Today is the 11th message in our series: Timeless - Truth For Today. We are covering the entire Bible in a 3 month period.
Since the beginning of January, we've covered all 39 books of the Old Testament.

17 History Books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther

6 Poetry Books: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (Solomon), and Lamentations

4 Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel

12 Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi

As the Old Testament grew to a close, God spoke His final words through the prophet Malachi; whose name means "My Messenger."
Malachi 3:1
When Malachi laid down his pen, the curtain closed on the Old Testament writing prophets.
Now God's direct voice fell silent for 400 years and when God does speak again at the beginning of the New Testament, it is through His messenger John the Baptist. This 400 year span is called the "intertestamental" period and really shaped the world that Jesus grew up in, and in which the early church was incubated.

When the Old Testament ended, the Persians were the overlords of the Jews living in the land of Israel.

The Persian Empire was pushed aside by the amazing conquests of Alexander the Great of Macedonia (think Greece).

Greek domination over the Jews continued for more than 150 years.
In about 166 B.C. the Jews revolted (led by Judas Maccabeus) and the land of Judah/Israel became an independant nation for almost a hundred years.

Around 60 B.C. the newly expanding Roman Empire invaded and conquered the land and kept control through the time of Jesus and the Early Church.

In the midst of all of this cultural change, the Jewish religious system began to fragment and re-organize into various philosophical and political parties (the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians, and the Zealots).

Another interesting development during this 400 year period was the Apocrypha which was more than a dozen cultural and religious history books documenting the history of the Jews during this period of time. Some versions of the Bible contain these books to fill in this period of time. These books were never accepted by the Jews as being inspired or part of the Holy Word of God, but did serve a purpose in promoting Jewish nationalistic pride. This, along with other factors, kept the hope of the Jewish people alive as they awaited their Messiah!

With this background in mind, we come to the four Gospels (meaning Good News) - Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and today we'll also talk about the book of Acts.
The overwhelming theme of these books is Jesus of Nazareth. In these books we can read about the Man himself, God's Mission for His life, the Ministry of grace, compassion, and forgiveness that He modeled, and the stories of the Multitudes who followed Him.
Mark 1:1

Make-Up of the Books:

These books can be understood as four differing accounts and fascinating viewpoints of the life and ministry of Jesus. They vary greatly in focus and emphasis but unanimously agree in terms of harmony and detail.

MATTHEW
Wrote to a Jewish audience. His goal was to present Jesus as the one who fulfilled the prophecies of the coming true Sovereign King of Israel, the Messiah of God.

Key Words: King, Kingdom, fulfill
Key Passages: Matthew 16:16-19; 28:18-20

MARK
Mark primarily addressed a Roman audience and focused more on what Jesus did, and not so much on what Jesus taught. He pictured Jesus as the Servant of the Father, something those serving in the military and in the Roman social structure could easily understand.

Key Words: time, immediately, servant, authority
Key Passages: Mark 1:21-45; 10:42-45

LUKE
Luke wrote to a Gentile audience. As an educated man, Luke was very precise in his details and has been recognized as an outstanding recorder of geography and history.

Key Words: sinners, Son of Man, prayer, Holy Spirit
Key Passages: Luke 7:34; 15:3-32; 19:9-10

JOHN
John wanted his message to be clear enough that anyone could read it and be drawn to Jesus; therefore it was delivered to a universal audience. John wrote his account to present Jesus as the Son of God.

Key Words: believe, life, world, Father, Son
Key Passages: John 1:1-12; 3:16-18; 10:1-30; 20:29-31

ACTS
Luke was also the author of this book. He picks up the story of Jesus after the resurrection and just before Jesus returns to Heaven.
As the curtain opens, Jesus gives His final challenge to His followers to tell the whole world about who He is and what He has done.
Early in the book we see the Holy Spirit empowering the people to be obedient and burst out onto their world with this message.
As you journey through the book you'll see the...
-formation of the first church
-persecution of believers
-expansion of the Christian faith
-emergence of Paul as the primary defender and spokesman for the church

Key Words: Spirit, Resurrection, The Word, Church
Key Passages: Acts 1:1-4; 2:41-47; 8:1-4; 10; 13:1-3; 28:28-31

Message of the Books:

The core message through all of these books is salvation.
Beginning with John the Baptist, and then with Jesus and the leaders of the Early Church, we hear that mankind is lost in sin, separated from God, and helpless to do anything about his situation.

The remedy is simple: Repent and Believe.
Repent - change of heart and mind toward sin, recognizing that we have offended and angered God.
Believe - implies an emotional and volitional decision to wholeheartedly trust God and commit our life to Him.
Paul stated this in Acts 20:21 [NLT]

We'll conclude with 3 questions:

First: Can you identify a time in your life when you repented of sin and then committed yourself to Christ?

Second: If you claim to be a Christian today; are you living in such a way that others can see your love for God and man, your dependence upon the Holy Spirit in your daily living, and your passion to live like and for Jesus?

Third: Who are some others that you can share the "good news" of God's story and your story with?

Birthdays and Anniversaries We're Celebrating This Week!

Saturday, March 11th - Chuck Reigler, Easton Kauffman
Sunday, March 12th - Emily Mater, Aspen Yargeau
Monday, March 13th - Gene Snook, Lisa Sterkenburg
Tuesday, March 14th - Jimmy Coblentz
Wednesday, March 15th - Donita Firman, Arden & Sue Reid
Friday, March 17th - Pastor Josh Burt