Knowledge and Supremacy of Christ
Knowledge and Supremacy of Christ Ephesians 1:15-23 • We are going to explain each of these verses this morning. But there are two things that are overarching the context of what we just read: Knowledge and the supremacy of Christ. These are the two things that will be our primary focus in this text. But first I want to point out that in Ephesians the term in Christ is used so many times. Around 30 times in this book we…
The Blessings of God
The Blessings of God Here at Celebration Church, we walk through books of the Bible. We have always taken passages we find difficult and worked through them. This morning, we come to a passage that some of you find delightful, others find distasteful. Some of you may feel both. It is a passage that speaks of God’s predestination in salvation. I have seen these verses grow Christians and churches into a wonderful maturity. I have also seen it split, divide…
The Book of Ephesians Introduction
Ephesians 1:1-2 Founded by Paul, who spent 2 years there preaching and teaching The first 3 chapters of the book are explaining theological truths, namely our position in Christ In chapter 1 we read that Christ chose us before the foundation of the world, purchased us by His blood, and has absolute and complete dominion over all creation. In Chapter 2 we read about our personal state before Christ, dead in our trespasses and sins, enemies of God, and without…
You Are Not Enough
The final chapter of historical narrative in the old testament. After this will come 400 years of silence. Nothing else makes it into the book. Were the Bible written by the same people who write the popular fairy tales in our day, chapter 12 would have simply concluded by saying, “and they lived happily ever after…” But that is not what we see. We see monumental failure, it all comes crashing down. Nehemiah 13:1-31 Our hopes were really high as…
Dedicated to the Lord
Rise and Rebuild – Personal Relationship with God, Family, City, Church, Nation Dedicate it to the lord, sometimes we lose sight of who it is for. “Look what I have done, Look what I have created, look how great it is! Look how great I am. Nehemiah – A city for me. A testament to my greatness” Nehemiah 12:1-47 Context/Story The Israelites are under the rule of Artaxerxes, king of Persia. He Ruled over 2 million square miles. This was…
Finishing the Build
Nehemiah 11:1-36 The Difficulty of Finishing the Job Difficulty of Serving at this Time Proverbs 16:33 The Sacrifice of Serving Matthew 16:24 Luke 14:26-33 Malachi 3:13-14 Exodus 4:13 Jeremiah 20:7-9 The Difficulty of Serving the Lord Today 1 Corinthian 15:58
Our Purpose In Life
Exodus 19:1-8 I. What God Has Done What He did to the Egyptians How He bore them on eagle’s wings Where He brought them, namely to Himself II. What God Requires 1 John 4:19 Ephesians 2:8-10 III. What God Promises A Personal Possession A Royal priesthood A Holy Nation 1 Peter 2:9-12 IV. How we respond to God
The Enduring Covenant of God
The Enduring Covenant of God Nehemiah 10:1-39 The Covenant The Bible is full of covenant language. Covenants were given to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus Christ. What is a covenant? A covenant establishes the basis of a relationship, conditions for that relationship, promises and conditions of the relationship, and consequences if those conditions were unmet. While a contract is legally binding, a covenant is a spiritual agreement. Example of Covenant – Moses Exodus 19: 5-6 – Now therefore,…
He Is Not Here, He Is Risen
Mark 16:1-8 Did Jesus Rise? 5 Facts The resurrection was prophesied: Isaiah 53:8-11 The disciples went from cowards to courageous Jesus converted His enemies Jesus’ family worshipped Him as God Jesus appeared to over 500 people over 40 days How did Jesus Rise? He was not ordinary. He is the most famous person in history. 3 things Jesus said that no other person said: He said He was God He alone could forgive sin He said that He…
Corporate Prayer
Corporate Prayer Prayers of Exaltation (Vs 1-5) Nehemiah 9:1-5 Explain Quarter of the day = Scripture reading Quarter of the day = confession and worship Written prayer for Who God is A couple of moments to write out specific praises for who He is. Don’t get distracted! (Cellphone, looking around, don’t try to cheat off other people’s pages) Try not to dig into what he has done yet. But let’s just write out the different names or attributes of God. …
The Preeminence of the Word of God
The Preeminence of the Word of God Nehemiah 8:1-18 The first day of the 7th month – This is happening about a week after The walls had been finished, and they had finally gotten their city secure. So what do they do? They gather together for church. You see, as soon as they understood how significant and important corporate worship is, they made it their first, and highest priority. The Book of The Law They opened the book in…
Looking To The Future
Looking To The Future Nehemiah 7:1-73 The city walls were broken, the culture was broken, the government was broken, the temple was broken, It had been 141 years, nothing changed. And then all of a sudden God put his hand on one guy named Nehemiah, and gave him the call to go rebuild the city walls. An impossible task. But because God was in it, it got done. And it got done in 52 short days, they did what could…