WEDNESDAY'S WORD - ACCUSATION - Sadell Bradley - 02/28/2024

WEDNESDAY'S WORD ACCUSATION 2/28/2024 "Accusations fit on a bumper sticker; the truth takes longer."– Michael Hayden TONIGHT 7 PM BIBLE STUDY ACTING UP!: BITTEN  @warehouseOTR  Facebook, Youtube           During Lent, we explore Jesus' experiences before and during His death, burial, and resurrection. This includes the devil's temptation of Christ in the wilderness. A lot of focus is rightly placed on the agony Jesus suffered on the Cross of Calvary. His shed blood atoned for our sins—reconciling us back to God. Not as much emphasis is placed on the fraudulent charges made against Him. He was accused of crimes He did not commit and sentenced to a punishment of which He was unworthy. An ACCUSATION is a charge or claim that someone has done something illegal or wrong. Jesus was an innocent man. hat Matthew 26 records Jesus telling His disciples, "As you know, Passover begins in two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” (Matthew 26:2) As He was saying this, a plot was being devised by the religious leaders to arrest and secretly kill Him, but His popularity was so great they thought the people would riot if they attempted to do it during the Passover. (vs. 3-4) Then Jesus' treasurer, Judas, was motivated by greed to betray and turn Him over to the leading priests for thirty pieces of silver. (vs. 14-16) After exposing Judas at the Last Supper (vs. 20-24), Jesus told the other disciples they would leave Him too (vs. 31). Christ prayed to God His Father alone in the Garden of Gethsemane that He would not have to drink from the cup of suffering for the sins of the world (vs. 39). Denying His own will to take up His cross; Jesus acquiesced to His Father's plan. Judas identified Jesus with a traitor's kiss and the LORD was arrested by Roman guards. Peter tried to use violence to intervene, but was rebuked by Jesus who explained it fulfilled ancient prophecy for Him to be betrayed, suffer, bleed, and die for our sins. (vs. 47-56) Matthew leads us to Caiphas' home where the leaders "were trying to find witnesses who would lie about Jesus, so they could put Him to death." (vs. 59) Jesus was then accused of saying He would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, and of claiming He was the Messiah. (vs. 60-63) They did not know both statements were true. He was referring to His own bodily death, burial and resurrection, and to His identity as the Son of God. They called Jesus' claims blasphemy and deemed Him guilty and worthy of death. They spit in His face, slapped and beat Him, making rude and mocking remarks. Once Jesus was removed from what was essentially a kangaroo court—an unofficial tribunal held to try someone regarded, especially without good evidence, as guilty of a crime, He was taken to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate to be tried. In Matthew 27, we find that the governor and even His wife knew Jesus was not guilty. "...As Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Leave that innocent man alone. I suffered through a terrible nightmare about him last night.” (vs. 19) However, Pilate really had no other choice but to sanction the crucifixion. The will of God dictated that Jesus be sent to the Cross to pay the penalty for our sins, so we can be eternally free in the Kingdom of Heaven.

 

WEDNESDAY'S WORD -JOY- Sadell Bradley - 02/2/2024

WEDNESDAY'S WORD JOY 2/21/2024 "Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough."– Emily Dickinson, American Poet TONIGHT 7 PM BIBLE STUDY ACTING UP!: SHIPWRECKED  @warehouseOTR  Facebook, Youtube   REGISTER BY CLICKING HERE $10 for BREAKFAST         In 1989, Hip Hop artists Rob Base and D.J. EZ Rock released a single called Joy and Pain. The lyrics to the chorus' hook may be familiar to some, "Joy and pain. Like sunshine and rain." One might think that these two entities (joy and pain) are disconnected polar opposites that can't coexist. But don't you love it when beautiful and refreshing showers crack through a sunny, rainbow-filled sky? Guitarist Carlos Santana said, "If you carry joy in your heart, you can heal any moment." The dictionary defines JOY as a feeling of great pleasure and happiness. The apostle Paul in Galatians 5:22 reveals that JOY is a fruit or manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Joy is to be evident in the life of Believers in Jesus. The Lexicon says the Greek chara: gladness, rejoicing, or delight— is present because God is favorably disposed and extending His grace toward us. He is leaning in our direction, and we recognize it. Isn't that Good News! The old folks used to sing, "This joy that I have, the world didn't give it to me, and the world can't take it away!" During Lent, preachers around the world are tasked with juxtaposing the pain of Jesus' Crucifixion, and the joy of His Resurrection. We gain an understanding of how these two complement each other in Hebrews 12:1-2. "1Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Christ's amazing love, grace, and mercy compelled and empowered Him to suffer and die for us. We didn't deserve His sacrifice (we were guilty)...neither did He (He was innocent). One songwriter said, "It wasn't the nails that held Him to the tree...it was love that held Him There." Jesus was moved with compassion—the willingness to suffer on our behalf. He did it in faith and expectation, not only for His own resurrection: but for the future. His Kingdom brothers and sisters on earth would come to salvation. One day, we who believe will all rise from the dead and live with Him eternally forever in Heaven. Scripture says, The JOY of the LORD is our strength. It is a portion of the blessing we receive from identifying ourselves with Jesus Christ. How's your JOY been lately?   Sunday Worship Service 10:00 AM  Morning Bible Study 9:00 AM

WEDNESDAY'S WORD - LENT - Sadell Bradley - 02/14/2024

WEDNESDAY'S WORD LENT 2/14/2024 "Lent is a time of going very deeply into ourselves…What is it that stands between us and God? Between us and our brothers and sisters? Between us and life, the life of the Spirit? Whatever it is, let us relentlessly tear it out, without a moment’s hesitation." – Catherine Doherty-Social Activist TONIGHT 7 PM BIBLE STUDY ACTING UP!: THE HEAVENLY VISION  @warehouseOTR  Facebook, Youtube   Worship Service 10:00 AM - Bible Study 9:00 AM     LENT is the yearly 40-Day period of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving to the poor that Christians worldwide observe. We remember: Jesus' time of fasting in the wilderness, and His death, burial, and resurrection. Lenten consecration begins today with Ash Wednesday. Penitent Christ-followers meet in spaces of worship to express sorrow and regret for their wrongdoings, and make the choice to repent—to turn away from their sinful ways. The Lenten season is more than giving up chocolate and media, substituting burgers with fruits and veggies, or eating fish on Friday. It is meant to be a mini movement of self-denial and cross-taking for disciples of Jesus Christ. There is no Scriptural command to observe Lent. It, like many things of worship, is voluntary— motivated by our love for God and our appreciation of His love for us. People observe Lent because they believe Christ is worth their sacrifice. We are honored to die to ourselves, to focus our attention on Him, and on those in need. It seems apropos that Lent/Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day fall on the same day this year. Jesus said,   9As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Remain in My love. 10If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. 11I have told you these things so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. 12This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:9-12) During Lent we celebrate the greatest love of all. As a youth I was a huge fan of the incomparable Whitney Houston...but the greatest love of all is NOT learning to love yourself. It is learning to receive God's love, and returning it to Him, to yourself, to your neighbors, and even to your enemies. LENT is about LOVE! 1 John 4:7-11 admonishes us: 7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. REGISTER BY CLICKING HERE $10 for BREAKFAST

 

WEDNESDAY'S WORD - IRRITATE- Sadell Bradley - 02/07/2024

 

WEDNESDAY'S WORD IRRITATE 2/7/2024 "I've had people shout in my face trying to irritate me. I go: 'I'm not here to fight, I'm here to love.'" – Michail Antonio - English Footballer TONIGHT 7 PM BIBLE STUDY ACTING UP!: SEND HIM TO CAESAR  @warehouseOTR  Facebook, Youtube   Worship Service 10:00 AM - Bible Study 9:00 AM     Professional futbol (soccer) is a sport of skillful and agile players and fans with swinging emotions and strong allegiances. Passions over the sport run so high and deep that people have been injured and have even died in their wake. Athletes are mobbed, spit upon, threatened, and shouted at with vitriolic speech. Forward striker Michail Antonio shares above that love is his posture when people try to IRRITATE him—to make (someone) annoyed, impatient, or angry. When irritation is in play, its purpose is to stimulate or produce an active response. Though some fans desire to provoke a negative reaction in him, Antonio says he's only here to love. I wonder if someone trains celebrities how to respond to IRRITANTS - a thing that is continually annoying or distracting. In the body, irritants cause inflammation or some other form of discomfort. The Cleveland Clinic says acute inflammation is a response to sudden body damage, like cutting your finger. To heal the cut, your body sends inflammatory cells to the injury. These cells start the healing process. Acute inflammation may last for a few hours to a few days. With Chronic inflammation, in diseases like Rheumatoid Arthritis, your body continues to send inflammatory cells even when there’s no outside danger. This can cause pain and severe damage to joints. Chronic inflammation is long term; it lasts for months to years. Is what's irritating you being used by God to heal? or by the enemy to cause long-term pain? Scripture uses the word provoke—to deliberately make (someone) annoyed or angry. Paul wrote in Galatians 5 that Christ followers are to walk in the Spirit and display it's fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness/meekness, faithfulness and self control. He said that pride and jealousy can be at the root of provocations but, "24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other." Selah.