The Central Moment

Our last stop for The Central Moment in Israel is at the recently excavated synagogue at Magdala, on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. In Jesus' ministry here, he would have encountered Mary Magdalene and changed the course of her life. Seeing this unearthed synagogue in person symbolizes the ongoing reality of Jesus... his life, his ministry, his death and resurrection, and his desi...

The Central Moment comes to you today from the headwaters of the Jordan River at Tel Dan, where we are reminded that in the depths of our despair, there's something even deeper: the Spirit of God that flows up from the ground as a river of life.

Join Dr. Jim Bradford today atop Mt. Carmel in Israel, where Elijah drew a line in the sand by calling fire down from Heaven in the face of the prophets of Baal. You may be battling doubt, but God sometimes calls us to draw a line in the sand and decide to trust Him and see what He can do!

The Central Moment continues at Caesarea by the Sea in Israel. Paul's time in Caesarea before his departure for Rome was marked by his influence of Governor Felix, taking opportunities to talk with him about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come. Those may not be the most popular subjects, but they are subjects that require Jesus. In the middle of such Pagan surroundings, Paul...

Let's remember that in the times we feel we've been put on a shelf and can't understand why our circumstances are holding us back... God's timing is not our timing. Our best move is to continue trusting in Him and His promises.

Jesus at the center of it all! He is the center of his church, preached among the nations and coming again! All of life finds its reference point and meaning relative to him.

In a ‘love me but don’t judge me’ culture many resent the idea that God would judge. But the real question is ‘Why would he have mercy on any of us?’ Let’s never lose the wonder of God’s grace to us.

We tend to measure everything -- dimensions, sizes, weights, time, distances. But there are some things that cannot be measured, that ‘immeasurable’ world that Jesus invites us into.

Here is a verse to carry with you--in spite of your circumstances and no matter how you feel! It keeps us thinking theologically about our lives, not emotionally.

Sometimes praise just breaks out! It certainly happened as the Apostle Paul was writing -- especially when God’s big picture unfolded!

The cycle of Peter's life is a story with dramatic events and consequences, and it ultimately leads to the message of the gospel being open to every nation, tribe, and tongue.

Like Peter we've all had our failures and shortcomings, but when someone needed to step forward with God's anointing and lead, Peter did. In that moment, we see the call of God on his life bring him to prominent, dramatic leadership.

After covering his dramatic personality, and his dramatic failures, we finally get to talk about Peter's dramatic restoration. The amazing grace of God that restored Peter is still—and always—available to us.

Peter's dramatic personality was accompanied by dramatic fears. He learned the hard way that when we take our eyes off of Jesus when times seem difficult, our fear will sink us every time!

Of all the dramatic personalities in the Bible, Peter may be at the top of the list. He would probably find a very successful place in the modern television landscape as a conflicted protagonist. This week Pastor Don Tucker considers Peter’s role in scripture, specifically the events of Holy Week, and how we may find some similarities in our own lives.

Many have tried to make Jesus into a social reformer, a social justice advocate, a liberation theologian, and even a political revolutionary. But Jesus shattered all of those limiting categories when he proclaimed, “The Kingdom of God has come near.”

In the words of Bishop Charles Blake, may the Lord give you a net-breaking, boat sinking miracle today! And may it happen in the very places where our own efforts have failed!

“Receive the Holy Spirit.” Those were the words of Jesus to his disciples as he breathed resurrection life into them on the evening that he rose again. It was not yet the day of Pentecost, so what was happening to them?

Have you ever experienced something too good to be true? For Jesus’ disciples on the first evening of his resurrection, that moment would only be the beginning.

“Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” There is a resonance and a fire to Biblical truth. God’s Spirit and God’s Word always work together!

“Turn the lights off when you are done.” Have you ever been told that? That’s what God did on Good Friday. He turned the lights out as Jesus finished on the Cross all that was needed for our forgiveness and transformation.

The events of Palm Sunday were no coincidence. They were prophesied 500 years earlier by Zechariah. They also set the course to the cross for Christ a few days later. So who will praise him? Who will follow him? Who will be changed by him?

When Jesus pays attention to the most hated man in town, it’s time to sit up and take notice! Zaccheaeus may have been short, but he stands tall when it comes to what will always be the mission of Jesus!

The remarkable feature of Christ’s Kingdom is that no one is disqualified from his healing touch. There are no cultural, racial, gender, or economic barriers that Christ cannot reach past. That is the miracle of grace!

The exclusiveness of the Christian claims are not popularly accepted. After all, aren’t there many ways to God? And yet the greatest moral teacher in history answered “no.” That is because he is more than a teacher.  He’s a Savior, addressing the issues of eternal life in a way no other religion does.