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2024 God Bless America Again Tour
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Clarify Your Christian Identity
The Bible
The purpose of reading the Bible isn’t to form an opinion about it or to agree or disagree with it. God gave us the Bible so that we can align our lives with it. God didn’t give us the Bible to try to convince us He is real or persuade us that He is worthy of our worship. He gave it to us so that we could choose to cooperate with Him in our generation. Skepticism about the Bible is nothing new. The reality is that God’s creation (including our physical bodies) will wither and fade, but God’s Word will endure forever. (Isaiah 40:6-8)
To know and understand our true identity, we must yield to the authority of the Word of God. As propaganda and manipulative language surround us today, it is increasingly important to immerse ourselves in God’s Truth, push back on wickedness, and be strong and courageous as we share the truth wherever God takes us. We are being challenged to stand and boldly deliver truth to the people around us… even when it is difficult.
The following is a brief summary of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation… its objective is clear. God is showing us that we need to have a relationship with Him, and is He is pointing us to His Son, Jesus, as the only way that is possible. His only motive is absolute, unimaginable Love.
1. God spoke the universe into existence and brought order out of chaos. Life was perfect for a while but, it didn’t take long for humans to mess things up. God hit the reset button and wiped out everything and everyone with a flood… except for Noah, his family, and animals to repopulate the earth. Later, God’s covenant with Abram began a story of redemption and blessing that has continued through the ages and is our spiritual heritage today.
2. God chose the Hebrew people for His own, but their story is not an easy one. The account of the exodus… of God using Moses to deliver His people out of generations of slavery dramatically illustrates that God is actively involved in moving His people out of bondage and toward His purposes.
3. After Joshua fulfilled the assignment that Moses could not complete (leading His people into the promised land) God raised up a series of judges. They were His voice to guide the children of Israel away from sin and toward repentance and blessing.
4. The Israelites wanted to be like the surrounding nations and have a king. God had Samuel warn them about the reality of life under an earthly king, but they persisted in their pleas. God allowed them to walk away from His best for them, and He asked Samuel to anoint a king. Samuel anointed first Saul and then David, whose son Solomon succeeded him on the throne.
5. After Solomon’s death, the Israelites engaged in a civil war and divided into two nations… the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (Judah). In the period, known as the divided kingdom, the people of Israel rebelled against the ways of God and experienced serious consequences.
6. God appointed messengers called prophets to represent Himself to His people. They brought words of chastisement and hope. Their messages, while sometimes difficult to understand and unpopular, reminds us that God does not stand removed from any part of history and is always concerned with the lives of His people.
7. God warned His people again and again that their unfaithfulness would have dire consequences, and he eventually allowed them to be conquered and driven into exile. Their suffering was crushing, but in the midst of it came some of the greatest demonstrations of God’s presence and power.
8. The books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the song of Solomon are called the wisdom literature.These books do not fit neatly into a timeline. They offer God’s wisdom for facing the challenges of life, reminders of God’s faithfulness, and the certainty that God is watching over all things.
9. When Nehemiah heard that the Israelites returning to Jerusalem from exile had rebuilt God’s temple but the city was in shambles, he was eager to rebuild the wall and shore up the city’s defenses. He accepted this assignment from God, then organized the people and completed the wall even in the face of ridicule and hostility.
10. Jesus’ life and ministry are an exact representation of the character of God and the reality that the patterns of ministry we see in the Old Testament foreshadowed. The Gospels are not the beginning of a new story but the fulfillment of the story that began in Genesis. They help us understand Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah of prophecy. The narrative of scripture pivoted when the sinless, perfect, obedient Son of God received all the punishment that was due to us for our wickedness and rebellion so that we in turn might receive all the blessings that were due to Him for His perfect obedience. Jesus is the turning point of history… with Him everything changed.
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11. A few weeks after Jesus’ ascension to heaven, thousands of people in Jerusalem heard and believed His message preached by the disciples and received the Holy Spirit. The Jerusalem awakening spread to the surrounding area, and many believed, even in the midst of great persecution against followers of Jesus.
12. In Acts 9-10 we are reminded that Jesus is the head of the church and that the church is the expression of God’s love and truth to the world. Saul was recruited to the cause of Christ and became the apostle Paul. A seismic shift in the direction of the church occurred when Peter was shown that the Jesus story is not just for the Jewish people, but for everyone.
13. The Roman world heard the Jesus story as His followers were persecuted and scattered. Paul and the other apostles faced great trials as they traveled from city to city, yet the church gained momentum as they pressed on and faithfully shared the message. Many came to faith during this time
14. In spite of the many hardships Paul faced during his years of ministry, he remained an unrelenting advocate for Jesus. Following Jesus is still about accepting His invitation to offer yourself as a living sacrifice and become an ambassador for the kingdom of God.
15. The book of Revelation is a story of tremendous of hope. It describes the triumphant return of our Lord to defeat His enemies and deliver His people from this current evil age. The messages of Revelation… The King is coming! Trust in God! Overcome! …are so important that John, Jesus’ friend and most trusted disciple, was chosen to be the recipient and the bearer of this good news.
The Christian life is an open book test. We have been given God’s textbook. We have been told what God requires of us. And we have been provided with patient but persistent tutoring of the Holy Spirit. There are no favorites in God’s classroom. We all have the same information about what He expects: to act justly, to love mercy, and walk humbly with God.