The Outlet Community Church
Intentional silence becomes proof of Divine Activity.
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CONFESSION
Thank you Lord for this seed to sow into the kingdom of God. I believe you enable my family to generate wealth because we are called to invest into seeing Your will accomplished in the Earth. Help us to remain committed to building strong communities and creating a lasting legacy. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
Speaker: Pastor Vince Thomas, Jr.
Title: Silence the Unbelief
Series: Silent Night Series (Part 2)
Text: Matthew 1:16–17 (NLT)
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This Week's Bible Reading Plan: 21 Gifts of Advent
https://theoutletcommunity.com/bibleplan
Communion On-Demand
https://youtu.be/apP75lkRGVY
MAIN POINT: Intentional silence becomes proof of Divine Activity.
Matthew 1:16-17 NLT
“God may seem to have forgotten, but right now he is in the process of arranging all that will fulfill his great promises.”
Excerpt From: "Hidden Christmas" by Timothy Keller
ADVENT Word with Latin roots, meaning “coming.” Christians of earlier generations spoke of “the advent of our Lord” and of “His second advent. We are reminded of God’s faithfulness through the themes of hope, peace, joy, and love. The birth of Jesus marked the fulfillment of God’s Promise from the beginning. The first coming of Christ marks the beginning of the foretold Great Kingdom of Peace on earth.
Only where Jesus is not allowed to reign—where human stubbornness, defiance, hate, and avarice are allowed to live on unbroken—can there be no peace. Jesus does not want to set up his kingdom of peace by force, but where people willingly submit themselves to him and let him rule over them, he will give them his wonderful peace. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
PREPARATION FOR THE PROMISE OF PEACE
Luke 1:5-7 NLT
In the last two hundred years of Israel’s canonical history and the subsequent four-hundred-year interval, many significant political and religious developments occurred.
Judah came under the political dominion of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (605 b.c.). When Egypt failed to support Judah, the city of Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians after a lengthy, tragic siege. The Jewish kingdom which began with Saul about five hundred years before was now over. Henceforth there would not be a royal aspirant to the throne of David until Jesus’ offer of Himself to Israel as her king.
The seventy years of exile (605–535 b.c.) gave birth to orthodox Judaism. Since the temple and the sacrificial system had been destroyed, the exiles congregated themselves into assemblies or synagogues for the worship of God, the study of the Old Testament, and fellowship. In the centuries that followed, synagogues sprouted throughout the Mediterranean world wherever the Jews emigrated. They were never designed to become a substitute for the temple.
The captivity also saw the rise of the scribe. Since the priests could not practice their ministry, they undertook a serious study and copying of the Old Testament Scriptures. The more they copied, the more they learned. Soon they became the “theologians” of orthodox Judaism.
During the reign of Darius, God raised up the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to convict the returned exiles of their sin of procrastination. With this encouragement, the Jews completed the task of rebuilding the temple in 516–515 b.c. By the end of the recording history of the Old Testament, the Jews were back in the land with a rebuilt temple and reconstructed walls around Jerusalem.
The prophetic era, begun with Moses, was also over. During the 400 Silent Years, no divinely authenticated prophet proclaimed new, authoritative truth. History, however, continued.
The Temple rebuilt at the end of the recorded history of the Old Testament was later enlarged and renovated by Herod the Great (John 2:20), stood for the next five centuries; it was the prominent temple of New Testament activities. From the destruction of the Temple gave way to the innovation of assembly. From here emerged Christian conversion and assembly.
SILENCE THE UNBELIEF
Luke 1:11-22 NLT
Why Did the Angel Silence Zechariah?
Like Zechariah here, Abraham (Gen 15:8; 17:17), Gideon (Judg 6:17, 36–40; 7:10–11) and others in the Old Testament (2 Kings 20:8; Is 7:10–14) asked for signs in the face of astounding promises, but they were not punished.
Zechariah asked for a sign, God have him silence. The greater the revelation, the greater the silence.
Intentional Silence is not punishment.
- Promotes self-awareness. ...
- Stimulates brain cells. ...
- Relieves stress. ...
- Helps with information processing. ...
- Boosts creativity. ...
- Aids with concentration.
Luke 1:21-22 NLT
Intentional Silence becomes proof of Divine Activity.
HOW TO SILENCE THE UNBELIEF
Mark 9:17-29 NKJV
“By prayer and fasting”
NEXT STEPS
- Get Water Baptized
- Prayerfully consider calling The Outlet your church home today using the QR Code or joining us for our next Membership Sunday
- Attend CORE Classes Sundays at 9:30 am
- Join a Team that serves each Sunday morning or Serve our Community at our next outreach event
- Head over to the website and find one activity that you could be a part of either in-person or online.
IMPORTANT LINKS OF THE OUTLET COMMUNITY CHURCH @ BRIARCLIFF
How We Help to Empower Leaders, Equip Families, and Transform Communities
1. Get text message updates to your phone text “@tocnews” to 81010
2. Weekly Bible Study & Prayer (Zoom Link) - Zoom ID: 444 423 830
3. YouVersion for Churches - https://www.bible.com/organizations/94e727f7-949a-4e03-9d0d-98f97c3a4d28
4. RightNow Media - https://app.rightnowmedia.org/account/invite/TheOutletCommunityChurch
5. Outlet Leadership Institute - www.theoutletcommunity.com/OLI