bible study

His Seventy-Two Steps From Glory To Glory

Step Four: From Nazareth to Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1-12)

· The wise men arrived in Jerusalem and inquired of Herod about the recent birth of the King of the Jews.

· There are several questions we don’t know about these “wise men”

o Who were these wise men?

o How did they associate the star with Christ?

o Why did they come?

o When did they arrive in Bethlehem?

o How many wise men came?

o Was the star a regular star?

· King Herod, troubled and agitated, asks the chief priests and scribes about the magis’ request and is told Bethlehem is to be the Messiah’s birthplace (Micah5:2)

o Herod sends the wise men there and asks them to report back to him, pretending to be desirous of worshipping him also.

o In reality he was already planning to kill Him.

· Upon being led by the star to His home, they fell at His feet and offered Him their gifts.

o They gave gold (deity)

o They gave frankincense (humanity)

o They gave myrrh (sufferings)

· God warns them of Herod’s real plans for Jesus, and the magi depart another way for their land.

Next week

Step Five: To Egypt. (Matthew 2:13-18)

Step Six: Back to Nazareth. (Matthew 2:19-23) (Luke 2:40)

College football 2011 prediction blog

(Tank Carter... My favorite player from 2010)


Alright... every year I do a college football prediction blog (because I am the best college football expert I know) And everyone should listen to me since I am right about 30% of the time...

Last year I Picked Alabama to beat Oregon for the national championship... I was only off by a little, Oregon made the championship game and the National champ was from the state of Alabama!?

So here we go with the 2011 predictions...

SEC

West Champs - Arkansas
Many will call me a homer because of this pick, but I honestly think this is the piggies year. Very good defense coming back, very good skill positions... the question is how will the new O-Line gel? Bamma is a little over-rated and LSU is a lot over-rated... Mississippi State finishes tied with Bamma for 2nd

East Champs - Georgia
Mark Richt needs this one! Georgia is finally relevant again in the SEC.

SEC Title game - Arkansas 31 Georgia 24
SEC Champs - Arkansas

Big 12-2=10

Champs - Oklahoma State... Cowboys surprise all and win their first big 12 title


ACC

Atlantic Division Champ - Florida State

Coastal Champ - Virginia Tech

Champion - Florida State FSU takes the conference after an undefeated season. They aren't the best team in the nation... they just play in the All Cupcake Conference, they would be the 4th best team in the SEC

Big 10+2=12

Leaders Division Champion - Wisconsin These guys are good... real good!

Legends Divisions Champion - Nebraska The huskers make the 1st ever big 10 championship game in their 1st year in the league.

Big 10 Champ - Wisconsin

Big (L)East

Champion - West Virginia Because somebody has to win this pathetic football conference.

Pac 12

North Division - Stanford

South Division - Arizona Nick Foles is one of my favorite QB's in 'merica

Champs - Stanford Andrew Luck gets to end his career in the Rose Bowl


National Championship game - Florida State vs Wisconsin

National Champs - Wisconsin



Other predictions...

LSU goes 8-4

Houston Nutt fired from Ole' Miss at seasons end...

Alabama and Auburn have to vacate games from the 2010 season...

Tyler Wilson passes for 3000+ yards and 30+ T.D.'s

South Carolina is a big disappointment

Arkansas goes to New Orleans .. Again

Craig James says something stupid enough to get fired from ESPN

The Jets Jets Jets win the Super Bowl

and... Northwestern is America's "Surprise team" of 2011

That's my take... lets see how it all pans out

Nate

Lessons on Leadership from Jesus - #5 Jesus understood "where the buck stopped"

Man do we live in a world of excuses!? Nobody takes ownership of their mistakes or decisions. It seems like everything is somebody else fault or a result of some outside factor. As a culture, we love to relish in our accomplishments but blame and point fingers at other causes when it comes to our failures...

Jesus understood that His ministry and leadership responsibility belonged to Him and Him alone. He took total ownership for the role that the Father gave Him.

And Jesus did what it took to make it all happen! Need a donkey for the ride into Jerusalem? Done! Coins to pay Caesars tax? Provided! Wine for a wedding party? Problem solved!

As leaders we have to "own it" and realize that everything under our responsibility rises and falls based on our leadership.

Nathan

Lessons on Leadership from Jesus - #4 Jesus was Constantly Celebrating

He turned water to wine. He He was constantly invited to dinner parties at peoples homes. When crowds gathered, Jesus was adamant that nobody leave with an empty stomach. Many of his parables/illustrations centered around parties and celebrations. The night before He was crucified, He invited His guys to gather to sing songs and dine. When He returned after His resurrection, He threw a big fish-fry on the beach... Jesus was all about celebrating!

Jesus understood His purpose and recognized His blessings.

It is so easy as leaders to get caught up in all the negative that surrounds us, to let the pressure of our positions steal our joy. Jesus would probably tell us to lighten up.

As leaders we have to constantly celebrate our wins, always seeing the small things that deserve big celebrations!

Nathan

Lessons on Leadership from Jesus - #3 Jesus Stayed in Constant Contact with the Father

We all answer to someone! As leaders (especially spiritual leaders) we all answer to The Father for how we use our gift of leadership.

As a matter of fact, our problems begin as leaders when we fail to submit to The Father who has total authority over us.

Jesus knew who His boss was and He was quick to communicate with Him regularly. It is as if Jesus had a window straight to The Father that he could open at any time and speak directly to The Father.

As leaders there are a few things we need to do to keep in constant contact regularly...

#1 - Seek to please God first.
Don't let the temptation of people pleasing, or worse, self pleasing to come before God pleasing.

#2 - Pray.
Jesus was God! Yet time and time again he went to The Father in prayer asking for guidance. If Jesus needed prayer time with The Father... well... it goes without saying that we probably do to!

#3 - Listen.
Open up your ears, eyes and most importantly your heart and hear what God is saying to you. God has many ways of showing us what His will is for our lives and our leadership. If we are seeking Him we will have no trouble hearing Him. If you are seeking an answer but God seems to be silent... then wait! God will reveal His will to you in His Time. Stay in The Word, Pray, and listen!

Make sure your leadership is ruled by windows and not mirrors.

Nathan

Lessons on Leadership from Jesus - #2 Jesus Said "Thank You"

⁴¹ So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. ⁴² You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” -John 11:41-42

Think about the above verse... Just before Jesus commands Lazarus to rise from death, Jesus stops and thanks The Father for hearing Him. This is just one verse out of many where we see the thankful heart of Jesus, but it is important to see that Jesus was a thankful man.

Gratitude is a key element to the success of leaders. How can we truly lead without being grateful? Grateful to those who follow our leadership, grateful to those who challenge our leadership and make us sharper, grateful to God who places us in positions of leadership.

Before I ask something of someone I am privy to lead, I pray that I have first conveyed to them and to God how thankful I am that God has put them in my life.

I pray that I can follow the example of Jesus and be a grateful leader that is full of thankfulness and gratitude.

Pastor Nathan

Lessons on Leadership from Jesus - #1 Do hard things

As a leader, it is so easy to just take the easy route. Just like anything else, we want to follow the path of least resistance. This is something that I have to fight against every day.

But when I look at the example Jesus left me as a leader, I see something very different...

He did the hard things!

Jesus was focused to the point of tunnel vision on accomplishing His mission in this world. I, for one, am glad that Jesus didn't base His ministry on opinion polls and popularity contests.

Doing the hard things simply means that we don't let things like public opinion, a little sweat, or a little extra effort keep us from doing what our gut, spirit, and instinct (God's leading) is telling us to do.

I love that Jesus was willing to stand alone to accomplish His Fathers will. He "set His face towards Jerusalem" knowing His death would be the consequence.

We as leaders must have more than vision and communications skills... we must also have resolve!

Jesus did the hard things!

Are you willing to do the hard things? Even if it means standing alone?