutely sure. [68:19] A passing (storm) from your Lord passed by it while they were asleep. [68:20] By morning, it was barren. [68:21] They called on each other in the morning. [68:22] "Let us harvest the crop." [68:23] On their way, they confided to each other. [68:24] That from then on, none of them would be poor. [68:25] They were so absolutely sure of their harvest. [68:26] But when they saw it, they said, "We were so wrong! [68:27] "Now, we have nothing!" They Should Have Said: "God Willing." [68:28] The righteous among them said, "If only you had glorified (God)!" [68:29] They said, "Glory be to our Lord. We have transgressed." [68:30] They started to blame each other. [68:31] They said, "Woe to us. We sinned. [68:32] "May our Lord grant us a better one. We repent to our Lord." [68:33] Such was the requital. But the retribution of the Hereafter is far worse, if they only knew. If you take the instruction regarding your salvation from anyone other than God then that source becomes your god.  [6:121] Do not eat from that upon which the name of GOD has not been mentioned, for it is an abomination. The devils inspire their allies to argue with you; if you obey them, you will be idol worshipers.* [36:60] Did I not covenant with you, O Children of Adam, that you shall not worship the devil? That he is your most ardent enemy? [36:61] And that you shall worship Me alone? This is the right path. [9:24] Proclaim: "If your parents, your children, your siblings, your spouses, your family, the money you have earned, a business you worry about, and the homes you cherish are more beloved to you than GOD and His messenger, and the striving in His cause, then just wait until GOD brings His judgment." GOD does not guide the wicked people. Ego as a god [25:43] Have you seen the one whose god is his own ego? Will you be his advocate?

I Shouldn’t Be Alive (TV Show) - Skydiver stranded in middle of ocean should he stay on the log or try to swim to shore  Happiness Now, and Forever [22:15] If anyone thinks that GOD cannot support him in this life and in the Hereafter, let him turn completely to (his Creator in) heaven, and sever (his dependence on anyone else). He will then see that this plan eliminates anything that bothers him. Baby umbilical cord  Sometimes have to make the decision to throw it down Moses Staff [20:17] "What is this in your right hand, Moses?" [20:18] He said, "This is my staff. I lean on it, herd my sheep with it, and I use it for other purposes." [20:19] He said, "Throw it down, Moses." [20:20] He threw it down, whereupon it turned into a moving serpent. [20:21] He said, "Pick it up; do not be afraid. We will return it to its original state. Moses Mom throw him into the river [20:38] "When we revealed to your mother what we revealed. [20:39] "Saying: 'Throw him into the box, then throw him into the river. The river will throw him onto the shore, to be picked up by an enemy of Mine and an enemy of his.' I showered you with love from Me, and I had you made before My watchful eye. Sometimes God has us thrown down because He knows what is best for us Joseph was thrown into well Joseph's Fate Already Decided by God*  [12:9] "Let us kill Joseph, or banish him, that you may get some attention from your father. Afterwards, you can be righteous people." [12:10] One of them said, "Do not kill Joseph; let us throw him into the abyss of the well. Perhaps some caravan can pick him up, if this is what you decide to do.” Believers are Blessed with God's Assurances  [12:15] When they went away with him, and unanimously decided to throw him into the abyss of the well, we inspired him: "Some day, you will tell them about all this, while they have no idea." Joseph was thrown into prison  [12:32] She said, "This is the one you blamed me for falling in love with. I did indeed try to seduce him, and he refused. Unless he does what I command him to do, he will surely go to prison, and will be debased." [12:33] He said, "My Lord, the prison is better than giving in to them. Unless You divert their scheming from me, I may desire them and behave like the ignorant ones." [12:34] His Lord answered his prayer and diverted their scheming from him. He is the Hearer, the Omniscient. [12:35] Later, they saw to it, despite the clear proofs, that they should imprison him for awhile. Jonah was thrown overboard /Jonah thrown to the shore  Jonah  [37:139] Jonah was one of the messengers. [37:140] He escaped to the loaded ship. [37:141] He rebelled and thus, he joined the losers. [37:142] Consequently, the fish swallowed him, and he was the one to blame. [37:143] If it were not that he resorted to meditation (on God), [37:144] he would have stayed in its belly until the Day of Resurrection. [37:145] We had him thrown up into the desert, exhausted. [37:146] We had a tree of edible fruit grown for him. [37:147] Then we sent him to a hundred thousand, or more. [37:148] They did believe, and we let them enjoy this life.   Disbelievers Throw - When we throw for the wrong reasons we will be disappointed  Moses & Magicians [7:112] "Let them summon every experienced magician." [7:113] The magicians came to Pharaoh and said, "Do we get paid if we are the winners?" [7:114] He said, "Yes indeed; you will even become close to me." [7:115] They said, "O Moses, either you throw, or we are throwing." [7:116] He said, "You throw." When they threw, they tricked the people's eyes, intimidated them, and produced a great magic. [7:117] We then inspired Moses: "Throw down your staff," whereupon it swallowed whatever they fabricated. Golden Calf [20:86] Moses returned to his people, angry and disappointed, saying, "O my people, did your Lord not promise you a good promise? Could you not wait? Did you want to incur wrath from your Lord? Is this why you broke your agreement with me?" [20:87] They said, "We did not break our agreement with you on purpose. But we were loaded down with jewelry, and decided to throw our loads in. This is what the Samarian suggested." [20:88] He produced for them a sculpted calf, complete with a calf's sound. They said, "This is your god, and the god of Moses." Thus, he forgot. [20:95] He said, "What is the matter with you, O Samarian?" [20:96] He said, "I saw what they could not see. I grabbed a fistful (of dust) from the place where the messenger stood, and used it (to mix into the golden calf). This is what my mind inspired me to do.” [20:97] He said, "Then go, and, throughout your life, do not even come close. You have an appointed time (for your final judgment) that you can never evade. Look at your god that you used to worship; we will burn it and throw it into the sea, to stay down there forever." Pharaoh and his troops [28:39] Thus, he and his troops continued to commit arrogance on earth, without any right, and thought that they would not be returned to us. [28:40] Consequently, we punished him and his troops, by throwing them into the sea. Note the consequences for the transgressors. [28:41] We made them imams who led their people to Hell. Furthermore, on the Day of Resurrection, they will have no help. Thrown in Hell [41:40] Surely, those who distort our revelations are not hidden from us. Is one who gets thrown into Hell better, or one who comes secure on the Day of Resurrection? Do whatever you wish; He is Seer of everything you do. [50:24] Throw into Gehenna every stubborn disbeliever. How do we know if we should throw How do you determine if you are testing God because you believe God will protect you so you take excessive risk  Luke 4: 9Then the devil led Him to Jerusalem and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple. “If You are God’s chosen,” he said, “throw Yourself down from here. 10For it is written: ‘He will command His angels concerning You to guard You carefully; 11and they will lift You up in their hands, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’c” 12But Jesus declared, “It also says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’d” 13When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time. [2:195] You shall spend in the cause of GOD; do not throw yourselves with your own hands into destruction. You shall be charitable; GOD loves the charitable. We do not go to war with a feather, God has a system and we do not go against that system [12:67] And he said, "O my sons, do not enter from one door; enter through separate doors. However, I cannot save you from anything that is predetermined by GOD. To GOD belongs all judgments. I trust in Him, and in Him shall all the trusters put their trust.” The Messenger's Kindness [3:159]…Once you make a decision, carry out your plan, and trust in GOD. GOD loves those who trust in Him. Are you breaking another one of God’s commandments in your decision? [35:8] Note the one whose evil work is adorned in his eyes, until he thinks that it is righteous. GOD thus sends astray whoever wills (to go astray), and He guides whoever wills (to be guided). Therefore, do not grieve over them. GOD is fully aware of everything they do. Are you giving power to other than God? [18:39] No one possesses power except GOD (Lã Quwwata Ellã Bellãh). Are you fearing other than God? [3:173] When the people say to them, "People have mobilized against you; you should fear them," this only strengthens their faith and they say, "GOD suffices us; He is the best Protector." [3:174] They have deserved GOD's blessings and grace. No harm ever touches them, for they have attained GOD's approval. GOD possesses infinite grace. Fear: The Devil's Tool [3:175] It is the devil's system to instill fear into his subjects. Do not fear them and fear Me instead, if you are believers. [5:54] O you who believe, if you revert from your religion, then GOD will substitute in your place people whom He loves and who love Him. They will be kind with the believers, stern with the disbelievers, and will strive in the cause of GOD without fear of any blame. Such is GOD's blessing; He bestows it upon whomever He wills. GOD is Bounteous, Omniscient.

When it comes to worship, some of the most profound words are those of Jesus to the Samarian woman He met at Jacob's well in the city of Sychar (John 4:5).  It was here that Jesus gave us clear instructions on the type of worship the Father seeks. John 4:23-24 - “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true (one who cannot lie, real, genuine, sincere) worshipers will worship the Father in spirit (human) and truth (reality, the essence of a matter); for the Father is seeking (to look for, search, strive to find) such to worship (to kiss, adore, fall or prostrate before, pay reverence) Him.  God is Spirit (Holy Spirit), and those who worship Him must (what must be done from duty) worship in spirit (human) and truth.” Which, as usual, raises a few questions. What is worship? What’s the difference between worship and true worship? What is true worship like internally? What is true worship like externally? And what does true worship look like today? One last thought, in the Westminster Shorter Catechism, the first question goes like this: Question:  What is the chief end of man? Answer:  The chief end of man is to glorify God, and enjoy Him forever. Did you catch that?  We glorify by enjoying Him forever.  So, do you enjoy God?  Do you love your time with Him?  Is that time the highlight of your day?  Do you know how to worship Him in spirit and truth?  If not, then keep listening. The following is a study on John 4:23-34.

Download | Subscription (FREE) In this episode, Rev. Gibson and Johnny Gwin discuss the themes of meeting God and Living Water. What would it be like to meet Jesus? What would you say? Would you know who he was? Jesus's interaction with the Samarian women at Jacob's Well and his meeting with Nicodemus shows us a very "human" and intimate conversation with the people around him. Jesus seems to be an excellent listener and a teacher in these gospel stories from John. What could we learn about life and ourselves from such a personal conversation with Jesus? Moses and his Israelites are also discussed, and we are reminded of the "human nature" to not only turn on each other but God when things look bad and not going our way? Beverly illustrates how Moses shows us (in Exodus) that God is always among us and he provides when we are in need. Is our faith and spirit strong enough to see God when we think he has abandoned us? Hear Johnny actually describe the show summary accurately this week, and he manages to sneak in a Jean Grey (from X-Men) and Bruce Lee mention into today's conversation. What You Will Hear: > Discussion of "setting a scene" with the intimate conversations that John describes in his Gospel (Nicodemus & Samarian Women at well) > The Samarian Woman description and her significance > The well at the center of the city and the importance of Jacob's Well > Living Water = Moses delivers from a rock and Jesus discusses how we will deliver water that will quench your thirst forever > Theme of "Living Water" - not stagnant but "flowing" from one person to another. Spirit and faith should be "flowing" through us and to each other > "I am He" - how Jesus knew the Samarian woman > The "human exchange" between Jesus and the Samarian Women > The place of Samarian women in the Jewish world > Jesus is the "deep listener" that can hear what reverberates through your soul > Jean Grey (X-Men) and her burden of knowing what everyone thinks and feels > To know what to do with someone's pain and weight when you can recognize it > Third week of Lenten Journey of Spirit: meeting God > Over 40 years the Israelites turn on and quarrel with Moses many times > The actions and complaints of the Israelites is the story of "US." > Beverly shares that she has given up "Facebook" for Lent > Moses mighty Staff and his connection and relationship with God > When things don't go our way - like the Israelites - we pick up a rock, shake or fist to the sky and blame God. > Faith allows us to come back and God will provide for us > Hearing God getting "tired and over" the Israelites and their straying from Him > 40 years in the desert? Moses must have wandered in circles > The controversy of where Mt. Sinai was located > Biblical maps gives some readers a grounding to a place to help us understand a story and lesson > Fleeing and hiding in "the Wilderness" is not a bad thing - it can be a regrouping and reenergizing time > Jesus's ministry and journey in the wilderness until he "points his face toward Jerusalem" > Moses also used "the Wilderness" to prepare to what was coming > Meeting your Yoda in the Wilderness > Finding focus and learning how to work without distractions - Cal Newport's Deep Work best-selling book > Withdrawing from society and going deep in your inner world, thoughts, and feelings to find some clarity > Carl Jung had to build a sanctuary to find his center and focus > The importance and power of a retreat > JK Rowling's technique to finish the last "Harry Potter" book > Going deep to see God, Jesus, the world around us and the "real you" > The difficult of judging ourselves > Deeping diving into understanding ourselves (Christ Church Cathedral) with Ministry Architects > Deep Listening and the Deep Listening Band and their music of reverberation and evolution of participating with the environment > "Going with the flow" just like water > Bruce Lee and his martial arts analogy of "being like water, not like the rock" > Emerging from "The Wilderness" and the importance of the "parking lot" conversations with others > Spiritual growth and opportunity in every interaction with people and places > Are we the same person at 18 and at 38? > Shutting out the world, looking inward, focusing and listening to others to discover who we are and what makes us happy > Cal Newport's view of "letting go" of social media > Balancing between the world of "letting go", the wilderness and the hustle and bustle of the world > Of the Earth vs. not of this Earth balancing battle > The lessons and the message from the discipline of Lent > Johnny admits that excess social media and the disruptive world getting in the way of prayer and spirituality makes him as quarrelsome as the Israelites in the desert > Living a life that embraces "minimalism" >  The world and culture of "MORE" > Lent is a good time for attendance at Church > The purpose of a Sabbatical > Katherine Deaton's living artisanal water well > The Baptism - living water giving to you from a stagnant rock > Pulpit To Pew suddenly turns into a financial podcast concerning oil, artisanal water, and the upcoming water supply bubble Readings Referenced: Exodus 17:1-7 Romans 5:1-11 John 4:5-42   What do you think about Pulpit To Pew?
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Two Categories of Humans: True Worshipers and False Worshipers Alright, so we come this morning to the second last sermon, I'm going to preach in the Book of Isaiah, but the last chapter of the book of Isaiah, next week, God willing I'm going to give an overview of the whole Book of Isaiah I could go through this book all over again. I love the Book of Isaiah, I've loved this journey. But next week what I'm going to do is I'm going to trace out specifically Christ in the Book of Isaiah, and the Gospel, and we're going to go from Isaiah 1 to 66 one more time. But this is the last chapter, the final chapter in the book of Isaiah what a fitting conclusion it is Isaiah is the most visionary of all, the Old Testament prophets and take an average section of the Book of Isaiah, close your eyes and images come in vision right from the beginning, Isaiah 1:2 the word of the Lord that Isaiah son of Amos, saw it's a vision, And so this most visionary of prophets comes to an incredible and fitting end to his incredible book, and that is a revelation of the eternal state of both the righteous and the wicked, the final chapter of Isaiah divides the human race as we've seen again and again into two categories. I'm going to unify it around this one idea of true and false worship we're going to follow the idea of worship. There's different ways we could look at this chapter, but we're going to look at true worshipers versus false worshippers. And the outcome. It describes very plainly the heart and behavior of both the true worshippers, and the false worshippers, as well as their eternal destinies, heaven and hell, the Book of Isaiah, ends with the vision of the new heavens and the new earth with Zion the New Jerusalem eternally populated by true worshippers from every nation on earth who are going to be continually falling down before God and worshiping him. But Isaiah also ends literally ends with the last verse that you heard Joel just read, verse 24 it ends with a clear depiction of hell. The state of eternal death, in which rebellious human beings will suffer in plain view, of the redeemed for all eternity. And I think it's appropriate that this theme of worship, both true worship and false worship unifies this final chapter. Because the human race, we were created to worship. Our hearts our souls were made to find worth and value. And to esteem it and have it flow out in our words, we're made to worship. In Romans chapter 1, talks about how we have given over that heart to idols. We exchange the truth of God for a lie, and worship and serve created things rather than the Creator, who is forever praised amen Romans 1:25, the clearest the best definition of idolatry in the Bible. Idolatry has been front and center throughout the Book of Isaiah. We've seen it again and again. As has God's work of redemption his plan of redemption in reclaiming ex-idolaters healing us of our idolatry and bringing us over to worship God in spirit and in truth. I. True Worshipers Delightful, False Worshipers Detestable (vs. 1- 4) And so we come to this final book and we begin in an amazing way verses 1-4, we're going to see true worshipers delightful and false worshippers detestable. True Worshipers Tremble Before the Throne and Word of God Let's begin at 66:1-2. "This is what the LORD says: 'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?' declares the LORD. 'This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.'" So God declares right at the beginning of this chapter, once again he is ineffable he is immeasurable. He is infinite majesty, this immense God has been the center of the whole Book of Isaiah, and here He declares the impossibility of finite man, making anything suitable, any place suitable for him to dwell any suitable place for us to worship Him, and the impossibility really of making a finite container for this infinite God. The Jews were continually tempted to be overly impressed with their temple, their own structure, that they built for worship and with the religion that flowed from it. Before the exile, the Babylon after the time of Isaiah, but right before the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple, in the book, of a book of Jeremiah, the Jeremiah the prophet had to stand at the gates of the temple and say to the Jewish people "Do not say in your hearts, we have the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord." Three times they said it, why? Because they were clinging to it, "God would never allow this city to be destroyed, he would never allow the temple to be destroyed." Religious people are always tempted to trust in their religion. To trust in their habits, the habits of piety and the beauty of their sanctuaries, that they made with their own hands, and they think that those actions make them righteous. But Solomon himself when he dedicated his beautiful temple, and he stood and he spread out his hands to pray. It came to a certain point I think, through the Spirit working on his heart, a point of humility First Kings 8:27 "But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!" Well, that's just a beautiful humility that King Solomon had saying, "What is this structure?" And I love what he says "heaven, even the highest heavens cannot contain you" there's no container for God. There's no barrier, no boundary line to which God goes up and reaches and that barrier says, "This far, you may go God and no further." There's no such thing. God fills heaven and earth with his complete presence. This is the doctrine of God's omnipresence. We could also say the doctrine of God's immensity. They're really probably the same thing in the end. God is 100% present everywhere in the universe with all of his being. "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" He says. And so he declares his sovereign dominion over heaven and earth. "Heaven is my throne," he says, "It's the place where I sit to dwell." "The earth is my footstool." The Heavens, the physical heavens that we can see with telescopes are in-comprehensively immense. The astronomers tell us that the observable universe is 46 billion light years across. That's something that we have no conception of. They tell us that light year's the distance that light can travel in one year. Physicists tell us that light is the fastest thing there is in the physical universe. So 46 billion years, it would take light to go from one side to the other, but they don't really know. They don't really understand what they're talking about and neither do I, but the creator of the universe fills all that space with all of his being all the time. So any earthly temple, any soaring stone cathedral built over two centuries with European limestone or marble or anything like that with beautiful, majestic, stained glass windows or any modern steel and glass worship center, state of the art technology doesn't really matter. Any man-made place of worship anywhere on the face of the earth is as nothing to God. He asked in effect in this in this verse, "Where in the world could there be anything that you could make that would possibly house me?" He really does mean to put us in our place here. The Hebrew is emphatic. It puts us in our place. We desire to glorify God by building soaring edifices, mighty cathedrals, flying buttresses, all of that. And you go to some of those cathedrals in Europe and they'll just take your breath away. We are impressed, but God is not impressed. There's nothing about them that impresses him. He actually to some degree, says, "I have a hard time finding them. I'm not able to see them. That's not where I'm looking. Heaven is my throne. The earth is my footstool. If you were to decorate the place that where my feet rest and you were to find gold and silver and costly stones and pearls and all that kind of thing, it would still not catch my eye at all. It wouldn't captivate my gaze." Actually, all of the building materials you would use are already God's before you even started. They belonged to him. Look at verse two, "Has not my hand made all these things. And so they came into being." They all belong to me, God is saying. Every atom in the universe is already God's, including every atom in your brain and every item in your hands. So the brain by which you would come up with the blueprint for the dwelling place for God, and the hands by which you would build that dwelling place for God and the building materials that you would use. All of it already belong to God already. All of it, for from him and through him and to him are all things, to him be the glory forever. So what captivates God's attention? What holds his gaze? What is he looking for? Well, he tells us here. This is the one to whom I will look. This is what radiant beauty looks like to me. You want to be beautiful. You want to capture God's gaze? He who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who trembles at my word. Humble and contrite and spirit means you're deeply aware, first of your creatureliness, you're created. He's the creator. And you're humble about that. There's an infinite gap between you and the creator, even if you have never sinned, but you have sinned. So secondly, that you're deeply aware of your sinfulness and God's holiness. You're deeply aware that your righteous acts cannot save you. And so Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount with this statement, "Blessed are poor in spirit [the spiritual beggars] for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." You are destitute spiritually and you know it, and you tremble at his word. God's resting place is here. It's among his humble, brokenhearted people who have been saved from their sins by his grace in Christ. God is searching out such a resting place. He is seeking such a place where he will settle down finally and worship and live with his people. So what he really wants from us is humility here in this text, brokenness. And he says, those who tremble at my word. What does this mean to tremble at God's word? Trembling is a physical physiological reaction, can be caused by a lot of things, could be caused by disease. Physiologically, your nervous system could be sending signals to your muscles and you're trembling. But this seems to be a trembling that comes because of thoughts, ideas, something that you're thinking about. Well, in that case you could be trembling because you're a thief about to get caught. You're surrounded and you're trembling with fear of getting caught or you could tremble because the best thing in your life that you never thought could happen is about to happen. Maybe your wedding day, or maybe your husband was a POW and he's been released and you can't wait for him to come down the gangway. And you see him and your trembling and you run and embrace after years of being apart. There's a lot of different reasons that we tremble. I think the thing here is that we're trembling concerning our own sinfulness and God's holiness. We're trembling concerning the just wrath of God that we deserve. But we're also trembling with expectation and how great and majestic and beautiful this God is. And we want to see him. And so there's this trembling at all of these deep themes of God's word. But either way, no matter how you look at it, what it means is by faith, you're taking this word seriously. You know this isn't merely the word of man, but it is the word of God as it actually is at work in you who believe. So you tremble at it and you take it seriously and you're humbled. That's the one that God looks to. Does this Characterize You? Now, let me just stop and ask you a question, does this characterize you? This is my application right in the middle of the sermon. Does this honestly characterize you? Are you humble and contrite in spirit, and do you tremble at God's Word? Are you deeply humbled by your sin and God's holiness? Do you understand that if you are to be saved, it will only be by the grace of God in Christ, His shed blood on the cross, is the only way you're going to survive Judgment Day. Are you aware of that? Do you seek also dynamically humility more and more? Do you seek to be more humble, a year from now than you are now? Do you see actually pride as a big problem in your life. It's an ongoing issue. Do you see that actually its corrupting your relationships? If you're married, it's corrupting your marriage. The biggest problem you have in your marriage, is your pride. It's corrupting your friendships, it's corrupting everything you touch. The pride is there, it's like, "Oh God, would you humble me?" It's like you cling to the promise, no longer a threat but a promise. At the end of the Book of Daniel that Nebuchadnezzar learn when God changed his mind to the mind of an animal, then turned it back after seven years. Those who walk in pride, He is able to humble. Then do it, Oh God, humble me. I want to be genuinely broken and contrite in spirit, and I want to tremble at your word. Begin every day, say, "Oh God I want to capture your gaze, I want you to like looking at me, I want you to enjoy looking at me, I want to be beautiful to you. Would you please make me humble and contrite in spirit? Would you give me a heart of trembling after your word?" False Worshipers Make Detestable Sacrifices Now conversely, in verse 3, we have false worshippers. Who are making detestable sacrifices. And if I can just stop, the dynamic as we've seen again in Isaiah, it's going to go back and forth from the righteous to the wicked and back again. It weaves all the way through the chapter as it does all the way through our experience. This is a world of wheat and weeds, of good fish and bad fish, all gathered by the same dragnet. We are mixed together in this world, and so this chapter is mixed together as well. Look at verse 3, "But whoever sacrifices a bull, is like one who kills a man, whoever offers a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck. Whoever makes a grain offering is like one who presents pig's blood and whoever burns Memorial incense is like one who worships an idol." Now here God is condemning the false worship of Israel. Now, there's two possibilities in my mind as I look at that, either he's condemning the Pharisee, type person, who outwardly is following the laws of Moses, through these right sacrifices but inwardly is totally corrupt. He's a white washed tomb that looks good on the outside, but inside full of dead men's bones and everything impure and unclean. Full of pride and lust, and covetousness and murder and idolatry. But outwardly, he's doing what the law requires. "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." Or he's talking about a syncretism, it was a big problem in Israel, where they mixed together, the pure religion that they got from Moses and the Canaanite religions that were there in the land, and they mixed them together. The Jews did this as well, syncretism, mixing together, the religion of the Bible with the religion of the world. Either way, it's a remarkable list, making lawful mosaic sacrifice is compared to the most vile things you could ever imagine to offer to God, to offer a bowl, if your heart is wrong, if you don't have that broken humble, contrite spirit, trembling at God's Word, and you're offering, a sacrifice that the law of Moses commanded, its corrupt to offer a bull, something as costly as a bull, that's an expensive animal, to offer a bull is as bad as killing a man to God. To offer a lamb is as bizarre as breaking a dog's neck. To present a grain offering is as repulsive God, as presenting pigs blood. To burn sweet smelling incense is as repulsive as bowing down to an idol. It's an interesting mix there. So the religious pattern, the external pattern means nothing if the heart's not right behind it. Now, this is a warning to us as Evangelical Christians. Again, I just want to stop and apply this right here. We have our own sacred list of biblically mandated duties, we have the Bible in the New Testament telling us to do certain things and we can become proud of them, and have corrupted lives and corrupted hearts, pray the sinner's prayer, realize that you're a sinner, water baptism follows, church membership, church involvement, attendance at worship, weekly attendance, daily quiet times. And then even some of the more advanced aspects of the Christian life, you could memorize scripture, you could be out doing street evangelism, you could be committed to missions, all of these things are good and right and beautiful but if they're done from a corrupted heart, they're not acceptable to God any more than these were back in the old covenant. So, it's a warning to us. None of these things can save us. False Worshipers Judged for Not Heeding God’s Word Now, the false worshippers. Are judged in verse 3 and 4 for not heeding God's word. "They have chosen their own ways and their souls delight in their abominations. And then further on, when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, no one listened. They did evil in my sight, and shows what displeases me." So the essence of false religion is independence from the Word of God. God told them what to do, He called, but they didn't listen. He made it very plain in His word, what He wants from us, but they crafted their own religion. This goes all the way back to Cain, remember where Cain offered up something God hadn't told him to offer. And he said, "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?" He did what was wrong in offering that, he made up his own religion. So their punishment is extreme. Verse 4, "So I also will choose harsh treatment for them and bring upon them, what they dread." They chose their path, they made up their own religion. But God is going to choose their end and it will be terrifying. Fundamentally, they did not tremble at His word, but they were deaf to his calls. Now, for us in the new covenant era, the call is this: believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, repent and believe the good news. That's the call. And so God is now calling He's saying, "Call on me while I'm near. Seek the Lord while I may be found. This is the day of salvation. Now is the time." But, people hear that and they go their own way, they have their own answers to life's ultimate questions. II. False Worshipers Persecute, True Worshipers Prosper (vs. 5- 14a) Now, in Verses 5-14, we see false worshippers persecute and true worshippers prosper. The rest of this chapter, God directly addresses His children. It's written to them, but He never stops talking about the wicked, the false worshippers are much in view but they're always referred to in the third person for the rest of the chapter. Their punishment is clear for His elected children to see. So true worshipper or false worshippers persecute the true, look at Verse 5, it says, "Hear the word of the Lord you who tremble at His word." So, He's talking to the believers, talking to the children of God, "Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at His word, your brothers who hate you and exclude you because of my name have said, 'let the Lord be glorified that we may see your joy, yet they will be put to shame.'" There is a deep-seated enmity between the children of God and the children of the devil, they're at war with each other in world view if not physically, even. We have radically different ways of looking at everything in the world, and we have to be in the same world. God addresses those who tremble at His word, the true followers of Christ. And He speaks of brothers, your brothers who hate and exclude you. Now, obviously that happened from the very beginning with Cain when he killed his brother, Abel over matters of religion because Abel's offerings were offered by faith and Cains were not, and he hated him. Now in redemptive history, the first followers of Christ were all Jewish so also were the first persecutors of Christians. And so we could really just stop right there with this verse, but we could make it more universal just in terms of other human beings who do not believe in the Lord. But here, within in the issue of Jews, Jesus said it was going to be this way. In John 16:2 & 3, speaking of Jews who do not believe in Christ, to the true followers, he said, "They will put you out of the synagogue. In fact, your time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a sacrifice to God, they will do such things because they have not known the Father or me." So he's predicting Jewish persecution of followers of Jesus. Now, here in Verse 5, these false brothers so to speak, hated them who trembled at God's Word and they cast them out and they excluded them because of God's name. For Christ's name sake, ultimately, they excluded them, they kicked them out and they mocked them. Now, what they say is interesting, "Let God be glorified that we may see your joy." I don't know what that means, it sounds good to me, but in the context it's clearly mockery. So they're using this kind of religious slogan to mock their faith but look at the outcome. False Worshipers Destroyed by the Lord The false worshippers will be destroyed by the Lord, verse 5 & 6, "Yet they will be put to shame." Verse 6, "Hear that uproar from the city, hear that noise from the temple, it is the sound of the Lord repaying his enemies all they deserve." So in the end, God brings judgment on these mocking adversaries. He did it in the time of Jeremiah by destroying the temple, He did it after the New Testament era in 70AD by destroying the temple again. And so it's a double fulfillment of this prophecy, hear the uproar from the city. Listen to the noise from the temple, what is the noise? What's the uproar? Destruction, wrath. So also is the final condemnation that comes at the end of the chapter. In the new universe, the eternal destination of the wicked, that also a clear display of the wrath of God. True Worshipers Born Instantly by the Lord Now we go back to the true worshipers verse 5:7-9 he says, by contrast, even while the markers are persecuting in the church, the church is exploding in size among the gentiles. There is a nation getting born in an instant, miraculously. Isaiah 7-9, "Before she goes into labor, she gives birth, before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son." Now all you women who are mothers or future mothers, you're like, "Amen, let it be, Lord, minimize my labor pains, oh please." Pray the prayer of Jabez concerning that, "Oh God, minimize my pain." But here we have this incredible image, "'Before she goes into labor she gives birth, before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son. Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet, no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children. Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?' says the Lord, 'Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery?' says your God." Now for me, I just am doing all the work that we've done in the book of Isaiah to understand this properly. Jewish people could just say, "this is talking about the restoration, the Jew is back," I think this is so much bigger than that. We've seen this image before. Isaiah 54 talks about a woman Zion who's going to be in labor and give birth to more children than she can possibly imagine. She has to have a bigger tent. Enlarge the place of your tent, you're going to have more children than you can count. So this I think is the same image, this must be friends, the explosive spread of the Gospel from Jerusalem, through Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth, that's what we're talking about here, a nation born in an instant. And the effects of the curse are gone, the woman Zion gives birth instantly and seemingly with no labor pains, she gives birth to an entire nation in a single day. So we got to go to the beginning of the church age, the day of Pentecost, remember that day began with 120 believers in the upper room ended with 3000, plus 120 believers. What a day. Perhaps the greatest single day in gathering, nothing ever like it of its kind. And who was it that came in? Their geographic spread was laid out for us in Acts 2, 9-11, "Parthians, Medes and Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus in Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs." All over the Mediterranean, they were there. They had Pentecost came to faith in Christ, a nation born in a single day with no labor. And so the Gospel started spreading like wildfire across that region, across Rome conquered Rome spiritually within three centuries, really short time and it's been spreading ever since. And these Gentile converts that are in view here, being brought in, they become sons and daughters of Abraham. Galatians 3:7, even better. There's sons and daughters of the living God. It is written in John 1:12-13 that Jesus "came to that which was his own, but his own people did not receive him.. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, He gave the right to become children of God. Children who are born not natural descent, nor of human decision or of a husband’s will, but born of God." And so a nation gets born spiritually in an instant. And the sovereign power of God's on display here. Look at verse nine. "'Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?' says the Lord. 'Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery?'" There's no miscarriages here. No one... No stillborn. No one dies in labor. When God pours out His Spirit on the elect, they will come to faith in Christ. No one gets left behind. No one gets lost. Jesus said in John 6:37, "All that the Father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me, I will never drive them away… and I will raise them up at the last day." Isn't that beautiful? So he said, "I'm not going to bring to the point of birth and then they don't get delivered." They're going to get born again because God is powerful. True Worshipers Prosper Richly in Zion Now in verses 10-14, these true worshipers prosper richly in Zion. The river of converts are going to be flowing into Zion, the new Jerusalem. Making her amazingly wealthy. Again verse 10 through 14, "Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her. For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance. For this is what the LORD says: 'I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. 13 As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem. 14 When you see this, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like grass; the hand of the LORD will be made known to his servants.'" So it's just a river of blessing flowing into Zion from the ends of the earth. These Gentile converts, these adopted sons and daughters of Abraham, adopted sons and daughters of God are going to become delighted in the new Jerusalem, ultimately. Paul says very plainly in Galatians 4 that it's not the Jerusalem that's below. She's in bondage with her children. But we're talking about the Jerusalem that's above. And we'll be delighted in it and we can't wait to see it. This radiant city that will last forever. And this river of converts coming from every tribe and language and people and nation are going to be deeply, richly, comforted by her and they will enrich her with all of their hearts, all of their souls, giving the treasures of their heart to Christ ultimately in worship. And as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also the comforts of Christ flow over and we are comforted. And we know we're going to a world where there'll be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. We will be comforted by that and we will see the glory of God in all of those things. Verses 10 through 14, that's what's coming. III. False Worshipers Condemned, True Worshipers Commissioned (vs. 14b-21) But halfway through verse 14, we switch again to the false worshippers that are condemned. The wicked continue to be in view in this chapter, but this is a world of both wheat and weeds. And so look at 14B, "The hand of the Lord will be made known to His servants, but as fury will be shown to his foes." Verse 15, "Behold, the Lord is coming with fire and his chariots are like a whirlwind and he will bring down his anger with fury and there's rebuke with flames of fire." Verse 16, "For with fire and with his sword, the Lord will execute judgment upon all men and many will be those slain by the Lord." God's mighty hand to save will be on display to his servants. They will see how He will save them but they will also see the judgment and wrath will bring to his enemies. So these verses speak with terrifying clarity of the future vengeance of the Lord on the wicked. God's going to pour out His fury on them. The Book of Revelation to which God willing, we're going to go next after next week's sermon on Isaiah one more. But then we're going to begin a journey through the Book of Revelation. And it depicts more clearly than any book of the Bible what this verse is talking about. Like when the sixth trumpet blows in Revelation 9:18. It says "A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths." A third of mankind. Two or three billion people dying at one time. It staggers the mind. And then at the second coming of Christ, Christ comes back with the sword coming out of His mouth. Not literally, but metaphorically because that's the weapon. All he has to do this is to say to His enemies "Be dead and be damned" and that's it. He has that kind of power. And so Revelation 19:21, it says "The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse and the birds came and gorge themselves on their flesh." This is terrifying. This is the terrifying wrath and vengeance of God and it's real and it's coming. And the elect are the only ones who take it seriously. The elect are the only ones that take this seriously and this is part of what it means to tremble at his word. Pagan worship of the enemies is singled out here. Look at verse 17. "Those who consecrate and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following the one in the midst of those who eat the flesh of pigs and rats and other abominable things, they will meet their end together." I think this is just talking about the disgusting religions of the world. The religions of the world have led people to do bizarre disgusting things. And I think to some degree, you'll get Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, the animistic religion, the tribal religions, they lead people to do repulsive disgusting things. I think it's Satan's mockery of us who are created an image of God. He can deceive us and get us to think clever thoughts and do degrading, degrading things. But the end will be judgment from the Lord. But then we turn back to true worshippers, in verse 18-21, these true worshippers are commissioned to bring in the nation. So here we have missions again, one last time in the book. There have been many examples of great commissions in the Book of Isaiah. Jesus said this after his resurrection, he rose from the dead, he goes to the upper room. Luke 24: He opened their minds, so that they could understand the scriptures, [including Isaiah] He told them, 'This is what is written: that Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. And repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem, you are witnesses of these things.'" it's written. So here we have this prediction plainly. Look at verse 18: "And I, because of their actions and their imaginations, am about to come and gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see my glory. I'm going to gather them and they're going to see my glory. Look at verse 19: "I will set a sign among them. And I will send some of those who survive to the nations, to Tarshish, to the Libyans and Lydians, famous as archers, to Tubal, and Greece, and to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. And they will proclaim my glory to the nations." Friends, that's missions. Do you see it in Verse 19? |I'm going to send a remnant out to the ends of the Earth, and they're going to proclaim my glory. I'm going to set a sign among them. Verse 20: "'And they will bring all your brothers, from all the nations to my holy mountain in Jerusalem, as an offering to the Lord, on horses and chariots, and wagons, and mules, and camels,' says the Lord. 'They will bring them, as the Israelites bring there grain offerings to the temple of the Lord in ceremonially clean vessels. And I will select some of them also to be priests and Levites,' says the Lord." So God, I think speaks plainly in these verses about the spread of the Gospel from Jerusalem through Judea and Samaria to the ends of the Earth. And God's going to assemble all the nations and tongues to come and see. But we learn from John 4, Jesus said to the Samarian woman, "Neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father." You don't need to go anywhere geographically. We don't have to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. We don't have to go anywhere physically. The coming and seeing is done by faith alone. We come to God when we see the glory of God in Christ, when we hear the Gospel. That's how we come and see. And God's going to set a sign among the nations, and that sign, a sign is like a miracle, something like that, that sign is Jesus, the life of Jesus. From His miraculous conception, the virgin conception, virgin birth, through his sinless life, through the river of miracles that he did, all of the healings, the raising of Lazarus from the dead, the healing of a man born blind, the walking on water, the feeding of the 5,000, and the final capping greatest miracle all, his own bodily resurrection from the dead. I'm going to set a sign among the nations and they're going to believe, they're going to believe. And some of the survivors, the remnant, the Jews chosen by grace, they're going to be sent out. Salvation is from the Jews. So all the 12 apostles were Jews and the apostle Paul was a Jew. And they were sent out of this remnant as messengers. And they're going to be sent out to these distant lands. Look at the small sampling of those nations listed in Verse 19, Tarshish is distant Spain. Put and Lud or Lydia is Northern Africa. Tubal is North in the caucuses, like maybe the Republic of Georgia or on up into Russia. And they're described as archers, they're really good archers. They're warlike and scary, but some of them are elect. I'm thinking you're going to have martyrs that will be necessary to die, but the elect will be brought. The gospel is going to spread. And these Gentiles, what they have not heard about them, they will see. And then what they were not told, they will hear. Isaiah 52:15: They're going to hear about Christ, and they're going to begin their spiritual pilgrimage. And how are they going to come? Well, I know it says on horses and chariots, and litters, mules, and camels. I didn't say that every word was easy to interpret. I've never been on a litter. I have been on a mule. I've never been on a camel. But again, there's that physical language. But we know based on the New Testament teaching, you don't need to go anywhere. And so, this just might talk in symbolic language of the different ways that people come to Christ. They're just different stories, and we're going to hear them on testimony night, or day, or whatever in Heaven, that'll they'll be going on forever. I want to hear those stories. Tell me how you came to Christ. I want to hear those stories. Now, the ministry of the Apostle Paul, they're going to come as offerings, it says, like the Israelites used to bring grain offerings. The Apostle Paul said, "That's what my ministry is like, I'm Apostle to the Gentiles." Romans 15 and 16: With the priestly duty of proclaiming the Gospel to them, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. He's like, "I'm offering the Gentiles up to God." This is a direct fulfillment of the words here. Do you not see the harmony of the Bible? This is staggering. By the way, I knew when I practiced the sermon this morning, I would be laying on you something like 196 ideas. Just go back and listen and look at it carefully. This is a river of truth, this one chapter. It's incredible. And verse 21: "'I will select some of them, [the Gentiles] to be priests and Levites' says the Lord." What does that mean? The resources for the multiplication of the harvest, the harvesting is in the harvest. The future laborers are present harvest field. And so you go and you share the gospel, and those people come to Christ, and then they multiply, and they go out to their own people. Some time ago, I was watching an incredible video called EETaow! It's one of my favorite missionary stories ever, magnificent. And it's a story about New Tribes' missionaries, Mark and Gloria Zook, who went from rural Papua New Guinea. And they led the Moke people to faith in Christ. A careful, patient explanation of redemptive history culminating in Christ, death on the cross, his resurrection. Finally, the Holy Spirit opens their eyes, they understand why the Zook's are there, and they believe in Christ. And they go crazy. And for something like an hour, they start chanting, "Etah, etah. It's true, it's true." And they realize that they're freed from their dark pagan religion, they're free from animism and fear of the spirits, and they are just celebrating their forgiveness and they're going crazy. But that wasn't the end of the story. The sequel is in some ways even more beautiful. They sent some of their own people out to the neighboring villages and some of them went across some language barriers in Papua, New Guinea to reach the next villages. "I will select some of them to be priests and Levites." That's what it says, and they're going to do that priestly duty of proclaiming the Gospel. IV. True Worshipers Eternally Live (vs. 22-24) And so we finish in verse 22-24 true worshippers eternally live, but false worshippers eternally die. This is the new Heavens and the new earth. Verse 22 and 23, "'As the new heavens and the new earth that I WILL make will endure before me,' declares the LORD, 'so will your name and descendants endure. From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me," says the LORD.'" The New Heavens and New Earth Endure Eternally So this text says two things will endure eternally. The new universe will endure eternally, and the people of God will endure eternally. "As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure, so will your name and your seed endure forever. Now this is the universe that God in some ways has yet to make. But I believe it's related to the present universe as our bodies are related to our future resurrection bodies. I think it's a direct analogy. We will be raised from the dead. So there's continuity but difference. This universe will be raised from bondage to decay into a glorious new universe. I believe that. Others think God's going to create a whole new universe. I get that too. Either way, we're going to get a new universe. And unlike this present creation which has been groaning in bondage to decay, winding down, breaking down, constantly dying, always dying. No, those days are over. The living things will live forever and only become more robust and more glorious and more worthy of study as the display of the glory of God that they are. And in the same way, so will His people endure forever before him. Your seed and your name will remain forever, the seed of the people. And their name will remember... Will endure forever. What does that mean? Name is reputation. This is what I think. We'll be discussing one another's name. And what does that mean? What you did, your works. The ones that survive Judgment Day. Your gold, silver, costly stones, not the wood hay straw. That's gone. But we're going to celebrate your crowns and your emblems of faithful service and I'm going to find out your stories, you're going to find out mine, we're going to talk to a multitude greater from anyone could count from every tribe, language, people, and nation and their name will endure forever, and we're going to learn their stories and see how God was glorified in their lives. I could go on about this forever. This is amazing, but we're going to say, "Not to us, to our name, but to Your name be the glory," Psalm 115:1. We're going to celebrate our name as a subset of God's glory and his name. V. False Worshipers Will Die Eternally (vs. 24) Conversely, and here we end. False worshippers will die eternally. Verse 24, "They will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me. Their worm will not die. Nor will their fire be quenched and they will be loathsome to all mankind." Now Jesus, our Savior, used these very words to describe the eternity of Hell, eternal, conscious torment in Hell. That's what He taught. Mark 9:43-48, "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into Hell where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you sin, then cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than have two feet and be thrown into Hell, and if your eye causes you to sin, then pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown in Hell, where their worm does not die and their fire is not quenched." Jesus is quoting the last verse of the Book of Isaiah. Eternal, conscious torment. That's what the Bible teaches is the future of the wicked. When it says the worm does not die, the worm gnaws on a corpse. It gnaws on the dead body and it keeps eating until there's nothing left to eat, and then the worm dies. Jesus said the worm will never die. So God sustains existence and the fire, it never goes out. Some people teach annihilation, even some good teachers in the church have been deceived in this regard. It's hard to understand, but this is what the Bible teaches. It's what Jesus taught. And it says, "They will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me." Who's they? The worshippers, the redeemed. We will be well aware of them. And why is that? Well, we know in Revelation 14, it says in verses 10-11, "He too will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath and he will be tormented with burning sulfur." Listen to this, "In the presence of His holy angels and of the lamb, and the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever. There is no rest day or night." The holy angels see it happening. It goes up before them, they know what's going on and the Lamb, Jesus knows about it, and it goes up before Him. It doesn't say it openly, but it does here in verse 24, They will go out and look. We will be well aware of them. And there's no grieving, none. There'll be no mourning in Heaven. But this is what's taught, because it's a display, an internal display of the justice of God. And for us, the redeemed, it's an eternal display of the mercy of God, isn't it? And forever we will realize that we were saved by grace. We were saved by mercy. It teaches us in Romans Chapter 9. You might ask, "Why does God create people who end up in Hell? Why would he do that?" Romans 9 is the answer, the chapter that answers, especially verses 22-23. It says, "What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath-- prepared for destruction? 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory." At least in part, they're there for our education, and we learn that we are saved by grace. And when you're in Heaven, seeing Heaven's version of Amazing Grace, you'll know exactly what you're talking about. VI. Applications Alright, applications, we've already done some. I just want to do a few before we go to the Lord's Supper. The first is flee to Christ now. I don't know if I am speaking to any who is as yet un-redeemed, but I expect that I am. This is the time, a window of opportunity for you to drink of God's mercy and grace and favor through Christ. God sent Jesus Christ, his only begotten son, to live a sinless life and die on the cross for sinners like you and me. He shed his blood that we might be forgiven that the wrath of God might be pro-pitied, might be removed from us. All you need to do is trust in Him. Repent of your sins and trust in him. Secondly, for you Christians, humble yourself before God and worship Him. I can't get enough of verses 1-2, "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my foot stool. What kind of house will you build for Me?" I love that, I love to be humbled. Where will my resting place be? Has not My hand made all these things. And so they came into being... This is the one I esteem. he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who trembles in my word." Just say, "Oh God, make me beautiful, make me holy, make me humble, let me tremble at your word. I cast myself down before you. I think you should do it daily, in your quiet time. Work humility in me, Oh God. Thirdly, despise nominal religion. It's danger for us as it was for them, the outward machinery of religion without any heart behind it. Despise it, it's dangerous, God hates it. He looks behind it and says, "Offering of a bull, it's like killing a man to me, if your heart's not in it." Fourthly, tremble at the fate of the wicked. It's hard to read the final verse of Isaiah. It's hard. It should make us cry. Paul said, "I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart." This is the time to grieve over it, it won't be grieving in heaven, not at all. But now's the time to have sorrow and unceasing anguish, and be motivated in evangelism and missions. Fifthly, embrace missions. This is the story, this is what is happening in the world. He's going to send out messengers to people who have not heard of His fame or seeing His glory, and they will proclaim His glory, He will set a sign among the nations and they'll believe in that sign, Jesus, and have eternal life. We need to be a missions-church, we are, we need to be even more. Send more missionaries, more money, more prayer, more focus, more concern. And we need to be more passionate about evangelism here in the Triangle region as well. Let's share the Gospel. And finally, as I've said many times before, let's yearn for the New Heavens in the earth. Let's set our hearts on things above and things to come. And we get to do that now with the Lord's Supper. For me, when I go to the Lord's supper, I eat it in a kind of an eschatological or end-time perspective. I look forward to feasting with Jesus with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. I look forward to that. And so we're about to partake of this, and as we do, we get to... We get to look upward to God and see his greatness, we get to look inward and see our sinfulness and confess it, we get to look back to Jesus who died on the cross for us. We get to look around to brothers and sisters in Christ who are partaking with us. And we get to look ahead to the second coming and the new heavens, and new earth, and feasting. Now, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, and you've testified to that by water baptism, you're welcome to come. If not, we ask that you refrain, and we hope that you'll partake next time. Having come to faith in Christ, we would love to have you. But I like to ask the Deacons to come now, I'm going to close the sermon in prayer and we'll partake in the Lord's Supper. Father, thank you for what we've learned through the journey of 66 chapters in Isaiah. It's been overwhelming and amazing and as we have one more chance next week to look at it, give us grace to take in the message. As we turn now to the Lord's Supper, we pray that you would send forth your sovereign Spirit to make this not a bare memorial, not an empty ritual, but something in a genuine experience of God's grace through Christ and His sacrifice in his name, we pray, Amen.

John 4:7 Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food… When Jesus shared water with the woman at Jacob's well in Samaria, he opened her up to the power of his refreshing presence, the living water that satisfies the soul instead of the pursuit of pleasure that simply gratifies the senses. As well as that mystical water there is a mystical food that nourishes and strengthens our heart and mind and even our body, as we share in the supernatural work of the doing of God's good will to others. The powerful energy of God's love to others feeds our soul as well as theirs. (Jesus fixes our thirst before dealing with our appetite). John 4:34. Then Jesus said: “ My food (for strength) is to do the will of him who sent me and to make his work complete” (He didn't say ‘My duty is to…') WHAT WAS ‘THE WILL OF HIM WHO SENT ME'? The Journey of Jesus and the disciples through Samaria was not plan A for Jesus. John 4:1 Now when it was clear to the Lord that word had come to the ears of the Pharisees that Jesus was making more disciples than John and was giving them baptism (Though, in fact, it was his disciples who gave baptism, not Jesus himself), He went out of Judaea into Galilee again. 4.And it was necessary for him to go through Samaria. Apart from the fact that the way through Samaria was quicker, it was necessary for Jesus to go by way of hilly Samaria as a safety measure as the Pharisees had become antagonistic to him, and Jesus was not ready for a final showdown with them. This would have likely happened if they took the longer normal journey with more confrontation and provocation through the Jewish villages of the plains between Judea and Galilee. This necessary thing steered Jesus into being where he had to be for the doing of the will of his Father. And Jesus was always ready for that. The conversation between Jesus and the woman at the well concluded with Jesus saying to her “I Am the Messiah!” In the meantime she had taunted Jesus the thirsty Jewish man, she had argued with the Jesus the Rabbi, she was captivated by Jesus the prophet, and she surrendered her life to Jesus the Messiah, the Christ, to manage her soul. This was his food - doing the life-changing good will of his Father towards that woman. Vs.27 Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?” The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” So the people came streaming from the city to see him. Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.” But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.” “Did someone bring him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked each other. Vs.34 Jesus said, ‘My food (for strength) is to do the will of him who sent me and to make his work complete' Jesus partook of that ‘food' simply by BEING with his Father and sharing life-giving water with the woman. And the woman also partook of that food when she shared her powerful revelation of truth and love in the person of Jesus to the people of that Samarian city of Sychar. HARVEST IS A WHO NOT A WHEN Vs.35 You know the saying, ‘Four months between seedtime and harvest ' But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already white for harvest (The white robed people from Sychar streaming down the hill). The harvesters are paid good wages, and the food they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the sower and the harvester alike! You know the saying, ‘One sows and another reaps. ' And it's true. I sent you to harvest where you didn't plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest. (NLT) Amos 9:13 The time will come when there will be such abundance of crops that the harvest-time will scarcely end before the farmer starts again to sow another crop.(LB) Amos 9:13 Yes indeed, it won't be long now. Things are going to happen so fast your head will swim, one thing fast on the heels of the other. You won't be able to keep up. Everything will be happening at once—and everywhere you look, blessings! Blessings like wine pouring off the mountains and hills. (Message bible) JESUS WAS ALWAYS READY – Paul also said ‘So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also'. (Romans 1:15) Ready (Prothymos) means ‘The heart has gone on ahead before the action happens' - The heart appetite for the good will of God for others. A heart disposition of that kind of readiness becomes our destiny. Destiny is not something that happens to us one day but something that is happening with us at any given time. So even though it is set before us it is not just something for the future only, but something we are always arriving at now in our heart. So the life goal becomes the here and now readiness or disposition to go with Holy Spirit at any crossroad and walk with him into the doing of his good will to others. Our prayer becomes the menu. It is our ‘ready, set, go'. If we are at one with God (peace) it is impossible to not want his good will for others because that is what he wants. That is the food for our soul. If we wish to withhold his good will to others we starve our own soul. When we feed with faith The food multiplies.

On Sunday March 22 Venus makes the fourth visible conjunction with the Moon since Her re-appearance as Evening Star. The Goddess is restoring and balancing her heart chakra which is associated with the Sun. Tune in as Gary explains what the Sun is telling us now, via the recent very rare total Solar eclipse on the day of the Vernal Eqinox. Gary also delineates the sabian symbol for the degree of this Venus-Moon conjunction which involves telling and interpreting the Biblical stories of Jesus' interactions with Nicodemus and then the Samarian woman at Jacob's well.

Rev. John Birkett on Acts 8:14-17; 25

In this weeks topical study of MTBS, we are going to look at the John chapter 4, and the Samarian women. I have to admit, some of this was just so heavy, it took me a long time to figure out what to leave in and what to leave out. I cant wait till next week, to check out the next part of all this. The book of John is deep water for me. Hopefully through our study, some of Gods blessing will splash on you! Also, anyone who can figure out the acrostic below gets an honorable mention on next weeks show! best; yp, npmov