1. Jesus threatened his ________________________________.                      
2. Jesus threatened his ________________________________.                        
3. Jesus threatened his ________________________________.

Matthew 2:9-11, “After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.”

4. The Magi _______________________________ Him.                                 
5. The Magi gave _________________________ to Him

Luke 2:22-24 And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 

5. “Chronas” referred to ______________________________.
6. “Kairos” has to do with the _________________________.

1. Gratitude is the power behind _________________ that’s truly from the heart..
2. How would YOU respond to this question :                                            “Generosity is always _____________________________.”
3. Every single person here, right now, has been on the                    _________________________ of the ridiculous gifts from God.

Luke 17:11-19 (Msg), “It happened that as He made His way toward Jerusalem, He crossed over the border between Samaria and Galilee. As He entered a village, ten men, all lepers, met Him. They kept their distance but raised their voices, calling out, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’^14-16 Taking a good look at them, He said, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ They went, and while still on their way, became clean. One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude, glorifying God. He kneeled at Jesus’ feet, so grateful. He couldn’t thank Him enough—and he was a Samaritan.^17-19 Jesus said, ‘Were not ten healed? Where are the nine? Can none be found to come back and give glory to God except this outsider?’ Then He said to him, ‘Get up. On your way. Your faith has healed and saved you.’”

4. Having faith ______ God is not the same as being grateful                      ———————  God.

1. Philip Yancey’s four questions: 

Ephesians 2:1-3, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.”                          

 2 Samuel 11:1-3, “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.² One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, ³ and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, ‘She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.’”   

2. Kings tended to issues related to ________________ of the Kingdom during the spring because of the weather during the winter months.
3. David wasn’t doing what he was ____________ to be doing.
4. You are either on ________________ of doing something with your life for God, or you’re not.

Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

What Can I Do?                                                                                   Donate Your Time

1. “Ring the Bell” for the Salvation Army during the Holiday season. Contact:

     Salvation Army    8225 Calumet Ave. Munster, IN 46322   #219-838-0380

2. Volunteer for the Red Cross… Check out their website:                    

      Redcross.org. For additional info see Marilyn Skertic.

3. Volunteer for “Inner Mission”. A ministry of The Gate Church

      In Hammond. Ministering to the less fortunate people in the                                                                                

       greater Hammond Area. Community Meal, every Saturday.                                     

      See: Nancy Mantel for more information.

4. Deliver food for Meals on Wheels, Check out their website

      MOWNWI.ORG   #219-756-3664, or talk to Linda Smith &

      Burch Magnussen for more information.

5. Help at St. James Food Pantry… Chief operating Officer, Ed

     Rosinski   #219-924-4220 ext.6

6. Cook a meal for the Greater Hammond Warming Shelter.

      See Marc Skertic.

7. Volunteer to work in the Children’s Ministry. See Tori Ruffolo
8. Volunteer to help our Missions Ministry grow. See Marc Skertic   
9. Donate a pint of blood to help save someone’s life this

     Christmas Season. Check on-line at Versiti Highland Blood

     Donation Center: Porte De L’eau Plaza, 2126 45th St.,

     Highland, IN 46322         #1-877-232-4376     

10. Commit to praying an extra half hour specifically for…

1. The Holy Spirit is ___________ the Holy Spirit, the 3rd person in the Godhead (Trinity).
2. The Holy Spirit is ______________________.

John 16:12-15, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. ¹³ But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify Me because it is from Me that He will receive what He will make known to you. ¹⁵ All that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from Me what He will make known to you.”     

3. In fact, inviting Jesus into your life is essentially inviting the ________________________ and work of the Holy Spirit.

John 16:7, ”But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”

Romans 8:9, “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.”

Ephesians 5:18 ”Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”

4. The Bible teaches that an individual is filled with the Holy Spirit by involving himself or herself in the process that leads to an ______________ day-in, day-out filling.

1. You’ve been given the breath of life from God, but you walk through life with a ____________, like you are _____________.

Ecclesiastes 2:10-11, “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
 I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. ¹¹ Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. “

2. There is also the death that comes from living a ______________    ____________… a life devoted to the _______________________.

Ephesians 2:1-6, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. ⁴ But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.”

3. The most all –encompassing death we can experience is being           __________________________________.

2. John the Baptism was not about ritual purity, but _________ purity. 

Matthew 3:11, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” 

Matthew 3:13-15, “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. ¹⁴ But John tried to deter Him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?’¹⁵ Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then John consented.”

Matthew 28:19-20, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

3. Baptism is a reflection of the life you are _______________, not the one you have lived, or are living now.
4. All examples of baptism in The New Testament followed an individual’s __________________ to trust Christ alone for their salvation.

1. The word “hypocrite” literally means ________________. 

Matthew 7:3-5, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” 

Matthew 23:5,25, ”Everything they do is done for men to see… ²⁵ Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.” 

Matthew 23:14,27-28, “They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them… ²⁷ Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. ²⁸ In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” 

2. Those who authentically follow Jesus are marked by an honest   ____________________________, not controlled appearance.

Matthew 23:6, “They love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues.” 

1 John 1:8, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” 

3. The second mark of authentic spirituality is being                     

1. The word “in vitro” is Latin for ________________.

(1) The Germinal Stage (first 3 weeks)                                                               

• Conception (sperm & egg)
• Zygote (journeys to uterus)
• Zygote (turns into a blastocyst)
• Blastocyst attaches to uterus        

(2) The Embryonic Stage (weeks 3-8)

• Blastocyst becomes an embryo
• Structures and organs begin to form 

(3) The Fetal Stage (week 9-birth)

• Embryo turns into a fetus
• Sex is assigned
• Organs and body systems grow and mature 

(4) Viability (at around 24 weeks)

• Brain maturation 

                   Consider Psalm 139 

2. “Exegesis” is letting the text ___________________. 
3. “Eisegesis” is when you read something into it  ___________________________________.

1. Simplest definition : Grace is _____________________ something we did not _____________________.

   2. Grace realizes that people are _________________ in every conceivable way, and that’s by God’s design.

    3. Grace flows when you realize we are all _______________.

    4. Grace, by its very definition, is something that is to be applied directly to sin. And not just the sins we’ve committed, but the sins others _____________________________________.

    Matthew 6:12, 14-15, “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors… 14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”