Calvary Chapel River Oaks

In our last study we saw Jesus once again declare His lordship over the Sabbath which further enraged the scribes and Pharisees. From that point on they were out to get rid of Him. We also saw Jesus anointing His disciples and sending them out with power to preach, heal and cast out demons. As we talked about last week, this is a preparation of what the early church would look like. While the Spir...

In this message we will continue in the same place we left off last message, dealing with the Sabbath. We will also see Jesus now anointing the disciples to go in His power to preach, heal and cast out demons, and how He is accused of being demon possessed.

We will be looking at How Jesus addresses the Sabbath.

We will see Jesus challenged on different points regarding who He hangs out with, and fasting.

In this study we will see the crowds still coming around, and we will continue to see Jesus displaying His authority over all things.

We began our study in the gospel of Mark last week. We saw that Jesus displayed His authority not only in word, but in action. When He began to teach, the people were amazed at His teaching with authority not like the scribes who knew the law and could quote the law, but Jesus was fulfilling the very law that they were quoting. Matthew 5:17-18, 17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or th...

Well we finished 1 Peter last week and it was a powerful book of exhortation, encouragement and self-examination. So I expected to go right into 2 Peter as it would make sense to do so, but as I began that study, I just didn’t sense this is where we need to go. I believe the Holy Spirit is leading us to the Gospel of Mark. There are only two books we haven’t studied in the New Testament, which are...

We move from the shepherds and those who are mature in their faith, to the younger ones who are still growing in their faith. They are to come in submission to the elders or those who are spiritually mature so they too can mature in their own faith. Now when we talk about submission, we first look to the elders and make sure they are not lording over the younger ones, but submitting to God first,...

We have two groups of people and neither are at peace, because they are either living in a sense of self-reliance, or a place of being constantly bombarded with a wave of despair. We as believers say we have the answer that will address both groups but in all honesty, we have failed at getting this answer to the world. The church is fractured and compromised. We have been so focused on ourselves a...

This now leads us to the leadership of the church. We have the exhortation for the body, but in order for the body to move forward in this charge, the leadership has to lead. This is where we pick up in 1 Peter chapter 5.

He didn’t tell us that when you get your life together, I will come for you, He came knowing that we are broken and cannot fix ourselves. So when we come together to celebrate, it’s not just tradition, but it is a joyful time of remembrance, when God came down to us to give us the only gift that matters. The gift of life for all who would believe. If you don’t know Jesus, I encourage you this even...

We come to an interesting verse in 1 Peter 4:17-19 that causes us to look inward both personally and corporately regarding the church as the bride of Christ. Keeping this in context, Peter reminded us to be alert and diligent regarding our faith. Separating ourselves from those who try to bring us back into the ways of the old man and still be the light in the darkness. As the church we cannot be...

We will see what faith over fear looks like.

In some circles, suffering is all from Satan and you if you have enough faith, you can cast it off and if it doesn’t leave then it’s your fault for not having enough faith. In other circles, we are told that we can strategically avoid, change or eliminate suffering by manipulating things or people to become what you think they should be or how they should act to keep us comfortable. Picking up in...

We now pick up in verse 6, which stays on this very point of God’s judgment 1 Peter 4:6-7, 6 For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. 7 But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.

I want to talk about thanks giving not just the holiday that we celebrate, but rather the attitude of thanks giving, an ongoing mindset which can only come with a transformed mind and heart.

We will continue our study in 1 Peter chapter 4. This chapter repeats things we have covered already which is our conduct, specifically the contrast of the old man vs. the new.

In this study, we continue the message of suffering for our faith knowing that Jesus suffered for us.

We will continue study as we look at suffering as Christ suffered for us.

Unity with others can only come when we are first united in the Spirit with the mind of Christ. For many today, unity doesn’t first begin with submission, but rather on how we can get others to come along side us and what we are doing. The mind of Christ is always about others. But this is the second greatest commandment. We cannot just do this command unless we first seek the first, which is to L...

We will be finishing our study in the book of Malachi

We will be looking at the marriage relationship. It’s interesting that Peter inserts this message right in the middle of submitting to authority and engaging with others. At first glance this seems out of place, but in actuality, it makes sense when keeping things in context.

We will be looking at submitting to those in authority over us.

In this study we will be reminded that the book of Malachi is about the last prophet to speak for over 400 years. The next prophet to come on the scene is John the Baptist, who will prepare the way for Jesus’ coming.

We will look at Jesus being the chief cornerstone, is the foundation of everything.