Podcasts about this jesus

Two ways to support Common Prayer DailyBecome a Patron on PatreonMake a One-Time DonationVisit our website for a beautiful Daily Office Experience and More - www.commonprayerdaily.com----------------------Sunday - Easter Week 7 (Year A)Opening Words:“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”Colossians 3:1 (ESV) Confession:Let us humbly confess our sins unto Almighty God.Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen. The InvitatoryO Lord, open our lips,and our mouths shall show forth your praise. Create in us clean hearts, O God, and renew a right spirit within us. Cast us not away from your presence, and take not your holy Spirit from us. O give us the comfort of your help again, and sustain us with your willing Spirit.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Psalm of the DayPsalm 68:1-10, 33-36Exsurgat Deus1Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered; *let those who hate him flee before him.2Let them vanish like smoke when the wind drives it away; *as the wax melts at the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.3But let the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; *let them also be merry and joyful.4Sing to God, sing praises to his Name;exalt him who rides upon the heavens; *Yahweh is his Name, rejoice before him!5Father of orphans, defender of widows, *God in his holy habitation!6God gives the solitary a home and brings forth prisoners into freedom; *but the rebels shall live in dry places.7O God, when you went forth before your people, *when you marched through the wilderness,8The earth shook, and the skies poured down rain,at the presence of God, the God of Sinai, *at the presence of God, the God of Israel.9You sent a gracious rain, O God, upon your inheritance; *you refreshed the land when it was weary.10Your people found their home in it; *in your goodness, O God, you have made provision for the poor.33Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth; *sing praises to the Lord.34He rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens; *he sends forth his voice, his mighty voice.35Ascribe power to God; *his majesty is over Israel;his strength is in the skies.36How wonderful is God in his holy places! *the God of Israel giving strength and power to his people!Blessed be God! Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. The LessonsActs 1:6-146 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.1 Peter 4:12-14 + 5:6-1112 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.5:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.John 17:1-1117 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. The Word of the Lord.Thanks Be To God. The PrayersLord, have mercy.Christ, have mercyLord, have mercyOur Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. IntercessionTake a moment of silence at this time to reflect and pray for others. The CollectsThe Seventh Week of EasterO God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. A Prayer of St. John ChrysostomAlmighty God, you have given us grace at this time, with one accord to make our common supplications to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will grant their requests: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen. BenedictionThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen*.* Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.Psalms taken from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer by the Episcopal Church.The reading plan based is based on the 1979 Daily Office Lectionary Year A

Old Testament: 1 Samuel 1–2 1 Samuel 1–2 (Listen) The Birth of Samuel 1 There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephrathite. 2 He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 3 Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the LORD. 4 On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the LORD had closed her womb.1 6 And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb. 7 So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the LORD, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. 8 And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?” 9 After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the LORD. 10 She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. 11 And she vowed a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.” 12 As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. 14 And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.” 15 But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD. 16 Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.” 17 Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.” 18 And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad. 19 They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. 20 And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the LORD.”2 Samuel Given to the Lord 21 The man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow. 22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the LORD and dwell there forever.” 23 Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him; only, may the LORD establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. 24 And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull,3 an ephah4 of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. And the child was young. 25 Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. 26 And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the LORD. 27 For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him. 28 Therefore I have lent him to the LORD. As long as he lives, he is lent to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there. Hannah's Prayer 2 And Hannah prayed and said,   “My heart exults in the LORD;    my horn is exalted in the LORD.  My mouth derides my enemies,    because I rejoice in your salvation. 2   “There is none holy like the LORD:    for there is none besides you;    there is no rock like our God.3   Talk no more so very proudly,    let not arrogance come from your mouth;  for the LORD is a God of knowledge,    and by him actions are weighed.4   The bows of the mighty are broken,    but the feeble bind on strength.5   Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,    but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.  The barren has borne seven,    but she who has many children is forlorn.6   The LORD kills and brings to life;    he brings down to Sheol and raises up.7   The LORD makes poor and makes rich;    he brings low and he exalts.8   He raises up the poor from the dust;    he lifts the needy from the ash heap  to make them sit with princes    and inherit a seat of honor.  For the pillars of the earth are the LORD's,    and on them he has set the world. 9   “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones,    but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness,    for not by might shall a man prevail.10   The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces;    against them he will thunder in heaven.  The LORD will judge the ends of the earth;    he will give strength to his king    and exalt the horn of his anointed.” 11 Then Elkanah went home to Ramah. And the boy5 was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli the priest. Eli's Worthless Sons 12 Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD. 13 The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, 14 and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” 16 And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” 17 Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the LORD, for the men treated the offering of the LORD with contempt. 18 Samuel was ministering before the LORD, a boy clothed with a linen ephod. 19 And his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20 Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the LORD give you children by this woman for the petition she asked of the LORD.” So then they would return to their home. 21 Indeed the LORD visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the LORD. Eli Rebukes His Sons 22 Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 23 And he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. 24 No, my sons; it is no good report that I hear the people of the LORD spreading abroad. 25 If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the LORD to put them to death. 26 Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the LORD and also with man. The Lord Rejects Eli's Household 27 And there came a man of God to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh? 28 Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. 29 Why then do you scorn6 my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?' 30 Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,' but now the LORD declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. 31 Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32 Then in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. 33 The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his7 eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants8 of your house shall die by the sword of men.9 34 And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day. 35 And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever. 36 And everyone who is left in your house shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and shall say, “Please put me in one of the priests' places, that I may eat a morsel of bread.”'” Footnotes [1] 1:5 Syriac; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain. Septuagint And, although he loved Hannah, he would give Hannah only one portion, because the Lord had closed her womb [2] 1:20 Samuel sounds like the Hebrew for heard of God [3] 1:24 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac; Masoretic Text three bulls [4] 1:24 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters [5] 2:11 Hebrew na‘ar can be rendered boy (2:11, 18, 21, 26; 3:1, 8), servant (2:13, 15), or young man (2:17), depending on the context [6] 2:29 Hebrew kick at [7] 2:33 Septuagint; Hebrew your; twice in this verse [8] 2:33 Hebrew increase [9] 2:33 Septuagint; Hebrew die as men (ESV) New Testament: Acts 1:1–11 Acts 1:1–11 (Listen) The Promise of the Holy Spirit 1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 And while staying1 with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with2 the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” The Ascension 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Footnotes [1] 1:4 Or eating [2] 1:5 Or in (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 118 Psalm 118 (Listen) His Steadfast Love Endures Forever 118   Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;    for his steadfast love endures forever! 2   Let Israel say,    “His steadfast love endures forever.”3   Let the house of Aaron say,    “His steadfast love endures forever.”4   Let those who fear the LORD say,    “His steadfast love endures forever.” 5   Out of my distress I called on the LORD;    the LORD answered me and set me free.6   The LORD is on my side; I will not fear.    What can man do to me?7   The LORD is on my side as my helper;    I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. 8   It is better to take refuge in the LORD    than to trust in man.9   It is better to take refuge in the LORD    than to trust in princes. 10   All nations surrounded me;    in the name of the LORD I cut them off!11   They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;    in the name of the LORD I cut them off!12   They surrounded me like bees;    they went out like a fire among thorns;    in the name of the LORD I cut them off!13   I was pushed hard,1 so that I was falling,    but the LORD helped me. 14   The LORD is my strength and my song;    he has become my salvation.15   Glad songs of salvation    are in the tents of the righteous:  “The right hand of the LORD does valiantly,16     the right hand of the LORD exalts,    the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!” 17   I shall not die, but I shall live,    and recount the deeds of the LORD.18   The LORD has disciplined me severely,    but he has not given me over to death. 19   Open to me the gates of righteousness,    that I may enter through them    and give thanks to the LORD.20   This is the gate of the LORD;    the righteous shall enter through it.21   I thank you that you have answered me    and have become my salvation.22   The stone that the builders rejected    has become the cornerstone.223   This is the LORD's doing;    it is marvelous in our eyes.24   This is the day that the LORD has made;    let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25   Save us, we pray, O LORD!    O LORD, we pray, give us success! 26   Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!    We bless you from the house of the LORD.27   The LORD is God,    and he has made his light to shine upon us.  Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,    up to the horns of the altar! 28   You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;    you are my God; I will extol you.29   Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;    for his steadfast love endures forever! Footnotes [1] 118:13 Hebrew You (that is, the enemy) pushed me hard [2] 118:22 Hebrew the head of the corner (ESV) Proverb: Proverbs 15:18–19 Proverbs 15:18–19 (Listen) 18   A hot-tempered man stirs up strife,    but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.19   The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns,    but the path of the upright is a level highway. (ESV)

Morning: Psalm 46:1–3; Psalm 57:1; Psalm 112:7; Isaiah 26:20–21; Matthew 24:6; John 16:33; Colossians 3:3 “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed.” God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.—Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by. For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.—In the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.—Your life is hidden with Christ in God. He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Psalm 46:1–3 (Listen) God Is Our Fortress To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth.1 A Song. 46   God is our refuge and strength,    a very present2 help in trouble.2   Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,3   though its waters roar and foam,    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah Footnotes [1] 46:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term [2] 46:1 Or well proved (ESV) Psalm 57:1 (Listen) Let Your Glory Be over All the Earth To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam1 of David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave. 57   Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,    for in you my soul takes refuge;  in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,    till the storms of destruction pass by. Footnotes [1] 57:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term (ESV) Psalm 112:7 (Listen) 7   He is not afraid of bad news;    his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. (ESV) Isaiah 26:20–21 (Listen) 20   Come, my people, enter your chambers,    and shut your doors behind you;  hide yourselves for a little while    until the fury has passed by.21   For behold, the LORD is coming out from his place    to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity,  and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it,    and will no more cover its slain. (ESV) Matthew 24:6 (Listen) 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. (ESV) John 16:33 (Listen) 33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (ESV) Colossians 3:3 (Listen) 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (ESV) Evening: Psalm 69:26; Isaiah 53:4; Matthew 26:67–68; Matthew 27:41–42; Luke 17:1; Acts 2:23; Acts 4:27–28 For they persecute him whom you have struck down. “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!”—“This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.”— Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?”—So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross.”—“For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. Psalm 69:26 (Listen) 26   For they persecute him whom you have struck down,    and they recount the pain of those you have wounded. (ESV) Isaiah 53:4 (Listen) 4   Surely he has borne our griefs    and carried our sorrows;  yet we esteemed him stricken,    smitten by God, and afflicted. (ESV) Matthew 26:67–68 (Listen) 67 Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, 68 saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?” (ESV) Matthew 27:41–42 (Listen) 41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. (ESV) Luke 17:1 (Listen) Temptations to Sin 17 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin1 are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! Footnotes [1] 17:1 Greek Stumbling blocks (ESV) Acts 2:23 (Listen) 23 this Jesus,1 delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. Footnotes [1] 2:23 Greek this one (ESV) Acts 4:27–28 (Listen) 27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. (ESV)

Easter Week First Psalm: Psalm 136 Psalm 136 (Listen) His Steadfast Love Endures Forever 136   Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,    for his steadfast love endures forever.2   Give thanks to the God of gods,    for his steadfast love endures forever.3   Give thanks to the Lord of lords,    for his steadfast love endures forever; 4   to him who alone does great wonders,    for his steadfast love endures forever;5   to him who by understanding made the heavens,    for his steadfast love endures forever;6   to him who spread out the earth above the waters,    for his steadfast love endures forever;7   to him who made the great lights,    for his steadfast love endures forever;8   the sun to rule over the day,    for his steadfast love endures forever;9   the moon and stars to rule over the night,    for his steadfast love endures forever; 10   to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,    for his steadfast love endures forever;11   and brought Israel out from among them,    for his steadfast love endures forever;12   with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,    for his steadfast love endures forever;13   to him who divided the Red Sea in two,    for his steadfast love endures forever;14   and made Israel pass through the midst of it,    for his steadfast love endures forever;15   but overthrew1 Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,    for his steadfast love endures forever;16   to him who led his people through the wilderness,    for his steadfast love endures forever; 17   to him who struck down great kings,    for his steadfast love endures forever;18   and killed mighty kings,    for his steadfast love endures forever;19   Sihon, king of the Amorites,    for his steadfast love endures forever;20   and Og, king of Bashan,    for his steadfast love endures forever;21   and gave their land as a heritage,    for his steadfast love endures forever;22   a heritage to Israel his servant,    for his steadfast love endures forever. 23   It is he who remembered us in our low estate,    for his steadfast love endures forever;24   and rescued us from our foes,    for his steadfast love endures forever;25   he who gives food to all flesh,    for his steadfast love endures forever. 26   Give thanks to the God of heaven,    for his steadfast love endures forever. Footnotes [1] 136:15 Hebrew shook off (ESV) Second Psalm: Psalm 118 Psalm 118 (Listen) His Steadfast Love Endures Forever 118   Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;    for his steadfast love endures forever! 2   Let Israel say,    “His steadfast love endures forever.”3   Let the house of Aaron say,    “His steadfast love endures forever.”4   Let those who fear the LORD say,    “His steadfast love endures forever.” 5   Out of my distress I called on the LORD;    the LORD answered me and set me free.6   The LORD is on my side; I will not fear.    What can man do to me?7   The LORD is on my side as my helper;    I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. 8   It is better to take refuge in the LORD    than to trust in man.9   It is better to take refuge in the LORD    than to trust in princes. 10   All nations surrounded me;    in the name of the LORD I cut them off!11   They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;    in the name of the LORD I cut them off!12   They surrounded me like bees;    they went out like a fire among thorns;    in the name of the LORD I cut them off!13   I was pushed hard,1 so that I was falling,    but the LORD helped me. 14   The LORD is my strength and my song;    he has become my salvation.15   Glad songs of salvation    are in the tents of the righteous:  “The right hand of the LORD does valiantly,16     the right hand of the LORD exalts,    the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!” 17   I shall not die, but I shall live,    and recount the deeds of the LORD.18   The LORD has disciplined me severely,    but he has not given me over to death. 19   Open to me the gates of righteousness,    that I may enter through them    and give thanks to the LORD.20   This is the gate of the LORD;    the righteous shall enter through it.21   I thank you that you have answered me    and have become my salvation.22   The stone that the builders rejected    has become the cornerstone.223   This is the LORD's doing;    it is marvelous in our eyes.24   This is the day that the LORD has made;    let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25   Save us, we pray, O LORD!    O LORD, we pray, give us success! 26   Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!    We bless you from the house of the LORD.27   The LORD is God,    and he has made his light to shine upon us.  Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,    up to the horns of the altar! 28   You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;    you are my God; I will extol you.29   Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;    for his steadfast love endures forever! Footnotes [1] 118:13 Hebrew You (that is, the enemy) pushed me hard [2] 118:22 Hebrew the head of the corner (ESV) Old Testament: Daniel 12:1–4; Daniel 12:13 Daniel 12:1–4 (Listen) The Time of the End 12 “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above;1 and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. 4 But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” Footnotes [1] 12:3 Hebrew the expanse; compare Genesis 1:6–8 (ESV) Daniel 12:13 (Listen) 13 But go your way till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days.” (ESV) New Testament: Acts 4:1–12 Acts 4:1–12 (Listen) Peter and John Before the Council 4 And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. 5 On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus1 is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.2 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men3 by which we must be saved.” Footnotes [1] 4:11 Greek This one [2] 4:11 Greek the head of the corner [3] 4:12 The Greek word anthropoi refers here to both men and women (ESV) Gospel: John 16:1–15 John 16:1–15 (Listen) 16 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. The Work of the Holy Spirit “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?' 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (ESV)

Old Testament: Deuteronomy 28 Deuteronomy 28 (Listen) Blessings for Obedience 28 “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. 3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. 5 Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 6 Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. 7 “The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. 8 The LORD will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 9 The LORD will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. 10 And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you. 11 And the LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them, 14 and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. Curses for Disobedience 15 “But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. 16 Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. 17 Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 18 Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. 19 Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. 20 “The LORD will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me. 21 The LORD will make the pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 22 The LORD will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought1 and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish. 23 And the heavens over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you shall be iron. 24 The LORD will make the rain of your land powder. From heaven dust shall come down on you until you are destroyed. 25 “The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 And your dead body shall be food for all birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and there shall be no one to frighten them away. 27 The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt, and with tumors and scabs and itch, of which you cannot be healed. 28 The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of mind, 29 and you shall grope at noonday, as the blind grope in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways.2 And you shall be only oppressed and robbed continually, and there shall be no one to help you. 30 You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall ravish her. You shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it. You shall plant a vineyard, but you shall not enjoy its fruit. 31 Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat any of it. Your donkey shall be seized before your face, but shall not be restored to you. Your sheep shall be given to your enemies, but there shall be no one to help you. 32 Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and fail with longing for them all day long, but you shall be helpless. 33 A nation that you have not known shall eat up the fruit of your ground and of all your labors, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually, 34 so that you are driven mad by the sights that your eyes see. 35 The LORD will strike you on the knees and on the legs with grievous boils of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. 36 “The LORD will bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known. And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone. 37 And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the LORD will lead you away. 38 You shall carry much seed into the field and shall gather in little, for the locust shall consume it. 39 You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall eat them. 40 You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives shall drop off. 41 You shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours, for they shall go into captivity. 42 The cricket3 shall possess all your trees and the fruit of your ground. 43 The sojourner who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. 44 He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him. He shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. 45 “All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you. 46 They shall be a sign and a wonder against you and your offspring forever. 47 Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you. 49 The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand, 50 a hard-faced nation who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young. 51 It shall eat the offspring of your cattle and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed; it also shall not leave you grain, wine, or oil, the increase of your herds or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish. 52 “They shall besiege you in all your towns, until your high and fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down throughout all your land. And they shall besiege you in all your towns throughout all your land, which the LORD your God has given you. 53 And you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you. 54 The man who is the most tender and refined among you will begrudge food to his brother, to the wife he embraces,4 and to the last of the children whom he has left, 55 so that he will not give to any of them any of the flesh of his children whom he is eating, because he has nothing else left, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your towns. 56 The most tender and refined woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because she is so delicate and tender, will begrudge to the husband she embraces,5 to her son and to her daughter, 57 her afterbirth that comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears, because lacking everything she will eat them secretly, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your towns. 58 “If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the LORD your God, 59 then the LORD will bring on you and your offspring extraordinary afflictions, afflictions severe and lasting, and sicknesses grievous and lasting. 60 And he will bring upon you again all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. 61 Every sickness also and every affliction that is not recorded in the book of this law, the LORD will bring upon you, until you are destroyed. 62 Whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, you shall be left few in number, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God. 63 And as the LORD took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the LORD will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you. And you shall be plucked off the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 64 “And the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. 65 And among these nations you shall find no respite, and there shall be no resting place for the sole of your foot, but the LORD will give you there a trembling heart and failing eyes and a languishing soul. 66 Your life shall hang in doubt before you. Night and day you shall be in dread and have no assurance of your life. 67 In the morning you shall say, ‘If only it were evening!' and at evening you shall say, ‘If only it were morning!' because of the dread that your heart shall feel, and the sights that your eyes shall see. 68 And the LORD will bring you back in ships to Egypt, a journey that I promised that you should never make again; and there you shall offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.” Footnotes [1] 28:22 Or sword [2] 28:29 Or shall not succeed in finding your ways [3] 28:42 Identity uncertain [4] 28:54 Hebrew the wife of his bosom [5] 28:56 Hebrew the husband of her bosom (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 93 Psalm 93 (Listen) The Lord Reigns 93   The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty;    the LORD is robed; he has put on strength as his belt.  Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.2   Your throne is established from of old;    you are from everlasting. 3   The floods have lifted up, O LORD,    the floods have lifted up their voice;    the floods lift up their roaring.4   Mightier than the thunders of many waters,    mightier than the waves of the sea,    the LORD on high is mighty! 5   Your decrees are very trustworthy;    holiness befits your house,    O LORD, forevermore. (ESV) New Testament: Acts 17 Acts 17 (Listen) Paul and Silas in Thessalonica 17 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” 4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. 5 But the Jews1 were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. 6 And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, 7 and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” 8 And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. 9 And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. Paul and Silas in Berea 10 The brothers2 immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 12 Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. 13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds. 14 Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. 15 Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed. Paul in Athens 16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. Paul Addresses the Areopagus 22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,3 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for   “‘In him we live and move and have our being';4 as even some of your own poets have said,   “‘For we are indeed his offspring.'5 29 Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” 32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them. Footnotes [1] 17:5 Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time; also verse 13 [2] 17:10 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 14 [3] 17:24 Greek made by hands [4] 17:28 Probably from Epimenides of Crete [5] 17:28 From Aratus's poem “Phainomena” (ESV)

Acts 2:31-32 KJV He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. (32) This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/andrewhorval/support

Resurrection of Jesus and His Church (Audio) David Eells - 4/9/23 Everything We Have Belongs to the Lord  Missy Pollock - 12/24/22 This morning for the prayer meeting I asked the Lord, “What is the number one thing you want to tell us?” Then I received by faith at random; 1 Ch 29:5 …. Who then offereth willingly to consecrate himself this day unto Jehovah? (In context 1-28) [1] And David the king said unto all the assembly, Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great; for the palace is not for man, but for Jehovah God. [2] Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, and the silver for the things of silver, and the brass for the things of brass, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, stones for inlaid work, and of divers colors, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance. (In this parable David had fought the wars to win peace for the kingdom and prepared richly for the building of the temple, just as Sheshbazzar received from the king riches to rebuild the temple. It was then that his name was changed to Zerubbabel which represents the resurrected Man-child. This was just as Solomon, the prince of peace, the son of David, represents the resurrected Man-child. This text was a word from the Lord that we are there.) [3] Moreover also, because I have set my affection on the house of my God, seeing that I have a treasure of mine own of gold and silver, I give it unto the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, … Who then offereth willingly to consecrate himself this day unto Jehovah? [6] Then the princes of the fathers' houses, and the princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers over the king's work, offered willingly; [7] and they gave for the service of the house of God of gold five thousand talents and ten thousand darics, and of silver ten thousand talents, and of brass eighteen thousand talents, and of iron a hundred thousand talents. (We have personally seen at this time people of the King's house giving sacrificially to the building of the temple which is the people of God coming into the Kingdom. Our many missionaries are seeing many thousands of people coming into the Kingdom because of these gifts. Many of these people would be killed for turning to Christianity and some have.) … [9] Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with a perfect heart they offered willingly to Jehovah: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy. … [14] But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee. [15] For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as all our fathers were: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is no abiding. [16] O Jehovah our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee a house for thy holy name cometh of thy hand and is all thine own. [17] I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people, that are present here, offer willingly unto thee. …  [19] and give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for which I have made provision. … [21] And they sacrificed sacrifices unto Jehovah, and offered burnt-offerings unto Jehovah, on the morrow after that day, even a thousand bullocks, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, with their drink-offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel, [22] and did eat and drink before Jehovah on that day with great gladness. And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and anointed him unto Jehovah to be prince, and Zadok to be priest.  [23] Then Solomon sat on the throne of Jehovah as king instead of David his father and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him. [24] And all the princes, and the mighty men, and all the sons likewise of king David, submitted themselves unto Solomon the king. [25] And Jehovah magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel. [26] Now David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. …[28] And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor: and Solomon his son reigned in his stead. Missy said, “The Lord spoke to Debbie Fenske this word as I was reading these verses in 1Ch. Chapter 29, ‘My children, you must lay down your lives. Do you understand what this means? Be ready. Be willing to give up all. All that is dear to you. Be ready. Fear not this call I have upon your life.'”  I sensed the Lord wanted me to share this and after a bit when I was going to worship the Lord, I put it on shuffle and BEAUTY OF HOLINESScame on and I knew immediately it went with the verses and that I was supposed to share this! Another song that came up was TAKE MY LIFE.  Lose Your Life to Save it! Debbie Fenske - 12/24/22 I believe that today more than ever, Jesus is telling us, "Save your life." It's what He spoke to me a few weeks ago. There were two other scriptures that were shared in our morning Zoom meeting regarding giving up our lives by dying to self. Don L. had Luke 9:23-27 And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, will save it. 25 "For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? 26 "For whoever is ashamed of Me and of my Words, of him will the the Son of Man be ashamed. Judy F. shared, Matthew 12:46-49 While He was speaking to the crowd, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside seeking to speak to Him. 47 Someone said to Him, “Your Mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.” 48 But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him, and said, “Who is My mother and My brothers?” 49 And stretching out His hand toward his disciples, He said, "Behold My mother and My brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, is My brother and sister and mother. " Thank You, Father, for your continued warning to us to obey You in giving up our lives, and to let go of anything that comes between our relationship with You. Lord, May we each hear You, and receive from you as You tell us what You want us to do. And help us to hate our lives, and be wholly devoted to you, first and foremost. Thank you for your mercy towards us, Father. In Jesus name. Pray for God to Raise Up the Man-Child!   Pray for the Coming of Jesus in the Man-child Vanessa Weeks - 4/3/23 (David's notes in red) In a dream, I was in the UBM house with some others. The house was beautiful and clear of clutter. The floors were all polished and shining. There was a lot of room because everything we needed was against the walls. (This means all we need will be within our walls including sanctification.) This was also a multi-story house, and I knew we were working on doing something with the teachings, but it was different than it is now. (Getting the Word out by many methods including supernaturally as the angels have told us.) Matthew (meaning Gift of God) and I were standing in a small room with white walls (meaning sanctification), when David came in through the door. (I believe David represents the Man-Child reformers.) The three of us were standing together, with David in the middle. David said he felt weak. 2Co 12:10 Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.) (Weakness precedes death to self and this precedes the resurrection life of Jesus.) And then David started to fall, so Matthew and I helped lay him down on the rug. Matthew lowered David's feet and I lowered his head onto the rug. Matthew went to get help, and I thought David was dying or was already dead and thought to myself, "This can't be happening.” (Death must come before resurrection power.) I knelt by David, took his hand, and prayed something like, "Lord let David live.” (The Lord wants us to pray this now. Lord bring your resurrection life in the Man-child David's.)  I remember praying fervently, "Lord, there is much you promised David. (I asked the Lord for a word about a promise to David and received by faith at random “feet” in Rom 10:15 and how shall they preach, except they be sent? even as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of good things!) (The gospel will go out in a much stronger way like it came out of Jesus.). I also prayed, "Lord there is much you said you would do through him, and You are not a liar."  When I said, "Lord, you are not a liar," David became conscious, leaned on his left side, and put his right hand around me and agreed with my prayer and said, "Yes, Amen." Then he jumped up and was gone and I thought he went to the next room to show the nurses dressed in white, that he was alive and well. (Resurrection life is Solomon, the prince of peace, Jesus Christ, in the Man-child. He will be shown to be superior to those who seek to heal in the natural.) Then at least a day went by, and I did not know where David was. I was sitting on a metal bench outside, in a court yard of a college campus. (The Man-child went to the school of higher education as in Gabe's dream, where he saw the Man-child go to college.) Everything seemed new, as I looked to my left, and saw a lady with long blond hair, who knew David and was a believer. She was standing against a gray buildingand holding some books. (I think the lady represents believers who are submitted to the light of Christ and dying to self but lack understanding.) (Gray represents not white and not black. It is time to go on to white. She represents those who come to get our books to grow in the Lord. Many immature or new believers in the Middle East and Africa are reading our books.) I wanted to tell her what happened to David, and how God raised him up. I knew she would be happy as I was. Just then, a man dressed in a black robe (Judges of others) with yellow religious symbols (Feigning to be Christian) and wearing a black hat (Representing being submitted to darkness), walked past and in-between us very quickly. (The faction has tried to separate us from those who need our teachings, but the Man-child David's will scatter them as the Edomites.) So, then I went to her and joyfully told her about God raising David up. (The wicked will not be able to stop those who want truth from finding their reformation through the Man-child David's.) Then some of us from UBM were standing in a small room and I saw David. He looked like a different man, and about Matthew's age, but I recognized him. (He is about the age of Jesus when He started His ministry.) I told him he looked better now, and he laughed. (This will be the beginning of the restoration from the curse in Joe 2:23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in Jehovah your God; for he giveth you the former rain in just measure, and he causeth to come down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain, in the first month. 24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. 25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer-worm, my great army which I sent among you. (These represent the curse on God's crop.)  Act 3:21 (Jesus) whom the heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all (Things is not numeric), whereof God spake by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from of old. After I woke up, I asked the Lord for a word in line with this dream and received by faith at random Acts 2:36 on "him both Lord and Christ". (In context vs. 29-36). Act 2:29 Brethren, I may say unto you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us unto this day. (The death of the Man-child Davids will bring many more like him. Joh. 12:24-25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it dies, it beareth much fruit. 25 He that loveth his life loseth it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.)  30 Being therefore a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins he would set one upon his throne; (David sowed a seed that brought forth many like him to dominion over the enemy. This represents the Man-child caught up to the throne in Rev 12:4 And his tail draweth the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon standeth before the woman that is about to be delivered, that when she is delivered, he may devour her child. 5 And she was delivered of a son, a man child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and unto his throne.This throne represents dominion over powers of darkness, the curse, and the people of God.)  31 he foreseeing this spake of the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he left unto Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. (The resurrection of Christ in us will be seen in the Man-child David's and then in many disciples.) 32 This Jesus did God raise up, whereof we all are witnesses. (Jesus came in the body of a son of David. This will be repeated in our day on a corporate body scale.)  33 Being therefore by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath poured forth this, which ye see and hear. (This was the former rain but represents the far greater latter rain in a much larger body. Hos 6:1-3 shows that Jesus "will come to us as the latter rain” and on the morning of the third thousand-year day from him, where we are now. Hos 6:1-3 Come and let us return unto Jehovah; for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days will he revive us: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before him. 3 And let us know, let us follow on to know Jehovah: his going forth is sure as the morning; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth.) 34 For David ascended not into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, (Jesus said in Rev 3:21 He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne.  This is the throne of dominion authority.) 35 Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet. (Jesus in the Man-child and in all of us will bring dominion over our enemies. Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations.) 36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly, that God hath made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified. (This foreshadows Jesus manifested in the Man-child reformer body through death and resurrection. Php 3:10-15: that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed unto his death; 11 if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained or am already made perfect: but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus. (Notice, that we are to lay hold of resurrection life which is being called perfect.) 13 Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before. (This is why you must see Jesus in the mirror now.) 14 I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything ye are otherwise minded, this also shall God reveal unto you: (He will show you how to walk this life of faith.) The most vivid part of this dream was when I prayed for David, and I think it is what the Lord is emphasizing. (Amen! We have been content to wait for God's perfect timing, but now He is saying to pray the Man-child ministry in. So, we say, “Come Lord Jesus!!”) We have been shown a parallel in dreams that God has drawn between Trump/Cyrus and the David/Man-child reformers. What one is in the natural, the other is in the Spirit.Below is a prophesy by Ken Dewey. I believe the Indictment of Trump represents a kind of trial or death that Jesus went through.   If You Think They are Winning - Stop it April 5, 2023 Prophet Ken Dewey (David's notes in red) I heard this today as the enemy is indicting Trump…. “Do not fear the proceedings and the language and the accusations for they are like the giant who came out daily to challenge The Army of Israel…. It was just talk, he talked, so do not listen to his talk, for he is not representing Me, but he is the enemy. (These represent the spiritual giants who are the enemies of God's people.) I sent David — a small boy — to kill him. I AM able to kill the giant, and to put an end to the talk. I AM more than them. Do not think that I AM not working through these indictments and charges, for I AM right there in the midst of them, and I AM not even worried. I AM that I AM. Look up. See Me, and know, I have not stepped back or out of this time, I have not and will not, because I AM doing something in America. Remember, David killed the giant! I will have my way in this Nation, and none can stop Me, for this Nation is mine, I have raised this Nation up to accomplish My Plans. I will not fail in accomplishing all My Plans in this Nation. It is as a melting pot and it will melt and separate unto me My People from the evil people, it will separate the good from the bad, it will purify and cleanse, for it is “very hot”. None can dictate what will come out of the melting pot. I will have My Way in and through it. Turn the words of the enemy into the fire, for I will try them before all, and the world looking on will see, the enemy. To all My People, let me remind you that I have given you the power to tread on the enemy. I have given you Power and Authority so you should speak your Authority over all this event, demanding that the enemy fails. I AM in you, and you are My People. Stand up My People and assume your rightful place in this day. Speak in Authority over the enemy and take charge. I AM your God. Do not forget that and for sure do not ever think that I have forsaken you. I have not, nor will I ever. The enemy will not prevail over my plans for this nation. I AM.” Isaac's dream below speaks of the resurrection of the Man-child Reformers after the completion of death to self.   Christ Triumphs in Resurrection Isaac Payne - 3/26/23 (David's notes in red) In this dream I was in the spirit witnessing a field that did not have a lot of grass. It was a mixture of dirt and grass. As I stood gazing at the field, I noticed a casket in the center. The casket was the focal point and there was no grass growing around the casket. (No grass means no flesh left.) (The grass represents the flesh according to 1Pe. 1:24 For, All flesh is as grass, And all the glory thereof as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower falleth. The dirt is what man's flesh is made from.) As I continued to stare at the casket, I realized it was Jesus that was in this casket. Instantly, it dawned on me that I was witnessing Jesus's resurrection after His death and burial in a modern-day burial procedure. As I was watching intently, suddenly, a brilliant light began to form and illuminate from inside the casket. Then the casket could not contain the brilliant illumination of light and it was overtaken by this orb of pure white light. (Joh. 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness apprehended it not.) This light was outstanding and began to reverberate as if it were a heart beat, pulsating. I knew this brilliant orb was Jesus. (Jesus is the heart of God manifested in flesh.) (I don't feel my vocabulary can describe the brilliant white light. However, If you compared the color white to His brilliant white, the color white would look dingy and tinted. Also, imagine the size and color of the sun reduced to a brilliant white, but having the same power of the sun and you tried to contain it all in a box. It would be an unstoppable and uncontainable force, obliterating all darkness. It was as if it bleached out all colors in the spectrum, disposing of any darkness that forms within any individual color to create the aspects of that color, thus producing the absence of color into a brilliant white. This is what I saw.)  While witnessing Jesus as the reverberating brilliant white orb, suddenly as a fire ball, He shot downward into the earth. As I looked at the aftermath of this powerful phenomenon, I saw there was a hole in the shape of a perfect circle, going from the surface of the earth all the way to the center of the earth. The hole was formed almost instantaneously, and all the layers of the earth completely disintegrated with a fervent heat, going down to His destination which was in the center. Still witnessing the aftermath, the edges of the circular hole was like molten lava due to the intensity of the heat. (Eph. 4:8-10 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, And gave gifts unto men. 9 (Now this, He ascended, what is it but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. What happened here in the natural represents something that has happened and is going to happen again. Because of sin demons have been given authority on earth as they have in hell. Many have experienced a living hell, but Jesus came, and is coming, to set the captives free. Isa. 61:1-4 The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me; because Jehovah hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 to proclaim the year of Jehovah's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 3 to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah, that he may be glorified. 4 And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.) It then dawned on me, the Stronger has gone to spoil the goods of the strong man and set the captives free. Then I woke up. (Mat. 12 :28-30 But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God come upon you. Or how can one enter into the house of the strong [man], and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong [man]? and then he will spoil his house. He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.  Christ conquered so we can conquer All of our promised land! Heb. 2:14-16 Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same; that through death he might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily not to angels doth he give help, but he giveth help to the seed of Abraham.  Psa. 16:9-10 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth; My flesh also shall dwell in safety. For thou wilt not leave my soul to Sheol; Neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption. And Joh. 8:36 If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (I was reading "Delivered from Dark Powers" by David Eells and came across these pages and it really spoke to me about this dream. Here is an excerpt from Delivered from Dark Powers pages 10-12:) “Jesus made us able to be partakers in whatever we need. He made us able to plunder the devil's kingdom, and the devil's kingdom is wherever the devil rules or his curse reigns. Wherever the devil has ability, we have the ability to take it away from him. The devil has no power.  Do you remember Joshua and Caleb were seeking to bring the children of Israel into the Promise Land? After spying out the land, these two said that their enemies defense was removed from over them. (Num 14:9) Only rebel not against the lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is removed from over them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not. All that the other ten spies could see were the giants, but Joshua and Caleb saw that the enemy had no armor. That's the way we must see the enemies of God's Kingdom.  It makes no difference whether those enemies are lusts of the flesh, works of darkness, demons, the devil, or whatever. Their defense is removed from over them. They have no power against the Word of God. Jesus was the "Stronger" Who came and took away their whole armor. (Luke 11:22) Those "spoils" of the devil's kingdom are all the places where he has taken advantage of your life or taken authority over the things or circumstances that God has put in your hands. All these add up to "spoils."  When Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil (Acts 10:38), He was spoiling the devil's kingdom. If you are being oppressed of the devil, Jesus destroyed this oppression. He broke this power everywhere He went. Whether it was hunger, sickness, demonic possession, or mental need, it didn't make any difference; Jesus broke the oppression, and He told us to do the same thing because (Mat. 12:30) He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.  The devil's power over God's people rests in the fact that God's people don't know that his power has already been broken, and they don't know the authority that has been given to them. Although the Word speaks it plainly, it still has to be a revelation that you pick up and do something with. The Bible says of Jesus that, (Col. 2:15) Having despoiled the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.  "Triumphing" is celebrating the victory that has already been won. Jesus triumphed over the devil, and He rubbed the devil's nose in what He had accomplished on the Cross. The victory was at the cross; what came after the Cross was the triumph. (2 Co. 2:14) But thanks be unto God, who always leadeth us in triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest through us the savor of his knowledge in every place.  We need to simply celebrate His victory. What we need to do is repeat what the Word says about our circumstances or situation, and we do that by stating what the Word says about our authority and righteousness. All we must do is believe that. The devil wants us to look at ourselves and our failures and the curse around us, but we just need to remember that we have authority over the curse.  We've been crucified with Christ and we're not alive anymore; now it's Christ Who lives in us. (Gal. 2:20) I have been crucified with Christ; and it no longer I that live, but Christ living in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. When we remember what the Word of God says about us and about our circumstances, we can celebrate.  [Father, this seems too easy, but help me to start right now to believe that the devil is crippled. As I read Your Word, I see the devil has been defeated. Help me to believe when my eyes have seen different results. Forgive my unbelief. As I read on, please put in my heart the victory You are bringing to my life and lives of my loved ones. Thank You for helping me to believe that I've received victory over every demon. The Editor]”   The True Church Will Be Saved From Babylon David Eells - 3/17/23 I asked the Lord what to share and my Bible fell open to this and it is so encouraging concerning God's wayward sheep. Jer 30:1-24 The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, 2 Thus speaketh Jehovah, the God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. 3 For, lo, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will turn again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith Jehovah; and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.  (This is the release of the captives of Babylon to return to their land and rebuild their kingdom as Cyrus did and Trump is doing.) Jer 29:20 Hear ye therefore the word of Jehovah, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. 4 And these are the words that Jehovah spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. 5 For thus saith Jehovah: We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. 6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child: wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?  In a time of the fear of war between Babylon DS and the Alliance of Media Persia, the Man-child ministry will be in labor with Christ in them the hope of Glory and will come out of the “woman in travail” of Rev.12. 7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. (Jacob or Israel is a type of the Church who is now in bondage to the DS Dragon's Babylonish religions and factions, but they will be saved.) 8 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds; and strangers shall no more make him their bondman; 9 but they shall serve Jehovah their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.  This is an exciting Word for the captives.  As it was in Jesus' time the Man-child David will, through truth and anointing, break the yoke of Babylonish religion and its strange leadership off the elect of God. This apostate leadership is a stranger to the Kingdom and is neither led of the Spirit nor trained of God. These false “Christian” religions of men are as they were in Jesus' day and don't reflect discipleship to Christ in the least. 10 Therefore fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith Jehovah; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.11 For I am with thee, saith Jehovah, to save thee: for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have scattered thee, but I will not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee in measure and will in no wise leave thee unpunished.  Babylon DS Nazi Satanists have taken over the nations, through “Operation Paper Clip” in the US, and through stealing the vote, blackmail, murder, bribes, lusts, vaccines, etc, in the nations. They are being beaten now by the Alliance but still are killing many and poisoning the land and bodies of the peoples. Their criminal banks are failing, paper dollars worthless, to make room for the gold backed Quantum Financial System and a new One World Order Empire. 12 For thus saith Jehovah, Thy hurt is incurable, and thy wound grievous. 13 There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines. (One look at the apostate churches from a renewed mind shows they have been hopeless since their inception born from the Mother harlot. They have a form of godliness but deny the power to live it, and we can certainly see that their medicines don't heal them.) 14 All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not: for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the greatness of thine iniquity, because thy sins were increased. (The younger generation is departing from mom and dads dead church and look for something with life. The revivals out there are proving this. The world no longer respects the mother of harlots nor the daughter harlots. These churches have fallen under many a curse. Satan and his demons take full advantage of them for they have no power or wisdom from God to defend themselves. Their sins are multiplied, for sin is a transgression of the Word, which they ignore.) 15 Why criest thou for thy hurt? thy pain is incurable (because all their cures are man-made. The Rockefeller hospital protocols ignore the test results of these drugs and that is because they are depopulationists.): for the greatness of thine iniquity, because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.(God has brought this judgment because sin abounds in the daughter harlots.)  (By God's grace He is intent on saving His elect among them and judging their enemies so this can be done. The college kids from backslidden denominations are even casting out demons in these revivals !!) 16 Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that despoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.  17 For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith Jehovah; because they have called thee an outcast, saying, It is Zion, whom no man seeketh after. (The apostate leadership has failed to cause any manifestations of Christlikeness or His ministry to be in their churches because they have forgotten the Lord and His word.)    18 Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will turn again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have compassion on his dwelling-places; and the city shall be builded upon its own hill, and the palace shall be inhabited after its own manner. (This is the rebuilding of the Kingdom by the true Zion leadership.) Isa 1:26 and I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called The city of righteousness, a faithful town.) (From this restored end time leadership of the Man-child and Bride revival will come to the apostates who are elect.) 19 And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.(Glorifying them is to manifest “Christ in them the hope of glory.”)  2Co 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.  2Co 4:6 Seeing it is God, that said, Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (And this glory will come while we are in our mortal bodies not as the dead churches have said in the hereafter.)  2Co 4:10-11 always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (These are the true believers who have signs following as Jesus said.) (In 1 Co 7 Paul said the children are sanctified in the believing parents or they will be unclean so we see this:) 20 Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me; and I will punish all that oppress them.  (God will defend the true Church from invaders as he removed the factious from among us, and the liars became as Ananias and Sapphira who died for this sin.)  21 And their prince shall be of themselves, and their ruler shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is he that hath had boldness to approach unto me? saith Jehovah. (This “prince” speaks of the David Man-child reformers, the new leadership.) 2Sa 7:8 Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, that thou shouldest be prince over my people, over Israel.  Eze 34:24 And I, Jehovah, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them; I, Jehovah, have spoken it.) (And through the reformers the people will become His.) 22 And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. (And as David defended the people, he judged the Edomites who constantly attacked their chosen brothers.) 23 Behold, the tempest of Jehovah, even his wrath, is gone forth, a sweeping tempest: it shall burst upon the head of the wicked. 24 The fierce anger of Jehovah shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall understand it. (The Lord in the David's will defend Zion, the Bride, and judge the traitors of Edom.)  Isa 62:11 Behold, Jehovah hath proclaimed unto the end of the earth, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. …  63:1-4 Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah (Edom's sheepfold)? this that is glorious in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. 2 Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winevat? 3 I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples there was no man with me (A judgment from God but not by God's army. We have seen this in our dreams.): yea, I trod them in mine anger, and trampled them in my wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my raiment. 4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.(God will redeem His elect from the hands of their enemies.) Jer 31:1-40 At that time, saith Jehovah, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. (Joh 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice: and they shall become one flock, one shepherd.)    2 Thus saith Jehovah, The people that were left of the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. (Those who do not die by the sword, famine, and pestilence of Babylon will receive grace in the wilderness tribulation where they will see provision out of heaven and victory over enemies as the Israelites did.) 3 Jehovah appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. 4 Again will I build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: again, shalt thou be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry. (The Joy of the Lord will be on His people for the knowledge of the Lord through His reformers will give them faith and peace. Isa 61:1-3 The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me; because Jehovah hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 to proclaim the year of Jehovah's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 3 to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah, that he may be glorified.) 5 Again shalt thou plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria(Representing raiseing fruit among those who are not true Jews by nature.); the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy the fruit thereof. 6 For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the hills of Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto Jehovah our God. (Ephraim was said by Jacob to become in the Hebrew “the fullness of nations” in Gen 48:19. Truly all the nations of God's people will submit to Zion, the Brides, leadership.) 7 For thus saith Jehovah, Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout for the chief of the nations(Here it is again): publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Jehovah, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.(Israel has always been seen as a type of the Church, whose remnant is one of four in the type of the sower.)   (The nations of people will come to worldwide Zion, the leadership of Gods true Church.) 8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall they return hither. 9 They shall come with weeping; and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel (This is the “Israel of God”, the circumcised in heart rather than flesh. Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh: 29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.  and Ephraim is my first-born.(Ephraim was Joseph's second born son who received the anointing of the firstborn of God. The Church of all nations was the second born, who received the Holy Spirit anointing of God, to be His first born. The Church is born of Jesus Christ the last Adam of the new creation man.)  10 Hear the word of Jehovah, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off; and say, He that scattered Israel (Into the captivity of the nations like the Church) will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock. 11 For Jehovah hath ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.(Jacob/Israel, a type of the Church, will be redeemed from Babylon DS and Edom DS factions.) 12 And they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow unto the goodness of Jehovah, to the grain, and to the new wine, and to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. (In Joel 2 the beast that came against Zion was smitten and these same blessings were given to Zion as the revival that came as the Latter Rain.Joe 2:18-19,23,  18 Then was Jehovah jealous for his land and had pity on his people. 19 And Jehovah answered and said unto his people, Behold, I will send you grain, and new wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations… 23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in Jehovah your God; for he giveth you the former rain in just measure, and he causeth to come down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain, in the first month.) (And the revival is plainly seen in the next verses.) 13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. 14 And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith Jehovah.  15 Thus saith Jehovah: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuseth to be comforted for her children, because they are not.  (This was spoken in the NT when Herod, an Edomite, killed the brethren of the Man-child Jesus, but He escaped. So, it will be in the end times, the Edomites are killing the brethren of the Man-child, but He has escaped the dragon of Revelation 12.) 16 Thus saith Jehovah: Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith Jehovah; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.  (So, we see here they were considered by God as dead when they were in captivity but then they came back to life when returning to their promised land, i.e., standing on the promises. This reminds me of Isaac's dream above of Jesus going to set the captives free, just as the Man-child will set the captives free as a repeat of history.)  17 And there is hope for thy latter end, saith Jehovah; and thy children shall come again to their own border. (This represents Resurrection life to those who returned to God.)  18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a calf unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art Jehovah my God. (It is God who grants this turning called repentance.) 19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.(This humbling will all promote spiritual maturity.) 20 Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a darling child? for as often as I speak against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore, my heart yearneth for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith Jehovah. (Ephraim was called, “the fullness of nations”. This Church of all nations will be granted repentance. Church means the “called out ones.”) 21 Set thee up waymarks, make thee guide-posts; set thy heart toward the highway, even the way by which thou wentest (Guideposts of the Word to stay on the narrow road they departed from.): turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities. 22 How long wilt thou go hither and thither, O thou backsliding daughter? for Jehovah hath created a new thing in the earth: A woman shall encompass a man. (Jesus is at the center of the Woman, His Church. He is coming again as a reformer body to His people through His Word and Spirit. “He will come to us as the rain as the Latter Rain.”) 23 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity: Jehovah bless thee, O habitation of righteousness, O mountain of holiness. (They return to their example, Zion, the mountain of holiness.)  24 And Judah and all the cities thereof shall dwell therein together, the husbandmen, and they that go about with flocks. 25 For I have satiated the weary soul and every sorrowful soul have I replenished. (This represents the great restoration of Joel 2 through the Latter Rain.) 26 Upon this I awaked and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me. 27 Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. (Meaning the seed of man and beast will be multiplied at this new beginning. The seed of beasts represents their livelihood and economy.)  28 And it shall come to pass that, like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them to build and to plant, saith Jehovah.  29 In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge. (I.e., The curse of the fathers will be passed on to the children, but then we see this curse broken.) 30 But everyone shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grapes, histeeth shall be set on edge.  31 Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt (I.e. the Law); which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them, saith Jehovah. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Jehovah: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  (Heb 13:20-21 20 Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, even our Lord Jesus, 21 make you perfect in every good thing to do his will, working in us that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.  Php 2:13 for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure. (This is the real good news!) 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith Jehovah: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more. (We are justified by faith!)  35 Thus saith Jehovah, who giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirreth up the sea, so that the waves thereof roar; Jehovah of hosts is his name: 36 If these ordinances depart from before me, saith Jehovah, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. (This is God's guarantee for the future of His elect or chosen from among the nations.) 37 Thus saith Jehovah: If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then will I also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith Jehovah.  38 Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that the city shall be built to Jehovah from the tower of Hananel unto the gate of the corner. 39 And the measuring line shall go out further straight onward unto the hill Gareb and shall turn about unto Goah. 40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto Jehovah; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever. (The New, heavenly, born from above Zion, will be resurrected.) SERVICES Ubbs Outreach Friday Night Worship CONTACT Share Your Testimony Request Prayer Technical Support Questions   SUPPORT US We are a non-profit organisation based in United States. Our goal is to empower and equip people to discover more about Christianity and point them to a life of happiness, peace and purpose. Donate

So thankful for THIS Jesus!

So thankful for THIS Jesus! | Easter Sunday with CWC

Istrouma Baptist Church (BR) Apr 9, 2023 ========== April 9 l Easter at Istrouma Welcome! We're glad you've joined us today for our Sunday morning worship service! For more information about Istrouma, go to istrouma.org or contact us at info@istrouma.org. We glorify God by making disciples of all nations. ========== Connection Card https://istrouma.org/myinfo April 9, 2023 | Tim Keith ‭‭Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭22‬-‭24‬‬ “Fellow Israelites, listen to these words: This Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through him, just as you yourselves know. Though he was delivered up according to God's determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him. God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death. ‭‭Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭32‬-‭41‬‬ “God has raised this Jesus; we are all witnesses of this. Therefore, since he has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, he has poured out what you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but he himself says: The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.' “Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” With many other words he testified and strongly urged them, saying, “Be saved from this corrupt generation!” So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them. ‭‭Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭24‬‬ God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death. ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28‬:‭13‬‬ and told them, “Say this, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him while we were sleeping.' They Were Eye Witnesses ‭‭Acts‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬‬ After he had suffered, he also presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭15‬:‭6‬‬ Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭15‬:‭3‬-‭6‬‬ For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. ‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭1‬:‭16‬‬ For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. They Were Transformed ‭‭John‬ ‭20‬:‭19‬-‭20‬‬ When it was evening on that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” Having said this, he showed them his hands and his side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. The Tomb Was Empty Want to receive weekly announcements in your inbox each week? https://istrouma.org/email Give Online Text ISTROUMA IBC to 73256 or go to: https://istrouma.org/give Our Website https://istrouma.org

Old Testament: Deuteronomy 1 Deuteronomy 1 (Listen) The Command to Leave Horeb 1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea. 3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the LORD had given him in commandment to them, 4 after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in Edrei. 5 Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, 6 “The LORD our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Turn and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.' Leaders Appointed 9 “At that time I said to you, ‘I am not able to bear you by myself. 10 The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven. 11 May the LORD, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as he has promised you! 12 How can I bear by myself the weight and burden of you and your strife? 13 Choose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.' 14 And you answered me, ‘The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.' 15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and set them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officers, throughout your tribes. 16 And I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him. 17 You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God's. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.' 18 And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do. Israel's Refusal to Enter the Land 19 “Then we set out from Horeb and went through all that great and terrifying wilderness that you saw, on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us. And we came to Kadesh-barnea. 20 And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us. 21 See, the LORD your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not fear or be dismayed.' 22 Then all of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may explore the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.' 23 The thing seemed good to me, and I took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe. 24 And they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out. 25 And they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, and brought us word again and said, ‘It is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us.' 26 “Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. 27 And you murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the LORD hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28 Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.”' 29 Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. 30 The LORD your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.' 32 Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the LORD your God, 33 who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go. The Penalty for Israel's Rebellion 34 “And the LORD heard your words and was angered, and he swore, 35 ‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the LORD!' 37 Even with me the LORD was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there. 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39 And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, turn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.' 41 “Then you answered me, ‘We have sinned against the LORD. We ourselves will go up and fight, just as the LORD our God commanded us.' And every one of you fastened on his weapons of war and thought it easy to go up into the hill country. 42 And the LORD said to me, ‘Say to them, Do not go up or fight, for I am not in your midst, lest you be defeated before your enemies.' 43 So I spoke to you, and you would not listen; but you rebelled against the command of the LORD and presumptuously went up into the hill country. 44 Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do and beat you down in Seir as far as Hormah. 45 And you returned and wept before the LORD, but the LORD did not listen to your voice or give ear to you. 46 So you remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there. (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 81 Psalm 81 (Listen) Oh, That My People Would Listen to Me To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith.1 Of Asaph. 81   Sing aloud to God our strength;    shout for joy to the God of Jacob!2   Raise a song; sound the tambourine,    the sweet lyre with the harp.3   Blow the trumpet at the new moon,    at the full moon, on our feast day. 4   For it is a statute for Israel,    a rule2 of the God of Jacob.5   He made it a decree in Joseph    when he went out over3 the land of Egypt.  I hear a language I had not known:6   “I relieved your4 shoulder of the burden;    your hands were freed from the basket.7   In distress you called, and I delivered you;    I answered you in the secret place of thunder;    I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah8   Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!    O Israel, if you would but listen to me!9   There shall be no strange god among you;    you shall not bow down to a foreign god.10   I am the LORD your God,    who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.    Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. 11   “But my people did not listen to my voice;    Israel would not submit to me.12   So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,    to follow their own counsels.13   Oh, that my people would listen to me,    that Israel would walk in my ways!14   I would soon subdue their enemies    and turn my hand against their foes.15   Those who hate the LORD would cringe toward him,    and their fate would last forever.16   But he would feed you5 with the finest of the wheat,    and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” Footnotes [1] 81:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term [2] 81:4 Or just decree [3] 81:5 Or against [4] 81:6 Hebrew his; also next line [5] 81:16 That is, Israel; Hebrew him (ESV) New Testament: Acts 4 Acts 4 (Listen) Peter and John Before the Council 4 And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. 5 On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus1 is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.2 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men3 by which we must be saved.” 13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. 14 But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. 15 But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, 16 saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” 18 So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” 21 And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old. The Believers Pray for Boldness 23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant,4 said by the Holy Spirit,   “‘Why did the Gentiles rage,    and the peoples plot in vain?26   The kings of the earth set themselves,    and the rulers were gathered together,    against the Lord and against his Anointed'5— 27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. They Had Everything in Common 32 Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. 33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. 36 Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, 37 sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet. Footnotes [1] 4:11 Greek This one [2] 4:11 Greek the head of the corner [3] 4:12 The Greek word anthropoi refers here to both men and women [4] 4:25 Or child; also verses 27, 30 [5] 4:26 Or Christ (ESV)

French beaches! You say that and most people might think about like a vacation that would be nice. Well, not when the Western world remembered a major anniversary that happened on French beaches on D-Day. I remember, for example, the 50th anniversary. For several days American media bombarded us, and we couldn't forget it. Something else happened on French beaches - the heroic battle to establish an allied beachhead in France and to push back the darkness of Hitler's madness. I mean there's a whole generation who knew next to nothing about what might be the most significant military victory in the 20th century. And they don't know about it until there's an anniversary celebration of that event. But when we see some of the films - and we did then - boys barely out of high school storming the shore in the face of deadly German fire and many who died before they even hit the beach. We saw some of the veterans who survived. We heard their stories of buddies who are buried there. We saw the tears in the eyes of some pretty tough, old guys. And those of us who watched? Well, I think we were touched ourselves. It was President Clinton - when the 50th anniversary took place - where he spoke that day. And he, of course, part of a generation who knew relatively little about D-Day but whose freedom was in a sense really paid for there. And on that day, the President seemed almost to choke up sometimes when he spoke; especially when he spoke in the American cemetery near Omaha Beach. He was speaking to a lot of veterans of that bloody battle, and one phrase of that speech still sticks out in my mind. Looking at those who risked everything on D-Day, those who gave everything, the President said these words, "We are the children of your sacrifice." I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Day You Know How Loved You Are." When you realize the high price paid on D-Day it's hard to remain unmoved. Did you know something similar happened 2,000 years ago on the day God's Son died on the cross? It happened to a soldier, a man in charge of the execution of Jesus Christ. We're about to hear remarkable words considering that they are coming from a hardened executioner. In Mark 15:19, the man in charge of the execution - Listen to what he says, "And when the centurion who stood there in front of Jesus heard His cry and saw how He died, he said, 'Surely this man was the Son of God.'" This soldier was melted by the sacrifice of the Son of God. This was no ordinary man dying this criminal death. This was the only Son of God. This soldier had seen a lot of death, so what moved him? Crucifixion was nothing new to him. Let's stand for a moment and listen to what he heard Jesus saying at that cross. "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." Well, he'd heard everything from a cross: curses, and screams, complaining, but he had never heard the word "forgive." And Jesus was forgiving those responsible for His death. That centurion must have been thinking, "He's forgiving me." He was forgiving you and me too, because it was our sin that put Jesus there. Then he heard Jesus say, "Today you will be with Me in paradise." And here he realized that this was a man who cares about the person who needs Him, even in His own darkest hour. And he said, "This Jesus must have the power to take people to heaven." He does, including you. And then he heard Jesus cry, "It is finished!" He didn't lose! He won as He died. Mission accomplished! The death penalty for our sin fully paid in that moment; the hell we deserve can be traded for the heaven we don't deserve if we put our trust in this One and only Savior. We're the children of His sacrifice. If you know Jesus personally, you should have one objective with the people around you who don't know Him. And that is to bring them to this cross. And if you're not sure you know Christ, God's bringing you to the foot of His Son's cross right now. Will you put all your trust in Him, or are you going to ignore this love and this sacrifice? Are you ready to begin a relationship with Him? That's what our website's all about. Would you please go there? It's ANewStory.com. How can you say "no" to the One who loves you so very much?

A powerful message by my wife Natalie where she looks at the transformation that took place in the life of the Apostle Peter when he received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. A baptism we ALL need as well. May this message inspire you to pursue God for the type of encounter that Peter himself had so that we can live the lives that God is calling us to live!Acts 2:16-21  - 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 17 “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; 20 the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. 21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'Matthew 14:28-30 - 28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So, Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.”Matthew 16:21-23 - 21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”Matthew 26:30-35 - 30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' 32 But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” 33 Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” 34 Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” 35 Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.Matthew 26:36-44 - 36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.Matthew 26:69-72 - 69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” 71 And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.”John 19:25-26 - 25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”John 20:19 - On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”Acts 1:8 - But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”Acts 2:1-4 – 1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.Acts 2:14 - But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.Acts 2:36, 38 - 36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”…38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.Acts 3:14-16, 26 - 14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And his  name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.... 26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”Acts 4:3 - And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. Acts 4:8-13 - 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good  deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well.  11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” 13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.Acts 4:18-20 - 18 So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”Acts 4:29-31 - 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all  boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. Acts 5:14-21 - 14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed. 17 But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy 18 they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” 21 And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.Acts 5:27-32 - 27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”Acts 5:40-42 - 40 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus. 

Old Testament: Numbers 32 Numbers 32 (Listen) Reuben and Gad Settle in Gilead 32 Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock. And they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock. 2 So the people of Gad and the people of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the congregation, 3 “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, 4 the land that the LORD struck down before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” 5 And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan.” 6 But Moses said to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to the war while you sit here? 7 Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land that the LORD has given them? 8 Your fathers did this, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. 9 For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the people of Israel from going into the land that the LORD had given them. 10 And the LORD's anger was kindled on that day, and he swore, saying, 11 ‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me, 12 none except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD.' 13 And the LORD's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD was gone. 14 And behold, you have risen in your fathers' place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the LORD against Israel! 15 For if you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.” 16 Then they came near to him and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, 17 but we will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 We will not return to our homes until each of the people of Israel has gained his inheritance. 19 For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the east.” 20 So Moses said to them, “If you will do this, if you will take up arms to go before the LORD for the war, 21 and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the LORD, until he has driven out his enemies from before him 22 and the land is subdued before the LORD; then after that you shall return and be free of obligation to the LORD and to Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the LORD. 23 But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out. 24 Build cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do what you have promised.” 25 And the people of Gad and the people of Reuben said to Moses, “Your servants will do as my lord commands. 26 Our little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle shall remain there in the cities of Gilead, 27 but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, before the LORD to battle, as my lord orders.” 28 So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel. 29 And Moses said to them, “If the people of Gad and the people of Reuben, every man who is armed to battle before the LORD, will pass with you over the Jordan and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession. 30 However, if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.” 31 And the people of Gad and the people of Reuben answered, “What the LORD has said to your servants, we will do. 32 We will pass over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan.” 33 And Moses gave to them, to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land and its cities with their territories, the cities of the land throughout the country. 34 And the people of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, 35 Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, 36 Beth-nimrah and Beth-haran, fortified cities, and folds for sheep. 37 And the people of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, 38 Nebo, and Baal-meon (their names were changed), and Sibmah. And they gave other names to the cities that they built. 39 And the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and captured it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. 40 And Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he settled in it. 41 And Jair the son of Manasseh went and captured their villages, and called them Havvoth-jair.1 42 And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name. Footnotes [1] 32:41 Havvoth-jair means the villages of Jair (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 78:40–72 Psalm 78:40–72 (Listen) 40   How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness    and grieved him in the desert!41   They tested God again and again    and provoked the Holy One of Israel.42   They did not remember his power1    or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,43   when he performed his signs in Egypt    and his marvels in the fields of Zoan.44   He turned their rivers to blood,    so that they could not drink of their streams.45   He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them,    and frogs, which destroyed them.46   He gave their crops to the destroying locust    and the fruit of their labor to the locust.47   He destroyed their vines with hail    and their sycamores with frost.48   He gave over their cattle to the hail    and their flocks to thunderbolts.49   He let loose on them his burning anger,    wrath, indignation, and distress,    a company of destroying angels.50   He made a path for his anger;    he did not spare them from death,    but gave their lives over to the plague.51   He struck down every firstborn in Egypt,    the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.52   Then he led out his people like sheep    and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.53   He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid,    but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.54   And he brought them to his holy land,    to the mountain which his right hand had won.55   He drove out nations before them;    he apportioned them for a possession    and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents. 56   Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God    and did not keep his testimonies,57   but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers;    they twisted like a deceitful bow.58   For they provoked him to anger with their high places;    they moved him to jealousy with their idols.59   When God heard, he was full of wrath,    and he utterly rejected Israel.60   He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh,    the tent where he dwelt among mankind,61   and delivered his power to captivity,    his glory to the hand of the foe.62   He gave his people over to the sword    and vented his wrath on his heritage.63   Fire devoured their young men,    and their young women had no marriage song.64   Their priests fell by the sword,    and their widows made no lamentation.65   Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,    like a strong man shouting because of wine.66   And he put his adversaries to rout;    he put them to everlasting shame. 67   He rejected the tent of Joseph;    he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,68   but he chose the tribe of Judah,    Mount Zion, which he loves.69   He built his sanctuary like the high heavens,    like the earth, which he has founded forever.70   He chose David his servant    and took him from the sheepfolds;71   from following the nursing ewes he brought him    to shepherd Jacob his people,    Israel his inheritance.72   With upright heart he shepherded them    and guided them with his skillful hand. Footnotes [1] 78:42 Hebrew hand (ESV) New Testament: Acts 1 Acts 1 (Listen) The Promise of the Holy Spirit 1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 And while staying1 with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with2 the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” The Ascension 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas 12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.3 15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong4 he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19 And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms,   “‘May his camp become desolate,    and let there be no one to dwell in it'; and   “‘Let another take his office.' 21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” 23 And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. Footnotes [1] 1:4 Or eating [2] 1:5 Or in [3] 1:14 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verse 15 [4] 1:18 Or swelling up (ESV)

Morning: Psalm 6:2–4; Psalm 55:4–6; Isaiah 38:14; Acts 1:10–11; Philippians 3:20; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 10:36 My eyes are weary with looking upward. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O Lord—how long? Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.—My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me. And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.”—For you have need of endurance. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”—But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.—Our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Psalm 6:2–4 (Listen) 2   Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing;    heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled.3   My soul also is greatly troubled.    But you, O LORD—how long? 4   Turn, O LORD, deliver my life;    save me for the sake of your steadfast love. (ESV) Psalm 55:4–6 (Listen) 4   My heart is in anguish within me;    the terrors of death have fallen upon me.5   Fear and trembling come upon me,    and horror overwhelms me.6   And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!    I would fly away and be at rest; (ESV) Isaiah 38:14 (Listen) 14   Like a swallow or a crane I chirp;    I moan like a dove.  My eyes are weary with looking upward.    O Lord, I am oppressed; be my pledge of safety! (ESV) Acts 1:10–11 (Listen) 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (ESV) Philippians 3:20 (Listen) 20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, (ESV) Titus 2:13 (Listen) 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, (ESV) Hebrews 10:36 (Listen) 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. (ESV) Evening: Jeremiah 33:16; Nahum 1:7; John 10:14; 2 Corinthians 1:21–22; Ephesians 1:13–14; 2 Timothy 2:19; Revelation 3:12; Revelation 7:3; Revelation 22:4 His name will be on their foreheads. “I am the good shepherd. I know my own.”—But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”—The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.—“Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”—In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance.—And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. “I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.”—“And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.'” Jeremiah 33:16 (Listen) 16 In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.' (ESV) Nahum 1:7 (Listen) 7   The LORD is good,    a stronghold in the day of trouble;  he knows those who take refuge in him. (ESV) John 10:14 (Listen) 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, (ESV) 2 Corinthians 1:21–22 (Listen) 21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.1 Footnotes [1] 1:22 Or down payment (ESV) Ephesians 1:13–14 (Listen) 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee1 of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it,2 to the praise of his glory. Footnotes [1] 1:14 Or down payment [2] 1:14 Or until God redeems his possession (ESV) 2 Timothy 2:19 (Listen) 19 But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” (ESV) Revelation 3:12 (Listen) 12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. (ESV) Revelation 7:3 (Listen) 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” (ESV) Revelation 22:4 (Listen) 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. (ESV)

If you appreciate this work, consider supporting it - https://www.patreon.com/seekgodtogether https://www.seekGodtogether.com We're continuing in Colossians 1. This is a song, possibly an early hymn, that Paul uses to teach on Jesus. Today we'll look at verse 16 which says, “For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things have been created through Him and for Him.” When you think of Jesus, what comes to mind? A man in His 30s walking about? Gentle and humble? Teaching, amazing crowds, working miracles? What is He like? What does He think? Is He a segment of the overall teaching of scripture? Is He the final bit of God's redemptive plan? Not according to Paul. This Jesus, the middle eastern carpenter, is not new to the scene. He's not just really old. He's not just the darling of the universe. No. He CREATED it! All of it! Every last bit is His design. It was His power that made it all. He did it. And this verse emphasizes some particulars. He created that which is visible - that is on earth. But guess what, that's not all. There are invisible things also created by Him - the things of heaven. And there's more. Paul lists a category of creation, or rather 4, that are uniquely His: thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities. All words to denote the powerful. They are indeed 4 unique greek words. They mean something even if we can't parse them out perfectly. But here's what we can know - these rulers, powerful as they may be, whether visible or invisible, majestic, awful, frightening, oppressive…are all created by Him and for Him. There is literally nothing in all of creation that has any ounce of power where the name of Jesus isn't branded all over. He is the owner. And He will accomplish exactly what He intends through it. So you don't need to worry. They are powerful - yes. But they too must surrender, bow the knee, and yield their power to the One Who is up to more than you, or I, or any archangel or devil could possibly imagine. This is the Jesus of the Bible, the Jesus of Paul. Who is Jesus to you? Jesus, I admit, I just think way too little of You. Give me a Paul-sized vision of You. Bring that to my imagination today.

8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:8-12 Today's meditation was written and read by Caroline Galbraith, produced by Jess Springer, with music by Michael Anderson. Format inspired by Lectio365.

Jesus' transfiguration into heavenly glory on the mountain and his conversation with Moses and Elijah was spectacular display of His true divine nature. - SERMON TRANSCRIPT - Turn in your Bibles as we continue our study in this magnificent gospel, Mark's Gospel. We turn now to the ninth chapter, Mark 9:1-8. This morning in the text we are invited up into a mountaintop experience. We are invited up into a display of the glory of God in the face of Christ. We are invited up into a bright cloud, enveloping cloud, of Almighty God, speaking of his love for his only-begotten son. As we do so by faith, we are looking back at a moment in time when for a brief instant, the veil of the incarnation was pulled back and Jesus's true glory shown forth. But also by faith we look ahead to not just a mere moment, but an eternity of walking in Christ's glory in the new heavens and the new earth. When the new Jerusalem will not need the light of the sun or the light of the moon or the light of a lamp, for the glory of God will give it light and the lamb, Jesus, will be the lamp. We need this mountaintop experience, don't we? We need it. We need this display of Christ's light. We need the experience of the bright cloud of God's glory and his mighty voice declaring his love for his son. We need this because of this present darkness that we are all walking in. This present darkness, that's Paul's phrase in Ephesians 6, battling disease, battling injury, battling aging, battling pain and anxiety and fear and guilt and sorrow, battling Satan and demons and their temptations, most of all, battling sin. We need this mountaintop experience, don't we? The Lord in his graciousness and his kindness has given it to us in Mark 9:1-8. We need it, and I think the disciples needed it too. I. The Context: A Needed Preview of Christ’s Coming Glory The context of the Mount of Transfiguration account, as we've seen, is what's been happening in Mark's Gospel. Jesus is on retreat with his apostles in Caesarea of Philippi, as they were moving along in that area. He asked them concerning his own identity, who do people say that I am, and they gave the answer. And then that most important question that we would ever face, that any of us ever faces, the question on which our own eternal destiny hangs our answer to that question, what about you, who do you say that I am? Simon Peter speaking for all of the apostles, speaking for indeed all believers at all time, gives in Matthew 16 the full confession, "You are the Christ, the son of the living God." But then Jesus went on to give a stunning, a shocking revelation of his own imminent death[Mark 8:31- 32]. He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priest and teacher of the law, and that he must be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this. Peter, again, probably speaking for all of them, took Jesus aside privately and rebuked him. Matthew tells us, he said, "Never, Lord. This shall never happen to you." But then Jesus turned and publicly rebuked Peter in front of all of them. "Get behind me, Satan," He said. “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” The kingdom of God would be built by Christ's suffering and death, by his bloodshed on the cross. And not only that, it would be advanced and built across generations of his servants who are similarly willing to suffer and to die in his name[Mark 8:34-38]. He called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life from me and for the gospel will save it. What good would it be for a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? What could a man give an exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the son of man be ashamed when he comes in his father's glory with his holy angels.” I think the apostles must have been reeling at this. These are heavy words. We've walked through them over the last number of sermons and felt the weight of it. I think they would've agreed with Peter about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of David suffering and dying on a Roman cross. To them, the Kingdom of God must be glorious, powerful, dominant, would fill the world with the glory of God, and the Romans would melt like wax before it, before the coming kingdom. How could it possibly be that the Messiah, the Son of David, would die, especially if he's not merely human, but is actually in fact the son of the living God? How could that be? To them at that moment, it made no sense whatsoever. Now, of course, they didn't realize that the real threat facing them was not Roman power or any Gentile power. The real threat facing every sinner is the wrath, the just wrath and condemnation of a Holy God on Judgment Day. That's the danger. A Holy God whose laws they and us, all of us, have violated throughout our whole lives. A God who could by no means clear the guilty without blood sacrifice. Now, Jesus knew their hearts were stunned, crushed, reeling, unable to wrap their minds around this infinite contradiction, a personage so obviously powerful, able to still a storm with his words, able to walk on the sea, able to drive out a legion of demons with a word, able to heal any, every disease and sickness effortlessly and completely and instantly, able to make bread and fish appear out of thin air, feed a multitude. How could such a powerful and perfect man be arrested like a common criminal, suffer rejection and torture, and then be crucified and die? He knew they were reeling, and He knew what they needed. For a brief moment He would allow their faith to become sight. He would reverse the basic rule of the incarnation, that He had left the form of his glory as God behind in the incarnation. He would let them look on his true glorious nature for just a moment to restore their faith in his ultimate triumph as king of the Kingdom of God. "For a brief moment, He would allow their faith to become sight.… He would let them look on his true glorious nature for just a moment to restore their faith in his ultimate triumph as king of the Kingdom of God." He makes a promise to them. Look at verse 1. He said to them, "I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Kingdom of God come with power." Now, there are many theories on what this statement means, lots of back and forth. But I have to tell you, all three of the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, immediately follow this statement with the Mount of Transfiguration, all three of them. I don't think we should wonder what He meant. I believe that experience by Peter, James, and John was a direct fulfillment of this promise. They did not taste death before they saw the Kingdom of God come with power, before they would behold his glory. The phrase “they would see the Kingdom of God come with power is very provocative for Jesus's heavenly glory to be revealed briefly as a preview, a foresight rather than foretaste, we could say, of his kingly power. Jesus' full Second Coming glory will be powerful even to the destruction of all of his wicked enemies. He's going to come in the clouds with power and great glory. Jesus just said in Mark 8:38, "The Son of Man will come in his father's glory with the holy angels." Jesus knew his disciples needed this foresight of his kingdom's immeasurable power and glory, and they wouldn't have to wait long. II. The Earthly Eyewitness of Christ’s Majesty Six days later, it came, the earthly eyewitnesses of Christ's majesty. Look at verse 2, “After six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him and led them up a high mountain where they were all alone.” Why only three and why these three? Well, first of all, they were the inner circle. The twelve were selected of a mass of disciples, followers of Jesus, to be apostles and they had a special role. And then within the twelve, there was the three that were the inner circle, Peter, James, and John. These would be the same ones who would be with him in his hour of distress in Gethsemane. They were his closest friends on earth. The number 3, I think, is significant because that is the number of witnesses needed to fully establish any matter in Jewish law. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 13:1, every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. These three would officially testify to what they would see to the other apostles and then eventually to the whole world, meaning us this morning. We would have the eyewitness account of this experience through these three. We would know it's true. Now, years later, the Apostle Peter would write about this experience. I'd like to actually invite you to turn to 2 Peter 1:16-18. It is very powerful. Peter writing about what it was like for him to see this. 2 Peter 1:16-18, there Peter writes, “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when the voice came to him from the majestic glory saying, ‘This is my Son whom I love. With him I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.” He's definitely talking about this experience, the Mount of Transfiguration. Peter says, the gospel accounts of the life of Jesus were not cleverly invented myths. They were based on actual history and actual history itself is based on eyewitness testimonies. Peter says, "We were eyewitnesses of his majesty when he was revealed with divine glory on the sacred mountain and by the voice of Almighty God," as we see in our account in Mark. Peter says, "We ourselves heard this voice." As he says, "We ourselves saw his glory as witnesses." Now, if you were to continue in 2 Peter 1, he says, "We have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it as to a light shining in a dark place." That's how I began the sermon. Many of you would say, "Boy, I wish I had been there. I wish I could have been there to see the transfiguration. What an incredible mountaintop experience that would be." Peter says it's actually better to read scripture than to have been there. The word of the prophets is more certain than the experience. Why is that? Experience is over, and then what, right? What happened last week? Do you remember? That was amazing. Well, I think that was this, and no, it was that. I'm pretty sure it was the... Look, Peter says, the word of the prophets is perfect, it's unchanging, and it's more certain than any experience we could ever have. The best experience you could ever have of the glory of God is to read the prophetic word. That's what Peter's saying. But he's saying it did happen. It did happen. And guess what? Now this experience is in the prophetic word and we get to read it for all time. The Apostle John, I think, refers to it not so clearly talking about the Mount of Transfiguration, but just his experience of Jesus' life as a whole. John writes in his epistle 1 John 1:1, he says, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched, this we proclaim concerning the word of life. We were eyewitnesses." That's why he brought Peter, James, and John up there. Go back to Mark 9. The point of all of this, the point of all four Gospels we say, week after week, is to bring you and I, the readers of the gospel, with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, to confess Jesus as God. None of the gospels says it better than John 20:31, “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and believing may have life in his name.” All of the four gospel accounts are written to bring you to faith in Jesus as God. III. Jesus Transfigured Before Them This account of the Transfiguration is overwhelming evidence of his deity. Peter, James, and John were led up by Jesus up a high mountain where they're all alone. Luke tells us in his account of the Mount of Transfiguration, they went up to pray, and so they did. They were up there praying. Jesus loved to do this. He loved to go up on mountains and pray, usually alone. But in this case, He takes these three friends with him. There's something about the mountaintop experience, isn't there? Just getting up elevated. I'm definitely a mountain person. I just love getting up high and be able to look down over the valleys below. There is that sense of being up. We don't know for certain what mountain they're on. But because of the proximity to the Caesarea of Philippi, most scholars believe it was Mount Hermon, which is quite a mountain. It's 9,232 feet above sea level. It's a dramatic vista of that whole region, and so it was this mountaintop experience. Then Jesus was transfigured before them. Look at verse 2 and 3. There He was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. It's a stunning transformation in the appearance of Jesus and his clothing. Essential to the theology of the incarnation was that Jesus appeared ordinary. That's essential to our salvation. It's essential to the salvation that, God works through Jesus, and He had to appear ordinary. This was predicted in Isaiah's great prophecy of him in Isaiah 53:2, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him. Nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected.” This ordinary appearance was essential to him being known only by faith, not by sight. You had to be able to see him properly by faith, not by sight. It had to be revealed by the Father who Jesus was or you're not going to get it, because He just looks like a mere man and He's claiming to be God. If Jesus is radiantly glorious all the time, everybody's on their face around him. That's the inevitable reaction. As a matter of fact, in John's gospel, when his enemies came to arrest him, He asked, "Who are you looking for?" They said, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said, "I Am," and they drew back and fell to the ground. The full display of the glory of Jesus did not fit with the plan of God that Jesus would be despised and rejected, ultimately leading to his crucifixion. They would never have crucified, Paul says in Corinthians, the Lord of glory if He'd appeared glorious. "It's essential to the salvation that, God works through Jesus, and He had to appear ordinary." But for just this one moment, the rules of engagement were changed, just for a moment. A radiant light, [Matthew 17:2], his face shown like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light. His face is shining. There's overpowering light coming directly from his face, so also his clothing. Luke 9:29 says, "As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed." Listen to this. "His clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning." You could imagine, have you ever looked at and seen a flash of lightning? It's just overpoweringly bright. His clothes are shimmering, like light flashing, like a jewel in their heavenly brilliant white, a symbol of perfect radiant purity. “God is light and in him there's no darkness at all.” [1 John 1:5] Light is strongly connected with the presence of Almighty God in many places, but also Psalm 104:2, “He wraps himself with light as with a garment.” It's beautiful, isn't it? It lines up with the Mount of Transfiguration. Before Jesus was incarnate, He was glorious. Before Jesus was incarnate, He was glorious. As a matter of fact, in John 17:5, He prays to get his glory back, “And now, Father, glorify me with the glory I had with you before the world began.” Jesus shared a glory that God says in other places He will not share with another. There's a unique glory that God has that He shares with his Son, because his Son is God. We can see that in the prophets. Isaiah and Ezekiel had visions of pre-incarnate Christ and his radiant glory. Isaiah 6, “ In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne high and exalted and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him there were seraphs, each with six wings. And with two wings they covered their faces, and with two wings they covered their feet, and with two wings they were flying. They were crying to one another, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. The whole earth is full of his glory.’" John tells us in John 12:41 that Isaiah saw Jesus' glory and wrote about him. That was Jesus' glory. Ezekiel has a vision, I think, also of the pre-incarnate Christ. In Ezekiel 1 the prophet had a vision of cherubim who moved back and forth and there's wheels within wheels. The cherubim themselves were brilliant as lightning and flashes of lightning were moving continually back and forth among the cherubim. Fire was moving back and forth among them, as though fire is their native habitat. Then high above them is an expanse sparkling like ice and awesome, and high above that expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above that on a throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up, he looked like glowing metal as if full of fire. And that from there down, he looked like fire and brilliant lights surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so is the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. “When I saw it, I fell face down.” Ezekiel's reaction is common for all who have encounters with the glory of God in the Bible. They're always overwhelmed and knocked to the ground. That's why Jesus couldn't do this all the time. These passages give us a sense of the infinite glory that was Jesus before the world began and before He was incarnate. Paul makes it plain, that essential to his incarnation was Jesus' humility in laying aside the form of God, laying aside the outward appearance of majesty and glory that is his by right. In Philippians 2:6-8, “Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant. Being born in likeness of men and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” The Greek word form there is “morphe”. It has to do here with his appearance and presentation to onlookers. The radiant light, the magic, majestic glory that belongs to God alone was Jesus' by right since he is equal in deity to the Father. He laid aside the “morphe”, the “form”, the appearance of God, and took on the “morphe”, the form, the appearance of a human being and a servant. Charles Wesley in his Christmas hymn, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, “mild he lays his glory by, born that man no more may die.” He lays his glory aside. This transfiguration now, this is a metamorphosis. That's the Greek word, Jesus' “morphe,” his form, his appearance, his likeness changed, not his essential nature. He always was God, is God now, and forever will be God. The entire universe depends on the deity of Christ. He can't stop being God and then start being God. That's not what the incarnation was all about. He was God, is God, will forever be God. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. But his “morphe”, his form, had changed. And like I said, in the incarnation, usually He looked completely ordinary, until this one moment. He allowed some of his divine glory, a glory that is his by right, to be shown to these three witnesses, Peter, James, and John. The Greek word is “metamorphoo”, “metamorphosis”, that's where we get it. It's like a change of appearance. But interestingly in the Greek, it's in the passive voice. He was metamorphosized. It was done to him. He didn't do it to himself. God did it to Jesus. God the Father wanted Jesus to appear glorious to Peter, James, and John. This transfiguration happened right before their eyes. Indeed, it was the whole point. The light was not for Jesus's benefit, it was for theirs and for ours, to prop up their flagging confidence in the light of his revelation, that He would suffer and die. IV. The Heavenly Eyewitness of Christ’s Exodus The heavenly eyewitnesses of Christ's exodus, now we've got... If it's not exciting enough, now it gets even more exciting. Look at verse 4. There appeared before them Elijah and Moses who are talking with Jesus. Now, this is amazing. Two deceased heroes of Israel's past show up talking with Jesus. We believe that they were among the spirits of the righteous made perfect, that the author of Hebrews speaks about in Hebrews 12, that were surrounding God's throne in the Heavenly Zion. They're in the spirit realm. They were absent from the body, present with the Lord. Moses, the great lawgiver, the author of their first five books of the Bible, the leader of the exodus from slavery in Egypt, Moses, and then Elijah, the greatest of the prophets who ascended to heaven in a chariot of fire, talking with Jesus. Many scholars have said they represent the law and the prophets in their testimony to Jesus. I think they were actually there, but I think that's valid, that the law and the prophets testify to Jesus. This also proves in Jesus's pattern, the resurrection from the dead. Remember how the Sadducees said that there is no resurrection from the dead? Jesus says about the resurrection of the dead, "Have you not read what God said to you? I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." He is not the God of the dead but of the living. In other words, “I am Abraham's God right now. Abraham continues to exist. I am Isaac's God right now. He continues to exist and have a relationship with God. I am Jacob's God." Let's add these two. “I am Moses' God. He continues to exist. I am Elijah's God. He continues to exist.” For this brief encounter, they appeared to have human bodies, I guess. I don't know how they knew that it was Moses and Elijah. I doubt they were wearing name tags. You know how you just know things in a dream or maybe they heard the conversation? But they knew it was Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. What was the topic of their conversation? Mark doesn't tell us, but Luke does. In Luke 9:30-31, it says, "Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in gloria splendor talking with Jesus." Listen to this. "They spoke about his departure, which He was about to bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem." All right, simple terms, they're at least talking about his death. What was his departure that He was going to bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem but his death? Why would that be the topic? That's the very thing that Peter, James, and John and the rest of them are reeling over. It's the very thing they're going to talk about going down the mountain. This is the point of all this is that they would understand how essential Jesus' death is to God's glorious plan. But even cooler than that is that the Greek word for departure is “exodus”. Basically Moses is saying, "I just did the symbolic exodus." Yes, it was physical and all that, but the real exodus is done by Jesus, because the real slavery is sin. As He says in John 8, “Anyone who sins is a slave to sin. But if the Son sets you free, you'll be free indeed.” What is that exodus? It's Jesus' work in us setting us free from our sin. That's what they were talking about, the exodus that Jesus would bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem by his death. At this moment, Peter thought it best to say something. Don't you love Peter? Isn't he a piece of work? Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put at three shelters, one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah." He did not know what to say. They were so frightened. Just a glimpse into Peter's personality. I've said this before, but now is the moment to say it for the record. There are two kinds of people, those who when they don't know what to say, say something, and those who when they don't know what to say, say nothing. Peter was in the first category. I don't know what to say, but let's just roll this out. Honestly, Peter's words were foolish. There's not a time for him to talk. Furthermore, there's a nefarious kind of center to it. I think they wanted to stay in the mountaintop experience. We know that they have to go down off that mountain, down into the valley, and what's going to happen down there is going to be really hard. There's going to be some immediate ministry that's going to be very distressing, and then the road is leading to Jerusalem and to his death. Peter doesn't want any part of that still. He just wants to stay up there on the mountaintop experience. Furthermore, he wants to make three shelters as though Moses, Elijah, and Jesus are all equals. Finally, as though this isn't dramatic enough, a bright cloud appears. This literally brings goosebumps to me even right now. God the Father shows up and surrounds them in a bright cloud, a bright cloud envelops them [Matthew 17:5]. God often appeared in the Old Testament in a bright cloud. Now, this is not a normal cloud that reflects sunlight. This is a cloud that has its own brightness. It is a cloud of light. It enveloped them, It surrounded them in cloud and light, and then the voice of Almighty God came from that cloud. "This is my Son whom I love. With him I am well pleased. Listen to him.” This is the second time that God has said these words. At Jesus' baptism, in Mark's gospel, He says them to Jesus. "You are my Son whom I love. With you I'm well pleased." Here, He says them to Peter and the other two apostles, "This is my son whom I love. With him I am well pleased." Here we are, as I said at the beginning of the sermon, invited up into the bright cloud of Almighty God's love for his Son. He's inviting you in. He wants you to know how much He loves his Son. “For the Son is,” [Hebrews 1:3], “the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being.” One of the most important lessons you can ever learn about God is that God is happy. He is a blessed being. He is in and of himself a happy, full, complete being. He sits on a throne and does whatever pleases him. At the core of his pleasure is his love in his Son. John Piper in his book, The Pleasures of God, said this, "A great part of God's glory is his happiness. It is a glorious thing for God to be as happy as he is. God's glory consists much in the fact that he is happy beyond our wildest imagination.” Piper goes on to argue that the happiness of God is first and foremost a happiness in his only begotten son. From eternity past, God the Father has effectively stared into the face of his Son, his only begotten Son, and has delighted in it. He is infinitely well pleased with Jesus, and our salvation very much consists in being able to enter into that joy, that happiness, that indescribable love forever. What an incredible thought. God the Father wants us to share in the love He has for his Son. Jesus said, "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now abide in my love." It's like being in that cloud forever. Stay in that love. "One of the most important lessons you can ever learn about God is that God is happy." Now, beautifully, He's going to transform us to make us as morally and physically beautiful and perfect as Jesus is. Thank God for that. We're going to shine like the Son in the Kingdom of our Father, but He's going to transform us. The key to all of that, that salvation, is we need to listen to Jesus talk to us. It's by listening, by hearing, that we are going to be transformed. Faith comes from hearing, and the hearing is the message of Christ. Or again, in John 10:27-28, "My sheep listened to my voice. I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life." V. Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence God says and it feels like a rebuke to Peter a little bit, listen to him. What I get out of that is “Peter, be quiet. Be quiet. It's not by your talking that you're going to be saved. It is by me talking to you. It is by Jesus talking to you. It is by the word of God that you are saved.” Psalm 46:10, "Be still and know that I am God," or as Habakkuk 2:20 says, "The Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him." I feel like this voice from the cloud is speaking to the entire human race across every century. “All of you, be quiet and listen to my Son. I love him. He is my glory. Listen to him and you will be saved.” As the ancient hymn writer put it, “Let all mortal flesh keep silent and with fear and trembling stand; ponder nothing earthly-minded, for with blessing in his hand, Christ, our God, to earth descendeth, our homage to demand.” By listening to God, we have faith in Christ, and by faith in Christ are our sins forgiven. Suddenly, Jesus only. Look at verse 8. Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. The bright cloud is gone, Moses and Elijah are gone. It's only Jesus, only Jesus. Moses and Elijah are not equal with Jesus. Not at all. The bright cloud from which God spoke was not needed either, because Philip said, "Show us the Father and that will be enough.” He said, "Don't you know me, Philip? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." You don't need the bright cloud. Look at Jesus and you'll see the Father's glory. Christ alone is sufficient. He is, in fact, the final word that God speaks to the human race, as Hebrews 1:1-2 says., “In the past, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son.” The Son is a radiance of God's glory. VI. Lessons First of all, the infinite glory of Jesus. Not one of us fully realizes how great is Christ's glory. Not one of us sees him properly. All of us should yearn for a clearer vision of Christ, of his power and his glory. And that comes by listening to Christ's word, by listening to his words. All of us should realize the delight the Father has in Christ. This Jesus is the Savior of the world, so trust in him, all of you. I don't know your spiritual condition. I don't know what state you are in when you came in here today, but all you have to do is believe in Jesus as the glory of God, believe that He was incarnate by the power of the Holy Spirit, that He lived an ordinary physical life, though He was God, that He died in your place on the cross, a bloody death that you deserve, but He died in your place so that your sins could be forgiven. All you have to do is trust in him and they'll all be forgiven, and you'll have a promise of seeing His glory for all eternity. Therefore, learn to listen to God and to Jesus more than ever before. Feed on his word. The best thing I can do week after week is just walk through this Gospel of Mark and help you hear Jesus speak. Just listening to what He would say to you. Mountaintop experiences are necessary. From time to time, you might want to get away from the busyness of your life. Go find a mountain or whatever is good for you, forest, beach, but get alone and let God speak peace to your heart. Let him renew you. Let him restore you. Let him revive you so that you can serve him. We're about to partake in the Lord's Supper. It's a beautiful opportunity we have itself, a foretaste of heavenly feasting. We're going to invite all who have trusted in Christ as their Lord and Savior and have testified to that by water baptism to partake. If you've not, we ask that you refrain. But we're going to enjoy a foretaste of heavenly feast, just like this morning, we've enjoyed a foretaste of heavenly sight. Let's close the sermon time in prayer, and then we'll go to the Lord's Supper. Father, we thank you for the beauty of your word. We thank you for the experience that Peter, James, and John had so many, many centuries ago. We thank you that the Holy Spirit led Mark to write this account for us and also Matthew and Luke, so that we could read about it and see by faith the glory of Christ. And now, as we partake in the Lord's Supper, we pray that you would strengthen each one of us and help us to feast on you. In Jesus' name, amen.

Let us be in 23 Let us be Ready Matthew 24:44 Sunday, 2/19/23 Acts 1:11, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come back in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” 1.  Let us be ready so you won't be left behind 2 Peter 3:3,8 “Knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.  But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.” 2.  Let us be ready because of the signs 2 Timothy 3:1, “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.  For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,  heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,  treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.” Daniel 12:4, “But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end.  For many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” 3.  Let us be ready by… Coming to know Christ as savior Continuing to grow in Christ as savior

Psalms and Wisdom: Psalm 49 Psalm 49 (Listen) Why Should I Fear in Times of Trouble? To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. 49   Hear this, all peoples!    Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,2   both low and high,    rich and poor together!3   My mouth shall speak wisdom;    the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.4   I will incline my ear to a proverb;    I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre. 5   Why should I fear in times of trouble,    when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,6   those who trust in their wealth    and boast of the abundance of their riches?7   Truly no man can ransom another,    or give to God the price of his life,8   for the ransom of their life is costly    and can never suffice,9   that he should live on forever    and never see the pit. 10   For he sees that even the wise die;    the fool and the stupid alike must perish    and leave their wealth to others.11   Their graves are their homes forever,1    their dwelling places to all generations,    though they called lands by their own names.12   Man in his pomp will not remain;    he is like the beasts that perish. 13   This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;    yet after them people approve of their boasts.2 Selah14   Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;    death shall be their shepherd,  and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.    Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.15   But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,    for he will receive me. Selah 16   Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,    when the glory of his house increases.17   For when he dies he will carry nothing away;    his glory will not go down after him.18   For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed    —and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—19   his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,    who will never again see light.20   Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish. Footnotes [1] 49:11 Septuagint, Syriac, Targum; Hebrew Their inward thought was that their homes were forever [2] 49:13 Or and of those after them who approve of their boasts (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Genesis 44 Genesis 44 (Listen) Joseph Tests His Brothers 44 Then he commanded the steward of his house, “Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man's money in the mouth of his sack, 2 and put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, with his money for the grain.” And he did as Joseph told him. 3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their donkeys. 4 They had gone only a short distance from the city. Now Joseph said to his steward, “Up, follow after the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good?1 5 Is it not from this that my lord drinks, and by this that he practices divination? You have done evil in doing this.'” 6 When he overtook them, he spoke to them these words. 7 They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! 8 Behold, the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord's house? 9 Whichever of your servants is found with it shall die, and we also will be my lord's servants.” 10 He said, “Let it be as you say: he who is found with it shall be my servant, and the rest of you shall be innocent.” 11 Then each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack. 12 And he searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. 13 Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city. 14 When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, he was still there. They fell before him to the ground. 15 Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that a man like me can indeed practice divination?” 16 And Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how can we clear ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; behold, we are my lord's servants, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found.” 17 But he said, “Far be it from me that I should do so! Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my servant. But as for you, go up in peace to your father.” 18 Then Judah went up to him and said, “Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not your anger burn against your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself. 19 My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?' 20 And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a young brother, the child of his old age. His brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother's children, and his father loves him.' 21 Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.' 22 We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.' 23 Then you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall not see my face again.' 24 “When we went back to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. 25 And when our father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food,' 26 we said, ‘We cannot go down. If our youngest brother goes with us, then we will go down. For we cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.' 27 Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. 28 One left me, and I said, “Surely he has been torn to pieces,” and I have never seen him since. 29 If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in evil to Sheol.' 30 “Now therefore, as soon as I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us, then, as his life is bound up in the boy's life, 31 as soon as he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol. 32 For your servant became a pledge of safety for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life.' 33 Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers. 34 For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father.” Footnotes [1] 44:4 Septuagint (compare Vulgate) adds Why have you stolen my silver cup? (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: 2 Chronicles 22 2 Chronicles 22 (Listen) Ahaziah Reigns in Judah 22 And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned. 2 Ahaziah was twenty-two1 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri. 3 He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in doing wickedly. 4 He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done. For after the death of his father they were his counselors, to his undoing. 5 He even followed their counsel and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to make war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead. And the Syrians wounded Joram, 6 and he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that he had received at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was wounded. 7 But it was ordained by2 God that the downfall of Ahaziah should come about through his going to visit Joram. For when he came there, he went out with Jehoram to meet Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. 8 And when Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he met the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah's brothers, who attended Ahaziah, and he killed them. 9 He searched for Ahaziah, and he was captured while hiding in Samaria, and he was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart.” And the house of Ahaziah had no one able to rule the kingdom. Athaliah Reigns in Judah 10 Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah. 11 But Jehoshabeath,3 the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were about to be put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him4 from Athaliah, so that she did not put him to death. 12 And he remained with them six years, hidden in the house of God, while Athaliah reigned over the land. Footnotes [1] 22:2 See 2 Kings 8:26; Hebrew forty-two; Septuagint twenty [2] 22:7 Hebrew was from [3] 22:11 Spelled Jehosheba in 2 Kings 11:2 [4] 22:11 That is, Joash (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Acts 15:36–17:15 Acts 15:36–17:15 (Listen) Paul and Barnabas Separate 36 And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38 But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. Timothy Joins Paul and Silas 16 Paul1 came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by the brothers2 at Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily. The Macedonian Call 6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 And when Paul3 had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. The Conversion of Lydia 11 So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the4 district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. 14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us. Paul and Silas in Prison 16 As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” 18 And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour. 19 But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 20 And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. 21 They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” 22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. 23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. 24 Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. The Philippian Jailer Converted 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer5 called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God. 35 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” 38 The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. 39 So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. 40 So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed. Paul and Silas in Thessalonica 17 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” 4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. 5 But the Jews6 were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. 6 And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, 7 and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” 8 And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. 9 And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. Paul and Silas in Berea 10 The brothers7 immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 12 Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. 13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds. 14 Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. 15 Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed. Footnotes [1] 16:1 Greek He [2] 16:2 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 40 [3] 16:10 Greek he [4] 16:12 Or that [5] 16:29 Greek he [6] 17:5 Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time; also verse 13 [7] 17:10 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 14 (ESV)

Psalms and Wisdom: Psalm 37 Psalm 37 (Listen) He Will Not Forsake His Saints 1 Of David. 37   Fret not yourself because of evildoers;    be not envious of wrongdoers!2   For they will soon fade like the grass    and wither like the green herb. 3   Trust in the LORD, and do good;    dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.24   Delight yourself in the LORD,    and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5   Commit your way to the LORD;    trust in him, and he will act.6   He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,    and your justice as the noonday. 7   Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;    fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,    over the man who carries out evil devices! 8   Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!    Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.9   For the evildoers shall be cut off,    but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land. 10   In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;    though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.11   But the meek shall inherit the land    and delight themselves in abundant peace. 12   The wicked plots against the righteous    and gnashes his teeth at him,13   but the Lord laughs at the wicked,    for he sees that his day is coming. 14   The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows    to bring down the poor and needy,    to slay those whose way is upright;15   their sword shall enter their own heart,    and their bows shall be broken. 16   Better is the little that the righteous has    than the abundance of many wicked.17   For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,    but the LORD upholds the righteous. 18   The LORD knows the days of the blameless,    and their heritage will remain forever;19   they are not put to shame in evil times;    in the days of famine they have abundance. 20   But the wicked will perish;    the enemies of the LORD are like the glory of the pastures;    they vanish—like smoke they vanish away. 21   The wicked borrows but does not pay back,    but the righteous is generous and gives;22   for those blessed by the LORD3 shall inherit the land,    but those cursed by him shall be cut off. 23   The steps of a man are established by the LORD,    when he delights in his way;24   though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,    for the LORD upholds his hand. 25   I have been young, and now am old,    yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken    or his children begging for bread.26   He is ever lending generously,    and his children become a blessing. 27   Turn away from evil and do good;    so shall you dwell forever.28   For the LORD loves justice;    he will not forsake his saints.  They are preserved forever,    but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.29   The righteous shall inherit the land    and dwell upon it forever. 30   The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,    and his tongue speaks justice.31   The law of his God is in his heart;    his steps do not slip. 32   The wicked watches for the righteous    and seeks to put him to death.33   The LORD will not abandon him to his power    or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial. 34   Wait for the LORD and keep his way,    and he will exalt you to inherit the land;    you will look on when the wicked are cut off. 35   I have seen a wicked, ruthless man,    spreading himself like a green laurel tree.436   But he passed away,5 and behold, he was no more;    though I sought him, he could not be found. 37   Mark the blameless and behold the upright,    for there is a future for the man of peace.38   But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;    the future of the wicked shall be cut off. 39   The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD;    he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.40   The LORD helps them and delivers them;    he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,    because they take refuge in him. Footnotes [1] 37:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each stanza beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet [2] 37:3 Or and feed on faithfulness, or and find safe pasture [3] 37:22 Hebrew by him [4] 37:35 The identity of this tree is uncertain [5] 37:36 Or But one passed by (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Genesis 34 Genesis 34 (Listen) The Defiling of Dinah 34 Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land. 2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humiliated her. 3 And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. 4 So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife.” 5 Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah. But his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came. 6 And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. 7 The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it, and the men were indignant and very angry, because he had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter, for such a thing must not be done. 8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your1 daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife. 9 Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 You shall dwell with us, and the land shall be open to you. Dwell and trade in it, and get property in it.” 11 Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. 12 Ask me for as great a bride-price2 and gift as you will, and I will give whatever you say to me. Only give me the young woman to be my wife.” 13 The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. 14 They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us. 15 Only on this condition will we agree with you—that you will become as we are by every male among you being circumcised. 16 Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to ourselves, and we will dwell with you and become one people. 17 But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will be gone.” 18 Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor's son Shechem. 19 And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob's daughter. Now he was the most honored of all his father's house. 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, 21 “These men are at peace with us; let them dwell in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give them our daughters. 22 Only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us to become one people—when every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. 23 Will not their livestock, their property and all their beasts be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us.” 24 And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city. 25 On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and came against the city while it felt secure and killed all the males. 26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem's house and went away. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. 28 They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. 29 All their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and plundered. 30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. My numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.” 31 But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?” Footnotes [1] 34:8 The Hebrew for your is plural here [2] 34:12 Or engagement present (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: 2 Chronicles 11 2 Chronicles 11 (Listen) Rehoboam Secures His Kingdom 11 When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. 2 But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God: 3 “Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, 4 ‘Thus says the LORD, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives. Return every man to his home, for this thing is from me.'” So they listened to the word of the LORD and returned and did not go against Jeroboam. 5 Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built cities for defense in Judah. 6 He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, 7 Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, 8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, 9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 10 Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, fortified cities that are in Judah and in Benjamin. 11 He made the fortresses strong, and put commanders in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. 12 And he put shields and spears in all the cities and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin. Priests and Levites Come to Jerusalem 13 And the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel presented themselves to him from all places where they lived. 14 For the Levites left their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the LORD, 15 and he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for the calves that he had made. 16 And those who had set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their fathers. 17 They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon. Rehoboam's Family 18 Rehoboam took as wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse, 19 and she bore him sons, Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. 20 After her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. 21 Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and concubines (he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters). 22 And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. 23 And he dealt wisely and distributed some of his sons through all the districts of Judah and Benjamin, in all the fortified cities, and he gave them abundant provisions and procured wives for them.1 Footnotes [1] 11:23 Hebrew and sought a multitude of wives (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Acts 3–4:31 Acts 3–4:31 (Listen) The Lame Beggar Healed 3 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.1 2 And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. 3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. 4 And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. Peter Speaks in Solomon's Portico 11 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's. 12 And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant2 Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus3 has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. 17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.' 24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.' 26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.” Peter and John Before the Council 4 And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. 5 On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus4 is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.5 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men6 by which we must be saved.” 13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. 14 But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. 15 But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, 16 saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” 18 So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” 21 And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old. The Believers Pray for Boldness 23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant,7 said by the Holy Spirit,   “‘Why did the Gentiles rage,    and the peoples plot in vain?26   The kings of the earth set themselves,    and the rulers were gathered together,    against the Lord and against his Anointed'8— 27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. Footnotes [1] 3:1 That is, 3 p.m. [2] 3:13 Or child; also verse 26 [3] 3:16 Greek him [4] 4:11 Greek This one [5] 4:11 Greek the head of the corner [6] 4:12 The Greek word anthropoi refers here to both men and women