Sermon Notes & Videos
2024-04-22 | Passover 2024
2024 Passover Haggadah: The Telling | From Anointing to Resurrection | Video Part 1 | Video Part 2
Welcome to the Passover with Kingdom Embassy Ministries
When your children ask, what will you tell them? What happens when an entire generation separates from its roots, forgets their heritage, and has no recollection from where they came?
Yahweh built reminders into the culture of His people to deter that from happening, but unfortunately it has. God’s people have disconnected from the roots of their faith, surrendered to common culture, and adopted the traditions of the world around them. “Do not love the world or the things of the world,” John warned. Are you guilty of committing the same atrocities, of which Y’shua accused the religious hypocrites in His day, “making the word of God of no effect through their traditions which they have handed down?” I fear, if asked, like those religious hypocrites, too many Christians could offer no defense!
“How so?” you might be thinking. Look around, especially during the holiday seasons, and you will see the majority of Christians flocking to celebrate manmade holidays, steeped in pagan traditions. But when their children ask, “What do you mean by this service?” or, “What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord our God has commanded us?” They will have no legitimate answer. Instead, they “make the word of God of no effect through their traditions,” which they are now handing down to their children. If Y’shua walked the earth today, He’d ask the same question of religious leaders that He asked two thousand years ago. “Why do you transgress the commandment of God because of your traditions?”
John warned us about loving the things of the world, “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life…” May the Body of Christ run from such things. And the next time your children ask, “What do you mean by this service?” you will say, “It’s the Passover; we were slaves and now we are free; may your children tell their children, and their children the next generation. It is a memorial forever.” Or, you can say, “ These are our pagan roots; go find your painted eggs and chocolate Easter bunnies. Fill your baskets; this is now how we remember the death, burial and resurrection of our blessed Savior.” Oh, how far we have fallen from the truth! I don’t know about you, but when my children ask, I will say “As for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh!”
2024-04-19 | John 13-17 | Preparation Day
Sermon Notes | From Anointing to Resurrection | Sermon Video
Asking questions is one of the most effective ways to engage the mind on a deeper level. Paul and Y’shua used this rabbinic style often and it has continued to stir the imagination of Christians for two thousand years. A quick review of Romans, Paul’s Magnum Opus, and you will discover that ninety-two times he asked a question—each used to stitch together the fabric of the greatest theological treatise ever written—the canvas on which was painted the masterpiece of Christian doctrine. Y’shua was a skillful artist when asking provocative questions. “Who do men say that I am?” challenged Peter to confess, ”You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And, what might be His most alluring question of all, is one that Y’shua left blank—the conclusion for you to discover.
“Who is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his estate, to feed the people at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom, upon his return, the master finds so doing.” And there is one other variation of this teaching style to consider. At times, Y’shua used incendiary statements to inspire critical prophetic inquiries from His disciples, or from anyone else with ears to hear. “Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” This disturbing image of the crumbling temple later induced His disciples to ask privately, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” One such directive prompted a question from His disciples that you too might ask yourself. And coming from a modern-day Christian makes it even more flammable than His disciples’ urgent appeal 2000 years ago! “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.” Their expected reaction, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” Now ask yourself the same question… “How will I prepare for the Passover that we may eat?”
2024-04-12 | Romans 9:1-18 | Lets Get Historical
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The entirety of the contradiction and denial can be summed up with this one ridiculous statement, indicative of the disease of historical blindness. “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone.” Can you imagine the depth of their deception? The Nile River has a wide expanse in some places, but the River of Denial is too wide to cross everywhere, impossible to survive without a floatation device. Paul seems to be addressing a people hysterical over historical truth—a wave of deception that prevents them from latching onto the buoyancy of Christ. As such, Paul seems intent on revising revisionist history. Facts matter, although if you watch the news today you’d conclude otherwise. They suffered historical amnesia. Those who forget their history are bound to repeat its mistakes! “We have never been in bondage to anyone although we emerged from bondage to Egypt and landed in bondage to Rome.” They inherited historical misinterpretations. Those who incorrectly interpret the meaning of history are bound to repeat its mistakes! Israel may not mean what you think—you must expand your mind or you will miss something eternal. They invited historical misconceptions. Those who misunderstand the lessons of history are bound to repeat its mistakes! The children of the promise, in what seems to be a reference to the physical line of Isaac, was not so at all. Isaac was conceived to bring forth the Messiah, not just a nation.
And maybe the most egregious error you might make is to indict God’s character, as if God’s sovereignty is on trial. Rather we ought to defend God’s character. How gracious is He who guides us with historical precedent; judges us with historical justice; comforts us with historical predictability; and reasons with us with historical rationale. But, if you forget your history, or incorrectly interpret its meaning, or misunderstand its lessons—you are bound to repeat its mistakes! The Nile River has a wide expanse in some places, but the River of Denial is too wide to cross everywhere, impossible to survive without a floatation device, and the only thing offering you buoyancy is Christ.
2024-04-05 | Romans 8:33-39 | No Weapon Shall Prosper
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It won’t always seem true, but feelings can be fickle. It’s not that they are bad, or that you shouldn’t have them, but feelings oftentimes can’t be trusted. And there is no inspiration more effective or deceptive, than trouble, when we consider its effect on emotions. A good o’fashioned trial, complete with attacks from every direction, pressing in on every side, is all the fuel you need to lose confidence in God, to let your feelings run amuck, and to allow your emotions to rule the day.
Weeping and sorrow may last through the night, but joy comes in the morning. That is precisely why God’s heart is for you to hold tight to His promises. It looks bad; don’t worry. You’re in danger; don’t fear. There is no way out; don’t panic. It’s too much to bear; don’t lose hope. The burden is too heavy; don’t cave. The doors keep slamming in your face; don’t give up. The temptation is too great; don’t surrender. The answer is nowhere to be found; don’t stop asking. The solution is too confusing; God is your mathematician. What to do is a complete mystery; God is your spiritual detective. And now, make it really personal!
I’m too sick to be well; God is my healer. The price is too high and I can’t cover the cost; God will reconcile my accounts. I’m too dirty to ever be clean; the Lord of all will exchange my garments for His. My sins are too many, too often, too big, and too ugly; God says to me, “Do over!” The circumstances of my life are beyond complicated; I am at the end of myself, the limit of my understanding. It all feels like an enigma wrapped in a conundrum. Excellent, that is precisely where God wants me!
Nothing that exists in the entirety of creation can be, if the God over all of creation had not allowed it to be. He is sovereign over your suffering and your solution! No weapon formed against you shall prosper; every enemy that rises against you God will defeat. But there is one “not so subtle nuance” that might be your greatest victory in times of trouble. You are more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus. God does not just defeat your enemies—He obliterates them, as if to spray a firehose at a matchstick!
2024-03-22 | Romans 8:28-32 | The Winning Hand
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At times, ideas you’ve never before considered breeze across your mind and suddenly the mundane becomes utterly profound. You fall deep inside the thought and realize you’ve been unwittingly slow playing your cards all along. Do you know what that means? That is when in a card game you are conscious of holding the winning hand and yet you represent yourself in all ways as if your cards are merely pedestrian. You are keenly aware you’ve won, but you want your opponents to believe otherwise so you can draw them in further, tempting them to commit a larger stake, all so you can win more of their chips. This play does not work well in matters of the Spirit. And that is because no one would slow play things of God intentionally; there is no upside in knowing you hold the winning hand and acting as if you’ve lost. If you did, you are guaranteed to lose, and so does everyone around you who needs to witness what winning with the Lord looks like!
One such matter of prominence in which you might have unintentionally slow played your hand is divulged when you unexpectedly realize that your cards hold the secrets of the universe, the words of the living God who created all things. For so long you’ve treated the Bible casually like any other app on your mobile device, or any other book in your collection of stories. Then your eyes suddenly open and you reconsider the nature of the “cards” you hold in your hands, and just how life-altering it would be if you actually played them. You couldn’t lose! No one would slow play these cards deliberately, if they truly comprehended the strength of their hand.
Another such region of darkness is exposed to the light when you live life, plodding along as if you are infected with some type of deficiency or lack—a losing hand. And then you abruptly experience the revelation that God would not leave you with any insufficiency—proven by one undeniable fact. The price He paid to make sure you had everything you need was the life of His only begotten Son. If He was willing to pay that much to ensure you have the winning hand, how on earth can you imagine under any condition that you don’t?
2024-03-15 | Romans 8:23-27 | The Mind of God
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At times there are just no words. Have you ever felt that way: when your experience exceeds explanation; when the circumstance defies any useful description; when the strength required to speak is altogether gone and you cannot even formulate a single word to express your desperation? If words were dollars you’d be living in abject poverty. And yet this is not a bad place to be because it is here where the Holy Spirit takes over.
There is an obvious stipulation that should govern your prayer life at all times, and that is to seek first the will of God. Minimally, if you can’t quite discern God’s will, you should offer to abdicate your will in favor of His, and that sometimes is enough to render you speechless. “I just have no words; I don’t know what to pray.” And suddenly sounds pour forth—unintelligible, inarticulate sounds; deep guttural groans that are not human in origin. We find the Holy Spirit at work and this we know. The Spirit never speaks a word that did not originate from the Father’s heart, His mind—which might be the perfect definition of God’s will. But what is most extraordinary is that these unintelligible, inarticulate sounds; deep guttural groans form through your mouth! And that means what is coming forth from your very lips is the mind of God.