Sunday, December 16, 2012
The Gift 2 - The Story of Christmas
The Gift 2 - The Story of Christmas this message was given on 12-16-12
Sunday, December 9, 2012
The Gift - The Story of Christmas (notes)
The Gift - The
Story of Christmas
The Greatest Gift Was
Given To The World Around 2,000 Years Ago.
A gift is a thing given willingly to someone without
payment, a present, a Christmas gift. An act of giving something as a present.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only
Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.
The Gift
John 3:16 (NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His
only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life.
God
- Gave the very best of Heaven, part of Himself, His only begotten Son.
- Did not expect anything in return but because He is all knowing, He knew that the return would be the church, billions of people over the centuries will one day stand before the Lamb of God and give thanks to God for that great gift.
Who Ever Believes
- In Him, will not perish but have everlasting life. The result of the gift is eternal life. God sent His Son Jesus Christ because of His love.
- Lives because Jesus gave His life.
A Gift is given
without expectation of payment. As believers we all understand that salvation
is a gift, it is not earned but received by faith. It is by Grace, not of
works.
When I think of Christmas I think of the greatest gift ever
given to anyone, the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ the Savior.
Jesus came to give us abundant life as His gift of eternal
life.
The Word Life
is Zoe or life in the absolute sense. John 10:10 says that the thief steals,
kills and destroys but Jesus came to give us life and life in the absolute.
Life that is the very essence of Almighty God. This is what John 3:16 means.
When God Sent
Jesus it was out of His great heart of love and generosity that He
gave. We now have eternal life because of His great love. Eternal Life is the
free gift of God to anyone who receives it by faith.
When We Talk about a gift in the Bible the Word is charis or grace. The
gift of God is by Grace, it is not by working for it. We all know that when we
work we get paid. We get educated, we go into a field to get paid. But when we
come to God, we don’t need an education to get the payment God offers.
Eternal life is given by Grace not by works.
We Will Look At:
- What the Word of God says about the coming of the Savior into the world. We will look at the circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus. We will look at His parents, Joseph and Mary. We will look at what Heaven did when Jesus was born. We will look at the outcome of the coming of the Son of God into the World.
- How the life of God works in us daily as a result of Jesus coming into the World and into our hearts.
- The little town of Bethlehem. A town about 5 miles south of Jerusalem in the West Bank. A town today of about 14,000 people the native city of King David. It was known for its bread. Isn’t it ironic that the city where Jesus is born was known for its bread when Jesus said, I am the bread of life. John 6:35 If we come to Him we will never be hungry again.
The Gift of
Salvation is for everyone who receives it. There is no way to put a
price on salvation. Our eternal destiny was paid for by the blood of the Son of
God. This is why the blood of Jesus is God’s number one priority. There is
nothing more precious than the blood of Jesus. The Blood will never loose its
power, it reaches to the highest mountain and it flows to the lowest valley.
The blood was shed on Calvary that hill outside of Jerusalem.
Matt. 27:33
During This Season
Let’s:
- Concentrate on the greatest gift ever given to us. Salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ.
- Ask God to give us an opportunity to give this gift to someone who does not have Jesus. It could be at the mall, at Walmart, at Safeway, at the office, to our neighbor or a fellow worker or an employee or a friend. Let’s give this gift away.
The Gift - The Story of Christmas
The Gift - The Story of Christmas this message was given on 12-9-12
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Acts 22-23 - Trial of The Century (notes)
Acts 23 - Trial of
The Century
Paul
- Goes before the Sanhedrin and is cross examined.
- Acts as his own defense attorney.
- Talks about the fact that he lived his life with a clear conscience before God.
The high priest
Ananias has Paul hit in the mouth and Paul responds with God
will strike you, you white-washed wall! How dare you sit there judging me by
the Law and give orders for me to be struck, which is clearly contrary to the
Law?
Paul
- Realizes what he had just said.
- 4 Those who stood by said, do you mean to insult God’s High Priest? 5 But Paul said, my brothers, I did not know that he was the High Priest, for it is written: you shall not speak evil of the ruler of your people.
Paul Knew
- The Law because some believe that he was once a member of the supreme court of Israel.
- Legal tactics, so he knew how to work within the legal system at the time.
- Understood that by defending himself legally he had a better chance of making it to Rome.
Paul
- Also knew the differences between the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection nor in angels or spirits. The Pharisees did.
- Speaks out. I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees. It is for my hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial!
This Caused
tension between the Pharisees & Sadducees. The Pharisees spoke out.
9b We find nothing wrong with this man! Suppose some angel or spirit has
really spoken to him? 10 As
the tension mounted the colonel began to fear that Paul would be torn to pieces
between them. He therefore ordered his soldiers to come down and rescue him
from them and bring him back to the barracks.
Jesus
- Appeared to Paul and encouraged him. Take heart--for just as you have witnessed boldly for me in Jerusalem so you must give your witness to me in Rome. V. 11
- There was a group (Over 40 men) of radical Jews who made a vow & went on a hunger strike until they killed Paul.
- These men went before the chief priests & elders and told them tell the Colonel to bring Paul, that they want to examine his case more closely. They will ambush him on the way.
Paul had a nephew who found out about the plot and told Paul
about it. Paul told one of the centurions to take his nephew to the commander
(Colonel). He did and the Colonel told one of the centurions to get 200
soldiers, 70 horsemen and two hundred spearmen and take Paul to Felix the
governor. The colonel wrote a letter to
Felix.
The Contents of
The Letter
Claudius Lysias sends greeting to his excellency the
governor Felix. This man had been seized by the Jews and was on the point of
being murdered by them when I arrived with my troops and rescued him, since I
had discovered that he was a Roman citizen. Wishing to find out what the
accusation was that they were making against him, I had him brought down to
their Sanhedrin. There I discovered he was being accused over questions of
their laws, and that there was no charge against him which deserved either
death or imprisonment. Now, however, that I have received private information
of a plot against his life, I have sent him to you without delay. At the same
time I have notified his accusers that they must make their charges against him
in your presence.
The Soldiers took Paul, riding through the night and brought him to
Antipatis. The next day they returned to the barracks, leaving the horsemen to
guard Paul. Then they went to Caesarea after delivering the letter to the
governor, they handed Paul over to Felix. After the governor reads the letter
he questioned Paul and asked what province he was from. Paul told him that he
was from Cilicia. The governor told Paul that he would hear the case as soon as
the accusers got there. Then he had Paul kept in Herod’s palace.
What We Can Learn
From These Events In Paul’s Life:
- Paul knew God was in control.
- Paul knew his rights.
- Paul used his brain.
- Paul knew he had a destiny.
Acts 22-23 - Trial of The Century
Acts 22-23 - Trial of
The Century this message was given on 11-25-12
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