Awake Church Podcast

Jesus talked about two things more than any other - His Father and the Kingdom of Heaven. As the King and representative of the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus brought it, gave it away, and asked us to seek it above all else. In the first part of this series, Matt begins to explain elements of what the Kingdom of Heaven is and how we interact with and share it ourselves.

Proverbs tells us that wisdom has extraordinary value. Wisdom protects us from future regret. We want to dig into the book of Proverbs in order to live our best life. In this message, Debbie Peterson shares about discovering the difference between knowledge, understanding and wisdom, and learning how to apply them all.

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Christmas is the celebration of life, hope and peace arriving. It is remembering the love of the Father that dispatched and gave His Son to suffer a murderer's death in order to set free billions of enslaved. Christmas is the beginning of the gospel of the kingdom and the blood inside of the Messiah baby, the antidote to all enslavement and death. We celebrate Him coming and living even now in us.

Jesus desires first place in us. His sacrifice and love deserve the best, and He desires to have first place in our thoughts, decisions and devotion. He is deserving of all and whatever we surrender to Him, He is able to renew or restore. He is the answer to every human need, the desire of the nations and the lover of our soul. Jesus is King.

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We all face adversity, and holidays (particularly this year) can be especially difficult for many due to the loss of loved ones, isolation, rejection from friends and family due to personal choices, anxiety, depression and even suicidal thoughts. I am sharing parts of my testimony to impart HOPE and inspire us to Believe for our God of the impossible to help us overcome!

Just as an EKG provides a health-check of the natural heart, a lifestyle of thankfulness indicates a healthy person. Complaining and grumbling are irritants to God, while our gratitude invites His presence and help. We have the supernatural ability to choose to be thankful in "all things," which sets us apart as lights in a the midst of a dark generation.

described the greatest people as those who serve others. In a world surrounded by a consumer, self-focused mentality, the greatest and most joyful people in the world life in an opposite spirit - looking to give rather than get. There is great reward both here and in heaven for those who commit to a lifestyle of serving others, allowing their giftings, time and efforts to be used for others.

The definition of boldness for the gospel is being willing to initiate the conversation with people about Jesus. A person's answer to the question, “Who do YOU say Jesus is,” determines not only the rest of their life, but also their eternal destination.

Knowing about someone is significantly different than knowing them personally. The unique calling and invitation to every follower of Jesus is to know the Father and the Son - to use knowledge of God as a springboard into relationship, and enter the greatest adventure of all time. Christianity isn't following a system or a manner of living, but a thriving and living relationship where we invite God to be a part of all that we do, discovering Him.

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Life is about knowing God. Eternal life is about knowing God. The privilege and adventure of our lifetime is found in the invisible realm of relationship with the Creator, Father of all the living, and the King of the Universe. Throughout this series, Matt shares about how we can know Him more.

Life offers opportunities to be offended at every turn, even offended by the way that God does things. In this message, Matt shares about Jesus' blessing of not being offended by how God chooses to do things. It is vital that we aren't serving images in our minds of how something will look rather than denying ourselves and following Jesus daily, leaving the outcomes to Him.

Continuing on with some non-essentials, Matt shares about the essential of the return of Jesus and the Non-Essential of exactly when. He explores a possible timing that sets the course for believers to endure to the end and not be deceived or fall away from the faith before the Savior arrives.

Along with the essential doctrine and reality of who Jesus is, there are non-essentials that we are exploring for the sake of removing unnecessary stumbling blocks for others. Today, Matt focuses on a couple more non-essential elements of our faith, but important issues relating to the sovereignty of God.

We spend the vast majority of our time speaking about essential aspects of spirituality, the gospel of the kingdom, the person of God. Every once in awhile we discuss some non-essential things, that we may disagree upon, but can be helpful to discover, pray about and seek God about. In this message, Matt dives into the first non-essential which deals with the six days of creation and what a day is to God.

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Throughout every age and every generation, the unspoken internal question persists of "Who am I." The church has struggled in answering this for people and to the degree we have gotten the answer wrong, we've labored in vain, harmed others and not represented God well or lived in internal peace. Internal peace and fulfilling our purpose has everything to do with knowing who we are. Our identity as a child of God.

Toward the end of the dark ages just as the Black Plague was fading, a spark was lit through John Wycliffe who believed all should have the scriptures available. This torch was passed to Jan Hus who furthered the message and within another 100 years, a great change began toward getting back to the teachings of Jesus. But this change was slow and fraught with mixture and guns pointed at a wrong enemy. Just as the first 300 years after Jesus did the church thrive, although persecuted, the last 300 years have been a bringing back to the essential teachings of Jesus, filled with His Spirit and readying for His return at the end of the age. The modern body of Christ can learn a lot from its past as we put Jesus in the highest place and prepare for His return.

The Body of Christ is a spiritual, living organism that has been on the earth for around 2,000 years. Matt shares highlights of this journey of the Church from the revelation of Jesus to our modern day and how important it is for us to understand our spiritual history.

The Bible isn't primary a rule book, but an invitation to show us how to live in the impossible - to know God, follow Him and live "in the manner that Jesus lived." We need reminded that Christianity isn't primarily about the brain and knowledge, but about the heart, relationship with God and living as new creatures, Sons and Daughters of our Father. All of His children have a calling to live in the impossible realm, the realm of the Spirit.

Just as God grows food in a natural garden when we plant seeds, weed seeds also grow and intend to take over. Spiritually, our minds are a garden of thoughts. Some thoughts grow into fruit that is good, but many grow into weeds that crush, snuff out and take over. We are the gatekeepers of the garden of our thoughts and called to be ruthless with the weeds that want to kill, steal and destroy life.

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As we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, He will lead us with His peace through the fiery ordeals and the tensions in life, creating through us a sound that is beautiful.

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God has bestowed on us such a great love, that we are called the Children of God! This love pursued each of us, won our hearts and paid for our freedom and entrance into His eternal family. We have been awakened to the reality of this marvelous salvation that changes us forever!

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Where fathers are absent, crime and dysfunction thrive. Without the presence of the Father in a believer's life, we can be equally dysfunctional. Jesus came to not only save the world, but to reveal the Father to us so that all who follow Him would live in His love and presence.

In this second message on the life and book of Daniel, Matt shares from chapters 5 through 8, highlighting the "extraordinary" character of Daniel. How he was fully devoted to God, honored and served the godless and harsh King, sought God and was the recipient of heavenly revelation for the whole world to the end of time. This book and the life of Daniel are as relevant for today as it was then.

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50 days after Jesus died for our salvation and freedom, the risen Savior went to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to live forever within His body. Pentecost was the day when the Spirit that the prophets, John the Baptist and Jesus said would come, came. It was the day that the church of Jesus received power. Power to be witnesses, power over sin, power to live like Jesus in the earth until He returns.

The same Spirit that hovered over the waters at creation has been sent to live inside of every follower of Jesus, giving us power to do the works of Jesus and be witnesses of Him in all of the earth. This Spirit is the great Helper sent from heaven, bringing truth, revealing Jesus and doing the impossible through us.

We have been given everything to live here on earth with God in a heavenly atmosphere in our mind, soul and body.

In this third week on the Churches of Revelation, Matt shares about the words of Jesus to the final three churches which were spread throughout modern day Turkey, and the application for the modern church today around the world. The heart and love of Jesus for His body is evident throughout as He communicates both His encouragement and His reproofs that will save their lives and give them great reward. These words are powerful, clear and helpful for us in this moment in history.

In the personal message from Jesus to the Seven churches, Jesus communicates both His encouragement and helps adjust their errors and sin. Jesus takes the unprecedented time and share these words to those He loved and His words can be applied as both encouragement and correction for His body in every age, including ours. The concerns of Jesus for these churches certainly would be His concerns for His church today, as His body is surrounded by the world's influences and immoralities. Through it all, there is great reward for staying the course, repenting for our errors and shaking off the thinking and behavior that offends Jesus.

The Revelation of Jesus and His words to the churches was given to the Apostle John at the end of his life. In this multi-part message, Matt shares the words of Jesus that He gave personally to John for the church of that age and this one. In these words are keys, encouragements and corrections that the church needed then, and needs today. There is a blessing for those who read, hear and heed these and we want to be those who do.

After 1,400 years of celebrating the blood of lambs that saved the Jews from the death angel, the Lamb of God gave His life and His blood, when received and applied, saves every person from death. Three days later, His mutilated body that was lying in a garden tomb, came back to life. The breath of the Father filled the body of Jesus and brought Him back to life again, defeating death once and for all time. Those who follow Jesus remember this resurrection Sunday, the day that we were given eternal life and life with power here on the earth.

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Steve Witt joins us to speak about what it means to be a Jesus follower. Steve Pastors Bethel Church in Cleveland and is a longtime friend of our head pastor Matt Peterson. Steve moves powerfully in the gift of prophecy and you don't want to miss what he has to say!

There may be no other supernatural action we can make that is greater than forgiveness. Forgiving people doesn't just help others, it is the pathway for us to be free ourselves. Jesus paid for our freedom, for us to be entirely free, but without forgiveness we are bound and imprisoned. Torture accompanies unforgiveness, while hoy and wholeness surround those who let go. As those full of the Spirit of God, He enables us to enter into the process of forgiveness, freeing us from the bounds of where we were wronged.

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Matt sharing about the new building opportunity for Awake

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