Jeremiah 46:9

Charge, you horses! Drive furiously, you charioteers! March on, you warriors—men of Cush and Put who carry shields, men of Lydia who draw the bow.

From Pastor Wangler’s April 19th blog post:

If the horse is dead, meaning… not carrying the mission forward, not advancing the cause, no longer galloping into battle, no longer bringing its rider (the church) back from battle with the spoils of war, no longer carrying its’ own weight, no longer, with beating heart and thundering hooves, charging against hell…

Luke 15:4

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?

From Pastor Wangler’s April 19th blog post:

A failure on the part of the church to reach unchurched people potentially equates to lost sheep never found, lost sons never returning home, lost coins forever out of circulation, and a lost body of Christ wandering aimlessly, but feeling rather comfortable about it. 

Deuteronomy 20:1

When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you.

From Pastor Wangler’s April 19th blog post:

Methods, programs, events, and other stuff we do in the name of evangelism are like war horses.  They carry us into battle and, if all goes well, bring us through the battle and back down Main Street in celebration of the faithfulness of God and transformed lives. 

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

From Pastor Wangler’s April 19th blog post:

Our mission is not growth, it is transformation.  However, radical positive life transformation is hard to keep a secret.  Growth will follow. Our call is not to wage war against culture, but to blow culture up with the truth of the John 3:16.

Acts 17:29-31

“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

Acts 16:16-18

Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling.  She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.”  She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ...

Revelation 4:9-10

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever.

From Background Notes [BN] for April 20^th & 21^st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Heaven is about God fulfilling His promise to His creation. Oriented “around the throne” are other thrones whose number (2 x 12=24) implies all of God’s people: tribes of Israel and apostles of the Lamb…

Deuteronomy 32:40

I lift my hand to heaven and solemnly swear:
As surely as I live forever,

From Background Notes [BN] for April 20^th & 21^st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

In many of these texts, the line between heaven as the dwelling of God and heaven as astronomical space is blurred… In later Judaism, this comparison would lead to the theology of a multi-tiered heaven that rose like a mighty ladder from earth to God. What the Jewish mind observed, and the biblical text witnessed, was a…

Exodus 9:22 (NRSV)

The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven so that hail may fall on the whole land of Egypt, on humans and animals and all the plants of the field in the land of Egypt.”

From Background Notes [BN] for April 20^th & 21^st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Because the spatial language of the Bible places heaven “up,” the net effect is to orient the whole self upward, focused on the God is “of all, above all, through all, and in all,” as one New Testament writer later said (Ephesians 4:6).

1 Kings 22:19

I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, with all the host of heaven standing beside him to the right and to the left of him.

From Background Notes [BN] for April 20^th & 21^st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

That is, Yahweh is king in heaven above, and His angels surround Him like armies.7 Therefore, human kings must submit to His war policies, and…

Genesis 28:17

He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

From Background Notes [BN] for April 20^th & 21^st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

What Jacob witnesses is filled with living images that bring heaven and earth into close proximity, promising to heal the rift caused by the Fall. By identifying the “house of God” and the “gate of heaven,”...

Matthew 25:40

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

From Background Notes [BN] for April 13^th & 14^thwritten by Pastor Bob Brown:

His “sheep” do this unconsciously, seemingly unaware of the positive effect on the coming kingdom. By contrast, the “goats” in the parable are equally unconscious of how their total disregard for the well-being of others negatively impacts the kingdom.

Ezekiel 18:23

Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?

From Background Notes [BN] for April 13^th & 14^thwritten by Pastor Bob Brown:

The famous mathematician, Blaise Pascal, argued in his essay for what some philosophers call “The Decision Matrix,” known as Pascal’s Wager. Pascal said that all of us are finite human beings.

Revelation 22:15

Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

From Background Notes [BN] for April 13^th & 14^thwritten by Pastor Bob Brown:

Persons who willfully persist in the practice of sin, having been previously granted freedom to choose God instead, by their own decision place themselves outside the good world where God makes all things new.

1 Peter 1:8-9 (NRSV)

Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

From Background Notes [BN] for April 13^th & 14^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Our lives constantly deal with outcomes: how things turn out, and where our actions take us. Deeds have consequences, and the deeds of a whole life have ultimate consequences. Peter uses the Greek word telos…

1 Peter 1:6-7

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

From Background Notes [BN] for April 6^th & 7^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Throughout his letter, Peter makes clear that the present is a time of suffering and trial, but also of mercy and mission for the world. We see this in 1:6 where he tells his readers to allow their “rejoicing” in hope to sustain them for “a little while” (Greek: oligon) in the present when they experience “grieving” (Greek: lupēthentes).

John 21:18-19

Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

From Background Notes [BN] for April 6^th & 7^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Peter labored in Rome during the last portion of his life, and there died as a martyr. The death of Peter is attested by Tertullian at the end of the second century, and by Origen in Eusebius (Church History III.1).

John 21:11-12

So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.

From Background Notes [BN] for April 6^th & 7^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

What do you do when your past feels shameful, and the person you hurt the most is suddenly standing within ear-shot? Why, you do what Peter did. You find ways to avoid eye-contact! You get dressed!

 

John 13:36

Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus answered, "Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow afterward"

From Background Notes [BN] for April 6^th & 7^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Rising from the dead, Jesus offered the future to his followers and to anybody else who would choose his agenda over their own. However, the future included dealing with what the disciples had done when the chips were down and they had messed up the mission — or so they thought.