Podcasts about godness

THE SALVATION OF THE SOUL GODS IMAGE AND LIKENESS I am continuing today in the discussion of the salvation and healing of the soul. We have seen that God has created us to function as a spirit and a soul and a body – three parts that are to work in harmony together within each person, and in harmony with the will of God, so that we can fulfill the design and purpose for our lives. We saw that these three different parts of us interact with each another in a predictable and logical way.  The spirit is the life force of us as a human being, the individual and unique essence of who we are – no two human beings are created spiritually identical – not even identical twins. And each person's unique spirit reflects a shadow of God's nature - made in the image of God - So God created man in his own image, in the image(selem) of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27).  Our human spirit was created with two parts - the mind and the heart. The mind seeks understanding — what's true or false, right or wrong — and through that process, we form a conscience. The heart, meanwhile, is where our desires, emotions, and beliefs live. What the mind accepts as truth, the heart embraces as faith. But here's the dilemma - with so many different minds in the world, there are countless versions of what people believe to be true. And with those truths come just as many belief systems that people place their faith in. So, in practice, truth and faith have become relative values, shaped by the culture, religion, or philosophy that a person grows up in. (36,000 Christian denominations). When it comes to our inner spiritual life, the mindset and heart beliefs of our spirit are expressed in our soul, which becomes the expression of who we are and how we are seen in the world.  I'm just going to stop there because I just said something that I'd like to clarify. I said 36,000 denominations, and which one has the truth and how do we come to the unity of the faith? I'll tell you what it won't be – It won't be by having exactly the same doctrine on every single verse in the Scripture - it won't be that, but you know what it will be?  It will fulfill Ephesians chapter 4 verse 13 that says ‘until we all come in the unity of the faith' and there will be the one ‘yes ‘concerning the expression of Jesus as the one who is living through us and we will have a different flavour according to our gifts and our persuasions of certain things - that don't have to cause arguments! It is more like saying  ‘that's an interesting perspective' - but what will be unified is the life of Jesus being seen in his people in the unity of the Spirit because the Spirit is expressed through the soul as who we are. And we come into the unity of that expression as being the life of Jesus flowing like a river through us.  So therefore, the soul reflects the conscience and the belief systems and the soul must take responsibility for those choices.  I know that in the denomination I grew up in I had a conscience about not being allowed to eat meat on Friday, and my friends said I was stupid to have that belief - but I did that as unto the Lord because I thought that's what God wanted. And there are many things like that that people do to honour God, and the Bible says in Romans 14 ‘let each man be fully persuaded in his own mind'.  People do things to honour God and perhaps some only eat vegetables while others will eat meat - and others will see one day as being the only day of the Sabbath while others will see all days alike - let each one be persuaded in their own mind, says Paul (Romans 141-6). And it says, ‘but don't put somebody in jeopardy to their faith by demanding that they believe exactly as you'. You can do a thing but if they don't have faith for that it is nonetheless the Lord who sees where their heart is.  And Paul said to the people who are able to eat meat offered to idols ‘there's no such thing as an idol' but he also said but don't flaunt that faith even it's real. So our soul takes responsibility for those choices of faith and love over legalism. Therefore the soul reflects the conscience and belief systems that we've developed ourselves, and so our soul must take responsibility for those choices. Let us go back to the beginning — to the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were tempted by darkness in the form of a serpent, and they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They were tempted to think and believe that what was ‘good' meant what was only good for them and not what the absolute good of God was for them. That very choice of Adam and Eve introduced to all of humanity from then on a world of relative values. In other words what is good for me is all that counts. But absolute truth and faith come only from God, who gave us a free will to choose what we believe, and a conscience to guide us toward the good. The Bible tells the tragic story of how humanity, time and again, chose evil over good - and how that choice damaged the soul and brought harmful consequences to the whole person and to the whole world which was judged at the time of Noah's flood. So God started over again with humanity but the dilemma remained; How could God remedy this confusion of the meaning of good and evil which causes such great damage to the soul?  What God did was to choose the nation of Israel out of all the nations in the earth to give them the best remedy available for the disabled conscience of humanity. He called a man named Abraham and told him that through him all families of the earth would be blessed. Abraham's grandson Jacob took his family of 70 Hebrew people into Egypt because of a famine in all the land. They finally became 2 million slaves to Pharoah over a period of 400 years and became the nation of Israel and God had told Abraham he would take Israel back into the Promised Land of Canaan. God then miraculously delivered Israel from slavery to Pharoah through Moses to whom he gave the Law and the Commandments which reflected his relational nature of love and wisdom and goodness. Obedience to these Laws became the way of Salvation in the Old Testament for Israel and God also instructed them to make blood sacrifices for the forgiveness of their sins. These sacrifices prophetically foretold the final fulfillment in the one sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to forgive the sins of the world once and forever.  If Israel obeyed God's commandments and offered sacrifices faithfully, He would bless them, provide for them, and give them victory over their enemies who followed false gods and lived in darkness. God had also promised them a land through their ancestor Abraham, and He would lead them into it as their Saviour. But this salvation was only partial—it depended on human nature flawed since Adam and Eve, trying to perfectly obey through sheer human willpower. And when they disobeyed, the blessings stopped, battles were lost, their land was taken, and their souls were weighed down by guilt, shame, and judgment. They had a strange choice – of being saved or not being saved. (And strangely enough we have the same choice of being saved or not being saved – we will discuss that shortly).  There is one Old Testament man, an anointed king called David, whose heart understood the beauty of God's Law and Commandments that reflected God's love and wisdom and goodness. Through his devotion to the spiritual truth of God's Word he experienced the reordering of his soul and he ushers all of us into the understanding of the world of the soul. The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward. (Psalm 19:7-11) But David was still a lesser separate being who depended upon a devoted but insufficient human nature. However, God had planned a better salvation in the New Testament that would allow humanity to partake of his Divine nature, and let us look at that promise of God – his big idea of sharing his very life with humanity at an appointed time through his Son Jesus. Genesis 1:26. Let us make man in our own image (selem- a shadow of Godness, as I quoted earlier –  all of humanity has this shadow of Godness ). However this verse goes on to say ‘according to our likeness' (mut – which means an embodied being not just a shadow like selem). In other words, God had already planned from the beginning that there would be a way for humanity to embody the likeness of God.  And Jesus became the embodied being – in him dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). Jesus did this so that we could have his life and likeness dwell within us, and embody his Divinity. And Paul writes about this in 1Corinthians 15:45 the first man Adam became (ginomai – generated) a living soul - the last Adam (Jesus) became (eis – entered into) being a life-giving Spirit. We too enter into becoming a life-giving Spirit. God had to let humanity in the Old Testament try to save their own souls - just to prove to us that we cannot do it by existing only in the image or shadow of God, we had to come into his likeness and embody his life-giving Spirit.  Jesus brought his Divinity into humanity so that humanity could come into his Divinity. He sowed his life as a seed into the soil of the human heart by dying on the cross and rising from the dead and sending his Holy Spirit of Life for all flesh (all of us) at Pentecost. All flesh means the guy next door. It has been done – it is finished. But who is going to believe it and choose it and receive the ‘salvation of the soul'? As I said earlier Israel had a strange choice – of being saved or not being saved. And strangely enough we have the same choice of being saved or not being saved – we will discuss that shortly. To be continued. Paul OSullivan – pauloss@icloud.com      

 THE SALVATION AND HEALING OF THE SOUL  Just as God is a Trinity – as Father and Son and Holy Spirit so we as human beings have three parts – a spirit, a soul and a body, and these three parts of us interact together. The Bible says that God desires for our whole spirit and soul and body be presented blameless at the coming of the Lord. (1Thessalonians 5:23). Through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives these three parts of us were designed to work in harmony with one another to achieve what the Apostle Peter calls the goal of our faith – the salvation/healing (soterion) of the soul (psyche) (1Peter 1:9) The word soul as it is used in modern day language seems to have vague and different meanings for many people. Scientists say that it has no real existence that can be scientifically measured as an entity, and many people simply see the soul as our inner emotional and feeling life – That's why we have the term ‘soul music'. Plato the Greek philosopher believed that the soul was motivational and appetitive and expressed different inner desires.  But thousands of years before Plato the Bible was very clear about the soul as being the expression of our spiritual life. The word soul Is used three hundred and fifty times in the Old Testament including many mentions by David in the Psalms, which help us to understand the spiritual meaning of the soul. And the soul is mentioned over one hundred times in the New Testament. Our soul is actually the manifestation of who we really are as the expression of our inner self at any one time in our life. So what is Peter saying when he says that the goal of our faith is the salvation of our soul? And to answer that question we have to go back and look at how our soul came into being. The startling reality is that God didn't create our human soul as a fully working independent part of our being, as he did when he created our human spirit and our human body. We find that Genesis 2.7 says the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man ‘became' a living soul (nephesh). That word ‘became' a living soul intrigued me. It implied a process of something coming into being rather than a conclusive creative act of God. But I could find nothing in the Hebrew word ‘became' to suggest what the process was. It was only when I discovered the Scripture of Paul in 1Corinthians15:45 that I understood how we become the living soul that we become. The Scripture says The first man Adam became (ginomai) a living soul and the Last Adam (Jesus) became a Life Giving Spirit. That word ginomai means to generate, to bring into being, to cause to be. And this has even more startling implications.  That means that we are forming or creating our own self – the self that people see, the self that we think we are and whom others think we are. And that means that we are accountable for who we become - in what we think and what we believe and how we behave. And it is our soul that gets judged on the last day- what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and to suffer the loss of his soul' Mark 8.36. That is why the goal of our faith is the salvation/healing of our soul. That is why the Bible in the New Testament says that we are ‘being saved' (2Corinthians 2:15) It is a process of transformation and sanctification. Sanctification means more than just a status of personal piety – it means being set apart for a life of purpose and meaning according to the design and will of God. So how does this process of ‘becoming' operate? We saw in the opening Scripture that our whole spirit and soul and body are to function in harmony together in the will of God for our lives. God created the first man Adam from the dust (adama) of the earth and then he breathed the spirit of human life into him. These two created parts of humanity receive information that gets expressed in our souls. Our body with its five outer senses and other functional parts send material information to the soul which is then expressed by the soul in some form of response of either pain or pleasure or any other reaction. The spirit, which is made up of the mind and the heart sends inner spiritual information to the soul through the mind and the heart. The mind of the spirit sends truth or untruth to our soul and the soul responds to that information. The mind and heart of a child may be imprinted with helpful or unhelpful ideas and ideologies or be impacted by helpful or harmful emotional treatment. What the mind receives the heart believes and so the heart sends a belief system to the soul that a person will align themselves to for better or for worse. And so the journey of the soul begins as it receives multitudes of packages of information from both our outer and inner world into our souls to be processed into our becoming who we appear to be. This is a remarkably complex process but not altogether complicated, because God has designed our unique individual human spirit and body from before the foundation of the world. God had said ‘Let us make man in our own image' (Genesis 1:26. That word ‘image' is selem in the Hebrew and it means a shadow – so that everyone from Adam and Eve has been created with this shadow of ‘Godness' about them with different and unique talents and abilities and personalities. Each person was also created with potential gifts of the Holy Spirit which would come into operation according to their faith in Jesus. Their faith in Jesus and the understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives after the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost empowers a person to release the supernatural power of God's love and goodness into their world around them. So how does this soul of ours get saved, and what happened to it for there to be a need for it to be saved in the first place? To understand that we must go back to the beginning where God created Adam and Eve and see what happened to the soul of man through the assault of satanic darkness upon their human spirit – their innocent but naive hearts and minds.  This sum of all darkness appeared to them in the form of a serpent in the beautiful Paradise of the Garden of Eden. God had created Adam and Eve in His own image and they lived together with him as their Heavenly Father, walking and talking together in their paradise. They had been created with an innocent and blameless spirit and a perfect physical body and had begun to ‘become' a blameless living soul – and it seemed that nothing could be better than this. Their minds were filled only with God's truth of who he was and who they were, and their hearts trusted and believed in him for all of their blessing and provision. There was an obvious point of difference between themselves and God, in that they were created beings – of a lower order than God who was Uncreated being like no other being. God was perfect in all his ways as Father and Son and Holy Spirit and humanity was less than perfect, of a lower order of being. But for a time of blameless innocence they would have felt ‘at one' with God, just as a baby child feels with its mother and in a place of satisfied agreement that all their needs were being met, and not yet recognizing themselves as separate with a sense of separation. But in each person's life that point of differentiation occurs as a necessary matter of reality, when one ‘I will crosses another ‘I will' And this awakening of differentiation for Adam and Eve was brutal as the serpent exploited their innocence and naivety and crushed their innocent spirits. He himself fully understood this point of differentiation and knew himself as a lesser created spiritual being as God - and he hated it. That is the evil sin of covetousness. Then Satan, this dark spirit being who had realised that point of difference - of being of a lower spiritual order than God, in his deception and pride coveted the status of being as God. He wanted to be in God's very likeness. How deeply did his covetousness fill him with resentment and hatred for these puny human beings about whom he heard with                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             outrage in his heart the words of God saying about them ‘let us make man in our own image… AND here I would like to complete that verse which adds ‘in our own LIKENESS' (not just ‘selem' – image -but ‘mut' - likeness – a three-dimensional substantial God-like being. To this statement about humanity coming into the likeness of God Satan said ‘No it would not happen, for this is what he coveted with all his heart. In Isaiah Ch 14 Isaiah speaks about the will of Lucifer as the five ‘I wills' of Satan. How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,  I will be like the Most High.' Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit. (Isaiah 14:12) It would be Jesus as the One who was set for a time yet to come in God's plan for humanity to fulfill those five ‘I wills' in the will of the Father. Jesus would come in the three-dimensional substantiated likeness of God as God and man and sow the promises of those five I wills for his beloved humanity.  Jesus would turn those five ‘I wills' of the selfish Satan into the five humble I wills' of his five wounds on the cross. The bible says of Jesus For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power (Colossians 2:9). Jesus would sow his life as a seed into the ground – a seed that would not abide alone but that would bear much fruit – the fruit of his resurrection. He would send the Holy Spirit of the life of God in Christ into a humanity that would bear the fruit of his life within them. This would be their salvation – the salvation of the soul – the healing of the soul that would one day be presented to him blameless. This is what predestination means – destined to be transformed into the likeness of God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. In order to understand what the process is of the goal of our faith as being the saving of our soul we must go back to see the tragedy that happened to the soul of humanity in the Garden of Eden when mankind asserted his ‘I will' against the Father's will through the deception of the serpent.  We will then get an understanding of the plan of the healing and the salvation of the soul that is waiting for us to enter into by his loving grace and the gift of his faith through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I will be speaking further about these things – to be continued. Amen.    

Exodus 7:14-25Senior Pastor, Clint PressleySunday May 4, 2025 

Submitting to God enables us to have the supremely satisfying experience of not being God, but admiring the Godness of God.

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Considering the scale of large and irreversible events against the reality of Scripture and the power of faith for us who believe. Faithbucks.com

Title: God's Greatest Gift Text: Acts 13:27-41 FCF: We often struggle believing the good news of Christ crucified for sinners. Prop: Because God's greatest gift is a fulfillment of his promises leading to forgiveness and a right standing with Him in Christ, we must believe on Christ alone. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Acts 13. In a moment we'll begin reading in verse 13 from the Legacy Standard Bible. You follow along in whatever version you prefer. Last week, Paul and Barnabas traveled to Pisidian Antioch. Paul stands to preach in a synagogue on a Sabbath day and his entire sermon points to the faithfulness of God in spite of the faithlessness of Israel. Since their formation, God has walked with Israel providing for them every single step of the way. And now God has given all of them, Jews and Gentiles alike, the message of salvation… The Savior Jesus of Nazareth. But Paul still needs to prove that this Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Savior – for such a title can really only be applied to God Himself. Thus He must prove that Jesus is God. He must also prove that He was the Suffering servant from the books of prophesy. If He is to be the Messiah He must also be the descendant of David who will reign forever. Paul has a lot to prove. And although this is certainly Luke's Summary of the sermon, there are not many verses in which to do so. So, stand with me out of respect for and to focus on the reading of the Word of God. Invocation: O God, do not keep silence; do not hold Your peace or be still, O God! Your people long to see You and hear Your voice. Visit us with Your Spirit's powerful presence and speak to us with Your Word of truth. In Jesus name we ask this… Amen. Transition: Let's not linger long in the introduction. Since this is part 2 of Paul's sermon, let's jump right back in. I.) God has kept all His promises, the greatest of which is the provision of Jesus His Son, so we must believe on Christ alone. (27-37) a. [Slide 2] 27 - “For those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, recognizing neither Him nor the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning Him. 28 “And though they found no ground for death, they asked Pilate that He be executed. 29 “And when they had finished all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. i. Oh Israel Israel… why do you always do the opposite of what you should? ii. Just like the wilderness… Just like their need for a King… they did not trust the Word of the Lord their God. iii. Instead, they in blindness could not see Jesus for who He was. The Son of David, The Son of Man. The Son of God. No. They read those same prophets who described His coming. They read those same prophets who described his violent rejection and death, and not recognizing Him for who He was, they unwittingly fulfilled those prophesies. iv. But the problem was He was an innocent man. They could charge Him with nothing. So they got the Romans to do their dirty work for them. v. And when every last prophesy about His death was fulfilled, they took the Accursed One down from the tree of shame and buried Him in a tomb, thinking they had won. b. [Slide 3] 30 - “But God raised Him from the dead; i. Once again, IN SPITE OF ISRAEL, God is faithful to them. ii. He raises their Savior from the dead. iii. He rises victorious over sin, death, and hell. iv. Should He stay dead, He could not possibly be the Seed of David – But He arose. v. Therefore, there is no other option than He IS this One whom the Lord has prophesied about. vi. He must be who He claimed to be. He said, “I and the Father are ONE”. That is blasphemy if it isn't true… but if it is true… it is terrifying. Especially if you were the one putting Him to death. vii. But perhaps His resurrection cannot be validated? c. [Slide 4] 31 - and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His witnesses to the people. i. NO! NO my friends. ii. He appeared to many people for many days. iii. He went to those who knew Him best. iv. He proved to be alive. v. And now those to whom He appeared are preaching his name everywhere in the Empire. d. [Slide 5] 32 - “And we proclaim to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, 33 that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.' 34 “But that He raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to corruption, He has spoken in this way: ‘I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and FAITHFUL lovingkindnesses OF DAVID.' 35 “Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘YOU WILL NOT GIVE YOUR HOLY ONE OVER TO SEE CORRUPTION.' 36 “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his fathers and saw corruption; 37 but He whom God raised did not see corruption. i. Paul keys in on what seems to be a very important tactic of evangelism for Jews in the early church. ii. Jews obviously had great respect for Abraham, Moses, and David. These patriarchs come up often in the sermons and letters of the New Testament. iii. Here we find a similar apologetic as was given in Peter's Pentecost sermon. iv. Paul says that they are also among those witnesses who are now proclaiming to them, in this synagogue, the good news that God has fulfilled His promise to them by raising up Jesus. v. Paul then quotes three separate texts of the Old Testament as proof for this. How has God fulfilled His promise by raising up Jesus? And how is this a message of salvation to them? 1. First, he quotes Psalm 2. a. In this we must define what the word “begotten” means. i. Begotten, although oftentimes referring to the birth or product of having a child, speaks more to the establishment of a relationship than to the actual physical birth. ii. Since having a child begins at conception, such a child would not yet be begotten until they were born. Because that is the moment the relationship is established. b. In this psalm, God is referring to the establishment, or rather, the reestablishment of the relationship between Himself and David as the King. c. Rabbis had long thought of this psalm as conveying a particular Messianic flavor. Meaning it spoke to the coming of another who would fulfill this to a greater degree. d. However, if we think that Jesus' relationship with the Father was established upon his birth, baptism, or resurrection, as some early heretics and even some modern ones assume from this text, you would misunderstand what Paul is saying. e. The sonship of Jesus is eternal. There was… in effect… no beginning to His sonship. So His begetting is also eternal. The Nicene Creed highlights this. Christ's place in the Godhead has always been begotten Son. f. Paul's point is that that Sonship was made evident by the work of Christ on earth, which culminated in the resurrection proving beyond doubt that He is the Son of God. The ONLY Begotten of the Father. Meaning the Only one of His kind in a unique relationship to the Father. 2. Next Paul quotes Isaiah 55 a. In this quote, the word “you” is plural. b. Isaiah is not saying that God will give to Jesus… but to the people of Israel. c. What will He give? d. The holy or holy things and the hesed or lovingkindness which is the old Testament word for grace – the same lovingkindness that God gave to David. e. Paul quotes this to highlight God's promise to the people of Israel. f. He has promised to give them this same Holy One or Holy Things and loving-kindness that He showed to David. g. In this we see that not only is Jesus proven to be the eternally and uniquely begotten Son of God, but also God has promised to give the people the same holy things and grace He gave to David. h. So now for the final piece of the puzzle. 3. Riffing on the image of Holy or holy things, Paul now quotes from Psalm 16 where he says that God's holy One will not see corruption. a. Indeed, death and burial is a guarantee for corruption and decay. b. And as was pointed out in Peter's sermon, David did experience such decay. c. David's death and corruption proved that the promises that had been made to him and every subsequent generation were still awaiting the ONE who would not see decay. d. But Jesus, who was raised from the dead and ascended to the Father's side… did not see such decay. vi. All this proves the unique sonship of Jesus and His fulfillment of these promises of God to the people. vii. In His death and resurrection, He brings the same lovingkindness God gave to David, this same grace, to all His covenant people. viii. Jesus is Son of God, Heir of David, Savior, and God in flesh. e. [Slide 6] Summary of the Point: God continues to faithfully provide for His people. He gives them promises and then raises up people and events to see to it that those promises are fulfilled. In spite of Israel opposing and resisting, their opposition only served to fulfill and bring about the promise of grace. The same grace that was given to David is now offered to all people, Jew, Gentile, and God-fearer, through this One that did not see death. Now God has provided His greatest fulfillment to His promises by providing us with His Son, Jesus the Messiah. Although Paul has not quite gotten to the application yet, we can clearly see where he is going. Jesus is the fulfillment of all these glorious promises in the Old Testament. He is the Messiah. He is the answer. What must they do with Jesus? Believe on Him alone. Transition: [Slide 7(blank)] Being convinced that his proof and defense of Jesus as the Messiah is irrefutable… Paul moves to application. And his application is essentially 1 command with a second command if you should disregard the first one. II.) Through Jesus we have forgiveness of sins and a right standing before God, so we must believe on Christ alone. (38-41) a. [Slide 8] 38 - “Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and that in Him, everyone who believes is justified from all things which you could not be justified from through the Law of Moses. i. This first point, quite simply, is a natural conclusion to the truth that Jesus is the Messiah, the promised One that all of the Old Testament promises to Israel are fulfilled in. ii. That He is the seed that will crush the head of the serpent. iii. He is the prophet greater than Moses iv. He is the greater High Priest better than Aaron and in the line of Melchizedek. v. He is the Eternal King of David's line. vi. He is the Suffering Servant vii. He is the one who will bear our sins and sickness and by whose stripes we will be healed. viii. Because this is the Promised One… This must be true and these things we must believe. ix. First, that through God's Messiah, God has provided a way for sins to be forgiven. 1. Not forgiven in the sense that they are forgotten or ignored… but forgiven in the sense that they have been paid. 2. Paul is preaching to them the reality of Jesus providing a way for sins to be forgiven. Truly forgiven. Not covered. Not needing continual sacrifice. But truly and finally forgiven. 3. A true and effective atonement. A true and effective payment. 4. God's wrath extinguished and sin taken away. 5. Propitiation and Expiation. 6. NOT POTENTIAL… but ACTUAL. 7. Paul does not say that through Him there is forgiveness of sins available… but that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed. It is. 8. My friends we do not believe in a potential atonement for sin in which we need to do something to apply it. Instead, we believe in an actual and effective atonement for sin through Christ. God unites us to Christ through faith. x. And Second, that in God's Messiah every single believing one not only inherits forgiveness of sins but is justified in all things. 1. That means we are treated as if we are perfect in all things. That we are fully righteous in the Lord's eyes. 2. The law of Moses could never do this. Why? The law of Moses assumes people will fail to keep the law. Not only that, but the mechanism to deal with these failures to keep the moral law, is a ceremony or picture of a greater sacrifice. The blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin. Not truly. 3. The law of Moses could never render anyone pleasing to God. For one would have to keep the whole law perfectly without ever failing once. The law was a schoolmaster designed to teach the Israelites that they were great sinners needing a greater savior. That in order to be acceptable to God they would need someone to make them acceptable. 4. Saying that the law of Moses could make you pleasing to God is like saying that an excellent teacher guarantees a proficient student, it is like saying guardrails and road signs will guarantee that you reach your destination. 5. The law is good, teachers who teach well are good, and guardrails and road signs are good. But so long as some portion of it depends on someone other than the lawmaker, the teacher, or the sign maker… so long as humans have a role, no law, no matter how perfect, could ever render men pleasing to God. Why? Because we are fallen. 6. But now not only has Christ provided a final atonement for sins… but those who trust in Him are also completely righteous. How? 7. He has learned everything the teacher said – because He is the teacher! He has become the driver. One who follows the road signs perfectly. 8. Or to put it in terms the bible uses, He has become our substitute. He is our mediator. He is our advocate. 9. Our standing with God can never be in jeopardy again. 10. Why? 11. Because we are now IN CHRIST. 12. He inherited our sins and paid for them. We inherit His righteousness and are counted only as obedient children. 13. When God sees those who are IN CHRIST, those who are believing… He sees someone who is righteous like His Son. 14. We are not made righteous in the sense that we never sin again, nor are we put in some kind of state of righteousness whereby we must perform good works to stay there… but we are made righteous in the sense that we are legally free from the law. It does not bind us any longer. Why? 15. We have been acquitted of every infraction and granted perfect obedience in Christ for every law. We have, through Christ, fulfilled the requirement of the law, forever. 16. There is a now, a new law written on our hearts. The law of Christ. xi. Right here in this text Paul, even this early, speaks to the double imputation in the work of Christ. We are forgiven and we are declared righteous. xii. Paul's first application is to believe the gospel. To receive the truth which He is speaking to them at this very moment. That In and through Christ they can be forgiven of sin and declared righteous in Him. b. [Slide 9] 40 - “Therefore watch out, so that the thing spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you: 41 ‘LOOK, YOU SCOFFERS, AND MARVEL, AND PERISH; FOR I AM ACCOMPLISHING A WORK IN YOUR DAYS, A WORK WHICH YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE, THOUGH SOMEONE SHOULD RECOUNT IT TO YOU.'” i. Paul's second application is for those who are tempted to not obey the first. ii. He issues a warning for those who refuse. iii. The prophet Habakkuk warned about a day that God would raise up the Babylonians to come and sweep them away. iv. Paul borrows this text not as a prophesy about the gospel per se, but to warn these Jews that just like the Jews before the Babylonian invasion were warned not to doubt what God could do and scoff at His plan, so Paul is warning of a greater plan and gift that God is giving. v. God is going to do a work that is unbelievable. A work that is too good to be true. A work that is truly good news. vi. And in that day, the warning is that though God demonstrates it clearly and though someone explains it to them plainly, they will not believe it. vii. Paul warns them not to be like the people of Judah and the nations surrounding them as God promised the rise of the Babylonians. viii. Do not be like the people of Jerusalem who put Jesus to death because they did not perceive who He was and unwittingly became the fulfillment of their own prophets. ix. Do not be like the people who did not trust God and wanted a King to be like the other nations. x. Do not be like the people who did not trust God and wandered in the desert for 40 years. xi. Do not walk away in disbelief. xii. Believe that God has sent His Messiah and that in Jesus of Nazareth, God has provided forgiveness and justification through Him. c. [Slide 10] Summary of the Point: Oh my friends! The greatest gift! In the previous point we saw that God has fulfilled His promises to His people by raising up Jesus from the dead. He has proven that HE is the eternal Son, the Messiah, promised to Eve that would crush the head of the serpent and be a second Adam for a new lineage of God's family. And Paul makes it quite plain in his application. Through Jesus there is both forgiveness of sins and a right standing with God to all who believe. The ones who are believing ones. The ones who trust in this Jesus… the ones who receive Him as the fulfillment of the Lord's promises… they are forgiven and they are justified. So, the application is simple. We must believe on Jesus alone for forgiveness of sins and a right standing with God. Conclusion: So, what have we seen today my friends? What should we learn and how then shall we live? Doctrinal Takeaway: [Slide 11] The teaching of this passage of scripture could not be more fundamental to Christianity. God is the faithful keeper of all His promises that He has made to His people since the beginning. He has promised an ultimate solution to the problem of sin and death. Though the law provided a temporary solution to sin, it could not defeat death. Death is only disastrous because all who are spiritually dead, or separated from God, when they experience physical death, remain in that state forever. And while the law could provide some check to sin running rampant. It could not find a solution for man's greatest problem. Separation from the life-giver. Paul, excellently, presents Jesus of Nazareth as the great answer to all of this. He is the one who has been proven to be in a special relationship to God the Father. He is the One to whom the great promises are either made or attached. And by Him, those wonderful promises of a final solution for sin and death… are fulfilled. His death has fully atoned for the sin of His people. His resurrection has de-toothed death for all who believe. His advocacy and mediatorial works continue to bring His people close to the Father. Our Salvation is by Him, and through Him. As those dead in our sins… to be revealed such truths, to understand them and perceive their meaning, we need grace from God to do something dead people cannot do…. Listen. And as those unable to be pleasing to God and atone for our sins we must receive what God has taught us here as a drowning man receives a life preserver. Is there really a choice to be made? My friends if God has given you grace to truly understand your predicament and what Jesus has done to save you from it… there is no choice to be made. Only those who are believing in Him will be accepted by God. It is by faith alone that we are declared righteous. You must believe. But let me expand upon this so that you can know exactly what we are getting at. But as I expand, I want you to notice that there is nothing that we can DO with the message today. Our hands, feet, and mouths can do nothing. All the applications must be for our mind. Our mind must grab hold of these things. Nevertheless, understanding them in our heads does not accomplish their work. For we must be born again. We must be given this faith by our Lord. But let me point out for our heads what we must receive and leave the actuality of your receiving it to God. 1.) [Slide 12] Refutation: “What lies must we cast down” or “What do we naturally believe, or have been taught to believe, that this passage shows is false? ”We must turn from our sin and self righteousness. (Repent) a. Repentance is a change of mind. Repentance is a turning or rejecting of something. b. The gospel call requires all who would receive it to also turn from their own sin and self-righteousness. c. In fact, one cannot believe any of the gospel without also turning from sin and self-righteousness. d. Turning from sin is not saying I'm sorry. e. Turning from sin means that we have forever changed the way we view sin. We do not want it. We do not yearn for it. We desire its death in our lives. f. Turning from self-righteousness means we no longer think we are acceptable to God in our own performance of rituals or moral law keeping. g. For a person to truly be converted the grace of repentance must be an ongoing and continual process. h. Not that we repent every day of our lives in the sense that we sit down and list out every sin that we have ever done… i. But in the sense that we continually reject sin and self-righteousness as our pursuit or our desire. j. We abandon or reject forever the desire for sin or the belief that we can or have earned God's approval by our works. 2.) [Slide 13] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must believe that Jesus was resurrected the third day, conquering death, and proving that He is the Eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, All God and Man. a. If we have truly believed the gospel of Christ, we must have received and placed all our hope in a number of key teachings that the New Testament makes clear to us. b. The first of these is that Jesus is the second person of the Godhead. That He is equally God as the Father and the Spirit, but in person is wholly distinct from the Father and the Spirit. c. The mystery of the trinity is not easily explained with any illustration known because there is nothing truly that is 1 thing in three persons. d. If you have heard of some illustration to help you understand the trinity, I can guarantee you it is a heresy that has been rejected by the church at some point. e. For instance, water – appearing in 3 forms as gas, liquid, and ice yet all being water. This is the heresy of modalism. That God exists in three modes at a time. f. Or the egg; that shell, white and yolk remain one egg. This is the heresy of partialism. That God is three parts of one whole. g. God exists as 1 God in three persons. God the Father is fully God. God the Son is fully God. God the Spirit is fully God. But God the Father is not the Son or the Spirit. God the Son is not the Spirit. And God is one. h. There is literally nothing on earth like this. So we must receive this teaching by faith. But to aid our faith the Father has given us the Son, who after dying was raised from the dead on the third day and was proven then to be the unique and eternally begotten Son of God. i. We also must confess that Jesus was Fully God and fully man. j. He did not empty out some Godness to pour in a little humanity. Instead, Christ has two natures. God and Man. They are joined together but not mixed. k. Much like man has body and soul. They are not mixed but they are joined. So also Jesus is God and man. And I say is… because He is still all God and All man. l. Jesus took a human nature and added it to His divine nature in order to save us… m. He did not recover from that. n. He is still a Man… acting as our High Priest, King, and prophet. o. In order to be a true Christian and receive true saving faith – you must be found believing all of this. p. The second teaching we must be found believing if we have true faith is this… 3.) [Slide 14] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must believe that we are saved by grace alone. a. Grace is God's power to do in us something that we could not do on our own. b. The bible describes us as dead in sin. It describes us as lost. It describes us as blind. It describes us as crippled. It describes us as slaves to sin. It describes us as under wrath. c. In all of these analogies, there is but one consistent truth. There is nothing that we can do about any of these conditions. We are helpless. d. God describes what He does similarly in that they are things we cannot control or do. He describes it as wind. As new birth. As regeneration. e. This is a work of the Holy Spirit… and it must… by logical order… precede faith. f. Before we believe anything, God must have already opened up our hearts to believe it. g. When we get to Acts 16 we will actually see this spelled out quite clearly in the life of a woman named Lydia. h. God must save us by grace. And grace alone. i. Without His power to open our eyes, to wake us up, to go and find us… we are hopeless. j. And in order to be a true Christian and receive truth saving faith – you must be found believing this. k. The third teaching we must be found believing if we have true faith is this… 4.) [Slide 15] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must believe that we are saved through faith alone in Christ alone. a. The bible uses language like receive faith or have faith. b. It tells us that faith is a gift. c. Friends saying, receive faith or have faith is a very odd expression. d. How can you hand someone faith? e. Yet we are told to have it. f. Even here Paul says those who are believing (already believing) are justified. He speaks of faith as something you either have or you don't. g. That is because even our faith is not something we conjure from within us. h. It is a gift of God which He offers of His own free will. i. We believe because He has given us the faith to believe. j. The way God joins us to the work of His Son, the way He puts us under His representation instead of Adam's is by first bringing us to life (for in Adam we are dead) and through faith he unites us to Christ and His work for us. k. We trust Him and what He's done because no works of our own add anything. In fact, they would only take away from His perfect obedience. l. So, those who have received this faith from God – lean in to that. Hard. m. Dressed in His righteousness alone – faultless stand before the throne. n. We have no work to offer… and God requires no work. Only trust. Only belief. Specifically, belief and trust in Christ's perfect obedience and submission to Him. o. And in order to be a true Christian and to have recieved true faith that unites to Christ – you must be found believing this. p. The final teaching we must be found believing if we have true faith is this… 5.) [Slide 16] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must believe that Jesus was crucified as the penal substitute for our sin. a. Although the atonement of Christ no doubt accomplished a great many things. We must believe at least one thing about the atonement if we have truly received faith that binds us to Christ. b. We must believe that being all God He was able in His death to endure the full and complete wrath of God poured out on Him for every sin we have ever or will ever commit. That God cannot punish us for our sins any more because the punishment has been paid in full. Extinguished. Emptied. c. For those in Christ… there is no more wrath left. d. We also must believe that He was our perfect substitute, being all man so He could obey the law in our place and also die in our place. e. He now, therefore, stands like Adam as our representative but one who has endured. f. He kept the whole law and died to save many who didn't. g. And in order to be a true Christian and receive true saving faith – you must be found believing this. h. If we are found believing this… there is a teaching here which brings all true Christians great comfort. 6.) [Slide 17] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” We must rejoice anew in the gift of our salvation. a. Regardless of whether you are believing this for the first time or if you have believed for decades – LET THIS GREAT GIFT HIT YOU SQUARE BETWEEN THE EYES! b. Rejoice with me c. Hallelujah! d. What a Savior! e. My friends. I said to rejoice with me! f. Hallelujah! g. What a Savior! [Slide 18(blank)] Let me close with a Puritan's prayer. Author of all existence, source of all blessedness, we adore You for making us capable of knowing You, for giving us reason and conscience, for leading us to desire You; We praise You for the revelation of Yourself in the gospel, for Your heart as a dwelling place of pity, for Your thoughts of peace towards us, for Your patience and Your graciousness, for the vastness of Your mercy. You have moved our consciences to know how the guilty can be pardoned, the unholy sanctified, the poor enriched. May we be always among those who not only hear but know You, who walk with and rejoice in You, who take You at Your word and find life there. Keep us always longing for a present salvation in the Holy Spirit's comforts and rejoicings, for spiritual graces and blessings, for help to value our duties as well as our privileges. May we cherish simplicity and godly sincerity of character. Help us to be in reality before You as in appearance we are before men, to be religious before we profess religion, to leave the world before we enter the church, to set our affections on things above, to shun forbidden follies and vanities, to be a dispenser as well as a partaker of grace, to be prepared to bear evil as well as to do good. O God, make us worthy of this calling, that the name of Jesus may be glorified in us and we in Him. For it is in His name we pray this… Amen. Benediction: May the God who wipes out your transgressions, for His sake, And will not remember your sins, Continually set you free from the burdens common to men, That you might praise His name. And that the righteous may gather around the Lord, Who has dealt bountifully with you. Until we meet again… Go in Peace.

In this episode, Jas welcomes guest and dear friend Vaness Henry to contemplate the legacies we craft and leave behind as Aquarian Entrepreneurs. Drawing from ancestral wisdom and the necessity to adapt these teachings for contemporary relevance, Jas and Vaness discuss the potency of selective energy investment. Through the transformative act of focusing first on self well-being, how might we cultivate collective relationships that mirror this?Jas and Vaness discuss the nuanced implications that language can have on our creative essence and identity, and how this can shape our experience. Delving into the world of energy, from Feng Shui, to Human Design, to Astrology, to the Shamanic Arts, to the sacredness we each carry within, join Jas and Vaness on an intellectual expedition exploring how the company we keep can either illuminate or extinguish the Godness within.Guest:Vaness Henry is a Shamanic Practitioner, Producer and Author. She explores evolved body care by identifying afflictions in the body's energy field that may lead to illness or dis-ease. As a childhood cancer survivor with a history in educational and motivational speaking, Vaness is known for heartfelt, impactful insights in the fields of Human Design, Feng Shui and the Shamanic Arts.Her Cosmic Profile is a 6/2 Ego Manifestor with a Libra Sun, Aries Moon, and Leo Rising.Find her at vanesshenry.com, @vanesshenry, and @VanessHenryNetwork to connect. Mentioned:Calculate your Variable using Vaness's Bodygraph CalculatorJoin Vaness's Wellness Club  Erah Society is a Teahouse, Agency & Oasis for Aquarian Business. Steeped in Spirituality, Entrepreneurship & Wellbeing, Erah Society supports Aquarian Entrepreneurs in building purposeful, profitable, and sustainable businesses for the future. Visit Erah Society's Agency, Teahouse, Journal and Podcast. Founded by Jasmine Nnenna & Alex Verville. Enter the ES World:The TeahouseThe AgencyResources:The JournalThe NewsletterOur PlaylistsErah Society Website Find Us:Instagram- @erahsocietyInstagram- @jasnnenna

The Rev. Kelly Jennings

Submitting to God enables us to have the supremely satisfying experience of not being God, but admiring the Godness of God.

This episode of the Networking Rx Minute with Frank Agin (http://frankagin.com) shares an inspiring quote from Lisa Luckett's book, The Light in 9/11: Shocked by Kindness, Healed By Love.   For more great insight on professional relationships and business networking visit https://www.amspirit.com/blog/networking-rx or contact Frank Agin at frankagin@amspirit.com.    

Word Wars episode

This is more than a call for a new way to look at Thanksgiving. This is a call to look at Thanksgiving NOT just as something we do, but something our lives are. Something we are ‘being' - perpetually. A ‘state,' a state of Thanksgiving. Consider this and contrast the difference between just being grateful for something, or things, or persons or places or conditions or circumstances. This power of being what thanksgiving ‘IS' is transformative in so many ways.This is expressing extraordinary gratitude and it is a success magnet!Consider this, right here and now… How would you ‘BE' if you were ‘BEING' what thanksgiving is? To be rooted and grounded in gratitude as a foundation for every thought, every word you speak to others and to yourself and in every action you take?This is a powerful practice and it grants you entry into a higher state of consciousness, a state of awareness that seeks, searches and recognizes all there is to be grateful for rather than taking ego's dominant lead and thinking astray and letting thoughts just wander aimlessly.I encourage you to adopt this practice. How would your thinking change if you ran your thoughts through the filter of gratitude? Ask: Does this thought I'm thinking hold some form of appreciation within itself, either for something within me, outside of me, for your Source? For God? Just stopping long enough to consider a gratitude filter is something to be thankful for! You're acknowledging and appreciating and looking for the Divine Givingness in everything! Stay the course, it's there.Even in hardships, in our times of sorrow and despair, and in the times when anxiety creeps in and adversity seems to be a constant companion, there is the ever-present Divine Givingness of God. It's called grace and it's always on, always flowing and grace is always something to be grateful for. And let's not forget about thanksgiving in advance for the good that always comes out of the difficult times but that we just can't see from the bottom of the deep, dark pit where we may be choosing to linger for a while. Thanksgiving always pulls us up. We can't seem to dwell on negative conditions, predicaments and situations when we're giving thanks. Do this and before long the Light will carry you through, lifting you up.And that's just in our thoughts, what about our words? How would we speak if all of our words were fragrant with appreciation and gratitude? Try this the next time you catch yourself drifting to the seat of judgment whether it be inner dialogue or within a conversation with another divine child of God. Can you find the Godness to be thankful for? Can your words be sprinkled with appreciation, praise and blessings? This is something we can all begin right now.And finally in our actions. How does being what thanksgiving is, act?Again I invite you to consider this, to answer this for yourself. To reflect upon how your actions might change, evolve and transform your life as you journey on your path being rooted and grounded in thanksgiving.To me, I see everything as a miracle in my world as I take each step planting myself firmly on the soil of gratitude. My recognition of the divine in everything is the deliciousness of life. Every person, place and thing becomes alive with the essence of the divine and therefore a thing of beauty to be savored. My attitude is pleasing to everyone around me AND to my soul. The inner peace I feel is as if I Am holding hands with tranquility and my life is not only good, my life is God.Thanksgiving. Yep, it does all that….and more.Listen in NOW and begin at once, being what thanksgiving is!Dr. Koz (and effect!)Dr. Stephen J. KosmynaThe Genesis Frequency Podcast - Success Ocean International - LMI-USA

What GoOD thing happened to you today, so far?  Your mind may say, "well I woke up this morning." It may say,  "My family all woke up this morning." It may say,  "It's too early. Nothing has happened yet." It may say nothing at all.   Notice what happens when you pose a question to the mind, how maybe it throws out a few answers,  but it quickly exhausts itself and you're left as Silence. That's the magic of questions. You can use questions to go beyond the mind, to go beyond yourself,   to where goodness is, Godness is.  Use affirmations to go beyond affirmations.* I love you I am you nik  ************************ To claim your free gift, leave a review on Apple Podcasts, screenshot it and send it to me at nikki@curlynikki.com!  Join us on Patreon to support the show, and tune into and participate in live video Q&As with me!  Support the show ************************ "Imagine how differently you might approach each day by simply stating: God is good. God is good to me. God is good at being God. And today is yet another page in our great love story. Nothing that happens to you today will change that or even alter it in the slightest way. Lift your hands, heart, and soul, and receive that truth as you pray this prayer: My whole life I've searched for a love to satisfy the deepest longings within me to be known, treasured, and wholly accepted. When You created me, Lord, Your very first thought of me made Your heart explode with a love that set You in pursuit of me. Your love for me was so great that You, the God of the whole universe, went on a personal quest to woo me, adore me, and finally grab hold of me with the whisper, " will never let you go." Lord, I release my grip on all the things I was holding on to, preventing me from returning Your passionate embrace. I want nothing to hold me but You. So, with breathless wonder, I give You all my faith, all my hope, and all my love. I picture myself carrying the old, torn-out boards that inadequately propped me up and placing them in a pile. This pile contains other things I can remove from me now that my new intimacy-based identity is established. Hay down my need to understand why things happen the way they do. I lay down my fears about others walking away and taking their love with them. I lay down my desire to prove my worth. | lay down my resistance to fully trust Your thoughts, Your ways, and Your plans, Lord. I lay down being so self-consumed in an attempt to protect myself. I lay down my anger, unforgiveness, and stubborn ways that beg me to build walls when I sense hints of rejection. I lay all these things down with my broken boards and ask that Your holy fire consume them until they become weightless ashes. And as I walk away, my soul feels safe. Held. And truly free to finally be me." via @lysaterkeurst via 'Uninvited" 

Welcome to Episode #159 Enjoy!!!This weeks topic: Get out of your comfort zone!http://www.ElizabethMagicalGarden.comCheck out the Live show on my youtube channel @Elizabeth magical Garden Podcast https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjYgzv_ZzEpjHhEJw8I0oOghttps://youtu.be/Bb3yTfvlU_QMy Vlog Channl @Elizabeth Magical Garden: https://youtu.be/2vELQQ_3Tek

Fleetwood Mac- Oh Well

Dr. Ian Hamilton is president of Westminster Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Newcastle, England, adjunct professor at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Greenville, S.C., and a trustee with the Banner of Truth Trust. He is author of many books, including The Gospel-Shaped Life, Our Heavenly Shepherd, and a commentary on Ephesians in The Lectio Continua Expository Commentary on the New Testament. Dr. Tavis Bohlinger (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@tavisbohlinger⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) is the creator, host, and producer of The Modern Puritan Podcast, and Director of Media at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Reformation Heritage Books⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in Grand Rapids, MI. He was associate producer and cinematographer for the feature-length documentary, “⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Revival: The Work of God⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,” and he has earned accolades for his ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠documentary photography⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ work on autism. Tavis is a Navy veteran, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, and he holds an MDiv from The Masters Seminary and both a Masters and PhD from Durham University in Biblical Studies. The Modern Puritan podcast is a production of Reformation Heritage Books, the premier publisher of Puritan, Reformed, experiential Christian literature worldwide. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠heritagebooks.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more information about our ministry and to browse our extensive catalogue of exceptional resources for every Christian, young and old. *We are honored to be part of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Confessional Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, an online directory of trustworthy, confessional/Reformed podcasts. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/modernpuritan/support

Is that a BFG in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? Brendan and Jono return to the ATEBIT studio to unpack the debut release from Summerfall Studios, Stray Gods.EP331 is also chock full of the following tasty slices:Spoiler-free review of #DraculaVoyageoftheDemeterWhy #MyHappyMarriage is well worth your timeThe #AsusROGAlly is pretty freaking great#TheLastofUs screen adaptation planned for 4-5 seasonsA lot of movement with games releasing in October ‘23The #Xbox360 turns 18, and promptly announces end of supportPlus lots more gaming and culture related banter!Much love!Let us fill your ears and warm your heart.Be sure to follow The Gamers on Twitter:BrendanATEBITFollow us on the socials:DISCORD | INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | TWITTER Visit our WEBSITE and official WEBSTORESupport us on Buy Me a Coffee and Japan Crate (use code ATEBIT15 at checkout)Buy yourself the best in audio equipment from our friends at Audio-TechnicaMuch love, #stayhumble and #stayhungry

"Are You Letting God Love You Today?" Abundant life, the goodness and the GODness of God, loss, suffering, and trust, grieving and grace, and more grace, healing, embracing the heights and depths of the human story, becoming like Jesus, poetry and faith —in this podcast, John Blasé and the guys have a vulnerable conversation about life and trust and the GODness of God. John shares about his friendships with Brennan Manning and Eugene Peterson and the impact they both had on him and our world today.

“Are You Letting God Love You Today?” Abundant life, the goodness and the GODness of God, loss, suffering, and trust, grieving and grace, and more grace, healing, embracing the heights and depths of the human story, becoming like Jesus, poetry and faith, in this podcast, John Blasé and the guys have a vulnerable conversation about life and trust and the GODness of God. John shares about his friendships with Brennan Manning and Eugene Peterson and the impact they both had on him and our world today.  Please rate, review, share, and subscribe!

Today we continue with our study of the book of John and the series, Who is Jesus?. We look at John 5:36-47 and see 5 witnesses to the "Godness" of Jesus: (1) John the Baptist, (2) the works of Jesus, (3) the Word, (4) the Father, and (5) Moses. Without submitting to Jesus, we cannot (1) Rightly understand the Word of God; (2) Love God; (3) Honor God; or (4) Avoid the judgement of God.

— Soul Work with the Moon, as well as energy healing workshops, are integral parts of Godness and the Moon's mission to restore soul connection to as many people as possible. Janae's guides beautiful souls like you feel better, to uncover their greatness, to establish new solid boundaries, and to discover your core purpose. Valeria interviews Janae Bell  — A moon guide by nature, Janae loves to work with the moon, practice yoga, and meditate. As a yoga and meditation instructor with 200 hours of training at the My Vinyasa Practice Institute, she uses the moon as a tool to achieve her goals and align with her highest self. Through this, she created Goddess and the Moon, a moon circle project where she gathers with others in a circle to open their hearts to one another, share, explore, and heal through the magic of lunar rituals. She strives to help others find their inner magic through every circle she holds. To learn more about and her work, please visit: goddess-andthemoon.com               — This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life through the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well. 

It's easy to look at the world and think we understand it. The Godness of God helps us understand how little we see.

It's easy to look at the world and think we understand it. The Godness of God helps us understand how little we see.

Submitting to God enables us to have the supremely satisfying experience of not being God, but admiring the Godness of God.

Check out Toby's page on Canon Plus: https://mycanonplus.com/tabs/discover/pages/toby-sumpter

Check out Toby's page on Canon Plus: https://mycanonplus.com/tabs/discover/pages/toby-sumpter 

We are remodeling our studio—and so we are heading back to the archives and listening to a few of our favorite throwback series (episodes from Leslie, Nathan, and Eric). This week Eric Ludy teaches on what hills we as Christians should be willing to die upon. This is the third installment in Eric's 4-part throwback series entitled The Hill to Die On. In this episode, he explores the Biblical basis for the Christian belief that Jesus Christ is, in fact, God Almighty.  --------- For more information about Daily Thunder and the ministry of Ellerslie Mission Society, please visit: https://ellerslie.com/ (https://ellerslie.com/). If you have been blessed by Ellerslie, consider partnering with the ministry by donating at: https://ellerslie.com/donate/ (https://ellerslie.com/donate/)

In our God, lies all that is glorious and beautiful. All that is elegant and beautiful. His elegance and transcendent excellence ought to make us regard Him with the highest veneration. Honor and majesty accompany His presence. The whole universe displays His glory. Justice, holiness and mercy light His courts. He adorns Himself in holiness. His very nature diffuses a pleasantness, a gentleness over those that dwell in His presence. These are the symbols of His style. The uniqueness that testifies to His praiseworthiness. These are the qualities of our God that the Bible, almost in its entirety, calls us to acclaim, to resound and bless our God for. This is the wisdom in the psalmists' words in Psalm 96:6-10 when he says: Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth! Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns! And this is a constant theme throughout the Bible: that our God is worthy of praise from every created being. That we must recognize and declare, not as a people conferring a new attribute to God, but a people acknowledging his glory and strength. This is an imperative call. A call demanding compliance from God's people to give Him both time and attention. To approach Him with absolute surrender and service. To present ourselves before Him, not just to receive, but to give the Lord the honor that is due His name and to acknowledge his just, holy and true nature. The psalmist's words are a call to us to present to the Lord an offering befitting the one true and living God. A holy, living and acceptable sacrifice. A sacrifice of prayer, of praise and a broken heart. A token of our own submission. This is what it means to worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness. To bring to Him what is due to Him because of His nature and perfection. To confess the Godness of our Lord Jesus and to worship God in the manner in which He Himself has prescribed. And how do we know what kind of worship the Lord demands of us? By being intimate with Him. By staying in constant contact with Him. And this is why we said yesterday that we can never fully appreciate the splendor of His holiness until we have experienced it. And we cannot claim to have experienced it until we have lived in His presence. Until we immerse ourselves into the worship of the Lord without reservations. The testimony of our experience of the Lord's holiness and greatness makes the matter and the motive of our worship because it does not leave a heart that has beheld it empty. The divine presence invokes a profound reverence for the Lord. It makes hearts tremble with awe. It breaths a life into our hearts. It triggers a provocation in a believer that cannot be contained until all we want to do is proclaim it to the world. To shout for all to hear that we have seen the goodness of the Lord. That we have seen His favor and mercy. That we have tasted of the Lord and we know that He is good. This is why the psalmist says in verse ten of the text we have read today; Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns! This proclamation comes after the people have worshiped the Lord in all His splendor. After they have experienced the fullness of His glory. And this draws the implication that it is only where the Lord reigns that He can be worshiped in spirit and in truth. That the profession of our faith relies deeply on our worship. We proclaim and invite people into a kingdom that we have dwelt in and whose goodness we have experienced firsthand. Our experience of the Lord's goodness, His majesty, and holiness lays the foundation for our testimony. You see, you cannot walk in the splendor of His holiness and stay the same because it is a life-altering, a chain-breaking, freedom-giving presence --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/pastor-lucy-paynter/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/pastor-lucy-paynter/support

 In our God, lies all that is glorious and beautiful. All that is elegant and beautiful. His elegance and transcendent excellence ought to make us regard Him with the highest veneration. Honor and majesty accompany His presence. The whole universe displays His glory. Justice, holiness and mercy light His courts. He adorns Himself in holiness. His very nature diffuses a pleasantness, a gentleness over those that dwell in His presence. These are the symbols of His style. The uniqueness that testifies to His praiseworthiness. These are the qualities of our God that the Bible, almost in its entirety, calls us to acclaim, to resound and bless our God for.  This is the wisdom in the psalmists' words in Psalm 96:6-10 when he says: Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth! Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!  And this is a constant theme throughout the Bible: that our God is worthy of praise from every created being. That we must recognize and declare, not as a people conferring a new attribute to God, but a people acknowledging his glory and strength. This is an imperative call. A call demanding compliance from God's people to give Him both time and attention. To approach Him with absolute surrender and service. To present ourselves before Him, not just to receive, but to give the Lord the honor that is due His name and to acknowledge his just, holy and true nature.  The psalmist's words are a call to us to present to the Lord an offering befitting the one true and living God. A holy, living and acceptable sacrifice. A sacrifice of prayer, of praise and a broken heart. A token of our own submission. This is what it means to worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness. To bring to Him what is due to Him because of His nature and perfection. To confess the Godness of our Lord Jesus and to worship God in the manner in which He Himself has prescribed. And how do we know what kind of worship the Lord demands of us? By being intimate with Him. By staying in constant contact with Him.  And this is why we said yesterday that we can never fully appreciate the splendor of His holiness until we have experienced it. And we cannot claim to have experienced it until we have lived in His presence. Until we immerse ourselves into the worship of the Lord without reservations. The testimony of our experience of the Lord's holiness and greatness makes the matter and the motive of our worship because it does not leave a heart that has beheld it empty. The divine presence invokes a profound reverence for the Lord. It makes hearts tremble with awe. It breaths a life into our hearts. It triggers a provocation in a believer that cannot be contained until all we want to do is proclaim it to the world. To shout for all to hear that we have seen the goodness of the Lord. That we have seen His favor and mercy. That we have tasted of the Lord and we know that He is good.  This is why the psalmist says in verse ten of the text we have read today; Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns! This proclamation comes after the peoplThank you for your continued support and encouragement in making the Daily Insights and reaching an average of 60 people a day with over 10000 total plays. I invite you to partner with us by supporting podcasts through monthly or one-time donations—your contributions to sustain the episodes' subscription and hosting platforms. My goal is to inspire and share insightful messages in our generation. We are empowering one person at a time each day to continue serving the purposes of God.Support the show

“For Godness Sake” by Aaron Koepp. Released: 2022. The post For Godness Sake appeared first on Bethel Church of Tallmadge.

Dr. Angela Logan - This week in our 4-week series looking at our mantra. "Everyone An Icon," we reflect on the question "What happens when you don't see yourself as an icon?" For some of us, it's easier to see the icon-ness in others than it is to see the icon-ness in the face that greets us in the mirror every morning. Looking at the story of the Apostle Peter, we will reflect on the ways we can learn to see the goodness and Godness in ourselves. If you're a part of the growing digital SBCC community, we'd love to hear from you! Drop us a note letting us know how you found us and what keeps you listening at: info@southbendcitychurch.com. You can also support the ongoing work of SBCC by giving at: southbendcitychurch.com/give. Just select the “podcast” option from the drop-down menu to let us know how you're participating in the life of SBCC. South Bend City Church is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. All donations are tax-deductible.

Life is full of incredible disappointments, and certainly the graduating class of 2022 has faced 2.5 years of cancellations, new normals, and a majority of their high school lives spent in isolation with all of the fun cancelled.  But, as God's children, how are we to respond in the middle of life's crushing blows?  Can we trust the goodness, the Godness, and the faithfulness of God in the midst of life's crushing disappointments?  There are 2 paths, the one less traveled is the only path in which we find true hope, sustainability, and the wildest adventure ever, walking with Jesus in all things.

A Vort, A Story, A Song - Parshas TazriaThe point of leprosyThe tight parking spotUman - Shlomo Katzhttps://youtu.be/uCmC-U6zgAQ

character & competence / Bhakti is transmitted from one heart to another / there's every good reason to be angry, anxious & depressed – but Bhagavatam is our anchor / the bittersweetness in destitution / grief tastes bitter but it's meant to lead to intimacy of surrender, which is sweet / hold on to the chains of Bhakti / when we inflict pains on others, we suffer pain ourselves / truth is truth wherever it comes from / stir it around! / Godhead means Godness / bringing the awareness to God in the heart   SB 4.8.17-22

character & competence / Bhakti is transmitted from one heart to another / there's every good reason to be angry, anxious & depressed – but Bhagavatam is our anchor / the bittersweetness in destitution / grief tastes bitter but it's meant to lead to intimacy of surrender, which is sweet / hold on to the chains of Bhakti / when we inflict pains on others, we suffer pain ourselves / truth is truth wherever it comes from / stir it around! / Godhead means Godness / bringing the awareness to God in the heart   SB 4.8.17-22

Submitting to God enables us to have the supremely satisfying experience of not being God, but admiring the Godness of God.

On prend presque les mêmes et on recommence comme des dingues ! Ouh la fine équipe, my Godness !Une émission au poil, comme on dit. On vous à préparé ça, bien, avec un échantillon des sorties musicales, et franchement on peut dire que c'était las semaine du Hardcore ! Tellement qu'on s'est secoué dans tous les sens avec Mélie Red et Myster x. Bien sur on part à la découverte de la chronique de notre Red et on se pose pour une excellent AntreView avec Steph de Mineral Reflectance en deuxième parte d'émission. La playlist ? Ben la voilaaaaaa, on à débuter avec COMEBACK KID, KORN, BEYOND THE STYX, THE RISEN DREAD, FALLING IN REVERSE, SOUL GLO, BECOMING THE BULLY, TATTVA, CEILD, CRIS LUNA, MATRASS, la splendide cover de J.B.O., MINERAL REFLECTANCE, THREE DAYS GRACE et on termine en beauté avec SANGHAM !C'est t'y pas beauuuu ça ??La playlist complète est là : https://mega.nz/file/TBpUHDhZ#IEMs0_s3dCcRCdFk2NIeHxak_PURC7336RkunNBQptARetrouvez l'AntreView de MINERAL REFLECTANCE sur notre chaine YouTube et abonnez-vous pour ne rien rater : https://www.youtube.com/c/LAntreLEmissionduMétalNos pu#%@! de partenaires de fou :@Fatlab Studio@Skull strings@IGNIS PROD@werooooock@FuriosFest@Actu-METAL Toulouse@Radio Transparence@Metal Invasion Radio/Podcast------------------------------------------------------------------We take almost the same ones and we start again like som crazy guys ! Uh the fine team, my Godness ! A hairy show, as they say. We prepared that for you, well, with a sample of the musical releases, and we can say that it was hardcore week ! So much so that we shook each other in all directions with Mélie Red and Myster x. Of course we go to discover the chronicle of our Red and we land for an excellent AntreView with Steph of Mineral Reflectance in the second part of the show. The playlist ? So "la voilaaaaaa", we start with COMEBACK KID, KORN, BEYOND THE STYX, THE RISEN DREAD, FALLING IN REVERSE, SOUL GLO, BECOMING THE BULLY, TATTVA, CEILD, CRIS LUNA, MATRASS, the splendid cover of J.B.O., MINERAL REFLECTANCE, THREE DAYS GRACE and we finish in style with SANGHAM!The full playlist is here: https://mega.nz/file/TBpUHDhZ#IEMs0_s3dCcRCdFk2NIeHxak_PURC7336RkunNBQptA Find the AntreView of MINERAL REFLECTANCE on our YouTube channel and subscribe so you don't miss anything: https://www.youtube.com/c/LAntreLEmissionduMétal

In this week's episode, I begin a study through the foundational chapters of Genesis. There are many truths to be dove into about God, sin, salvation, and man in these chapters. The first of these that we will see in Genesis 1:1-2 is this, it all begins with God. If you can believe this, you will have no issue believing in a God who parted the Red Sea, crumbled the walls of Jericho, wrought many mighty wonders and supremely, came as a man to redeem us from our sins by living, dying, and rising from the dead! If you believe all of that, you must have a big view of God. In other words, you must believe that God is God. That is it. That is what Genesis 1:1-2. It teaches the “Godness of God” to us, a term used by David Jackman. It fundamentally establishes that He is God alone. We must begin with God because everything begins with God, is sustained by God, and will be concluded by God. I want us to leave this episode having seen three fundamental truths about God and creation. Creation has a beginning - This world has not always been. God does not have a beginning - He was before the world was. God is the reason creation has a beginning - The world has a beginning because the eternally existent God created it all.

Noah, Joshua, and Andrew take a chomp at the juiciest little, middle, and big(gle) questions that they could come up with this month. Noah, Joshua, and Andrew take a chomp at the juiciest little, middle, and big(gle) questions they could come up with this month! --- Check out our other cool stuff! Noah's epic t-shirt startup - pineapplelady.rocks Joshua's writing portfolio of varying quality - joshuabeggs.com Andrew's…well, he doesn't actually have any linkable projects. Just a social life. Which is cool in its own way. I guess.

Our son had a lot of questions for God—hard questions: Who was his dad and why didn't he want him? Why did his mother—whom he loved—always choose her addictions over him? Why did they take him away from her? I imagine you have some hard questions about the hard journey you are on. If we are to trust God in this challenging journey with our prodigals, we need to see that He is trustworthy. Resources: Join the Prayer for Prodigals community here. Sign up for Judy's monthly newsletter here. Purchase a copy of the When You Love a Prodigal book for you or a loved one here. Check out my latest blog post: Learning to Leverage Humble Pie Enjoy this printable: The Voice of Grace Stay connected: Website: judydouglass.com Facebook: com/JudyDouglass417/ Instagram: com/judydouglass417/ Twitter: com/judydouglass417

Shea, the son of a Pentacostal preacher, realized from an early age that music is the way he communicates with God. In this clip, Shea shares about his take on music being more than just the words we sing, it is an entity that can deeply shape our values, faith journeys and the way we experience worship. Shea believes in a "theology of fun," and looks forward to creating a contemporary worship environment at Covenant that inspires both "goodness and Godness" in the world.

Sofia Loren ha tornat al cinema per ser dirigida pel seu fill, Edoardo Ponti, a la pel

This is the first episode in a #followerpodcast series called "A DEATH IN THE FAMILY AND OTHER GOOD NEWS." In this episode called "Goodness is Godness", we explore the need for us to embrace the Godness of Jesus if we want to experience the goodness of the Gospel. This pushes against so much of our reltivistic culture, but it remains and essential choice for each of us none the less.

A sermon by Mason Good based on Matthew 6:9, preached on October 8, 2017 at Veritas Tri-Village as part of the sermon series on Matthew.Discussion Questions:Laying the Foundation: Read Ephesians 2:1-8 and Galatians 4:4-8. Mason mentioned how amazing it is that we can call God "our Father.” * When Jesus taught us to pray “our Father”, how would His original listeners have thought? Why was this idea so revolutionary at the time? * Do we still think of this truth as revolutionary? Why or why not? * What is the importance of realizing our sonship to God when we pray?Leaders: The Fatherhood of God was not an unfamiliar idea to the Jews, but Mason mentioned that the sense in which it was a familiar concept was that of a distant relation - similar to the idea of having Abraham as father. Yet the Fatherhood that Jesus is ushering us into is something much more akin to the closeness of our own earthly fathers.Read John 1:12-13 together and contemplate the following questions...* Are all people children of God? * What gives us the right to call God our Father? What is the theological name for this truth? Leaders: The central theological theme underlying this part of the passage is the idea of “adoption.” Through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, we have been given the right to be called sons and daughters of God. This mind-blowing concept goes beyond the glorious truth of justification and forgiveness of sins, and adds the privilege of becoming co-heir with Christ. This happens when God brings us into His family by adopting us. Spending time as a group and individually discussing these privileges and their extravagance would be time well spent.Our Father and our father* How does our understanding of God's fatherhood compare to that of our earthly Father? * How do you think about your earthly father? Does he have a role in your life - if so what does that look like? * How can the gospel truth of our adoption allow us to reconcile with our earthly fathers? Leaders: Some of these questions are sensitive because for some of us, our experiences of fatherhood have been marred by sin. Let people share their experiences but let's remember that our goal is to study the character of God and the nature of our heavenly Father. Mason said that "Our earthly fathers, flawed and sinful and broken as they are, are derivative of God who is the ultimate, Heavenly Father. Your earthly father has been tasked to be an ambassador of God as a representative of your true Father in Heaven. (and we can admit it's a task that some fathers live up to better than others!) But the point is that whether you have a great relationship with your dad or a struggling one, he can't come close to measuring up to your Heavenly Father.” It's important to know that because we have been forgiven so much and even brought into God's family, we can extend that forgiveness to our earthly families as well. You might even say that we can love others because He first loved us.We pray and speak to a Father who is near, and yet He is glorious and awesome; He is "in Heaven"* How does the heavenly nature of God the Father change our perspective and especially our approach to prayer? * Another way to ask this is "What is the importance of the fact that the God to whom we pray is in Heaven?"* How does the heavenly nature of God our Father serve as the foundation of our prayer life? Leaders: He is "in heaven”, reminding us that he not only has the ear for us to speak into, but He has the power to save. This is foundational. We can know He not only listens, but He has the power to save! John Stott says, “Thus he combines fatherly love with heavenly power, and what his love directs his power is able to perform.” And so we hold both of these truths together simultaneously; one does not detract from another, or take away from another.The Sovereign has condescended to give us an audience. He has invited us into the heavenly palace. He has lifted the scepter and told us to enter. We have access to His very throne… [but] We have forgotten that we are peasants in the presence of the King. Not just a king, the King, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the One who is absolutely sovereign.” – R.C. SproulGod is called “Father” and yet His name is to be “hallowed." He is approachable, yet our approach must be with reverence. * What does it mean to hallow God's name? * How does the “name” of God point to His character? Can you give some examples from other places in Scripture? * Are we holding His name above all other names - even in our small talk with others? * Mason asked in the sermon: Who do you think you are talking to when you are praying to God?Leaders: God is not only near, He is not only our shoulder to cry on and our rock to lean on, He is holy and majestic and powerful. We must see by the name of God that He is holy, yet we can approach Him with our cares and troubles; we approach him with praise, adoration, and reverence, but also with our needs and cares.“God is undefiled in all his ways. He is the supreme, the superlative moral majesty in the universe. But God's holiness refers to more than his ethics. Holiness refers to everything that distinguishes the Creator from his creation. It is the infinite distance between his deity and our humanity. Holiness is the very Godness of God, the sum total of all his glorious perfections.” - Phil Ryken“Hallowing God's name requires praise for the goodness and greatness of his redemptive work, with its dazzling blend of wisdom, love, justice, power, and faithfulness. By wisdom God found a way to justify the unjust justly; in love he gave his Son to bear death's agony for us; in justice he made the Son, as our substitute, suffer the sentence that our disobedience deserved; with power he unites us to the risen Christ, renews our hearts, frees us from sin's bondage, and moves us to repent and believe; and in faithfulness he keeps us from falling, as he promised to do, till he brings us triumphantly to our final glory...all of this is God's gift.” - J.I. PackerDirection for Discipleship: Spend time reading Galatians 4:1-7 and Romans 8. Some of Mason's takeaways ought to be considered as we have conversations this week. One of them is that we must be careful not to profane the name of God with our mouths - we must not take His name lightly, as if it is something “common.” In our times of worship publicly and privately are we lifting us God's name as glorious? Similarly, are we holding His name above all other names - even in our small talk with others? Do you think of God as your “father” - what barriers/struggles do you run into when you read these words from Jesus? What objections must be overcome in your mind (and heart!) for this to be embraced and manifested in your life and in your words as true? Are there conceptions of fatherhood that you are taking from past experience that do not match what you read about here in Scripture? And - importantly - this week meditate upon how God's forgiveness and adoption of you as a son/daughter frees you to extend grace to your earthly father.

So the course we've set this morning is to rehearse who Jesus is as fully God and fully man by looking at this remarkable Christological sentence in Hebrews 1:1–4. It is one sentence. Some have called it the most magnificent sentence in ancient Greek. I'll read it again, and then I'd like for us to look briefly at the seven claims it makes about Jesus — sevenfold affirmations — and get to know him better in his full manhood and full Godness.