Jesus in the Old Testament (Part 5)

Gary DeLashmutt

John 7:37-39

God uses Moses to deliver the Israelites from Pharaoh and to guide them to the Promised Land. While wandering in the wilderness, God provides for their needs and quenches their thirst. Moses strikes the rock with his staff which produces an abundance of flowing water. This is a foreshadowing of Jesus being stricken and quenching humanities' thirst. It also points to Jesus providing everlasting life. Jesus is God's provision to meet humanities' greatest need and he continues to be our provision as we continue to entrust our lives to him.\r\n

Forgive One Another

Jim Leffel

Matthew 18:21-33

Forgiveness is the supernatural ability to not punish or to not withhold love from someone who has hurt us. Our capacity to genuinely forgive others from the heart will make or break our spiritual lives. If we choose not to forgive, we will live a life of bitterness and be ineffective in our witness for Christ. By the grace of God, it is possible to develop a lifestyle of forgiving others which is a tangible way of loving one another.\r\n

Restoring Your First Love

Gary DeLashmutt

Revelation 2:1-7

Jesus encourages the church in Ephesus for being loyal to the truth about Him. He also admonishes them for forsaking their first love. Like the Ephesians many Christians today have lost sight of what it looks like to be in love with God. When we find ourselves in this position we must remember what it was like to receive God's forgiveness, choose to change our direction, and move towards doing things we once did to cultivate a spiritual passion.

God's Provision for our Spiritual Growth

Bill Lawrence

Luke 9:23

To really grow in our relationship with God, we must forgive. God calls on all of us to forgive. He desires for us to learn this in community. A barrier to forgiveness is unaddressed anger. We must take our anger to God and not allow bitterness and resentment to build up in our hearts.

An Interrupted Dinner Party

Gary DeLashmutt

Luke 7:36-50

When an immoral woman interrupts a dinner party that is thrown by Pharisees, Jesus teaches that Simon the Pharisee self-righteously thinks he doesn't need forgiveness. Jesus claims divine authority to forgive sins; loving Jesus doesn't merit his forgiveness, instead being forgiven by Jesus motivates love for him.

Jesus' Spiritual Revolution

Dennis McCallum

Mark 2:13-17

Jesus interaction at Levi's party distinguishes his focus on love versus the fortress theology of the Pharisees. The attitude of the Pharisees was mean-spirited, accusing, and self-righteous. Jesus' love didn't discriminate based on their cultural standing or the sins of people, but was for those who really wanted to be healed and seek forgiveness. Jesus was excited to show love to all types of people and interested in those who see their helplessness as opposed to those who think they're fine on their own.

The Good News

Dennis McCallum

Mark 1:1-8

The gospel of Mark begins with declaring the good news that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, is coming. John the Baptist paved the way for Jesus' arrival, teaching that people needed forgiveness through God that would ultimately be possible through Jesus. Jesus' work was prefigured throughout the prophets in the Old Testament, revealing God's plan for salvation from the beginning. Jesus' message of reconciliation with God was something completely radical to people of his day, and his message of grace is still radical today.

Joy, Conflict and Anxiety

Jim Leffel

Philippians 4:1-9

Throughout the book of Philippians, Paul keeps coming back to the same thing: joy! This section about conflict and anxiety is no different. In fact, he begins with this command: rejoice! How do we rejoice in the heat of conflict or in the midst of anxiety? Paul gives insight into living in harmony with one another, forgiveness, forbearance, and anxiety.\r\n

David and Bathsheba

Dennis McCallum

Psalms 32:1-5

Years after David''s throne is established, he begins making poor choices that lead his life in a bad direction. The culmination of this is when he commits adultery with Bathsheba, impregnates her, then tries to cover it up by having her husband killed in battle. A prophet named Nathan confronts him about this, and David finally chooses to admit to his wrongdoings and repent rather than continuing to lie and hide his sin. Through his repentance, we see the joy and happiness that comes from the release of guilt that God's grace offers. We also see that God's grace covers all sin, no matter how big.