Awake Us Now

To understand Peace, we need to explore it in its Hebrew form: Shalom. Shalom is so much more than our English word "peace" conveys. We will discover the deep meaning of this word and see why Jesus speaks of Shalom as something only He can provide!

The Gospel of John Week 18 Scripture: John 13:21-14:6.

We pick up with the rest of the story of the Lord's Last Supper that Passover evening. Pastor shares what the layout may have looked like at this meal. Where people were at around the table, that they were reclining vs sitting, that they ate with their right hands and laid on their sides resting their heads in the left hands.

As the story continues, Jesus shares that He knows one of His disciples is going to betray Him. John asks who it is that will do that and Jesus says that it is the one I give this bread to. And then Jesus hands the dipped bread to Judas and he takes the bread and leaves.

After Judas leaves Jesus says, "Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once." What strange words to say after exposing that He will be betrayed…..

Why say them? Jesus is going to be arrested, beaten, scourged and die - how does this bring glory? It's because Jesus is looking ahead, He's looking beyond the immediate to what lies ahead - His glorification. Hebrews 12:2 tells us, "For the joy set before Jesus, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Jesus' glorification is accomplished in following the Father's will, the path to Victory and in glorifying the Father by doing so. When Jesus is on the cross the Father is glorified because everything the Father had intended, everything that He had planned is now coming to fulfillment through His obedient Son, Jesus, the Messiah.

Jesus goes on in John 13:34-35 telling them to love one another as He has loved them. And then He tells Peter that he will deny knowing Him before the rooster crows.

Pastor shares great info on what "rooster crow" is and that it wasn't a rooster crowing, but that was the way they told time. The Romans divided the evening watch into four watches: 6-9pm = evening 9-12am = midnight 12-3am = rooster crows 3-6am = dawn

We can see Jesus use these four terms here: "Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!'" (Be Awake!)

Jesus is telling Peter that sometime between midnight and 3am he will deny knowing Him three times.

Then we move into John Chapter 14 where Jesus tells the disciples "Do not keep allowing your hearts to be troubled any longer. You believe in God. Believe in me."

When we face troubled times, we believe in God - meaning we are to trust Him. And Jesus is saying believe in Him, Messiah, - trust in Him, He's our Savior.. And then He tells them "I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." And what the disciples understand from the Jewish scriptures is that Jesus is talking in wedding language.

Pastor shares Jewish tradition around wedding planning and weddings and what we see in the Bridegroom (Jesus) and His bride (the body of believers.) This wedding/marriage talk is Jesus' way of expressing Hies deep love for us. Jesus is the groom and He is calling us to realize how much He loves us.

Thomas says, "Where are You going, Lord?" And Jesus says, "I am the way. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

Getting to heaven is not about being a good person, because no one is truly good - all have sinned. It's only through faith in Jesus and what He did for us on the cross and His resurrection that we go to heaven.

Our website – https://www.awakeusnow.com

Watch the video from our website! https://www.awakeusnow.com/2-year-study-of-the-gospels-upper

Watch the video from our YouTube Channel!! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOzMkhPyiNWwlJRpV6Bwpu01

⁃ The Gospel of John study is part five of five of our Two Year Study of the Gospels. ⁃ The Gospel of John may be one of the most powerful books ever written. Many people have come to faith after reading only this book of the Bible. Scholarly and archeological discoveries in recent decades give us new insight on details in the Gospel of John. We can now understand it as the most Jewish rather than the most "Gentile/Greek" of the Gospels, and when we do that we see many things that we missed before.

Our 2 year study of the gospels is great for large group, small group or home group study and can be started at any time!

"The most foolish thing anyone can do is fight the only war you will never be able to win, and that is a war against God."

God had an assignment for Moses, but Moses had objections for God. Sound familiar?

God faithfully takes us through the difficult to prepare us to do the even more difficult.

The tale of Joseph is a great story. Yet there is more -- for all of Joseph points toward all of Jesus.

Until we forgive, we remain prisoners of our demand for vengeance. How can we gain release?

This week, we explore Truth #23: Real Hope is found only in Christ! Many today struggle with a sense of hopelessness. But God gives us a promise of hope, a true "Living Hope" offered through Christ's resurrection (1 Peter 1:3-4). That promise is certain, it is found throughout His Word, and it has been demonstrated through history and in the lives of believers. It can speak into your life today.

The Gospel of John Week 17 Scripture: John 12:27-13;30, Isaiah 6.

Today's study takes us through an insider's view of the final hours before Jesus' arrest and crucifixion.

We open with Jesus words in John 12:27-28, "Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!"

We see Jesus' heart here - In the verses we see Him not as fully God but as fully man - fully human - He is bearing the weight of the world in His soul and in His heart. This is a reminder of just how great His love is for us.

The Father in heaven answered Jesus - in verses 28-29, "Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again." The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him."

To the crowd they thought it was thunder or that an angel spoke! But it was the voice of God the Father. The Father will be glorified through the sacrifice of His Son, by His Son's willing submission to the Father's will.

The Father brings judgement on the Son because His love for us is so great that He is willing to take our penalty for sin. We will see Jesus is exalted as He gives up His life and is lifted up (onto the cross) for all of us.

We learn in today's study that God's heart desire is to turn people back to Himself. God's heart is to bring healing.

In verse 42-43 we read, "Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved human praise more than praise from God."

Following God no matter the cost, choosing to be right with God instead of right with people…

Pastor spends time explaining the timing of Jesus' death in the Gospel of John against the timing in the other three gospels.

We take an in-depth look at the Passover Meal and the washing of the disciples' feet by Jesus.

As Jesus does the feet washing what He's saying is that this is not about mere ritual, this is about relationship with Him that transforms our lives. He's acting out that transformation as He washes their feet. He says, "you also should wash one another's feet."

We end by beginning to explore Jesus predicting His betrayal by one of the disciples.

Our website – https://www.awakeusnow.com

Watch the video from our website! https://www.awakeusnow.com/2-year-study-of-the-gospels-upper

Watch the video from our YouTube Channel!! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOzMkhPyiNWwlJRpV6Bwpu01

⁃ The Gospel of John study is part five of five of our Two Year Study of the Gospels. ⁃ The Gospel of John may be one of the most powerful books ever written. Many people have come to faith after reading only this book of the Bible. Scholarly and archeological discoveries in recent decades give us new insight on details in the Gospel of John. We can now understand it as the most Jewish rather than the most "Gentile/Greek" of the Gospels, and when we do that we see many things that we missed before.

Our 2 year study of the gospels is great for large group, small group or home group study and can be started at any time!

God can use your suffering, intense persecution, and even false accusation to work wonders.