Awake Us Now

The story of Joseph, with its dysfunctional family and broken dreams, is a story that we can all relate to.

Did you know that the Bible is filled with consistencies. Note: that's not inconsistencies, but rather CONSISTENCIES! This shouldn't surprise us because consistency is at the heart of God's character. He says, "I the Lord do not change." But if the thought of God and the Bible as being consistant challenges you, then we hope you will join us for today's message!

The Gospel of John Week 16 Scripture: John 11:54-12:26.

Pastor begins today's class with stats and information regarding people falling away from faith. He shares that stats of the younger generation falling from faith show the reason to be that they don't see any evidence for having faith, stating that in college they found out evolution is a reality and the there is no God.

However, we are living in a time when there is more and more evidence is accumulating in remarkable ways that testifies not only to the reliability of the scripture, but also to the reality of God! There are incredible evidences being discovered that point to the very truthfulness of the Bible.

Pastor shares information and pictures of several recent discoveries. So many remarkable items are being discovered that provide confirmation that these people in the Bible are real people.

What we will see in the coming chapters of John is Jesus will fulfill everything the scriptures spoke of and He fulfills the feasts of the Jewish people.

As we pick up with our story, Jesus raising Lazarus was the event that finally causes the opponents to Him (the religious leaders) to put out a warrant for His arrest, so Jesus leaves and heads to Ephraim. The town of Ephraim is a place of safety for Jesus. While in Ephraim the time of the Passover was approaching, so Jesus and the disciples head to Jerusalem with a stop in Bethany.

Lazarus, Martha and Mary host a special dinner to honor Jesus and Mary anoints Jesus' head and feet with perfumed, expensive oil.

The day of this anointing was 6 days before the Passover. The day following this meal at Lazarus' home, Jesus will enter Jerusalem on the day we call Palm Sunday. He will fill the air with the beautiful aroma from this perfumed oil Mary anointed Him with. This anointing is no accident. In the Psalms and other Old Testament scriptures we read about kings arriving in towns anointed and fragrant and now Jesus arrives in Jerusalem as people greet him with shouts of Hosanna and palm branches, He's anointed and fragrant - heralded as a king, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey.

Tradition tells us that when a king rode into a city on a donkey - he was coming in peace. If he rode in on a course - he was coming to conquer.

Pastor takes time to share how special donkeys are and why. He also shares that at the time of Jesus, during a very short and unique window of time, Passover was celebrated in a specific way and the lambs were prepared in an especially unique way. It is during the very unique window of time in human history, that Jesus comes into Jerusalem as the Lamb of God. These unique practices at this specific time, are not coincidences - instead they show the fingerprints of God in every detail from the donkey to the Passover to the lambs - It's all incredibly orchestrated.

As our story continues we see Greeks and Gentiles at the Temple asking to see Jesus followed by Jesus predicting His death. Jesus says that it is the hour for Him to be glorified.

How fascinating that Jesus sees the cross ahead as glorification. It's not a miscarriage of justice - His dying brings glory to the Father and His resurrection brings life to the world! Life forever for each one of us who will believe in Him!

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⁃ 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!

When the Israelites disobeyed God at Mt. Sinai and tried making their own gods and rules , the results were deadly. The willingness of Moses to plead with God for mercy, even to the point of taking God's punishment on himself (Exodus 32:31) serves as a picture of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who gave His life as atonement for the sins of all. We learn of God's faithfulness to us in spite of our unfaithfulness to Him as we look at the continuation of the Exodus story. Exodus 32 is a study of what happens when people break away from the Word of God.

The Gospel of John Week 15 Scripture: John 10:34-11:53, Psalm 82.

John wrote his Gospel to make us understand that Jesus is just who He says He is. Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and this Gospel of John. When we read it with open eyes and ears and minds, we see and understand who Jesus is.

As our text opens today, we see the religious leaders again trying to trap Jesus and seize Him. Killing Him is their goal. We read again that He escapes, but not because He is afraid, but because the time has not yet come. When the time does come, Jesus will be absolutely fearless. We will see this developing as we move into chapter 11.

As we enter chapter 11, Pastor shares some of the more recent archaeological discoveries in the area of the Jordan River Valley. Pastor shares the possible discovery of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the interesting information we learn from this discovery.

As we begin chapter 11 we hear that Lazarus, who lives in Bethany is sick. Jesus is about 20 miles from Bethany and is across the Jordan River on the opposite side.

Lazarus has two sisters, Mary and Martha. Pastor does some speculating about Mary. He shares that both early and late in Jesus' ministry a woman anoints His feet and wipes them with her hair. In the first anointing Jesus tells the woman her sins are forgiven. Pastor poses the possibility that both anointing were done by Mary, Lazarus' sister, and he goes further with the possibility that Mary of Bethany (Lazarus' sister) may also be Mary Magdalene (the one from whom Jesus cast out seven demons.)

Back to our story… Jesus is about 20 miles away when He receives word of Lazarus' sickness from a messenger sent by Mary and Martha. When Jesus hears Lazarus is sick He says that the sickness is not going to end in death, but in the glory of God. Jesus does not head to Bethany yet.

By the time Jesus does finally head to Bethany Lazarus is dead and when He arrives Lazarus has already been in the tomb four days.

Martha greets Jesus as He arrives. Jesus says to Martha that He is the Resurrection and the Life and that the one who believes in Him will live even though they die and that whoever lives by believing in Him will never die. Then He asks Martha, "Do you believer this?" And she replies with a statement of faith that He is the Messiah and the Son of God.

Then Jesus asks Martha to send Mary to Him. Mary comes and falls at Jesus feet saying that had He been there her brother would not have died.

Reminder: Jesus had said to the messenger that had come to tell Him of Lazarus' sickness, that Lazarus' illness would not end in death, but it did…… and Mary weeps. Jesus asks where Lazarus has been laid and He weeps too. Jesus understands our sorrows. Then Jesus asks them to open the tomb and though reluctant as the body has been dead four days, they move the stone.

Pastor talks about the process of a Jewish burial in the days of Jesus and also shares pictures and information on ossuaries that have been discovered.

Back to our story…. Jesus says for them to roll the stone away, and adds, "Didn't I tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?"

The stone is rolled away - Jesus prays to the Father - then He says, "Lazarus, come out!" And Lazarus comes out of the tomb alive and covered in the linen burial wrappings.

The wrappings are removed and many believed in Jesus after seeing this - others went to the religious leaders and told them what Jesus had just done. Now their desire to get rid of Jesus rises even more. Caiaphas then says, "isn't it better for one man to die for the people, than that the whole nation perish" and Caiaphas unknowingly speaks a prophetic word. And from that day on the religious leaders plotted to kill Jesus.

We begin to see Jesus set His own execution into motion. This is not something that happens by accident, it is the Father's will and it is something Jesus runs toward. He willingly sets Himself in this position the leads to His death and ends with His resurrection!

In today's study we see there is a great difference between religion and a relationship with the Living God.

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!

Scripture: Luke 24:45-47, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Matthew 12, Hosea 6:1-2, Genesis 22:4, Esther 5:1, Jonah 1:17, Exodus 19:10, 2 Kings 20:5, Genesis 1:9-13.

As we read through the Old Testament we see time and again, God doing amazing things on "the third day." It is something that stands out!

Today we explore eight remarkable examples in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) that speak of God delivering His people on the 3rd day:

1. Hosea 6:1-2 "Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence." The third day is associated with restoration, the return to life, God's mighty work. 2. Genesis 22:4 "On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance." This day was the day that Abraham saw the place in the distance that he was to sacrifice his son, but it was also the day Abraham saw the mighty deliverance of God as God Himself provided a lamb for the sacrifice in place of Isaac. 3. Jonah 1:17 "Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." This was a picture of what Jesus Himself would endure and do. Jesus in Matthew 12 speaks of Jonah as a picture of Himself. 4. Exodus 19:10-11 "And the Lord said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people." This is from the story of deliverance of the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt and they come to Mt. Sinai and God says He will appear to them on the third day. 5. Esther 5:1 "On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king's hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance." After 3 days of fasting and praying, Esther went before King Xerxes and deliverance was given to the Jewish people. 6. Joshua 1:11 "Go through the camp and tell the people, 'Get your provisions ready. On the third day you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.'" The children of Israel, after wandering for 40 years in the wilderness, finally come to the Promised Land and the Lord tells Joshua to tell the people that on the third day they would cross the Jordan to the land He had promised them. 7. 2 Kings 20:5 "Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, 'This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord." Hezekiah is told by Isaiah that he would die soon. Hezekiah cries out to God to prolong his life and then Isaiah is given a message from God that on the third day Hezekiah would be able to go to the temple to worship God and that he would be given 15 more years to live. 8. Genesis 1:9-13 "And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day." The first day of the week is Sunday, the 2nd day is Monday, the 3rd is Tuesday. It's on this third day that God saw what He had made and spoke the words, "it is good," for the first time and said it not once but twice that day. And this is why the Jewish people have said the third is a special day. And that's why even today many orthodox Jewish weddings are on Tuesdays, because it's the third day of the week and the third day is special.

These "third days" are not accidents, they are indications of the purpose and plan of God and they are fulfilled in the Lord Jesus who rose on the third day.

The crucifixion of Jesus is the goriest, most disgusting event in history, but it is also the means of our deliverance. God was willing to endure it all for us! And He can be trusted because on the third day he rose!

And according to the scriptures He's coming back!

Pastor ends today's class with an invitation to give your life to Christ, to allow the Good News of Jesus to come into your heart and permeate every aspect of your life.

God offers us the greatest gift of all - He offers us Himself!

Watch the video from our website https://www.awakeusnow.com/sunday-service

Now What? Learn about God at https://www.awakeusnow.com EVERYTHING we offer is FREE.

Watch via our app. Text HELLO to 888-364-4483 to download our app.

We invite you to join us for our Sunday service every Sunday at 9:30am CT (live or on demand) here: https://www.awakeusnow.com/sunday-service

Scripture: John 20:1-18, Exodus 25:10-22, Leviticus 16, Jeremiah 3:16, Jeremiah 31:31-34, Romans 3:23

God provides remarkable glimpses of Jesus in the Old Testament. To understand what Mary Magdalene saw in the empty tomb that first Resurrection Sunday, consider the Arc of the Covenant and the part it had in the Day of Atonement.

Today's study is the eyewitness story of Mary Magdalene going to Jesus' tomb and finding it empty. As she approaches the tomb she sees the stone has been removed from the tomb's opening. She runs and tells two of Jesus' disciples what she's seen and they run to the tomb and see that what she said, was true. They leave not understanding what has happened.

Mary is left alone at the tomb. Crying, she peers into the tomb and sees two angels in white seated where Jesus' body had been - one at the head and one at the foot.

In Exodus 25:10-22 we read about God's instruction for building the Arc of the Covenant. The directions tell us about the lid - atonement cover - of the box and that it was to be covered in gold and have 2 cherubs (angels) at each end of the cover, God then tells Moses to put the tablets which He will give him into the box, put the cover on the box. God then tells Him that there, between the cherubim on the Mercy Seat / Atonement Cover of the box / Arc of the Covenant., He will meet with Moses.

God instructed that once a year at Yom Kippur - the High Priest were to kill a goat as a sacrifice for the people's sin and sprinkle its blood on the Atonement Cover - on the Mercy Seat. Then after sprinkling the cover they would release another goat into the wilderness. This Day of Atonement served as a reminder that they needed an innocent victim not only to cover and pay for their sins but also to carry those sins away.

In Jeremiah 31 we read that God will give a new covenant and the New Covenant is what Mary got a glimpse of that resurrection morning because she saw the flat place where the bloodied body of our Savior had been laid - after He offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sin. And now the body is gone and there on the spot where Jesus had laid are two angels, one on each end of it - It is a picture of the Arc's Atonement Cover, the Mercy Seat!

God is offering the New Covenant!

The story continues with Mary coming face to face with the risen Jesus. He calls her by name and she immediately recognizes Him. It's not knowing the stories about Jesus, it's about coming face to face with the reality of who He is. Like Mary - it's personal - it's about relationship with Him.

What Mary saw is the most amazing foreshadowing: How the place where God met with the children of Israel had been fulfilled in the place where God meets all of us in the empty tomb - because He is alive! And that changes everything!

Jesus is the One who is the very Mercy Seat of God, who's blood covers our sin, who carried it away and who offers us life and forgiveness and hope and joy and an eternity with Him.

Watch the video from our website https://www.awakeusnow.com/sunday-service

Now What? Learn about God at https://www.awakeusnow.com EVERYTHING we offer is FREE.

Watch via our app. Text HELLO to 888-364-4483 to download our app.

We invite you to join us for our Sunday service every Sunday at 9:30am CT (live or on demand) here: https://www.awakeusnow.com/sunday-service

Evidence from history, the bible, and geography points to the very events of the Book of Exodus, when God broke into history and delivered His people from bondage. The testimony of the rocks is also the testimony of the Word. The God who broke into history in Moses' day is the same God who broke into history at the time of our Savior Jesus Christ, delivering us from the bondage of sin and reconciling the world to Himself.

The Gospel of John Week 14 Scripture: John 10:1-28, Psalm 118.

In our text today, Jesus talks of being the Good Shepherd. He talks of His sheep. He talks of being the Gate. He tells us He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him. And He tells us that He brings life to His sheep.

Pastor Dodge shares a personal testimony and experience along with many personal photos expounding on what God taught him about the difference between sheep and goats. Pastor shares how powerfully this revelation has impacted him personally, impacted his teaching on God as the Good Shepherd and given him insight into us as God's sheep.

As Jesus continues, He makes it known that salvation is through Him alone. We see His heart for His people to recognize Him as their Messiah.

Jesus doesn't offer us a bunch of rules and regulations - what He offers us is Himself. What He offers us is real life. Life that matters, life that has purpose and significance and life that will never end!

Compare what Jesus gives us to what the enemy brings. The enemy comes only to steal, kill and destroy. But Jesus brings life, abundant life, life to the full!

Jesus wants us to experience the joy of knowing Him, of knowing the Father through Him, of knowing we will live forever.

As our Shepherd, even in the toughest of times our lives have meaning and purpose. He is there with us and He will use all things together for our good because He loves and cares for His sheep. Jesus knows us by name - We are precious to Him. He is our Good Shepherd. We can trust Him. We can rely upon Him.

Jesus tells the group He's speaking to that He will lay down His life for his sheep. He says after He lays down His life, He will take it up again - death cannot hold Him, He will rise! He is speaking of all that is coming in the next months ahead. We see many coming to faith in Jesus after hearing what He said about being the Good Shepherd - but there were many that hearing what He said wanted even more so to get rid of Him.

As the class draws to a close, Pastor shares the story of Hanukah - the Festival of Dedication - mentioned in John 10:22.

As we finish with today's text, Jesus goes on to retell the people that His sheep hear His voice, they listen to Him, and He gives eternal life to them and no one will snatch them out of His hand. These are powerful and reassuring words for every believer. Jesus IS the Good Shepherd. Jesus is OUR Good Shepherd!

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!

Scriptures Psalm 22, John 19:24

God provides remarkable glimpses of Jesus in the Old Testament. Psalm 22 speaks to our hearts – when we feel abandoned by God. Psalm 22 speaks to our minds – foretelling the suffering of Jesus 1,000 years beforehand. Psalm 22 is all about Jesus' suffering but also about His triumph.

What happened to Jesus at His crucifixion is the fulfillment of prophesy. Jesus fulfilled all that was written about the Messiah in the Old Testament.

John, an eyewitness, the only one of the apostles who was there when Jesus was crucified, witnessed His cry from the cross, witness the agony Jesus suffered. The very things that that we read in Psalm 22 are witness by John and we read that in John 19. Take a look at John 19:24, "'Let's not tear it,' they said to one another. 'Let's decide by lot who will get it.' Now look at Psalm 22:18 which was written 1000 years earlier, "'They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.'" This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled.

Psalm 22 is a remarkable word, prophetic words, and they truly do foreshadow Jesus' suffering. But the good news is they don't just foreshadow His suffering they also foreshadow His triumph. Listen to the way this Psalm ends. Psalm 22:24, speaking of this One who has cried out, "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?", speaking of this anguished sufferer who says that a company of evildoers have surrounded him, that they have pierced His hands and His feet, speaking of this One of whom it is said, "They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.", it says of this despised sufferer, "He has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one." In other words, God has not despised Jesus. He has not hidden His face from Jesus, but has listened to His cry for help. Verse 25, "From you comes the theme of My praise in the great assembly; before those who fear You I will fulfill my vows." Then, verse 27, "All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the LORD, and He rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him – those who cannot keep themselves alive. Posterity will serve Him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim His righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn; He has done it!"

A quote from Dr. Michael Brown, "In Psalm 22, we see God answering the cry of the anguished sufferer with a deliverance so extraordinary that it results in 3 things: 1. Worldwide praise and adoration 2. The testimony of God's saving power 3. Turning of gentile nations to God"

Looking at these words from Psalm 22, anyone with an open mind who knows anything about the Lord Jesus would just naturally say, "Wow! This seems to be talking about Him." Over the years I've had the opportunity to share these words with other people, people who had no idea where they came from, uniformly the response from Gentile and Jew alike has been, "Oh my, those words are talking about Jesus, aren't they?" Then people are astonished when they find that they came from the Old Testament and they were written 1000 years earlier. This is a remarkable foreshadowing and it is not simply an object of academic interest.

This has profound impact for you and for me, because it simply means that all along God has known what has laid ahead. It means all along He was planning for the Messiah to suffer as He did on that cross, bearing in His own body the penalty for us all. It means that God knows how desperately you and I need forgiveness, that only a perfect sacrifice can bring. It means that without Jesus we have nothing, but that with Him we have everything. What a foreshadowing, what a Savior, and what a powerful word from God.

Psalm 22 shows us the measure of God's love and that is powerful!

Jesus desperately wants you to know Him, and He invites you to receive Him by faith and to experience the joy of His presence and the Power of His Holy Spirit.

Watch the video from our website https://www.awakeusnow.com/sunday-service

Now What? Learn about God at https://www.awakeusnow.com EVERYTHING we offer is FREE.

Watch via our app. Text HELLO to 888-364-4483 to download our app.

We invite you to join us for our Sunday service every Sunday at 9:30am CT (live or on demand) here: https://www.awakeusnow.com/sunday-service