Easter: Three Themes - New Life, Sacrifice, Paradise

What Can Give You Hope?

What are you hoping for? A change in your circumstances? Healing for someone you love? A brighter future? We all place our hope in something—but what if true hope reaches beyond this life? This week, Julie Coleman takes us into 1 Corinthians 15, where Paul reveals the foundation of Christian hope and why the resurrection is essential to the gospel itself. Listen and discover the hope that changes everything.

Psalm 139 - Finding Peace

The bible is the best book on psychology. Whenever you feel overwhelmed by the weight of life you can dig into the book of Psalms.  This week we will settle into Psalm 139 to learn how David moved himself from feeling overwhelmed, to finding peace in the knowledge that God knows us, is interested in us, loves us, and protects us.

Pentecost – The Big Reveal

The day of Pentecost inaugurated the birth of the church, in fulfillment of the fourth spring festival:  Fulfilled Spring Feasts (Christ's First Coming) Passover (Pesach): Fulfilled by Jesus's death as the sacrificial Lamb of God, redeeming believers from sin. Unleavened Bread (Hag HaMatzah): Fulfilled by Jesus's sinless life and burial, as he is the bread without leaven (sin). First Fruits (Yom HaBikkurim): Fulfilled by Jesus's resurrection on the third day, signifying him as the "firstfruits" of those who rise from the dead. Pentecost (Shavuot): Fulfilled by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church, occurring 50 days after the resurrection.  The Jewish festival remembers God giving Moses the Law (words of God writ by God).  The second Pentecost commemorates God giving the church the Word, the living Torah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Unfulfilled Fall Feasts (Future Prophetic Events)  Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah): Interpreted as pointing to the resurrection of believers, but in partial fulfillment points to every born again believer. Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur): Interpreted as pointing to the final judgment, but in partial fulfillment points to the ascended Jesus presenting Himself to the Father as both high priest and holy sacrifice. Feast of Tabernacles (Succoth): Interpreted as representing God dwelling with humanity in the age to come (Revelation 22), but in partial fulfillment points to the indwelling Holy Spirit. On this day, God reversed the Tower of Babel, so that rather than being divided by many languages, humankind would now be united. But there is another aspect of Pentecost that involves the Day of Christ's Ascension, which gets to the heart of the magnificent - and massive - mystery Paul talked so often about. This week is the Big Reveal!

The King and His Kingdom: Matthew 12:22-37 The Unpardonable Sin?

Have you ever worried you have sinned so much that God is not going to forgive it?  Our section this week in Matthew 12 records Jesus as saying, “And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven,” suggesting there may be things beyond the reach of forgiveness.  There was a period—in the late 2000s through early 2010s—when some people uploaded YouTube videos claiming they were “blaspheming the Holy Spirit” or committing the “unpardonable sin” on camera. The videos varied, but they often involved deliberately saying phrases they believed would qualify as the sin mentioned by Jesus. Did they commit an unpardonable sin? Listen as we examine Jesus’ escalating conflict with the Pharisees in context. We will also look at biblical examples of serious sin that God deals with dramatically. Steve Coleman

The King and His Kingdom: Matthew 12:1-8 Jesus Schools Everyone About the Sabbath

Joanne says, "According to the Mishnah, Sabbath desecration was one of the most grossly wicked crimes a person could commit, and the penalty was stoning to death. By accusing Jesus’ disciples of transgressing the Sabbath laws, the Pharisees were implicating Jesus as well – that He was also sinning by allowing them and not stopping them. What today might seem like a small matter, was actually a matter of life and death. But it was even more serious than that. Because if Jesus was viewed as a sinner, then he could not be seen as the Messiah. Let's listen to find out how Jesus schooled the school masters.