On Sunday, April 28 we will be covering the Mission and Vision of the church.

We will study:

• Who we are as God’s people
• What God has commissioned us to do as the church
• How we can be part of His mission.

This will be both theological and practical. Please be praying for this service.

Dr. Carson is the co-founder and current president of the Gospel Coalition, and he is Research Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He will examine the modern tolerance movement with deep biblical insight and practical application.

As Jesus returned from the “unclean” land of the Gentiles to the Sea of Galilee, He is met by yet another desperate group of people. These people, from the region of Decapolis, may even have heard of Jesus from the (formally) demon possessed man that Jesus rescues in chapter 5. Unlike some of the other crowds we have come across, this one is eager to see the work of Jesus made manifest, and they ask on behalf of someone else – a man among them who cannot hear, and has a bit of trouble with his speaking.

Only two verses in, things start to get a bit more interesting. The method by which Jesus chooses to heal this man is somewhat perplexing; but as Dave pointed out on Sunday, it was also purposeful. Jesus’ actions are a visual aid. He lovingly and specifically communicates just what it is He plans to do for the man – just how it is He plans to rescue him.

Leading the man away from the crowd, where eager eyes and pleading voices are a little less intrusive, Jesus sticks His holy fingers into the deaf man’s ears. “These ears,” His fingers say to the man, “I will heal those.” Then Jesus spits, and touches his tongue. “That tongue,” His hand assures, “well, soon it will have to try not to speak.” (v36) He turns His gaze towards heaven, and lets out a sigh. Then He says to the man, “Be opened.” And the body of the man obeys Him. Gone is the grime only heaven could heal; removed are the chains that once held his tongue.

Away from the crowd, the voice of Jesus is most likely the first one he hears. And as he speaks plainly, he has a good story to tell: Jesus – our Savior – does all things well.

*Blaine Hogan, Untitled

Use the player below to listen to the sermon – Mark 7:24-37

To hear other sermons from Sanctuary Berkeley, subscribe to our podcast on iTunes here.

Significance of the Last Supper.

The Last Supper is not only a pivotal event in the life and ministry of Jesus but it has also become a fixture of popular culture. From art appreciation to conspiracies in popular fiction the Last Supper is widely misunderstood. But what does Scripture say about it?

Here are three specific take aways form the Last Supper as seen in Scripture.

1. Fulfillment of Prophecy

From the time of the Hebrews exodus from the land of Egypt and slavery Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread has been celebrated. In Exodus 12 the first Feast of Unleavened Bread is celebrated during the night when the plague of the death of the Firstborn. Later in the Law (Lev.23), the Israelites are instructed to celebrate the feast annually for the purpose of transmitting to future generations the significance of the the pivotal event in their past.

The last time Jesus and the twelve disciples celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread (they had celebrated it together three times previous), the night took on a special significance. During the meal Jesus halts the normal progression of the evening at the third cup and changes the multi-millennia old tradition. He brings a sense of chronology to the meal. He stops there and states that the the wine represents His blood. The whole Passover meal, though it commemorated an event in history, was in a reality a prophetic retelling of the plan of redemption of all people, not only the Jews. Jesus was explaining to the disciples where they presently were in the larger context of redemption.

2. Establishment of a New Feast

Jesus halted the meal at the third cup of Passover, referred to as the Cup of Redemption. Jesus equated the Cup of Redemption with His work on the Cross. The third Cup represented His own blood poured out as the sufficient sacrifice necessary to appease the judgement of God, just as the blood of the innocent lamb in antiquity placated the Angel of the Lord’s necessity to exact judgment on the first born.

This is the institution of communion, a memorial remembrance of the death and sacrifice of Jesus Christ which allows the judgment of God to passover those are covered by it. This is what is remembered every time believers “take communion”. We are essentially re-enacting the larger symbol of the Passover in its keystone symbol: the Cup of Redemption.

3. The Promise of a Feast to Come

Jesus stated at the institution of communion, the remembrance of His sacrifice, that He would not drink wine again until He did in the Kingdom with His disciples (Matt 26:29). We are commanded by Jesus to remember the third Cup of Redemption continually until He returns. He promises to not drink of the vine again until the Kingdom, which will be the fourth cup in the Passover meal: the Cup of Restoration.

The third cup of the Last Supper is the last cup, but there is a promised cup yet to be drunk. The fourth Cup of Restoration should not be forgotten in the Last Supper narrative. It is the promised hope of the return of Jesus and fulfillment of all things. In one sense, the Last Supper is a meal on pause, a meal we continue to remember and celebrate until it picks up again in the Kingdom and the culmination of all things.

In our remembrance of the Last Supper, let’s end not only with a sobering reality of the cross, but also in the sure promise of Jesus return and the fourth cup: the celebratory Cup of Restoration.

Service Information
Our first morning service will be on Sunday, January 29th, 2012
We will be gathering in downtown Berkeley at Washington Elementary School.

Washington Elementary School
2300 Martin Luther King Junior Way, Berkeley, 94704
Sundays - 10:00 AM 

If you are coming via BART, the closest station is Downtown.
We are about 3 blocks Southwest of the station.
Click here for walking directions from BART.

Children's Ministry
We will have Children's ministry available for toddlers up to 6th grade.
During our gathering the children will be taught an age appropriate, gospel-centered
lesson. We also have safe, engaging, and fun activities for children during our gathering.
Children 6th grade and older are welcome in service.

Serve!
If you would like to serve the body, we have plenty of needs and opportunities!
Here are some areas we need help in:
• Set up            • Tear down
• Coffee            • Children's Ministry
• Prayer            • Music

Connect with us if you would like to serve in any of these areas!
You can email us at admin@sanctuaryberkeley.com to let us know how you can help.
Additionally, we will have information on serving at the service on January 29th.

Give!
We still have a couple big things that we need to acquire before
we start Sunday Morning gatherings.

Please consider whether the Lord would lead you to support
the work in Berkeley by partnering with us financially.

Here are instructions on how to support the Church through
giving: http://www.sanctuaryberkeley.com/give/

Online giving information can also be found
here: http://www.sanctuaryberkeley.com/give/give-online/

We are so very thankful for the generous support of various individual and local churches who have partnered with us to see the Gospel preached in Berkeley!

Pray!
We will still continue to meet on Sunday evening at 4:00 PM for dinner, fellowship, and prayer.
Please come out and fellowship and pray with us as we seek the Lord's direction in Berkeley.

Join!
We have been praying for you all for over a year and we have been looking forward to meeting with you, praying with you, laughing with you and simply enjoying Jesus with you all.
We hope you can make it to the very first Sunday gathering. We feel like Jesus wants to do something great in Berkeley and we are excited that He has allowed us to be a part of it!

If you have questions or need more information, our phone number is: 510-545-3177 ]]> http://www.sanctuaryberkeley.com/sundaymorningannouncement/feed/ 0 http://www.sanctuaryberkeley.com/page-cxvi/ http://www.sanctuaryberkeley.com/page-cxvi/#comments Mon, 07 Nov 2011 19:15:44 +0000 admin http://www.sanctuaryberkeley.com/?p=430 Page CXVI – Friday, 11/11/11 | 7:00-9:00 PM
50 Los Ranchitos Rd
San Rafael CA 94903

Join us for a night of Worship with Page CXVI.

Page CXVI is a project started with the idea of making hymns accessible and known again. They believe hymns to be some of the richest, most meaningful, and moving pieces of music ever written. With their unique arrangements and hypnotic sound that runs four albums deep, Page CXVI has played nearly every major U.S. city.

In the vain of VH1 Storytellers, they will be performing live at Epic Faith Church in San Rafael on Friday night, November 11th. Doors open @ 7pm. So come have a cup of coffee and join us for a night of intimate worship and storytelling.

The whole family is welcome.

Here’s a video of “Divine Invitation” from a past house show.

We are in the process of sorting through our email list and reaching out to our members. We have a
good number of people on the list and we want to discover who is located in the area and who is interested
in following what the Lord is doing from afar and/or supporting us in prayer.

We really would like to connect with those who are interested in being a part of Sanctuary Berkeley.
Starting Sunday, October 9th, we’ll be meeting at 4 p.m. in the afternoon to fellowship / have coffee / baked goods/connect with each other.

This will continue on Sunday afternoons until we begin meeting for a Sunday morning service.
We would love it if you could make it out on October 9th.

Meeting location is:
1702 Fairview
Berkeley, CA. 94703.

Look for the “S” logo on the gate…

You are also welcome to bring a friend or anyone else you’d like.

If you have any questions or want to connect, please feel free to get ahold of us via the contact page.

Looking forward to meeting you!

Blessings!

Air War

For the last year and half, we have been gathering to pray that God would work in the city of Berkeley. We have prayed that He would strengthen the Christians and Churches in Berkeley. We have prayed over the strongholds that Satan has in the city. We have prayed that we would see the city as Jesus sees it and be empowered by the Holy Spirit to live God glorifying lives in the city.

Ground War

Finally, we have moved to Berkeley and are on the ground here and already beginning to form relationships with neighbors, baristas at the coffee shop we frequent, and experiencing quite a bit of warfare. We didn’t expect this to be easy, but we are going to dig in and fight and we fully expect God to do great things here in Berkeley.

What’s Next?

Well, this post is just to mix it up a bit and let you know that we are getting ready to hold our first informational meeting! We are still working on the time and location details, but wanted to give you all a heads up that it is in the near future.

Pray!

Just because we are here in Berkeley now does not mean the “Air War” has ended! We must always pray! After the informational meeting, we’ll begin meeting weekly to fellowship, pray, and get to know each other. In the meantime please keep these few things in prayer.

• Pray that we are lead by the Holy Spirit as Jesus plants His church in Berkeley.
• Pray that the churches in Berkeley are strengthened.
• Pray that God provides us with a Worship Leader
• Pray that God provides an Administrative Pastor.
• Pray that God provides us with a Quickbooks genius!

I’m really really looking forward to meeting and getting to know you all! We’ve been praying for you for over a year and are super thankful for the friendships that will form over the next couple weeks!

Looking forward to it!
David Escalante & Sanctuary Berkeley

If you want to connect before the meeting, send an email to david@sanctuaryberkeley.com )

Know someone who wants to plant a church? Or perhaps, have a friend, who wants to use their life, talents and abilities to glorify God in Berkeley? Invite them to sign up for the mailing list and get more info on what we are doing as a church here in Berkeley!