For God had a message that would not only break 400 years of His silence, but would announce the birth of two sons: John and Jesus — the Baptizer and the Christ.
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues in his Advent series this season, further telling us about the greatest miracle of all: the birth of Jesus.
John the Baptist played a crucial part, though, for he was sent by God to prepare the way for Jesus. And while the story of Jesus’ birth is one that we are all familiar with, what we can often miss is that every aspect, of this story we know so well, is rooted in the prophesies of God concerning the Messiah.
And Jesus fulfilled them all.
The Almighty God and Creator of the universe had veiled Himself in the flesh of a helpless infant.
This baby, had come through the most unexpected mother, in the most unexpected way, to be the long-awaited Savior of the world.
Pull up a virtual pew and join us. It’s Christmas Eve… and we’re together again!
Merry Christmas and welcome to our special Scandia Bible Church Christmas Eve Service for 2021, as we gather to celebrate a moment in history that would forever change the course of humanity — the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
As is our tradition, this evening’s service will be served up “family style” (you’ll find an Order of Service in the Sermon Notes) in which you’ll experience a mix of scripture readings, congregational hymns, and good ol’ fashioned church family music (plus Pastor Monty has a few words)… to remind and retell the story that everyone must know.
God had not spoken to His people for over 400 years. It was a long time of silence and in that time, Israel had returned from exile, rebuilt the temple, survived Alexander the Great, and now was occupied by Rome. Many were discouraged and there were a host of ways in which the people responded. It was rough.
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao opens the Bible this advent season to tell us of a pivotal moment in all of time:
God was going to break His silence.
And it wouldn’t be to a great prophet or the king, but He would send an angel to an obscure, middle-aged priest named Zecharias.
…For the most important time in history was about to begin.
It’s an adjective that has become more and more popular in recent years when describing any number of activities either in the church or in the lives of God’s people. And while this descriptor is helpful and often a necessary reminder, we usually don’t give credit where credit is due for this perspective in the Christian life.
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, on this Reformation Sunday, Pastor Monty Simao takes some time to reflect on this term, because it’s one that involves the Reformers.
For as the Reformers returned to the authority of Scripture, they, also, began to see that Jesus, Himself, revealed Himself as the “scope” of all the Scriptures.
What this means is that the credit goes to Christ: for all of Scripture is “Christ-Centered” — it all points to Him, and therefore, Jesus is the target and the end of all revelation from God.
writer:We can stop pitching the tent, Eliakim, for the Lord has pitched the True Tent… our True Tabernacle of the Heavenly Realm!
Eliakim:There you go again! You and your writings.
writer:Eliakim, listen to me!…. Don’t you see? Jesus is our Priest, now… our High Priest in heaven… And His work far surpasses what our priests here on earth could EVER do!
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Hebrews, where we learn right alongside them about a better ministry….
writer:Don’t you read Torah?
Eliakim:God warned Moses on the mountain. That’s all I need. Now we have a tabernacle to erect. Grab your hammer, and help me! Follow the plan.
writer:Yes, you are right. God warned Moses to follow the pattern because it had to be precise. This tent, and everything that our earthly priest do in here in it, is but a shadow — a hint — of what goes on in the True Sanctuary of Heaven.
And the work that has been given to our High Priest, Jesus, is much greater than the work of OUR priests.
…Eliakim, don’t you find it strange that this tent we erect, time and time again, has no chair for the priest in which to sit?
Eliakim:How can he! Have you seen all the offerings and sacrifices?? He has far too much work to do!
writer:That is my point, Eliakim. Jesus’ work is different. He has obtained a more excellent ministry than our priests, and the New Covenant which He brings is much greater than the Old… because it is based on better promises.
Eliakim, in the Heavenly Tabernacle there are places to sit. And Jesus, our High Priest, at the right hand of the throne of His Father… SAT DOWN!
SBC Host:What type of priest and sacrifice does God require to save men?
Avg Guy:Bulls and goats, right??
SBC Host:It is true that some have thought that the sacrificial shadows of bulls and goats sufficed; but that doesn’t take into consideration that the sacrifices themselves were offered by priests who were just as in need of a savior, as the people they represented.
Avg Guy:Good point! …Then I know, the answer must be Christ!
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Hebrews and shows us that to say Christ is a fitting high priest or was a fitting sacrifice is to say that Jesus perfectly fit God’s requirement, as well as man’s need.
The Levitical Priesthood could never do that.
But Christ’s perfect priesthood is able to perfect imperfect people and make them fit for heaven.
SBC Host: Assurance of salvation — all Christians struggle with it…
Avg Guy:You’re telling me.
SBC Host: And yet, we understand that Jesus is able to save.
Avg Guy:Exactly!
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Hebrews to show us that God understands and has given us a guarantee, or a surety, to secure our future — and it is Jesus Christ.
Jesus, Himself, is the assurance of our eternal salvation.
We may try to obtain assurance through other means… but such as it is with the Gospel of Grace: all of God’s blessings, including assurance, come to us in Christ.
SBC Host: “Weak and useless”… God’s description of the Levitical Priesthood.
The Levitical Priesthood had problems.
Avg Guy:Wait a minute! What was wrong?? Why couldn’t something be done to fix it?
SBC Host: There was. And He did.
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Hebrews in which we see why a priesthood, that had once been ordained by God, was now needing to be replaced.
But then it all makes sense when viewed against the backdrop of the Gospel, where we see on display man’s great need and the perfect work of Christ.
Description: When it comes to Hebrew history and identity, how could anyone be greater than Abraham?
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues our study in the book of Hebrews and shows us how the author begins his argument for the superiority of Christ by showing us the superiority of Melchizedek over Abraham.
And in his argument lies the very representative principle of not only covenant headship but redemption as well.
We know so little about him, and yet, he and his legacy loom so large.
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Hebrews and attempts to shed some light on this most mysterious character in the Bible.
And the mystery, in part, is not what we DON’T know about him… but what we DO: For he was “made like the Son of God” and is without a father and mother.
Descriptions like these leave us, at best, scratching our heads — and, at worst, dangerously trying to connect the dots… leading us to false conclusions and confusion.
And welcome to a special Scandia Bible Church Podcast for Good Friday 2021.
Join us as our little country church gathers — both in person and virtually — to worship and contemplate the words of our Savior… as heard from the cross on this most solemn of days.
For even as He hung from the tree, bearing the weight of our sins, Jesus continued teaching us… with words of grace, love, hope, agony, suffering, finality, and rest.
Avg Guy:Okay… I just read Hebrews chapter 5, versus 5-10, and I have questions.
SBC Host: Let’s hear them.
Avg Guy: All right…
If Jesus is God and knows all things then how can He learn obedience?
What does God require by which men can be saved and have fellowship with Him?
If Jesus is God and perfect, how can He be made perfect?
And… What qualifies Jesus to be our Savior, anyway?
SBC Host: These are daunting questions, to be sure.
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Hebrews and reminds us that questions like these can leave our minds reeling if we have not acquired the theological framework to think through them.
How we answer these questions will say much about our understanding of Christ – the only Savior.
Description: What does it mean that Christ is our Great High Priest? And how is His priesthood different from the priesthood of, say, Aaron?
These and other questions must be answered in order for believers to have assurance of their acceptance before God.
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Hebrews and reminds us that our assurance begins and ends in the person and work of Jesus Christ…
…And that His priesthood means that His completed work is being applied by our great Mediator and Savior resulting in our perseverance despite our weakness.
Description: We know that Jesus was tempted as we are tempted… and yet, He was without sin.
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with our study in the book of Hebrews and points out that Jesus’s temptation, and corresponding sinlessness, is supposedly mentioned in the book to help us draw near to Him, for He sympathizes.
The problem is that Jesus’ sinlessness makes us think Him unapproachable.
While we may not be able to gather in the traditional sense for this year’s Christmas Eve Service… we can gather with those in our homes to enjoy a service from our “Christmas Eve Past” — a small step, to help us celebrate this most joyous time of year: the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Click on the masked wisemen (below) bearing the gifts of our Christmas Eve Past to jump back in time to reexperience THE story of stories that is timeless.
“Shouldn’t this person and his conduct be confronted and dealt with?…You pass it off as a small thing, but it’s anything but that. Yeast, too, is a ‘small thing,’ but it works its way through a whole batch of bread dough pretty fast. So get rid of this ‘yeast.’ ”
[1 Cor 5:2, 6-7 MSG]
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues our study on Church Discipline and notes that Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, seems to instruct a very different and — dare I say — more drastic method for church discipline than what we learned from Jesus in the book of Matthew.
Why is this? …And why, in order to correctly view and apply church discipline, must the church exercise wisdom?
“If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying?” [Matthew 18:12]
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues our series on the Church, and specifically church discipline, as we look at the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 18.
And what we find is that this is not an isolated text, but a theological treatise that not only instructs in the HOW of church discipline but the WHY, as well — and roots discipline in the Gospel of grace.
SBC Host:How does the word “discipline” strike you?
Avg Guy: Strike me? … Oh I get it! Striking happens with discipline. [laughs]… Hey you turned off my mic!
SBC Host:Yeah, I meant to do that.
When we hear the word discipline, most of us think of strikes from the rod, dunce hats while standing in the corner, public embarrassment, and frankly, nothing good.
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues our series on The Church in which we learn that while the word discipline may conjure up negative images…it’s not negative at all.
In fact, it is actually something we need, ought to want, and is commanded — in the life of the church.
Description: Grab a seat and join us. It’s Christmas Eve!
Merry Christmas and welcome to our special Scandia Bible Church Christmas Eve Service 2019, as we gather to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
This evening’s service — as is our tradition — is “family style”… (you’ll find an Order of Service in the Sermon Notes) in which you’ll see a mix of scripture readings, congregational hymns, and good ol’ fashioned church family music… to remind and retell the story of all stories that would forever change humanity.
Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao continues with the final parts of our study in the book of Revelation to show us that not only is God resurrecting His people with new resurrected and glorified bodies, but He is resurrecting the heavens and earth as well.
As the Lord says, He is “making all things new” and creation will become the future and eternal dwelling place for all who love God…as they are found in Christ.
Sermon Archives
Given New Life
in SBC Classic Edition
We’re in the process of digging through the colossal SBC Sermon Archive Library to bring forth the rich and timeless Biblical Truths found within the hundreds and hundreds of sermon cassettes from yesteryear, in our Tape to Podcast Project.
Currently on the workbench:
The Jim Allen Gospel of John Study (1997-1998) is now complete and in our SBC Classic Edition collection!
Watch our Steeple Study grow! … Great for a listen-study through a book or series.
Our Find-A-Sermon resource page helps you find what you’re looking for.
With the increased release of sermons from our archives, SBC Classic Edition is now podcasting on its own dedicated feed, separate from our current Sunday sermons.
Sermon Notes
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