Can You Believe What the Bible Says About Jesus (Part 2)?

In this message Rod Reynolds examines some prophecies from the Old Testament that were fulfilled in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. These prophecies give powerful testimony to the truth of Scripture, and the identity of Jesus Christ.

Each individual must decide what he or she will believe about the testimony of Scripture concerning Jesus Christ. The Bible offers us means of examining and testing the evidence for its claims. Whether one ultimately believes the gospel message, however, is not a casual decision to be taken lightly. It is, in the final analysis a matter of life and death, because no one can give you eternal life but God, who is the source of life and the author of salvation through eternal life in God’s kingdom.

Whether you claim to be a believer in Christ or not, it would behoove you to carefully examine the evidence concerning the Bible’s claims about Jesus.

“Can You Believe What the Bible Says About Jesus? (Part 2),” presented by Rod Reynolds, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Copyright © 2023 by Messenger Church of God

Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations are from the New King James VersionTM
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.

cogmessenger.org

Messenger Church of God
PO Box 619
Wentzville, MO 63385
USA

Can You Believe What the Bible Says About Jesus (Part 1)?

The New Testament makes some very strong claims about Jesus. That he was born of a virgin. That he worked many miracles. That he died by crucifixion, and was resurrected three days later. That he has the authority to forgive sins, and thus remove their penalty. That he was God in the flesh.

None of us has seen Jesus, but does that mean God wants us to have blind faith, faith without evidence? We’re told that Jesus offered convincing evidence to those who became apostles, commissioned to preach the gospel to the world. He did not expect them to believe he was who he said he was without evidence to back up his claims.

If we are to believe not by blind faith, but in accordance to supporting evidence available to us, what is the evidence? In this message, we discuss evidence available that the New Testament testimony concerning Jesus is a reliable foundation for faith in him as the Messiah promised in the prophesies of the Bible. This message, is part one of a two part series.

“Can You Believe What the Bible Says About Jesus? (Part 1),” presented by Rod Reynolds, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Copyright © 2023 by Messenger Church of God

Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations are from the New King James VersionTM
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.

cogmessenger.org

Messenger Church of God
PO Box 619
Wentzville, MO 63385
USA

Make Your Calling and Election Sure

Scripture warns of perilous times to come in the “last days” of this age (2 Timothy 3:1-5). We need to be prepared spiritually to meet the challenges we face in an age of increasing lawlessness and conflict (1 Peter 1:3-11).

We are warned by Jesus Christ not to let ourselves become spiritually lethargic, lukewarm, lacking in zeal (Revelation 3:14-19). While we do not know the precise time of the second coming of Christ, we should be able to discern the signs of the times we live in (Matthew 16:3). We cannot afford to allow complacency to cause us to stumble as the world becomes ever more hostile to and removed from genuine reverence toward God, and respect for his commandments.

In this message trends in the world are reviewed, and we consider encouragement and admonitions from the Bible to help us make our calling and election sure (cf 2 Peter 1:10).

“Make Your Calling and Election Sure,” a sermon by Rod Reynolds, COGMessenger is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Copyright © 2023 Messenger Church of God

cogmessenger.org

Messenger Church of God
PO Box 619
Wentzville, MO 63385
USA

How Can You Know the Truth?

We live in a world in which confusion abounds. In every major facet of the world’s society: education, politics, religion, or whatever, contradictions, conflict and confusion prevails. Almost every subject of consequence is controversial these days.

There is a continuous struggle going on for our attention. Whether you realize it or not, your mind is under siege. All kinds of elements, groups, individuals, with a point of view to sell are struggling to capture your mind—attempting to win it over to their point of view. Your mind is constantly being bombarded by conflicting ideas, beliefs and opinions.

Even something as obvious as one’s sex is controversial. Are you male or female? An increasingly popular idea these days is that it’s not your DNA, nor the sex organs you are born with, that determine your sex. It’s whether you “feel” that you are male or female. Confusion about one’s sexual identity is being deliberately sown among even very young children by prevailing forces in our society. We can feel compassion for those who are confused about their sexuality, which often results from abuse or other kinds of mistreatment. But I have a hard time feeling anything but contempt for willful proponents of such confusion.

Paradoxically, in a world where the very idea of objective truth is increasingly under assault, powerful institutions are becoming more and more intolerant of any opinions on controversial matters which do not concur with their own.

Powerful social media companies routinely censor or deplatform those posting material which runs counter to opinions they favor, even though they are supposed to be content neutral platforms. Internet browser algorithms often tend to give preference in their search engine results to websites expressing viewpoints in favor with the left-wing Establishment.

Continue reading

Love the Truth — Part 1

One of the challenges that we face every day as Christians, to one degree or another, throughout our entire lives, is to love the truth. How much do you love the truth? Do you love it more than your relationships with family and friends? Do you love truth more than you love your physical comforts and pleasures? Do you love it more than you love your own life? Loving the truth is a challenge every generation of God’s people have had to meet. It’s one that will try every Christian. How may we demonstrate our love of the truth in our own lives?

“Love the Truth — Part 1” audio recording by Rod Reynolds, COGMessenger is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.