Hello Bethel Family, thank you so much for coming to Bethel this weekend and having an encounter with Jesus. As promissed here are my sermon notes.
In This season we are focusing on the Gospels in Bethel Community Church. The question is Why is all that buzz about the Gospels? Why are they so important for our lives today? After all they were written by a bunch of Jewish fishermen 2000 years ago. The Gospels are the heart of the New Testament and the Entire Bible. The Old Testament prophecies about Jesus in the Gospels. The book of Acts tells us the story of what happened as a result of the Gospel’s presentation. The Epistles explain the theology and the miracles of the Gospels. And the book of Revelation brings us to an understanding of the future of the world and the church as a result of the Gospel’s presentation to the world.
The word Gospel means:
The word Gospel means:
“Good News!!! Heaven broke the power of darkness and the Son of God was born to live on earth, defeat sin in the flesh and die on a rugged cross to defy our worst enemy, death itself. He was risen from the dead and lives for eternity at the right hand side of the Almighty God himself. And he offers you and I a free entrance through grace and by faith to His everlasting kingdom.”
From this perspective the New Testament presents to us 4 gospels. Mathew, Mark, Luke and John. But they can really be reduced to 2 style of gospel literature.
1. The Synoptic Gospels: Gives us a synopsis or a flash presentation of the author’s view and testimony of the things he have seen and witnessed in the Life of Jesus Christ the Lord.
Mathew writes to the Jews to prove that Christ is the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament and awaited by all Israel to save the whole nation. Even he was rejected by the religious leaders of his time.
Mark writes to the Romans to prove that Jesus is the son of God that performs all kinds of Miracles. He is more powerful than all the pagan gods of Rome and has dominion of them all.
Luke writes to the Greeks to prove that Jesus is the Son of Man and not some kind of a spiritual ghost. The Greeks were very big on wisdom and intelligence and the importance of the matter or the body. So Luke as a “Greek doctor” writes to them to show the wisdom of the Lord and relates him with the human race as our close relative.
2. The Gospel of John:
John writes to the church, that is why he begins his gospel in eternity instead of the manger like the other three gospels. In the Beginning was the Word…. Is the most powerful statement in the entire Bible and it is related to Genesis 1:1 “ In the beginning God created….”
John makes it clear that his gospel is about the eternal God himself that became flesh and lived among us. He is writing to us today to convince us that Jesus is the son of God and that we can only attain salvation and everlasting life through Him. That is why John stresses the fact of a personal encounter with Jesus. As we read the gospel of John we find a clear progression of faith and unbelief. The gospel of John show us clearly different people and their own personal encounter with Jesus, and how some believed and were transformed like Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, the people of Samaria, the noble man, the blind man etc….
Nuggets from the Gospel of John:
1. The Seven Great I Am:
I am the Bread of Life. 6:35
I am the Light of the World 8:12
I am the door. 10:9
I am the Good Shepherd 10:11
I am the Resurrection and the Life 11:25
I am the Way the Truth and the Light 14:6
I am the True Vine 15:1-3
2. The seven signs and wonders in the gospel:
Jesus’ power over Quality. Transforming water into wine. 2:1-11
Jesus’ power over distance. Healing of the noble man's son. 4:44-54
Jesus’ power over time. Healing of the invalid man. 5:1-9
Jesus’ power over quantity. Multiplication of bread. 6:1-14
Jesus’ power over nature. Walking on water. 6:16-21
Jesus’ power over misery. Healing of the blind man. 9:1-12
Jesus’ power over death. Resurrection of Lazarus. 11
Pastor Fikri Youssef
Iglesia Cristiana Bethel
2 comments:
Ps Fikri is so anointed. I love hearing him preach! It's a lot of good info. with just a touch of humor. :)
Thank you so much for the kind comment, I sure enjoy reading and speaking the word, and I love being part of the amazing Bethel preaching team.
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