Women's Bible Study - September 6th,  2023
First B Jackson
2023-09-06

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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We've got the most high. Think about these words. You know our past, our present, and our future right now. You know every single heart in this room. You know where we've come from.

You see us right now standing here, and you know our future. You know the plans that you have for us. So right now, we just surrender to you. We acknowledge that your word says that wherever two or more are gathered, you're there right in the midst of us. So we just acknowledge right now that spirit of the living God, you are here right now.

And when you are here, there is freedom in your presence from whatever it is that we would drag in here today. Shame, fear, sadness, whatever it is, joy. We just lay it back at the foot of your cross today. We thank you for who you are. We just sing this.

Nothing is better than you. Lord, we just declare that in this place today. Wherever we've put our hope that isn't you, Lord, we just declare that you are better. We're just gonna teach you this little chorus that goes along with our study. It's really simple, and we're just gonna declare this over ourselves.

That no matter where you find yourself today, that you long to be rooted in the love of Jesus. All my life is found in you. I am rooted in your love, Jesus. We just speak that over ourselves today as we get introduced to this new study. And our heart's desire, our heart's desire is to be rooted in you, Lord.

Show us, prune us anything that would keep us from being rooted in you. I just picture when something's rooted deep like an aspen tree, it can grow tall and it can grow beautiful. And what you don't see is its deep deep roots that when the wind comes. Lord, you are our source. You are our foundation.

Root us deep in you through this study. In Jesus name. And everybody said Amen. Great worshipers in this Thank

you.

You guys can have a seat.

Alright. Wow. Okay. So Lissa wrote that song for this study. Is that amazing?

Thank you. Whoo. That's the first time I've heard it. Thank you. Thank you, Char and Christine and Lissa.

Lissa is married to pastor Brian Hunter who leads Tribe Church. And I would just like you to know that the entire leadership team goes to many different churches in our valley. This is a community Bible study. So whatever church you attend, you are so welcome here. I'm Deborah Buckingham, and I realized this morning when I was like brushing my teeth.

Was like, wow, Lord. It's been quite a journey with you. This is my twenty eighth year teaching women's Bible study. Crazy. I don't know how that happened.

I did take a couple years off when my kids' schedule was super crazy. But one question I always get is how do you know what to teach or how do you know what to write, what Bible study to write? And I will tell you it's about an eight month process. I start the day after Bible study finishes the last week in October, and I just listened to a lot of Christian teaching, lot of podcasts, Christian radio. I'm in the word.

And what became very obvious for this study based on a lot of conversations I was having is we are an anxious and stressed out society. And I mean, I get it. We've had a lot of things happen recently that would cause us some stress. Right? So how is it possible not to be stressed?

Well, first of all, I did a little research because I thought, well, maybe this is just, you know, who I'm listening to and talking to. According to Psychology Today, post COVID statistics show that depression and anxiety rates have jumped a crazy twenty five percent. That today in America, one in three women are suffering from an anxiety disorder. And that number is even higher with our millennial women, like ages 25 to 35. And I have a millennial.

I have a daughter who's 30. She was just home this weekend. We had an amazing time together, but she lives in LA, works in Hollywood. So I was sharing this with her and I said, you think that number is exaggerated or do you think it's true? And she said, mom, I don't think that number is high enough.

She said, my friends are all so anxious and living in a state of fear and anxiety. And she said, it's so different from when you were 30. When I go to dinner with my friends, do you know what we talk about? We talk about is is war looming? Is China and Russia?

Are they gonna do something crazy? Is someone gonna release the next pandemic that's gonna be like the black plague and just wipe masses of people out? And she's like, and consider that we are in Hollywood. We know the cats out of the bag with artificial intelligence. We're not turning that clock back.

We could all be out of a job. It's gonna change our everyday life forever. There has been a shift in our world. And I was like, wow. I'm so glad I asked you.

I mean, that is so true. And I think this is why the Lord led me to root it. Because I kept hearing this word root into me. This is the time, like no other time, to root into me. And what does that mean exactly?

Well, rooted is really just the foundation that we build a life upon. Rooted is where I go for answers. Rooted is who or what I depend on for my happiness and my security. Rooted is who I listen to for answers. It's the narrative that we allow into our thinking.

You know, us girls, we cannot turn that off. It just goes and goes and goes, doesn't it? And we have to be so careful where we're getting our truth. Are we getting it from our neighbor, from social media, from the government, from the news, or are we getting it from the one who said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. You know, Jesus said in Matthew seven, he said, how you build your house, he's saying how you build your life really matters.

If you build it up on the rock, and he calls himself the rock, when the storms come, not if not if, we're human beings, we're not in heaven yet, the storms are gonna come. Whether the big worldly things that Julie and her friends worry about or just the diagnosis that something significant has changed in your health or your marriage issues, The the storms are gonna come. Jesus says, when they come and the winds beat against you and the the rain pours, you will not collapse. You will stand through it. Jeremiah 17, Jeremiah wrote, and this was during a terrible time in the country of Judah.

The people were living in really high stress because they knew the Babylonians were about to capture their country. Okay. That's a stressful situation. And Jeremiah wrote, you will be blessed if you trust in the Lord, if you put your hope and confidence in him. Not in any person, not in any government, but in the Lord, you will be blessed.

You will be like a tree planted along a riverbank whose roots reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by the long months of drought. Their leaves stay green and they never stop producing fruit. Jeremiah is saying, you can survive this. You can survive anything that comes at you in this world if you are rooted into the Lord Jesus Christ.

He's like, you can do this. Okay. And what did he mean when he said you will be blessed? You will be blessed if you trust and put your confidence in the Lord. He's not talking about some cheap prosperity gospel that your bank account's gonna be full.

He's talking about something so much more significant and deep than that. He's talking about a well-being of your soul. A deep joy filled contentment that no storm can rob you of. I mean, you we read these promises. There's over 7,000 promises for you and me in here for when the storm comes.

Over 7,000. And one of them is that when you give it to the Lord, you can have a peace that transcends all understanding. Is that really possible? I mean, is it really possible to have a peace and a joy when you metaphorically get punched in the face? I mean, I I was punched in the face a few times this summer, and I gotta tell you, was like, I'm not feeling that peace, Lord.

And I'm definitely not feeling the joy. But this is what he means. You come to me, and I will get you there. You do not need to stay in a state of anxiety. Of course, we're gonna be anxious when the troubles come upon us.

Of course. But Jesus says, you come to me, and I will get you to a place where you can say, I'm okay. I am okay because I am in good hands, and you are in good hands. That is the message he wants me to give you today. And I don't want you to leave here without the confidence that you're in good hands with him because there was something that changed the course of human history.

This crazy event that happened some two thousand years ago. And it wasn't the birth, the virgin birth of our savior. That was amazing. But, you know, anyone can say, I'm a virgin, and I don't know how this happened. I mean, especially two thousand years ago, how would you ever prove what Mary was saying was true?

It wasn't even his life of 33 and the miracles he performed. People have performed miracles. I mean, Moses and Aaron performed some pretty crazy miracles before Pharaoh. And even Pharaoh's demonic witches and wizards performed miracles. Miracles are not necessarily a sign of Messiah, and it wasn't even his crucifixion.

Good people have died for good causes. There was something that happened that had never happened and has never happened again, something called the resurrection. And why was that such a crazy event that changed everything? The most significant event in our human history. Because that just cannot happen if it's not God.

You know, surgeons, yes, they have resuscitated people on the operating table. People have died and come back to life, but guess what? Those people do eventually die again. They don't live forever. Only Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, was buried for three days, stood up, took those grave clothes off, and walked this earth for forty days talking, eating, walking with people.

Okay. Only he did that. And then in front of many witnesses, still alive, he ascended where he is alive and active today, sitting at the right hand of the father interceding for you and me. Only Jesus could do something like that. Amen.

But you know what? That changes everything. Because if he really actually did that, then we can believe this. We can believe it from Genesis to Revelation. We can have confidence.

This is actually true because he proved it's true, and that's what I wanna talk to you about today. Timothy Keller said, if Jesus really did rise from the dead, then you have to accept what he said. If he didn't rise from the dead, then who cares? It doesn't make any sense. But if he really did do that, the issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not we really like everything it says.

He he tells us some pretty hard things in here. But whether or not he rose from the dead, and if that's true, it's gonna change everything for you and me. And I will tell you that is why for the first three hundred years of the church, after so close to the resurrection, millions of human beings would not deny him. They would die for him rather than deny him. That's not normal, ladies.

In fact, I discovered a very ancient writing. It's actually a diary from a young woman who was an early Christian. Her name was Perpetua. And Perpetua was born in Northern Africa, Rome occupied Carthage, which is present day Tunisia. She came from a very well-to-do family.

Her father was a prominent businessman, and Perpetua became a Christian. When she was meeting with her friends in a Christian home, the Roman authorities came in and put Perpetua in jail. Her father came to her in jail, and her father said, Perpetua, okay. I don't know what crazy cult you've joined, but just deny Jesus and come home with me. Come home to our beautiful life.

Perpetua had a baby. He said, come home to your baby. And she said, father. She pointed to a water pitcher in her cell, and she said, what is that, father? He said, it's a water pitcher.

And he's she said, exactly. We wouldn't call it a tiger or a sword because it's a water pitcher, and I am a Christian. I have Christ in me. I can't deny him. She writes in her diary that after her father left, very upset with her, her brother who was a believer came to visit her, and her brother said, ask God for a word perpetua.

Ask him for a vision. I think he'll speak to you. So that night, she wrote, I saw an incredibly tall narrow ladder made of gold and stretching to heaven. The ladder was beautiful except for one thing. It had all sorts of curl weapons, swords, lances, hooks, and daggers attached to it, endangering reckless climbers.

The weapons weren't the only danger though. Below the ladder, I saw this huge crouching dragon waiting to consume those who would not make the climb. The dragon lifted its head as I approached, but undeterred, I stepped on its head as the first stride upward. I climbed the ladder and I came to the top where I found myself in this immense, glorious garden. A white haired shepherd sat in the middle milking his sheep.

Around him were gathered thousands of people in white robes. The shepherd looked up at me and said, you are welcome, daughter. He offered me some cheese that he had made. I ate it, and all the people looking on said, amen. When I awoke, I could still taste the indescribable flavor of that cheese I had eaten.

After sharing this vision with my brother, we agreed that it meant I would end my time of imprisonment as a martyr. Perpetua was taken to the arena and standing in front of the crowd was her father crying, please, Perpetua, change your mind. Please come home. The procreator in charge commanded Perpetua to offer a sacrifice to the emperors. He said to her, just a pinch of incense and this can be over.

You know, just a little compromise and you can go home. It's very interesting when I read that, I was reminded of a beautiful old man called Polly Karp who just a few years before Perpetua was told the same thing. Just a pinch of incense, Polycarp, and you can go home. And do you know what he said? He said, eighty six years I have served Jesus Christ, and never did he do me any injury.

How can I now blaspheme my king and my savior? I will not. And Perpetua said, I will not. Wow. Why were so many millions of Perpetua's and Polycarps not willing just even a pinch of incense to the emperor.

I think it's because they experienced something so extraordinary. They got a glimpse of glory, and they knew nothing on this earth could compare to that. So how do we really know the resurrection happened? How do we really know? I mean, yes, it does take faith to believe in this, But I want to encourage you today, the faith it takes is not some blind, crazy faith.

We have a lot of evidence. The first way that we can really know is we have over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament detailing Jesus' birth, life, death, and resurrection. We have over 300 prophecies. David wrote in Psalm 22, a thousand years before Jesus. Okay.

A thousand years, David wrote that Messiah, the anointed one, the chosen one, his hands and feet would be pierced through. Now someone of David's day reading that would have been like, that's weird. What does that even mean? Because crucifixion wasn't even a thing. The many hundreds of years later, the Persians were the first to crucify, but it was the Romans who really started using crucifixion.

So this was a thousand years before David wrote that. Seven hundred years before Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 53, that Messiah will be rejected and killed. He would be sacrificed as a sin for his people. He would be silent before his accusers. He would be buried with the rich.

And who buried him? Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea in their tomb. But it's not just the 300 prophecies we have here. We also have secular writings of people during that time who said something happened. All these people's lives have been dramatically changed by this man, Jesus, who was dead and is walking around talking to us.

We have secular Josephus who was a Jewish historian. Josephus, we don't know if he ever became a believer or not, but he wrote about Jesus' resurrection. We have the Roman Cornelius Tacitus who wrote about this man and what was happening during this time. We have Lucian of Samosata, another Roman historian that wrote about Jesus. We have the unbelieving educated Sanhedrin who definitely did not give their life to Jesus, but could not deny he was walking around.

Like, he was resurrected. So we have many writings, both biblical and non biblical that detail this man that came alive and walked among the people. Number two, we have thousands of eyewitnesses. So today, in our courts, if you have what, just two or more eyewitnesses, that really helps your case. Right?

Well, Jesus, we have thousands of eyewitnesses. In fact, Paul wrote in first Corinthians 15 that over 500 brothers and sisters, those who already believed in him, over 500 of them saw Jesus after he was resurrected. But we know according to history, it was far more than 500. Because what was the big event that was happening in Jerusalem at this time when Jesus was crucified? Passover.

So pilgrims from all over the world would ascend upon Jerusalem for Passover. And we know minimum a quarter of a million people would come to Jerusalem, possibly up to a million during this time because they want it to be in Jerusalem for Passover. And we know that according to the writings, this was all they were talking about. And they wanted to see this man who was walking around alive, claiming to be God. In fact, it caused such an upward that we have a letter from a lawyer called Pliny, who was also the governor, and he wrote to emperor Trajan, and he said to him in his letter, I need some advice on how to handle these followers of Jesus.

They are from everywhere. They're rich. They're poor. They're educated. They're uneducated.

They're male, they're female, but they will not deny Jesus. They claim they experience a resurrected man. And even when we persecute them and threaten to kill them, they won't budge. So he wrote to the emperor and he said, what do you want me to do with these people? And then, of course, we have the story of the disciples.

Okay. Can you imagine how the disciples thought, oh my gosh. We got this wrong when Jesus was crucified. We know according to scriptures that they were hiding in fear behind locked doors thinking we're next. We thought he was the Messiah, but it didn't play out the way we had hoped.

He's dead, and now they're gonna come for us. And then Jesus appears to them in his glorified resurrected body, and you cannot stop those disciples. They hit the street, and it didn't matter what threats they were threatened with. They were like, no. And Peter, who was the biggest scaredy cat of all and totally denied Jesus.

When Peter was told to deny him or die, what did Peter say? I am not even worthy to be crucified like my savior. Crucify me upside down. That's crazy. Okay.

That only happens if you saw something that only God could do. John Mark Homer says, people who are not afraid of death because what did Paul say? Jesus took the sting out of death. We do not need to fear death. Paul said, the second you die, you are face to face with the Lord.

There is no fear. Nothing in this life should cause us great fear because death would be the thing that would cause us fear. And Paul's like, you don't even need to worry about that now. And John Mark Comer says, people who are not afraid of death are a real threat to the spiritual and physical power brokers of this world because they want us to be afraid, and they want us to live in fear to control us from being in the state of fear. But we do not need to live in a state of fear.

Second Peter wrote, look, Peter wrote in second Peter one sixteen, I'm not making up clever stories about this Jesus. We saw him. We saw him with our own eyes. We saw his majesty. So we have the prophecies and writings.

We have thousands, if not a million witnesses. And number three, we have the impact the resurrection had on all who witnessed it. I mean, everyone who witnessed it, it changed their lives. Consider Jesus had four half brothers, Simon, Joseph, Jude, and James. And we have a book written by James, his half brother, and a book written by Jude.

What's interesting is none of those brothers believed he was Messiah growing up with him. I'm sure their conversation was like, oh, yeah. He's so perfect. He's mom's favorite. He's just so annoying.

He never does anything wrong. He doesn't even fight with us or argue with us. They didn't believe he was the messiah. But you know what? When he was resurrected and they saw him, they did a complete about face turn.

And James and Jude wrote, and brothers would not write this. They wrote, he is our lord, and we are his servant. That's what they wrote. You wouldn't write that about your brother unless something major happened. And James was known as the father of the first church in Jerusalem, and and they told him in Jerusalem because they were trying to to quiet this Christian movement down.

They said, James, you better stand down and stop sharing about Jesus or you're going to end up just like him. And James said, nothing can stop me. And he was what one of the first Christians martyred in Jerusalem right out of the gate. Something dramatically changed. So what does that mean for you and me today?

What does the resurrection mean? What's our biggest takeaway? Well, number one, there's no such thing as impossible with God. There's no such thing as impossible with God. You know, those disciples were sitting there in that upper room thinking, it's over.

It's over. Like, death had the final word. Jesus has the final word. Okay? Not death, not anything else.

And there is no such thing as hopeless. If he can resurrect himself, what can he do in your life? What can he do in a loveless dead marriage? What can he do with that prodigal child who doesn't wanna hear about the Lord, but who was raised with the Lord? What can he do with a dead dream?

A dream that you still have, but it just seems hopeless. What can he do? Lamentations three twenty five says, the Lord is good. He is good to those who hope in him, to the one who seeks him. And Paul wrote in first Corinthians fifteen fifty seven, thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Those are his promises. It's his job to be good. It's his job to give us victory. You know what our job is? Our job is to root into him.

Salvation, yes, is a free gift. You do nothing to deserve that. But from there, it's our job to develop our relationship with him. And he says, this is what I will give you if you do that. If you root into me, I am good to those who put their hope in me, their confidence, and trust in me.

There is no such thing as impossible with God. Think about what's going on in your life right now that feels impossible. Give it to the Lord. Ask him to help you. Ask him to give you a word.

Ask him to give you hope to keep even keep praying about it. Don't give up. And number two, God is moving even when it doesn't make sense. I can tell you the crucifixion made no sense to those who were following Christ at the time. That did not make sense.

Paul wrote this in first Corinthians 15. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Give yourself to the work of the Lord because your labor is not in vain. And I don't know why this principle in life is true, but you and I both know that anything in life worth having, it just doesn't come easy.

I mean, parenting doesn't come easy. Having a healthy marriage isn't easy. Following Christ is not easy. And I don't wanna sugarcoat his message with you. We're gonna talk about the narrow path next week.

It's not easy. I've been following him with all my heart for thirty some years now and it's still not easy. I there's like Peter said, there's no place else for me to go, but it's not easy. It's not easy. So there's this principle that the death and resurrection teach us.

Sacrifice comes before the victory. Sacrifice comes before the glory. Hang in there. Stand firm. The victory's coming.

That's his promise to you. Your job is to hang in there. And number three is my favorite. I was telling the winter Bible study that I was on a chairlift with a gal who came to the Christmas luncheon. And I said, oh, well, you're totally welcome to the Bible study.

Come back to the Bible study. And she said to me, she goes, oh, I would, Deborah, but, you know, that's all such a fairy tale. And said, woah. I almost fell off the chair. I'm just like and and, you know, the Lord just totally put this on my heart.

Everything is gonna be okay. This is not a fairy tale, but we do get a fairy tale ending. We get to live happily ever after forever and ever and ever. Paul wrote, if our hope in Christ is only for this life, then then we should be pitied more than anyone. If we think this life is all there is, well, that's a big fat bummer.

I mean, what is the point? No. He says, Christ was raised first and all of us who belong to him, the resurrection is coming for us too, and we get to live forever and ever and ever with him. As Alyssa comes up, I just wanna leave you with some closing thoughts. Now why the resurrection is so important is because everything is gonna be okay for us.

And Jesus rose again to rescue us, to rescue us from living in a state of anxiety and fear and purposelessness, to rescue us for a purpose, to save us from our brokenness. Jesus is not just some dead prophet like every other religion. He's alive and he's active and he's praying for you right now, interceding for you because he wants a personal relationship with you. He wants you to root into

Just keep your eyes closed for just another minute. Just let that just sink in if you're making that declaration for the first time. Just talk to him with your own words from your own heart. And just with your eyes closed, we're just gonna sing this over you. Press into him today.

Jesus. Yes, we are lord. Lord, we just lift up every heart in this room. We just ask that you would draw us closer to you. Thank you for the time Deborah has put into this study to pour, to pour out so that we can receive.

Let us not miss a thing single thing, Lord, that you would have us get from this study. And as we dig into your word that it would change us, that's our prayer, that we would leave each and every time changed because we met with you, the risen king. In Jesus' name, and everybody said, amen. I'm gonna ask Julia to come up and she's gonna get us all straightened out on the next thing. Well, I think we should all give these lovely musician ladies a hand.

They are the perfect example on how to use your spiritual gift. And you all have one. You may not know what it is, so we're gonna figure that out soon. Thank you, Deborah, for such a beautiful message, and I know so many people in this room were touched by your message. So I am Julia Stanley.

I am the communicator behind the curtain.

All those emails you're getting come from me.

So I just wanted to introduce myself. It's my goal to keep communication rolling on a weekly basis. If you ever have any question, send it through the JH Women's Bible Study email that you have. We have our JH Women's Bible Study website where you will be able to access the weekly message should you miss it. So you can go on there and look at all previous messages.

If you were to miss one, you could find Deborah on by clicking on the link. Natalie's also going to set up Natalie is our sound back there, Natalie. The other girl behind the curtain. A livestream. So if you are unable to attend one day, you can just click right in and live stream.

So that's we're getting to be so fancy. I'd like to introduce our small group leaders. Our weekly format is that we'll all meet together and then break out into small groups you'll be able to build relationships and discuss the study for that day. So as I call the small group leaders names, would you please stand? So our first small group leader, we have Sammy Robinson.

We have Janet Whitmire. Oh, there's Janet.