The book of Acts opens with the disciples and the resurrected Jesus having a critical conversation: "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom of Israel?"  You see, Jesus' resurrection meant the reviving power of God was about to sweep through the land.  It meant a new era had begun.  But what this actually meant for the disciples they never could have guessed. Jesus was about to breathe new life into the world: he was about to give birth to the church by the power of the Spirit.  Birth TO US! So... who are we?  

Rick Whitfield, Bible Teacher and former pastor at this church, addresses the climactic period in the whole story of the Bible - the life of Jesus.  How is it that the bible points to him? After hearing about his life, who do you say he is?  Rick suggests a few characteristics: He is the Anointed One, the Only Savior, and the Bread of Life. 

The books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Daniel, (parts of) Jeremiah, Esther, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi give us personal and intense glimpses into the state of things right after God's chosen people were conquered in their own promised land.... and we didn't even mention Lamentations!  What was God doing in this time?  

Samuel, the prophetic judge, was a breath of fresh air for the people longing for a stable, godly leader. When Samuel appoints his wicked sons to replace him, the people can stand it no longer: this "judge" thing isn't working! Give us a king!  Disorder, chaos, and our own wayward hearts create the strangest tension in us: Like Israel, we long for a king.  Like Israel, we reject the king.  See the need for a king afresh through the lives of Saul, David, and Solomon - the only three kings to reign over all Israel.  Like Israel, all kings but one leave us wanting more.  

Now that the people have "conquered" the land, it's time to get settled and organized... a task at which, as we see in the book of Judges, they fail miserably.  Instead, they are stuck in a cycle of sin and idolatry, needing rescue, having a short time of rest, and then right back into sin.  Who will break this deadly cycle? 

After several centuries, the promise to Abraham in Genesis 15 was finally coming true.  The Israelites were moving into the promised land, west of the Jordan River, the land of Canaan. Just one problem: Canaan is full of Canaanites.  Here contains one of the bloodiest periods in Israel's history.  What is God doing here?  Why is he fighting against these innocent people?  Why is he showing favoritism to Israel?  Hear the story anew.  

In the Evangelical world, one of the worst accusations we make against one another is of "legalism."  With that, we tend to overlook the Law that God spoke to his people in the Sinai wilderness... and therefore miss out on understanding a critical piece of God's heart and purposes for his people.  Without it, our understanding of Jesus would be woefully incomplete.  Let's reconsider what the Law really is! 

With the crashing down of a mountain of water, the people Israel suddenly became their own nation, freed from slavery in Egypt.  Stretching for miles before them lay... the wilderness of Sinai. What would God do to make them his own special people in the desert?  How would they respond?  And in your own life... what is the purpose of "wilderness," "the desert" and other dry times?   

Starting with a normal guy named Abram, living on the other side of the river in Haran,  God begins what he calls a mission to "bless all the nations of the earth."  How will he do it? Through the nation that is born to Abram.  Obviously, this must be because Abram was such a righteous and faithful guy, right? RIGHT? Or did God want to show us something far different... something about himself??? Maybe God was about to define faithfulness in a way people could never imagine on our own.  

Paul claims in Ephesians 3 that every family on earth derives its name from the Creator -- if that's true, then the story of Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Seth... reaching to Noah and his sons, is all of our story.   Here we learn something of ourselves, and even more of the big story, God's Story, that's being told in the lives of the first people. 

This is the first sermon in our summer 2014 series called HIS-tory, a fly-over survey of the whole Bible in 14 weeks.  Why attempt such a huge task?  Because in the whole of the Bible, we see the whole of God, especially as he is revealed in Jesus.   

The Great Commission has catalyzed more action... and more guilt... than perhaps any other passage in Matthew.  This sermon, the last in our Matthew Series, suggests that if we hear it as the church rather than as individuals, everything about how we do it changes. 

All of Christian belief depends on the Resurrection of Jesus - it is the fulfillment of our faith.  Can we really believe in it?  And what does it actually fulfill?