The Spirit came, and a crowd assembled when they heard the noise. But, upon hearing these Galileans speak other languages fluently, they assumed these hillbillies had been drinking before prayer. Peter, now filled with the Spirit, stands up and corrects them, giving the first explicitly Christian sermon ever given.
Jesus warns the disciples that when he goes back to the Father, the “world” (anyone who rejects Jesus as God’s Messiah) is going to turn and aim their hostility at Jesus’ followers instead. But even though they will face all kinds of hardship, they can be confident that they are never alone. The Counselor will be right there with them wherever they are.
The people who listened to Jesus teach at the temple every day woke up Friday morning, to find him already beaten, bloody, and nailed to a cross. The future hope of Israel was bleeding out in front of their very eyes. But as Jesus dies on the cross, there are a lot of massively significant things happening.
As the cross looms large in Jesus' story, he sits down to a much anticipated dinner with his disciples – the Passover meal – a story full of rich history and remembering, a meal full of significance and joy, a meal full of promise and hope – a meal he leaves unfinished.
Jesus leaves the home of the Pharisee who invited him for dinner, and prepares his disciples to face a crowd of thousands by saying, “Be on your guard against hypocrisy.”
We tend to live our lives day to day, moment to moment with our eyes on what is right in front of us, but God in his Word informs us that death is not a period on the end of our story, but a comma. All of the doctrines we've looked at so far find their resolution in the Doctrine of Eternity.
Born guilty of Adam’s sin, we stand guilty before the highest court there is. But shockingly, Jesus steps in. Our guilt is applied to him, and his righteousness is applied to us! How can it be!?
What does Jesus mean when he tells us "Don't judge"? What does he mean by "get the beam out of your own eye"? Are we supposed to just mind our own business and never speak into anyone's life?
We don't like waiting, we don't like delays. We think there is a lot with the world that should be different, and maybe you wonder why God hasn't acted yet to make things right. This message looks at 2 Peter 3, and how God's promise isn't delayed – but is in fact a mark of his glorious patience.