Sermons by Steve Ebsen (Page 2)
The Sanctuary – Part 1
In the sanctuary service, God met His people were they were. In a world hopelessly marred by sin and after spending over 400 years in physical slavery to Egypt, the Lord redeemed His people and in the sanctuary service He enlarged their understanding of salvation. Fully a third of Exodus is devoted to the organization and construction of the Israelite sanctuary. But the national religion is not to be regarded as an entirely new and different system. It was an…
Davidic Covenant
The covenant promise to David was a new focal point of the Mosaic covenant. From first to last it was a messianic promise and prophecy. When the apostles and other disciples came to understand the Messiah’s mission and Jesus’ fulfillment of that mission, their lives were changed. Ours will be too when our eyes are lifted from today’s world to the Messiah and the kingdom of heaven. Scripture: Isaiah 42:6; Luke 24:18-21, 27, 31-32; 2 Samuel 7:1–17; Deuteronomy 17:14–20; 1…
Sabbath School – Sharing the Word
When we witness, we speak of Jesus. But what would we know about Jesus without the Bible? In fact, how much would we know about the great controversy, the love of God, the birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, and return of our Lord if we did not have the Scriptures? Although nature reveals the majesty and power of God, it doesn’t reveal the plan of salvation. Jesus, through the Person of the Holy Spirit, is the “true Light which gives…
Abraham’s Seed Becomes a Nation
The patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, knew God as the God of Promises. Just over 400 years later Israel was reintroduced to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob Who would now fulfill those promises (Ex 2:15; 6:2-7). The seed of Abraham, Israel, had grown large in number over those intervening years and now God would lead that nation out of slavery in Egypt to the promised land (Gen 15:13). There remained yet another unfulfilled promise, that being the making…
Sabbath School – Why Witness?
God’s great longing is for all people everywhere to respond to His love, accept His grace, be transformed by His Spirit, and be saved into His kingdom. He has no greater desire than our salvation. His love is boundless. His mercy is measureless. His compassion is endless. His forgiveness is inexhaustible. His power is infinite. In contrast to the heathen gods, which demanded sacrifices, our God has made the supreme sacrifice. No matter how much we desire to be saved,…
Sabbath School – Living by the Word of God
The best method of studying the Bible is of no use if we are not determined to live by what we learn from Scripture. What is true for education in general is also true for studying the Bible in particular: you learn best not just by reading or hearing, but by practicing what you know. This obedience opens a full treasure house of divine blessings that otherwise would be closed to us, and it leads us on an exciting and…
Sabbath School – The Bible and Prophecy
Bible prophecy is crucial to our identity and mission. Prophecy provides an internal and external mechanism to confirm the accuracy of God’s Word. Jesus said, “And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe” (John 14:29, NKJV; see also John 13:19). The crucial question is: How do we interpret prophecy correctly so that we know when the prophecy has, indeed, come to pass? During the Reformation, the reformers followed the…
Sabbath School – The Bible and Prophecy
Bible prophecy is crucial to our identity and mission. Prophecy provides an internal and external mechanism to confirm the accuracy of God’s Word. Jesus said, “And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe” (John 14:29, NKJV; see also John 13:19). The crucial question is: How do we interpret prophecy correctly so that we know when the prophecy has, indeed, come to pass? During the Reformation, the reformers followed the…
Sabbath School – The Bible as History
The Bible is constituted in history. Biblical history moves in a linear direction from an absolute beginning, when God created all things, to an ultimate goal, when He will restore the earth at His Second Coming. The historical nature of Scripture is one characteristic that distinguishes it from the sacred books of other religions. The Bible assumes the existence of a God who personally acts in history; it does not try to prove that existence. In the beginning, God speaks,…
Sabbath School – Creation: Genesis as Foundation, Part 2
Many great thinkers were inspired by Scripture to explore God’s created world; as a result, modern science was born. Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, John Ray, Robert Boyle, and other early great scientists believed that their work revealed even more about the handiwork of God’s creation. After the French Revolution, however, nineteenth- century science began to move from a theistic worldview to one based on naturalism and materialism, often with no place at all for the supernatural. These philosophical ideas were…