Awake Us Now

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...

Salvation in Jesus Christ is free - but there is a cost to discipleship. Jesus said, "If anyone desires to follow me, let that person take up his or her cross and follow me daily." Daniel and his companions remind us the the cost can be huge, but the reward is far greater!

Matthew 16:24-17:22. Topics: Discipleship is more than having head knowledge, it is complete surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ and living for Him. Jesus continues to reveal who He is. Jesus' transfiguration and the words from heaven, out of the cloud from God the Father says, "This is my Son...Listen to Him!" These are words for us today, too!

This week's text is Matthew 16:1-23. Topics: A growing opposition against Jesus and who He says He is; Peter's confession; a discerning teaching on who/what the "Rock" is on which Christ will build the church; an insightful look at the "gates of Hades;" and Jesus shares predictions of what is to come.

This week's text is Matthew 14:34-15:39. Topics: Jesus heals both Jews and Gentiles; an examination of some of the traditions in light of what God's Word says; the feeding of the 4,000, and how this event differs from the feeding of the 5,000 that took place earlier.

What happens before the resurrection?   What happens to believers who die before Jesus comes back.   The Apostle Paul is Rome ca 61 A.D. He is in jail awaiting trial and he writes the following to the Philippians: "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.   If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!   I am torn between...

This week's text is Matthew 14:4-33. A fascinating look at 24 hours in the life of Jesus and His disciples: John the Baptist beheaded, the feeding of the 5,000, and Jesus walks on water.

This week's text is Matthew 13:40 - 14:7. Pastor explores several more parables of Jesus; there will be a judgement and evil will be destroyed, only things of God will remain; the narrative of the entire Bible holds together from beginning to end, the Old and New Covenants, ending with the story of Herod, Herodias and John the Baptist.

In today's message, we see that it was God who gave Daniel the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream -- a dream sent to show that God alone knows the future and that though empires crumble, God's Kingdom will be established forever over the entire earth!

This week's text is Matthew 13:10-39. Jesus' parables on the Kingdom of Heaven - a sower spreading seed, a wheat field with toxic weeds mixed in, a sprouting mustard seed, yeast in bread dough; Jesus explains the parables to the disciples but not to the crowd; His parables conceal truth from those unready or unwilling to receive it, but reveal the Kingdom of Heaven to those who truly hear and unde...

This week's text is Matthew 12:32 - 13:11. Pastor talks about the "unforgivable sin," Jesus' "three days" in the grave, and also takes us into chapter 13 where Matthew begins to focus on the parables of Jesus.

This week's text is Matthew 12:3-37. Jesus continues to be challenged by the Pharisees' anger, bitterness and scheming as Jesus continues to show who He is. He shows us how a heart-change is needed!

Pastor takes us through an exploration of one of the earliest Christian statements of faith.   1 Corinthians 15:3-5 Paul said, "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: 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, and then to the Twelve."   Of F...

This week's text is Matthew 11:13-12:4, with a continued study of John the Baptist as fulfilling the prophecy of "Elijah who was to come" as he points to Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophesied Savior. The class continues exploring Jesus' identity through the teachings on repentance and forgiveness found in Jesus, as we learn that it is through Him alone that we can come to know the Father.