Sermon Notes & Videos
2024-05-17 | Romans 11:1-15 | One New Man
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The Father has been in the business of separating things from the beginning. He separated light from darkness; water in the firmament above from water below; and then water on the earth from the land. When creation was finished, He separated the six days of creation from the seventh; then He rested and blessed the seventh day and sanctified it—called it holy.
Paul has been emphasizing this doctrine of separation in what should now be obvious. Chiefly we know this; there are two Israels with two different inheritances, both good, but only one is holy; that’s the separation. There is also a third people group whose inheritance is not good, and again we see a separation, this time the bad from the two that are good. So, we count three eternal people groups.
Might we use the crosses of Calvary to depict the three? To help, create a picture in your mind—see them atop Golgotha. There is a man in the middle and a criminal on each side. The imagery is striking; there are three crosses on Calvary: the redeemed man, the perfect man, and the rebellious man. One will be a citizen into eternity, one a ruler, and the last a rebel. So, again we count three eternal people groups.
Allegorically, these three crosses require two gospels, the gospel of salvation and the gospel of the kingdom. The gospel of salvation moves a man from the cross of rebellion to the cross of redemption; the gospel of the kingdom moves a man from the cross of redemption to the cross of perfection. One man will believe that only his salvation matters and, as such, the gospel of salvation is all that is important. One man will recognize his role in bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth, and thus he will also include the gospel of the kingdom in his repertoire. One man will remain rebellious and believe neither. Which one represents you; which is your ultimate inheritance? Once more we count three eternal people groups.
Paul has already made a distinction between the citizens and the rulers; between Israel and Israel, and allegorically between redemption and perfection. One will inherit the earth, the other heaven. And those who inherit neither will inherit eternal flames. Let’s disregard that third group here because they just don’t care about this topic. They need not come to any civil agreements with the two groups that are good; it is really between the good and the holy that we might feel contention.
The Father has been in the business of separating things from the beginning and everyone has a role to play. But here, Paul is about to set the record straight once and for all. God has a plan to bring some of the natural branches of Israel together with the heavenly branches of Israel as one new man, and He is showing us what that will look like. Who ultimately plays on which team will not be completed until the very end. “If the fall of natural Israel is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!” What does it all mean and how can you file away these confusing thoughts in such a way that you understand who you are to God and what role you will play in God’s eternal plan? Let’s find out!
2024-05-10-Romans | 10:14-21 | Discriminating Questions
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Romans is a letter filled with questions. Right from the start of exploration into this deep “theological treatise,” we discovered that ninety-two times Paul asked a question. As any good teacher should, Paul used questions to stir the imagination of his readers and provoke contemplation. It is a powerful tool to engage with people. Questions offer a significantly more effective method of interaction than flooding a teaching with statements. It’s the perfect way to advance a conversation, discern someone’s position, determine their current level of understanding, share new information, impart knowledge, influence thought, and challenge disagreement. Questions must, however, be intentional, as both quality and delivery will determine their effectiveness. In just eight verses, Paul asks seven discriminating questions: How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? How shall they hear without a preacher? How shall they preach unless they are sent? Lord, who has believed our report? Have they not heard? And, did Israel not know?
As we venture deeper still, we might add seven additional critical inquiries: Who can be sent? What is the message? How will they know the report is true? What have they already heard? Who will provoke who to jealousy? Who will listen and obey? And, why do we keep preaching? There are many questions to answer and this one thing we know… good questions are an excellent way to reverse discrimination. How so? Most see discrimination from a perspective of prejudice; Paul sees it as a path to holiness.
2024-05-03 | Romans 10:1-13 | Cognitive Dissonance
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When your behavior does not align with your values or beliefs, that discomfort you feel in your inner being is known as cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is a psychological phenomenon experienced as an unpleasant emotion or mental conflict. It is the result from simultaneously contemplating two contradictory beliefs, attitudes, values, or behaviors. It also occurs when persistent ingrained beliefs or assumptions are contradicted by new information. People tend to seek consistency in their attitudes and perceptions, so this type of conflict causes uncomfortable feelings and unease.
When you are exposed to new information that is inconsistent with what you think, know and believe, and yet you remain unwilling to change your behaviors and beliefs, even when you know it is true, you are forced to do something that will allow you to maintain your position. This motivates a response that will help minimize feelings of discomfort. People attempt to relieve the tension from exposure to new threatening information with various reactions: rejection, rationalization, dismissal, or total avoidance. Or, you might just be humble enough to adopt the new way of thinking and change because of it. Everyone experiences cognitive dissonance to some degree, but it’s not always easy to recognize.
Cows are my favorite animal and I enjoy eating meat, and meat comes from cows—so, I just can’t think about it. It’s a silly little example that you might find easy to recognize. One potential source of cognitive dissonance that is poignant to today’s lesson sounds something like this. I was saved by grace through faith from the death caused by my sin. Sin is defined by God’s law and I am no longer in bondage to sin, which means I am empowered by Christ to obey God’s law. And, yet I am also taught that God’s laws are not applicable to Christians because Jesus abolished them and now all I need is faith. But, Jesus actually said He did not abolish the law; instead He empowered me with a new perspective and new abilities. God’s laws are not anymore too difficult to obey. And Paul said that faith does not nullify the law, but to the contrary establishes it. Christian history tells me that all I must do to be saved is to confess with my mouth and believe in my heart that Jesus is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead. But, the Bible teaches that the very confession that saves me concludes that with Christ, I am now empowered to obey God. So what exactly am I to obey if sin is lawlessness and I am no longer a slave to sin, but simultaneously obeying God’s laws is no longer required of me?
Can you feel the cognitive pressure building in your brain? When persistent ingrained beliefs or assumptions are contradicted by new information, it creates unpleasant emotions and mental conflict. This is cognitive dissonance. This type of conflict makes people uncomfortable, and as such they seek to realign their attitudes and perceptions. You’ve just been exposed to new threatening information. What will you do to resolve the conflict? Choose one: rejection, rationalization, dismissal, total avoidance, or perhaps change.
What can remove the conflict between your old beliefs and this new information? What can inspire new behaviors in the face of old habits? What can dismantle your desire to reject, rationalize, explain away, invent loopholes, or downright ignore novel ideas that demand a verdict? The love of truth will! Jesus said, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
2024-04-26 | Romans 9:19-33 | Pavlov’s Humans
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You came prepackaged with an ensemble of built-in character traits. These personal attributes seem to be part of your inborn nature. Many of them are good and can be used for good; some are not so good, and those can tend to hurt you and others. Then add life-experiences to your natural tendencies, and your unique personality becomes cemented. Yet, life is not all sunshine and rainbows; difficult moments arise when the not so pretty aspects of your unique personality take over and rule the day. This oftentimes can inflame circumstances. In those moments you might recognize from a feeling of inner turmoil and conviction, or because it was pointed out, that you are not only harming yourself and others, but that your behavior is offensive to God. A great controversy ensues and you put God on trial for how He made you. “Why have you made me this way?” The inner voice gets louder. “This is the way I am; I was born this way. If it’s wrong, then why did God make me like this? If God gave me certain natural instincts and tendencies and those involuntarily intersected with life and formed who I am, and some of those ways offend God, then it must be God’s fault.” What would God say about your reasoning? “Who are you to talk back to God, to question Him?”
In the famous experiments that Ivan Pavlov conducted with his dogs, he believed that events could trigger a conditioned response. In 1902, Pavlov started with the premise that there are some things that a dog does not need to learn. For example, dogs don’t learn to salivate whenever they see food. This instinctive behavior is a reflex and is hard-wired into the dog. However, Pavlov showed that dogs could be conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell if that sound was repeatedly presented at the same time that they were given food. This conditioned response or triggered behavior demonstrated the formation of a new association between the unconditioned stimulus (inborn nature) and the neutral stimulus (life experiences). Pavlov’s research shed light on the underlying mechanisms of learning and provided a framework to understand how environmental stimuli and repetitive experiences can shape our behaviors and responses.
If God made a dog to act like a dog, then He certainly can’t punish the dog for being a dog. And aren’t humans just like animals, with animal instincts hard-wired into us? It seems plausible that the same reasoning should apply to humans. How can God fault you for displaying the very nature that He willfully placed in you? No man can reject what was inserted in him before his birth. Therefore, we must conclude that Yahweh is responsible when you “act like a dog.”
To a certain degree, it’s true, but this faulty argument quickly fades as it runs into its limitations. Humans can opt out of their inherent nature, their conditioned responses and triggered behaviors, because we were created in the image of God. The dog was not! Man is the only member of God’s creation that carries His DNA. As such, no matter how deeply hidden, you have the option to express the DNA of your Creator. But, the full expression of God’s genetics can only manifest when, by grace, you personally encounter God, and you become aware of who He is and who you are in Him. However, this encounter will not change your personality or your triggered behaviors. Your new creature will still look like the old you and will tend to act like the old you, unless you purposely change. Those built-in character traits and the conditioning from your life experiences can only be effectively altered with God’s help—with further access to His grace.
When you come naked and vulnerable before the Lord a whole pantheon of personal gods and idols are uncovered. And when the god of self is exposed, the one who sits on the throne as your supreme leader, you must make a choice. Serve Yahweh—or all the gods on the other side of the River and in Egypt that are lurking in your heart. We are all on the same journey from slavery to freedom, from the bondage to sin to becoming a prisoner of righteousness. And that is not without a tsunami of emotions, rising to destroy the old man and receding to reveal the catastrophic damage to the carnal nature left behind.
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?”