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Isaiah 9:1-7 The Need for Hope (v.1) Gloom Distress Oppression The Nature of Hope (vv. 2-5) Light Joy Peace The Names of Hope (vv. 6-7) Wonderful Counselor Mighty God Everlasting Father Prince of Peace More to Consider As Vice President, George Bush represented the U.S. at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev's widow. She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev's wife performed an act of great courage and hope, a gesture that must surely rank as one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed: She reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband's chest. There in the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all hoped that her husband was wrong. She hoped that there was another life, and that that life was best represented by Jesus who died on the cross, and that the same Jesus might yet have mercy on her husband. Gary Thomas, in Christianity Today Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all...As long as matters are really hopeful, hope is mere flattery or platitude; it is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength. G.K. Chesterton Although Mt 4:16 applies the passage as a whole (vv. 27) to Jesus Christ by implication, the NT does not specifically apply to Him the names, or titles, listed in this verse. Some commentators believe Isaiah was describing a Judean ruler to come during his own time; thus, these names were applied to the reigns of Hezekiah, Josiah, and even Ahaz. But even if the names do not recur, as such, in the NT, they fit the ministry and messianic role of Jesus. As a Wonderful Counselor, He is a doer of miracles, wonders, and signs (Acts 2:22) who sends the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, to continue His work (Jn 14:26). Hailed as My Lord and my God (Jn 20:28) in His resurrection, Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth (Mt 28:18). As one with the Father (Jn 10:30), He is eternalalive forever and ever (Rv 1:18). As a member of Davids royal line (Rm 1:3) He is the Prince who brings peace between Jew and non-Jew (Eph 2:14), whose rule over all kingdoms (Rv 1:5) brings an end to wars. John Collins

When the kingdom of God stands face-to-face to the kingdoms of this world, there is a conflict, there is a battle. If we stand with Him, He fights the battle on our behalf. His victory will be ours. Let's learn how to make our prayer His prayer, through a practice called apostolic intercessory prayer. 

SHOW NOTES:Hebrews 10:11-14, 18The Passover:Slaughter the sacrificial lamb (Ex 12:3-6)Spread the blood of the lamb on doorpost (Ex: 12:7)The First Cup: "I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians."Hors d'oevres while lamb is being preparedYoungest inquires: "What does this mean?" (Ex 12:26)Oldest explains the Passover meal The Second Cup: "I will deliver you from their bondage."The Passover meal is eatenThe Third Cup: "I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments."The Great Hallel is sung (Ps 113-118)The Fourth Cup: "I will take you for my people, and I will be you God."The New Passover (The Last Supper):John (youngest Apostle) is seated at the place of honor next to Jesus“after they had eaten..." (Lk 22:20)“He took a cup, gave thanks, and said, Take this and share it..." (Lk 22:17)“This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant." (Lk 22:20)“I shall never again drink of the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom." (Mk 14:25)Sing hymns (Mk 14:26, Mt 26:30)Jesus drinks wine (4th cup) on the cross (Mt 27:48) "it is finished" (Jn 19:30)The veil in the temple is torn (Mt 27:51), the new temple is the ChurchOld Testament: On the 10th day of Nisan (Ex 12:3)New Testament: Jesus plotted against on Nisan 10 (Mt 21:46)Old Testament: Male lamb (Ex 12:5) without blemish (Ex 12:5)New Testament: Lamb of God (Jn 1:29) without sin (2 Cor 5:21) Old Testament: Keep until 14th day of Nisan (Ex 12:6)New Testament: Good Friday (Mt 27:15, Jn 18:28) Old Testament: Killed in front of all the people (Ex 12:6)New Testament: Killed in front of all the people (Mt 27:27-44)Old Testament: In the evening twilight (Ex 12:6)New Testament: Sudden darkness at death (Mt 27:45)Old Testament: No bone shall be broken (Ex 12:46)New Testament: Jesus' legs are not broken (Jn 19:36)Old Testament: Spread blood on doorposts (Ex 12:7)New Testament: Jesus' blood spread on the cross (Col 1:20)Old Testament: With hyssop (Ex 12:22)New Testament: Jesus' drank wine with hyssop (Jn 19:29)Old Testament: Eat with unleavened bread (Ex 12:8)New Testament: His Body in unleavened bread (Mt 26:26)Old Testament: Eat as in flight (Ex 12:11)New Testament: Eat to be sent out (Acts 2:42-43)Old Testament: Save you from death (Ex 12:13)New Testament: Save you from sin and death (Jn 3:16-17)Old Testament: 1st day is one of remembrance (Ex 12:14)New Testament: Sabbath on 1st day of the week (Mt 28:1)Old Testament: Gather in sacred assembly (Ex 12:16)New Testament: Gather in the holy Mass (Acts 2:42)

  Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, CA 2E71 All Saints Day 11:00 a.m. Baptism Sunday 3 November 2024 Daniel 12:1-3 Psalm 24 Revelation 21:1-6a John 11:32-44 “See I am making all things new… I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end” (Rev. 21). 1. In three days there will be an election. We have heard about authoritarianism and the Deep State, that this might be the last election we will ever have. We have been told that the United States Department of Justice will seek retribution against political enemies, that doctors will be prosecuted for performing health procedures like abortions or gender transition therapies, that our own armies will be deployed against regular American citizens. We are afraid that our marriages will be declared invalid and that we will be singled out for persecution.   Candidates have said that America's domestic enemies are more dangerous than our foreign ones. News broadcasters have told us that rather than protecting us from foreign dictators our political leaders admire them. We see signs that the meager efforts we are making to slow down climate change and species extinction may be undone. We have been told that the elections cannot be trusted, that immigrants are in some way unseen threats. We are reminded that the person we choose will alone have power to destroy life on earth by launching nuclear weapons.   There is so much more I could say about this but I don't need to because we are all getting five text messages a day from politicians who act as if they know us, who talk as if they alone can save us.   In 1965, 70% of Americans said that religion is very important. In our time 45% of Americans agree with this statement. [i] Some may say that we are becoming less spiritual as a society. But one might argue instead that we are less likely to express our spirituality through religious institutions and more likely to invest other parts of our life with ultimate value.   The sociologist Max Weber (1865-1920) had a theory that the evolution of religious life has led us in the modern world to have seven “value spheres” that at times compete with each other. These include: religion, family, politics, economics, art, science and eroticism. Some thinkers today believe that as people participate less in religion they invest spiritual meaning in other spheres, particularly politics.   Philip Gorski writes, “the most important form of sacrality today is arguably “the political.” For the populist right, the sacred is most often “the nation,” or ”Christian nation” or “Hindu Civilization.” For the progressive left, the sacred is more often democracy or social justice... [N]ation and state, party and ideology, race and identity, have become sacred objects of devotion for many.” [ii]   Many of our most secular friends have become missionaries writing letters and visiting distant places trying to inspire people to vote. This makes sense since the political sphere has tremendous power to control taxation, wage nuclear war, curtail climate change, preserve democracy and balance inconceivable levels of wealth inequality.   2. In the time of Jesus the Romans mercilessly demanded that subject peoples worship the emperor as a god. The situation seemed hopeless. But according to the Gospel of John, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” John goes on, “the true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him… but to all who received him he gave power to become children of God” (Jn. 1). This light which shone in Jesus still shines today.   The purpose of the Gospel of John is to draw us into a new world, into life in God. He writes about seven signs. The first happens when Jesus turns water into wine at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. And the last occurs when Jesus returns to enemy territory in order to bring his friend Lazarus back from the dead.   Jesus narrowly escapes being stoned to death in Judea for saying that, “The Father and I are one” (Jn. 10). Then he gets a message from two sisters that “the one you love is ill.” Jesus' friends can hardly believe it when he tells them that he is going back to the place where he was almost killed. The name Lazarus means “God is my help.” Jesus feels so deeply moved by the grief of Lazarus' sisters Martha and Mary that he himself weeps. Jesus knows that bringing his friend back to life will lead to his own death. And this is exactly what happens. Later, the authorities reason that Jesus must die because by raising the dead he will inspire the masses who will then provoke the Romans to destroy the temple and their whole culture. High Priest Caiaphas says, “it is better to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed” (Jn. 11).   The pivotal moment occurs when Jesus says to Martha, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” The point of this is not that Martha's believing has anything to do with her brother coming back to life. It is that Martha's faith will help her to see the action of God that is already happening in Jesus.   3. And this is how faith is. We trust in God first and then we come to see the world in a completely new way. St. Augustine (354-430) was an African saint born in the fourth century. He calls this faith seeking understanding. We say yes and give our hearts to God. And then God opens our lives to the divine mystery.   St. Augustine helps me to understand these elections and Jesus' invitation into a deeper reality. In 410 Rome was sacked. Pagans argued that this defeat happened because the gods were punishing the Romans for converting to Christianity. [iii] In response Augustine wrote his book The City of God.   In it Augustine describes two cities the earthly city and the city of God. These are not distinguished by jurisdiction or location. One is not on earth and the other in the skies. Instead, they are two fundamentally different ways of organizing human community. They are distinguished by their love. The earthly city revolves around love of self, the lust for power and domination.   The city of God is characterized by love of God and neighbor. Because God values human freedom we find ourselves in a shared territory that is occupied by citizens of both cities. Now is not a time for separating the wheat from the chaff, the sheep from the goats. We will not experience perfect justice, peace, goodness or beauty in this life. Politicians will always let us down.   In 418 Augustine puts this in another way when he writes to Boniface, the Roman general in charge of North Africa. Boniface wants to impose Christian practices with the sword. Augustine disagrees and writes, “We ought not to want to live ahead of time with only the saints and the righteous.” [iv] In other words we should not imagine that we will achieve the ideal in this world. Politics is the way that we live in the time we have now. We should expect disagreement, compromise, debate and be patient with those who disagree with us. The message is simple on All Saint's Day in San Francisco let politics have its place. But it should never become our god. Regardless of who is elected, our God is on the throne. Jesus, through his life and death ushers us into another reality. That light shines through our darkness.   Last week after church I had lunch with our former bishop Bill Swing and Cricket Jones the wife of our longtime dean Alan Jones. Alan died in January and the three of us still look visibly upset when we talk about him together. Hesitantly I asked the two about their most powerful memories of Alan and Cricket's wedding which took place in France at Chartres Cathedral.   Bishop Swing talked about drawers of vestments from the sixteenth century. Then Cricket described a moment from the service. She and Alan were perched on little chairs in front of the high altar. And as the bishop was going through the prayers she felt as if her little chair rose up into the air by four or five inches. And then she had a sense that all the saints who had ever been there were present with them. In her mind's eye she could see them standing all around the apse on each other's shoulders with such deep love. [v]   In three days there will be an election. But as we baptize children into the new life of Christ may the ones we love and all the saints be present with us. Let us have eyes to see that God is making all things new. [i] “Forty-five percent of Americans say religion is "very important" in their life, with another 26% saying it is "fairly important" and 28% saying it's "not very important." When Gallup first asked this question in 1965, 70% said religion was very important. That fell to 52% in a 1978 survey, but the percentage ticked up to nearly 60% between 1990 and 2005. Over the past 20 years, a declining share of Americans have said religion is important, dropping below 50% for the first time in 2019.” From, “How Religious Are Americans,” Gallup News, 29 March 2024. https://news.gallup.com/poll/358364/religious-americans.aspx [ii] Robert Gorski, “Disenchantment of the World” or Fragmentation of the Sacred,” in Robert N. Bellah, Challenging Modernity (NY: Columbia University Press, 2024) 319. [iii] In his book The City of God Augustine writes that rather than the gods protecting Rome, Rome protected her gods. [iv] “At the heart of Augustine's political wisdom is an awareness of what time it is. Late in his life, he counseled Boniface, a Roman general governing the precinct of Africa. In a letter from 418, Augustine addresses Boniface's frustrations with uprisings and incursions by those who despise the Christian faith. Boniface thinks he knows what the kingdom of God is supposed to look like, and he's tempted to impose it—to make the kingdom come. Augustine cautions the impatient ruler: “We ought not to want to live ahead of time with only the saints and the righteous.” Trying to “live ahead of time” means imagining we can achieve some ideal embodiment of justice—whether it's utopia or the kingdom—by imposing our will. Politics, Augustine counsels, demands patience. Politics is the art of forging a life together in the now. The institutions of our republic and the practices of democracy are eroded precisely when we imagine that we can live ahead of time. Political liberalism is accumulated wisdom about how not to live ahead of time.” James K. A. Smith, “Wisdom from Augustine in an Election Year,” The Christian Century, November 2024. https://www.christiancentury.org/features/wisdom-augustine-election-year?check_logged_in=1 [v] The novelist Susanna Clarke in an interview with the New York Times says, ““I feel very strongly that if you could see the world as it really is, if you could get further beyond your ego and the sorts of ways in which we trap ourselves, if you could just see the world beyond, every moment would be miraculous.” https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/25/books/susanna-clarke-strange-norrell-sequel-interview.html?campaign_id=69&emc=edit_bk_20241101&instance_id=138448&nl=books®i_id=13508633&segment_id=181999&user_id=f284507f51aad420f13c2727d615ae11

Hearing the Voice of God John 10:2-5, 14-15 13 Oct 2024 Edward Ibberson PM One Off's

“We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God” (Jn. 6). 1 Kings 8:(1,6,10-11),22-30,41-43 Psalm 84 Ephesians 6:10-20 John 6:56-69  

3. Jesus’ Baptism Right mouse click to save this podcast episode as a mp3 Luke 3:21-23 - When all the people were being baptised, Jesus was baptised too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’ Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, We start with Jesus’ baptism, as it also shows the commencement of Jesus’ public ministry. Jesus is now about 30 years old. John the Baptist precedes all Gospel accounts of the start of Jesus’ ministry, and this is because repentance before God is the key to starting a new life in God’s Kingdom. Witness 1 – John the Baptist When John came (Luke3:1-2) – When John the Baptist appeared on the scene, no prophetic voice had been heard within Israel for almost 400 years. His coming was part of God’s perfect timing, for everything that relates to God’s Son is always on time (Gal.4:4; Jn.2:4, 13:1) How John came (Luke3:3) – Dressed and acting like the Old Testament prophet Elijah, John came to the area near the River Jordan, preaching and baptizing. He announced the arrival of the kingdom of heaven (Mt.3:3) and urged the people to repent. John’s baptism looked forward to the coming of the Messiah, while Christian baptism looks back to the finished work of Christ in His death and resurrection. Why John came (Luke 3:4-20) – John the Baptist was a voice “crying in the wilderness” (Is.40:1-5; Luke 3:4; Jn.1:23). Spiritually speaking, the nation of Israel was living in a state of unbelief and twisted spiritual reality. The people desperately needed to hear a voice from God, and John was that faithful voice. It was John’s work to prepare the nation for the Messiah and then present the Messiah to them. John is compared to an axeman cutting down trees that down bear fruit (Luke 3:9) or a farmer who burns useless chaff (Luke 3:17). Many Jews of the time thought they were destined for heaven simply because they were descended from Abraham. In Luke 3:7, John depicts the crowds as snakes. John the Baptist also was a teacher. He taught people to live their new faith (Luke 3:10-14). He told them not to be selfish, but to share their blessings with other people. Tax collectors were told by John to do their work honestly. Soldiers were to stop using their jobs for personal gain. John clearly stated that Jesus was “the Lord” (Luke 3:4) and the Son of God (Jn.1:34) Witness 2 & 3 – The Father and the Spirit Jesus comes to John the Baptist, and presents himself for baptism. John at first refuses to do it (Mt.3:13-15). He knew that Jesus of Nazareth was the perfect Son of God who had no need to repent of sin. Through his baptism, he identified with all sinners that he came to save. We have seen already that it is the start of his public ministry (Acts 1:21-22, 10:37-38). But why did Jesus get baptized? In replying to John’s initial refusal to baptize him, Jesus said “…it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness” (Mt.3:15). This looks forward to the cross, because it is only through the baptism of suffering that Jesus endured on the cross, that God is able to fulfil all righteousness. The “us” referred to means Father, Son and Spirit. When Jesus came up from the water, the Father spoke from heaven and identified Him as the beloved Son of God, and the Spirit visibly came upon Jesus in the form of a dove. Jesus as the Son of Man 3:23b-38 The genealogy here reminds us that the Son of God was also the Son of Man, born into the world, identifying with the needs and problems of mankind. Through the genealogy, we see down through the generations Jesus’ link to Adam and ultimately God. The phrase “the son of” generally means any remotely connected descendant or ancestor. It is a reminder that Jesus, being Joseph’s legal son was part of a human family, tribe, race and nation. Jesus’ line goes back through the Old Testament from Joseph to King David to Judah, Jacob, Isaac and Abraham, to Methuselah to Noah and Adam. The genealogy, with its link to David, shows Jesus’ right to ascend to David’s throne (Luke 1:32-33). The genealogy shows Jesus’ total human-ness, and because he is linked to Adam, identifies with all humanity and not just Israel. But there is one difference between Jesus and all other humans. In that Luke doesn’t stop the genealogy at Adam, as he would have for all other humans, Luke ultimately leads and links Jesus to being God’s Son. Son of God (Luke 3:38) – Adam has come into the world bearing the true image of a son of God, but, when Adam disobeyed God, that image was marred and scarred due to sin entering the world. All that is, except Jesus. The voice from God the Father ratified Jesus as the Son of God. Not a son of God as some may claim, but the one and only Son of God. This genealogy points to the unbroken relationship between Jesus and God. Jesus is as Adam was before Adam’s disobedience. For more to think about please do read Luke 4:1-30. Ask yourself the following questions and see how you respond or react to them. Q1. What lesson can I learn from the ministry of John the Baptist? Q2. What link is there between being tempted and doing the work God has give me to do? Q3. What lessons can I learn Jesus’ rejection at Nazareth? Click on the appropriate link to subscribe to this website and receive an email when anything new is posted! Subscribe via iTunes

This sermon was originally presented on May 31, 2015 Scripture Reading: John 1:1-14 Solus Christus is Latin for 'Christ alone.'  The single most important element of Christianity, and that which makes it unique, is that it centers completely on Jesus Christ.  And the single most important element in a discussion of Jesus Christ is the fact that He was God in flesh.  The nature of Jesus Christ, therefore, is a central and determinative issue. More than in the other gospels, John presents Jesus as being divine, God in flesh.  He signals this in the first sentence of the book.  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (Jn 1:1).  It is the divinity of Christ that people often stumble over, like the Jewish leaders did when they saw Jesus (cf. Jn 5:18).  Many people today would say that Jesus was a great teacher, maybe even the greatest.  But they would not agree with the idea of His being God.  C. S. Lewis wrote, "I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God.'  That is the one thing we must not say.  A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher" (Lewis, Mere Christianity, 52). Solus Christus declares that the gospel of God's salvation rests on Christ alone.  This truth is founded on the nature of the person of Christ.  Only if Jesus is God in flesh do Christ's life and death mean eternal life for those who trust in Him.  And faith is only as valid as the object of faith.  Thus solus Christus excludes every belief system that denies the divinity of Jesus and proclaims Christianity, alone, to be true.

Friends of the Rosary: Today, the universal Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, the Precursor or Forerunner of the Lord. “Amongst those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist,” Jesus said (Matthew xi, 10-12). Ordinarily, the Church observes the day of a saint's death as his feast, because that day marks his entrance into heaven after ending the trials of this life and gloriously triumphing over the world. To this rule, there are two notable exceptions, the birthdays of Blessed Mary and St. John the Baptist. Mary, already in the first moment of her existence, was free from original sin, and John the Baptist was cleansed of original sin in the womb of his mother Elizabeth. All other persons were stained with original sin at birth. The Lord willed to announce to men His own coming through John the Baptist, who represented the Old Covenant and the Law. John, who was born in a town of Judea, would precede and recognize the Redeemer instantly. The birth of John is observed on the day of the summer solstice, six months earlier than the nativity of Jesus on December 25 at the time of the winter solstice. In a sense, then, we are celebrating Christ's incarnation today. Christmas is a “light” feast, the same is true today as John's Fire symbolizes Christ the Light. We Christians are the light of the world and we are united in reverence and love for this prophet-saint whose life was an incomparable example of both humility and courage. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 719, states that John the Baptist is “more than a prophet” (Lk 7:26). In him, the Holy Spirit concludes his speaking through the prophets. John completes the cycle of prophets begun by Elijah. He is the “voice” of the Consoler who is coming (Jn 1:23; cf. Isa 40:1-3). As the Spirit of truth will also do, John “came to bear witness to the light” (Jn 1:7; cf. Jn 15:26; 5:35). “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God…. Behold, the Lamb of God” (Jn 1:33-36). Ave Maria!Jesus, I Trust In You!St. John the Baptist, Pray for Us! To Jesus through Mary! + Mikel A. | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God (Jn. 1:1).” Main Idea: John has recorded the works of Jesus, that we might have life in Jesus. Hope & Life have a name and that name is Jesus. I. Do you believe Jesus to be your hope, your Messiah? 1. Jesus, at the wedding feast in Cana, turns 230 gallons of water into the best wine. 2. Jesus heals the official's son while being in a completely different town from the boy. 3. Jesus healed the man who had no use of his legs for 38 years at the pool of Bethesda. 4. Jesus feeds 5,000 men, and no telling how many women and children with 5 barley loaves and two fish and has 12 baskets full of leftovers. 5. Jesus appears to his disciples walking on the sea of Galilee. 6. He heals the man born blind. 7. Jesus raised Lazarus to life with the power of these words, “Lazarus, come out.” II. It is foolish to not believe Jesus as your Messiah. III. Are you experiencing the life of Jesus?

What does the Bible say about the deity of Christ? For centuries, as affirmed at the Council of Nicea, Christians have used a wonderful list of verses to demonstrate from God's Word the deity of Jesus Christ. Here is another very different approach to show the same truth. (This is similar to the "Big Picture" approach used in the overview of the Bible called The Plot.) Thus Saith the Lord: If we count how many times the Old Testament prophets said, "Thus says the Lord" we find them using that phrase, in the New King James Version of the Bible, about 420 times. The New Testament on the other hand, never once records that phrase. Jesus Christ, with all the red ink devoted to recording His words, never once used that ubiquitous phrase, "Thus saith the Lord." Rather, Jesus proclaims, "I say to you," in the Gospels! Not a single "Thus says the Lord," but rather, "I say to you," 135 times. The following chart demonstrates biblically that these two phrases, Thus saith the Lord, and I say unto you, indicate the same thing, that God is speaking. For Jesus Christ made it clear that He Himself was at the heart of His message. Unlike the righteous priests and kings, prophets and the apostles, the Lord came to teach us about Himself: Christ's Self-focus: "Follow Me" 19x Mt. 4:19; 8:22; 10:38; 16:24; 19:21; Mk. 1:17; 2:14; 8:34; 10:21; Lk. 5:27; 9:59; 18:22; Jn. 1:43; 8:12; 10:27; 12:26; 13:36; 21:19, 22 Pray and act "in My name" 18x Mt. 7:22; 18:5; 18:20; [24:5]; Mk. 9:37, 39, 41; [13:6]; Lk. 9:48; [21:8]; 24:47; Jn. 14:13-14; 15:16; 16:23-24, 26; Acts 9:15 "the Holy Spirit" comes "in My name" Jn. 14:26 "for My name's sake" leave family and property Mt. 19:29; or even be killed 5x Mt. 24:9; [Lk. 21:12, 17;] Jn. 15:21; Acts 9:16 Believe in the "name of the… Son" and "in the Son" 3x Jn.  3:18, 36; 9:35 and "in Him [Jesus]" 4x Jn. 3:18; 6:29, 40; 8:31 "believe in Me" 14x Mt. 18:6; Mk. 9:42; Jn. 3:15-16, 18; 6:35, 47; 7:38; 11:25, 26; 12:44, 46; 14:1, 12; 16:8; 17:20 You "are sanctified by faith in Me" Acts 26:18 Live "in Me" Jn. 11:26 "come after Me" Mk. 8:34; Lk. 14:27 Abide "in Me" Jn. 15:2, 4:5, 7 "abide in Me" or else Jn. 15:6 "abide in My love" Jn. 15:9-10 "where two or three are gathered" Jesus is "there in the midst of them" Mt. 18:20 So too: "I [Jesus, will abide] in you" Jn. 15:4-5 "know that I am He" Jn. 8:28 or "if you do not believe that I am He you will die in your sins" Jn. 8:24 Do things "for My sake" Mt. 10:22, 39; even lose your life "for My sake" 4x Mt. 16:25; Mk. 8:35; 10:29; Lk. 6:22 "I never knew you, depart from Me" Mt. 7:23 "I am willing; be cleansed" Mt. 8:3; Mk.. 1:41 "confess Me" Mt. 10:32; Lk. 12:8 Do not deny "Me" 7x Mt. 10:33; 26:34; Mk. 14:30, 72; Lk. 12:9; 22:34; Jn. 13:38 Do not be "ashamed of Me" Mk. 8:38; Lk. 9:26 nor "My words" "love Me" 5x Jn. 14:15, 21, 23-24, 28 Do not reject "Me" Lk. 10:16; Jn. 12:48 "He who is not with Me is against Me" Lk. 11:23 Love Me "more than" your family members Mt. 10:37; [Lk. 14:26] Bob Enyart presents this material on a BEL radio program, in a secretly recorded meeting with Jehovah's Witnesses, and in his Gospel of John Bible Study which is downloadable or available on MP3 CD. "I… have loved you" Jn. 15:9, 12 Be "worthy of Me" Mt. 10:37-38 "Come to Me" 5x Mt. 11:28; Lk. 6:47; Jn. 5:40; 6:35; 7:37 "I will give you rest" Mt. 11:28 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" Mt. 11:30 I am "greater than the temple" "than Jonah" "than Solomon" Mt. 12:6, 41-42 I am "Lord even of the Sabbath" Mt. 12:8; Mk. 2:28; Lk. 6:5 [Lord of God's Ten Commandments] Thus He says keep "My commandments" 4x Jn. 14:15, 21; 15:10, 12 "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you" Jn. 15:14 "keep My word" Jn. 14:23-24 "He who is not with Me is against Me" Mt. 12:30 The angels are "His angels" Mt. 13:41; 16:27 and He commands "His angels" Mt. 24:31; Mk. 13:27 The kingdom is "His kingdom" Mt. 13:41 and He calls it "My kingdom" Lk. 22:30 Jesus called it "My church" Mt. 16:18 and believers are "My sheep" Jn. 10:14, 27 and they are "His elect" Mt. 24:31; Mk. 13:27 Paul is a "vessel of Mine to bear My name" Acts 9:15 "all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine" Jn. 17:10 "My peace I give" Jn. 14:27 "in Me you may have peace" Jn. 16:33 "My joy" should fill you Jn. 15:11 "Who do men say that I am?" Mt. 16:13; Mk. 8:27 "who do you say that I am?" Mt. 16:15 Receive "Me" Mt. 18:5; Mk. 9:37; Lk. 9:48 Heaven and earth will pass away but "My words" will never Mt. [5:18] 24:35; Mk. 13:31; Lk. 21:33 Tell others about Jesus Mk. 5:19 "you belong to Christ" Mk. 9:41 Hear "My sayings" and do them Lk. 6:47 Jesus has "His own glory" Lk. 9:26; [Jn. 2:11; 16:14] The Son is "glorified" 8x Jn. 11:4; 12:23; 13:31-32; [17:1, 5, 10 24] "He who hears you hears Me" Lk. 10:16 Jesus expects praise, from stones if necessary Lk. 19:37-40 Return "to Me" Lk. 22:32 Be "My disciple" Lk. 14:27; Jn. 8:31; 15:8 Forsake all to "be My disciple" Lk. 14:33 "you are My disciples" Jn. 13:35 "I shall send… the [Holy] Spirit" Jn. 15:26; 16:7 The Holy Spirit "will testify of Me" Jn. 15:26 We read in John 5 and Luke 24 that "the Scriptures… testify of Me" Jn. 5:39; [Lk. 24:44] "You [Apostles] also will bear witness [of Me] because you have been with Me" Jn. 15:27 Paul gives "testimony concerning Me" Acts 22:18; 23:11 "the Son gives life to whom He will" Jn. 5:21 "seek Me" Jn. 6:26 Serve "Me" Jn. 12:26 "all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father" Jn. 5:23 "I am the bread of life," "of heaven," "of God" Jn. 6: 32-33, 35, 41, [48,] 51 Just seeing Christ is reason enough to believe in Him Jn. 6:36 [56] Drink "My blood" and eat "My flesh" Jn. 6:53-54, 56 "I will raise him up at the last day" Jn. 6:40 for He is the resurrection "The world… hates Me" Jn. 7:7 "I am the light of the world" Jn. 8:12; 9:5; 12:46 "I bear witness of Myself" Jn. 8:13-14, 18 "know… Jesus Christ" for "eternal life" Jn. 17:3; [8:19; 10:10, 14] "the Son makes you free" Jn. 8:36 "Abraham rejoiced to see My day" Jn. 8:56; "Before Abraham was, I AM" Jn. 8:58 Of believers, Christ said, "I know them" Jn. 10:27 "I give them eternal life" Jn. 10:28 "I am the resurrection and the life" Jn. 11:25 I "will draw all peoples to Myself" Jn. 12:32 "I will… receive you to Myself" Jn. 14:3 Be "Mine" Jn. 14:24 "I am the vine" Jn. 15:5 "without Me you can do nothing" Jn. 15:5 "Because I live, you will live also." Jn. 14:19 "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you" Jn. 15:16 Those who oppress Christians are "persecuting Me" Acts 9:4-5; 22:7-8; 26:14-15 "because they have not known… Me" Jn. 16:3 The Spirit "will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it" Jn. 16:14 "All things that the Father has are Mine" Jn. 16:15 "Whatever He [the Father] does, the Son does" Jn. 5:19 "the Father… loves you, because you have loved Me" Jn. 16:27 "If I will that he remain" Jn. 21:22 "I have overcome the world" Jn. 16:33 "I am the way" Jn. 14:6 "I am… the truth" Jn. 14:6 "I am… the life" Jn. 14:6 "I will… manifest Myself" Jn. 14:21 Scores of times Jesus uses the personal pronoun My with words like commandments, sake, words, lambs, sheep, peace, love, joy, voice, name, sayings, kingdom, angels, and church. Three examples powerfully illustrate the point. First, "Abraham rejoiced to see My day..." Secondly, "I know My sheep, and am known by My own." And thirdly, "Assuredly, I say to you... Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away." The prophets and John were the messengers; Jesus is the Message, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and put Himself at the center of His message, because He is God. Hear all this on a BEL program, in a secretly recorded meeting with Jehovah's Witnesses, and in Bob Enyart's Gospel of John Bible Study which is downloadable or available on MP3 CD. The Forest for the Trees: A simple overview of Christ's message shows overwhelmingly that He is the Message. To paraphrase Greg Koukl from The John 10:10 Project, "You can take Buddha out and still have Buddhism, or take the prophet out and still have Allah, but if you take Jesus out you don't have Christianity any more." Jesus is either a blasphemer or God Himself. The above list comes from His words. We could make a similar list of Christ as the message using the remainder of the New Testament. And additionally, strong individual verses also show the Deity of Christ. The powerful and traditional proof texts show His deity even more effectively when presented alongside the big picture above of the ministry and message of Jesus Christ. The Traditional Passages Showing Christ's Deity: Most of the primary verses with a sampling of the many others showing that, like the Father, Jesus is... - Called God: John 1:1 with v. 14; 20:28; Rom. 9:5; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:8; 2 Pet. 1:1; Luke 1:16-17 - From Everlasting: Ps. 90:2 with Micah 5:2 - Receiving worship: Mat. 2:11; 14:33; 28:9; John 9:38; Heb. 1:6 (etc., 10x) with Ex. 34:14; Acts 10:25-26 & Rev. 19:10 - Forgiving/Delegating Power to Forgive: Mat. 6:9, 12 with Jn. 20:23; Luke 5:20; Mark 2:5-11 & 1 Jn. 1:7-9 - Omniscient: John 10:15; 2:24-25 21:17 - Omnipresent: Ps. 139:7-10 with Mat. 18:20 & 28:20 - Omnipotent: Rev. 1:8 with 11-13, 17; 2:8; 5:11-6:1, 21:22-23; & 22:13 - Immutable: Mal. 3:6 with Hebrews 13:8 - The exact equivalent     in nature: Heb. 1:3; Phil 2:6 doesn't rob the Father to see Christ as His equal     in fullness: Col. 2:9 (in Christ "dwells all the fullness of the Godhead")     in glory: Isa. 45:25 with Gal. 6:14 and John 1:14; etc.     to whom every knee shalll bow: Isa. 45:23 with Phil. 2:10     to whom every tongue shall confess: Isa. 45:23 with Phil. 2:11 and Rom. 14:10-11     as the Almighty: Rev. 1:8 with 11-13, 17; 2:8; 5:11-6:1, 21:22-23; & 22:13     as Creator: Isa. 45:5-7, 18 with John 1:3 and Col. 1:16-17     as Savior: Isa. 45:21 and Luke 1:47 with Titus 3:6; 2:13; 2 Pet. 1:11; 1 John 4:14     as searcher of hearts: Ps. 139:23-24 with John 2:24-25 & Rev. 2:18-19, 23     as possessor of the everlasting kingdom: Dan. 7:13-14     as King of Kings: Rev. 19:16 with Dan. 2:47 and Isa. 33:22     as Lawgiver: James 4:12     as Judge: Ps. 9:7-8; 50:6 & 75:7; Isa. 33:22; 66:16; Heb. 12:23 with John 5:22; Acts 10:42; 17:31; Rom. 2:16; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Tim. 4:1, 8     as Jehovah: Isa. 40:3 with Mat. 3:3; and Isa. 8:13-14 with 1 Pet. 2:7-8; Mat. 21:42; Mk. 12:10. The Deity of Christ and Eternal Separation: Two doctrines, the afterlife of eternal separation from God in hell, and that of the deity of Christ, are inextricably linked. Therefore many of those who deny the deity of Christ, including Jehovah's Witnesses, Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church, Ronald Hubbard's Scientology, and Christian Science, also deny an afterlife of eternal separation from God. Why? God put eternity in our hearts (Eccl. 3:11; Ps. 148:5-6) and so only a payment of infinite worth, something greater than the eternal futures of billions of human beings, could suffice to pay the price for our combined sin. When false teachers dismiss eternal punishment in Hades, they then fail to see the necessity of a Sacrifice of infinite worth. Jesus Is God: The dramatic contrast in the above chart shows Christ's self-presentation compared to the angels and prophets who present God to the world. These other messengers elevated not themselves, but God. They focused attention not on themselves but on Him. Godly priests, kings, and apostles presented God as their motivating message, of course, and not themselves. Jesus, on the other hand, came speaking about Himself. His most oft used, favorite title for Himself, undoubtedly selected also to communicate His mission, is not the "Son of God", but the "Son of Man". For, eternally He was the Son of God, but being the Son of Man was new to Him and uniquely cherished. God the Son submits Himself to the Father, willingly, not as a sign of a lesser God, but of His greatness. For as He lowers Himself, He is exalted to the central truth of Creation! (See the above chart.) Thus His "I say unto you" is the Scripture's "Thus Saith the Lord"! Three in the Bible: God exists as three persons in one Godhead, whom we refer to as the Trinity. Thus human beings made in His image also have a triune nature, and the cosmos itself is understood in threes, in the most fantastic ways. Before considering this, first see the Bible's extraordinary use of this number. Christ was three days in the tomb, which Jonah's three days foreshadowed, as did Abraham's three days of thinking that he would sacrifice his son Isaac on that same hill called Golgotha and Mt. Moriah (Gen. 22:14; 2 Chron. 3:1). Israel's three patriarchs are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The priestly tribe of Levi is from Jacob's third child (Gen. 29:34), as Leviticus is the third book of the Bible. And the day the law was given, the sons of Levi killed "about three thousand men" (Ex. 32:28), whereas the day the Spirit was given, "that day about three thousand souls were [saved]" (Acts 2:41; and see 2 Cor. 3:6). The Hebrew Scriptures comprise three sections, the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings (Luke 24:44), and God created three archangels. The most noteworthy women are Eve, Sarah, and Mary. The magi brought gold, frankincense and myrrh. Three persons (one being the Son) started their public service at thirty years of age: Joseph (Gen. 41:46), a deliverer of his people; David (2 Sam. 5:4) seated on the messianic throne (2 Sam. 7:12-13); and "Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age" (Luke 3:23). God could have led Esther to fast for two days, or four; and He could have kept Jonah in the whale for one day, or a week, but three days and three nights prefigures God's plan of salvation for Christ's time in the grave. For Jesus "rose again the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor. 15:4). And thus, the triune Christian God, the mystery of the Trinity, Three Persons in One God, is the one God whose testimony we can trust (answering both the philosophical problem of the origin of the one and the many, and Euthyphro's Dilemma by Socrates), having imprinted our world and even ourselves with His triune nature. Threes Everywhere: The number three manifested in Scripture turns the Christian's attention outward to see space existing in three dimensions, height, width, and length, as does time in past, present and future. The electromagnetic force operates in positive, negative, and neutral, and in pigment the three primary colors are red, yellow, and blue whereas in light they are red, green, and blue which three blend into the hues of the rainbow. We human beings on this third planet from the Sun experience matter primarily in three states, solid, liquid, and gas. The strongest shape for building is the triangle. Writers often give three examples and artists group in threes as in interior design, sculpting, and even movie directors, as they have the word trilogy (1, 2, 3) but no word for any other number of films. Photographers use the rule of thirds and the language of DNA uses only three-letter words. Everything reinforces the triune aspect of all of existence, a reflection of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. See more at kgov.com/3. Tripartite Man: And so we humans are body, soul, and spirit (1 Thes. 5:23). For God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…" (Gen. 1:26). So mankind is made in God's image and likeness, image referring to our form, and likeness to our essence as sentient, morally-responsible persons. And unlike animals which look to the ground, men and women stand upright with a heavenly gaze. God's Image: God created a form, that is, an image, for the eternal Son to indwell. The verses Jehovah's Witnesses assume undermine Christ's deity are actually verses describing this aspect of Him at the creation. For the very first thing that God created was this form for His Son to indwell! (See Gen. 1:26 along with Col. 1:15; Rev. 3:14: Heb. 1:3; 5:5; 10:5; 2 Cor. 4:4; John 1:14; Phil. 2:5-6; 1 Tim. 2:5; and Rev. 1:13-18. When a son is "born" isn't the beginning of his existence anymore than when by taking up an image the Son became the "firstborn" of creation, was the beginning of His existence.) And in that image, "He made man" (Gen. 9:6), and not in the image of apes. "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Gen. 1:27). The Plurality in God: The very first verse of Genesis presents the plurality of God, with Genesis 1:1 using a plural subject and a singular verb, that is, In the beginning gods He created the heavens and the earth. Elohim is the plural of the typical Hebrew word for God, which is El (cherub and seraph for example become plural as cherubim and seraphim, with Elah likely being the dual form, and Elohim being a plurality, in this case, three for the triune God). So, did Moses make a grammatical error in the first sentence of the first book of Scripture, in what has become not only the world's best-selling book, but in the most well-known sentence in the history of the world by using a singular verb with a plural subject? Of course not. For this was intentional. The Hebrew Scriptures in the most solemn texts presents God as a unified plurality. What grammarians refer to as the "royal we" comes from God's references to Himself using the plural: "Let Us make man in Our image," (Gen. 1:26). The solemn Hebrew prayer, called the Shema Yisroel, to the "one God" uses another plurality. For "The Lord our God, the Lord is One (of plurality)" at Deuteronomy 6:4 uses neither of the expected terms, yachad or even bad, words meaning a singularity, but God's Word uses the word echad, which is one in plurality as used by God at the Tower of Babel, "the people are one," and by Joseph "the dreams of Pharaoh are one," and by Moses, "the people answered with one voice," and back again to the beginning of Genesis at the institution of marriage when God says, "and they shall become one flesh." So this foundation prayer to God does not the use the Hebrew words for one, which mean a singularity (which words are never used in the Bible referring to God), but God describes Himself in the Bible using the One of plurality. So the Shema says: the Jehovah (who is the one God) our Elohim (plural) Jehovah is a Plural Unity! And Deuteronomy 6:4 is the central passage to all theology of God. Then the Scriptures go on to teach that the three Persons of the Trinity are God the Father (Isa. 63:16; Mal. 2:10), God the Son (Ps. 2:12; Zech. 12:10 and as in the chart above), and God the Spirit (Gen. 1:2; Isa. 48:16; Isa. 6:3; Rom. 5:5). See also Mat. 28:19; Acts 5:3-4, 9; 2 Cor. 13:14, and Psalm 110:1 with Matthew 22:41-46, and verses that show the personhood of the Spirit including Heb. 10:15-17. The Mystery in the Godhead: How can one God exist in three persons? Christian theologians have long described this as a mystery, but it is an expected mystery. Virtually everything, deep down, is a mystery. What is light (with its wave-particle duality)? What is life (with modern biology unable to agree on a definition)? What is matter (that it leaves modern physics bewildered)? What is space? What is energy? What is time? What is movement? (Is it a series of discrete stationary states?) How can the Creator bring the universe into existence from nothing? How can your non-physical spirit be attached to your physical body? How can God exist from the beginningless past? How can creatures procreate and bring everlasting beings into existence? In humility we acknowledge that virtually everything in the creation is a deep, almost unfathomable mystery. How much more mysterious would be the God who made us? If Christianity taught that there are three Gods in One God, that would be a contradiction, and by the laws of logic, therefore false. For 1 + 1 + 1 = 3 and each 1 would be 1/3rd of the whole, which is anathema to trinitarian theology. But by analogizing God with math we see that the number line lacks sufficient multidimensionality and points us to the 3-dimensionality of space and an appropriate anaology wherein 1 x 1 x 1 = 1. And likewise, if Christianity taught that there are three Persons in One Person, that also would be false. But Christianity teaches that there are three Persons in One God, and while being a deep mystery (what isn't?), that is no contradiction. And finally, denial of Christ's deity is a central teaching of many of today's cults, including for example the Jehovah's Witnesses. This denial goes hand-in-glove with the rejection of eternality of hell. Also, not understanding the plurality of the Godhead creates philosophical dilemmas such as the problem of the one and the many. And Socrates' pre-Christian argument against God called Euthyphro's Dilemma is resolved by none of the world's religions except for the Christian Answer to Euthyphro in the eternal corroborating testimony of the three Witnesses of the Trinity. -Bob Enyart, KGOV.com Pastor, Denver Bible Church Bible Resources: If you enjoyed the above study and you would like to learn more from the wealth of biblical resources available from Bob Enyart Live, then please consider getting our series on the Gospel of John, or at least starting with Volume I, titled, Is this Man God? And for more fun and to enrich yourself spiritually, consider reading The Plot, an overview of the Bible which is Pastor Bob's life's work. Also, we invite you to browse the Bible Study Department at our KGOV store. And you can call us at 1-800-8Enyart (836-9278) to tell Bob or a BEL staffer which topics of study you are most interested in, and we'll figure out which of our resources, if any, address your area of concern. Postscript -- Is the Father-Son Relationship Eternal? The Scriptures help us see the errors in two claims about the Son that are held by a minority of believers, many of whom, thankfully, do assent to the Trinity and the deity of Jesus Christ. One false teaching is against the eternality of the Trinity (immediately below, The Claim: No Past Trinity) and the other acknowledges the eternal Trinity but denies that ithe Second Person was always the "Son" (below, The Claim: No Past Son). The Claim: No Past Trinity: The first claim, that no triunity existed in God until He decided to express Himself in that way, is offered to defend monotheism, that there is only one God. Christianity teaches that there is one God in three persons.  can be falsified in three ways. 1) Because the "Father" is eternal His "Son" must also have been eternal. For by positing "no Trinity" through an eternity prior to the manifestation of such, a Christian is claiming the existence of a non-relational "Being". Theoretically, if such a Being could exist, it could not be a "Father" and may be non-binary. We estimate however that more than a thousand Bible verses present God as relational. Thus we teach that the five primary biblical attributes of our eternal God are that, "He is living, personal, relational, good, and loving." Not being "relational" has serious consequences including Euthyphro's, as linked to just below. And for those who may claim that "Father" could have been merely an eternal figure of speech, please see below on metaphor. 2) The Scripture asserts the existence of "the eternal Spirit" (Heb. 9:14). The Holy Spirit did not come to exist. If a defense of monotheism requires that mankind needs to know that God in the past was a unitarian Being who only later manifest Himself into three persons, it is surprising that the Bible would not teach this. Further, if there were a logical contradiction in three persons being One God, positing that One God manifest Himself into three persons does not make that apparent contradiction go away. That is not the answer to such a challenge. Rather, as shown above in The Mystery in the Godhead section, one God existing in three persons is not and never has been a contradiction. But like mostly everything else, it is a deep mystery. (Some claim that John 15:26 teaches an origin for the Holy Spirit, who "proceeds from the Father". However, context is king. If that was the Lord's teaching, it would have been quite a jump out of His context. You can wreak havoc anywhere and especially in John 15 by ignoring the contextual. Jesus there assures His disciples that "the world hates you... because you are not of the world." The disciples were not extraterrestrials and were not eternal aliens at that, even though Jesus said, "you have been with Me from the beginning." And about unbelievers, the Lord said, "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin". By taking that out of context one would assume unbelievers were sinless until just three years earlier. And "when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me." Context is king. Jesus did not bounce out of His context to drop a theological bomb. Rather, He was assuring them that although in "a little while" He will be with them no longer, He is sending the Holy Spirit who comes not from this world, but from the Father in heaven.) 3) Above, this article mentions our Christian Answer to Euthyphro's Dilemma. That writing makes a defense of the eternal corroborating testimony of the Trinity's three Witnesses. This also rebuts the first claim here that no Trinity existed in eternity past. The Claim: No Past Son: The second related erroneous claim, as written about by Zeller and Showers, admits that the Persons of the Trinity have existed eternally, but that the Second Person did not become the "Son" until the Incarnation. This teaching at least has a proof text, which however appears to have been misapplied. One form of this second error is that through eternity past the second Person of the Trinity was the "Word" but not the "Son". This position claims that it was not until the Incarnation, or thereabouts, when the Father's prophecy was fulfilled, "This day have I begotten Thee", that the Word became the Son. The claim here is that the First Person of the Trinity sent the Second Person, the Word, to the world, who thereby became the Son. Let's look at four rebuttals to this claim. First, the Bible never says that God sent the Word to the Earth who then became the Son. Among His many titles (the Christ, the Alpha and Omega, the Lamb of God, the Prince of Peace, the Son of Man, the Bridegroom, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, etc.), the Second Person of the Trinity is also referred to as the Word (John 1:1, 14) and He was of course sent to the Earth. However, when the Bible addresses the topic of WHO was sent to Earth, WHO came, WHO was given to the world, we don't read that the Word was sent and He became the Son, but rather, each time we read that: - "He loved us and sent His Son" (1 John 4:10) - "the Son of God has come" (1 John 5:20) - "God gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16; and 3:17) - "Unto us a Son is given" (Isaiah 9:6) - "God sent forth His Son, born of a woman" (Gal. 4:4) - "the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world" (1 John 4:14) - "In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world" (1 John 4:9). Again, God did not send the Word into the world who became the Son through the Incarnation when He got here. Rather, God sent His "Son into the world". Even in the parable, "Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son'" (Mat. 21:37), "having one son, his beloved, he also sent him" (Mark 12:6). A second way of recognizing from Scripture that the Son is eternal is that the "Father" is eternal. Without a Son, the First Person of the Trinity would not have been the Father. Further, with all the Old Testament passages referring to God as Father notwithstanding, He would not have become the Father until about 2,000 years ago with the Incarnation. However, while the famous messianic prophecy of Isaiah 9 raises the deep mystery of the separateness within, yet also the oneness of, God, its description of Him as "Everlasting Father" has long been held by Christians to teach that throughout eternity past, the Father has been the Father. As the Apostle Paul wrote, "there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things" (1 Cor. 8:6), such that everything that has flowed from Him has flowed from Him as "the Father". Likewise, to the Ephesians, the Hebrew poetry places in proximity the "one Spirit" with the "Father of all", reinforcing that as the Holy Spirit has been eternally the Spirit, so too with the Father, as likewise when Luke recorded, "Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, 'I thank You, Father'" (Luke 10:21) and Matthew, "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Mat. 28:19). Of course also, in the Hebrew Scriptures, prior to the Incarnation, God was referred to as Father. "Have we not all one Father? Has not God created us?" (Mal. 2:10; see also Deut. 32:6; Ps. 68:5; Isa. 63:16; 64:8; [43:10]; John 8:41; 5:21 [evidently referring to the three Old Testament resurrections]). Yes, of course, "Father" could be used as a metaphor, like the Father of our Country or the Father of Creation. However, that metaphor does not hang on nothing. It is "Our Father who art in heaven" that gives rise to the use of the Father metaphor. Also, the parallel passages to those above, regarding that the "Son" was sent, are those that teach us that the "Father" is the one who sent Him, such as Jesus' own frequently repeated statements about "the Father who sent Me" (John 5:30, 36-37; 6:39, 44, 57; 8:16, 18, 29, 42; 12:49; 14:24) and "I have come in My Father's name" (John 5:43). That is, the First Person who sent the Second Person to Earth, at the time of the sending, was already the Father. So to be the everlasting Father, of necessity, eternally, He has had a Son. Thirdly, the burden of proof for such a new doctrine is on the person claiming that the Godhead's relationships were different prior to the creation, or prior to the Incarnation, than they are today. However, with its one proof text, the scriptural evidence will fail to make the case if that passage is not making a claim about the past relationship of the First and Second persons, but rather, is referencing the future Incarnation when God the Son will be begotten to become the Son of Man. For Psalm 2:7 is a messianic Incarnation prophecy. "You are My Son, today I have begotten You." The immediate context, and the three times that this passage is quoted, shows that this relates to the messianic plan for the Second Person rather than to the First Person's past relationship with the Second Person. In context, this is about Jesus as God's "King on My holy hill of Zion" [i.e., Jerusalem] (Ps. 2:6). That description applies because of and sometime after the Holy Spirit overshadows Mary, for "that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit" (Mat. 1:20). So too, each of the three quotes of Psalm 2:7 refer explicitly to its fulfillment in the First Advent of Jesus Christ (Acts 13:33; Heb. 1:5; 5:5). "And we declare to you glad tidings—that promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm..." (Acts 13:32-33). Thus while some see Psalm 2 as claiming no past Father-Son relationship, the alternative traditional understanding is that it is referring to when God the Son becomes the Son of Man taking upon Himself the messianic role, with the Godhead as the Progenitor, so to speak, begetting Jesus' earthly existence. The writer of Hebrews quotes Psalm 2 and then explicitly connects it to a prophecy of the Incarnation, for Mary, Jesus' true earthly mother, descended from the line of David. "I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom... I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son" (1 Sam. 7:12-14). This messianic Incarnation prophecy is then quoted in Hebrews 1:5, again reinforcing that Psalm 2:7 refers to the Incarnation. Likewise, when quoted in Hebrews 5, the passage is associated with the prophecy that Christ would "become High Priest", another reference to His role through the Incarnation. Thus, the New Testament interprets Psalm 2:7 not as referring to some past spiritual begetting of the Son by the Father, but to God's begetting of His eternal Son through the virgin Mary whereby He became "the Son of Man", His favorite title for Himself. Finally, Scripture teaches about the Second Person of the Trinity that, "All things were created through Him" (Col. 1:16) and "without Him nothing was made that was made" (John 1:3). If these are literal and comprehensive, that means that the Second Person of the Trinity is the one who actually created everything. The things created explicitly include all the created positions of authority, "whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers" (Col. 1:16). That leaves this false teaching in the awkward position of claiming that while the Second Person was eternally existing, the "Sonship" was a created position. Yet, if it were, one would expect that the Son Himself would have created that position, which seems untenable. The Son wouldn't create His own "Sonship". Yet He indeed created every position of authority. That again suggests, as with the above three extensive observations and natural readings from Scripture, that the Father-Son relationship was not brought into existence but that it eternally emanated from the Godhead and that therefore God the Son is eternally the only begotten Son of the Father.

The Love Of God Jn 3:16 #Nightlight #RTTBROS Satan has convinced the culture of two lies one is that life is worthless and should be destroyed because he comes to steal to kill and destroy. The other is the lie that God doesn't love you and you don't matter the truth is God does love you and you do matter. Our Podcast, Blog and YouTube Links https://linktr.ee/rttbros Be sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe it helps get the word out. RSS feed https://anchor.fm/s/127be410/podcast/rss https://linktr.ee/rttbros

There is only one place of safety. Everyone else is under “the wrath of God” (Jn 3:36).

INTRODUCTION Christians do not merely believe that God created all things from nothing and an intelligent design of the universe, we believe that the only fully rational accounting of the universe, science, logic, reason, and human experience begins with the authority of Scripture, submits to the supremacy of Jesus Christ in all things, and surrenders in glad worship at His throne. THE TEXT “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist” (Col. 1:15-17). SUMMARY OF THE TEXT The Apostle Paul is in the process of reviewing the gospel that was preached to the Colossians and has begun to bear fruit in their lives (Col. 1:4-8), and the prayer the apostles now have for the Colossians is that it might bear much fruit in their lives in knowledge and wisdom and good works and strength and joy (Col. 1:9-11), since salvation is deliverance from darkness into the kingdom of the Son, redemption through His blood and the forgiveness of sins (Col. 1:12-14). This is where our text picks up underlining the power and potency of the gospel by underlining just who Jesus is: the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all of creation (Col. 1:15), the Creator of all things, the reason for all things (Col. 1:16), and that means that He is before and greater than all things and He is the One who upholds all things (Col. 1:17). Because that is Who He is, He is the Head of the New Creation, the firstborn from the dead (Col. 1:18), the fullness of God Himself, and therefore His cross is potent to reconcile all things, reconciling His enemies to Himself and presenting them holy and innocent in His sight (Col. 1:19-22). ACKNOWLEDGING THE CREATOR Paul's argument is this: If we preach the death and resurrection of Christ and men and women who are dead in their sins come to life, full of peace, from the madness and violence and confusion of sin and darkness, then a New Creation has begun. And if Jesus is the Head of that New Creation, He is the Head, the Source, the Firstborn of the Old Creation. He is the Center. Another way to put the argument is that everyone must have a standard for truth, a standard for evidence, a standard for making sense of everything. Paul is claiming that Christ and His authority is that universal standard for all men everywhere. Christ is the ultimate standard because He is the image of the invisible God, the Creator all things, and because without him nothing could exist (Col. 1:15-17). Of course the comeback is something like: But you can't simply assert what you must prove. And our response is twofold: First, why not? You're asserting a canon of reason, but you haven't proven that you must prove every assertion in order for it to be valid. But the fact is that everyone must start with a presupposition that ultimately trusts God or man, the Creator or something in creation. You might start with reason, logic, science, experience, psychoanalysis, or consensus. But then you are beginning with a presupposition that one or more of those things are reliable guides to truth and coherence, but you haven't (and cannot) prove their full reliability. In fact, all of those things are highly limited and have let people down in every era, and the last few years is no exception. Second, the proof of the authority of Christ is the forgiveness of sins and peace with God. EVIDENCE BASED FAITH It is sometimes claimed that reason and faith are opposites, or that science and religion are at odds. But the Bible everywhere teaches that God is reasonable, His creation is reasonable, and He expects human beings who bear His image to think and reason. What the Bible rejects is autonomous reason. We reject human reason that rejects the authority of God's Word. Faith is simply reason in submission to God. This means that all thinking people must reject Darwinism as complete nonsense and irrationality. It makes no sense at all to trust reason or science based on the assumption that the present world emerged by accidents and mutations. This is to claim that order and meaning emerged from chaos and meaninglessness, but every canon of reason and science rejects this. Unlike irrational religions and superstitions, the Bible everywhere assumes that God has established certain natural patterns and habits to the created order. This order is what allows nature to be studied, for the nature of things to be observed, logged, experimented with, and learned from. Cause and effect, logic, reason, and the scientific method all require an orderly and intelligent universe. In fact, modern science emerged from a largely Christian and Protestant worldview that believed in a personal and rational Creator God. CONCLUSION: WHAT ABOUT MIRACLES? One of the obvious questions following the assertion that God has created the world with an order and nature that is fix and stable is: then what about all the miracles in the Bible? The simple answer is that the Bible itself presents miracles as, well, miraculous, unusual, deviations from the norm. In addition, it assumes that in order to believe in miracles, any rational human being would need evidence, testimony, and proof. The central miracle of the Bible is the announcement that Jesus rose from the dead. And when John records the resurrection, he records the doubt of Thomas, who says he will not believe unless he sees the nail prints in the hands of Jesus and puts his hand into the side of Jesus, where the spear pierced Him. Then John says that the next time Jesus appeared, that was exactly what Jesus presented to Thomas (Jn. 20:27). And Thomas answered and said, “My Lord and my God” (Jn. 20:28). And John's gospel closes with these words, “And Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that by believing you might have life in His name” (Jn. 20:30-31).

Love and Action   “Love looks like something” Heidi Baker   Jn 3:16-17   Jn 5:19   1) The Family of Man   2) The Family of God    Jn 15:9   Jn 14:6   Jn 14:9-10   “Striving, fear, and anxiety only exist where there is an absence of tasting the Father's love” Bill Johnson   3) The Reconciliation   1 Jn 3:16-18   2Cor 5:18-20

Inspired Word of God Jn 1:1Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=3N_fxARPB0Jca174-leQiGUAMEFrbqC8weGEnmiq01MWQZKvfCQggzvaYDDMWTXxX81SoG&country.x=US&locale.x=)

Mike Bickle

“Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God” (Jn. 11)? One of my most vivid Pandemic memories Pandemic involved shopping for survival supplies at Smart and Final in the Outer Richmond. Raise your hand if you remember doing something like this. At that point we didn't feel confident that grocery stores would remain open or that there would be enough food. Do you remember those lists of disaster supplies on the Internet (tarps, water storage containers, tools for turning off the gas, etc.). One included a shovel for burying bodies in the backyard.[i] We heard the constant ambulance sirens in New York City and about refrigerator trucks filled with corpses. Indeed family members and friends were dying. Do you remember we also went through a period when it seemed like a third of all workers would lose their jobs. Then there were the days after the rioting when downtown San Francisco looked like a war zone. Then the wildfire darkness descended on us. Because we are trying so hard just to keep going and to help the people who depend on us, we forget just how traumatic our experience of COVID was. But now we are beginning to come out of our caves. Something in us had died. And now we are wondering if we might be able to really live again. My sermon comes in three parts: 1. Believing and Seeing, 2. Feeling and Showing, 3. Acting and Being Helped. [i] We wiped down our groceries but didn't yet know that we should be wearing masks.

Preached by Fr. Juan Lopez Agúndez in Bowmont centre in Calgary, Alberta. John the Baptist said of Jesus: “Behold the Lamb of God” (Jn 1, 35) He came to understand that he wanted to follow Jesus out of love. The desire is the engine of the will. When we desire, then our will moves us to our goals. The desire makes it easier to reach our goals. Mozart, Adagio in C Major K. 356 Arranged for guitar by Bert Alink Thumbnail: Jacopo del Casentino, St. John the Baptist, c. 1330, El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

To support the ministry and get access to exclusive content, go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudy John 5: 17-30 - 'The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and all who hear it will live.' Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs: - 594 (in 'Jesus and Israel's faith in the One God and Saviour') - Jesus performed acts, such as pardoning sins, that manifested him to be the Saviour God himself (cf Jn 5:16-18). Certain Jews, who did not recognize God made man (cf Jn 1:14), saw in him only a man who made himself God (Jn 10:33), and judged him as a blasphemer. - 859 (in 'The Church is Apostolic') - Jesus unites them to the mission he received from the Father. As "the Son can do nothing of his own accord," but receives everything from the Father who sent him, so those whom Jesus sends can do nothing apart from him, from whom they received both the mandate for their mission and the power to carry it out (abbreviated). - 679 (in 'To Judge the Living and the Dead') - Christ is Lord of eternal life. Full right to pass definitive judgement on the works and hearts of men belongs to him as redeemer of the world. He "acquired" this right by his cross. the Father has given "all judgement to the Son". Yet the Son did not come to judge, but to save and to give the life he has in himself. By rejecting grace in this life, one already judges oneself, receives according to one's works, and can even condemn oneself for all eternity by rejecting the Spirit of love. - 1470 (in 'The Effects of this Sacrament') - In this sacrament, the sinner, placing himself before the merciful judgment of God, anticipates in a certain way the judgment to which he will be subjected at the end of his earthly life. For it is now, in this life, that we are offered the choice between life and death, and it is only by the road of conversion that we can enter the Kingdom, from which one is excluded by grave sin. In converting to Christ through penance and faith, the sinner passes from death to life and "does not come into judgment." - 635 (in 'Christ descended into Hell') - Christ went down into the depths of death so that "the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live." Jesus, "the Author of life", by dying destroyed "him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and [delivered] all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage." Henceforth the risen Christ holds "the keys of Death and Hades", so that "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth." - 1038 (in 'The Last Judgement') - The resurrection of all the dead, "of both the just and the unjust," will precede the Last Judgment. This will be "the hour when all who are in the tombs will hear [the Son of man's] voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment" (abbreviated). - 612 (in 'The Agony at Gethsemani') - Like ours, his human nature is destined for eternal life; but unlike ours, it is perfectly exempt from sin, the cause of death (abbreviated). - 998 (in 'How do the dead rise?') - Who will rise? All the dead will rise, "those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment." - 574 (in 'Jesus and Israel') - 589 (in 'Jesus and Israel's faith in the One God and Saviour') - 1063 (in 'Amen') - 2824 (in 'Thy Will be done on earth as it is heaven') Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/daily-gospel-exegesis/message

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Scripture Reading: John 5:30-47  In this long and exquisite section of John 5, Jesus continues to defend His nature as the Son of God.  In John 5:30-47, Jesus points to a series of 'witnesses' which testify to His authority as deity.  The witnesses begin with the Father (Jn 5:32,37) and then there are three witnesses which issue from Him. John the Baptist, who was sent from God (Jn 1:6), was a clear, forceful witness of Jesus being the Son of God (Jn 1:34).  Next, the works of Jesus, which the Father had given Jesus to accomplish, were a clear witness of His authority (Jn 5:36).  Finally, the Scriptures bore witness of the nature of Jesus (Jn 5:39,46). In spite of these unmistakable witnesses, the Jewish leaders had refused to come to Jesus.  John 5:40 literally says, "You do not want to come to me."  The problem was not a lack of compelling evidence declaring who Jesus was.  The problem was a lack of will to believe. It is a fair question to ask why someone would not want to come to Jesus, especially given how good and kind and merciful He is.  This passage answers that question.  "How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?" (Jn 5:44).  The sinful human heart loves the glory of man instead of the glory of God. The question is, "What is at the center of the heart?" Adam put himself at the center and every person since him does the same thing.  Let us strive to be increasingly enthralled with God's excellencies that we might believe and obey and delight in the Son of God.

Series: The unexpected Kingdom. Passage Matthew 11:1-19. Preacher: Reg Piper. Date of Talk: 7 Feb 2021 What is the going on in the world? 2,000AD Australia and 100AD Galilee How did Jesus see this Question? Who is Jesus? V1-6 This question was raised by disciples sent by John the Baptist John's enquiry Preached Spirit & fire Baptiser 3:11-12 Preached Lamb & Son of God Jn 1:29-34 Was Jesus the One to Come? V1-3 Jesus' Answer He was the Way Is. 40:3 The Servant of the Lord Is. 35:5-6,61:1. Blessed are John and hearers if not offended v6,12:14, 24, 11:16-19 Who is John the Baptist? V7-15 Jesus raised and answered this question for the crowds. Who John was not He was not just a prophet v7-9 Who John was The first Messenger Mal 3:1 Greatest man born v11-12 The Elijah to come v13-14 Mal 4:5-6, Matt17:9-13, 21:23-27 Hear if you can, including John v15, Jn 1:21-23 Who are the Wise? Every generation is similar to every other generation The childish are exposed They avoid substance by criticising style v 16-19 The Wisdom is justified v19 By her deeds By her children

The Lamb of God - Jn 1:29-34

Doing the will of God - Jn 10:31-39

John 1:35-42 Oh to see the Son of God in all His glory! To comprehend His majesty; to fathom His deity. John declares; "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (Jn. 1:1). Adding to this, he then makes this staggering statement; " And the Word was made 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" (Jn. 1:14). Peter writes, "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty" (2 Pet. 1:16); and John again states: "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life" (1 Jn. 1:1). This sermon is an exhortation that having found the Messiah we would be moved to tell and to bring others to HIM also!

Christmas is the time we celebrate the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Word who “became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). But as it turns out, this same Word, who was with God and was God (Jn 1:1-2), actually made a number of appearances throughout Israel’s history. On this episode, the hosts will take a look at these “theophanies” or manifestations of God in human or angelic form as they conclude their series on The Incarnation (originally aired 12-25-16). _____________________________ November of 2020 marks the 30th anniversary of the White Horse Inn! To celebrate, we are offering a special collection that includes 30 of our best episodes as well as select articles from ModernReformation magazine. For a donation of $100 or more, you can receive our 30th-anniversary collection by heading over to whitehorseinn.org/celebrate If you would like to help support the work at White Horse Inn at no added cost to yourself, just link your Amazon account to smile.amazon.com and enter White Horse Inc. Thank you for your support!  

Scripture Reading: John 3:22-36 John paints two portraits in this section of his gospel.  Both are wonderful, but one is more wondrous.  One portrait is an example to follow and the other portrait is a witness of divinity which we may not and cannot possess. What we see here is a sterling example of humility.  John the Baptizer is being compared, by his own disciples, to Jesus in His growing popularity.  John recognizes his place, which is secondary to Jesus' primacy.  He says, "I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him"    (Jn 3: 28) … "The friend of the bridegroom . . . rejoices at the bridegrooms' voice" (Jn 3:29) . . . "He must increase, but I must decrease" (Jn 3:30).  This man is wonderfully humble and a great encouragement to follow his example. On the other hand, in this section, we have the exaltation of Christ as He is lauded in the grandest terms.  "He who comes from above is above all" (Jn 3:31) . . . "He whom God has sent utters the words of God" (Jn 3:34) . . . "The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand" (Jn 3:35).  Jesus is lauded in the highest way. One application of this passage is that Christ is the source of deep and abiding pleasure.  "The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice.  Therefore this joy of mine is now complete" (Jn 3:30).  We were made to long for joy … and the ultimate fulfillment of this longing is only Jesus.

Scripture Reading: John 3:17-21 Following John 3:16, we have something of an expansion of the purpose and results of the coming of Jesus.  First, we have a statement of the grand purpose for which Jesus came, followed by some insight as to why people either receive or reject Christ. John 3:17 says that God sent His Son not to condemn the world, but to save the world.  At the very least this means that Christ has brought salvation into a fallen humanity, to offer eternal life to all people.  Further, it means that Christ will gather to Himself people from all the nations … from every tribe and tongue. But perhaps there is a far-reaching scope in view here … the final, restoration of all things.  B. B. Warfield, in his sermon entitled "God's Immeasurable Love" says, "Are not the saints to inherit the earth?  Is not the re-created earth theirs?  Are not the kingdoms of the world to become the kingdom of God?" We see in John 3:19 the deep-rooted reason why people reject Christ.  "And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil."  People reject Jesus, not because they don't have enough information.  The basic problem of the human heart is not a lack of light, but a love of the dark.  The issue is one of desire.  They want their sins more than they want God. On the other hand, people who come to the light do so because their "works have been carried out in God" (Jn 3:21).  It is God's grace, alone, which has worked in their sinful hearts, bringing them into the light.  A summary of these verses could go like this … unbelief is our fault … belief is God's grace.  Soli Deo gloria!

1 - @ PEACE with God (Jn. 14:27) 2 - @ PEACE with Scripture (Rom. 13:1) 3 - @ PEACE with Others (Tit. 3:1-2)

Someone has said, “Guilt is the great equalizer of the world.”  Whether we are leaders in society or live quietly out of sight, we know the deep and inescapable voice of conscience, calling us to account for things everybody knows, and things nobody knows.  Beneath our calm exteriors, we struggle with ourselves for missing the mark, breaking the law, violating the expectations God has of us, and we have of ourselves. Unless we bring our guilt to God, it leads to countless dangerous behaviors.  We multiply offenses, hoping to somehow numb our sense of being misaligned.  We turn our guilt to anger—at others, at situations, at ourselves.  We try to find hard ways to work our way back into favor by doing deeds of charity, reciting familiar prayers, and demanding tough discipline of ourselves. But there’s only one way back to God, and it’s open, free, available on any day—for any fault. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn 1:9).  In grace, the Father teaches us to trust the only one who never wavered in His faith, never felt a pang of conscience, never needed atonement for Himself.  “God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them” (2 Cor 5:19). Guilt never was a match for grace, and never, ever will be.  “To all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God” (Jn 1:12). Trade all your guilt for matchless grace.  And stay in it. -Bill Knott   Note: If you are blessed by GraceNotes, we invite you to subscribe.

Someone has said, “Guilt is the great equalizer of the world.”  Whether we are leaders in society or live quietly out of sight, we know the deep and inescapable voice of conscience, calling us to account for things everybody knows, and things nobody knows.  Beneath our calm exteriors, we struggle with ourselves for missing the mark, breaking the law, violating the expectations God has of us, and we have of ourselves. Unless we bring our guilt to God, it leads to countless dangerous behaviors.  We multiply offenses, hoping to somehow numb our sense of being misaligned.  We turn our guilt to anger—at others, at situations, at ourselves.  We try to find hard ways to work our way back into favor by doing deeds of charity, reciting familiar prayers, and demanding tough discipline of ourselves. But there’s only one way back to God, and it’s open, free, available on any day—for any fault. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn 1:9).  In grace, the Father teaches us to trust the only one who never wavered in His faith, never felt a pang of conscience, never needed atonement for Himself.  “God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them” (2 Cor 5:19). Guilt never was a match for grace, and never, ever will be.  “To all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God” (Jn 1:12). Trade all your guilt for matchless grace.  And stay in it. -Bill Knott   Note: If you are blessed by GraceNotes, we invite you to subscribe.

Someone has said, “Guilt is the great equalizer of the world.”  Whether we are leaders in society or live quietly out of sight, we know the deep and inescapable voice of conscience, calling us to account for things everybody knows, and things nobody knows.  Beneath our calm exteriors, we struggle with ourselves for missing the mark, breaking the law, violating the expectations God has of us, and we have of ourselves. Unless we bring our guilt to God, it leads to countless dangerous behaviors.  We multiply offenses, hoping to somehow numb our sense of being misaligned.  We turn our guilt to anger—at others, at situations, at ourselves.  We try to find hard ways to work our way back into favor by doing deeds of charity, reciting familiar prayers, and demanding tough discipline of ourselves. But there’s only one way back to God, and it’s open, free, available on any day—for any fault. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn 1:9).  In grace, the Father teaches us to trust the only one who never wavered in His faith, never felt a pang of conscience, never needed atonement for Himself.  “God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them” (2 Cor 5:19). Guilt never was a match for grace, and never, ever will be.  “To all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God” (Jn 1:12). Trade all your guilt for matchless grace.  And stay in it. -Bill Knott   Note: If you are blessed by GraceNotes, we invite you to subscribe.

Scripture Reading: John 1:29-34 This passage is the second extended paragraph containing John the Baptist's declarations about Jesus.  It is clear from the statements in this section of John 1 that the Baptist had one thing on his mind … the exaltation of the person of Christ.  John makes two remarkable and awesome pronouncements concerning Christ.  He is the Lamb of God (Jn 1:29) and He is the Son of God (Jn 1:34). These two titles are profound and from them we see that Jesus performs two acts … at least two acts in this paragraph.  Jesus takes away sins (Jn 1:29) and He baptizes with the Holy Spirit (Jn 1:33). As the sacrificial Lamb of God, Jesus takes away the sin and its penalty for the world.  Of course, this cannot mean that every person in the world will be forgiven.  There are many Biblical passages that do not allow such an interpretation.  D. A. Carson is helpful here.  "This Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world – that is, of all human beings without distinction, though not . . . of all [human beings] without exception" (Carson, The Gospel According to John, 151).  All tribes and tongues are offered the gospel of Christ and all tribes and tongues will be represented in heaven (cf. Rev 5:9,10) As the Son of God, Jesus baptizes believers in the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit comes through Jesus, both in the work of regeneration and in the ongoing work of changing us into the image of Christ.  The word 'baptism' here seems to indicate our being immersed … plunged into the life of the Holy Spirit with life-changing effects. Let us consider afresh, from this passage, who Jesus is and what He has done/is doing for us.  And let us adore Him all the more. 

I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jn 11:27 A reflection based on the first letter of John 4:7-16, Psalm 34, and the Gospel of John 11:19-27

Scripture Reading: John 1:1-5 Two questions eclipse all other questions in life … Who is Jesus?  and … What is your response to Him?  Usually the answer to the first question greatly determines the answer to the second question.  In the gospel of John Jesus is presented primarily, though not exclusively, as the Son of God.  By this designation John means to display Christ as God the Son, in all His glorious deity. The first few verses of John 1 are some of the most magnificent verses in the Bible, declaring the deity of Jesus … calling Him 'the Word'.  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (Jn 1:1) We see here the eternality of the Son of God … the distinction, yet unity of God the Father and the God the Son … and the full deity of the Son of God. The words "in the beginning" recall Genesis 1:1.  When the universe was brought into existence, the Word (God the Son) already existed.  The Son of God was not a created being.  There was no time when he did not exist.  God the Son is distinct from the God Father, yet one with Him ('with' or 'toward' God).  Yet the Son was/is fully God ("the Word was God.") These statements take us into the mystery and majesty of the Godhead.  Nothing is more glorious and humbling than the unmatched, inexpressible grandeur of the triune God.  "Who is this King of glory?  The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory!" (Psa 24:10).  Come, let us adore Him!

Many believe Jesus was speaking symbolically when He said "Unless you Eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life within you." But to believe Jesus is talking symbolically is hard to believe since he went out of his way, while talking about bread after the miracle of the loaves, to progress into flesh and blood, then even further to "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life..."  The Old Testament points to the Eucharist, and Jesus intentionally establishes the New Worship of His Body and Blood, before His actual Passover; the sacrifice in His death and Resurrection, just as God established the liturgy of the first Passover before the actual event. Jesus's Mission was to not only die for our sins, and rise to share with us divine life in the Holy Spirit, but he also as part of that mission, as intentionally established the Eucharist so that we 2000 years later, and 1200 miles away may also share in this Passover from death to eternal life. 

Homily by Deacon Matthew Newsome on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity (A), preached at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC on June 7, 2020. "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God" (Jn 3:16-18)

2020/05/10 - Adopted by God (Jn. 1:12-13, Rm. 8:12-18) | Pastor Brian Tsui by Indelible Grace Church

Want to support the ministry and get access to exclusive content? Go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudy John 10: 31-42 - 'They wanted to stone Jesus, but he eluded them.' Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs: - 548 (in 'The Signs of the Kingdom of God') - The signs worked by Jesus attest that the Father has sent him. They invite belief in him. To those who turn to him in faith, he grants what they ask. So miracles strengthen faith in the One who does his Father's works; they bear witness that he is the Son of God. But his miracles can also be occasions for "offence", they are not intended to satisfy people's curiosity or desire for magic. Despite his evident miracles some people reject Jesus; he is even accused of acting by the power of demons. - 574 (in 'Jesus and Israel') - He is accused of blasphemy and false prophecy, religious crimes which the Law punished with death by stoning (abbreviated). - 589 (in 'Jesus and Israel's faith in the One God and Saviour') - By forgiving sins Jesus either is blaspheming as a man who made himself God's equal, or is speaking the truth and his person really does make present and reveal God's name (abbreviated). - 591 (in 'Jesus and Israel's faith in the One God and Saviour') - Jesus asked the religious authorities of Jerusalem to believe in him because of the Father's works which he accomplished. But such an act of faith must go through a mysterious death to self, for a new "birth from above" under the influence of divine grace. Such a demand for conversion in the face of so surprising a fulfilment of the promises allows one to understand the Sanhedrin's tragic misunderstanding of Jesus: they judged that he deserved the death sentence as a blasphemer. The members of the Sanhedrin were thus acting at the same time out of "ignorance" and the "hardness" of their "unbelief". - 594 (in 'Jesus and Israel's faith in the One God and Saviour') - Jesus performed acts, such as pardoning sins, that manifested him to be the Saviour God himself (cf Jn 5:16-18). Certain Jews, who did not recognize God made man (cf Jn 1:14), saw in him only a man who made himself God (Jn 10:33), and judged him as a blasphemer. - 444 (in 'The Only Son of God') - Jesus calls himself the "only Son of God", and by this title affirms his eternal pre-existence. He asks for faith in "the name of the only Son of God". In the centurion's exclamation before the crucified Christ, "Truly this man was the Son of God", that Christian confession is already heard. Only in the Paschal mystery can the believer give the title "Son of God" its full meaning (abbreviated). - 1562 (in 'The ordination of priests - co-workers of the bishops') - "Christ, whom the Father hallowed and sent into the world, has, through his apostles, made their successors, the bishops namely, sharers in his consecration and mission; and these, in their turn, duly entrusted in varying degrees various members of the Church with the office of their ministry." "The function of the bishops' ministry was handed over in a subordinate degree to priests so that they might be appointed in the order of the priesthood and be co-workers of the episcopal order for the proper fulfillment of the apostolic mission that had been entrusted to it by Christ." Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/daily-gospel-exegesis/message

Easter 2020 - God is Love Day 3. Jesus' Baptism G’day! Welcome to Partakers and to our Easter 2020 series, God is Love, where for the next 30 days we look at Jesus Christ, the events of Easter and its consequences. 21 When all the people were being baptised, Jesus was baptised too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’ 23 Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph. Luke 3v21-23 Jesus’ baptism, shows the commencement of Jesus’ public ministry. Jesus is now about 30 years old. John the Baptist precedes all Gospel accounts of the start of Jesus’ ministry, and this is because repentance before God is the key to starting a new life in God’s Kingdom. Witness 1 – John the Baptist When John came (Luke 3v1-2) – When John the Baptist appeared on the scene, no prophetic voice had been heard within Israel for almost 400 years. His coming was part of God’s perfect timing, for everything that relates to God’s Son is always on time (Gal.4v4; Jn.2v4, 13v1) How John came (Luke 3v3) – Dressed and acting like the Old Testament prophet Elijah, John came to the area near the River Jordan, preaching and baptizing. He announced the arrival of the kingdom of heaven (Mt.3v3) and urged the people to repent. John’s baptism looked forward to the coming of the Messiah, while Christian baptism looks back to the finished work of Christ in His death and resurrection. Why John came (Luke 3v4-20) – John the Baptist was a voice “crying in the wilderness” (Is.40v1-5; Luke 3v4; Jn.1v23). Spiritually speaking, the nation of Israel was living in a state of unbelief and twisted spiritual reality. The people desperately needed to hear a voice from God, and John was that faithful voice. It was John’s work to prepare the nation for the Messiah and then present the Messiah to them. John is compared to an axeman cutting down trees that down bear fruit (Luke 3v9) or a farmer who burns useless chaff (Luke 3v17). Many Jews of the time thought they were destined for heaven simply because they were descended from Abraham. In Luke 3v7, John depicts the crowds as snakes. John the Baptist also was a teacher. He taught people to live their new faith (Luke 3v10-14). He told them not to be selfish, but to share their blessings with other people. Tax collectors were told by John to do their work honestly. Soldiers were to stop using their jobs for personal gain. John clearly stated that Jesus was “the Lord” (Luke 3v4) and the Son of God (Jn.1v34) Witness 2 & 3 – The Father and the Spirit Jesus comes to John the Baptist, and presents himself for baptism. John at first refuses to do it (Mt.3v13-15). He knew that Jesus of Nazareth was the perfect Son of God who had no need to repent of sin. Through his baptism, he identified with all sinners that he came to save. We have seen already that it is the start of his public ministry (Acts 1v21-22, 10v37-38). But why did Jesus get baptized? In replying to John’s initial refusal to baptize him, Jesus said “…it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness” (Mt.3v15). This looks forward to the cross, because it is only through the baptism of suffering that Jesus endured on the cross, that God is able to fulfil all righteousness. The “us” referred to means Father, Son and Spirit. When Jesus came up from the water, the Father spoke from heaven and identified Him as the beloved Son of God, and the Spirit visibly came upon Jesus in the form of a dove. Jesus as the Son of Man 3v23b-38 The genealogy here reminds us that the Son of God was also the Son of Man, born into the world, identifying with the needs and problems of mankind. Through the genealogy, we see down through the generations Jesus’ link to Adam and ultimately God. The phrase “the son of” generally means any remotely connected descendant or ancestor. It is a reminder that Jesus, being Joseph’s legal son was part of a human family, tribe, race and nation. Jesus’ line goes back through the Old Testament from Joseph to King David to Judah, Jacob, Isaac and Abraham, to Methuselah to Noah and Adam. The genealogy, with its link to David, shows Jesus’ right to ascend to David’s throne (Luke 1v32-33). The genealogy shows Jesus’ total human-ness, and because he is linked to Adam, identifies with all humanity and not just Israel. But there is one difference between Jesus and all other humans. In that Luke doesn’t stop the genealogy at Adam, as he would have for all other humans, Luke ultimately leads and links Jesus to being God’s Son. Jesus as the Son of God (Luke 3v38) Adam had come into the world bearing the true image of a son of God, but, when Adam disobeyed God, that image was marred and scarred due to sin entering the world. All that is, except Jesus. The voice from God the Father ratified Jesus as the Son of God. Not a son of God as some may claim, but the one and only Son of God. This genealogy points to the unbroken relationship between Jesus and God. Jesus is as Adam was before Adam’s disobedience. Click or Tap here to listen to or save this as an audio mp3 file Click or tap on the appropriate link below to subscribe, share or download our iPhone App!

What Shall We Do To Work The Words of God?01-12-2020John 6

It is not we who force a knowledge of the Absolute for ourselves by means of techniques under our control. Of his own accord God freely reveals himself, explains himself in his Son and gives us a Word that satisfies our hungering soul. We learn that man has been created in God's image and likeness (Gen 1: 27) so that God can one day place in his creature the perfect image (2 Cor 4: 4; Col 1: 15) and complete likeness (Heb 1: 3) of the Invisible One. The man Jesus Christ is not subsequently raised to being this image of God; from the very beginning he was aware of being such. His “but I tell you” surpasses Moses' authority and can only be the “I” of Yahweh himself and of his Word. “Before Abraham was, I am” (Jn 8: 58). This is the intolerable scandal of a people accustomed to prophets. They try to kill Jesus “because he called God his Father and thus made himself equal to God” (Jn 5: 18). They want to stone him “for blasphemy, because you who are human make yourself God” (Jn 10: 33). In the whole history of religion Jesus' claim is without parallel. He demands to be loved absolutely, in preference to any mutual human love, no matter how sacred, and even in preference to any well-ordered love of self (Lk 12:26) ...According to Jesus' demand,, then, the condition for mutual love, true Covenant love, between God and man is love for him, the God-Man and perfect embodiment of the Covenant. He is the twofold channel—of God to us and of us to God.  the condition for mutual love, true Covenant love, between God and man is love for him, the God-Man and perfect embodiment of the Covenant. He is the twofold channel—of God to us and of us to God. The post The Mediating Word 1 – an excerpt from Christian Meditation appeared first on Balthasar.

- Thanks to Hallow for sponsoring this episode. To get started, click here: https://hallow.app/portal/#/PrayerPlan/?referrer=mattfradd - Hey, be cool and support us on Patreon. You'll become immediately more attractive to the opposite sex. Okay, I can't prove that ... but it's possible. Right? Support us here: https://www.patreon.com/mattfradd - Here is the text from Aquinas we read today: “And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.” It is not only necessary for Christians to believe in one God who is the Creator of heaven and earth and of all things; but also they must believe that God is the Father and that Christ is the true Son of God. This, as St. Peter says, is not mere fable, but is certain and proved by the word of God on the Mount of Transfiguration. “For we have not by following artificial fables made known to you the power and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ; but we were eyewitnesses of His greatness. For He received from God the Father honor and glory, this voice coming down to Him from the excellent glory: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.’ And this voice, we heard brought from heaven, when we were with Him in the holy mount” [2 Pet 1:16]. Christ Jesus Himself in many places called God His Father, and Himself the Son of God. Both the Apostles and the Fathers placed in the articles of faith that Christ is the Son of God by saying: “And (I believe) in Jesus Christ, His (i.e., God’s) only Son”. Errors There were, however, certain heretics who erred in this belief. Photinus, for instance, believed that Christ is not the Son of God but a good man who, by a good life and by doing the will of God, merited to be called the son of God by adoption; and so Christ who lived a good life and did the will of God merited to be called the son of God. Moreover, this error would not have Christ living before the Blessed Virgin, but would have Him begin to exist only at His conception. Accordingly, there are here two errors: the first, that Christ is not the true Son of God according to His nature; and the second, that Christ in His entire being began to exist in time. Our faith, however, holds that He is the Son of God in His nature, and that he is from all eternity. Now, we have definite authority against these errors in the Holy Scriptures, Against the first error it is said that Christ is not only the Son, but also the only-begotten Son of the Father: “The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him:” [Jn 1:18]. And again the second error it is said: “Before Abraham was made, I AM” [Jn 8:58]. It is evident that Abraham lived before the Blessed Virgin. And what the Fathers added to the other [Nicene] Creed, namely, “the only-begotten Son of God,” is against the first error; and “born of the Father before all ages” is against the second error. Sabellius said that Christ indeed was before the Blessed Virgin, but he held that the Father Himself became incarnate and, therefore, the Father and the Son is the same Person. This is an error because it takes away the Trinity of Persons in God, and against it is this authority: “I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent Me” [Jn 8:16]. It is clear that one cannot be sent from himself. Sabellius errs therefore, and in the [Nicene] Creed of the Fathers it is said: “God of God; Light of Light,” that is, we are to believe in God the Son from God the Father, and the Son who is Light from the Father who is Light. Arius, although he would say that Christ was before the Blessed Virgin and that the Person of the Father is other than the Person of the Son, nevertheless made a three-fold attribution to Christ: (1) that the Son of God was a creature; (2) that He is not from eternity, but was formed the noblest of all creatures in time by God; (3) that God the Son is not of one nature with God the Father, and therefore that He was not true God. But this too is erroneous and contrary to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures. It is written: “I and the Father are one” [Jn 10:30]. That is, in nature; and therefore, just as the Father always existed, so also the Son; and just as the Father is true God, so also is the Son. That Christ is a creature, as said by Arius, is contradicted in the “Symbol” by the Fathers: “True God of true God;” and the assertion that Christ is not from eternity but in time is also contrary to the [Nicene] Creed: “Begotten not made;” and finally, that Christ is not of the same substance as the Father is denied by the [Nicene] Creed: “Consubstantial with the Father.” The truth It is, therefore, clear we must believe that Christ is the Only-begotten of God, and the true Son of God, who always was with the Father, and that there is one Person of the Son and another of the Father who have the same divine nature. All this we believe now through faith, but we shall know it with a perfect vision in the life eternal. Hence, we shall now speak somewhat of this for our own edification. It must be known that different things have different modes of generation. The generation of God is different from that of other things. Hence, we cannot arrive at a notion of divine generation except through the generation of that created thing which more closely approaches to a likeness to God. We have seen that nothing approaches in likeness to God more than the human soul. The manner of generation in the soul is effected in the thinking process in the soul of man, which is called a conceiving of the intellect. This conception takes its rise in the soul as from a father, and its effect is called the word of the intellect or of man. In brief, the soul by its act of thinking begets the word. So also the Son of God is the Word of God, not like a word that is uttered exteriorly (for this is transitory), but as a word is interiorly conceived; and this Word of God is of the one nature as God and equal to God. The testimony of St. John concerning the Word of God destroys these three heresies, viz., that of Photinus in the words: “In the beginning was the Word;” that of Sabellius in saying: “And the Word was with God;” and that of Arius when it says: “And the Word was God” [Jn 1:1]. But a word in us is not the same as the Word in God. In us the word is an accident; whereas in God the Word is the same as God, since there is nothing in God that is not of the essence of God. No one would say God has not a Word, because such would make God wholly without knowledge; and therefore, as God always existed, so also did His Word ever exist. Just as a sculptor works from a form which he has previously thought out, which is his word; so also God makes all things by His Word, as it were through His art: “All things were made by Him” [Jn 1:3]. Now, if the Word of God is the Son of God and all the words of God bear a certain likeness of this Word, then we ought to hear the Word of God gladly; for such is a sign that we love God. We ought also believe the word of God whereby the Word of God dwells in us, who is Christ: “That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts” [Eph 3:17]. “And you have not His word abiding in you” [Jn 5:38]. But we ought not only to believe that the Word of God dwells in us, but also we should meditate often upon this; for otherwise we will not be benefitted to the extent that such meditation is a great help against sin: your words have I hidden in my heart, that I may not sin against You” [Ps 108:11]. Again it is said of the just man: “On His law he shall meditate day and night” [Ps 1:2]. And it is said of the Blessed Virgin that she “kept all these words, pondering them in her heart” [Lk 2:19]. Then also, one should communicate the word of God to others by advising, preaching and inflaming their hearts: “Let no evil speech proceed from your mouth; but that which is good, to the edification of faith” [Eph 4:29]. Likewise, “let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another” [Col 3:16]. So also: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine” [2 Tim 4:2]. Finally, we ought to put the word of God into practice: “Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” [James 1:22]. The Blessed Virgin observed these five points when she gave birth to the Word of God. First, she heard what was said to her: “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you” [Lk 1:35]. Then she gave her consent through faith: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord” [Lk 1:38]. And she also received and carried the Word in her womb. Then she brought forth the Word of God and, finally, she nourished and cared for Him. And so the Church sings: “Only a Virgin nourished Him who is King of the Angels” [Fourth Responsory, Office of the Circumcision, Dominican Breviary.].

Its All About Jesus Date: June 16, 2019 Scripture: Acts 4:7-13 Big Idea: Salvation is exclusively found Jesus the Christ. Period. Introduction: 1. “Jesus is the Christ” (10) a. The “Christ” was the expected coming Messiah and King of every single Jew b. The name “Jesus the Christ” provides salvtion c. The name of “Jesus the Christ” commands worship and holy fear 2. “You crucified the Christ” (10b) a. Peter boldly told them they destroyed the One they all had waited for b. Peter reminded them of their previous court decision with Jesus 3. “God raised to life the Christ” (10c) a. Peter directly announces that no matter their response to Jesus, God is still God. 4. “Jesus still has authority over life, death and healing” (10d) a. This Jesus that you thought you controlled…is still in control! b. This Jesus cannot only heal, but He has the power to give his life up and take it back again! 5. Salvation is only found in Jesus. Period.” a. Salvation is exclusive b. Jesus himself claimed to be the exclusive way to salvation 1. He claimed to be the eternal God (Jn. 1:1; 8:58) 2. He claimed the exalted position of judging the world (Jn. 5:22) 3. He claimed to be the only Savior of the entire human race (Jn. 14:6; 10:9) c. Salvation is a very personal decision Conclusion:

In this sermon, Symon looks at John's account of the Christmas story. While Matthew & Luke take us to the cradle and the manger, Mark to the prophesies of old, John takes us back into the mists of eternity to show that Jesus was always there. John writes his gospel so that you will believe that Jesus is the Son of God (Jn 20:31)

Imbibe A sermon preached by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry UMC, August 19, 2018, the thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost. Texts: Ephesians 5:1-2, 15-20, John 6:51-58  What do you imbibe? I’m not asking about your drink of choice, though that is the most common association with the word “imbibe” these days. To “imbibe” is from the Latin embibere, meaning “to drink in.” This can be used literally as “drink a liquid” or figuratively as “drink in knowledge.” There’s a sense in which the word can mean “to soak up,” or “internalize”—that is, to unconsciously assimilate an attitude or behavior from what’s around us. We imbibe a lot, don’t we? What do you consciously or unconsciously soak up, internalize, drink in?    The letter of Ephesians offers both a filter and a recipe for what followers of Jesus take in.  Ephesians was written—whether by Paul or a later disciple (as many scholars believe)—not as a letter to one church (as with the letters to the Corinthians) but rather as a general message to many churches—a teaching bulletin to the regional congregations, if you will—about the new way of life offered in Christ, a way very different from the predominant culture.   This new way of life is modeled on the self-giving love and mercy of God revealed in Jesus Christ. A one-line summary of the letter’s message is found in the first two verses of chapter 5: “Be imitators of God (creative, merciful, steadfast, just, relational), as beloved children (here is found your dignity and worth!), and live in love (not hate, fear, or greed), as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”  A “fragrant offering” here is not referring to a fancy, fragrant floral bouquet, but rather the wonderful smell of roasted lamb, the central course for the Jewish feast of the Passover.  Christ gave himself to us sacrificially, to feed us with what we need most of all.   The Gospel of John, uses this same theological metaphor, describing Jesus as the “the Lamb of God” (Jn 1:29).  In John, Jesus is recorded as saying, “I am the bread of life (Jn 6:35)…the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh…(Jn 6:51) Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life (Jn 6:54).”  This talk freaked people out from the beginning.  Flesh-eating zombies and blood sucking vampires may not yet have been thing in Bible times, but certainly human sacrifice was practiced in some pagan rites and cannibalism would have been anathema to many peoples even then. But the point throughout the Gospel of John, the point in the letter of Ephesians, is not about literally eating human flesh and drinking blood.  The point is that we are given an opportunity and the means to drink God in, to soak up the way Jesus lives, to become like Christ, to imitate God.  We are called to a new life that is qualitatively different from life outside Christ—a life formed according to God’s wisdom and way of compassion and justice, that shares in God’s work in the world, that is filled and fueled by God’s steadfast love.  That love is our sustenance, that love is our freedom, that love is shown to us and offered to us in the flesh-and-blood gift of Jesus.  We are given this way of life, this way of love, to eat and drink, to soak up, to take in, to imbibe.    Our passage from Ephesians says, “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit.” (5:18) Wine isn’t the problem here (Jesus drank wine regularly, even made it on occasion), but rather the result of alcohol abuse, or drunkenness is the issue.  This is described as “debauchery”—in the Greek is asōtia, a form of the word used to describe the behavior of the so-called “prodigal son” who “squandered his property in dissolute living (asōtōs).”[i] (Luke 15) So it seems that thoughtlessly, greedily wasting time, wasting resources, wasting your life on things that separate you from love, from health, from God—that’s the problem. The alternative choice is to be filled—drunk—with Spirit; imbibing Spirit promises a different kind of exuberance, confidence, and freedom than wine or drugs and is said to result in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22)   What do you imbibe? And what is the result?  //  When we are children, we only have so much control over what we imbibe. Children soak up everything…the energies, attitudes, language and practices of the adults around them. And parents and caregivers can protect children from only so much of what is streamed into public consciousness through images, television, internet, and more.  As we grow up, we still can’t control what is happening around us, but we can become aware of those things and learn that we have choices to make.   I’m not sure why it is the case, but we humans often struggle to choose wisely.  What you take in to yourself changes you.  What you imbibe affects everything.  As the old saying goes, “You are what you eat.”  So why don’t we consistently choose to consume Christ and walk in freedom and joy and justice? Why not daily drink in Spirit and be filled with love?   Well, the truth is there’s a lot of juicy, tempting junk food and drink around that is often much easier to take in than what Jesus offers.  Junk food tastes good in the moment, but has negative effects.  Just as self-medicating in the moment with alcohol or drugs can feel helpful in the moment, we know that the fall-out can be a disaster.  Often “junk food” looks better than it tastes and we end up growing unhealthy on food that is not (as my friend calls it) “calorie worthy.”   What do we consume that fills us with empty calories?  What do we take in even though it can be heart-clogging, vision-blurring, energy-sapping, and joy-stealing?  We gnaw on negativity, apathy, and bitterness.  We soak up the poison of cynicism, fear, and gossip.  We consume violent and exploitive images and words.  We nurse drinks filled with our grievances.  We take in the message that those who are different can’t be trusted, that there is one right way to do things and it just so happens to be ours.  We take in headlines overwhelmingly filled with violence and bad news forgetting that’s not the only news out there.  We consume the narrative of scarcity and zero-sum games that compels us to look out for number one.  // Even though we know better, we read the comments… // We consume hurtful or limiting words directed at us from others and allow those words to have more power than God’s word of love for us.  These words are destructive; they are junk food; and they cloud our vision and our hearing and fill us up so that it is difficult to receive the spirit and life that Jesus offers.    Things that do harm can be so tempting and addictive.  Why is it easier to focus on the negative, to drink in drama, to believe the bad stuff, to consume that which doesn’t satisfy?  Why is it so easy to allow foolishness to make us turn our nose up at what nourishes spirit and life?  These are the persistent questions and the primary choice before us every day: do we fill our cup with God or with idols, with hope or with cynicism, with grace or with negativity, with meaning or with distractions, with love or with fear?    In thinking about our theme for today, I thought of a metaphor C.S. Lewis provides in The Screwtape Letters.  As many of you will know, the premise of that book is that of Screwtape, a master tempter, writing letters to instruct a junior in the art of deception and recruitment away from God.  Screwtape contrasts the “devils’” goal with God’s goal (Screwtape refers to God as “the Enemy”), and does so in what I find to be a terrifying way:  “To us a human is primarily food; our aim is the absorption of its will into ours, the increase of our own area of selfhood at its expense.  But the obedience which the Enemy demands…is quite a different thing.  One must face the fact that all the talk about [God’s] love for [humans], and [God’s] service being perfect freedom, is not (as one would gladly believe) mere propaganda, but an appalling truth.  God really does want to fill the universe with a lot of loathsome little replicas of [Godself]—creatures whose life, on its miniature scale, will be qualitatively like [God’s] own, not because [God] has absorbed them but because their wills freely conform to [God’s own].  We want cattle who can finally become food; [God] wants servants who can finally become [family].  We want to suck in, [God] wants to give out. We are empty and would be filled; [God] is full and flows over.”[ii]   All that which is not God, the junk food voices that make us shrink and fear and lash out and shut down, want to consume us.  The junk drink energies make us live smaller lives than we’re made for, keep us drugged and dull and want to devour us.  But God wants to feed our hunger and quench our thirst so that we might live more freely and joyfully.   Hafiz, the 14th century Sufi mystic poet helps us think about what happens when—for whatever reason—we don’t imbibe what we need. The poet writes: I know the way you can get When you have not had a drink of Love: … Even angels fear that brand of madness That arrays itself against the world And throws sharp stones and spears into The innocent And into one's self   O I know the way you can get If you have not been out drinking Love: You might rip apart Every sentence your friends and teachers say, Looking for hidden clauses. You might weigh every word on a scale Like a dead fish. You might pull out a ruler to measure From every angle in your darkness The beautiful dimensions of a heart you once Trusted.   I know the way you can get If you have not had a drink from Love's Hands. That is why all the Great Ones speak of The vital need To keep Remembering God, So you will come to know and see [God] As being so Playful And Wanting, Just Wanting to help.[iii]   We all know how we get without God’s abundant, nourishing love. So why not take a big gulp? …and say “Thanks.”    [i] Susan Hylen, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=376 [ii] C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, (HarperOne, 1996), 38-39. [iii] Hafiz, “I know the way you can get” (excerpt), I Heard God Laughing: Renderings of Hafiz, by Daniel Ladinsky, Sufism Reoriented, 1996.

The purpose of the Gospel according to John is stated in John 20:30-31 (to believe in Jesus and have life through his name). Such being the case, it shouldn't surprise us that John begins his account with three powerful proofs to confirm Jesus was the Son of God (Jn. 1:1-5).

Today I chat with Aquinas about the third commandment, Keep holy the sabbath day.   Before I share Aquinas's text, a big thanks to the following awesome people who are supporting Pints With Aquinas on Patreon: Jack Buss! ... You're the man, Jack. Tim Davolt, Chris Reintjes, Tom Dickson, David Young, Andrew Kener, Desirae Sifuentes, and Sean McNicholl. James Boehmler, Laura Suttenfield, John Hipp, Kathleen Cory, Sarah Jacobs, Fernando Enrile, Travis Headly, Matthew Lafitte, Russell T Potee III, Jed Florstat, Phillip Hadden, and Katie Kuchar, Tom Clark, Ben Blythe, Trevor Sorensen, Russell Potee III, James Governale, Benjamin Morris, and John Droesch. You can support Pints With Aquinas here: Patreon.com/pwa --- Okay, here's what Aquinas wrote: THE THIRD COMMANDMENT = “Remember to Keep Holy the Sabbath Day.” This is the Third Commandment of the law, and very suitably is it so. For we are first commanded to adore God in our hearts, and the Commandment is to worship one God: “You shall not have strange gods before Me.” In the Second Commandment we are told to reverence God by word: “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” The Third commands us to reverence God by act. It is: “Remember that you keep holy the Sabbath day”. God wished that a certain day be set aside on which men direct their minds to the service of the Lord. Reasons for this commandment There are five reasons for this Commandment. The first reason was to put aside error, for the Holy Spirit saw that in the future some men would say that the world had always existed. “In the last days there shall come deceitful scoffers, walking after their own lusts, saying: Where is His promise or His coming? For since the time that the fathers slept, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For this they are willfully ignorant of, that the heavens were before, and the earth out of water, and through water, created by the word of God” [2 Pet 3:3-5]. God, therefore, wished that one day should be set aside in memory of the fact that He created all things in six days, and that on the seventh day He rested from the creation of new creatures. This is why the Lord placed this Commandment in the law, saying: “Remember that you keep holy the Sabbath day.” The Jews kept holy the Sabbath in memory of the first creation; but Christ at His coming brought about a new creation. For by the first creation an earthly man was created, and by the second a heavenly man was formed: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision is worth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature” [Gal 6:15]. This new creation is through grace, which came by the Resurrection: “That as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, so shall we also be in the likeness of His resurrection” [Rm 6:4-5]. And thus, because the Resurrection took place on Sunday, we celebrate that day, even as the Jews observed the Sabbath on account of the first creation. The second reason for this Commandment is to instruct us in our faith in the Redeemer. For the flesh of Christ was not corrupted in the sepulchre, and thus it is said: “Moreover My flesh also shall rest in hope” [Ps 15:9]. “Nor will You let your holy one see corruption” [Ps 15:10]. Wherefore, God wished that the Sabbath should be observed, and that just as the sacrifices of the Old Law signified the death of Christ, so should the quiet of the Sabbath signify the rest of His body in the sepulchre. But we do not now observe these sacrifices, because with the advent of the reality and the truth, figures of it must cease, just as the darkness is dispelled with the rising of the sun. Nevertheless, we keep the Saturdays in veneration of the Blessed Virgin, in whom remained a firm faith on that Saturday while Christ was dead. The third reason is that this Commandment was given to strengthen and foreshadow the fulfillment of the promise of rest. For rest indeed was promised to us: “And on that day God shall give you rest from your labor, from your vexation, and from the hard bondage, to which you had been subjugated” [Is 14:3]. “My people shall dwell in a peaceful land, in secure accommodation, and in quiet places of rest” [Is 32:18]. We hope for rest from three things: from the labors of the present life, from the struggles of temptations, and from the servitude of the devil. Christ promised this rest to all those who will come to Him: “Come to Me, all ye that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take up My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of heart; and you shall find rest to your souls. For My yoke is sweet and My burden light” [Mt 11:28-30] However, the Lord, as we know, worked for six days and on the seventh He rested, because it is necessary to do a perfect work: “Behold with your eyes how I have labored a little, and have found much rest to Myself” [Sir 51:35]. For the period of eternity exceeds the present time incomparably more than a thousand years exceeds one day. Fourthly, this Commandment was given for the increase of our love: “For the corruptible body is a load upon the soul” [Wis 9:15]. And man always tends downwards towards earthly things unless he takes means to raise himself above them. It is indeed necessary to have a certain time for this; in fact, some do this continually: “I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall ever be in my mouth” [Ps 33:2]. And again: “Pray without ceasing” [1 Thes 5:17]. These shall enjoy the everlasting Sabbath. There are others who do this (i.e., excite love for God) during a certain portion of the day: “Seven times a day I have given praise to You” [Ps 118:164]. And some, in order to avoid being entirely apart from God, find it necessary to have a fixed day, lest they become too lukewarm in their love of God: “If you call the Sabbath delightful... then shall you delight in the Lord” [Is 58:13-14]. Again: “Then shall you abound in delights of the Almighty, and shall lift up your face to God” [Job 22:26]. And accordingly this day is not set aside for the sole exercise of games, but to praise and pray to the Lord God. Wherefore, St. Augustine says that it is a lesser evil to plough than to play on this day. Lastly, we are given this Commandment in order to exercise works of kindliness to those who are subject to us. For some are so cruel to themselves and to others that they labor ceaselessly all on account of money. This is true especially of the Jews, who are most avaricious. “Observe the day of the Sabbath to sanctify it... that your man-servant and your maid-servant may rest, even as thyself” [19]. This Commandment, therefore, was given for all these reasons. From what we should abstain on the Sabbath “Remember that you keep holy (sanctify) the Sabbath day.” We have already said that, as the Jews celebrated the Sabbath, so do we Christians observe the Sunday and all principal feasts. Let us now see in what way we should keep these days. We ought to know that God did not say to “keep” the Sabbath, but to remember to keep it holy. The word “holy” may be taken in two ways. Sometimes “holy” (sanctified) is the same as pure: “But you are washed, but you are sanctified” [1 Cor 6:11]. (that is, made holy). Then again at times “holy” is said of a thing consecrated to the worship of God, as, for instance, a place, a season, vestments, and the holy vessels. Therefore, in these two ways we ought to celebrate the feasts, that is, both purely and by giving ourselves over to divine service. We shall consider two things regarding this Commandment. First, what should be avoided on a feast day, and secondly, what we should do. We ought to avoid three things. The first is servile work. Avoidance of Servile Work.—“Neither do any work; sanctify the Sabbath day” [Jer 17:22]. And so also it is said in the Law: “You shall do no servile work therein” [Lev 23:25]. Now, servile work is bodily work; whereas “free work” (i.e., non-servile work) is done by the mind, for instance, the exercise of the intellect and such like. And one cannot be servilely bound to do this kind of work. When Servile Work Is Lawful.—We ought to know, however, that servile work can be done on the Sabbath for four reasons. The first reason is necessity. Wherefore, the Lord excused the disciples plucking the ears of corn on the Sabbath, as we read in St. Matthew (xii. 3-5). The second reason is when the work is done for the service of the Church; as we see in the same Gospel how the priests did all things necessary in the Temple on the Sabbath day. The third reason is for the good of our neighbor; for on the Sabbath the Saviour cured one having a withered hand, and He refuted the Jews who reprimanded Him, by citing the example of the sheep in a pit (“ibid.”). And the fourth reason is the authority of our superiors. Thus, God commanded the Jews to circumcise on the Sabbath [Jn 7:22-23]. Avoidance of Sin and Negligence on the Sabbath.—Another thing to be avoided on the Sabbath is sin: “Take heed to your souls, and carry no burdens on the Sabbath day” [Jer 18:21]. This weight and burden on the soul is sin: “My iniquities as a heavy burden are become heavy upon me” [Ps 37:5]. Now, sin is a servile work because “whoever commits sin is the servant of sin” [Jn 8:34]. Therefore, when it is said, “You shall do no servile work therein,”[Lev 3:25]. it can be understood of sin. Thus, one violates this commandment as often as one commits sin on the Sabbath; and so both by working and by sin God is offended. “The Sabbaths and other festivals I will not abide.” And why? “Because your assemblies are wicked. My soul hates your new moon and your solemnities; they are become troublesome to me” [Is 1:13] Another thing to avoid on the Sabbath is idleness: “For idleness has taught much evil” [Sir 33:29]. St. Jerome says: “Always do some good work, and the devil will always find you occupied” [Ep. ad Rusticum]. Hence, it is not good for one to keep only the principal feasts, if on the others one would remain idle. “The King’s honor loves judgment” [Ps 98:4 Vulgate], that is to say, discretion. Wherefore, we read that certain of the Jews were in hiding, and their enemies fell upon them; but they, believing that they were not able to defend themselves on the Sabbath, were overcome and killed [1 Mac 2:31-38]. The same thing happens to many who are idle on the feast days: “The enemies have seen her, and have mocked at her Sabbaths” [Lam 1:7]. But all such should do as those Jews did, of whom it is said: “Whoever shall come up against us to fight on the Sabbath day, we will fight against him” [1 Mac 2:41] Do what on the Sabbath? “Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.” We have already said that man must keep the feast days holy; and that “holy” is considered in two ways, namely, “pure” and “consecrated to God.” Moreover, we have indicated what things we should abstain from on these days. Now it must be shown with what we should occupy ourselves, and they are three in number. The Offering of Sacrifice.—The first is the offering of sacrifices. In the Book of Numbers (18) it is written how God ordered that on each day there be offered one lamb in the morning and another in the evening, but on the Sabbath day the number should be doubled. And this showed that on the Sabbath we should offer sacrifice to God from all that we possess: “All things are Yours; and we have given You what we received from your hand” [1 Chron 29:14]. We should offer, first of all, our soul to God, being sorry for our sins: “A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit” [Ps 50:19]; and also pray for His blessings: “Let my prayer be directed as incense in your sight” [Ps 140:2]. Feast days were instituted for that spiritual joy which is the effect of prayer. Therefore, on such days our prayers should be multiplied. Secondly, we should offer our body, by mortifying it with fasting: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice”[Rm 12:1], and also by praising God: “The sacrifice of praise shall honor Me” [Ps 49:23]. And thus on these days our hymns should be more numerous. Thirdly, we should sacrifice our possessions by giving alms: “And do not forget to do good, and to impart; for by such sacrifice God’s favor is obtained” [Hb 13:16]. And this alms ought to be more than on other days because the Sabbath is a day of common joys: “Send portions to those who have not prepared for themselves, because it is the holy day of the Lord” [Neh 8:10]. Hearing of God’s Word.—Our second duty on the Sabbath is to be eager to hear the word of God. This the Jews did daily: “The voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath” [Acts 13:27]. Therefore Christians, whose justice should be more perfect, ought to come together on the Sabbath to hear sermons and participate in the services of the Church! “He who is of God, hears the words of God” [Jn 8:47]. We likewise ought to speak with profit to others: “Let no evil speech proceed from your mouth; but what is good for sanctification” [Eph 4:29]. These two practices are good for the soul of the sinner, because they change his heart for the better: “Are not My words as a fire, says the Lord, and as a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” [Jer 23:29]. The opposite effect is had on those, even the perfect, who neither speak nor hear profitable things: “Evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake, you just, and do no sin” [1 Cor 15:33]. “Your words have I hidden in my heart” [Ps 118:11]. God’s word enlightens the ignorant: “Your word is a lamp to my feet” [Ps 118:105]. It inflames the lukewarm: “The word of the Lord inflamed him” [Ps 114:19] The contemplation of divine things may be exercised on the Sabbath. However, this is for the more perfect. “O taste, and see that the Lord is sweet” [Ps 33:9], and this is because of the quiet of the soul. For just as the tired body desires rest, so also does the soul. But the soul’s proper rest is in God: “Be for me a God, a protector, and a house of refuge” [Ps 30:3]. “There remains therefore a day of rest for the people of God. For he who has entered into his rest has also rested from his works, as God did from His” [Hb 4:9-10]. When I go into my house, I shall repose myself with her” (i.e., Wisdom) [Wis 8:16]. However, before the soul arrives at this rest, three other rests must precede. The first is the rest from the turmoil of sin: “But the wicked are like the raging sea which cannot rest” [Is 57:20]. The second rest is from the passions of the flesh, because “the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh” [Gal 5:17]. The third is rest from the occupations of the world: “Martha, Martha, you art careful and art troubled about many things” [Lk 10:41]. And then after all these things the soul rests peacefully in God: “If you call the Sabbath delightful... then shall you delight in the Lord” [Is 58:13-14]. The Saints gave up everything to possess this rest, “for it is a pearl of great price which a man having found, hid it, and for joy went off and sold all that he had and bought that field” [Mt 13:44-46]. This rest in truth is eternal life and heavenly joy: “This is my rest for ever and ever; here will I dwell, for I have chosen it” [Ps 131:14]. And to this rest may the Lord bring us all!

Redemption – The Best Dad Ever 1. We Have the Same Dad as Jesus Has – Our Desire is to Know Him Jn 20:17 'I am returning to my Father and your Father Eph 1:17-19 I keep asking that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 2. The Father of Compassion and Comfort Heals All of Life's Wounds 2 Cor 1:3-4 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 3. We May Be Alone But Never Lonely, Father Will Never Abandon Us Is 49:16 I have engraved (tattooed) you on the palms of my hands Ps 27:10 when my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me Jn 16:32 you will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 4. He Broke Every Family Curse and Replaced it With a Family Blessing Eph 1:3 The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, has blessed us Gen 12:1-3 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father's family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” 1 Chron 4:10 Jabez (pain) cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request. 5. Don't Worry, Ask Dad to Take Care of it, Remember He Loves You Jn 16:27a "For the Father himself loveth you...." I Peter 5:7 “...casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Matt 6:31-33 don't worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?' or ‘What shall we drink?' or ‘What shall we wear?' 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need these things. Phil 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God Jn 16:23b what ever you ask Father in my name, He will give it you."

We can sometimes take the blessings we receive and miracles we read about in the New Testament for granted. The reading about the healing of the blind man is one such event, because the Lord didn't simply heal his sight, He actually created eyes for the man! Fr Thomas teaches us that the health of our sight is measured by what we're willing to see regarding the love and works of God.

We can sometimes take the blessings we receive and miracles we read about in the New Testament for granted. The reading about the healing of the blind man is one such event, because the Lord didn't simply heal his sight, He actually created eyes for the man! Fr Thomas teaches us that the health of our sight is measured by what we're willing to see regarding the love and works of God.

Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller

Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller

It's easy to fall into the habit of pleasing others before pleasing God. But what is the effect of trying to make other humans happy when the task is so hard? Does it have something to do with a God-given desire to receive glory, commendation, or approval?

The goal of the Christian life is true knowledge of God (Jn. 17:3). Fr. Stephen speaks about the mysterious character of this knowledge.

Was Jesus fully God? (Jn. 14-17; Heb. 1:8; Matt. 3:16-17)