Calvary Chapel Bakersfield

Jesus is entering into His public ministry 3 1/2 years Jesus will go about preaching and teaching that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. First thing Jesus does is He is led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil… the Christian life we see right away is a battle from day one. As Jesus begins His public ministry about a year has gone by now since His baptism. He was in Nazareth where He was as the Scripture teaches, “a prophet is not without honor except in his home town.”

Everyone of us will face temptation in this life. Jesus was led of the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Jesus defeated the devil and His life is a model of how we need to approach temptation too.

In order to understand the reason for being water baptized, it is important to carefully consider what the Bible says about it… Jesus himself was baptized. He was not a sinner, yet he humbled himself in obedience to identify with us and give us an example to follow.

At the time of John’s ministry the Romans have subdued the nation of Israel. The Pharisee’s and the Saducee’s are the ruling religious leaders at this time.

Esther makes the plot against the Jews known… Esther asked for her own life and the lives of her people, who had been sentenced to death. If they had only been sold as ... slaves she would have held her peace.

The God News is from studying this passage is we discover that God always meets us where we are and leads us to where we need to go if we will only follow Him.

Don’t you just love the story of Esther? A study of the providence of God.

Simeon says of this baby Jesus that He is a light to bring to revelation… then Simeon delivers a prophecy to Mary that the effect her son would have… “A sign… that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed…” By Jesus the thoughts of many hearts would be revealed. The life of Jesus would expose the hearts. Thats what we find here in Matthew chapter 2. Three responses to Jesus.

We just started a new series in the Gospel of Matthew and you recall how the story began… Verse 1: The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: Matthew is the most Jewish book of the Gospels… Matthew is writing to Jews to show them that Jesus FULFILLED the prophecies concerning the promised Messiah. Mark wrote for a Roman audience, Luke for the Greeks, John’s gospel is for anyone and everyone.

Where’s Jesus? Looking for and finding Jesus in everyday life