The signs are everywhere. Time rushes toward its appointed climax. The first rays of dawn streak the eastern sky. The countdown has begun. In heaven, the sound of trumpets and a King prepares to leave his palace. On earth, his children pray with new excitement and new understanding of the words he taught them so long ago … “Thy Kingdom Come.”
Text: Luke 21:25-29The Virgin Birth was never meant to stand alone. It is not a random truth plucked from thin air. God never says, “Pick and choose what you want to believe.” The story of Jesus is a seamless garment woven by the Holy Spirit. Take out his miraculous birth and you have ripped the whole garment to shreds.
Text: Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23The evidence is clear and even overwhelming. Jesus is the Prophet like Moses promised in Deuteronomy 18. He is the ultimate fulfillment of a promise made 1500 years before his birth. What does this fulfillment signify for us today? Why should it matter to us that Jesus is the great Prophet sent by God?
Text: Deuteronomy 18:15-19You need a Lamb! It must meet all the requirements laid out by God in Exodus 12. The lamb must die. And you must apply the blood to the doorposts of your heart. That is, you must trust in the blood for the forgiveness of your sins. Where will you find such a lamb? Look to the Cross! Gaze upon the blooding form of the Son of God! Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! Jesus is the Lamb you need. He is God’s Lamb for your sin.
Text: Exodus 12; John 1:29This is the first promise given after the Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. It is also the first gospel sermon ever preached on the face of the earth. Theologians call it the protoevangelium–or first gospel. These words spoken by God contain the first promise of redemption in the Bible. Everything else in the Bible flows from these words in Genesis 3:15. As the acorn contains the mighty oak, so these words contain the entire plan of salvation.
Text: Genesis 3:15It is an ancient question. Job 14:14 asks, “If a man dies, will he live again?” At every funeral that question is asked in one way or another. Is there life after death? If so, what happens when we die? How can we be sure? And most importantly, how can we be ready when the moment comes? What about heaven? What about hell? Are these real places or are they merely symbols that point to the universal longing for immorality? Can we still believe in heaven and hell?
Text: VariousTo be saved, you must first realize that you can’t save yourself. As long as you hold on to your self-righteousness, you cannot be forgiven. Being a Christian means you’ve come to Christ and you’ve come by faith to the cross. It means that He’s the one that will come into your heart and forgive your sin and change your way of life.
Text: VariousIf we start with the biblical record, we find it fundamentally incompatible with evolutionary naturalism. Three words summarize where we come from–created, not evolved. We need to teach those three words to our children and make them a bulwark of our own personal faith.
Text: Genesis 1The Holy Spirit does everything to bring us to Christ, everything we need to walk with Christ in this life, and everything we need to take us safely from earth to heaven. He does it all for us and he does it for all of us. None of us could live even one day as a Christian without the aid of the Holy Spirit.
Text: VariousChristianity is true. Therefore, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain by a careful examination of what we believe and why we believe it. We need hard-nosed, tough-minded, open-eyed faith.
Text: I Peter 3:15