Awake Us Now

The story in chapter 3 continues in chapter 4.     Pastor reminds us of the story from last week and the miraculous healing of the lame man. After the healing the people, the healed man and Peter and John, they all gathered in Solomon's Colonnade - an area inside the Temple walls.   Chapter 4 As Peter and John were talking to the multitude teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus' name the res...

For some people, politics becomes their god. But Daniel, promoted to the highest office in the land, continued to serve the Living God and trusted in Him for deliverance from jealous enemies.

Solomon: Builder     ⁃    Temple construction - 1 Kings 6 (took 7 years to build)     ⁃    Temple dedication - 1 Kings 8     ⁃    God appears to Solomon - 1 Kings 9     ⁃    Solomon's palace - 1 Kings 7 (took 13 years to build) Pastor shares archeological discoveries around Solomon in recent years including a massive stone wall and gate and more. Solomon: Reputation     ⁃    Fleet at Ezion Geber -...

Scripture:  1 Kings 3:1, 1 Kings 3:4ff, 1 Kings 3:16ff, 1 Kings 6, 1 Kings 8, 2 Chronicles 5-7, 2 Chronicles 3:1, Genesis 22, 1 Kings 9, 2 Chronicles 7:14, 1 Kings 9:4-5 This study helps us dig deeper into Solomon: Wise Leader     ⁃    Pharaoh's Daughter - 1 Kings 3:1 - Solomon secures a peace treaty with Egypt and a strategic marriage to one of the Pharaoh's daughter's.     ⁃    Sacrifices at Gib...

Scripture: 1 Kings 1-11, 1 Chronicles 28-29, 2 Chronicles 1-9, 2 Samuel12:24-25, 1 kings 1, 1 Kings 2:2-3, 1 Kings 2:13ff. This study will take us on an adventure through a period of approximately 400 years, a highly significant time when God was moving in a mighty way among His people, Israel. It will cover from around 970 BC when Solomon took the throne until 586 BC when Solomon's Temple was des...

Pastor digs deeper into the question "where was the temple gate that was called the 'Beautiful Gate' located?"   In Acts 3:1-2 we see that there was a lame man begging for alms at the Beautiful Gate. Pastor opens with stating that we are not sure exactly where it was located, but that there are several theories on its location.   Several locations have been proposed:   One of the earliest proposed...

This teaching is from Matthew 24:36-25:30. We pick up today's class with Jesus and His teaching on His Second Coming.  In these opening passages of today's text we hear Jesus' encouragement to not let the day of his final appearing catch us unaware. We can't know the day or the hour of His return but, we CAN know Him!  We can't know the time of his return but we CAN know the importance of living b...

This teaching is from Matthew 24:29-39 We continue our study of Jesus' Mount Olivet Discourse with the verses in Matthew 24: 29-30 with the return of Jesus "coming on the clouds"* in power and glory. Coming on the clouds is referenced in Revelation 1:7 "Look, he is coming with the clouds," and "every eye will see him…"  (There will be no doubt when Jesus returns!!) Coming on the clouds is also ref...

Acts Chapter 3: T he Setting - Acts 3:1-5. The chapter takes place in the late afternoon at 3 pm, the time of the evening sacrifice. Peter and John are headed to the temple for prayer and worship and on the way they see a lame man who has been lame since birth collecting alms at the Beautiful gate. He asks Peter and John for money and Peter and John respond. What we learn from this setting is that...

Belshazzar celebrated his reign in pride and mockery of God... and lost everything. But to those who approach God in humility, repentance, and belief, God offers everything worth having: forgiveness and eternal life!

This teaching is from Matthew 24:6-28. Today's class continues with Jesus' discussion with His disciples on the last days. In verse 6 He tells of wars and rumors of wars with the encouragement to not be alarmed, to not live in fear, because even in the most uncertain of times believers know that God is in control.  Jesus goes on to mention famines and earthquakes with nation against nation and cal...

This teaching is from Matthew 23:29 - 24:8. Pastor Dodge finishes up looking at the seven woes today with an exploration of the 7th. Jesus continues in this 7th woe to convict the teachers and phrases of being hypocrites. Jesus speaks this woe about acting like they were so much better than previous generations in their treatment of prophets. However Jesus tells them they are not different and tha...

This teaching is from Matthew 22:41 - Matthew 23:1-12 In today's study of Matthew we continue looking at the last week of Jesus' life before His arrest, crucifixion, death and resurrection.  The religious leaders are continuing their pursuit of trapping Jesus into saying something that they could then bring charges against Him for and get rid of Him. Jesus asks the religious leaders this question:...

Pastor digs deeper into being "Devoted."   Acts 2:42 "They DEVOTED themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."   They understood that the message of Jesus and the biblical faith is not an "add on" in our lives. It is the heart and center of our lives and influences how we look at God, others and the world.   God broke in, in person, in the P...

This teaching is from Matthew 22:1-40 and continues our exploration into Jesus' final week of his ministry before his death and resurrection. While there is rising anger against Him Jesus' heart is to continue to work to call those against Him to the truth of the Scriptures and to God.  Jesus makes it clear that it is possible to be incredibly religious and yet have no real genuine relationship wi...

This teaching is from Matthew 21:23-46 and continues our dive into Jesus' final week of his ministry before his death and resurrection. The religious leaders are doing all they can to get Jesus to say something so that they can bring Him up on charges and get rid of Him. And there is a debate between Jesus and those leaders in the first verses of our study today. As the leaders (priests and elders...

The book of Acts has so much to say not only about our past but also about today and how followers of Jesus are called to live.   This book also speaks to those who don't yet know Jesus as Savior, those on the fence, seekers, doubters and those questioning or interested.   Chapter 2 Acts 2:1-2 "When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.   Suddenly a soundalike the blowing...

King Nebuchadnezzar gave powerful testimony to the One God, but only after God first leveled his pride and then restored him to the kingship. Like Nebuchadnezzar, we in the 21st Century are often blind to our own sins of pride, lack of mercy, and moral failure. What will it take to make us see them as God sees them?

This teaching is from Matthew 21:10-23 and continues a study of Holy Week - Jesus' final week before His resurrection. In today's story, people recognized Jesus as a prophet, but He was much more than a prophet! Over the next few weeks we will be exploring: The heart of the Gospel as the heart of God's message of salvation, and that message is at the heart of who Jesus is. Let's dig into what that...

Matthew 20:17-34, Matthew 21:1-11, Exodus 12:3, Isaiah 62:11, Zechariah 9:9, and Psalm 118:25-26. Jesus lets us know that He is the fulfillment of all the Hebrew Scripture had predicted and all that the Father had dictated. Until we receive Jesus as Lord, this is only head knowledge.  The disciples had heard Him speak what was coming multiple times, but they just did not grasp what Jesus was sayin...

This teaching is from Matthew 19:13-30 and Matthew 20:1-16. This teaching starts with a focus on children. The disciples didn't like that people were bringing little children to Jesus, these children were babies, infants, toddlers, and the disciples were thinking Jesus is trying to talk to the adults and they're bringing kids to him, taking time away from Jesus speaking, that they were noisy and d...

Pastor digs deeper into "Who was Theophilus?" He is mentioned 2 times in the New Testament: Luke 1:3-4 "With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught." Theophilus evidently had come to know Jesus. "Most ex...

This teaching is from Matthew 18:21-35, the Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor, and Matthew 19:1-12 on the topic of Divorce. Peter asks Jesus if he should forgive someone seven times. Jesus responds with seventy seven times. The meaning of Jesus saying seventy seven times is that forgiveness in the face of genuine repentance does not keep track of numbers and Jesus is calling us to forgive as we ha...

Matthew 17:22-18:20. Topics: children of the Living God; kingdom of the Living God; the miracle of the four drachma coin; greatness is based on humility; childlike vs childish; total dependency on God; spiritual growth and maturity; binding and loosing - by speaking that when one comes to faith he/she is forgiven and saved vs. those deciding against God, that it is a decision with eternal conseque...

Acts is a book filled with dramatic events, amazing characters and has great application for the Christian life. It is a powerful book showing the acts of God through the Holy Spirit and how He acts in the lives of those He calls!   This study will take us through the book of Acts one chapter at a time with a specific look at Then - things that really happened.   It's not a storybook but a history...