Young Adults
WE'RE BACK
September 7th
Join us on Sunday, September 7th, if you are between the ages of 18 and 25! Young Adults will meet here at 5pm.
Baptism
TAKE THE PLUNGE
September 7th
We are baptizing on Sunday, September 7th. Sign up if you are interested. We will record testimony on August 31st (Sunday).
When You’re In Between
NUMBERS 13
26 Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
27 Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly [g]flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
28 Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there.
29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.”
30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”
31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.”
32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report:
dibbah: Report, Slander, Defamation, Whispering
Transliteration: dibbah
Pronunciation: dib-baw’
Phonetic Spelling: (dib-baw’)
KJV: defaming, evil report, infamy, slander
NASB: bad report, report, slander, whispering, evil report
of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.
33 There we saw the [h]giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like[i] grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
NUMBERS 14
(The Word of Fear)
1 So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night.
2 And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why has the Lord brought us to this land to [a]fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”
4 So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.”
(The Word of Faith)
6 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes;
7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land.
8 If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’ 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they[c] are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.”
(What the people chose to believe)
NUMBERS 14:10
And all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Now the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel.
The Word, “in between”, is not an neutral Word it’s you’re near both places.
DANGEROUS TERRITORY:
In chapter 14 the people gave in to fear because the ten had spread an evil report after Caleb had spoken. That word dibbah means to whisper, to defame or slander.
It comes from a root word meaning to move slowly, to glide, to cause to speak.
It is Comparable to a word that means to walk slowly or leisurely.
These men did more than just “give” an evil report to the congregation. They did more than just give their fearful opinion of the matter.
These 10 men moved slowly through the camp from one person to the next whispering and slandering the promise of God.
Telling the people that this land, the land God has given them is not safe. It devours and consumes its inhabitants and is full of “giants of the giants”.
Numbers 14 begins:
CPT. 14 begins with saying, they raised a loud cry (in Hebrew they set, or established their voices).
Even after hearing the encouragement of Caleb they made a choice to set their voices to speak contrary to what God had promised.
Then it says they grumbled against Moses.
The Hebrew word for grumble or murmur is LUN which is to lodge, or to abide.
Grumbling, murmuring, complaining was abiding in them instead of the Word of God.
Their grumbling pitted them against Moses and Aaron. It actually says “over” Moses and Aaron. Grumbling not only pits you against leadership but causes you to think you are over or above them, which is pride.
This caused them to say “we wish we had died in Egypt or in this wilderness” and “God’s purpose was to bring us into a land where we would be prey for the enemy. They say, “It is good that we return to Egypt”. “Let’s make or let’s establish or set a captain, a leader and return to Egypt.”
They didn’t just react with fear to the possibility of the promised land being hard to conquer;
they spoke out against the purpose of God and accused God of an evil purpose for them!
THOUGHT:
In between
You’d expect that be- would mean “in,” but it doesn’t: betwēonum is literally “near two each.” In its earliest uses, it wasn’t always in reference to the intermediary position of two places, things, or people. It was also used to express reciprocal action by two people towards each other.
Threshold
One of the most common in-betweens we encounter every day is the threshold. Whenever you leave your house, walk from one room to another, or enter a building, you are crossing a threshold.
Threshold is an old word, dating back over 1,000 years in English, and its origins are slightly obscured.
Its Old English ancestor threscwald or threscwold is cousin to the verb that gave us thresh, and this verb in turn refers to separating grain from chaff by beating it with something (like a stick or a flail).
APPLICATION:
JOHN 15
4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you[b]will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
Promises of God
All Yes
All Amen
2 Corinthians 1:20- “For as many as are the promises of God, in Christ they are [all answered] “Yes.” So through Him we say our “Amen” to the glory of God.”
CONNECT:
Word of the Kingdom to THRIVE:
Right to take out enemies we’ve never taken out before because of honoring the Blood.
Decree: Pentecost will open up in our behalf.
You will see:
New Supply coming in
New anointing coming in
New empowerment coming In.
You got a promise?
Abide in me!
My word abide in you!
Step Up!
STEP UP!
5th to 6th Graders
We are doing something special for kids moving from 5th to 6th grade in 2025! Sign up online today if that is your child.
July 20th, 2025
GOD PART:
JOHN 11
The Death of Lazarus
1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”
They appealed to Jesus based on his love for Lazarus!
4 When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.
7 Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”
8 The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
10 But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”
12 Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.”
13 However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.
14 Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.
15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.”
16 Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”
I Am the Resurrection and the Life
17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.
18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away.
19 And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. 21 Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
22 But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”
She goes From complaint to confession so quickly.
What did Jesus say or do or his look.
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
In- apart of or included with
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
Jesus- REZ IS ME
26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
The drama of this, Jesus says this in the middle of a cemetery.
Do you believe this?
Jesus is saying he’s the Lord of the cemetery even death!
27 She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
Evidently, all Jesus needed was a mustard seed confession, and he was off and running!
Jesus and Death, the Last Enemy
28 And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.”
29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him.
30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him.
31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”
32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.
34 And He said, “Where have you laid him?”
They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”
35 Jesus wept.
Wept
Why?
Is Jesus sorry for them?
Are they tears of anger they don’t have faith?
Maybe he’s mad at death and the grave and it’s control over them.
36 Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”
37 And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”
Lazarus Raised from the Dead
38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”
This is very personal – do you believe?
41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
Jesus practiced prayers of gratitude and Thanksgiving in impossible situations.
If Jesus did this, this might be the key to resurrection life when we think all is lost.
42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”
43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”
Jesus issued a command- not an invitation.
He issued an imperative-not an idea.
Jesus issued a summons-not a suggestion.
JESUS…
“cried with a loud voice” (NRSV),
“roared with a great voice,”2
“shouted as loudly as he could” (GOD’S WORD).
ROMANS 14: 9 For to this end Christ died [a]and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
An encore is scheduled one day
Lazarus was but a warm-up.
Jesus will someday shout, and the ingathering of saints will begin.
Graveyards, ocean depths, battlefields, burned buildings, and every other resting place of the deceased will give up the dead in whatever condition they might be found.
They will be recomposed, resurrected, and re-presented in the presence of Christ.”
TAKE AWAY:
John 20
That You May Believe
30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book;
31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
That we might believe
Why these miracles…
water-to-wine miracle? So WE would believe that Jesus can restore what life has taken.
the faith of a nobleman? That WE might believe Jesus hears our prayers though you think he doesn’t.
the lame man who took up his mat?That WE might believe in a Jesus who sees a new version of us.
the blind man who washed the mud from his eyes? That WE might believe in a Jesus who gives new vision to us.
walking on water? That WE would believe God still stills the storms of life.
feeding the thousands? That you would believe God still solves the problems of life.
Why raise the dead? That WE would believe God still brings the dead to life.
The hope of John, the hope of his book, indeed the hope of God, and the hope of this book.
That we would believe:
not in our power-
not in humanity’s ability to help itself,
not in tarot cards or good fortune,
not in good looks or good luck.
But that we would believe in Jesus.
Jesus as:
the Christ
the Messiah
the Anointed One
the Son of God.”
Next time you’re in a cemetery:
1 THESS 4:
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
GOD WANTS US TO KNOW:
I know everything about you (Ps. 139:1).
I know when you sit down and when you rise up (Ps. 139:2).
I’ve numbered the hairs on your head (Matt. 10:29–31).
I’ve adopted you into my family (Rom. 8:15).
Before you were the size of a freckle in your mother’s womb, I knew you (Jer. 1:4–5).
You are my idea, and I have only good ideas (Eph. 1:11–12).
You won’t live a day longer or less than I intend (Ps. 139:16).
I love you as my own child (1 John 3:1).
I will take care of you (Matt. 6:31–33).
I love you with an everlasting love (Jer. 31:3).
I can’t quit thinking about you (Ps. 139:17–18).
You are my treasured possession (Ex. 19:5).
Let’s do great things together (Jer. 33:3).
Nothing will ever separate you from my love (Rom. 8:38–39).”