Ancient Cliff Notes
Read more#2 Busyness
series: Thawing
title: Busyness
date: January 15, 2017
teacher: Jacob Bender
scriptures: Mark 4:2-20, Psalm 46:10 (mentioned), John 14:26 (mentioned), Jeremiah 31:33, Hebrews 10:16 (mentioned), 1 Timothy 5:8, Proverbs 11:29, Matthew 27:50-51, Matthew 11:30
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#4 Disappointment
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is not this the fast I choose?
title: Is not this the fast I choose?
teacher: Jacob Bender
date: September 11, 2016
scriptures: Isaiah 58:1-12, Hebrew 4:15-16, Matthew 25, Jeremiah 29,
This message was given on the 15 year anniversary of September 11.
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We often overlook the fact that sandwiched between the two most informative passages we get on "the gifts of the Spirit" is the most far reaching, famous passage about love in the entire Bible. This is intentional.
Pastor Kevin, lead pastor of Mount Hope Church in Lansing, MI, gives a powerful message about faith.
Compassion sees the world through the eyes of others, and it is stirred to action by what it sees. It can not sit by while injustice is done around it.
The world is watching how the church will continue to respond to the issue of racism that is so evident in our world today.
#18 Two Trees
series: Red Letter City
title: Two Trees
date: August 14, 2016
teacher: Jacob Bender
scriptures: Matthew 7:15-23, Jeremiah 17:5-8, Jeremiah 22:16, Matthew 23:13, Joh 14:6
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#10 Giving
series: Red Letter City
title: Giving
teacher: Jacob Bender
date: June 19, 2016
scriptures: Matthew 6:1-4, John 5:44, Matthew 23, Romans 2:16, 1 Samuel 16:7, Isaiah 57:15, Jeremiah 22:16, Philippians 3:10, 1 John 4:6-7,
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#4 Grace in Exile
series: The narrative of Grace
title: Grace in Exile
teacher: Jacob Bender
date: December 6, 2015
scriptures: Matthew 1, Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 41:41, Jeremiah 29:11, Jeremiah 29:4-6, Leviticus 25:3-4, 2 Chronicles 36:18-21, Jeremiah 29:7, 1 Corinthians 9:22, Jeremiah 29:8-10, Jeremiah 29:11-14
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
This is one of the most quoted verses in the entire bible. Everybody makes this verse their own.
They speak it over their life every time things get hard and suddenly the certain things begin to feel uncertain. They speak it over their friends every time someone feels like they are in a rut, or not where they should be, or not understanding why things are they way that they are in their life. So they say “I know the plans that I have for you…”
“maybe you don’t understand your circumstances, but God has a plan, and its good.”
That is the idea. And it is true. You should speak Jeremiah 29:11 over your life, but you should speak Jeremiah 29:4-10 over your life too. And you should speak Jeremiah 29:12-14 over your life too.
Because one verse sandwiched in the middle of an amazing set of scriptures says something incredible, but everything that it is nestled between is your guide for how you get verse 11. It is how you actually see that hope and that future that God has laid out for you.
It is your guide for how you, as a citizen of Detroit but ultimately as a citizen of the city of God, can claim your inheritance as an heir of the King.
But it may be different than you think.
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Pastor Chilly Chilton, the founding Pastor of Courage Church, joined us for one last sermon before he leaves to go and plant Revolution Youth Ministry in Burlington, VT.
#3 idols and adultery
series: Realities
title: idols & adultery
teacher: Jacob Bender
date: September 27, 2015
scriptures: Exodus 20, Judges 2:1-5, Psalm 37:4, Judges 2:11-13, Jeremiah 5:7, Jeremiah 3:8, Exodus 32, Exodus 34, John 8:1-11, Isaiah 45:2, 2 Corinthians 5:17
Exodus 34:14 says this: “(For you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),”
Now, when the Ten Commandments were given the first time, the second command said this same thing… I am a jealous God. But the second time it is given, it actually says “the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”
That seemed like grounds for digging a little deeper.
The word Jealous, is a peculiar name for God. It is the Hebrew word qanna’ (can-ah), it is a word that only speaks of God and is not used in human terms, and it means that “God doesn’t bear any rivals” another translation puts the verse this way: “For you must worship no other gods, but only Jehovah, for he is a God who claims absolute loyalty and exclusive devotion.” (The Living Bible)
Its like in a marriage. If my wife says, “Hey, I am going out with Steve today.” Heck no, you aren’t going out with Steve today. Who is Steve? It doesn’t even matter. You aren’t going to be spending time with other dudes. She could say to me, “we are just friends, and you hate going shopping and Steve is cool with it.”
Now, She would never do that, but that would be the automatic response from me if it ever came up. I wouldn’t even need a moment to think about it. The answer is no. I am jealous for her… but it is not because of this Steve guy, or anybody else. It is all because of Dawn.
I am jealous for her, no matter what she is doing. Because I do not bear competitions. I do not bear rivals. I already won this one, and nobody else even has a chance.
It is obvious that most people would never deal with a marriage to a spouse who was constantly unfaithful, yet that is exactly what God continuously went through over and over and over again with the Hebrew people.
The word adultery, in Hebrew as it is used in Exodus 20:14 is the word na’aph (nah apth) and it means “to break wedlock.” or the obvious translation is what it is translated as, simply, “to commit adultery.”
But what is fascinating is that it is the same Hebrew word used in Jeremiah 3:8 and Jeremiah 5:7 when it says that Israel “committed adultery” against God by their idol worship.
And I also thought that this was interesting:
Most people (who have put any thought into it) assume that the English word adultery comes from the word adult. Like, “maybe this is a bad thing, but we are adults, so if it is consensual…”
But it actually comes from the Latin word adulterare, which means “to alter, or corrupt.”
This is not an “adult” thing to do, in fact it is incredibly immature. You are altering the design that God created… You are corrupting what was supposed to be. You are corrupting what God created it to be.
Adultery is an incredibly hard top to talk about. Its a hard topic to study, or to even convince yourself that you need to study it, but God put it in the Ten Commandments for a reason… because this hits home, in one way or another, for just about everyone. And God himself is not excluded from that.
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#1 ... you will know them by their fruits
Series: The Fruit of the Spirit
Title: … and you will know them by their fruits
Teacher: Jacob Bender
Date: July 5, 2015
Key Scriptures: Jeremiah 17:5-8, Matthew 7:17-18, Ezekiel 16:49, Jeremiah 22:16, Galatians 5:16-21, John 7:37-39
“And you will know them by their fruits.”
More and more, things in our culture are moving away from God.
But it seems to me that more often than not, when I see the way that Christians respond to the changes taking place in society, they put more effort into condemning other peoples actions than they do producing fruit of their own. And that is what this whole series is about. “What should my life look like, in this world?” What should the fruit of a person be like, knowing that their kingdom is not of this world?
