Paul Expands Jesus’ Ministry and Teaching to 13 Books. John Summarizes Jesus’ Ministry and Teachings in 11 Verses.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ² while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. ³ And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, ⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.
⁵ Every valley shall be filled
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough ways smooth;
⁶ And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”

John Preaches to the People

⁷ Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. ⁹ And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?”

¹¹ He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”

¹² Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”

¹³ And he said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.”

¹⁴ Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?”

So he said to them, “Do not ^[c]intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”

Passive Christianity Is Dead Christianity

What do you want? What do you desire? What is your ambition?

Do you really want to know? Look at your behavior. You do what you want.

This is a devastatingly simple psychology of motivation. But it’s what the Bible teaches:

James: Faith without works is dead. Don’t tell me you have faith if the way you live doesn’t back up what you say. (James 2:17–18)

John: Love without deeds is dead. Don’t tell me you love if the way you live doesn’t back up what you say. (1 John 3:17–18)

Paul: Grace without holiness is dead. Don’t tell me you revel in God’s grace if the way you live doesn’t back up what you say. (Romans 6:12–14)

Jesus: Discipleship without obedience is dead. Don’t tell me I’m your Lord if the way you live doesn’t back up what you say. (Matthew 7:21)

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Read the full article here

http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/passive-christianity-is-dead-christianity

Ever Wonder What A Spring Of Water Is?

A spring is a water resource formed when the side of a hill, a valley bottom or other excavation intersects a flowing body of groundwater at or below the local water table, below which the subsurface material is saturated with water. A spring is the result of an aquifer being filled to the point that the water overflows onto the land surface. They range in size from intermittent seeps, which flow only after much rain, to huge pools flowing hundreds of millions of gallons daily.

Still other springs are the result of pressure from an underground source in the earth, in the form of volcanic activity. The result can be water at elevated temperature such as a hot spring.

Springs are often classified by the volume of the water they discharge. The largest springs are called “first-magnitude”, defined as springs that discharge water at a rate of at least 2800 liters or 100 cubic feet (2.8 m³) of water per second.

Fontaine de Vaucluse or Spring of Vaucluse in France discharges about 470 million US gallons (1,800,000 m³) of water per day at a rate of 727 cubic feet (21 m³) per second.

Wow. This Spring of Vaucluse makes “never thirst” sound very possible indeed.

 

¹³ Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

John 4:13-14

Bible study Joey & I Did Together. My Notes. Original. So It’s Messy Hehe.

John 2:1-11 (NLT)

The Wedding at Cana

2 The next day^[a] there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, ² and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. ³ The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no more wine.”

⁴ “Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”

⁵ But his mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶ Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons.^[b] 7 Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled, ⁸ he said, “Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So the servants followed his instructions.

⁹ When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. ¹⁰ “A host always serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!”

¹¹ This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

 

 

Answer the following questions:

 

1. Who is in the passage?

Mother, Jesus, Disciples, Servants, MC, bridegroom

 

2. What is happening?

Wedding dinner? They ran out of wine but it was probably not time to go home yet. Mary told Jesus, waiting for a miracle? He did provide around thirty gallons of wine better than the previous wine.

 

3. Where did it happened?

The village of Cana in Galilee.

 

4. When was it?

After a Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist. After John the Baptist started to announce about Jesus. After Jesus got a few followers. Before any of his travels. Before he has gathered all his disciples. Before people really knew about the things that really made him famous.

 

5. Why ?

Why did Mary tell Jesus the wine was finished? Since it really wasn’t any of their business.
What did Jesus mean by not his time?

Why did Jesus do the miracle anyway even though it was not His time? Is he talking about something else?

Does it mean something that the wine was in the Jewish ceremonial washing jars? Isn’t it dirty?

 

 

6. Wherefore?

• Mary really had faith in Jesus to be a GOD. So special. She already anticipated it since before he is born because of the message from angel Gabriel. We can learn from her faith. To believe not because she has seen, but believe in the future. Based on what he CAN do, not what He HAS done.
• The servants had to have faith. Whether they are jewish or not, they sure know the customs and that that is ceremonial jar. Taking a drink for their master is risky. If it’s just dirty water, like it is, they may lose their jobs. Or maybe their life.
• Jesus obeyed his mom. She is just human. And he already explain to her why she is probably wrong for asking him to do it. But he still do it.

Acts 3

Verses 1-10

 

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts.When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

 

guess what was the first thing that caught my eye.

a temple gate called ‘Beautiful’!

wow what  beautiful name!

haha

i would definitely get out of my way just to use that gate to go to the temple all the time haha.

 

second thing that i realised, was how normal Peter and John must’ve looked.

if i was a crippled beggar, i would beg, but not stare anyone in the eye.

i would be so ashamed and would be in self-pity.

ashamed that im in such a situation.

sure i would look at their face to see if they showed any compassion.

but there will never be a staring contest.

the moment they start to stare at me or study me,

i will look away.

thats prolly why Peter had to say “look at me.”

and im sure the crippled man did look at Peter and John as commanded.

but what he saw, was not a sparkly floating angel.

he saw a potential person interested to donate some resources out of pity.

he saw hope that maybe there will be money. or maybe there will not be.

what he didnt see was the word “APOSTLE” stamped on Johns face.

he didnt see a miracle worker.

he didnt see a halo atop his head.

nor was there wings sprouting from his back.

 

so who was John and Peter?

they were normal people like you and me.

(they were also poor btw)

yet they could do powerful and supernatural things.

 

Conclusion:

we can too.

stop comparing yourself to pastors or great missionaries.

(we like to complain “no lah, im not like that guy, i cannot pray for you” or “dont give me such a big task lah, i’m not that great”)

we also can do great and mighty things.

we need to,

for the sake of those around us.

 

 

Verses 11-16

 

While the beggar held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.

 

 

Part II:

John and Peter were normal like you and me.

the great and mighty things were not done because they were great and mighty.

it was the empowerment of God in their lives.

We are witnesses of this. By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong.

 

God desires for all of us to be empowered this way.

i believe that we need to seek Him and obey His commands for us to live this empowered lifestyle.

we dont have to be born with certain talents. or trained to do certain things. (like speaking/preaching)

because ultimately, God uses the simple and the meek and the humble and the willing.