Why do you believe the Bible is real?

Thallus (c. AD 50): Perhaps the earliest secular reference, Thallus was a Samaritan historian whose work is lost but quoted by Julius Africanus. He attempted to explain away the darkness during Jesus' crucifixion as a solar eclipse.

The Tel Dan Stele (9th Century BCE): An Aramaic inscription that provides the earliest non-biblical mention of the "House of David," confirming the existence of the Davidic dynasty.

• It’s because of the all the supported facts in the Bible that I believe beyond a reasonable doubt that it is true and factual.
• I also have experienced its truths to be active in my own life.
• Though at times I loose sight of what matters most.

1. What do you do when you get off track?

Luke 15:1-7 ESV

When things of value have came up missing from your life what should you do?

• Evaluate what remains.

1. Be attentive to what you do have.
2. Treasure where you are.
3. Go after what is missing.

Luke 15:8-10

The Parable of the Lost Coin

…………….Let me ask you a question, is life about finding the valuable or the process of finding it?

• The answer is yes.
• The process aluminates your steps.

Psalm 119:105 ESV

1. Be attentive to what you do have.
2. Treasure where you are.
3. Go after what is missing.

Why is it so important to you to follow the words of the Bible?

Psalm 19:7-11 ESV

• The Bible is
• Perfect
• Reviving
• Sure
• Wisdom
• Right
• Pure
• Enlightening
• Rejoicing
• Clean
• Enduring forever
• True
• Righteous

That makes it more desirable than gold. I need this in my life by the truck loads.

By these words I’m warned.

By following them I’m greatly rewarded.

What Spiritual Practice has found it's way into your junk drawer?

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Have you known someone who asked a lot of questions? Specifically why?

It can get very frustrating because we want all the why’s answered before we do anything. Most of the time that’s just not possible. We can know the why intellectually but knowing it practically isn’t always something we can grasp without life application.

Knowing the why gives direction, purpose, and foundation. Often times we get these 3 things out of order so let’s start with the foundation.

• Why should we start with the foundation?

Matthew 7:24-27 ESV

• The foundation in this parable is the words of Jesus from this teaching which begins in Matthew 5.
• Within these chapters He addresses things like pride, gossip, sexual immorality, idolatry, hate, and even prayer.
• Why is this the standard for a solid foundation?
• Wouldn’t life be easier without these restrictions?
• Why does Jesus restrict our desires?
• Why does Jesus have the authority to set these standards?

Our response to these questions are often simple and direct but lacking for those who are having doubts.

• We say things like He died and resurrected for us.
• It’s through Him we are forgiven.
• He lived to give us an example.
• The Bible is the guide book for living.

Do you give these answers? If so would you be able to give a deeper one if needed?

Why does Jesus have the authority to set these standards?

To answer that we first must establish that He was a real person, that the Bible is factual, and trust worthy.

To do this you can’t use the Bible to prove Jesus was real. Professors from many universities have studied this question. For the sake of time I’ll only list 2 today Purdue University and University of North Carolina both support that Jesus was real. The first-century Jewish (secular) historian Flavius Josephus talks about Jesus in his writing a few times and Roman senator and (secular) historian Tacitus wrote about the wrongly executed Christus.

Is the Bible factual and trust worthy? It was written by 40 authors over 1,500 years and talks about both the good and bad of its characters. It’s not about being good enough because God is more than enough. Evidence has been uncovered to the existence of who put Jesus to death. Proofs in secular writings about the house of David supports that he was real. The distinguished archaeologist Dr. William F. Albright also asserted the accuracy of the Bible’s history.

“Thanks to modern research we now recognize its substantial historicity. The narratives of the Patriarchs, of Moses and the Exodus, of the Conquest of Canaan, of the Judges, the Monarchy, Exile, and Restoration, have all been confirmed and illustrated to an extent that I should have thought impossible forty years ago.

We have started to establish that Jesus was a real person, that the Bible is factual, and trust worthy. Now we can also start to explain why Jesus has the authority to set these standards that will build a strong foundation.

John 1:1 ESV

• He wasn’t just present at creation, it was by Him that all was made.
• He saw how God covered humans after they fell.

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• You may feel as though you are facing impossible odds in the coming year. You have cried out to God over and over with little or seemingly no response. But you don’t know what’s ahead or how God will be glorified through this.

Exodus 14:10-18 ESV

• Verses 13-14 seem like easy instructions until you’re the one being told to fear not, stand firm, and be silent.
• You may have seen God do the impossible and the battles ahead seem much smaller. You’re on a mountain top that you’ve never been on before. Things seem to be smooth ahead.

Joshua 5:10-15 ESV

• 11 Their entire lives they have been told about this land. Now they have received that promise.
• 12 The promise that had sustained them for their entire life had came to an end because of the promise they were receiving.
• One provision was ending while another was just beginning.
• Joshua was on a mountain top he had never been on before and was ready to take on whatever was in front of him.
• The phrase that got his attention was in verse 14 No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord

What do we do in times like these? Facing major obstacles or on top of the world.

2 Peter 1:3-11 ESV

• Take every opportunity to search yourself and grow through in spite of or because of circumstances around you.
• Verse 9 calls those who lack these blind.
• We are left with the challenge to practice the things we lack.

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The battles and victories from 2025

The battles being fought

The plan for 2026

The Israelites were to told to set a memorial for the same thing.

Joshua 3:7-17 ESV

Joshua 4:1-24 ESV

Joshua 5:1 ESV

Points to ponder

1. Normal Jordan is 100’ wide probably no more than knee deep, at flood stage it was a mile wide 5,280’ and rushing water.
2. Nothing changed till the priests stepped in.
3. They stood in the middle till everyone crossed.
4. The stones for the memorial were picked up from the middle of the Jordan not the banks.

What did it mark

1. What God had done. 2025
2. What God was doing. Current day
3. What God will do. 2026

God also gave us a memorial to remember what He has done, is doing, and will do.

What He has done 2025

Genesis 3:14-15 NIV

• Leads to the cross

What He is doing current day

Galatians 4:3-7 ESV

What He will do 2026

Revelation 19:11-16 ESV

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Luke 1:26-66 ESV

Mary Visits Elizabeth

Mary's Song of Praise: The Magnificat

The Birth of John the Baptist

Luke 2:1-21 ESV

The Shepherds and the Angel

• Why are you who say you are?

Luke 1:31 ESV

• Because Jesus was born
• No! It does give us the image that we carry Him though.

Luke 1:41-42 ESV

• Because you have been filled with the Holy Spirit
• No! We should be compelled to speak out on His behalf.
• No one ever celebrates birth and death at the same time but if it were not for Christ’s death we wouldn’t be celebrating His birth.
• His birth gave life, His life was spent dying to self, His death gives opportunity.

Romans 10:9-10 ESV

• If there is anything standing between you God today now is the time to be forgiven.

Mark‬ ‭14‬:‭22‬-‭24 ESV‬‬

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Guest Speaker Ben Meadow

Romans Chapter 5-8

Galatians 5:13-26

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Define martyr = A person who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of witnessing or refusing to renounce a religion.

Martyrdom is about dying for your biblical beliefs but to live as a martyr is to spend your life living for those same beliefs. The most effective way to live as a martyr has less to do with living against something and is driven by living for something.

Galatians 5:22-24 ESV
⁃ How have you been doing with the fruit of the Spirit?
⁃ Have you been more aware of them in your life?
⁃ Has God been putting things your life to grow and develop them?
⁃ There is a really big statement that follows this list, against such things there is no law.
⁃ When living out the fruit of the Spirit according to scripture there has never, in history, been a physical law against them.

Romans 8:1-4 ESV
⁃ The law of the Spirit is not what not to do but what to do.
⁃ The physical law is what not to do and we no matter how hard we try cannot keep it purely.
⁃ The reason for Christ was for us and His love towards us.
⁃ So what is the righteous requirement of the law? Perfect obedience to God’s commands, love God and love others.
⁃ This is impossible for us to do on our own.

Romans 8:5-11 ESV
⁃ Here we find why we can’t keep the physical law on our own and the importance being in Christ.
⁃ Being in Christ brings life.
⁃ One day all will die.
⁃ One day those in Christ will raise back to life.
⁃ How do we live in Christ?

John 15:1-5 ESV
⁃ First let’s look at verse 3 what is this word He spoke?
⁃ If we had to narrow this to only 1 word it would be love.
⁃ How are we in Christ? Simply abide.
⁃ The purpose of a fruit tree or vineyard is to produce fruit, the purpose of the fruit is provide nutrition to all who consume it.
⁃ The fruit of the Spirit is what we are to produce and is what we have to offer those around us.
⁃ There is no law against the fruit of the Spirit because the law of death doesn’t apply to eternal matters.

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Define martyr = A person who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of witnessing or refusing to renounce a religion.

Martyrdom is about dying for your biblical beliefs but to live as a martyr is to spend your life living for those same beliefs. The most effective way to live as a martyr has less to do with living against something and is driven by living for something.

Galatians 5:22-24 ESV

We have talked week after week about how each of the fruit are being developed in us and how they are the very character of God.

• Self-control like each of the fruit of the Spirit plays hand in hand with all the others.
• It also touches every part of our life.
• In most cases we think of restraining ourself or resisting negative things but self-control is also knowingly doing what’s best for the kingdom and others.

Matthew 5:13-16 ESV

• We can down play the good in an effort to be humble or not allow the left hand to know what the right hand is doing so much that we actually hinder what God might be wanting to do in or through us.
• It’s good that our light shines. It’s also good that we share the good that God is doing in us.
• There is a verse that fits well here although at first first read it seems to be a stand alone verse.

Matthew 7:6 ESV

• This verse seems to be stuck between judging others and asking God for anything.
• This is about both discernment and self-control.
• Discerning when to speak into someone’s life or give a gift and the self-control to follow that discernment.

2 Peter 2:21-22 ESV

• If we aren’t careful we could act like a dog or a pig. Be respective to what others speak into your life.
• Don’t return to the old things when new ones are available.
• Jesus speaks in regard to self-control with many things.

1. Anger

Matthew 5:23-24 ESV

1. Lust

Matthew 5:28-29 ESV

1. Retaliation

Matthew 5:38-39 ESV

1. Love your enemies

Matthew 5:38-39 ESV

1. Fasting

Matthew 6:17-18 ESV

1. Treasures

Matthew 6:19-21 ESV

1. Anxiety

Matthew 6:31-34 ESV

1. The golden rule

Matthew 7:12 ESV

• Paul’s speaks of self-control by disciplining his own body.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 ESV

• This would put on trial all our senses. Sight, taste, touch, smell, and hearing.
• How do we increase our self control?
• Focus on what we have freedom to do!

1. Build healthy relationships.
2. Create healthy relationships.
3. Focus on heaven.
4. Love like Jesus.

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