Posts tagged: faith

On Earth as It Is in Heaven Video Sermon on the Mount # 3 chapters filled with phrases that are very well-known in our culture Phrases # Love your neighbor as yourself Do to others what you would have them do to you You are the salt of the earth You can’t serve both God and money Take the plank out of your eye before you take the speck out of another’s If anyone strikes you on the cheek, turn and offer him the other cheek Love your enemy and bless those who persecute you If your hand causes you to sin, cut it… off References # Mark 12:31 Matthew 7:12 Matthew 5:13 Matthew 6:24 Matthew 7:5 Matthew 5:39 Matthew 5:44 Matthew 5:30 Meditation # Sermon on the mount is chiastic 3 main parts to the Sermon on the Mount The middle part has 3 parts Each of those parts has 3 parts Climax # The center of the chiasm is a famous prayer “Our Father in Heaven, may your name be treated as holy. May your Kingdom come. May your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.”9 Matthew 6:9-10 Jewishness # God’s k…

Dragons are metaphorical images in the Bible Goliath -> armor descriptions Leviathan Dragon slayers can be enticed to become dragons themselves Jesus is the great dragon slayer, who doesn’t give in to the inticing power of the dragon calming the sea conquering sickness in others tempter in the wilderness Jesus’ victory came through the surrender of his life - which brings him deep into the dragon’s realm, to deliver the ultimate blow Reflect In the Bible, why is it challenging for humans to slay the dragon? What risks are involved? The dragon’s power is enticing… back to Genesis 3, humans are easy to persuade to do things for personal gain It’s challenging also becauset the dragon is powerful, and humans are not (without its power or the power of Jesus) so if we stand against it without the Lord, what hope do we have of victory? What are some of the ways that Jesus confronted the “dragon” in his ministry? calming the sea conquering sickness in others tempter in the wilderness How does…

James 2023 study of the book of James BP # The Guy # Greek: Iakobos (Jacob in English) Jacob is one of Jesus’ half-brothers who became a leader of the Jerusalem church post-resurrection The book of James is the legacy of this Jacob’s wisdom which was heavily influenced by two things: Sermon on the Mount / Matthew 5-7 Proverbs - expecially chapters 1-9 Summary # These are short challenging wisdom speeches full of metaphors and one-liners… Live in a wise way, submitting to Jesus Chapters 2-5 teach about wholehearted devotion to Jesus - there are 12 teachings total Other 4 are in the poster about James on BP Chapter 1 the introduction 2-4: life’s trials produce endurance and can make us perfect and complete perect is repeated 7 times in the book - it refers to “wholeness” and integrity. We are all fractrued and inconsistent people perfect: Hebrew: Tamim, Greek: Teleios 5-8: God gives wisdom to those who ask in faith 9-11: povety can force us tot rust on God alone; wealth will pass away 12…

Class link Classroom notes (Must be on home network) 01 The Shape of the Hebrew Bible Session 1: What on Earth is the Hebrew Bible? # This class is not so much a survey of the HB, it is Tim’s attempt to distil the most helpful things for understanding it in a consumable way for laypeople. A chunk of this is the other people giving some of their own background. One lady said something that might be helpful for ministry - “Maybe that thing that I saw as ‘you don’t love me’ is ‘I don’t know how to love you’” how to love Maybe that thing that I saw as ‘you don’t love me’ is ‘I don’t know how to love you’ Christian coping strategy for the Olt Testament Hero-example model Stories get isolated and distilled down into a simple moral model, where the hero is just the hero. Veggie-Tales is uber-guilty of this nonsense There’s something correct about this - but the oversimplification usually comes out of a massive re-writting of the stories, then anyone raised on those versions of the story is sc…

Link Notes Exodus 34:6 Compassioante and gracious, slow to anger, overflowing with loyal love and faithfulness Faithfulness - Emet (can be translated ‘Truth’) Related to “Amen” which is untranslated Hebrew expression meaning “that’s truth” Stability # Moses has to hold his hands up when Israel faces the Amalekites. Joshua (and another) bring Moses a rock to sit on and hold is hands up so they could be Emet. People # Describs trustiworthiness Exodus 18:21 - Moses apoints leaders are to be “Emet” God and promises # God is a rock - he is faithful, just, and upright Hebrew word for trust is He’Emin which is the verb form of Emet Abraham considers God Emet, he He’Emin’s God and God blesses this by creating Isreal. Israel, In Exodus 14:31, He’Emin’s God (until they see the gians in Canaan that is) 1 Kings 1:6 says David walked in Emet with God 2 Samuel 7:16, God blesses David and says his kingdom will have Emet Romans 15:8-9 says Jesus came on behalf of God’s faithfulness. Questions 1 The He…

Link to study Creation Brougt to completion on the seventh day in Genesis 1. It is the only day that does not end with ’there evening and there was morning, the Nth day' Humans were meant to rest with God in his creation forever, but in their rebllion they are sentenced to work as slaves to the land. The rest of the hsitory of God’s people consists of them looking for God’s rest, but consistently falling back into slavery/(fallen) work. Sabbath # Celebated every week on the 7th day. The idea is to live in the eternal rest that God offered in creation. Jubilee # Every 7 * 7 years is the Ultimate Sabbath - the land is reset (or was supposed to be), everything was returned to the original owner, debt does not persist - everything resets so everyone can rest. Jesus Jesus calls himself the Lord of the Sabbath. He claimed to bring the ultimate rest of God. Jesus was crucified at a specific time - on Good Friday, and he rose again on the following Sunday… which is the first day of the next we…

link Chara / Joy There are several words for similar feelings - example like has several synonyms. Sources # Genesis tells us creation and life bring joy Psalm 104 - A good bottle of wine is God’s gift to bring joy to people’s hearts P#lm 65 - Beautiful things bring joy Jeremiah 33:11 - Weddings Corruption # Bible shows us that humanity and brokenness mark our world by death and loss Joy in spite of corruption # God’s people have reasons in God’s faithfulness to be joyful. Joy in the LORD is not determinmed by current struggles, but by future hope and deliverance Jesus # His birth gives good news and brings great joy Matthew 5 - Jesus says to rejoice and be glad when we are persecuted for his Name Apostles # Paul says he chooses joy when he is in jail Note Joy is a choice 2 Corinthians 6:10 -> Paul is filled with sorrow and yet rejoicing Success Christian joy is rooted in future hope and expectation of a Messiah, of Jesus, to come again. It is a profound choice, not the result of curre…

link to study Video Priests # God creates Eden in which he places humans to be his royal image - priests. God sets humans up to receive his blessing but humans choose their own way. The promise is for a priest and a sacrifice to come in Jesus. God chooses Abraham and Sarah as the first royal priesthood as they are chosen by God to bless all the nations. Melchizedek # A priestly king of Salem. Melchizedek recognizes Yahweh as the God of gods - Abraham tithes to him and that’s about the end of the story Salem is ancient short name for Jerusalem. Abraham’s tithe to Melchizedek is just like the Israelite call to tithe to the Levites (priests) to support them. Royal Family # Abraham and Sarah are promised their own children but they take amtters into their own hands by scheming with Hagar. Eventually Sarah is given her own son, Issac, who God then calls for his life as a test of Abraham - it represents God challenging Abraham to trust him with his own promise, and to not go his own way with…

Video Eden # Biblical story begins in a garden, which is presented as a type of Temple. The top (center) is the Tree of Life, which represents God’s life and creative power. Humans were supposed to eat from the Tree of Life but there’s another tree, the Tree of Knowledge of “good” and “bad” which represents assuming the authority to define good and bad for one’s own life rather than trusting God’s defintion. Human eat of that tree and are thus exiled from the garden. Burning Bush # Moses meets God at a burning tree, a plant on a mountain radiating with God’s power just like the Tree of Life. Yahweh charges Moses to bring the same choice to the Israelites that Adam and Eve had, which is to trust God or define morality for themselves. Jesus # Jesus announced that God’s eternal life is available through him now - originally in Eden given through the Tree of Life. Jesus invites other people to “eat of him” to be transformed by God’s own life. The invitation is the same to trust Yahweh or n…

study link Peace Note generally means absnese of war In Hebrew the word is (Greek: Eirene). Basic biblical meeting of Shalom is “complete” or “whole”. ie. a stone with no cracks, or stone wall with nogaps or missing grips References a complex situation with nothing missing Shalom can refer to a person’s well-being… Life is complex and when anything is out of alignment our Shalom breaks down and needs to be restored To bring shalom is to make complete or restore In Proverbs, to reconcile a broken relationship is to make shalom Isaiah # Isaiah 9:6-7 6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will…

Chapters Below are just quick notes or quotes from each chapter as a reminder of what to go back to chat about. This isn’t intended to be in-depth by any stretch. Chapter 1 # “Your man has been accustomed, ever since he was a boy, to have a dozen incompatible philosophies dancing about together inside his head. He doesn’t think of doctrines as primarily ’true’ or ‘false’, but as ‘academic’ or ‘practical’, ‘outworn’ or ‘contemporary’, ‘conventional’ or ‘ruthless’” Chapter 2 # Chapter 3 # pg 11. Keeping the patient’s mind focused on the ‘inner life’ so his actions do not ever reflect his conversion pg 12. Creating an imaginary person for whom to pray… “In time, you may get the cleavage so wide that no thought or feeling from his prayers for the imagined mother will ever flow over into his treatment of the real one” pg 13-14. “Let him assume that she knows how annoying it is and does it to annoy - if you know your job he will not notice the immense improbability of the assumption” -> This…