SATAN’S MEETING: (Read even if you’re busy)

Satan called a worldwide convention of demons. In his opening address, he said:

“We can’t keep Christians from going to church.”
“We can’t keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth.”
“We can’t even keep them from forming an intimate relationship with their savior.”
“Once they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken.”
“So let them go to their churches; let them have their covered dish dinners, BUT steal their time, so they don’t have time to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ..”
“This is what I want you to do,” said the devil:

“Distract them from gaining hold of their Saviour and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!”
“How shall we do this?” his demons shouted.
“Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds,” he answered.
“Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow.”
“Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles.”
“Keep them from spending time with their children.”
“As their families fragment, soon, their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work!”
“Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice.”
“Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive.” To keep the TV, VCR, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their home and see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly.”
“This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ.”
“Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers.”
“Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day.”
“Invade their driving moments with billboards.”
“Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs, sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes..”
“Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines and TV so their husbands will believe that outward beauty is what’s important, and they’ll become dissatisfied with their wives. “
“Keep the wives too tired to love their husbands at night.”
“Give them headaches too! “
“If they don’t give their husbands the love they need, they will begin to look elsewhere.”
“That will fragment their families quickly!”
“Give them Santa Claus to distract them from teaching their children the real meaning of Christmas.”
“Give them an Easter bunny so they won’t talk about his resurrection and power over sin and death.”
“Even in their recreation, let them be excessive.”
“Have them return from their recreation exhausted.”
“Keep them too busy to go out in nature and reflect on God’s creation. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, plays, concerts, and movies instead.”
“Keep them busy, busy, busy!”
“And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences.”
“Crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Jesus.”
“Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause.”
“It will work!”
“It will work!”

It was quite a plan!
The demons went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busier and more rushed, going here and there.

Having little time for their God or their families.
Having no time to tell others about the power of Jesus to change lives.

I guess the question is, has the devil been successful in his schemes?
You be the judge!!!!!

Does “BUSY” mean: B-eing U-nder S-atan’s Y-oke?

Please pass this on, if you aren’t too BUSY!

I don’t think I know 10 people who would admit they love Jesus.

Do You Love Him?

IF YOU LOVE JESUS, PASS THIS ON!!!!!!!

Strategies Of Satan & His Demons (Part 1)

INTRODUCTION:

1. On one Halloween night, a little boy in a Devil costume knocked on my door wanting candy. When I saw him, I thought to myself how sad it is that our society encourages children to dress up as Satan, and other evil personalities. Don't people realize that Satan is real and not some sort of Halloween character? We characterize Satan has some fictitious person. 

2. Unfortunately, many people don't believe that the Devil really exists.

ILLUSTRATION:

Once there was a boxer who was being badly beaten. Battered and bruised, he leaned over the ropes and said to his trainer, “Throw in the towel! This guy is killing me!”

The Trainer said, “Oh, no he’s not. He’s not even hitting you. He hasn’t laid a glove on you!” At that point the boxer wiped the blood away from his eye and said, “Well, then, I wish you’d watch that referee. He sure is tough!” Some people are like that trainer, they deny the obvious.

3. Do you believe that Satan & demons are real?

4. Jesus sure did.

On one occasion Jesus said, ‘‘Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you" (Mt. 12:25f).

5. Jesus tells us two things about Satan & demons.

a. First, Jesus believed in them. For He personally recognized them by name.

b. Second, Jesus recognized that Satan has a kingdom. His kingdom is this world (1 Jn. 5:19).

6. Jesus not only believed in Satan & his troops, but He fought against them. Jesus spent 25% of His ministry casting out evil spirits and demons. 75 times in the synoptic gospels Jesus casted out evil spirits in ordinary people. Jesus realized how real Satan & demons are, and we better as well.

7. Over the years, some Christians have had the misconception that Satan & his demons are no longer active today.

8. They say that they were active when Christ was on the earth, but their activity is no longer in existence because Jesus defeated them on the cross.

 

9. It is true that Jesus defeated and disarmed Satan on the cross (Col. 2:15), however, the Bible teaches in (Rev. 20:7-10) that Satan will not be completely bound up or destroyed until after the second coming of Jesus. So this means that Satan & his comrade's are still active today.

10. In the Bible, we are warned time and time again to be aware of our enemy.

(Eph. 6:11-12) "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the Devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

a. Paul is telling us that we have a fight on our hands. Our enemy is not against flesh and blood but our enemy is the “rulers, authorities, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.” Our enemy is Satan & his demons.

(1 Pet. 4:8) "Your enemy the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

b. A lion is a predator. It constantly roams around looking for helpless animals to attack and kill. In a similar way, the Devil roams around the earth looking for Christians and non-Christians to attack.

11. Have you ever wondered how Satan can attack so many people all around the world virtually at the same time? We must understand that Satan does not have the same qualities as God. He is a created being; a fallen angel. Since he is a created being, he is not omnipresent. He cannot be everywhere at the same time. He is finite. So he sends his demons to do some of his dirty work.

12. What are demons? Demons are simple evil spirits who try to take people away from God and His truths. Demons are fallen angels who have rebelled against God. In (Mk. 3:22) Jesus calls Satan “the prince of demons." Satan is the ruler of the demons, who are his agents. They work together.

13. People who say that Satan & demons are not active today are being deceived by Satan who according to (John 8:44) is the father of lies. He wants people to believe that he is not active today.

14. Brethren, we need to open our eyes and realize that we are in spiritual warfare with Satan & his troops. We must take our heads out of the sand and stand up and fight. We must fight in the power and authority of the Lamb of God, the Lion of Judah, and the King of Kings. Its time we fight in the name and power of Jesus Christ. Amen!

THIS MORNING, WE WILL LOOK AT SOME STRATEGIES AND TACTICS THAT SATAN USES TO ATTACK US. THEN, WE WILL LOOK AT HOW WE CAN DEFEAT AND CONQUER SATAN & HIS DEMONS. AT THIS TIME, WE WILL EXPLORE TWO TACTICS THAT SATAN USES TO ATTACK US.

I. FIRST, SATAN IS A DECEIVER WHO IS OUT TO MISLEAD US.

1. In the Garden of Eden, God told Adam that he could eat from any tree in the garden except from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

2. But Satan, the mighty deceiver, came along and told Eve that it was OK to eat from the tree of knowledge because if she did, her eyes would be opened, and she would be like God, knowing good and evil. And so the woman ate and gave some to her husband and he ate as well.

(Gen. 3:13) “Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

3. Satan is the master deceiver. A deceiver is someone who persuades people to believe in something that is not true. Satan & his troops are out to mislead us; and to persuade us to believe in something that is not true.

4. How does Satan mislead us? One way he misleads us is by planting misleading thoughts in our minds.

In (1 Chron.), David took a census of Israel even though God did not advise him to do so. And because he did that, God sent a plague on Israel and 70,000 men died. -- Why did David take an unauthorized census? Where did he get the idea to do that?

(1 Chron. 21:1) "Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel." Incited means to "stimulate or entice.”

5. In other words, Satan planted a thought in David’s mind to do something that God did not approve of.

6. In (Mt. 16:22), Peter rebuked Jesus for revealing that He must go to Jerusalem and be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Who incited Peter to discourage Jesus from going to the cross? Satan!

(Mt. 16:22) Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

a. Jesus knew that Satan was the one who planted the thought in Peter’s mind, which was designed to hinder Jesus from fulfilling His mission on the cross. 

7. Ananias and Sapphira, who were believers (v. 32), sold a piece of property to give to the apostles. However, before they gave the money, they decided to keep some of it for themselves. Because they lied to Spirit, and kept some of the money, they died. Where in the world did they get the idea to lie to the Spirit and keep some of the money? Satan!

(Acts 5:3) Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart.”

8. It is obvious from examining these passages that Satan can plant misleading thoughts in our minds. He entices us to do things that are contrary to the will of God.

9. Here are some random thoughts that Satan darts at people.

a. You don't need to go to church in order to be saved. All church people are hypocrites anyhow.

b. You don't need to be baptized to be saved.

c. It's all right to cheat on your spouse; no one will ever find out.

d. During our anger, Satan tells us, "Go ahead get revenge."

e. Your not a good Christian, look at all of the evil thoughts you have; you might as well give up on your faith, for God will never save a person like you.

f. To the teenagers, Satan plants these thoughts: It's all right to drink alcohol and do drugs; everyone else is doing it. It won't harm you.

g. Go ahead and have sex before marriage; God doesn’t care. He wants you to have fun.

10. Satan hurls all kinds of misleading thoughts in our minds.

ILLUSTRATION:

In August of 1993, Jerry Simon, a minister in Huntsville Alabama, was sitting in his office doing his normal duties when all of a sudden Eileen Janeciz walked in and shot him in the chest and back for no apparent reason. Mr. Simon was murdered.

Before her arrest, Janeciz held police at bay for 8 hours, reading passages from Anton LeVay’s Satanic Bible. Did Satan have something to do with Jerry Simon’s death? I believe so. We should never underestimate the influence that Satan & his demons have. They are powerful and have brought many good people down.

11. Brethren, Satan is the mighty deceiver. He is after our souls. He wants us to commit sin after sin so that we will alienate ourselves from God.

12. He is good at what he does. He can plant thoughts in our minds, so beware, and do not get taken in by his deceitful ways. Don't follow his misleading thoughts. Stand strong in God's ways and not Satan's ways.

13. Even though I am a Minister, someone who is aware of his tactics, he constantly plants evil thoughts in my mind. He will do the same to you. He is after us. We must be prepared and alert (1 Pet. 5:8) and recognize when we are under attack. He is a deceiver.

II. SECOND, SATAN IS A TEMPTER WHO TEMPTS US TO SIN.

1. Satan will come at us with every weapon he has. He doesn’t care who we are or how much power and influence we have. He goes after every man, woman and child. We are his enemy and he is after our souls. He will not stop until Jesus comes again.

2. Satan is so bold and brave that he tempted Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of God.

(Read Mt. 4:1-11).

3. If Satan will come after Jesus, he will certainly come after us. So be prepared.

4. Satan entices us to commit an unwise or immoral act. Usually the temptation that is thrown our way is something very pleasurable, something that we want, but yet is against God’s will.

5. He and his troops know our weak points. They know exactly what to tempt us with.

ILLUSTRATION:

Satan could drive up in a Budweiser truck full of beer, get out and pour me a tall glass of suds. I would not be tempted to drink it.

However, if he drove up in a truck full of Blue Bell ice cream, I would be sunk.

6. He knows what to tempt us with.

a. If lust is what you struggle with, then Satan will tempt you to look at pornography and X-rated videos.

b. If gossip is your downfall, then Satan will entice you to talk about others. He will convince you that it is the all right to do so.

c. If addiction is what you struggle with, then Satan will bombard you with opportunities to indulge in alcohol and drugs.

7. Until we are willing to say “NO” to those temptations, then Satan & his companions will not stop. They will bombard us with tempting desires. Everyday they will tempt us hoping that we will stumble.

8. Parents, Satan is even after your children.

9. No one is safe from his attacks.

ILLUSTRATION:

Dr. Neil Anderson, who holds a doctorate from Pepperdine University, told this story in his book “The Bondage Breaker:”

One day a student of his told him that their little boy was caught lying and stealing. They asked their son why he did it and he said, “Daddy, I had to do it. Satan said he would kill you if I didn’t.” Instead of spanking him for blaming Satan for his actions, he confronted the enemy’s lie and hugged his son for trying to save his life.

I told you earlier that Satan plants thoughts in our minds. Can he at times do that to children? Absolutely! Before you discipline your children for bad behavior, ask them if they were having thoughts, which provoked them to misbehave. And assess their answer to see whether or not Satan may be heavily influencing them. Of course children like adults are still responsible for their actions, however, it is helpful to determine if Satan has a reign in your children's life.

10. How can your children get tangled up with Satan?

a. When you give your children money to buy heavy metal rock and roll tapes and money to go to a rock concert, you are sending them to Satan's church.

ILLUSTRATION:

Several years ago, a Michigan teenager shot his older brother in the head. When the Police arrived he was arrested. While they were searching the boys room for evidence, they found a (hood, black robe, an upside down cross, black candle, card 666) & (11 cassette tapes of Motley Crew, Black Sabbath, and other heavy medal tapes). They also found a book that was given to him at a rock concert that listed step-by-step procedures on how to perform a satanic ritual.

b. Parents this is a very real Devil and if you expose your children to him, you may lose them.

c. Get rid of those satanic music tapes from your house and do not send them to rock concerts.

d. Don’t buy them occult toys such as (Dungeons & Dragons; Ouchgy Board; or Tera Cards). These are of the Devil.

e. Don’t send your children to occult movies such as (Exorcist; Omen). The Devil is working through these movies and could influence your children to seek satanic power.

11. Parents if you love your children, and I know that you do, please beware that Satan & his demons are after your children. Protect them in the power and blood of Jesus Christ.

CONCLUSION:

1. Brethren, Satan & his demons are real! In fact they are so real they are probably working in this church this morning. How many of you received negative thoughts about today's sermon? Satan may have given you these thoughts.

2. Satan is a deceiver and a tempter. He can plant false thoughts in our minds. He is a roaring lion looking to devour us.

3. Of course as Christians, Satan & demons cannot possess us or over power us. However, they can harass us and do everything they can to cause us to stumble. So be alert.

4. Next Sunday morning, Lord willing, I will speak on how we can defeat Satan & his demons.

5. In the mean time, I hope this lesson revealed to you a few of the tactics that Satan & his troops use. We need to be informed in the strategies of our enemy, so that we can defeat them. If you have been struggling against the evil one and you want help to defeat him, then please come and let us pray for you.

Media and Girls

"They have ads of how you should dress and what you should look like and this and that, and then they say, 'but respect people for what they choose to be like.' Okay, so which do we do first?"

Kelsey, 16, quoted in Girl Talk

The statistics are startling. According to the 1983 Nielsen Report on Television, the average North American girl will watch 5,000 hours of television, including 80,000 ads, before she starts kindergarten. The 1996 study "Images of Female Children in TV Commercials" found that in the United States, Saturday morning cartoons alone come with 33 commercials per hour. Commercials aimed at kids spend 55 per cent of their time showing boys building, fixing toys, or fighting. They show girls, on the other hand, spending 77 per cent of their time laughing, talking, or observing others. And while boys in commercials are shown out of the house 85 per cent of the time, more than half of the commercials featuring girls place them in the home.

You've Come A Long Way, Baby?

The mass media, especially children's television, provide more positive role models for girls than ever before. Kids shows such as Timothy Goes to School, Canadian Geographic for Kids, and The Magic School Bus feature strong female characters who interact with their male counterparts on an equal footing.
There are strong role models for teens as well. A Children Now study of the media favoured by teenage girls ("A Different World: Children's Perceptions of Race and Class in Media," 1996) discovered that a similar proportion of male and female characters on TV and in the movies rely on themselves to achieve their goals and solve their own problems. (The one discrepancy was in the movies, where 49 per cent of male characters solve their own problems, compared to only 35 per cent of their female counterparts.) Television shows like Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and computer games such as Tomb Raider and Perfect Dark, star girls who are physically assertive and in control. And of course, Lisa has been acknowledged as the brains of the Simpson family since the start.

Despite the progress that has been made there is a long way to go, both in the quantity of media representations of woman and in their quality.

In terms of quantity, the media is still a long way from reflecting reality : women represent 49 per cent of humanity while female characters make up only 32 per cent of the main characters on TV, as shown by a broad survey done in 2008 by Doctor Maya Götz of the International Central Institute for Youth and Educational Television. This study measured the representation of male and female characters in nearly twenty thousand children’s programs in 24 different countries. The media industry justifies this disparity by arguing that it is easier for girls than boys to identify with characters of the opposite sex. Götz argues that this argument reverses cause and effect, saying that it is the lack of female characters on TV is what leads to the higher popularity of male characters.

So far as quality is concerned, the media still conform to a stereotyped image of women. Götz’s study identifies a number of sexual stereotypes found around the world : in general, girls and women are motivated by love and romance, appear less independent than boys, and are stereotyped according to their hair colour – blonds fall into two categories, the “girl next door” or the “blonde bitch,” while redheads are always tomboys – they are nearly always conventionally attractive, thinner than average women in real life, and heavily sexualized.

Magazines are the only medium where girls are over-represented. However,almost 70 per cent of the editorial content in teen mags focuses on beauty and fashion, and only 12 per cent talks about school or careers. ("Content Analysis of Contemporary Teen Magazines for Adolescent Females," 1991)

Media, Self-Esteem and Girls' Identities

Research indicates that these mixed messages make it difficult for girls to negotiate the transition to adulthood. In its 1998 study Focus on Youth, the Canadian Council on Social Development reports that while the number of boys who say they "have confidence in themselves" remains relatively stable through adolescence, the numbers for girls drop steadily from 72 per cent in Grade Six students to only 55 per cent in Grade Ten.
Carol Gilligan was the first to highlight this unsettling trend in her landmark 1988 study. Gilligan suggests it happens because of the widening gap between girls' self-images and society's messages about what girls should be like.
Children Now points out that girls are surrounded by images of female beauty that are unrealistic and unattainable. And yet two out of three girls who participated in their national media survey said they "wanted to look like a character on TV." One out of three said they had "changed something about their appearance to resemble that character."
In 2002, researchers at Flinders University in South Australia studied 400 teenagers regarding how they relate to advertising. They found that girls who watched TV commercials featuring underweight models lost self-confidence and became more dissatisfied with their own bodies. Girls who spent the most time and effort on their appearance suffered the greatest loss in confidence.

Eroticization of Young Girls

Under-represented, women are equally misrepresented : the hypersexualization of very young girls, most notably in fashion and advertising, is a disturbing trend given that these stereoypes make up most of the representations of themselves which girls and women see in the media. The pressures on girls are exacerbated by the media's increasing tendency to portray very young girls in sexual ways. Over the past decade, the fashion industry has begun to use younger and younger models, and now commonly presents 12- and 13-year-old girls as if they were women. Camera angles (where the model is often looking up, presumably at a taller man), averted eyes, wounded facial expressions, and vulnerable poses mimic the visual images common in pornographic media.
Anthropologist David Murray warns that, "Our culture is to a large extent experimenting with eroticizing the child." For Murray, the media frenzy around teeny-bopper pop star Britney Spears and murdered 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey are examples of how this eroticization is being turned into a highly saleable commodity.
The most cursory examination of media confirms that young girls are being bombarded with images of sexuality, often dominated by stereotypical portrayals of women and girls as powerless, passive victims.
As these girls become teenagers, many choose to tune out, but others maintain a hungry appetite for these messages. As Shawn Doherty and Nadine Joseph note, those who continue to consume media images are strongly influenced "by stereotypical images of uniformly beautiful, obsessively thin and scantily dressed objects of male desire. And studies show that girls who are frequent viewers have the most negative opinion of their gender."

Offensive Drawing 2

Getting to Really Know God...

Hi, friends, and welcome to this lesson! Any retelling of the life of Jesus Christ—especially a short one like this—falls far short of doing it justice. But if you are not familiar with the facts of Jesus' life and ministry, this lesson will be an introduction that hopefully will whet your appetite to learn more. Understanding Christ is the foundation for understanding true Christianity, which is believing and living by Christ's teachings and striving to imitate His perfect life.
If you already have a good understanding of Christ's life and teachings, this lesson should be an inspiring review and overview of that most precious understanding. It may also help prepare you to know how to explain to others our purpose in life and what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
For modern-day disciples of Christ who love Him above all else, it's always a joy to read and meditate on His wonderful life and teachings.

The Life and Ministry of Jesus Christ

To be a true disciple of Christ means not only to be an admirer and follower, but also to obey and imitate Him. May this lesson help you toward that goal.
The following account from John 20:19-21, 24-29 about "doubting Thomas" has a great lesson for all of us:

"Then, the same day [the day after Jesus rose from the dead] at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, 'Peace be with you.' When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, 'Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you…'
"Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, 'We have seen the Lord.' So he said to them, 'Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.'
"And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, 'Peace to you!'
"Then He said to Thomas, 'Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.'
"And Thomas answered and said to Him, 'My Lord and my God!'
"Jesus said to him, 'Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'"

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The Sources of Information About Jesus' Life and Ministry

The primary sources of information about the life and teachings of Jesus Christ are the first four books of the New Testament, which are called the Gospels. Other sources are the many prophecies in the Old Testament about the future Messiah and the New Testament books in which the apostles explain many things about Christ and His teachings.
Why are there four Gospels instead of just one? First, the Gospels are not purely biographies. Each of the four authors are describing what he considers the most spiritually significant elements of Jesus' life and teachings. Of course, each author was inspired by God through His Holy Spirit.
There are no real contradictions among the four accounts. The four different perspectives complement each other and help to fill out the whole picture of His perfect life. Therefore, there is harmony, continuity and unity among the four accounts. It's profitable to combine the perspectives into an overall view, but it's also interesting and profitable to focus on one perspective at a time.
Summarizing the particular focus of each author can be challenging, but here is one simplified approach: Matthew announces Jesus as King, Mark presents Him as Servant, Luke focuses on Him as Man and John highlights Him as God. Jesus is our perfect model in each of those roles.

What are the meanings of Jesus' primary names and titles?

Matthew 1:21
"And she [Mary] will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."
Matthew 1:23
"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."
John 1:41
He [Andrew] first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated, the Christ).
Luke 6:46
"But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?"
Matthew 16:13
When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"

We can understand a lot about Jesus and His mission by understanding His names and titles. Jesus means "savior." Jesus is derived from the Greek Iesous, which is derived from the Hebrew Yehoshua (from which we get the English name Joshua).
Jesus truly was and is "God with us." He was and is the Son of God and therefore God. He was God in the flesh (Luke 1:35; John 20:28).
Messiah (from Hebrew mashiach) means "anointed" or "anointed one." Although the specific word appears in the Old Testament only in Daniel 9:25-26, many other prophecies promised a Messiah to be sent by God as a deliverer and liberator. Jesus came to earth the first time to deliver us from our sins and will come the second time to deliver us from mortality to immortality. The Greek for Messiah is Christos, from which we get Christ.
Lord means master. Yet sadly, most who called Him Master would not obey Him as their master.
Jesus usually referred to Himself as "the Son of Man." The reasons for this have been controversial among scholars, but we can state some likely reasons. Jesus used the definite article—He was the [unique] Son of Man, not a son of man. Jesus wanted all to know that He was human, but a very special human.
This idiomatic designation sounded reverential, but it was ambiguous in meaning. That may pinpoint why Jesus used it, because for most of His ministry, Jesus avoided referring to Himself as the Son of God or the Messiah or the son of David. He avoided what might sound political or blasphemous because He didn't want to stir up violent opposition prematurely.
Perhaps Paul was elaborating on this title when he referred to Jesus as "the last Adam," since adam is a Hebrew word for man (1 Corinthians 15:45). "The first man [Adam] was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man [Jesus Christ] is the Lord from heaven" (verse 47).

Did Jesus exist before His human birth?

John 1:1, 14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

To learn more about Jesus' preexistence, see Lesson 2 in this series of Free Bible Study Guides: "The God Revealed in the Old Testament Was the One Who Became Jesus Christ!"

How was Jesus conceived as a human child?

Matthew 1:18
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.

God the Father used the Holy Spirit to bring about the conception of Jesus in the womb of the Jewish virgin named Mary. For further description, see Matthew 1:19-23 and Luke 1:26-35. And for a description of the Word voluntarily giving up His divine power and glory to temporarily become a human being, see Philippians 2:6-8.

What were the circumstances of Jesus' birth?

Luke 2:1, 4-7
And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered [for a census]…
Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The events that followed Jesus' birth are described in the remainder of Luke 2 and in Matthew 2. The exact date of Jesus' birth is unknown, for God does not want people to celebrate Jesus' birth. To understand why and for thorough proof that most of the traditions involved in Christmas celebrations are not from the Bible, see our free booklet Holidays or Holy Days: Does It Matter Which Days We Observe?

What was Jesus' childhood like?

Luke 2:39-40
So when they [Joseph and Mary] had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

Matthew 13:55-56
"Is this [Jesus] not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?"

Jesus grew up with His mother, stepfather and several younger siblings, the natural children of Mary and Joseph. Jesus certainly was precocious, being able at 12 years old to discuss Scripture with scholars at the temple (Luke 2:41-52). And in order to later be the perfect sacrifice and Savior, He never sinned (Hebrews 4:15).

When, where and how did Jesus begin His ministry?

Luke 3:23
Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age.
Matthew 3:13
Then Jesus came from Galilee to John [the Baptist] at the Jordan to be baptized by him.
Matthew 4:1
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Matthew 4:12
Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee.

After His baptism and His 40-day fast and temptation by Satan, Jesus returned to Galilee to begin His ministry. Galilee is the area around the Sea of Galilee, north of Jerusalem.

What was the message that Jesus preached?

Mark 1:14-15
Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."

The word gospel means "good news." Jesus' message was about God's plan to offer the opportunity for salvation to all humanity, which means eternal life in the Kingdom of God!

What else was remarkable and astonishing about Jesus' ministry?

Matthew 4:23
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.

Jesus healed people everywhere He went, which reveals several important things. His miracles proved that He was sent by God (Acts 2:22). They showed that He cares for our physical needs as well as our spiritual needs. He loved and respected all people, regardless of gender, race, age or status, demonstrating a degree of love the world had never seen and which serves as a role model for all His future followers (John 13:34-35). He also used miracles to prove that He had the authority to forgive sins and to heal us of our spiritual problems (Matthew 9:6).

Is Jesus the foundation and Head of the Church?

Ephesians 2:19-20
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.
Colossians 1:18
And He [Christ] is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Did Jesus die and rise from the dead exactly as He foretold?

Matthew 12:40
"For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

At the close of Jesus' 3½-year ministry, Jesus willingly allowed Himself to be arrested, tortured, crucified and killed. Jesus' last and most important sign was His prophecy that He would rise from the dead in three days and would be in the tomb exactly three days and three nights (Matthew 12:38-40). That was precisely fulfilled!
Careful study of all the accounts shows He was crucified on a Wednesday afternoon and was put in the tomb before sundown. He rose from the dead and then left the tomb exactly three full days later, in the afternoon of the weekly Sabbath (Saturday). See "The Chronology of Christ's Crucifixion and Resurrection" for more details.
After His resurrection Jesus ascended to heaven and returned to appear to His followers several times. Then 40 days after His resurrection, He again ascended to heaven to be at the right hand of God the Father (Acts 1:1-11). As Jesus repeatedly promised, He will one day return to earth (verse 11). And this next time, it will be "with great power and glory" (Mark 13:26).

What was the main reason for the life and death of Jesus Christ?

John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
John 20:30-31
And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

Christ lived His earthly life to set us an example and to build His Church. He died for each and every one of us to pay the penalty of our sins so we can be forgiven of those sins. And He lives again to serve as our Savior, High Priest and Master (Hebrews 4:14-15).

So what shall we do?

Acts 2:36-38
"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"
Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission [forgiveness] of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

After Christ's disciples received the Holy Spirit, the apostle Peter preached a sermon about Jesus being the prophesied Christ and how He had been raised from the dead and "exalted to the right hand of God" (Acts 2:33). He told the assembled people, "You crucified" Jesus (verse 36). Of course, most of that crowd had no direct part in getting Jesus condemned to death. But we all are guilty indirectly because "all have sinned" and "Christ died for our sins" (Romans 3:23; 1 Corinthians 15:3).
When the people were convinced that Jesus was "both Lord and Christ" (verse 36) and that the guilt for His death lay on everyone, many of them asked, "What shall we do?" They knew they needed to take action. Peter then told them what each person must do to be forgiven of his or her sins and to receive the awesome gift of God's Holy Spirit (verse 38). Peter's instruction to repent and be baptized is just as true today as it was at that time. This is explained in more detail in our booklet Transforming Your Life: The Process of Conversion.