Dr. Craig Johnson | Bethel Christian Fellowship Podcast: Recent Episodes
Dr. Craig Johnson
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THE BIRTH OF CHRIST - September 11th 3 B.C.?
“If Revelation 12:1-3 is to be interpreted in an astronomical way, then there was only one day in 3 B.C. where the “sun clothed the woman” with the “moon under her feet.” This was from about 6:15 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. on September 11, 3 B.C. It was significantly the Day of Trumpets, the beginning of the Jewish New Year, the first day of Tishri, Rosh Hashanah, the New Year day for civil affairs. It was a celebration of physical creation, the year Noah turned 601, (Gen. 8:13), the day Noah removed the covering of the Ark, (Gen. 8:13), the day kings began to rule. It would symbolize the enthronement of the great King of kings.”
~ The Star that Astonished the World - Ernest L. Martin
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Sermon notes .fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-0{width:100% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 0px;}.fusion-builder-column-0 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 1.92%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 1.92%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-0{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-column-0 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-0{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-column-0 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}.fusion-body .fusion-flex-container.fusion-builder-row-1{ padding-top : 0px;margin-top : 0px;padding-right : 0px;padding-bottom : 0px;margin-bottom : 0px;padding-left : 0px;}
Have you ever been misrepresented in your life, especially by someone who claims intimacy with you? Gossip is juicy but when it comes from someone in the know or the circle of the person circle we want to listen extra strong so we have "proper prayer". Have you ever been misrepresented by someone who claims to know you, and others hear it and say "Why did they lie"? It hurts doesn't it? Well, it hurts the heart of heaven.
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Today I want to talk about your God picture, something you've come here with.
You've come to this message with a full orbed picture of God. Our goal is to keep the continuity of the topic the excluded middle. The past few weeks we have talked about the Psalms; the psalter, the worship book of Israel and the early church. We found out the 150 psalms fall into 3 categories: psalms of orientation, psalms of disorientation and psalms of reorientation. We have set that category up so we can begin to develop a spiritual language that can embrace every season of life.
Sermon notes
Today I want to talk about your God picture, something you've come here with.
You've come to this message with a full orbed picture of God. Our goal is to keep the continuity of the topic the excluded middle. The past few weeks we have talked about the Psalms; the psalter, the worship book of Israel and the early church. We found out the 150 psalms fall into 3 categories: psalms of orientation, psalms of disorientation and psalms of reorientation. We have set that category up so we can begin to develop a spiritual language that can embrace every season of life.
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We are in a series of developing a spiritual language capable of embracing all the seasons of life and all reality. And we've learned together there are seasons of orientation where everything, we call them psalms of orientation–where everything seems fine, everything is flowing, right is right and wrong is wrong, the wicked get punished, the right get rewarded….
But we also found there are seasons of disorientation equally real and they have to be embraced. And you must have a spiritual language capable of dealing with disorientation…and then there are psalms of reorientation where everything you've gleaned from the past. You can't go back but you move go forward in a new way and God opens a new door. All of reality is embraced in our quest for Christian maturity.
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Today we continue to look at life in the excluded middle, focusing on doubt in the excluded middle. The past few weeks we have talked about the Psalms; the psalter, the worship book of Israel and the early church. We found out the 150 psalms fall into 3 categories: psalms of orientation, psalms of disorientation and psalms of reorientation. We have set that category up so we can begin to develop a spiritual language that can embrace every season of life.
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Today we are going to talk about Life in the Excluded Middle and introduce you to Job's friends. Last week we found out within the psalter, the prayer book of Israel and the prayer book of the church, the 150 psalms fall into 3 categories: psalms of orientation, psalms of disorientation and psalms of reorientation.
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Last week we talked about receiving a new world and we looked at 587 B.C. as a metaphor of the need to allow God to dismantle a known world. 587 B.C being the date when Judah, God's historic people watched as their entire certain world was dismantled. The temple of Solomon God had surely given. But God said I’m going to dismantle it. The city of Jerusalem, the priesthood they counted on, the Davidic Dynasty. Every bit of their known world was passing away.
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Last week we looked at imagery of the lamb and we saw the one central theme of the bible is the lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world in eternity past. He's the central reality of eternity. If you look into the future in Revelation chapter 5, He is the lord of heaven and earth and He is the King of all kings.
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It's Palm Sunday. This day begins Holy Week. This week begins everything that we believe. Christianity is not is a religion, Christianity is Christ. Today we will go back to the very central song of the universe, the Lamb. The very center point of human history, His incarnation and death and the very central song of eternity, the Lamb.
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In the New England regions the Tulip Poplar, also called white wood or tulip has the unique capability to imitate other woods far more valuable. In the hands of an expert craftsman by “faking the grain” he can make a wood appear to be something else. Today we’ll look at counterfeits… We can’t spot the real from the fake but God can.
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Elisha died and was buried. Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet. II Kings 13: 20-21. We look today at the prophet Elisha.
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For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 1 Peter 4:17
Sometimes we in our action and how we represent God actually participate in having him blasphemed. Sometimes others can see us represent God in a way that is not appropriate and it can cause unbelievers to turn against Him.
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We all ask for new relationships, new opportunities, new things in our life. But new things involve extensive preparation. We pray Lord drop a new relationship out of the heavens. Well, you're not ready for a new relationship. He has to make you ready before He drops "Clancy" out of the clouds. We pray for crazy things and have no idea what is involved intrinsically in what we've asked.
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God is always doing new things. But new things are a big deal. Before a new thing ever comes God has to work in your heart to expel all rigidity, obstinance, rebellion stubbornness and a desire to have your way. "My kingdom come, my will be done". They don't co-exist together. You are His servant in utter surrender to Him or you are a God unto yourself. And it comes down to the issue of surrender.
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There is such a sea of resource on your behalf that God can draw from in order to bless you, but it's a sea of resource you've forgotten completely about. That sea is all the people you have done good to and been gracious to and they have forgotten you. Ever had an influence on somebody's life that might have even saved their life and they go on and forget you? Just as promptly as they received the blessing that transformed their life, they have gone from ambrosia to amnesia…But when God remembers His own, other people start remembering His own.
We continue in our study of Jacob and God's reversing a lifetime of setbacks.
"So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. They told him, “Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt.” Jacob was stunned; he did not believe them. But when they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. And Israel said, “I'm convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.” Genesis 45:25-28
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“So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. They told him, “Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt.” Jacob was stunned; he did not believe them. But when they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. And Israel said, “I'm convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.” Genesis 45:25-28
There are grounds for pessimism. Pessimism is the tendency to dismiss the light and embrace the darkness. God understands the backstory, the grounds for your inability to believe for something different. He understands, just as He understood Jacob's story.
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In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built. 1 Kings 6:7
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We have one word today…peace. Isaiah 9:6 "And He shall be called prince of peace". In Hebrew, sar shalom, the Prince of Peace. In John 14:27 when Jesus is about to be taken out and tortured, he says to his disciples "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
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Has anyone ever made you a promise they didn't keep? How did that make you feel? A very brutal thing. Have you made any promises that you haven't kept? There's something very interesting about a promise, a promise is always associated with hope.
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Lord, we thank you for your presence this day, for the work of preparation you are doing in our midst. We thank you that you are a God who gives a promise, but there may be a season of silence. But you are also a God who breaks the silence with a performance of the promise.
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