Luke 1:30-38; When the angel Gabriel came to young Mary in Nazareth, his owrds would literally change the course of her life. God’s favor upon her revealed that this teenage virgin would soon become the “Ima” or mother of God’s Son who would be named “Jesus”. This child would fulfil a host of messianic prophesies […]
Matthew 2:1-18; The first two individuals we investigated from the Scripture narrative who were greatly influenced by the coming of Jesus as Immanuel were Saul/Paul and John the Baptist. The third were a group of Gentile astronomers from near East who observed a special star over Judah in Israel and pointed to the prophesy of […]
Matthew 3:1-12; Last week we unpacked the teaching of Paul from Galatians 4 on the purpose of the coming of Jesus as Messiah, “when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law“. However the prophet Isaiah foretold the return […]
Galatians 4:4-7; In his letter to the Galatian church, the Apostle Paul outlines the foundational basis for Christians to celebrate Christmas. While elaborating upon the nature of being an heir under the Mosaic law, he notes that “God sent his Son” at the precise time in human history for the purpose of making believers into […]
Galatians 6:1-10; The final message in our Fruitfulness series focuses on Paul’s parting instruction to the Galatian church. Following his vivid comparison between ‘acts of the flesh’ and ‘fruits of the Spirit’, he concludes with several activities and behaviors that define a fruit bearing child of God.
Hebrews 12:4-11; Jesus made it very clear in the ‘Parable of the Ten Minas’ that He expected His servants to be trustworthy and productive until His return. The fate of the unfaithful servant challenges all Christians to be fruitful with the time and talents given by the Lord. But what about those who are not […]
Romans 12:3-8; Similar to message 3 in this series, we again consulted the instruction of the Apostle Paul in regards to defining Christian frut. Last week in Galatians 5, we unpacked the “Fruit of the Spirit”, which results from yielding to the indwelling Spirit of Christ to allow inner transformation. In Romans 12, Paul details […]
Galatians 5:16-26; Those who receive Jesus as Lord and Savior through the gift of faith and grace of God have two competing inner natures. The old sin nature that every human being inherited from Adam, and the “new man” that is empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul refers to behavior controlled by […]
John 15:5-8; After defining His relatioship to the Father and developing the metaphor of grape vines for His followers in v.1-4, Jesus continues by restating the vital necessity of remaining in Him. Christ promises to remain in those who remain in Him, so they can bear “much fruit”. However branches that apart from Christ are […]
John 15:1-4; During his “Upper Room Discourse” of John 13-16, Jesus instruceted His inner circle of disciples on many key truths to shape their upcoming future in active ministry. Christ transitions to an agricultural metaphor in John 15, self-identifying as “the true vine”, while His Father was “The gardener”. Followers of Jesus are the “branch” […]