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Apostolic Writings Discussions

Matthew 5:13–16: Why the Kingdom needs more tastefulness and enlightenment

We can toss around slights such as “moron” and “dim bulb” tastelessly, but we should take great pause when such words take center stage in a major teaching from Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus).

In this third part of a deep dive into the Sermon on the Mount and Sermon on the Plain, we explore His parables of salt and light, digging into the lessons they give for how the Kingdom will operate at the time of the “a new heavens and a new Earth” (Isa. 66:22-23; Rev. 22:1-2) and right now.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions

Matthew 5:8–20: Does the Messiah’s path to true happiness include the Law?

Aren’t the Law of Moses and the Law of Christ two different “tunes,” the former about obedience and justice and the latter about grace and mercy? We find that Yeshua (Jesus) bridges both in the sermons on the mount and plain (Matthew 5–7; Luke 6:17–36).

In part 3 of this look inside these important messages from Yeshua on salvation, we explore a critical key to understanding the harmony between the Song of the Lamb and the Song of Moses, detailed in Torah reading הַאֲזִינוּ Ha’azinu (“listen,” Deuteronomy 32).

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Creation speakers coming to Sonoma County this fall

For more than 200 years there’s been a concerted effort to progressively put the God of the Bible into the back seat and then standing on the shoulder of the road to knowledge about how things came to be and how we should live. Why should we care? Because two-thirds of children raised in Christian […]

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Apostolic Writings Discussions

Matthew 5:3–6; Luke 6:20–21: Happiness is mourning unrighteousness, rejoicing over forgiveness

In part 2 of our deep dive into Messiah Yeshua’s Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:17-36), we explore the Beatitudes and discover how we can find true happiness through sorrow over life apart from the Creator and joy over Heaven’s Anointed One who heals the pain.

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Discussions Torah

Deuteronomy 29–30: Is circumcision of the heart too much to bear?

It should be an easy choice: life vs. death. Unfortunately many people willingly choose death rather than life because they don’t want to submit their hearts, souls and minds to God.

It’s important to understand that following Torah is our free choice. It is easy to fall into analysis paralysis of learning God’s instructions, and Deuteronomy 29-30 (Torah reading Netzavim) can bring us back to our center when we fall into that trap.

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Discussions Prophets and Writings

Isaiah 60: Feeling lost, alone, forgotten? Grab Heaven’s Lifeline — the Messiah

As Rosh Hashanah (aka Yom Teruah and Day of Blowing Trumpets) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonment) approach, it’s a good reminder to be more forgiving of the small things that others do to annoy us. And what we do to annoy them.

We need to forgive those as we want to be forgiving. The Messiah forgives a massive amount of trespasses. The LORD covers over those egregious sins, so we can at least let go of the much smaller trespasses others do to us. 

We may think we’re far removed from the horror show described in the Torah reading כי תבוא Ki Tavo (“when you come in,” Deut. 26:1-29:8), but each of us encounters stress that pushes off any mask from our true characters.

A key point in this passage is entering and living in the “rest” God gives us, fully realized through the Messiah and the Spirit. Like Israel’s move from Mitsraim (Egypt) to the Land, our entering God’s “rest” (Hebrews 3–4) is all about a change of identity, purpose and character.

This Bible study looks at the parallel reading for Ki Tavo: Isaiah 60, which Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) quoted. The Exile, both literal and spiritual, is a time of darkness and desolation. When the darkness is great, the light is even easier to spot. Unfortunately, we tend to focus on the darkness. Most of our entertainment focuses on the darkness. God has shown us the Light of the world.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions

Matthew 5:1–2; Luke 6:17–20: Sermons on mount and plain reveal key calling cards of Yeshua

Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ) revealed the heart of God in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:17-36). Why does the venue matter? Both teach us important sides of the Messiah.

Join us for the first in-depth look in this series on these two important messages from the Messiah.