other than the Gospels recorded information about Jesus, His life and His ministry. This curiosity lead them to finding three main outside sources, Pagan sources, Jewish sources, and second- and third-century sources, that scholars have scrutinized to see if they contain information about Jesus that is not portrayed in the Gospels. Unfortunately, none of these outside sources provide much detail about Jesus and his ministry, however, some of them do mention Jesus. For example, one Pagan source does not even mention Jesus until the early second century. Pliny, a Roman governor, wrote about a religious cult called “Christians.” He also mentions that these “Christians” worshiped a guy named Jesus. Even though…
I used to think of the kingdom of God as some far off place that I hoped to get to someday. In practicing ministry, it has become much clearer to me that the kingdom of God is a reality in our world today. It really hits me when I preach a sermon about one of the main purposes of Jesus’ ministry. Luke records it this way in chapter 4 verse 43, “But he said to them, 'I must preach the good news of God’s kingdom in other cities too, for this is why I was sent. '" (CEB). Jesus kept saying that the…
In this passage Luke summarizes the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, including his teaching, miraculous deeds, and calling of his first disciples. Jesus declares that the time has come for God’s promises to be fulfilled. The hopes revealed in the Old Testament start becoming true through his life and ministry. Luke emphasizes that Jesus is Messiah, who is sent by God the Father to proclaim and demonstrate the Good News. We see that not everyone is open to this, as Jesus meets some opposition…
Jesus Christ was the promise fulfilled and hope of salvation, by faith, for those who are lost. Harrelson stated in The New Interpreters Study Bible that, “Jesus’ life and ministry reveal God’s presence to the world, but also confronts the world with the difficult decision of whether or not to accept this revelation” (1906). God did not have to send his son to offer salvation to the world, he could’ve simply mandated it, or dramatically opened the heavens and given the call for salvation.…
history at this time, her residence at Bethlehem, flight to Egypt, and return to her early home at Nazareth, are recorded in the Bible. On only four occasions is she mentioned in scripture, after the start of Jesus’ ministry. The Bible credits her with only one noteworthy event; giving birth to Jesus. She did not write a book, she did no miracles, she did not minister and she did not spread the Gospel of Jesus. In fact, without Jesus, her life was rather…
1:27 the Bible states that man was made in “his own image.” It has always been God intention that we model after him. From the beginning of time, he called us to follow his lead. Just as God walked with Adam and Eve, so did Jesus walk with his disciples. God fellowshipped with Adam and Eve and walked with them daily; Jesus in turn walked and fellowshipped everyday teaching his disciples. Throughout Jesus’ ministry he lead by example. Spending quiet time with God, through prayer and fasting,…
Luke paints a different portrait of Jesus unlike the other gospels. Luke put emphasis on Jesus being the Messiah from the David’s lineage. Throughout the Book of Luke, emphasis was put on Jesus being the Messiah to the entire world and not just to the Jews. This was very important because many of the stories, Jesus used people who were not Jews but Gentiles. The sermon in Luke 4, transfiguration, and Jesus’ Galilean ministry paint a unique portrait of Jesus. Each event builds up the…
Matthew 1-12 Matthew 3:4-17 teaches the ministry of Jesus by describing Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist. John the Baptist is described as a grizzly, wild-like man who is baptizing many people, even the Pharisees and Sadducees who are more conservative in their Jewish beliefs. Jesus wishes to be baptized by John because of his holiness, going against the traditional Jewish orders. Upon being baptized, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit both appear as the trinity in the same scene. This…
Whether to Move? Thesis: God is all seeing and all knowing, when the community around a church changes we are not called to run away but find a way to share the message of Christ with them. If the church leaves are we sending a message the Jesus only cares for people in the suburbs? Jesus ministry while on earth was to the poor, sick and ostracize the ministry of the church should look the His ministry. How did Jesus reach His Community? In Matthew 4:23-25 And he went throughout all…
according to Nils Smith, social media is the most popular activity on the internet. This twenty-first century phenomenon is a great opportunity for churches to capitalize on this innovative technology using it as a ministry tool for evangelism. Thousands of people use social media daily, but sadly according to Aaron Earls only “40 percent of Protestant churches in America still are not using any social networking tools.” In fact, evangelism in general seems to be no longer a huge priority…