00:00:00Welcome And Weekly Rhythm
00:00:33Micah 5:2 And Bethlehem
00:01:03Why The Old Testament Points Forward
00:01:13The Staggering Odds Of Fulfillment
00:03:05Liar Lunatic Or Lord
00:03:39One Bold Gospel Conversation
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
If you’ve ever wondered whether Christian faith is built on feelings or facts, today’s Field Notes is for you. We open with Micah 5:2 and a detail that seems small until you sit with it: Bethlehem is named as the birthplace of a coming ruler in Israel, someone whose story is rooted “from ancient days.” That single prophecy becomes a doorway into a bigger claim, that the Old Testament is not merely history but a coordinated pointer toward the Messiah and ultimately toward Jesus.
From there, we zoom out to the broader picture of Messianic prophecies: where the Messiah would be born, what he would do, and how his life would unfold. We talk about how Scripture fits together, with the Gospels as the center point, and why the New Testament letters call us to live now in light of what Jesus has done. Then we tackle the “mathematical certainty” side of the conversation using Peter Stoner’s “Science Speaks,” including the unforgettable Texas silver dollar illustration that puts fulfilled prophecy evidence into a probability frame you can actually visualize.
Finally, we land on the moment of decision C.S. Lewis describes: Jesus doesn’t leave us room to call him only a good moral teacher. If the prophecy fulfillment is real, we have to wrestle with the options and respond. We close with a concrete action step to practice gospel boldness today by asking one person a simple question that can open a meaningful conversation about Jesus’ true identity. Subscribe for daily discipleship, share this with a friend, and leave a review that tells us what stood out to you.
English
United States
SHOW NOTES 🔗
TRANSCRIPT 🔗
WEBVTT
00:00:03.759 --> 00:00:09.199
Good morning and welcome to Field Notes, a five-day devo from right here at Mission Scent.
00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:16.640
Remember, you can always hear the latest sermon at missionscent.org forward slash church or wherever you listen to podcasts.
00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:26.559
Field Notes is taking daily discipleship by breaking down the sermon into bite-sized one-step pieces so that we continue discipleship throughout the week.
00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:28.320
Let's jump into it.
00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:31.359
All right, happy Wednesday.
00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:32.960
Welcome back to Field Notes.
00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:41.520
Let's jump into today, which is this day three, the mathematical certainty of the Messiah.
00:00:41.759 --> 00:00:44.880
We're going to start with our scripture reading, which is found in Micah 5.2.
00:00:45.200 --> 00:01:02.880
But you, O Bethlehem, that's going to be important later, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me, one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:06.560
The Old Testament isn't just a history book.
00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:11.840
Its primary point is to point to a coming Messiah.
00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:17.040
We said that the Old Testament, everything in it points to the gospels.
00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:28.560
And then everything from Acts through Revelation points to backwards to the gospel, showing us what we should do now to live life in light of the coming Messiah.
00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:43.680
And see, in the Old Testament, the law and the prophets are full of prophecies of what this coming Messiah would be, where he would be born, how he would be born, things that he was to do throughout his life.
00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:46.640
And Jesus doesn't just fulfill a handful of them.
00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:49.040
It's not just one or two prophecies.
00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:53.280
Jesus fulfills 300 of them.
00:01:53.920 --> 00:02:05.120
Now the mathematical data that we looked over from Science Speaks, it's a book by Peter Stoner, who is chair of mathematics and astronomy in Pasadena College.
00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:13.280
He wrote that the odds of someone fulfilling just eight of the prophecies is one in a quadrillion.
00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:20.719
That is a one times ten with 17 zeros behind it.
00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:41.280
It is the equivalent of covering the entire state of Texas two feet deep in silver dollars, marking one specific coin with a red dot, shuffling them up, blindfolding yourself, and then walking all the way across the state, picking up a random coin and finding the one that had your dot on it.
00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:44.800
See, it's mathematically just incomprehensible.
00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:55.599
By the time we get up to just 48 prophecies, we don't have enough room in our entire observable universe to hold the amount of coins that we would need.
00:02:56.080 --> 00:03:04.639
See, it's crazy when we stop and think about the odds that Jesus fulfilling 300 prophecies would be.
00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:11.280
And because of this undeniable mathematical and historical reality, C.S.
00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:15.919
Lewis famously notes that Jesus leaves us with only three options.
00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:20.080
He is a liar, he is a lunatic, or he is Lord.
00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:27.199
See, we have to land on one of those because we can't just brush him away as a good moral teacher.
00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:32.159
See, Jesus is so much more than a prophet, he is so much more than a teacher.
00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:38.800
Math shows it, history shows it, and our faith demands it.
00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:45.520
So our action step today is this our faith is anchored in absolute certainty.
00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:49.039
Yet we often shy away from talking about it.
00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:55.280
Today, challenge yourself to step into the boldness of the gospel.
00:03:55.680 --> 00:04:04.000
Ask one person in your life this exact question: Do you think Jesus was a good moral teacher?
00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:13.199
And use the sheer impossibility of the fulfilled prophecies to start a conversation about his true identity.
00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:20.000
And if you need more information on that or you have questions, you can always reach out right here at Mission Scent.
00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:25.680
But we can't wait to see you tomorrow morning right here on Field Notes.
00:00:03.759 --> 00:00:09.199
Good morning and welcome to Field Notes, a five-day devo from right here at Mission Scent.
00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:16.640
Remember, you can always hear the latest sermon at missionscent.org forward slash church or wherever you listen to podcasts.
00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:26.559
Field Notes is taking daily discipleship by breaking down the sermon into bite-sized one-step pieces so that we continue discipleship throughout the week.
00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:28.320
Let's jump into it.
00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:31.359
All right, happy Wednesday.
00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:32.960
Welcome back to Field Notes.
00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:41.520
Let's jump into today, which is this day three, the mathematical certainty of the Messiah.
00:00:41.759 --> 00:00:44.880
We're going to start with our scripture reading, which is found in Micah 5.2.
00:00:45.200 --> 00:01:02.880
But you, O Bethlehem, that's going to be important later, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me, one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:06.560
The Old Testament isn't just a history book.
00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:11.840
Its primary point is to point to a coming Messiah.
00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:17.040
We said that the Old Testament, everything in it points to the gospels.
00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:28.560
And then everything from Acts through Revelation points to backwards to the gospel, showing us what we should do now to live life in light of the coming Messiah.
00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:43.680
And see, in the Old Testament, the law and the prophets are full of prophecies of what this coming Messiah would be, where he would be born, how he would be born, things that he was to do throughout his life.
00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:46.640
And Jesus doesn't just fulfill a handful of them.
00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:49.040
It's not just one or two prophecies.
00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:53.280
Jesus fulfills 300 of them.
00:01:53.920 --> 00:02:05.120
Now the mathematical data that we looked over from Science Speaks, it's a book by Peter Stoner, who is chair of mathematics and astronomy in Pasadena College.
00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:13.280
He wrote that the odds of someone fulfilling just eight of the prophecies is one in a quadrillion.
00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:20.719
That is a one times ten with 17 zeros behind it.
00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:41.280
It is the equivalent of covering the entire state of Texas two feet deep in silver dollars, marking one specific coin with a red dot, shuffling them up, blindfolding yourself, and then walking all the way across the state, picking up a random coin and finding the one that had your dot on it.
00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:44.800
See, it's mathematically just incomprehensible.
00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:55.599
By the time we get up to just 48 prophecies, we don't have enough room in our entire observable universe to hold the amount of coins that we would need.
00:02:56.080 --> 00:03:04.639
See, it's crazy when we stop and think about the odds that Jesus fulfilling 300 prophecies would be.
00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:11.280
And because of this undeniable mathematical and historical reality, C.S.
00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:15.919
Lewis famously notes that Jesus leaves us with only three options.
00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:20.080
He is a liar, he is a lunatic, or he is Lord.
00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:27.199
See, we have to land on one of those because we can't just brush him away as a good moral teacher.
00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:32.159
See, Jesus is so much more than a prophet, he is so much more than a teacher.
00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:38.800
Math shows it, history shows it, and our faith demands it.
00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:45.520
So our action step today is this our faith is anchored in absolute certainty.
00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:49.039
Yet we often shy away from talking about it.
00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:55.280
Today, challenge yourself to step into the boldness of the gospel.
00:03:55.680 --> 00:04:04.000
Ask one person in your life this exact question: Do you think Jesus was a good moral teacher?
00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:13.199
And use the sheer impossibility of the fulfilled prophecies to start a conversation about his true identity.
00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:20.000
And if you need more information on that or you have questions, you can always reach out right here at Mission Scent.
00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:25.680
But we can't wait to see you tomorrow morning right here on Field Notes.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Mission Church, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.
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