For centuries scholars have tried to answer the question: Why did God put that tree in the garden?

Skeptics bring that question up frequently. During this message we will examine the tree of knowledge and see that God allowed it to be put there so that we would have a choice. Love is not love without a choice.

We see the tree of life in the Garden of Eden and then we see it again in “The New Creation” aka heaven.

The tree of life teaches us that God came to give us life. In creation God made us to be eternal beings and God desires for us to be part of His New Creation where we will gather around the tree of life!

Sunday Morning Service 12/01/24 by Elevate Christian Church

Elisha the Prophet - Week 3 by Elevate Christian Church

This memorable story, far from being a moralistic tale about honoring elders or preachers, is a brief glimpse into the age-old war that began in a garden and ended at an empty tomb.

Bears may play a significant role here, but the real animal in this overarching story is a serpent. His slithering and slandering tongue was inside the mouths of these mockers. The god whom they served, Baal, was just a mask for Satan. And their fate was a preview of the serpent’s eventual fate. Except it wouldn’t be a bear that mauled this serpent, but a lamb—the Lamb of God—who would take him down. That Lamb’s victory is for Elisha, and for all of us, who live in his resurrection kingdom that will have no end.

In this story; Elisha asks God for a double portion of the blessing that He poured out on the Prophet Elijah.

The idea of a double portion was not to ask for twice as much as Elijah had, but to ask for the portion that went to the firstborn son, as in Deuteronomy 21:17. Elisha asked for the right to be regarded as the successor of Elijah, as his firstborn son in regard to ministry. Yet Elisha had already been designated as Elijah’s successor (1 Kings 19:19). This was a request for spiritual power to fulfill the calling he already received. Interestingly, Scripture records exactly twice as many miracles through Elisha (28 miracles) as took place through Elijah (14 miracles).

As believers in Jesus, we are ambassadors of heaven's kingdom.

We are situated on the foreign soil of a fallen earth, but this compromised version of it is not our home. We are in the world, but we are not "of the world" John 17:14, 16). Instead of mixing in seamlessly with it, we must remain constantly aware that we are on assignment to represent the interests and ideals of the kingdom from which we've been sent. This means everywhere we go and in everything we do, we are ambassadors for Him. The assignment doesn't change depending on whatever else we are doing each day. We are always on mission. Everyone we meet, when they're around us for any length of time, should be able to tell who we are and what our assignment is, not because we're announcing it but because of the way we live out the ideals of our King and His kingdom. This is what ambassadors do.

During this message we will review the previous 5 weeks and learn that in order to leave our empire behind and to walk toward God’s Kingdom we must practice obedience, generosity, steadfastness, selflessness, and preparation.

I love a good Airbnb. Clean, luxurious, and in a great location. Airbnb uses a five-star rating system.

In John 14, Jesus tells us He is going to heaven to prepare a place for us with many rooms. It’s the greatest Airbnb of all time. Jesus will meet us there. When we think about standing face to face with Jesus, are we prepared or panicked?

Synopsis-Jesus said, “On this rock I build my church.”

Sometimes we try to make “his” church “our church”. We will examine what a healthy church should look like.