The Foundation on Which the True Church of God is Built

Jesus said to Peter: “And I also say to you that you are Peter [petros], and on this rock [petra] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

This verse does not imply what some have assumed, that human authority, beginning with Peter, is at the foundation of the Church.

Continue reading

Can You Believe What the Bible Says About Jesus (Part 1)?

The New Testament makes some very strong claims about Jesus. That he was born of a virgin. That he worked many miracles. That he died by crucifixion, and was resurrected three days later. That he has the authority to forgive sins, and thus remove their penalty. That he was God in the flesh.

None of us has seen Jesus, but does that mean God wants us to have blind faith, faith without evidence? We’re told that Jesus offered convincing evidence to those who became apostles, commissioned to preach the gospel to the world. He did not expect them to believe he was who he said he was without evidence to back up his claims.

If we are to believe not by blind faith, but in accordance to supporting evidence available to us, what is the evidence? In this message, we discuss evidence available that the New Testament testimony concerning Jesus is a reliable foundation for faith in him as the Messiah promised in the prophesies of the Bible. This message, is part one of a two part series.

“Can You Believe What the Bible Says About Jesus? (Part 1),” presented by Rod Reynolds, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Copyright © 2023 by Messenger Church of God

Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations are from the New King James VersionTM
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.

cogmessenger.org

Messenger Church of God
PO Box 619
Wentzville, MO 63385
USA

Find and Remain in the True Church (Part 2)

The Bible warns us not to depart from the teachings of Jesus Christ and the apostles and prophets as recorded in Scripture. But also warns us of deceivers, teaching contrary to God’s word. Some of the claims and devices of various false teachers are exposed in this message, along with encouragement aimed at helping you remain faithful to the truth of God’s Word.

“Find and Remain in the True Church (Part 2),” by Rod Reynolds, COGMessenger is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Three Resurrections

According to Scripture the Kingdom of God will be established on earth at the time of the second coming of Jesus Christ (Daniel 7:13-14; Revelation 11:15-18). Foretold is a resurrection to occur at that time, to be followed by other resurrections later.

The hope of the resurrection enters into the faith of all who believe the true gospel (Acts 24:15; I Corinthians 15:4, 11).

But upon what is that belief predicated? The second coming of Jesus Christ is predicated on the reality of his first coming. And the resurrection that will occur at Christ’s second coming is predicated on the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ following his death at the time of his first coming. And so also are other resurrections spoken of in the Bible.

Let’s examine what the Bible reveals about the resurrections, beginning with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Continue reading