Awake Us Now

When "Doubting Thomas" saw the risen Lord for himself, his skepticism changed to acknowledgement of Jesus as "My Lord and my God." Jesus responded by saying, "Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed." The Holy Spirit still brings faith to those who will hear, even in our skeptical generation. Today's message invites us to come meet Jesus...

Everything stands and falls on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the heart of the New Testament, and also the greatest message the world has ever heard. Christ is risen! Today's message explores cowardice, crucifixion, corroboration, confusion and finally courage that opens our eyes to be convinced! Christ is risen, and in Him is our hope for today and forever, for He IS The Living One!

We take a look at Matthew 6:13, a portion of The Lord's Prayer. "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."  However, we read in James 1:13 "When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;" So are these two verses contracting each other? Or are we misunderstanding something. So let's look at the original words use...

The way of the Messiah leads to the cross, and that is the measure of the love of God. But we discover that many (including Jesus' disciples) were clueless! This message takes a look at the events of Palm Sunday, and how Jesus had repeatedly predicted his crucifixion and His resurrection on the third day. However, "they were clueless." Let us not be clueless!

Today's question is an exploration of why people reject Jesus. What is it that causes people to doubt Him? Why do people turn their backs on what God is offering to everyone through Christ Jesus? Pastor Dodge examines these assumptions and counters them with the truth of the scriptures.

This teaching compares non-Christian writings of Tacitus, Josephus, Suetonius and Pliny from the first and second centuries to the New Testament writings. The evidence is clear and calls us to recognize we are sinners in need of a Savior, The Living One!

Pentecost, the gift of the Holy Spirit to believers, is all about the power of God -- the power to live a new life, the power to give glory to the Living God, the power of faith that transforms us and that beckons to others to come to God as well!

It is easy to get distracted by other things — some of them perhaps important things — but Jesus makes it clear to His followers that our primary task is make disciples. To that end, we are to be His witnesses, "even to the ends of the earth."

Today's class is a study of Ephesians 5:21-33. A group of verses that are controversial, often attacked and many times misunderstood. Ephesians 5:21-22 "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, [submit] yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord."  In the original Greek text the second [submit] word is not there. There is not a verb in this sentence and so in traditiona...

Obedience is not optional - it is command from Jesus Himself. But we are not saved because we obey; rather, we obey the Lord because He has saved us!

God has chosen you and me not simply to be religious, but to be disciples. We are to follow Jesus faithfully, grow in the knowledge and love of Him, and share with others the powerful things He has done so that they become disciples too!

Lord and God? A great moral teacher? A very good man? What claims did Jesus actually make about His identity?

Faith is essential ... but in what do place our faith? The scriptures make it clear that we are to place our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, the Savior of all the nations, and the Hope of all the earth!

Genesis 1:1 - "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Let's look at the words "God" and "created." in this verse in Hebrew the word used for God is a plural noun and created is a singular verb. What day did God create the world? It says God created everything in 6 days and He rested on the 7th day, the Sabbath, and that is Saturday. Which means the first day of creation was on Su...

From Genesis to Revelation, God's plan remains the same - to reach all nations and bring people back to Him. How close are we to seeing that happen? Why is belief in Jesus growing at such an astounding pace in much of the world, but not in Europe and North America?

The nation of Israel was reborn suddenly in 1948, and the Jewish people have returned to the Promised Land in great numbers after 1900 years of exile. What does show about God's faithfulness and promises? What does it mean to believers in the Messiah?

Wars, violence, persecution - Jesus warned these things would mark the time before His return. These things, He said, were like birth pains - increasing trial and suffering that herald a joyful ending. "When these things begin to take place," He said, "... lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." (Luke 21:28 )

Scripture repeatedly warns us against the dangers of simply going with what we want to hear - we usually end up listening not to God, but to deceivers who have no proper authority.

Scripture: David's Psalms. This is the final teaching in the "David…and the Heart of God" series. We will explore David's Psalms today. In 2 Samuel 23:1 we read that David is described as the sweet psalmist of Israel.  David's psalms have influence and spoke to the hearts of people for millennia.   C.S. Lewis said, "The most valuable thing the psalms do for me is to express that small delight in G...

Scripture: 1 Kings 2:1-4, 2 Samuel 7:16, Daniel 2:44, Daniel 7:13-14, Daniel 9:26, Acts 2:29-32.  We will take a look at David's legacy.  1 Kings 2:1-4, "When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son, "I am about to go the way of all the earth," he said. "So be strong, act like a man, and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep hi...

Scripture: 2 Samuel 13-19. Father Wounds - are wounds brought into our lives through family members. Deep wounds with lasting consequences.  Father's wounds - are wounds to parents by their children. It is grieving because their children turned their backs on the things they were taught from the time they were little.  Both are deep and painful wounds. How to deal with the pain and how to go beyon...

Scripture: 2 Samuel 11-12, 1 Corinthians 10:12, Psalm 51, Matthew 21:9. This message deals with the difficult topic of moral collapse, specifically in David's life. Painful as it is, it can teach us much about the importance of walking faithfully before the Lord and resisting temptation. David fell into temptation after seeing Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam (a trusted soldier) and the wife of Ur...

Scripture:  2 Samuel 6, Psalm 30:4-5, Hebrews 9:5, Romans 3:25. Today's story of David is one that is an oft time ignored account from David's life, but we will see ways it dramatically impacts and applies to our lives. We open with 2 Samuel 6:2 "David and all his men went to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is e...

Scripture:  2 Samuel 5, Ephesians 2:14, 16, Luke 21:24, Revelation 21:1-2. Why is Jerusalem important not only to the Jewish people, but to Christian people? Let's see what we will discover in today's study of 2 Samuel 5. King Saul has died and civil war has broken out in Israel. David is the reigning King of Judea but the Israelites in the northern kingdom are at war amongst each other and realiz...

Scripture: 1 Samuel 27:1-7, 1 Samuel 30 1-6, Psalm 23. This teaching dives into Psalm 23, a Psalm written by David, and the evidence we see in his life of the heart of God. We will see insights into David's faith that will provide incredible encouragement to our faith lives as well. Have you ever been in a situation where everything seemed hopeless? Or have you ever come to a point where you feel...