Gnostic Gospels

God changed with the people and by this time people had become more understanding but were still full of greed. God needed to change into someone that they would listen to so he changed from an invisible God to visible Jesus. Jesus shared a message of compassion and kindness. While Jesus still tested people he approached it different to God. In the passage above (Matthew 14:22-23), Jesus tests Peters faith in Him. He finds out that he has ‘little faith’ and questions Peter. This is perfectly…

Bible Facts Who Wrote the Book of Hebrews Preachers regularly affirm that Paul did not write the 19th book of the New Testament and others are convinced that it was written by the Apostle. Since there is no inspired statement specifically identifying the author, neither of them can positively prove his affirmation However, the salutation at the close of the book and statements made by the Holy Spirit in the books of First and Second Peter suggest strongly that the book of Hebrews was penned…

At first glance, the three Synoptic Gospels seem so similar. Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell roughly the same stories of Jesus (and the same stories that Jesus told himself). Their overall messages are the same. The Lesson of the Fig Tree (§ 220) warns people that God’s Kingdom is near and in The Confession at Caesarea Philippi and The First Prediction of the Passion (§ 122) Jesus asks his disciples who people think he is, before ordering them to keep his true identity to themselves. They tell…

“movement from God into the world and in terms of the intentionality of Jesus’ mission in Galatians 4:4-5” (26). Furthermore, in Galatians 1:1 and 15-16 describes Paul’s mission as movement and intentionality. Paul’s goal of his mission is to preach the gospel (the message of Jesus Christ) to not only to the Jews, but also to Gentiles. In other words, according to Romans 1:14 and 15:19, Paul wanted to proclaim the fact that God is the true God, and Jesus is the…

The Salvation Army is an organization to help the needy and hopeless. Captain Ken Chapman is 53 years old. He’s a fourth generation Salvationist. He knew as a teenager that God called him to be an Officer in The Salvation Army. It took him a long time to respond after serving 10 years as a band and theatre teacher and owning his own business for 20 years (Creative Events International). Normally it takes two years of seminary training, but the Captain did it a little bit different from the rest.…

Barton provides detailed and carefully deliberated comments regarding the spiritual focus of the gospel of Mark. His attention to the obvious motifs in the gospel seems to be legitimate. While he does use the Gospel of Matthew to give illumination to Mark, I believe he did a masterful job at using the Markan episode to advance his thoughts. In terms of how this plays out in the life of the church, Barton’s work provides a rich array of relevant topics and themes for preaching in the…

through Jesus Christ and it includes the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Matthew, the tax collector, is the most important Gospel of all because it contains all the elements important to the early church: the story of Jesus’s miraculous conception; and explanation of the importance of liturgy, law, discipleship, and teaching; and an account of Jesus’s life and death. The Gospel of Mark, the fisherman, was the least popular of the gospels. His Gospel comes to us through his own personal…

News: A Response In his book, Simply Good News, N.T. Wright sets out to explain the Gospel–or the “good news”–of Jesus. However, he does so in a way that Jesus and the first century believers would have done, instead of using a modern (and dethatched) context. In so doing, Wright demonstrates the duplicity of the modern view, which renders good news into mere good advice. This is Wright’s main point; the Gospel is not mere advice, instead it is good news that should spark in us a joy, love, and…

Explaining Luke Chapter 15 explains the seeking and uniting. God seeks to unite humanity to himself. In this chapter we see three main examples; seeking/finding the talent, finding the lost sheep and finally the unity of the prodigal son with his father. In the following verses, Jesus presents three parables to help the Pharisees and scribes understand the relationship He has with sinners. Jesus is speaking with two groups: The tax collector and sinner, and the Pharisees and Scribes, who had a…

reveal the missions and their methods and purposes of Christianity in the early church? As we look at the mission of Peter that led to his martyrdom, one quickly see the Holy Spirit empowering him as revealed in Acts 2:1-4. Peter was preaching the gospel with confidence, conviction and compassion. As he carried the word of God, he drew crowds of thousands of new believers to Christianity, he was healing the blind, standing up to leaders of the opposition. As he carried out his mission Peter…