Luke 12:49-53; Isaiah 9 powerfully describes the spectacular reign of Messiah on earth, including the identifier “Prince of Peace”. Yet Jesus surprises His inner circle of followers with the answer to His rhetorical question, “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? by asserting, “No, I tell you, but division”. Why was the […]
Romans 8:18-25; Faithful 1st century Jews longed and prayed for the coming of Messiah to deliver them from the oppression of Rome. In God’s perfect timing (Galatians 4:4), Jesus came as the Incarnate Son to bring spiritual deliverance instead. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome about enduring faith related difficulties with a […]
Luke 8:22-25; A unique Thanksgiving message as a challenging year with many difficulties draws to a close. Is there anything in 2020 to thank the Lord for?
Leviticus 26:1-13; Following the pattern of ancient Near East vassal treaties, Yahweh affirms His relationship Covenant with Israel with conditional behavior clauses. If the people obey the LORD’s commands and follow all His decrees, they will be greatly blessed with abundant food, safety and the continual presence of their God.
Hebrews 12:4-14; Our next bridge sermon from the OT roots of Leviticus continues the mandate for personal Holiness. The author of Hebrews carries forward the powerful necessity of believers living rightly in a crooked world by expanding on the reality of godly discipline.
Leviticus 24:10-23; The second narrative passage among the deep instruction from Yahweh to Israel on holy living in the presence of their God. A young man who was half-Egyptian got caught up in a conflict with an Israelite and cursed him. This was a test case for blasphemy against “the NAME” of the LORD and […]
Leviticus 19:1-37; Yahweh instructs the assembly of Israel through Moses on the primary issue of holiness. He reviews and expands upon the Ten Commandments, with a special emphasis on the theme of “love your neighbor as yourself”. The origin of morality comes from the Lord and is a mandate for those who follow Him.
Leviticus 10:1-11; Following detailed instructions on the variety of offerings to Yahweh in chpt. 2-7, Aaron and his two oldest sons are ordained as priests and begin their service to the LORD in the Tabernacle in chpt.8-9. Abruptly the narrative informs that Nadab and Abihu offer “unauthorized fire” before Yahweh in the sanctuary and are […]
Hebrews 3:7-19; Our next bridge message from OT foundations to NT fulfillment in Christ. The author of Hebrews elaborates on the faithfulness of Christ by citing the warning of Psalm 95:7-11 as a stark contrast to the faithless behavior of the Exodus generation that perished in the wilderness.
Acts 2:36-38; A brief tour through foundational New Testament teachings on the topic of Believer’s Baptist. First modeled by Jesus Christ in Matthew 3, we trace the instruction of our Lord in Matthew 28 and the application of baptism by immersion through the NT…..culminating with Peter’s sermon and appeal in Acts 2 at Pentecost.