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2 episodes with wisdom revealed
6 episodes with wisdom revealed
2 episodes with wisdom revealed
2 episodes with wisdom revealed
2 episodes with wisdom revealed
2 episodes with wisdom revealed
2 episodes with wisdom revealed
3 episodes with wisdom revealed
2 episodes with wisdom revealed
join host Rod Smith for a thought-provoking voyage into the unusual, unexplained, and unexplored facets of our world on the Millennial Mustard Seed Podcast. 1st Corinthians chapter 2Reading done by Brothers Aaron C Davis, Klaus Chavis and Michael Basham! 1 Corinthians 2 continues the themes from the first chapter, emphasizing the wisdom of God over the wisdom of the world. The Apostle Paul describes his approach to preaching, which relied on the power of the Holy Spirit rather than eloquent words or human wisdom. He explains how God's wisdom is revealed through the Spirit, leading to a discussion about the spiritual and natural person.Teaching Points God's Wisdom vs. Human WisdomPaul contrasts the wisdom of God with the wisdom of the world, emphasizing that God's wisdom is a mystery revealed by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:7-10).The Role of the Holy SpiritThe Holy Spirit is essential in understanding God's wisdom, as He searches all things, even the deep things of God (1 Corinthians 2:10-12).Spiritual DiscernmentSpiritual truths are discerned spiritually, and the natural man cannot accept them because they are spiritually appraised (1 Corinthians 2:14).The Mind of ChristBelievers have the mind of Christ, enabling them to understand and apply God's wisdom in their lives (1 Corinthians 2:16).Helpful notes- The wisdom of God over the wisdom of the world. The Apostle Paul describes his approach to preaching, which relied on the power of the Holy Spirit rather than eloquent words or human wisdom.Verses 1-5: Paul's Approach to PreachingPaul recalls his own approach to preaching, not with eloquence or human wisdom, but focusing on the testimony about God, namely Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. He admits that he came to them in weakness and fear. His message and preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power so that their faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power.Verses 6-10: God's Wisdom Revealed by the SpiritPaul explains that he does speak wisdom among the mature, but it is not the wisdom of this age or of its rulers, who are coming to nothing. Rather, he speaks God's wisdom, which was hidden and predestined for glory before time began, a wisdom that none of the rulers of this age understood. This wisdom is revealed through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.Verses 11-16: The Natural Person versus the Spiritual PersonPaul distinguishes between the natural person who does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God and sees them as foolishness, and the spiritual person who discerns all things with the mind of Christ.Subscribe HereJoin Rod Smith on a journey armed with a seeker's humility and a Biblical lens that never fails to inspire, provoke, and intrigue listeners toward a deeper faith in Christ. Email Rod Smith:mmseed@proton.me Leave a Message:Spotify Message Partner with Our Ministry: Consider supporting and partnering with us as we spread the Gospel through innovative media. Buy a Copy of My New Book! Amazon Author Page:Rodney Jay Smith Jr Venmo: @Rodney-Smith-368 PayPal:Donate via PayPal Cash App: $Rodsworth77
Paul, the author of the letter to the Corinthian church is building a rock steady foundation in the opening chapters. It's a foundation Jesus would call 'solid as a rock.' The foundation? The 'cross of Christ and Christ crucified." Paul describes it as our 'righteousness, holiness, and redemption.' This foundation is seen by many as shaky, even 'foolish and weak.' But to 'those who are being saved it is the wisdom and power of God.'
Preacher: Micah Tufts
God's Wisdom Revealed by the Spirit 6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we declare God's wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard,and what no human mind has conceived”[b]— the things God has prepared for those who love him— 10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person's thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.[c] 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?”[d] But we have the mind of Christ.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/faith-love-trust--3493635/support.
Title: God's secret hidden wisdom revealed Bible Focus - 1 Corinthians 2 Preacher - Alan Foster Date - 26/01/2025
The Impersonal Laws of Light, Love, and LifeAs a student of the metaphysical and spiritual realms, I've come to deeply appreciate the profound insights offered by the universal laws that govern our existence. I want to bring some nuances to the infamous 7 Hermetic Principles in reflection of meditating and co-creating it's representation in our modern day lives. I will be sharing and breaking down each Hermetic Principle with a DIFFERENT point of VIEW as a result of what I'm discovering as I create my Oracle Card Deck, in which the Hermetic Principles will offer a way to connect to the universe in a everyday practice.In this short video, I walk through the hermetic principles and how time and time again, we humans have a tendency to personalize and politicize these laws, imbuing them with our own biases, fears, and limitations.Mystical perception has often been labeled “delusional” since the Enlightenment. Yet it remains essential for uncovering deeper truths beyond straightforward logic, especially in the context of Hermetic principles.The static view keeps us locked in a purely linear mindset. In contrast, the dynamic view embraces an infinite perspective, transcending time and space. By leaning into this dynamic view, we unlock the Hermetic idea of Mentalism, recognizing how our thoughts shape reality.Intuition lies at the heart of our inner-knowing that is connected to the web of consciousness. Trusting your inner voice and seeing your own worth can reveal wisdom that words simply can't capture. An interesting perspective with one of the laws (Feminine and Masculine Balance) highlights what has happened to the vital feminine energy—like Sophia - which represents the I AM of Divine Wisdom, which was once celebrated but later overshadowed and removed for the sake of CONTROL in religious traditions.Beyond the divine feminine, rigid institutions have often dismissed or suppressed this kind of mystical awareness. Acknowledging that history helps us honor the true depth of Hermetic teachings, beyond the boundaries of any single doctrine.The laws of light, love, and life are inherently impersonal - they simply are, without judgment or preference. The law of attraction, for example, states that like attracts like. This is not a moral decree, but an energetic principle. When you desire something, source energy responds. However, as it responds, it highlights what is held within you that blocks its flow.You might feel negativity and attribute it to an external cause. But there is no external cause—there is only you.The Divine expands the negativity within you, intensifying it to reveal what is preventing the flow. Recognize that you are the one creating your reality, and use this awareness to heal and transform Identify your limiting beliefs, challenge them, and align your feelings with your source energy. Harnessing the Power of the Hermetic Principles for ManifestationAs we explore the interplay between energy and manifestation - these timeless principles offer valuable insights:* The Principle of Mentalism: Our thoughts, beliefs, and mental states directly shape our reality.Procrastination and self-sabotage often arise from unconscious limiting beliefs that create resistance to our desired outcomes.* The Principle of Correspondence: Our inner and outer worlds are intimately connected.The feelings, emotions, and vibrations we hold within ourselves are mirrored in our external experiences and manifestations.* The Principle of Vibration: Everything is in constant motion, including our thoughts, emotions, and actions.By aligning our vibration with our desired state, we can attract and manifest more effectively.* The Principle of Polarity: Our thoughts and emotions exist on a spectrum, and the balance between our desires and fears can influence our ability to take action.* The Principle of Rhythm: Our energy levels, motivation, and focus naturally ebb and flow.Understanding and embracing these rhythms can help us work with, rather than against, the flow of our manifestation process.* The Principle of Cause and Effect: Our thoughts, beliefs, and actions shape our experiences and outcomes.By taking responsibility for our role in the manifestation process, we empower ourselves to create the life we desire.* The Principle of Gender: The balanced interplay of masculine (active, assertive) and feminine (receptive, intuitive) energies is essential for effective manifestation.Embracing both aspects within ourselves can help us overcome the BEING and DOING energy - of procrastination and self-sabotage.The Hermetic Principles remind us that we are not mere observers of our reality, but active participants in its creation.By understanding and applying these principles, we can deepen our awareness of the energetic dynamics at play, and cultivate the mindset and emotional resonance necessary to manifest our deepest desires with greater ease and flow.Love, Kassandra Get full access to The Light Between at thelightbetween.substack.com/subscribe
Matthew 2:1 1 Corinthians 2:1 - Drew Gibson - Morning Service
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Our study through 1 Corinthians continues as we look at the "Hidden Wisdom" that has been revealed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
1st Cor 2:6-20 Divided We Fall: Study of 1st Corinthians (week two) Ebony Lovely
--- Preacher: Pastor Patrick Cho saviorcommunity.com
20 Minutes for the NEXT 20 Years of Your LIFE - Oprah's Wisdom Revealed! Oprah Winfrey, life changing advice, personal growth, success tips, transform your life, Oprah wisdom, motivational speech, self improvement, long term success, ultimate guidance, Oprah's insights, life transformation, career advice, well-being tips, Oprah's message, powerful motivation, personal development, achieving greatness, Oprah's guidance, unlocking potential, life tips from Oprah, success secrets, inspirational talk, life success, Oprah's path to success, motivational video, Oprah's advice, future transformation, Oprah's life lessons, achieving goals, influential advice, prosperity tips, Oprah's journey, Oprah's secrets, impactful advice, Oprah's motivation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
It's a special WEDNESDAY edition of the Zelda Cast, and for good reason: for the first time in almost 40 years, we now have a Zelda game where you play as Princess Zelda! The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom was announced in Tuesday's Nintendo Direct, a brand new Zelda game starring the titular character and a mysterious fairy named Tri who need to save Link and Hyrule! We get together and discuss our reactions to the trailer, the fact that we finally get to play as Zelda, what we think of the echo system, how fantastic the toy art style looks, our appreciation for Grezzo, and how stoked we are that it's 99 days and counting away! From there, we flip over and talk Four Swords coming to NSO finally with online play! We're also talking about everything else shown off in the Nintendo Direct, from Perfect Dark to Mario & Luigi to Donkey Kong Country Returns to, of course, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (if you want to hear Andy and the Omega guys' reaction to that trailer, check out their episode here!) Support The Zelda Cast on Patreon! Subscribe to receive the monthly bonus show ‘The Zelda Cast Top Tens! Follow The Zelda Cast! The Zelda Cast (@TheZeldaCast) Andy Spiteri (@Spiteri316) Alasyn Eletha (@AlasynEletha) Twitch x Facebook x Discord x Tik-Tok x BlueSky Advertise on The Zelda Cast! See Options Here! Subscribe to The Zelda Cast! Apple Podcasts x Podbean x Spotify x iTunes x Google Podcasts x iHeart Radio x PlayerFM Grab The Zelda Cast Merch! Official Zelda Dungeon Merch store
It's a special WEDNESDAY edition of the Zelda Cast, and for good reason: for the first time in almost 40 years, we now have a Zelda game where you play as Princess Zelda! The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom was announced in Tuesday's Nintendo Direct, a brand new Zelda game starring the titular character and a mysterious fairy named Tri who need to save Link and Hyrule! We get together and discuss our reactions to the trailer, the fact that we finally get to play as Zelda, what we think of the echo system, how fantastic the toy art style looks, our appreciation for Grezzo, and how stoked we are that it's 99 days and counting away! From there, we flip over and talk Four Swords coming to NSO finally with online play! We're also talking about everything else shown off in the Nintendo Direct, from Perfect Dark to Mario & Luigi to Donkey Kong Country Returns to, of course, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (if you want to hear Andy and the Omega guys' reaction to that trailer, check out their episode here!) Support The Zelda Cast on Patreon! Subscribe to receive the monthly bonus show ‘The Zelda Cast Top Tens! Follow The Zelda Cast! The Zelda Cast (@TheZeldaCast) Andy Spiteri (@Spiteri316) Alasyn Eletha (@AlasynEletha) Twitch x Facebook x Discord x Tik-Tok x BlueSky Advertise on The Zelda Cast! See Options Here! Subscribe to The Zelda Cast! Apple Podcasts x Podbean x Spotify x iTunes x Google Podcasts x iHeart Radio x PlayerFM Grab The Zelda Cast Merch! Official Zelda Dungeon Merch store
(Sermon) 1 Corinthians: God's Wisdom, Rev. Henry Kelly, Bible Education Institute 1 Corinthians 2:1-16 God's Wisdom Revealed by the Spirit: 1 Corinthianschapter2 verses 6-16 (Resources) YouTube: Apologia Studios & Church w/ Pastor Jeff Durbin apologiastudios.com; Voddie Baucham ; Dr. R C. Sproul: Ligonier Ministries; Ray Comfort-Living Waters livingwaters.com; Ken Ham-Answers In Genesis answersingenesis.org; Wall Builders w/ David Barton wallbuliders.com; Dr. Walter Martin waltermartin.org; Bible Education Institute is on Video Plarforms: YouTube & Rumble; Podcast Platforms: Stitcher, Apple, Spotify, Amazon , Audible, Amazon Music, Facebook, Overcast,, Chrome, gPodder, Firefox, Safari,, iTunes, Alexia, Podbean, Internet Explorer & Podcast Addict, Listen Notes, Luminary Podcast, Player FM& others. Website: 5dbe1182e5831.site123.me Email: bibleeducationinstitute@gmail.com Donate: We greatly appreciate your donations to help reach as many people as possible. Thank you Please copy / paste and put on your computer or phone top search engine. https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=TYN64GZ6YLD7C Wanted: The Brave, Joshua 1:9, Kirk Cameron https://youtu.be/fBTv07MjwAA Watch "Christians Will Win Down Here | Jeff Durbin" on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/live/IZ6EqLug0Sc?feature=share (Sermon) How to Save a Nation, Rev. Henry Kelly, Bible Education Institute https://youtu.be/bEyNvfRGQyc
See all series | See all talksTeacher: Tim Geil Date: 2024-05-06 MondaySeriesAwakening Into the Paramis (Monday evenings, 2024) 2024-01-09 Keri Pederson, Sooz Appel, Steve Wilhelm, Tim Geil, Tuere Sala
1 Corinthians 1:17-31
4/3/2024 | This day's featured sermon on SermonAudio: Title: Hidden Wisdom Revealed Speaker: Rev. Wilbur Bruinsma Broadcaster: Reformed Witness Hour Event: Radio Broadcast Date: 11/1/2020 Bible: 1 Corinthians 2:7-8; 1 Corinthians 2:10 Length: 23 min.
Have you ever wondered how the ancient wisdom of Orthodox saints can be woven into the fabric of our hectic modern lives? That's what we unravel with Timothy from Orthodox Wisdom, a pioneer in bringing the richness of spiritual tradition to the digital age. Peeling back the curtain on his creative process, Timothy shares the meticulous care taken in selecting and sharing theological works that resonate with both Orthodox believers and seekers. Reflect to how he strikes a delicate balance, offering digestible and engaging content that connects deeply with our contemporary issues, from raising children in a consumerist society to navigating spiritual motherhood.Navigating the spiritual journey can often lead us into controversial terrain, and this episode doesn't shy away from those profound topics. With a discerning eye and a heart tuned to the varied maturity of his audience, Timothy discusses how he approaches subjects like carnal warfare and ecumenism within Orthodoxy. The conversation takes a turn to the subtle art of storytelling in the context of saintly lives, exploring how Timothy paints their historic tales with reverence, while avoiding prescribing their extraordinary faith measures as direct guidance for our own paths.On a more practical note, Timothy pulls back the curtain on the world of Orthodox podcasting, revealing his resourcefulness in using simple tools to produce spiritually nourishing content. The journey of his podcast, amplified through a $60 microphone and a makeshift home studio, exemplifies the dedication behind Orthodox Wisdom. As we bid farewell, our mutual appreciation for the labor of faith is palpable, leaving listeners with a sense of gratitude and encouragement for their own spiritual voyages. Join us for an episode that not only educates but also inspires, as we walk alongside Timothy through the landscape of Orthodox spirituality.Visit our You Tube Page: https://www.youtube.com/@cloudofwitnessesradio/videosThank you for journeying w/ the Saints with us!
17 December: O Wisdom that comest out of the mouth of the Most High, that reachest from one end to another, and orderest all things mightily and sweetly, come to teach us the way of prudence! Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory be The Latin Prayer Podcast is on Patreon - for those of you who are able to financially support the podcast please Click Here (https://www.patreon.com/thelatinprayerpodcast). A huge thank you to my patrons! Useful Advent Links: Christmas O Antiphons Link:https://www.fisheaters.com/customsadvent10.html Christmas Novena Link:https://www.fisheaters.com/novenas.html#christmas2 Spotify Music, Advent Calendar, Wreath Blessing & More! Advent at Ephesus Matt Maher - The Advent of Christmas Waiting Songs Liturgical Calendar - From Liturgy of the Home Advent Wreath Blessing - From joy Filled Family St. Andrew Novena Catena Aurea Links: Catena Aurea: Matthew Catena Aurea: Mark Catena Aurea: Luke Catena Aurea: John To Support FishEaters.com Click Here (https://www.patreon.com/fisheaters) Please check out our Resources, Gift Ideas & Affiliate Links page: https://dylandrego.podbean.com/p/resources-gift-ideas-affiliate-links Join me and others in praying the Holy Rosary every day; here are the Spotify quick links to the Rosary: Joyful Mysteries https://open.spotify.com/episode/1yhnGJNSl67psg94j3si3s?si=7IjqIg2wQQaZTJTiDm-Dhw Sorrowful Mysteries https://open.spotify.com/episode/3P0nIdaLuEjesHRMklwfoj?si=6qF7JBYpRiG0ylwuOohFwA Glorious Mysteries https://open.spotify.com/episode/3t7lCF7nFQDR3py1jjTAE1?si=hBb_5Ne5Rwu-993nUUqHqg Luminous Mysteries https://open.spotify.com/episode/6vlAjEGgWPCI79K7Eylh31?si=Hue9USzkTf-L3wrXrK79MQ 15 Decade Rosary https://open.spotify.com/episode/2q33PXMrinZi6fkaV6X7vn?si=Jy_d2xLlTVihD5qa4fSH9g To follow me on other platforms Click on my LinkTree below. linktr.ee/dylandrego If you have any prayers you'd like to request, or comments and/or suggestions - please email me at latinprayerpodcast@gmail.com. Know that if you are listening to this, I am praying for you. Please continue to pray with me and for me and my family. May everything you do be Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam. God Love You! Valete (Goodbye) This podcast may contain copyrighted material the use of which may not always have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advanced the teachings of the Holy Catholic Church for the promulgation of religious education. We believe this constitutes a "fair use” of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US copyright law, and section 29, 29.1 & 29.2 of the Canadian copyright act.
Today on Meditating the Word: Division in the Church, Christ Crucified is God's Power and Wisdom, God's Wisdom Revealed by the Spirit, Church and Leaders, True Apostleship. This is Day 333. We are reading 1st Corinthians 1-4 ---- Father God, Just as there were factions in Corinth, we see the same divisions in the church today. Christians saying their denomination is right and others are wrong... Even thinking those in their church will be the only ones saved, while those in other denominations will be lost. There is only one name by which we are saved, and that is Jesus. Keep our hearts from being foolish, Father. Let us rely on Christ alone for our salvation. We will gladly be fools for Christ's sake. You use the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; the weak things to shame the strong; and the things that don't exist, to bring to nothing the things that do exist. All the glory and the honor belongs to You. Amen ---- We are reading the entire Bible this year in the order the events actually occured chronologically. You can download a copy of the reading plan from blueletterbible.com. And don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast platform and on YouTube, that way you'll get a notification each time a new episode is released. It's my goal to encourage others to strengthen their Christian walk through daily reading God's Word. You can help, by sharing this podcast, and by rating and reviewing it. Thank you for joining me today and know that I'm praying for you. Join us tomorrow -- and every day -- as we continue our journey through the pages of the Bible. I can't wait to see you tomorrow. Until next time, be blessed and be a blessing. ---- Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/yeti-music/at-dawn License code: SFVKF2JFJJIFZDGT Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/brock-hewitt-stories-in-sound/a-journey-of-love License code: VUSCEHWQYYSXTUKG
To mark hitting the first 100 episodes of the podcast, we're pulling out the learning points from our favourite episodes. And a run down on what the most downloaded episodes have been.Emily was first up with how inheriting money can be a complex emotional challenge. Episode 50 was "I've inherited some money and I feel _____"Michelle loved episode 36 - Pension Jargon. In the form of a badly scored quiz, we gave you a run down on all the bizarre words you'll find in pension land.My favourite? Episode 31 - Career & Money with Giselle Galper. I loved the wisdom Giselle shared, especially her final tip on how to respond to that question "how are you". A huge thank you from me and the WMC team for listening and we'd love to know what your favourites have been.YOUR HOSTJulie Flynn is an experienced independent financial adviser and financial coach. Justice and equality drive Julie. Which is why she's spent years studying and researching how stress affects our financial decision making. Julie is best known for her work with women who have lost their partner and coaching financial services business who want to implement fair and transparent charges.Ebb & Flow Financial Coaching | Bree Wealth & Tax | InstagramCO-HOSTSEmily Pool is a Financial Planner and Will Writer. She is passionate about empowering people to invest their wealth (pensions and savings) sustainably and in line with their personal values. Michelle Lambell started her career in financial services as a Stockbroker in 1999 undertaking both advisory and discretionary investment management. Today she is a Chartered Financial Planner, specialising in retirement planning advice, pensions and investments and a Certified Financial Coach. Sara Walker is a financial planner and financial coach with 33 years' experience in financial services. She wants all women to feel financially confident and uses her professional and life experiences to support and educate women over 40 so they in turn feel able to support and be role models for the younger women in their lives. Jennifer O'Neil is a mortgage and protection specialist and director of Athena Mortgages. Having been in the industry since 2014 Jennifer decided to set up a company in 2020 that suited her core values as a broker – integrity, service, honesty and continuous improvement. LinkedIn | Instagram | FacebookSupport the show✅ And if you enjoyed the show, please leave us a review.We genuinely love hearing your questions and feedback. So, email us a voice note womenandmoneycafe@gmail.com or via instagram with your thoughts and suggestions.
Ref: SM1644
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Ephesians 3:1-131 Corinthians 2:1-16
Have you ever wondered how Andy Albright turned the tide when the odds were stacked against him? On this week's TWC, he's pulling back the curtain on his success story! Andy interviews special guests and explains how being "N247" in a basement eventually led him to his current success! Don't miss out on this opportunity to learn the strategies he used to WIN!
When numbers repeat, it's time to pay attention. Learn all about portals on FrancesFox.com Join our video chat/Podcast NEWS FROM OTHER DIMENSIONS on twitter.com/foxfrances every Thursday at 3 PM EST
When numbers repeat, it's time to pay attention. Learn all about portals on FrancesFox.com Join our video chat/Podcast NEWS FROM OTHER DIMENSIONS on twitter.com/foxfrances every Thursday at 3 PM EST
In this episode, we hear from guest speaker, Paul Voltmer as he continues our series in Ephesians by talking about the Church and its unique place in the world. Listen as he explores Ephesians 3:1-13.
Paul reminds the church in Corinth of two truths: His message about a crucified Savior might seem weak and is proclaimed out of weakness, but it is a demonstration of the Spirit's Power. God reveals his wisdom about this crucified Savior through His Spirit.
The wisdom of God hidden from the world is the magnificent grace of God freely given to us in Christ Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit, and so we depend upon the Spirit applying salvation through the gospel to have the mind of Christ.
What's up, Masterminders! We offer you a new episode with lots of Strategies and Wisdom Revealed about CREDIT just for you.Financial independence is a goal that many people struggle to achieve. From bad credit scores to low wages, working a 9-5 job might provide enough for the majority. Roadblocks will always be present for the majority of us; from broken families to abusive households, circumstances that people had growing up might also hinder their growth. Like most people, Dion Coopwood, aka Mr. Phenomenal Power, went through most of these. However, despite the challenges, he worked his way to formulate methods that may help people learn and improve their financial literacy! So take this chance to learn from him FREE and start changing your life now!Grab these GEMS throughout this episode:How to build your Credit fast?How to Manage your Credit?Entrepreneurship Tips and StrategiesHow to Use Credit Cards to MAXIMIZE your Life?And so much more!!Get to know our guest more:Dion Coopwood is a Mindset and Financial Literacy Business Coach born and raised on the Southside of Chicago. With six years as a financial literacy educator, he formed Dominate the Decade University, a mentorship group dedicated in teaching people how to start a successful entrepreneurial career through financial literacy and mentorship. That's right! Start listening to this episode right now so you can understand how to rapidly enhance your personal credit and establish business credit to start living the lifestyle you deserve!Do you have any questions? Feel Free to Connect With us!Checkout Dion's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mr.phenomenalpower/?hl=enHis Links: https://linktr.ee/DioncoopwoodDion's Consultation Link: https://calendly.com/dominatethedecad...My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tolu.owoyemi/My Website: https://go.mastermindyouragency.com/site
But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.
Hello, Masterminders! We offer you a new episode with lots of Wisdom Revealed just for you.We are joined by a very special guest today, Ta'Donna Nagle, to share her knowledge about the Finance Industry. Starting from what exactly investing is, down to the Strategies and Techniques you must know in order for you to LEVEL UP your wealth and keep your Business Rising!Grab these GEMS throughout this episode:What is Investing?Understand more about Stocks & TradingHow To Start A BusinessAnd more financial tips!So if you want your questions to be answered, listen to this episode until the end because you don't want to miss this one!Know more about our guest:Ta'Donna Nagle is the founder of Legendary Wealth Builders. She empowers her students and clients by delivering quality and high impact financial education that teaches students how to create wealth not debt. Seeing first-hand the negative effects of poor financial decisions in her community, Ta'Donna was moved to create Legendary Wealth Builders LLC. Drawing on her 15+ years of Financial Corporate America experience in addition to real world practice. She is doing her part to help bridge the wealth gap one person at a time. By providing financial education and guidance to many under-represented communities and breaking negative financial cycles. Ta'Donna believes it is important to lay down the foundation and build strong money habits to avoid some of the negative financial pitfalls that can lead to a lifetime of financial struggle. So what are you waiting for? Sit back, and listen to this episode now!Do you have any questions? Feel Free to Connect With us!Checkout Ta'Donna's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/legendary_wealthbuilders/Her Website: https://legendarywealthbuilders.lpages.co/links/My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tolu.owoyemi/My Website: https://go.mastermindyouragency.com/site
Part 1 Look at the reception of the preaching of God's word- those who are saved by God's grace and those who reject the message of the gospel. Part 2 The question had to be answered why? Why do people receive and reject this message of Christ's good news? The answer is an invisible work of God through…
Part 1 Look at the reception of the preaching of God's word- those who are saved by God's grace and those who reject the message of the gospel. Part 2 The question had to be answered why? Why do people receive and reject this message of Christ's good news? The answer is an invisible work of God through…
1. Spiritual Realities about God's wisdom 1 Cor 2:6-10 Those who receive the message of Christ mature predestined (work of redemption and its recipients) for our glory (in Christ, we are elevated as world, in Adam is decimated) Those who reject the message do not understand the mystery (eyes do not see,…
1. Spiritual Realities about God's wisdom 1 Cor 2:6-10 Those who receive the message of Christ mature predestined (work of redemption and its recipients) for our glory (in Christ, we are elevated as world, in Adam is decimated) Those who reject the message do not understand the mystery (eyes do not see,…
Introduction: Although the comparisons will be made for many years into the future, Ice Storm 1994 still seemed to be a greater event than the recent ice storm we had this past year. I know the data states that more people lost power this year than in 1994, but 94's storm seemed more chaotic on this…
Introduction: Although the comparisons will be made for many years into the future, Ice Storm 1994 still seemed to be a greater event than the recent ice storm we had this past year. I know the data states that more people lost power this year than in 1994, but 94's storm seemed more chaotic on this…
Jack Tamplin, one of our WCC Elders, shares a thought from scriptures in which God reveals more and more of who He is to His disciples and to us. "Their blind spot kept them from seeing who Jesus really was." - Jack Tamplin --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/wcconlinechurch/message
1 Corinthians 2:1-16 NLT And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[a] 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power. God's Wisdom Revealed by the Spirit 6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we declare God's wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”[b]— the things God has prepared for those who love him— 10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person's thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.[c] 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?”[d] But we have the mind of Christ. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/keisha17/message
BPC Sunday Evening Service 6 March 2022
Servants' Meeting @ St. John The Baptist Coptic Orthodox Church, Miami, FL ~ January 23, 2022
Maybe you're ready to finally lose the weight. To start your business. To double your business. To create deeper relationships and more self-confidence. If you know deep down that it's time to make a change, this episode will show you the path. Self Coaching Scholars Director, Allison Wright, gives you a tour and a sneak peek of our monthly membership program and some of our most popular courses inside.
Part 6 of our study through 1 Corinthians
Audio Transcript: This media has been made available by Mosaic Boston Church. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston and our neighborhood churches, or donate to this ministry, please visit mosaicboston.com.Good morning. My name is Andy. Welcome to all of you who are here in person and those of you who are online. I'm just thrilled to be here. I'm one of the pastors here at Mosaic, along with pastor Jan and pastor Shane. I just want to plug it as we always do. If you just arrived and you're new, or you're just chiming in online, you can fill out a connection card. This is the best way for us to get to know you and for you to get more information about us.You can fill that out in person, put it in the white collection box in the back here, or fill it out online, or on our connection card on our app. Today, we are continuing our Advent series. This is a time of the year where we spend extra time meditating on what Christ's first coming means for us: his birth, his life, his death, his resurrection, and ascension, and how it gives us hope in him as we await his second coming.We're going to continue in the book of Matthew and I'm going to be reading from Matthew 2:1-12 12 today. Matthew 2:1-12. And I just want to start off by jumping right into the text. And then I'll jump into my message today. Please follow along as I read the word of God. Matthew 2:1-12. "Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the King, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem saying, 'Where is he who has been born, King of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.""When Herod the King heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. And assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him in Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet. And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people, Israel.""Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem saying, 'Go and search diligently for the child. And when you have found him, bring me word that I too may come and worship him.' After listening the King, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.""When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts: gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way." This is the word of God. Please join me in prayer.Heavenly father, we just praise you that we live in a day where we are less prone to turn to follow signs, to seek stars, to seek messages from you that are given to us by nature, by the whims of the world. Lord, we come in a day where we have seen that Jesus Christ has come into this world. He has revealed your true nature. He was the exact imprint of your nature in this life. He was the man, the God man to whom all the scriptures pointed and in whom all of them are fulfilled.Lord, we praise you that we get to be in this day where we get to look back. The victory is secured. We're just waiting till you come and you consummate your kingdom. You establish it in its entirety in our bodies, in our souls, in the world. And Lord, we pray right now, meet us in the way that you came and met us in the form of the baby, Jesus. Lord, meet us right now. Give us wisdom to be able to discern the ways that the world wants to deceive us and give us wisdom to walk forward in a way that's faithful you. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.I shouldn't have closed my Bible after I read it. Number one rule to break, according to my seminary preaching professor. I will be preaching from the Bible this whole sermon. So for all those who were forced to be in Christmas pageants with the three wise men as children and loathed it, this one's for you. I've waited for this day my whole life. I was the shyest kid. I hated those things. To all those who loved the pageants, I'm sorry not sorry to give you this message.To all those who don't know what I'm talking about, it's okay. You didn't miss out on much. I'm joking. Those dramatic displays of the birth of Christ can be beneficial, especially for a child. This is a passage that's really well-known. Christians and even non-Christians, people outside of the church will have a lot of familiarity with it. And it has a lot of details that are just really important to cover. I think many of you probably know a lot less about this passage than you think.For example, I want to begin with a question, how many wise are mentioned in the text? It's three, right? No. The text mentions three gifts given by the wise man, but it does not say that there were three of them present. Next, were the wise men kings? What does the text say? It calls them wise men. They're not called kings. Baltazar, Melchor, Gaspar. The song We Three Kings, I love it. One of my favorites to sing in this season. It's crushed. These are wise men.What is meant by wise men? The Greek word could be magi. These men were astrologers. They were magicians, diviners. They're interpreters of the sky, interpreters of dreams, most likely from Persia. And they were doing exactly what God told the Jews not to do that. They were trying to find a way, find guidance through life on just the whims of their thoughts, the whims of their flesh, apart from him.Next question, were are these men believers? Some people insert into this text that these men at the beginning of the story are believers. They know who this King of the Jews is, what he represents. They kind of have an understanding of the theology of the Messiah that they are going to see. The text says they come and they're looking for the king, the one who has been born King of the Jews. There's something right about that. He was born king.The text says that they want to worship him, but that doesn't mean that they're believers coming to worship their savior and Lord with a humble and contrite heart. The word used for worship might better be translated here as pay homage, pay honor to this king in the same way that they would show reverence to a man of honor. You have to think, it was literally the business of the magi to try to get to know the kings, the rulers, get their foot in the door of the courts of the troyal and ruling classes, find a source of income, get that per diem.And one can only imagine just the extra favor you might get when you stumble upon and you find a ruler and are the first to pay homage to a king. We can't really insert into the text that these guys were believers of Jesus as the Christ. So at this point, many people might begin to ask, so why can we trust this account? Why would scriptures mention pegging men from the East coming to pay homage to the King of the Jews?And why does Matthew present them in such a positive light. Old Testament scriptures, New Testament scriptures, they would have blatantly condemned the magi for their practices, for their beliefs, probably for some of their cultic ceremonies that were immoral. So why is this a part of the revelation of God? These are reasonable questions to ask. And I just want to speed through some of the details that tap into the details of the text.There's a lot of reasons to make it plausible that this is actual history that Matthew is chronicling. First, no Christian writer could have made this up. This story would have triggered a negative response to the Jewish or a Christian reader of Matthew's day. And if Matthew is really trying to convince this Jewish audiences, as we touched on primarily in the past couple of weeks. Pastor Jan's first sermon in the series.Matthew is writing to Jews. Why would he put it in the text unless it actually happened? If he were trying to fabricate a story to try to convince Jews to believe, why would he incorporate these guys into the story and put them in a positive light over Jews? Second, just the star stuff. I just want to tap into it. In many places of the ancient world, the intellectuals were astrologers. They believed astrology.Did you know that in history, it's preserved that in 44 BC during the funeral Julius Caesar, there was actually a supernova that appeared in the sky, some form of sudden star-like brightness that appeared. And this was great for the business of astrology. For a long time it lead to a belief that the birth and death of great kings, great leaders were marked by appearances of stars in the sky. Also history has preserved and modern science has confirmed that a conjunction of planets Jupiter and Saturn, they aligned in the sky at three different times to the naked eye, given the appearance of a really bright, single light in the year leading up to Christ's birth.We mark the year of Christ's birth and tie that to King Herod's death. That's preserved throughout history. And the 5 BC, beginning of 4 BC. There are a couple of dates, the specific dates that are thrown around, but May 29th, October 3rd, December 4th, and the year leading up to Christ's birth are the most popular dates. This could explain why the magi had to make the final call for where to go once they entered Israel.They might've had this natural phenomena in the sky that triggered them. There's this unique light in the sky. There's these rumors of a king born that would come out of Judea. And just to elaborate, there was a widespread rumor and first century BC in the Mediterranean region that a great ruler would come out of the region of Judea. Tacitus, Suetonius, Roman historians, Josephus, a Jewish Roman historian, all of the first century AD, they mentioned that these were common rumors. These were common expectations.This rumor was proven influential when Vespasian, a Roman who actually put down a rebellion in Judea in AD 66, part of his platform for his campaign while running for the office of Roman emperor, and he won, was his claim that he was the great leader that was anticipated in this day. And so you have these phenomena in the sky. The non-believing world has these expectations for a leader that would come out of Judea.Perhaps the astrologers of the day, they would have been studying different ancient texts, different ancient scriptures as part of their vocation. Perhaps they had exposure to Numbers 24:7. Remember, Israel was exiled to Babylon, who then came on control of Persia. The prophet Daniel was alive and very influential in Babylon and Persia. During the exile, it's likely that the magi, the astrologers, the intellectual elites of that day would have been talking, had exposure to multiple scriptures.Number 24:7 says, "A star shall come out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel." Just this kind of randomly placed prophecy in the Old Testament, spoken under the spirit of God by a Gentile prophet, Balam. There's a chance that these astrologers of the day were influenced by this text. So you have all the rumors flying around amongst the astrologers. You have actual phenomenon in the sky, maybe some influence from this Numbers text. And there's a lot of reason to believe that this actually happened.That magi guy from the East, a caravan of them showed up saying, 'Where is the King? Where's the King of the Jews? Where is he?" With assurance that he was born or that he was about to be born. There's a lot of reason to believe the credibility of Matthew's texts from the scripture, from outside of it. All of this information is really intriguing. You can just get lost in this text and in the history, the resources that come out.But in order to get something from this text, we have to stay focused. Matthew is not a true historian. He's a pastor. Scripture talks about there's not enough space to talk about the miraculous, the amazing things that Jesus Christ came and did in his life. So why does Matthew, most likely writing with a pastoral perspective to engage his Jewish audience, primarily Jewish audience, why does he include this specific story of the magi traveling, saying, "Where is he? Where is this king born of the Jews?"And today, by focusing on these actions, the story of the magi, I want to suggest that Matthew is making a comment to his audience about the wisdom of that age. Taken further, Matthew is making a comment about the wisdom of any age. So why is that? The wise men were the intellectuals. They're the leading thinkers. The intelligence here. Thank you AP European History for giving me a chance to use that for the first time in 15 years.The wise men were the lead thinkers of their day. They would have been appointed to presidential councils, overseeing the life and worship of their respective countries and kingdoms. These are people who would have been writing the textbooks while having tenured positions at the top universities. These are the people who would give the most stimulating Ted Talks as well. And Matthew, in this episode, during the events leading up to Christ, he puts their knowledge, their wisdom to the test.It's in their pursuit of the poor baby King of the Jews that their wisdom is turned upside down. The apostle Paul once said in 1st Corinthians 20 and 21, "Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world, for since in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom. It please God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe."This text from Matthew has that same message. Paul's question to the philosophers, the learned, the top thinkers of the day. Remember he goes into the talk of the logos, how the Greeks looked for the principle that guided everything and explained everything in life. Matthews chipping into that for his audience. So I want to make the claim, this passage teaches us about the wisdom of the world. It shows us that Christmas puts to shame the wisdom of any age.From Matthew 2:1-12, we can say that the wisdom of the world is cyclical, superficial, and insufficient. Those are going to be my three main points. The wisdom of the world is cyclical, superficial and insufficient. I'll explain the big vocabulary words. Point one, the wisdom of the world as cyclical. What do I mean by cyclical? It's prone to change due to circumstances, discoveries, innovations, needs, trends. Many times it repeats itself.I get this simply from the text by meditating on the fact that the wise men, the magi, the astrologers, the lead thinkers of large powerful countries for likely a couple of centuries derived their wisdom and knowledge and counsel from phenomena and the stars. That's a laughable to us. That's something that we scoff at in this day. But how many of you know your sign? How many of you when you come across a horoscope you can't help. You're tempted to look into what it says.What's on your agenda? What's coming up for you? It's laughable. It seems superstitious. And as Christians, you should not be doing that. I'm going to say that plainly. We don't have to dig into that. That is just dabbling with idolatry. But it's laughable. This is something that is rooted in beliefs of 2000 years ago. But at some point it came back. It influenced our age. It influenced our society, especially in the 20th century.I still remember seeing horoscopes in the newspaper growing up. I don't really know where people go to get it today. You can just find a million websites, I'm sure. But there's a cyclical aspect. It's the wisdom of the world is dated, it's trait. It repeats itself. Let me give you another example. In the mid 19th century, what were all the academics and elite saying was going to solve man's problems? In the fifties, sixties, seventies, the thought of Sigmund Freud reigned.People would go to cycle analysts multiple times a week, for years, spending hundreds of dollars, thousands of dollars to figure out their conscience with little results. This was actually horrible for the church, just FYI. After millennia of Christians going to the scripture for wisdom, instead of talking to their brothers and sisters in Christ who are pastors, who were guided by the Holy spirit, people needed an expert to solve their problems.Freud had his day in secular society. Freud infiltrated the church. But by the 1980s, he was ruled obsolete. What do these examples suggest about other systems of thought by the elites, the academics, the thought experts of our day, supposed thought experts of our day? What does it say about the previous ages and their experts? Think about the fluctuations in what universities have said about gender and sexual identity and desire.They're once genetically not fixed. They were learned. And then a decade or so later they were fixed. Is there ever anything proposed to solve and deal with the problems of man by the world? Are any ideas ever new? Do any of them last? Just wait five, 10, 15, 20 years and our kids and grandkids will be laughing at us for many of the things that we believed in our day. My grandmother... Just a couple of practical examples of how this can happen.My grandmother went to the grave thinking that smoking was not detrimental to her health. She started smoking as a teenager, probably went 40 years or so. I think she had another health problem that caused her to drop smoking. But for the rest of her life, when she went out with her friends, she was sneaking cigarettes. We just laughed at that. She insisted. She went to the grave believing that because that's what they impressed upon her in her day.And football fans think of the option offense. It apparently rose to prominence in the 1970s. It's gone in and out of fashion. Bring in Tim Tebow, bring in Michael Vick, it rises to prominence again. That's how wisdom and philosophy of this world has fluctuated throughout history. C.S. Lewis once said, "All that is not eternal is eternally out of date." All that is not eternal is eternally out date.What does this mean? And he thought principles, ideas that are not rooted in the revelation of God and the inspired scriptures given to man are worn out. Once an idea has its day, it is immediately kicked out the door. Immediately on its way to be kicked out the door. That's how the wisdom of the world works. The reality is that every generation of elite thinkers believe that they know best. C.S. Lewis taps into this in this talk of chronological snobbery.Every generation thinks that man has ascended to greater knowledge, evolved beyond its shortcomings. We know better about the differences between men and women. We know best how to treat racial and ethic differences. We know best how to talk about sexuality and relational dynamics. We understand the self better than there rest. But where is the evidence of ascent to greater understanding? Where's the evidence of emerging consensus of thought?In 2020, do you see that evidence? The world says, "Christians, you have to get with it now." And yes, we should have a heart to learn. We should be able to admit that we just might personally have blind spots. Science is figuring out how some things work. But do we follow the philosophies, the teachings of this world and its imperatives when they contradict scripture? God's special revelation. As a church, do we follow them, as individuals?And just thinking about those answers, let me ask you what has happened in your own life when you've blended the teachings of scripture with the teachings of the world? I did that for about five years, four years of college, one year out before I found Mosaic in August 2011. It's only by the grace of God that brought me out of the darkness in which I was walking and the despair. What has happened when churches that you're a part of blended the instruction of God word and the world?Some of you come from great churches, great hometown churches that are faithful to the word. And I'm jealous of you. A lot of you come from these churches. Their intentions, they mean well, but in order to try to attract people, they've watered down the word of God. And the reality is that they're laughable. It's painful to think about it. Pulling from the world and picking and choosing from the Bible.Life apart from the word of God or life in which one blends the word of God with the wisdom of the world, it correctly leads one to confer with Ecclesiastes that all is vanity. Ecclesiastes 1:8-11 says, "All things are full of weariness. A man cannot utter it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done. And there's nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, 'See, this is new.' It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after."We do forget, and that's why we repeat a lot of the worldly wisdom. Christmas tells us, where is the wise man? Where is the philosopher? Where is the debater? He's already received a boot in the rear end out the door. He might be let in again for a little while, but then he'll be booted back out again. The wisdom of Christianity is different than that of the world. It is eternal. Isaiah 48 says, "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of God will stand forever."Believe this or just the abide in me, the song, the prayer. That was perfect. That's where our life is. That's where wisdom comes from, day-to-day wisdom to March forward in faithfulness. Abide in God's word. It's sufficient for your situation. It's sufficient for the church. The beauty of Christianity is you can read the Bible. You can read the greats from the past 2000 years: Agustin, Luther, Calvin. There's universal appeal because they're pulling from the word of God that appeals to all of us as image bearers of God.Adam and Eve were created not just to walk the garden and tend to it alone, they were supposed to do it with God instructing them and guiding them along the process. Point two, Christmas teaches us that the wisdom of the world is superficial. What do I mean by superficial? It's shallow. It leads one to the same path, saying that prosperity will satisfy. Prosperity, power, closeness to the nobility will heal.Go to the centers of power to find what you're looking forward, to make a difference, get access to the resources that you need. But God set up Christ's life so that he didn't have access to any of those things that worldly wisdom says we need. Verse one and two, "Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the King, behold, wiseman from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews, for we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him."Based on the magi's own study, on their own volition, the influence of the wisdom of the world on them, of course Jerusalem is where the King of Jews will be. "Where is he?" They say when they show up with confidence. They're thinking it's superficial, it's shallow. A town like Bethlehem, any other small town, insignificant place, doesn't cross their mind. Furthermore, we get a sense that they're not really going there to truly worship him. They're going there to honor him.Their motives are questionable at this point in the text. The study and volition of the wiseman led them to Jerusalem. They were probably going in their best dress. So maybe those three wise men pictures with them in the very colorful robes and head dresses. There might be some accuracy, just there might be more than three of them. They show up only to be redirected to a birthday party. This is where the wisdom of God begins to supplant the shallowness of the wisdom of the world."Where's the party? In the courts of the king? In an area like the Back Bay, with chef Salt Bae serving the lamb?" No, they don't land in Jerusalem. That's not where the party is. It's in Bethlehem in a barn or probably more of a crowded house at this point. At a party with who? A super poor family, shepherds. These guys where the social outcasts, the unlearned of society and sheep. Do you see the wisdom of God bringing to light and undermining the shallowness of the wisdom of man? It really should cause us to laugh.1st Corinthians 1:25, "For the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men." That's what the Christmas story shows us. Everything about the Christmas story is wrong according to the wise men, according to the prideful Jews, who Matthew is writing to. The people are outcasts. The magi themselves were just ethnically not the right people. They shouldn't have been there. The people from the right bloodlines, social background, economic background, they're not there.Jesus' family, Joseph and Mary, are the poorest of the poor. When they go to the temple, probably after they use the money from the gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh to flee to Egypt, they go to the temple to dedicate Christ. They pay the poorest fee for the sacrificed. They offer a sacrifice allowed for the poorest of the poor. Other parts of the gospels tell us that Christ was raised in Nazareth, a place of ill repute.He went on to work as a carpenter. When he began his ministry, most of his followers were not just the leaders in the region, but an eclectic mix of misfits, rejects. Scripture talks about how there is nothing special about the appearance of Jesus Christ. As you read this, you have to really ask yourself, how would you have planned for Jesus to become what he became in the eyes of the world?I don't want to say campaign manager or hearing and say election trauma. But what if you were the campaign manager of Jesus Christ? Would you have really come up with what is in scripture to put Jesus Christ to the place of prominence, where he is in the history of the world? God's plan is radically different than what any of us could come up with. All the things of the world that the wisdom of the world tells us that we need, Christ didn't have.Power, influence riches, political authority, academic positions, Christ avoided all of them. With his Christmas presentation, the Holy spirit, through Matthew, is teaching us the shallowness, the superficial reality of all things that the wisdom of the world says we need. The king, the son of God, the promised Messiah, the fulfillment of all the scriptures is born in a stable, surrounded by a bunch of misfits with all the smells around. And that is why is worthy of our worship. He is altogether wise, wholly different, sovereign.God's power is glorified in how he can work through such a circumstance. In the context of Matthew, this is the specific point that Matthew is trying to make to his Jewish audience. Don't be like Herod, who was a professed Jew. The priests, the scribes, they missed this when the magi came into town. Those Jews, they were able to quote the scriptures about where Jesus was to be born. They were able to even say that this Jesus, this king would be a shepherd of his people.He would rule with righteousness. He would be just, gentle, kind. They're able to say that while under the reign of Herod the great, a powerful tyrant who sucked the money in life out of the people, yet they missed it. Matthew's audience, they're Jews. They're looking for Christ, for God to reveal himself in a profound worldly way. And Matthew is saying don't miss it. He came. He was born in a manger. And that is why he is more worthy to worship than any other king you can think of.We have to shed our earthly expectations. For us, the command is to be aware of the grip of the world's wisdom on our hearts. Now, we don't realize it when we come to Christianity just how strong it is. It took me to go to seminary to just see the influence of the thinking of the world on my heart. You don't have to do that. You can just abide and every step of life appeal to God's word, fend it off with prayer.When you start thinking about the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of the way of God, the wisdom of God working through these broken hopeless circumstances, just simply believing in a God who works like this. You might think you'll be laughed at or mocked in pursuing faithfulness to him. The reality of this text is that it's not might. You will be laughed at and mocked by the world in following God's wisdom and not the worlds.But we have to heed the wisdom that Matthew used to expound upon these teachings in chapter two. Chapter five, we're going to continue in Matthew. After the admin season, the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, a teaching of Christ that blatantly turned the wisdom of the world upside down, says, "Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.""Blessed are those who mourn so they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.""Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets before you." We have to trust the Lord's wisdom, his ways, his commands. And that is the means to blessedness and fullness in this life. Point three, Christmas teaches us the wisdom of the world is not just cyclical, superficial, but it's also insufficient.What are the wise men of the world supposed to do? They tell us how life works in its entirety. They're the ones who are supposed to find things and explain things for us, find that principle, that thing that explains everything. But scripture in this story from Matthew, it tells us that the wisdom of the world can only take us part of the way. How is that shown? The magi can't quite make it to the destination that they seek, the location of the King of the Jews.By their own knowledge and volition, they make it pretty far. They get to Jerusalem, but they don't quite make it. The wisdom of the world is insufficient. We have longings for something that cannot be found in this world, longings for a sovereign, righteous, glorious king on our hearts. But the wisdom of the world can't take us there. Romans one. Romans is called Paul's gospel. He begins his gospel with... It's really an epistle.But he begins, what's perceived as his gospel, with unaided reason, we know that God exists. We can look at the world. We can look within ourselves and know that there is a creator. But without special revelation to us from God through his word, through the preaching of the gospel primarily. The gospel is the power an through righteousness to the Jew first. The power of God and through righteousness to the Jew first and also the agree that we can't gain access to God apart from the preaching of the gospel, apart from special revelation from God.Science captures this. A Harvard School of Public Health professor, Tyler VanderWeele, and a journalist John Siniff, they wrote a USA Today op-ed entitled Religion May Be a Miracle Drug. They outline mental and physical benefits correlated with religious participation for most Americans who go to church. Just some of the benefits. Mortality rates are reduced by 20% to 30% over a 15 year period for those who go to church.Those who regularly attend services are more optimistic. They have lower rates of depression. They're less likely to commit suicide, have greater purpose in life, are less likely to divorce, and more self-controlled. Science and research in our day, they can quantify the value of religion, quantify the value of Christianity, but they can't take us to the Lord Jesus Christ, who brings us those benefits. The peace of heart, the experience of the love of God, the peace with the father that we get through Christ.Man by his wisdom could not find God. That's the point of Christmas. God comes to us. How do the wise men find Jesus in the story? It's not until God gives them the specific paths through the reading of the scripture, by the scribes know. To begin their journey, maybe they had this background where they heard Numbers 24:7-17, this text that a star and Sceptre shall come from Israel. And that would be the special revelation from God given to them.But we can't really discern where they just fall in the suspicions of the magi of their day. We can't discern that. But in this text, it's the quoting of the scriptures that redirects the magi from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. It's what gets them to their destination, where the king, whom they desire to see and to meet wise. This is in Matthew 2:3-6. Furthermore, in verse nine, we get the sense that the final appearance of a star was of a different sort of appearance.It says that the star appeared for a short time. It came and stood over the house. Is this a supernatural star, a special star, or just a special act of providence arranged by God for them in that moment? We don't know. But verse 10 talks about how they felt at that moment. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. There is no elation about them because they know that they're being guided by God himself.They've been looking for wisdom their whole lives, and they know that they have found it. It's coming from the source of all wisdom of true wisdom. They haven't seen Christ in physical form yet, but they know that they're being guided by the right spirit because God has spoken to them. The scripture that this brings to mind is 1st Peter 1:8-9. It says, "Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."This is Peter writing to people walking with assurance that wonder is under the care, the guidance of God who has sealed their salvation even though they can't see him. And the magi have that. Before they see Jesus Christ, you get this through the language, through their response. When they go to Christ, they worship him. They lay down. They bow. They worship him. They offer him gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh that would have been gifts fit for a king.And the word offer is used primarily in a sacrificial way. This is what Matthew is trying to tell his audience. You, first century Jew, you might not see him. In your circumstances, you might not see God at work in your day to day life and your toils and your troubles dealing with the vines, the thorns and thistles of life. You might not see him. But in order to get there, read his word. You have it, just like the scribes, the priests.He's speaking to you directly. You have the source of wisdom and you can rejoice. He has spoken to you through his word in the person of Jesus Christ. There's assurance that God is with us, that God is guiding us, that he will always be with us, regardless of our circumstances. There's a knowledge that we have that separates us from non-believers. It's the source of our hope that we will persevere to the end of our journey as the magi I did.This knowledge, it's only given to us God. True faith that God loves one, is guiding one, is what drives us to true and sacrificial worship of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what gives us the ability to endure the hardship. Do you want to worship God? Do you want this assurance that is the Holy Spirit who is guiding you instead of the whims of the wisdom of the world? Do you see the cyclical nature of the wisdom of the world, the shallowness of it, the insufficiency of it?If this is your position, the apostle Paul instructs you look to the cross of Jesus Christ. For since in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. But those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.For the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men. It's at the cross that a holy God wisely retains perfect justice by shedding his wrath for man's sin on his own son, while also exhibiting infinite mercy and love to those who are saved by such an act. It's there that you'll find the nuanced, glorious wisdom that will satisfy your heart. It's there where you'll stop clinging to the shallow wisdom of the world.You'll lose the rigidity of mind that comes with it. It's where your sins will be forgiven. It's where you'll truly know God and yourself. Let bow in prayer. Lord, we praise you that we are not people who have just seek desperately for you. It is by your grace that you have called us your children. It's by your grace that you have revealed yourself to us while we are wandering; not just wandering, we're enemies against you. We did not desire a relationship with you, but you called us, you spoke to us, you showed us your holiness.You gave us a taste of your spirit. We know it's different than the wisdom of the world, the spirit of the world. And Lord, I pray, give us faith that we may trust you going forward. That your word is sufficient to guide us. That we don't have to look for the church to rise to earthly prominence. We don't have to rise to earthly prominence ourselves, but we can be made complete and whole in you. I pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
Jesus offers a parable to the disciples about being alert and prepared, reminding us that preparation is a part of our daily life...and reveals our wisdom when we put it into practice. August 31, 2018 - Cathedral of Christ the King - Superior, WI Fr. Andrew Ricci - www.studyprayserve.com
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