Podcasts about where christ

The Thinking Fellows give readers a short list of books they find essential for understanding Lutheranism. The list below includes books that contextualize the story and doctrinal formation of the Reformation. This Library should help both people who are unfamiliar with Lutheranism and those familiar with Lutheran doctrine but would like a better historical picture of who the Lutherans are.  Berg, Michael. Vocation: The Setting for Human Flourishing Cary, Phillip. The Meaning of Protestant Theology: Luther, Augustine, and the Gospel That Gives Us Christ. Elert, Werner. The Structure of Lutheranism Giertz, B. The hammer of God Green, Lowell C. How Melanchthon Helped Luther Discover the Gospel: The Doctrine of Justification in the Reformation Kolb, Robert. The Christian Faith: A Lutheran Exposition Kolb, Robert, and Charles P. Arand. The Genius of Luther's Theology: A Wittenberg Way of Thinking for the Contemporary Church Montgomery, J. W., and G. E. Veith. Where Christ is Present: A theology for All Seasons on the 500th anniversary of the Reformation Nestingen, James, and Gerhard O. Forde. Free to Be Paulson, Steven D. Luther for Armchair Theologians Trueman, Carl R. Luther on the Christian Life: Cross and Freedom Various, and Martin Luther. Day by Day with Martin Luther Veith, Jr. Gene E. God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life Wisløff, Carl F. I Know in Whom I Believe: Studies in Bible Doctrine   Show Notes: Support 1517 Podcast Network 1517 Podcasts 1517 on Youtube 1517 Podcast Network on Apple Podcasts 1517 Events Schedule 1517 Academy - Free Theological Education What's New from 1517: Junk Drawer Jesus By Matt Popovits Listen to 1517 Executive Director Scott Keith and Magnus Persson on the latest Re:Formera podcast Signup For Free Advent Church Resources for 2024 Clothed with Christ by Brian William Thomas The Inklings: Apostles and Apologists of the Imagination with Sam Schuldheisz More from the hosts: Caleb Keith Scott Keith Adam Francisco Bruce Hilman  

A Sermon Series: Conducive Conducive: Is it Conducive for Where Christ is trying to Take You? Genesis 2:2-3 Genesis 2:15 Exodus 20:8-9 Exodus 26:1; Exodus 31:6; Exodus 36:2 Ephesians 2:1-10 Colossians 3:23

A Sermon Series: Conducive: Patience to Heal Conducive: Is it Conducive for Where Christ is trying to Take You? Matthew 8:1-17 James 1:4-5 Isaiah 53:4-5 Transcrip

A Sermon Series: Conducive Rest Conducive: Is it Conducive for Where Christ is trying to Take You?

A Sermon Series: Conducive Conducive: Is it Conducive for Where Christ is trying to Take You? Bitter is not Conducive. Genesis 37

August 6, 2024 Today's Reading: Ephesians 4:1-16Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 20:1-23; Acts 28:16-31There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call– one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4–6)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Ephesians 4 confesses that the Holy Christian Church is one, even as our God is one. The Church is a reflection of her Lord. Sadly, it doesn't always appear to be one here on earth. In the two thousand-plus years since the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, countless denominations of Christian churches have appeared. It can be confusing and discouraging. It can even be offensive to some, so much so that they abandon the Church altogether.We can't make the Church one by our doing. Many have attempted and still attempt to do so today by stripping away what they think gets in the way–doctrine, a pure confession of faith based on God's Word. In the end, non-denominational churches end up being another denomination. They often put more focus on what the church does–love and good works, which may look great on the surface, but it is a false unity. The biggest casualty of all is the Gospel–the Good News of salvation through the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus for you. It gets lost and left behind as no longer useful.When you confess in the Creed, “I believe in the Holy Christian Church,” you recognize and affirm that the Church is an article of faith. It's God's beloved creation through the Gospel. Sure, the Church has an outward manifestation, too. The marks of the Church are the Word and Sacraments. Where Christ crucified is preached, there you will find true believers. There will likely be unbelievers there as well. Jesus said that the wheat and the weeds would be mixed together until He comes again (Matthew 13:30).If you look in the mirror of God's Word, you see your own sinfulness. You're pretty good at seeing the sinfulness of others as well. Thanks be to God that appearances are not all they're cracked up to be! Thanks be to God, who works faith that clings to Jesus and His promises of forgiveness and life. By faith in Christ, you are justified, declared righteous, holy, and forgiven before God. The word “one” appears seven times in this passage–one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all. That's the number of completion. It's all His doing for you. Thanks be to God! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Elect from ev'ry nation, Yet one o'er all the earth; Her charter of salvation: One Lord, one faith, one birth. One holy name she blesses, Partakes one holy food, and to one hope she presses With ev'ry grace endued. (LSB 644:2)-Rev. Joel Fritsche, director of Vicarage and Deaconess Internships and assistant professor of Exegetical Theology at Concordia Seminary, St. LouisAudio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.The Lutheran Confessions play a vital role in the church—both centuries ago, and today. But, do they apply to the daily life of a layperson? Pastor Andy Wright offers a resounding “yes” in his book, Faithfully Formed. He quotes, summarizes, and synthesizes key teachings from the Confessions, revealing their relevance in the daily lives of ordinary people.

A Spirit filled worship gathering must be meaningful and logical and understood, but open to spontaneity and freedom of expression. Where Christ and His Word are promoted with decency and structure and accuracy. As well as, enthusiasm and joy and feeling. We want all of the Spirit for all that He is, yet know that He's in control and sane and involving our minds.

Where Christ is, there is light. Those born again are able to see light, and as disciples of Christ we are to walk in the light, and shine a light.

How does an Internet search lead to missions work? What is it like to provide literacy training amongst nomadic communities? Hear from Wangūi Maina about her experiences following the Lord to multiple different countries and what it's like to serve now in Northern Kenya. “I felt the Lord say, ‘Forget all of the things you're trying to figure out. Just trust Me and go.'” “Northern Kenya in 2024, still has the highest illiteracy rates in the whole of East Africa.” “One of the greatest impacts that I have seen is seeing children who were not interested in school because of the cultural practices that prevail in these communities take up an interest in going to school and staying in school.” “Where Christ is preached fearlessly, transformation happens.” “Whatever negativity or whatever darkness, it can't come against the light.” “People think God's calling is some big voice up in the air or you'll hear some booming, but it's those impressions that the Lord puts in our hearts.” “Start your day with the Lord; it really makes a difference.” What's changing our lives: Keane: Planting the garden Heather: Teaching at her alma mater Wangūi: Discovering new nearby routes Weekly Spotlight: Creative Access Locations We'd love to hear from you! podcast@teachbeyond.org Podcast Website: https://teachbeyond.org/podcast Learn about TeachBeyond: https://teachbeyond.org/ 

Embracing God's Purpose for Limitless Living - Pt. 1 There is nothing too big that God cannot provide for! He is limitless and he wants to get what He has for you TO you! Where Christ has called us, His limitless power is always present! SCRIPTURES Jeremiah 29:11-13 (KJV) Jeremiah 29:11-13 (AMP) Jeremiah 29:11-14 New episodes every Friday on DirecTV, FaithNow App, YouTube & ApplePodcast!

Surrender is a Lifestyle, Not a One-Time EventWhen you surrender your life to the Lord, you will notice it is not a one-time event. You don't just say a prayer or make a vow and it's done. It is a process, usually full of ups and downs, that may take some time to master. But even as a process, it must have a starting point. And that point recognizes who God is and your responsibility to yield to His lordship. Everything follows this first step.The seven steps of surrender are as follows (in Cliff Notes form):1. Recognize and embrace a truth greater than yourself (which is God and His lordship)2. Confess and repent of any known sin in your life3. Learn to die to yourself daily (or more often)4. Present yourself daily as a sacrifice to God5. Trust completely in God's sovereignty6. Rely on the Holy Spirit for daily guidance7. Keep your eyes fixed on JesusToday, we will look at the first step— the step where every springs from. And we will cover the subsequent steps in future broadcasts.The First Step in Surrendering Your Life to the LordThe journey of surrendering your life to God begins with one essential first step: recognizing God's complete lordship over everything— especially you.What does it mean to recognize God's lordship? It means understanding that He rightfully deserves your full allegiance, devotion, and obedience. As Revelation 4:11 declares, “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”Since God created you and gave you life and breath itself, He deserves first place in every area of your existence. Recognizing Him as Lord means enthroning Him as the supreme ruler and focus of your life. It requires willingly choosing to dethrone anything else that has occupied that rightful place— relationships, career, wealth, success, self-interests, you name it. And the operative word is willingly. You must be willing. God will not force His lordship on you.Recognizing His lordship calls for an honest evaluation of who or what is currently on the throne of your heart and decisions. What do your priorities, schedule, entertainment choices, and bank statement reveal you worship? What consumes your thoughts and passions? Ask the Holy Spirit to bring conviction about any idolatry that may be hidden in your life. As J.C. Ryle wrote, “Where Christ rules in the heart, the whole course of a man's life will bear witness to the fact.”¹ If God rules your heart, your lifestyle will clearly reflect it. So, how is your lifestyle measuring up to your confession of Christ right now?Remember, this first step of surrender will lead you to reorder every area of your life— your plans, job, time, possessions, habits— and center them around God's priorities rather than self-centered pursuits. It will mean letting go of anything He calls you to release or change. And it will mean embracing a purpose defined by His eternal impact rather than your temporary comfort. But I think you already know that, don't you?Ultimately, recognizing God's lordship requires pursuing intimacy with Him like you may have never done before through heart-felt prayer, consistent reading of His Word, and obedience to Him as your highest aim, and not just an add-on for a temporary, spiritual high. He must become your supreme treasure and consuming passion.Surrendering requires submitting your life completely to His authority, which is something you give up to Him. But you receive so much more. As J.I. Packer reminds us, “He does not exploit our submission, but gives us glory, joy, peace, and fullness of life” only found in Him.² Our

On Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded Podcast. Lectures on the Epistle to the Hebrews by Samuel Ridout. Prefatory Note There is no introduction to the Epistle to the Hebrews, and little need for any preface here. Where Christ is the absorbing theme, everything must yield to Him, and explanations are out of place. The main themes of the book are the person of Christ, His priesthood and sacrifice, and the place into which He has introduced His people. Everything is measured by these standards, and loyalty to Him is the crucial test for all that would claim attention. In these closing days of the Church's history, where there is a strong tendency back into that which apes Judaism, a carnal religion without divine power, and where the person of our Lord is lightly esteemed, if not absolutely degraded, it is to be hoped that this little book will serve to call back the thoughts of His people to One who is worthy of all their attention, allegiance, and worship. May the Lord graciously use it solely to the glory of His own peerless Name! S. Ridout. Contents Lecture 1. The Son of God in His Supremacy — Hebrews 1 — 2:4. Lecture 2. The Son in His Humiliation — Hebrews 2:5-18. Lecture 3. God's House and God's Rest — Hebrews 3 — 4:10. Lecture 4. The Heavenly Priest — Hebrews 4:11 — 5:10. Lecture 5. Apostasy; or, The Strong Consolation — Hebrews 5:11 — 6. Lecture 6. The Everlasting Priesthood — Hebrews 7. Lecture 7. The Better Ministry and the New Covenant — Hebrews 8. Lecture 8. The Priest and His Sacrifice — Hebrews 9:1-15. Lecture 9. The Finished Work — Hebrews 9:16-28. Lecture 10. The Sanctified and their Worship — Hebrews 10:1-25. Lecture 11. Holding Fast — Hebrews 10:26-39. Lecture 12. The Many Witnesses and their Walk of Faith — Hebrews 11:1-10. Lecture 13. The Many Witnesses, etc. — Continued — Hebrews 11:11-40. Lecture 14. Girded for the Race — Hebrews 12. Lecture 15. The Continuing City — Outside the Camp — Hebrews 13. Lecture 16. The Glories of Christ traced throughout the Epistle. Links:  https://www.hiawathabible.org/youtube-playlist-index-page  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZlTAw2GgUjORoe9BHi46qXDwl9QdHB-N

On Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded Podcast. Lectures on the Epistle to the Hebrews by Samuel Ridout. Prefatory Note There is no introduction to the Epistle to the Hebrews, and little need for any preface here. Where Christ is the absorbing theme, everything must yield to Him, and explanations are out of place. The main themes of the book are the person of Christ, His priesthood and sacrifice, and the place into which He has introduced His people. Everything is measured by these standards, and loyalty to Him is the crucial test for all that would claim attention. In these closing days of the Church's history, where there is a strong tendency back into that which apes Judaism, a carnal religion without divine power, and where the person of our Lord is lightly esteemed, if not absolutely degraded, it is to be hoped that this little book will serve to call back the thoughts of His people to One who is worthy of all their attention, allegiance, and worship. May the Lord graciously use it solely to the glory of His own peerless Name! S. Ridout. Contents Lecture 1. The Son of God in His Supremacy — Hebrews 1 — 2:4. Lecture 2. The Son in His Humiliation — Hebrews 2:5-18. Lecture 3. God's House and God's Rest — Hebrews 3 — 4:10. Lecture 4. The Heavenly Priest — Hebrews 4:11 — 5:10. Lecture 5. Apostasy; or, The Strong Consolation — Hebrews 5:11 — 6. Lecture 6. The Everlasting Priesthood — Hebrews 7. Lecture 7. The Better Ministry and the New Covenant — Hebrews 8. Lecture 8. The Priest and His Sacrifice — Hebrews 9:1-15. Lecture 9. The Finished Work — Hebrews 9:16-28. Lecture 10. The Sanctified and their Worship — Hebrews 10:1-25. Lecture 11. Holding Fast — Hebrews 10:26-39. Lecture 12. The Many Witnesses and their Walk of Faith — Hebrews 11:1-10. Lecture 13. The Many Witnesses, etc. — Continued — Hebrews 11:11-40. Lecture 14. Girded for the Race — Hebrews 12. Lecture 15. The Continuing City — Outside the Camp — Hebrews 13. Lecture 16. The Glories of Christ traced throughout the Epistle. Links:  https://www.hiawathabible.org/youtube-playlist-index-page  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZlTAw2GgUjORoe9BHi46qXDwl9QdHB-N

On Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded Podcast. Lectures on the Epistle to the Hebrews by Samuel Ridout. Prefatory Note There is no introduction to the Epistle to the Hebrews, and little need for any preface here. Where Christ is the absorbing theme, everything must yield to Him, and explanations are out of place. The main themes of the book are the person of Christ, His priesthood and sacrifice, and the place into which He has introduced His people. Everything is measured by these standards, and loyalty to Him is the crucial test for all that would claim attention. In these closing days of the Church's history, where there is a strong tendency back into that which apes Judaism, a carnal religion without divine power, and where the person of our Lord is lightly esteemed, if not absolutely degraded, it is to be hoped that this little book will serve to call back the thoughts of His people to One who is worthy of all their attention, allegiance, and worship. May the Lord graciously use it solely to the glory of His own peerless Name! S. Ridout. Contents Lecture 1. The Son of God in His Supremacy — Hebrews 1 — 2:4. Lecture 2. The Son in His Humiliation — Hebrews 2:5-18. Lecture 3. God's House and God's Rest — Hebrews 3 — 4:10. Lecture 4. The Heavenly Priest — Hebrews 4:11 — 5:10. Lecture 5. Apostasy; or, The Strong Consolation — Hebrews 5:11 — 6. Lecture 6. The Everlasting Priesthood — Hebrews 7. Lecture 7. The Better Ministry and the New Covenant — Hebrews 8. Lecture 8. The Priest and His Sacrifice — Hebrews 9:1-15. Lecture 9. The Finished Work — Hebrews 9:16-28. Lecture 10. The Sanctified and their Worship — Hebrews 10:1-25. Lecture 11. Holding Fast — Hebrews 10:26-39. Lecture 12. The Many Witnesses and their Walk of Faith — Hebrews 11:1-10. Lecture 13. The Many Witnesses, etc. — Continued — Hebrews 11:11-40. Lecture 14. Girded for the Race — Hebrews 12. Lecture 15. The Continuing City — Outside the Camp — Hebrews 13. Lecture 16. The Glories of Christ traced throughout the Epistle. Links:  https://www.hiawathabible.org/youtube-playlist-index-page  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZlTAw2GgUjORoe9BHi46qXDwl9QdHB-N

On Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded Podcast. Lectures on the Epistle to the Hebrews by Samuel Ridout. Prefatory Note There is no introduction to the Epistle to the Hebrews, and little need for any preface here. Where Christ is the absorbing theme, everything must yield to Him, and explanations are out of place. The main themes of the book are the person of Christ, His priesthood and sacrifice, and the place into which He has introduced His people. Everything is measured by these standards, and loyalty to Him is the crucial test for all that would claim attention. In these closing days of the Church's history, where there is a strong tendency back into that which apes Judaism, a carnal religion without divine power, and where the person of our Lord is lightly esteemed, if not absolutely degraded, it is to be hoped that this little book will serve to call back the thoughts of His people to One who is worthy of all their attention, allegiance, and worship. May the Lord graciously use it solely to the glory of His own peerless Name! S. Ridout. Contents Lecture 1. The Son of God in His Supremacy — Hebrews 1 — 2:4. Lecture 2. The Son in His Humiliation — Hebrews 2:5-18. Lecture 3. God's House and God's Rest — Hebrews 3 — 4:10. Lecture 4. The Heavenly Priest — Hebrews 4:11 — 5:10. Lecture 5. Apostasy; or, The Strong Consolation — Hebrews 5:11 — 6. Lecture 6. The Everlasting Priesthood — Hebrews 7. Lecture 7. The Better Ministry and the New Covenant — Hebrews 8. Lecture 8. The Priest and His Sacrifice — Hebrews 9:1-15. Lecture 9. The Finished Work — Hebrews 9:16-28. Lecture 10. The Sanctified and their Worship — Hebrews 10:1-25. Lecture 11. Holding Fast — Hebrews 10:26-39. Lecture 12. The Many Witnesses and their Walk of Faith — Hebrews 11:1-10. Lecture 13. The Many Witnesses, etc. — Continued — Hebrews 11:11-40. Lecture 14. Girded for the Race — Hebrews 12. Lecture 15. The Continuing City — Outside the Camp — Hebrews 13. Lecture 16. The Glories of Christ traced throughout the Epistle. Links:  https://www.hiawathabible.org/youtube-playlist-index-page  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZlTAw2GgUjORoe9BHi46qXDwl9QdHB-N

On Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded Podcast. Lectures on the Epistle to the Hebrews by Samuel Ridout. Prefatory Note There is no introduction to the Epistle to the Hebrews, and little need for any preface here. Where Christ is the absorbing theme, everything must yield to Him, and explanations are out of place. The main themes of the book are the person of Christ, His priesthood and sacrifice, and the place into which He has introduced His people. Everything is measured by these standards, and loyalty to Him is the crucial test for all that would claim attention. In these closing days of the Church's history, where there is a strong tendency back into that which apes Judaism, a carnal religion without divine power, and where the person of our Lord is lightly esteemed, if not absolutely degraded, it is to be hoped that this little book will serve to call back the thoughts of His people to One who is worthy of all their attention, allegiance, and worship. May the Lord graciously use it solely to the glory of His own peerless Name! S. Ridout. Contents Lecture 1. The Son of God in His Supremacy — Hebrews 1 — 2:4. Lecture 2. The Son in His Humiliation — Hebrews 2:5-18. Lecture 3. God's House and God's Rest — Hebrews 3 — 4:10. Lecture 4. The Heavenly Priest — Hebrews 4:11 — 5:10. Lecture 5. Apostasy; or, The Strong Consolation — Hebrews 5:11 — 6. Lecture 6. The Everlasting Priesthood — Hebrews 7. Lecture 7. The Better Ministry and the New Covenant — Hebrews 8. Lecture 8. The Priest and His Sacrifice — Hebrews 9:1-15. Lecture 9. The Finished Work — Hebrews 9:16-28. Lecture 10. The Sanctified and their Worship — Hebrews 10:1-25. Lecture 11. Holding Fast — Hebrews 10:26-39. Lecture 12. The Many Witnesses and their Walk of Faith — Hebrews 11:1-10. Lecture 13. The Many Witnesses, etc. — Continued — Hebrews 11:11-40. Lecture 14. Girded for the Race — Hebrews 12. Lecture 15. The Continuing City — Outside the Camp — Hebrews 13. Lecture 16. The Glories of Christ traced throughout the Epistle. Links:  https://www.hiawathabible.org/youtube-playlist-index-page  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZlTAw2GgUjORoe9BHi46qXDwl9QdHB-N

On Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded Podcast. Lectures on the Epistle to the Hebrews by Samuel Ridout. Prefatory Note There is no introduction to the Epistle to the Hebrews, and little need for any preface here. Where Christ is the absorbing theme, everything must yield to Him, and explanations are out of place. The main themes of the book are the person of Christ, His priesthood and sacrifice, and the place into which He has introduced His people. Everything is measured by these standards, and loyalty to Him is the crucial test for all that would claim attention. In these closing days of the Church's history, where there is a strong tendency back into that which apes Judaism, a carnal religion without divine power, and where the person of our Lord is lightly esteemed, if not absolutely degraded, it is to be hoped that this little book will serve to call back the thoughts of His people to One who is worthy of all their attention, allegiance, and worship. May the Lord graciously use it solely to the glory of His own peerless Name! S. Ridout. Contents Lecture 1. The Son of God in His Supremacy — Hebrews 1 — 2:4. Lecture 2. The Son in His Humiliation — Hebrews 2:5-18. Lecture 3. God's House and God's Rest — Hebrews 3 — 4:10. Lecture 4. The Heavenly Priest — Hebrews 4:11 — 5:10. Lecture 5. Apostasy; or, The Strong Consolation — Hebrews 5:11 — 6. Lecture 6. The Everlasting Priesthood — Hebrews 7. Lecture 7. The Better Ministry and the New Covenant — Hebrews 8. Lecture 8. The Priest and His Sacrifice — Hebrews 9:1-15. Lecture 9. The Finished Work — Hebrews 9:16-28. Lecture 10. The Sanctified and their Worship — Hebrews 10:1-25. Lecture 11. Holding Fast — Hebrews 10:26-39. Lecture 12. The Many Witnesses and their Walk of Faith — Hebrews 11:1-10. Lecture 13. The Many Witnesses, etc. — Continued — Hebrews 11:11-40. Lecture 14. Girded for the Race — Hebrews 12. Lecture 15. The Continuing City — Outside the Camp — Hebrews 13. Lecture 16. The Glories of Christ traced throughout the Epistle. Links:  https://www.hiawathabible.org/youtube-playlist-index-page  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZlTAw2GgUjORoe9BHi46qXDwl9QdHB-N

On Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded Podcast. Lectures on the Epistle to the Hebrews by Samuel Ridout. Prefatory Note There is no introduction to the Epistle to the Hebrews, and little need for any preface here. Where Christ is the absorbing theme, everything must yield to Him, and explanations are out of place. The main themes of the book are the person of Christ, His priesthood and sacrifice, and the place into which He has introduced His people. Everything is measured by these standards, and loyalty to Him is the crucial test for all that would claim attention. In these closing days of the Church's history, where there is a strong tendency back into that which apes Judaism, a carnal religion without divine power, and where the person of our Lord is lightly esteemed, if not absolutely degraded, it is to be hoped that this little book will serve to call back the thoughts of His people to One who is worthy of all their attention, allegiance, and worship. May the Lord graciously use it solely to the glory of His own peerless Name! S. Ridout. Contents Lecture 1. The Son of God in His Supremacy — Hebrews 1 — 2:4. Lecture 2. The Son in His Humiliation — Hebrews 2:5-18. Lecture 3. God's House and God's Rest — Hebrews 3 — 4:10. Lecture 4. The Heavenly Priest — Hebrews 4:11 — 5:10. Lecture 5. Apostasy; or, The Strong Consolation — Hebrews 5:11 — 6. Lecture 6. The Everlasting Priesthood — Hebrews 7. Lecture 7. The Better Ministry and the New Covenant — Hebrews 8. Lecture 8. The Priest and His Sacrifice — Hebrews 9:1-15. Lecture 9. The Finished Work — Hebrews 9:16-28. Lecture 10. The Sanctified and their Worship — Hebrews 10:1-25. Lecture 11. Holding Fast — Hebrews 10:26-39. Lecture 12. The Many Witnesses and their Walk of Faith — Hebrews 11:1-10. Lecture 13. The Many Witnesses, etc. — Continued — Hebrews 11:11-40. Lecture 14. Girded for the Race — Hebrews 12. Lecture 15. The Continuing City — Outside the Camp — Hebrews 13. Lecture 16. The Glories of Christ traced throughout the Epistle. Links:  https://www.hiawathabible.org/youtube-playlist-index-page  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZlTAw2GgUjORoe9BHi46qXDwl9QdHB-N

On Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded Podcast. Lectures on the Epistle to the Hebrews by Samuel Ridout. Prefatory Note There is no introduction to the Epistle to the Hebrews, and little need for any preface here. Where Christ is the absorbing theme, everything must yield to Him, and explanations are out of place. The main themes of the book are the person of Christ, His priesthood and sacrifice, and the place into which He has introduced His people. Everything is measured by these standards, and loyalty to Him is the crucial test for all that would claim attention. In these closing days of the Church's history, where there is a strong tendency back into that which apes Judaism, a carnal religion without divine power, and where the person of our Lord is lightly esteemed, if not absolutely degraded, it is to be hoped that this little book will serve to call back the thoughts of His people to One who is worthy of all their attention, allegiance, and worship. May the Lord graciously use it solely to the glory of His own peerless Name! S. Ridout. Contents Lecture 1. The Son of God in His Supremacy — Hebrews 1 — 2:4. Lecture 2. The Son in His Humiliation — Hebrews 2:5-18. Lecture 3. God's House and God's Rest — Hebrews 3 — 4:10. Lecture 4. The Heavenly Priest — Hebrews 4:11 — 5:10. Lecture 5. Apostasy; or, The Strong Consolation — Hebrews 5:11 — 6. Lecture 6. The Everlasting Priesthood — Hebrews 7. Lecture 7. The Better Ministry and the New Covenant — Hebrews 8. Lecture 8. The Priest and His Sacrifice — Hebrews 9:1-15. Lecture 9. The Finished Work — Hebrews 9:16-28. Lecture 10. The Sanctified and their Worship — Hebrews 10:1-25. Lecture 11. Holding Fast — Hebrews 10:26-39. Lecture 12. The Many Witnesses and their Walk of Faith — Hebrews 11:1-10. Lecture 13. The Many Witnesses, etc. — Continued — Hebrews 11:11-40. Lecture 14. Girded for the Race — Hebrews 12. Lecture 15. The Continuing City — Outside the Camp — Hebrews 13. Lecture 16. The Glories of Christ traced throughout the Epistle. Links:  https://www.hiawathabible.org/youtube-playlist-index-page  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZlTAw2GgUjORoe9BHi46qXDwl9QdHB-N

On Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded Podcast. Lectures on the Epistle to the Hebrews by Samuel Ridout. Prefatory Note There is no introduction to the Epistle to the Hebrews, and little need for any preface here. Where Christ is the absorbing theme, everything must yield to Him, and explanations are out of place. The main themes of the book are the person of Christ, His priesthood and sacrifice, and the place into which He has introduced His people. Everything is measured by these standards, and loyalty to Him is the crucial test for all that would claim attention. In these closing days of the Church's history, where there is a strong tendency back into that which apes Judaism, a carnal religion without divine power, and where the person of our Lord is lightly esteemed, if not absolutely degraded, it is to be hoped that this little book will serve to call back the thoughts of His people to One who is worthy of all their attention, allegiance, and worship. May the Lord graciously use it solely to the glory of His own peerless Name! S. Ridout. Contents Lecture 1. The Son of God in His Supremacy — Hebrews 1 — 2:4. Lecture 2. The Son in His Humiliation — Hebrews 2:5-18. Lecture 3. God's House and God's Rest — Hebrews 3 — 4:10. Lecture 4. The Heavenly Priest — Hebrews 4:11 — 5:10. Lecture 5. Apostasy; or, The Strong Consolation — Hebrews 5:11 — 6. Lecture 6. The Everlasting Priesthood — Hebrews 7. Lecture 7. The Better Ministry and the New Covenant — Hebrews 8. Lecture 8. The Priest and His Sacrifice — Hebrews 9:1-15. Lecture 9. The Finished Work — Hebrews 9:16-28. Lecture 10. The Sanctified and their Worship — Hebrews 10:1-25. Lecture 11. Holding Fast — Hebrews 10:26-39. Lecture 12. The Many Witnesses and their Walk of Faith — Hebrews 11:1-10. Lecture 13. The Many Witnesses, etc. — Continued — Hebrews 11:11-40. Lecture 14. Girded for the Race — Hebrews 12. Lecture 15. The Continuing City — Outside the Camp — Hebrews 13. Lecture 16. The Glories of Christ traced throughout the Epistle. Links:  https://www.hiawathabible.org/youtube-playlist-index-page  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZlTAw2GgUjORoe9BHi46qXDwl9QdHB-N

On Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded Podcast. Lectures on the Epistle to the Hebrews by Samuel Ridout. Prefatory Note There is no introduction to the Epistle to the Hebrews, and little need for any preface here. Where Christ is the absorbing theme, everything must yield to Him, and explanations are out of place. The main themes of the book are the person of Christ, His priesthood and sacrifice, and the place into which He has introduced His people. Everything is measured by these standards, and loyalty to Him is the crucial test for all that would claim attention. In these closing days of the Church's history, where there is a strong tendency back into that which apes Judaism, a carnal religion without divine power, and where the person of our Lord is lightly esteemed, if not absolutely degraded, it is to be hoped that this little book will serve to call back the thoughts of His people to One who is worthy of all their attention, allegiance, and worship. May the Lord graciously use it solely to the glory of His own peerless Name! S. Ridout. Contents Lecture 1. The Son of God in His Supremacy — Hebrews 1 — 2:4. Lecture 2. The Son in His Humiliation — Hebrews 2:5-18. Lecture 3. God's House and God's Rest — Hebrews 3 — 4:10. Lecture 4. The Heavenly Priest — Hebrews 4:11 — 5:10. Lecture 5. Apostasy; or, The Strong Consolation — Hebrews 5:11 — 6. Lecture 6. The Everlasting Priesthood — Hebrews 7. Lecture 7. The Better Ministry and the New Covenant — Hebrews 8. Lecture 8. The Priest and His Sacrifice — Hebrews 9:1-15. Lecture 9. The Finished Work — Hebrews 9:16-28. Lecture 10. The Sanctified and their Worship — Hebrews 10:1-25. Lecture 11. Holding Fast — Hebrews 10:26-39. Lecture 12. The Many Witnesses and their Walk of Faith — Hebrews 11:1-10. Lecture 13. The Many Witnesses, etc. — Continued — Hebrews 11:11-40. Lecture 14. Girded for the Race — Hebrews 12. Lecture 15. The Continuing City — Outside the Camp — Hebrews 13. Lecture 16. The Glories of Christ traced throughout the Epistle Links: https://www.hiawathabible.org/youtube-playlist-index-page https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZlTAw2GgUjORoe9BHi46qXDwl9QdHB-N

On Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded Podcast. Lectures on the Epistle to the Hebrews by Samuel Ridout. Prefatory Note There is no introduction to the Epistle to the Hebrews, and little need for any preface here. Where Christ is the absorbing theme, everything must yield to Him, and explanations are out of place. The main themes of the book are the person of Christ, His priesthood and sacrifice, and the place into which He has introduced His people. Everything is measured by these standards, and loyalty to Him is the crucial test for all that would claim attention. In these closing days of the Church's history, where there is a strong tendency back into that which apes Judaism, a carnal religion without divine power, and where the person of our Lord is lightly esteemed, if not absolutely degraded, it is to be hoped that this little book will serve to call back the thoughts of His people to One who is worthy of all their attention, allegiance, and worship. May the Lord graciously use it solely to the glory of His own peerless Name! S. Ridout. Contents Lecture 1. The Son of God in His Supremacy — Hebrews 1 — 2:4. Lecture 2. The Son in His Humiliation — Hebrews 2:5-18. Lecture 3. God's House and God's Rest — Hebrews 3 — 4:10. Lecture 4. The Heavenly Priest — Hebrews 4:11 — 5:10. Lecture 5. Apostasy; or, The Strong Consolation — Hebrews 5:11 — 6. Lecture 6. The Everlasting Priesthood — Hebrews 7. Lecture 7. The Better Ministry and the New Covenant — Hebrews 8. Lecture 8. The Priest and His Sacrifice — Hebrews 9:1-15. Lecture 9. The Finished Work — Hebrews 9:16-28. Lecture 10. The Sanctified and their Worship — Hebrews 10:1-25. Lecture 11. Holding Fast — Hebrews 10:26-39. Lecture 12. The Many Witnesses and their Walk of Faith — Hebrews 11:1-10. Lecture 13. The Many Witnesses, etc. — Continued — Hebrews 11:11-40. Lecture 14. Girded for the Race — Hebrews 12. Lecture 15. The Continuing City — Outside the Camp — Hebrews 13. Lecture 16. The Glories of Christ traced throughout the Epistle. Links:  https://www.hiawathabible.org/youtube-playlist-index-page  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZlTAw2GgUjORoe9BHi46qXDwl9QdHB-N

On Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded Podcast. Lectures on the Epistle to the Hebrews by Samuel Ridout. Prefatory Note There is no introduction to the Epistle to the Hebrews, and little need for any preface here. Where Christ is the absorbing theme, everything must yield to Him, and explanations are out of place. The main themes of the book are the person of Christ, His priesthood and sacrifice, and the place into which He has introduced His people. Everything is measured by these standards, and loyalty to Him is the crucial test for all that would claim attention. In these closing days of the Church's history, where there is a strong tendency back into that which apes Judaism, a carnal religion without divine power, and where the person of our Lord is lightly esteemed, if not absolutely degraded, it is to be hoped that this little book will serve to call back the thoughts of His people to One who is worthy of all their attention, allegiance, and worship. May the Lord graciously use it solely to the glory of His own peerless Name! S. Ridout. Contents Lecture 1. The Son of God in His Supremacy — Hebrews 1 — 2:4. Lecture 2. The Son in His Humiliation — Hebrews 2:5-18. Lecture 3. God's House and God's Rest — Hebrews 3 — 4:10. Lecture 4. The Heavenly Priest — Hebrews 4:11 — 5:10. Lecture 5. Apostasy; or, The Strong Consolation — Hebrews 5:11 — 6. Lecture 6. The Everlasting Priesthood — Hebrews 7. Lecture 7. The Better Ministry and the New Covenant — Hebrews 8. Lecture 8. The Priest and His Sacrifice — Hebrews 9:1-15. Lecture 9. The Finished Work — Hebrews 9:16-28. Lecture 10. The Sanctified and their Worship — Hebrews 10:1-25. Lecture 11. Holding Fast — Hebrews 10:26-39. Lecture 12. The Many Witnesses and their Walk of Faith — Hebrews 11:1-10. Lecture 13. The Many Witnesses, etc. — Continued — Hebrews 11:11-40. Lecture 14. Girded for the Race — Hebrews 12. Lecture 15. The Continuing City — Outside the Camp — Hebrews 13. Lecture 16. The Glories of Christ traced throughout the Epistle. Links:  https://www.hiawathabible.org/youtube-playlist-index-page  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZlTAw2GgUjORoe9BHi46qXDwl9QdHB-N

On Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded Podcast. Lectures on the Epistle to the Hebrews by Samuel Ridout. Prefatory Note There is no introduction to the Epistle to the Hebrews, and little need for any preface here. Where Christ is the absorbing theme, everything must yield to Him, and explanations are out of place. The main themes of the book are the person of Christ, His priesthood and sacrifice, and the place into which He has introduced His people. Everything is measured by these standards, and loyalty to Him is the crucial test for all that would claim attention. In these closing days of the Church's history, where there is a strong tendency back into that which apes Judaism, a carnal religion without divine power, and where the person of our Lord is lightly esteemed, if not absolutely degraded, it is to be hoped that this little book will serve to call back the thoughts of His people to One who is worthy of all their attention, allegiance, and worship. May the Lord graciously use it solely to the glory of His own peerless Name! S. Ridout. Contents Lecture 1. The Son of God in His Supremacy — Hebrews 1 — 2:4. Lecture 2. The Son in His Humiliation — Hebrews 2:5-18. Lecture 3. God's House and God's Rest — Hebrews 3 — 4:10. Lecture 4. The Heavenly Priest — Hebrews 4:11 — 5:10. Lecture 5. Apostasy; or, The Strong Consolation — Hebrews 5:11 — 6. Lecture 6. The Everlasting Priesthood — Hebrews 7. Lecture 7. The Better Ministry and the New Covenant — Hebrews 8. Lecture 8. The Priest and His Sacrifice — Hebrews 9:1-15. Lecture 9. The Finished Work — Hebrews 9:16-28. Lecture 10. The Sanctified and their Worship — Hebrews 10:1-25. Lecture 11. Holding Fast — Hebrews 10:26-39. Lecture 12. The Many Witnesses and their Walk of Faith — Hebrews 11:1-10. Lecture 13. The Many Witnesses, etc. — Continued — Hebrews 11:11-40. Lecture 14. Girded for the Race — Hebrews 12. Lecture 15. The Continuing City — Outside the Camp — Hebrews 13. Lecture 16. The Glories of Christ traced throughout the Epistle. Links:  https://www.hiawathabible.org/youtube-playlist-index-page  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZlTAw2GgUjORoe9BHi46qXDwl9QdHB-N

On Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded Podcast. Lectures on the Epistle to the Hebrews by Samuel Ridout. Prefatory Note There is no introduction to the Epistle to the Hebrews, and little need for any preface here. Where Christ is the absorbing theme, everything must yield to Him, and explanations are out of place. The main themes of the book are the person of Christ, His priesthood and sacrifice, and the place into which He has introduced His people. Everything is measured by these standards, and loyalty to Him is the crucial test for all that would claim attention. In these closing days of the Church's history, where there is a strong tendency back into that which apes Judaism, a carnal religion without divine power, and where the person of our Lord is lightly esteemed, if not absolutely degraded, it is to be hoped that this little book will serve to call back the thoughts of His people to One who is worthy of all their attention, allegiance, and worship. May the Lord graciously use it solely to the glory of His own peerless Name! S. Ridout. Contents Lecture 1. The Son of God in His Supremacy — Hebrews 1 — 2:4. Lecture 2. The Son in His Humiliation — Hebrews 2:5-18. Lecture 3. God's House and God's Rest — Hebrews 3 — 4:10. Lecture 4. The Heavenly Priest — Hebrews 4:11 — 5:10. Lecture 5. Apostasy; or, The Strong Consolation — Hebrews 5:11 — 6. Lecture 6. The Everlasting Priesthood — Hebrews 7. Lecture 7. The Better Ministry and the New Covenant — Hebrews 8. Lecture 8. The Priest and His Sacrifice — Hebrews 9:1-15. Lecture 9. The Finished Work — Hebrews 9:16-28. Lecture 10. The Sanctified and their Worship — Hebrews 10:1-25. Lecture 11. Holding Fast — Hebrews 10:26-39. Lecture 12. The Many Witnesses and their Walk of Faith — Hebrews 11:1-10. Lecture 13. The Many Witnesses, etc. — Continued — Hebrews 11:11-40. Lecture 14. Girded for the Race — Hebrews 12. Lecture 15. The Continuing City — Outside the Camp — Hebrews 13. Lecture 16. The Glories of Christ traced throughout the Epistle. Links:  https://www.hiawathabible.org/youtube-playlist-index-page  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZlTAw2GgUjORoe9BHi46qXDwl9QdHB-N

On Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded Podcast. Lectures on the Epistle to the Hebrews by Samuel Ridout. Prefatory Note There is no introduction to the Epistle to the Hebrews, and little need for any preface here. Where Christ is the absorbing theme, everything must yield to Him, and explanations are out of place. The main themes of the book are the person of Christ, His priesthood and sacrifice, and the place into which He has introduced His people. Everything is measured by these standards, and loyalty to Him is the crucial test for all that would claim attention. In these closing days of the Church's history, where there is a strong tendency back into that which apes Judaism, a carnal religion without divine power, and where the person of our Lord is lightly esteemed, if not absolutely degraded, it is to be hoped that this little book will serve to call back the thoughts of His people to One who is worthy of all their attention, allegiance, and worship. May the Lord graciously use it solely to the glory of His own peerless Name! S. Ridout. Contents Lecture 1. The Son of God in His Supremacy — Hebrews 1 — 2:4. Lecture 2. The Son in His Humiliation — Hebrews 2:5-18. Lecture 3. God's House and God's Rest — Hebrews 3 — 4:10. Lecture 4. The Heavenly Priest — Hebrews 4:11 — 5:10. Lecture 5. Apostasy; or, The Strong Consolation — Hebrews 5:11 — 6. Lecture 6. The Everlasting Priesthood — Hebrews 7. Lecture 7. The Better Ministry and the New Covenant — Hebrews 8. Lecture 8. The Priest and His Sacrifice — Hebrews 9:1-15. Lecture 9. The Finished Work — Hebrews 9:16-28. Lecture 10. The Sanctified and their Worship — Hebrews 10:1-25. Lecture 11. Holding Fast — Hebrews 10:26-39. Lecture 12. The Many Witnesses and their Walk of Faith — Hebrews 11:1-10. Lecture 13. The Many Witnesses, etc. — Continued — Hebrews 11:11-40. Lecture 14. Girded for the Race — Hebrews 12. Lecture 15. The Continuing City — Outside the Camp — Hebrews 13. Lecture 16. The Glories of Christ traced throughout the Epistle. Links:  https://www.hiawathabible.org/youtube-playlist-index-page  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZlTAw2GgUjORoe9BHi46qXDwl9QdHB-N

On Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded Podcast. Lectures on the Epistle to the Hebrews by Samuel Ridout. Prefatory Note There is no introduction to the Epistle to the Hebrews, and little need for any preface here. Where Christ is the absorbing theme, everything must yield to Him, and explanations are out of place. The main themes of the book are the person of Christ, His priesthood and sacrifice, and the place into which He has introduced His people. Everything is measured by these standards, and loyalty to Him is the crucial test for all that would claim attention. In these closing days of the Church's history, where there is a strong tendency back into that which apes Judaism, a carnal religion without divine power, and where the person of our Lord is lightly esteemed, if not absolutely degraded, it is to be hoped that this little book will serve to call back the thoughts of His people to One who is worthy of all their attention, allegiance, and worship. May the Lord graciously use it solely to the glory of His own peerless Name! S. Ridout. Contents Lecture 1. The Son of God in His Supremacy — Hebrews 1 — 2:4. Lecture 2. The Son in His Humiliation — Hebrews 2:5-18. Lecture 3. God's House and God's Rest — Hebrews 3 — 4:10. Lecture 4. The Heavenly Priest — Hebrews 4:11 — 5:10. Lecture 5. Apostasy; or, The Strong Consolation — Hebrews 5:11 — 6. Lecture 6. The Everlasting Priesthood — Hebrews 7. Lecture 7. The Better Ministry and the New Covenant — Hebrews 8. Lecture 8. The Priest and His Sacrifice — Hebrews 9:1-15. Lecture 9. The Finished Work — Hebrews 9:16-28. Lecture 10. The Sanctified and their Worship — Hebrews 10:1-25. Lecture 11. Holding Fast — Hebrews 10:26-39. Lecture 12. The Many Witnesses and their Walk of Faith — Hebrews 11:1-10. Lecture 13. The Many Witnesses, etc. — Continued — Hebrews 11:11-40. Lecture 14. Girded for the Race — Hebrews 12. Lecture 15. The Continuing City — Outside the Camp — Hebrews 13. Lecture 16. The Glories of Christ traced throughout the Epistle. Links:  https://www.hiawathabible.org/youtube-playlist-index-page  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZlTAw2GgUjORoe9BHi46qXDwl9QdHB-N

On Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded Podcast. Lectures on the Epistle to the Hebrews by Samuel Ridout. Prefatory Note There is no introduction to the Epistle to the Hebrews, and little need for any preface here. Where Christ is the absorbing theme, everything must yield to Him, and explanations are out of place. The main themes of the book are the person of Christ, His priesthood and sacrifice, and the place into which He has introduced His people. Everything is measured by these standards, and loyalty to Him is the crucial test for all that would claim attention. In these closing days of the Church's history, where there is a strong tendency back into that which apes Judaism, a carnal religion without divine power, and where the person of our Lord is lightly esteemed, if not absolutely degraded, it is to be hoped that this little book will serve to call back the thoughts of His people to One who is worthy of all their attention, allegiance, and worship. May the Lord graciously use it solely to the glory of His own peerless Name! S. Ridout. Contents Lecture 1. The Son of God in His Supremacy — Hebrews 1 — 2:4. Lecture 2. The Son in His Humiliation — Hebrews 2:5-18. Lecture 3. God's House and God's Rest — Hebrews 3 — 4:10. Lecture 4. The Heavenly Priest — Hebrews 4:11 — 5:10. Lecture 5. Apostasy; or, The Strong Consolation — Hebrews 5:11 — 6. Lecture 6. The Everlasting Priesthood — Hebrews 7. Lecture 7. The Better Ministry and the New Covenant — Hebrews 8. Lecture 8. The Priest and His Sacrifice — Hebrews 9:1-15. Lecture 9. The Finished Work — Hebrews 9:16-28. Lecture 10. The Sanctified and their Worship — Hebrews 10:1-25. Lecture 11. Holding Fast — Hebrews 10:26-39. Lecture 12. The Many Witnesses and their Walk of Faith — Hebrews 11:1-10. Lecture 13. The Many Witnesses, etc. — Continued — Hebrews 11:11-40. Lecture 14. Girded for the Race — Hebrews 12. Lecture 15. The Continuing City — Outside the Camp — Hebrews 13. Lecture 16. The Glories of Christ traced throughout the Epistle. Links:  https://www.hiawathabible.org/youtube-playlist-index-page  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZlTAw2GgUjORoe9BHi46qXDwl9QdHB-N

The Final Gospel From The Beginning By Tammy Lacock “Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.” (Romans 16:25 KJV)This week, Warren Litzman focuses on Romans 16:25 to demonstrate the intimate relationship between Jesus and Paul. Where Christ left off, He commissioned Paul to pick up and give us a new gospel, the true and final gospel for believers today. Paul tells us his gospel, although new to us, was actually God's original gospel kept hidden since the world began. Christ finally revealed this “mystery” gospel to Paul, and Paul shares it with us throughout his epistles. “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” (Ephesians 1:4 KJV)Paul's gospel is this: Every single human being was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. As believers, by Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, we too have died to our old lives—our sin natures passed down through Adam by the curse of Satan. We have also been buried, and we arose with Christ to a brand-new life in Him. Our new life is Christ now living in every believer, literally. We are joined to Him in our spirits (2 Corinthians 5:17). We are in Him and He in us, never to leave us nor forsake us.Christ chose Paul to deliver this final gospel because He knew Paul was the only man who had what it takes to step into the religious, law-bound world and preach grace. The problem Paul dealt with during his time, and is still a problem today in the church, is that there was a commingling of gospels. He tells us in 2 Timothy 2:15 (and to Israel in Hebrews 4:12) that we must rightly divide the word of truth. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV)Here, Paul is saying we must rightly divide God's Word by separating the gospels. The Kingdom gospel—salvation by law and works, preached by Christ while on earth and continued through the preaching of His disciples—is no longer the gospel. The first Pentecostal church received the Holy Spirit but retained Judaic law as its method of worship. They had no understanding of what really happened at the cross. Christ, Himself, led Paul to go and preach a new gospel, that of salvation by God's grace through His Son Jesus Christ. There was to be no commingling of grace and law. He makes it very clear that we are no longer saved by our works. We are saved by grace alone. Israel rejected this gospel, and so Christ told Paul to take it to the Gentiles—that is everyone else—where it was widely accepted. By just believing in Christ as our Savior we are saved. The early church led by Peter and the disciples wrestled with Paul's gospel because they knew Christ in the flesh, and they knew what He had told them to do, to go forward and preach that anyone who believes in Christ as their Savior is saved. Yet they commingled grace and law by preaching that one must obey the law to remain saved. The relationship between Jesus and Paul is a glorious love affair, for which Paul gladly suffered unto death. Nothing and no one could stand in the way of his desire to spread the gospel of grace given to him by Christ Himself. He wanted nothing more than for everyone to know Christ and to fall in love with Him too.

When Christ appears, we shall appear with Him. When a Christian dies, your body dies, but YOU are not dead! And when the Day of Resurrection comes, we shall rise with Christ with new Resurrection bodies! Where Christ is, there we shall be. With Him! The new life that we have in Christ is a renewed one, in a new image – the Image of Christ. Christ should be in us! That's what Paul often says, “Christ in you, the hope of Glory!” The Life, the very essence of Christ – in us! When a child is born, that new life comes from father and mother – in their image! By faith, you are born of God. It's the Life of Christ in you that makes you who you now are! Paul says in Galatians 4:19, “I travail until Christ be formed in you.” You are in Christ!

Martin Luther once said, “Where Christ builds a church, there the Devil builds a chapel.” It shouldn't surprise us then that whenever Jesus stands up to speak, the Devil would try to silence or overwhelm those words. It shouldn't surprise that we have a demon-possessed man right there in church interrupting Jesus' sermon. Nor should we be surprised if the devil shows up among us. But here is the power. As we gather for worship, we gather for war. Not just out there but in here too. And each time, Jesus stands up: “Silence! Be Still.” And he must. The Devil must flee before the Word of God. A sermon on Mark 1:21-28.

Today's Reading: Table of Duties: To WivesDaily Lectionary: Ezekiel 33:1-20; Romans 3:1-18“And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?'  Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 33:10-11)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The Lord hates sin.  Scripture is clear about this.  The Lord judges sin, and the unrepentant, unbelieving souls are judged too.  But the Lord isn't like a schoolyard bully, sneaking around waiting to beat up sinners with judgment.  He Himself warns sinners to watch out, to turn, to repent.  Sometimes, when people are warned about a terrible thing that might happen, they get hopeless.  If you've heard about that algebra test, you might just think, “Well, what's the point of studying, since I can study for days and I'll still fail?”  That's what the people that Ezekiel was prophesying to said.  “How can we live?”  The Lord spoke through Ezekiel to call them to repentance.  God wanted them to leave behind their wicked ways and live.  1 Peter 3:1-6 speaks in a similar way.  Go check it out, then come back.  Peter writes to wives that even if they are married to a nonbeliever, they prophesied in their actions to the truth of God's mercy.  Peter writes to women who were married and then became Christians.  They weren't to divorce their husbands, but to continue being married to them, submitting to them in love even though the men weren't Christians.  These faithful wives, adorned with a gentle and quiet spirit, might win their husbands to the Christian faith.  But these words apply to you if you're not married, and even if you're not a woman.  The quiet and gentle spirit of faith testifies as a watchman, giving the hope of Jesus Christ to believers and unbelievers alike.You are full of hope because Jesus Christ has died and risen for you.  He submitted in quietness and gentleness to death so that you won't die.  Because He lives, you also will live.  He has won you to faith in Him.  You are part of the Church, the bride of Christ.  There is no hopelessness for you.  The Lord has turned you from the wickedness of unbelief so that you have everlasting life with Him. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Come, join in Cana's feast,  Where Christ is honored guest. He welcomes all who come to taste,The wine His hands have blessed. (Lutheran Service Book 408, stanza 1)-Pastor Peter W. Ill is Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church, Millstadt, Illinois..Audio Reflections Speaker: Patrick Sturdivant, Development and Marketing Executive at Higher Things.Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.

Immanuel. God With Us! Christ’s Incarnation. Where Christ’s Divinity and Christ’s Humanity collide. When God the Son put on flesh and became human to be WITH us! Check out more from Fathom Church here.

Key Verses:Galatians 3:26-28; Ephesians 4:3As we ponder these verses, we think about the exact opposites that Paul is referring to: Jews and Greeks, slave and free, male and female. The one common denominator between what would be groupings of people who seemed very opposite is Jesus. When we encounter Jesus, we join His diverse family.When we think about unity, we remember that for there to be a need for unity, there is a fight from the enemy for division. Where Christ loves multiplication, Satan sure does love division. The enemy wants us to see and focus on all our differences to separate us from each other and ultimately from God's best. For us to wear the hat of unifier, we must first recognize that Jesus calls us to unity and that Satan is going to do everything in his power to ruin it.What Emma covers in this episode:1. Unity Versus Uniformity2. Eliminating Barriers3. Unified with Christ before OthersCall to Action: -How can you be a unifier this week?-Who is a group or a person who you have outcasted or pushed away from Christ?-How can you be a unifier without conforming to the ways of the world?Follow Emma: https://emmadanzey.wordpress.com/

Series: Colossians: Supreme!Title: “How to keep good things from becoming God things”Scripture: Colossians 3:1-4(Commentary helps listed at the end)Bottom line: We keep good things from becoming God things when we set our hearts and minds on things above—where Christ sits. That is when we live in light of eternity.Opening story:This week we move from warnings (we had 4 last week) to coaching. Paul is coaching them in the direction that they should go.Many of us had a coach growing up who was influential in our life. Through sport (or dance or some other extracurricular activity) we learned not only that sport but discipline, people skills, emotional skills and in some cases spiritual wisdom.As a coach for our high school ultimate team, I'm now learning things from the other side of this relationship. One thing I know: coaching is essential for growing up into maturity. This is true in every area of life—not just the spiritual.I've actually hired my first coach. I've had coaching in ministry before, but I've never actually hired someone to help me assess, diagnose, evaluate, strategize, and be held accountable to work through the things God is calling me to do. It's humbling because you have to face your current reality with someone with nothing to lose in being totally honest with you. But it's encouraging because that's exactly what we need in life.Parents, you're not just a disciplinarian. You're a coach too (among other things). You are there to teach, rebuke, correct and train in righteousness along with many other practical things in life. Do not take this lightly. And never stop learning. Leaders are learners. When we quit learning, we quit leading.So Paul coaches the Colossians, the Laodiceans, and, well, us if we're FAT Christians (F.A.T. = Faithful, Available, Teachable).And what do coaches do? They call their team to greater heights. They train and inspire. They call us from the warnings in practice to the calling for the game. They call us to victory! Paul calls us to victory in Christ, the hope of glory!But it's natural for a player to wrestle with the flesh and fight against the training and discipline and yearn for the easy road to glory and gain. This tension is what Paul aims to empower us to overcome.Paul is giving us the antidote(s) to a preoccupation withMaterialism: Wealth, possessionsNarcissism: Status, Achievements (professionally, academically, religiously)Hedonism: Sensuality, Pleasures, gratificationsA preoccupation with these good things making them God things leads to stress, anxiety, sleeplessness, depression, hopelessness, and the desire to just give up. Ever feel any of those? Well, if you have, you've made something temporary into something eternal that was never meant to be. This is a poisonous mindset. We need an antidote.The antidote to making these good things God things is orienting your whole life around Christ Jesus as your Lord and King.Outline:In light of who Christ is, what he's done and the warnings Paul has given, Paul calls/coaches the Christians in Colossae, Laodicea and beyond to:I. What should they do? Focus on Christ's priorities:Set your heart(s) (1)Feelings PassionsWillOn things aboveHeavenly agendaGod's agenda“Where Christ is” “Seated at the right hand of God” because he's your King'sSet your mind(s)—What you think about and aim for (2)On things above (see above)Not on earthly things, like:Possessions, wealthAchievementsStatusPleasures, gratificationsReligiosityII. Why do it? Because of who they are in light of Christ since they believed:Because you died with Christ (3)Crucified with Christ (CROSS)JustifiedFreed from the penalty of sinBecause you are hidden with (in) ChristConcealed (BURIED)Identifying with (BAPTIZED)Safe (Show YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/LNZ-ZBsPpgk)Because you will be glorified with ChristChrist is your lifeHe'll appear here one dayYou'll then appear there on that dayConclusionBottom line: We keep good things from becoming God things when we set our hearts and minds on things above—where Christ sits. That is when we live in light of eternity.Place our piece of paper with our name on it into our bible.The antidotes to materialism, narcissism, and hedonism is simply centering and focusing your life in Christ and his priorities. When you rest in Christ and what he's doing, you'llServe others instead of seek to be served.Deny yourself and give instead of pursuing wealth at all costs.Live simply and give the rest away.And you'll do all of this in Christ's name and by his power for his glory.And when he appears here you'll appear there with him hearing, “Well done my good and faithful servant. Enter into your glory.”PrayLord's Supper, 1 Corinthians 11:17-32OtherPace Outline: Title: Our faith in Christ raises us to new life (3:1-4)Through our identity in and union with Christ, Jesus transforms our pursuits, perspective, and purpose in life by resetting our trajectory heavenward toward Christ Jesus. (Name on paper in the Bible illustration)I. Jesus redirects life's pursuits. (1) …from our worldly efforts for happiness to his heavenly presence in our hearts bearing the fruit of the Spirit.To redirect our pursuits requires us to recalibrate our hearts desires. How do my pursuits align with Christ's kingdom, Christ's mission, and building Christ's church?Our hearts, captivated by Christ, will more naturally help us filter and evaluate our pursuits.“Ultimately, our union with Christ should stir our affections for him and redirect our pursuits.” P. 79II. Jesus reshapes life's perspective. (2)…through the nenewing of our minds. Reshaping/renewing the mind is foundational to transformation. This is necessary for several reasons:Primarily, it “enables us to fulfill the great commission by loving God with our entire selves, including our minds.”“Also essentially because it protects us from the world's influence as the world attempts to conform our thinking to its pattern. Through the constant renewing of our minds, we can experience God's transformation in our lives (Rom 12:2).”FruitThis renewed perspective also guards our hearts and minds with God's peace as we dwell on things above.Phil 4:6-8Prov 4:23Also, by focusing on what's eternal (above), we can renew our hope in the midst of temporary afflictions/trials.2 Cor 4:16-18Rom 8:6-81 Cor 2:16Therefore, Jesus redirects our life pursuits and reshapes our life perspective as we set our hearts and minds on things above—namely Christ and his priorities.III. Jesus redefines life's purpose. (3-4) Our identity in and union with Christ also redefines our purpose. So why are we to set our hearts and minds on things above?For you (we) died andYour (our) life is hidden in Christ.The FlowEstablished past… “You (we) died” (crucified; justified; freed from penalty of sin) toThe present… “Your (our) life is hidden” (buried; sanctified; freed from the power of sin) show videohere (https://youtu.be/LNZ-ZBsPpgk) toThe future… “You (we) also will appear” (resurrected; glorified; freed from the presence of sin)“We died with Christ, we were buried with Christ, and we have been raised with Christ and therefore will appear with Christ in glory.” -D MooHow does this present reality (Identity and union with Christ) reset our trajectory towards things above (eternity):Our hidden life in Christ:Signifies our personal relationship with Christ,Affirms our security of our salvation in Christ, andCertifies our glorious inheritance with Christ.Therefore, bothOur “hidden” life in Christ, andHis indwelling “life” in us will be fully revealed when he returns “in glory” (1 John 3:2)This future fulfillment of our current identity in Christ should redefine our purpose in multiple ways:The glory of Christ's return reminds us of there temporal nature of this world and the fleeting value of it's possessions and pleasures. Therefore, we shouldn't be deceived by vain pursuit of earthly wealth, achievement, status, or gratification.The certainty of Christ's return gives us assurance that allows us to live with confidence in a world filled with uncertainty. Therefore we can endure hardships and persevere by fixing our hope on the grace and glory tha twill be revealed at the coming of Christ.The imminence of Christ's return should motivate us to live with urgency.Christ brings hope and Christ brings judgmentThereforeWe anticipate eternal union with Christ butWe work urgently to lead others to come with usThereforeWe live as ambassadors of Christ asWe rest in the comfort of our eternal future with ChristThereforeWe celebrate his presenceHere and nowHereafter, but alsoWe live as citizens of heaven full ofHopeUrgency“…we should collectively seek and set our minds on things above that we share in common with other believers. We should live with holy anticipation of Christ's return as we celebrate our new life in him and devote ourselves to the mission of seeing others liberated from the bondage of sin to inherit the eternal promises of King Jesus!” P. 82Hughes' outline: Title: “The Seeking of Things Above”I. Instructions (Coaching) regarding our fullness (1-2)Seek is present (continuous) imperative (commanded). Therefore, a continuous command.How do we seek Christ?Kind of like you should seek your future husband or wife (not just a date):Pray for opportunities to be togetherGet to know them through conversationTreat them as you wish to be treated; love as you want to be loved (lust ≠ love)Serve themBe honest with themListening >> talking, but to talk is to be vulnerable, approachable; conversation should be like tennis. Return a returnable ball. Too many people just answer the other person's question. They rarely realize it's their turn to return with a question. We have an amazing lack of interest in other people. Love inquires. Love listens. Love cares enough to inquire and listen.Write and read love lettersPray togetherMake disciples togetherAffirm God's gifts in each otherWorship togetherIntroduce them to your parents and ask for their blessing before pursuing the relationship further (both guys and gals here)II. The reasoning behind Paul's instructions (Coaching). (3-4) There are at least 2:Past…“You died…”“Life hidden…” imperfect = ongoing effects of dying/continuous dying to self because we are in Christ and Christ is in God, we are inseparable and securePaper with my name on it in the Bible = “in Christ”Christ's fullness fills our emptiness apart from ChristFuture…When he appears hereWe will appear there (in glory); We'll join him there in our new bodies Phil 3:20-21Romans 8:29-31 (not written for unbelievers)Therefore, “Let's covenant to not fix our thoughts on the material and immaterial things of this world, but to 1) pray for minds set on things above, to 2) hold the scriptures close to our hearts, to 3) reflect on our past history, and to 4) rejoice in anticipation of our future in him.” P. 299Application:Pray for minds set on things above,Hold the scriptures close to our hearts,Reflect on our past history, andRejoice in anticipation of our future in Christ.OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS:Print this and cut this out to share with your people to insert into their own bibles.———————————————————————————————————————————————————————-Name:Understanding that, as a Christian, you are “in” Christ Jesus revolutionizes how you see yourself, your self-image, your identity and how you understand your value to God.Write your name on a piece of paper. Take hold of your Bible to represent Christ. (John 1:1-18) Place the paper in the book and close it. You are in Christ. Where the book goes you go. Where the paper goes he goes. You are not part of the book, but you are now identified totally with the book.Paul uses the expression, “In Christ Jesus”, over and over again. God has taken hold of you and placed you “in Christ.” In Christ, you have received “every spiritual blessing” (Ephesians 1:3). All of the blessings, including those that the Old Testament speaks about, are yours in Christ.” -Nicky Gumbel———————————————————————————————————————————————————————-MAIN COMMENTARY HELP:Exalting Jesus in Colossians by Scott PacePreaching the Word: Philippians, Colossians and Philemon commentary by R. Kent HughesESV Global Study BibleBible in One Year by Nicky GumbelBible Knowledge CommentaryThe Outline Bible, WilmingtonPaul for Everyone, The Prison Letters, NT Wright's commentary on Philippians and ColossiansGospel Transformation BibleNIV Study BibleThe Bible Exposition Commentary, Warren Wiersbe

This week marks the 504th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. How did this gospel revolution unfold, how does the corruption of the Middle Ages compare to our own time, and what is the likelihood of another Reformation today? On the next JANET MEFFERD TODAY, Christian thinker and author Craig Parton joins Janet to talk about it. He is a contributor to the book, "Where Christ is Present." That and more on Tuesday's JANET MEFFERD TODAY.

This week marks the 504th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. How did this gospel revolution unfold, how does the corruption of the Middle Ages compare to our own time, and what is the likelihood of another Reformation today? On the next JANET MEFFERD TODAY, Christian thinker and author Craig Parton joins Janet to talk about it. He is a contributor to the book, "Where Christ is Present." That and more on Tuesday's JANET MEFFERD TODAY.

Deana has a series of dreams in August of 2019 that get buried over time that finds their way back to NeWinePouring.com's front page. We are running out of time! An E-C2 Navy plane in the dream crashes, that is an early warning system aircraft. (One did in fact crash a year later on the eastern seaboard.) While children our found left behind with no way to stand because their legs are not developed. We have to go in and carry them out! What is God saying through this dream of a dreamer, that has dreamed and prophesied, accurately, world events that have spanned 3 decades? Listen and let the Holy Spirit Speak! Find my fb page @NWPouring https://mewe.com/i/deanabarnes To co- labor with NWP/ RNR go to the PayPal link below. Viewers from 198 different countries have been blessed by free access to Deana's dream journal website- Where Christ is proclaimed! https://www.paypal.me/DeanaBarnes1

A back to school special! The libraries of the world cannot contain all he did and said, because why? He's still doing and saying even right now. Jesus lives! Deana shares a bit of information that has been left out of our educational systems on purpose for decades. The fact that Jesus was a real person is not a matter of faith. It's a matter of fact. Yet, some college age students describe him as a fictional character, and the Bible a fictional book. How can that be? In this podcast a few simple facts that every 5th grader should know about Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and the book that foretold of His life, death, and resurrection, centuries before Jesus was born.Find Deana Barnes page on FB @NWPouring or https://mewe.com/i/deanabarnes To co- labor with NWP/ RNR go to the PayPal link below. Viewers from 198 different countries have been blessed by free access to Deana's dream journal website- Where Christ is proclaimed! Over 20,000 have listened to her podcasts so far. Co labor in the Lord's harvest by going to https://www.paypal.me/DeanaBarnes1

Thank you for supporting this ministry, I lovingly refer to as "The Little Green Pasture." Click here: PayPal: http://paypal.me/JoanStahl Kammie Nelson's Video - "GOD" You Tube Link: https://youtu.be/Vg95zrUHIcY Please prayerfully consider becoming a ministry partner: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/joaniestahl **Contact Email: jsfieldnotes@gmail.com **Send Donations To: Joanie Stahl - P.O. Box 1386 - 205 Avenida Del Mar - San Clemente, Ca. 92672 **You can also visit and subscribe to me on Rumble: https://rumble.com/account/content?ty... Many decades ago I was facing severe trials. Reading His word was more than just reading it. I poured over it searching for something, a word that would speak to me personally. Something that I can grab onto and hold on for dear life. One day I saw the words in Psalms 16:8, "I have set the Lord always before me, because He is at my right hand therefore I shall not be moved." It was in that moment that the Holy Spirit illuminated that passage. It became more than ink and paper. Those words became "alive an active, sharper than any two-edged sword, and they became my anchor. It was as if God Himself carved those words into my heart, and to this day they remain fixed, tried and true. I did exactly what the words said. I instantly put those words to use and exercised them. I can with certainty say that I am living proof that when I had set myself to set Christ before me, I made it out alive. "Because He was and is at my right hand." David said, "because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. You see, setting God before you, is more than what we all think. David went on in that scripture saying, "Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope." There was an outcome to setting the Lord always before him. It gave him joy and deep heart gladness. His tongue rejoiced in God, and his physical body rested in hope. Because God was at His right hand and David was aware of it always. The increasing beauty of it was David began to see the eternal world and the resurrection as he aged. Further yet his eyes began to see into heavenly glory. He knew that there was a path that led there. "Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." So we see here that David was seeing the eternal spiritual highway that leads to heaven where the Lord is. Where Christ sits on the right hand of the Father. Make sure you set the Lord always before you, then you will see that He is at your right hand and you will never be moved. On earth He stands on our right hand, in heaven we will stand on his right hand. "For with thee shall I live when the stars of twilight are no more, and the heavens have vanished away and only thou remainest." ~Fredereck W. Faber --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/joanie-stahl/support

Where Christ is, there you will find freedom

THE WEEK OF CANTATE - TUESDAYLESSON: HEBREWS 10:26-31Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12Christ has come and proclaimed the truth that everything we do apart from the Holy Spirit, no matter how great it is and how lovely it appears to be, is sin. We cannot do anything good gladly and willingly without the Holy Spirit. Christ came on earth to take our place. He has taken away all our sins. As a result of this, we have received the Holy Spirit through whom we have also obtained love and the desire to do what God wants us to do.This entire work of Christ is God's free gift to us, so that we should never presume to come before God with our own works, but solely and only through Christ and His merits. Through the work of Christ, it also comes to pass that sin for us is no longer what we have done contrary to God's Law. The Law played no part at all in making us righteous and acceptable before God, because by nature we cannot do this.What then is “sin” in view of the work of Christ? It is nothing else but the rejection of the Savior and the refusal to accept Him who can remove our sins from us. Where Christ is present, there is no sin. He brings with Him the Holy Spirit, who enkindles faith in our hearts and the desire to do what is good.The world is no longer convicted or condemned because of any other sin, for Christ has destroyed all sin. In the New Covenant, however, the only thing that is sin is failure to recognize Christ and to accept Him.SL 11:868 (8-9)PRAYER: Of Your mercy and grace, O God, imbue us with such knowledge and understanding of Your wonderful love in Christ that we never allow ourselves by any deception of self-love or the devil to be withdrawn from the circle of Your grace and mercy, in Christ Jesus our Savior. Amen.Editor's note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today's sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 3:110-124.

Where Christ is you can be as well

by Mary Lindow through the Holy Spirit Today’s podcast is one that shares something that has given me a greater sense of being anchored in the Lord during these very strange and unusual times in the earth. I love it when the Lord speaks to us in his word, or from other people speaking into our lives and also through dreams or visions. Now, what I’m about to share with you is a significant dream that I had not too many nights ago. I know that the dream was from the Lord because it spoke to the things that I had been praying about and asking the Lord to give me confirmation over, as well as insights to these prayers.  If you will research the word of God you will see how the Lord has used dreams and spoken to people through dreams and visions, and led them not only out of dangerous situations, but also spoke to them about situations that were about to take place in their lives.    Numbers 12:6 speaks about this. Listen to my words: “When there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, reveal myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams".   The dream I had was very detailed and very vivid.  I’ve had several of these in my walk with the Lord throughout the years.   The dream began with me standing on the tarmac of an airport runway walking towards an airplane where you had to climb up a tall and narrow stairway in order to enter the plane. As I was standing at the bottom of the stairway I turned around and looked behind me. Standing directly in front of me was an individual whom I recognized. She was holding two very large babies in her arms. They both were grossly oversized and their faces looked like adults. These babies were throwing temper tantrums and crying, and wanted lots of attention.  The letters PhD showed up on the forehead of this person holding the babies. She was shouting at me that I did not have time to get on the plane because we had to take care of all of these babies! I knew in my spirit in the dream that these babies represented adults who still act like children and want to have intellectualism and others with educational or intellectual abilities, tend to their every need, and, they were forever wanting attention! Behind my friend was a shoulder-high picket fence that was very worn and splintered. Behind the fence there were all kinds of people laughing and mocking and partying. Some were very enraged and were spewing out nasty words and hateful statements. This was all being directed at the people who were climbing or ascending the stairway, climbing up to a higher level to enter a jumbo jet.    I began my ascent on the steps and turned around and noticed that my friend was very angry at me for not listening to her ideas about how to handle all the troubles going on with adults, acting like children today.  I knew that I had a very tight timeframe to get up the stairs and get on the plane, so I turned around, sadly knowing that I had to put a distance between myself and the things going on behind me, and keep moving upward.   When I reached the point of entry on the plane a police woman of sorts put her arm out and said, “You cannot enter! There are only a certain amount of people allowed on this specific flight!” I very kindly told her that my husband had already boarded the plane and that we had tickets. She looked at me and said, “Yes then you may pass. You may enter.” As I stepped into the plane it looked like it had a  very simple, low stage/platform down in the front of the plane and the seating looked like an auditorium with spacious seating. There was a single door on the back wall of the small stage. People were milling around by their seats and quietly enjoying warm conversations in anticipation that someone important was going to be coming out and addressing them.  I then noticed that there was a dividing wall down the middle of the plane and there were people on the other side of the wall as well that were seated. I could not see my husband Steve so I spoke out loud and shouted, “Steve Lindow?”  And, I heard his voice from around the other side of the wall saying “I’m over here!” As I went around the corner I saw Steve in the very far back of the seating area where there were just two reclining type airplane seats, that were very comfortable.  When I went back to be with him I noticed that his leg was in a leg brace and a foot boot. ( In real life, Steve was actually fighting a disjointed bone in his foot at the time Id had this dream,  and had been wearing a foot boot around the house!)   Steve was smiling and had his foot propped up and looked very comfortable. As I was about to take my seat next to him, an individual in a professional pilot’s type of airline suit came up to us and told us that there were two special seats for us behind us, in an alcove. I noticed on the hat that he wore was the word STEWARD in capital letters. This individual was very kind and helpful and made sure that we were “guided” to the alcove where two very comfortable extra wide padded luxury seats were located. As I sat down in this amazing chair, I look to the left of me and on the wall there was an affixed sign that said “Prayer Room”. In the dream I said out loud, “Wow! I have never seen a prayer room on an airplane before!” The steward stood there and smiled at me and nodded his head knowingly. I had a feeling that this was the Lord helping us and Stewarding us, helping  to get us settled and was ministering to us as we positioned ourselves for the flight we were just about to take.  Just before this individual left us, he leaned over and winked at us and said, “Buckle up!” At that point in the dream we were made aware that we were going to need to have the seatbelts on in order to endure the intensity of the flight.   I woke up and after this dream I knew that I’d heard something from the Holy Spirit, very important for the times that we are in. As I began to pray and search the Scriptures the Lord unpacked the dream for me.    The tarmac represented the earthly road that we walk on every day.  People travel back-and-forth in the earth and on the earth every day. As I was approaching the stairway to go up and ascend into the jumbo jet, there were distractions and conversations going on that were trying to get me to change my decision in order to follow what would look like common sense, intellectual advice, or following the narrative of angry people, or feeling humiliated by people who had mocking spirits.  Since Steve and I have also been involved in much pastoral counseling the past five years, one thing that stood out strongly in the vision/dream was that the PhD written across the forehead of the woman, stood for trying to solve things or trying to attain helping people, through discourse of the mind or using humanism and coping mechanisms to help tame the soul.    The two large babies that had the faces of adults that were throwing temper tantrums, speaks very strongly of many believers who refuse to grow up into mature adults in the Lord and refuse to become responsible for their own choices and actions, and instead throw temper tantrums and cry and scream, and blame everyone else for their immaturity or reoccurring problems.  This is also a common narrative in the world right now that is causing great division among people groups as well as the push for verbal abuse and the ability to character assassinate. I knew that I had to turn my back on everything that was causing me to be distracted or overwhelmed, as well as walk away from dependance on anything that clinical or educational pursuits that might be allowed to cloud my ability to ascend higher in the Lord. I knew that this stairway that I was going up to get into the jumbo jet, was very steep and it was very narrow and that I had to focus on climbing.   In Matthew 7:13-14 it says, “There are two paths before you; you may take only one path.  One doorway is narrow. And one door is wide.  Go through the narrow door.  For the wide door leads to a wide path, and the wide path is broad; the wide, broad path is easy, and the wide, broad, easy path has many, many people on it; but the wide, broad, easy, crowded path leads to death. Now then that narrow door leads to a narrow road that in turn leads to life. It is hard to find that road. Not many people manage it."   The police woman at theentry door onto the plane I believe, was an example of the protection of the Lord using a discernment factor as to who you allow to travel with you in this next phase of your walk with the Lord, as well as the kind of relationships and fellowship that will be forming in the days ahead.   I was allowed to pass and enter because Steve and I had already agreed that we we’re going to travel together and be in agreement as a couple, to obey and follow the path that God was leading us on, even if we knew it would be hard.   There was an atmosphere of anticipation among everyone that was milling around and standing by their seats before the flight took off. Again, the platform was just a simple stage with one door in the center. It seemed as if someone was going to step out and address everyone once the flight took off, but everyone was at peace knowing that this was a very important announcement… … but that there was a specific timing for it.   As I called out for Steve to locate him and he called me and I went around the wall and began to move towards where he was sitting, I was aware of a very sweet presence and atmosphere of holiness and reverence. We were seated in the back but no one at all felt like they had any kind of priority seating or notoriety. All of the seats were very plush and comfortable for everyone, in order to make the trip bearable during its time of flight.   The Lord then began to speak to me about Steve’s leg boot and knee brace that he was wearing in the dream.  He showed me that so many in the Body of Christ are in a time of being called up into a higher place with the Lord, and that during this difficult and pressure filled time in the earth right now, people have felt “hobbled” and as if they are unable to move about freely and travel and function in jobs or pursuits as they had in the past, and weren’t able to freely do things in missionary work or evangelical work during the restrictions that have been placed on them.  The Lord very sweetly let me know that HE is stewarding this time.  Remember the man with a hat that said “STEWARD” on it?    During this time that we are all experiencing the great discomforts of being either isolated or locked down or hindered, (and most all of us are very aware that the pressure has been intense for so many and it has immobilized so many people), the Lord is sending us help and he is wanting us to steward this time wisely and use it for the purpose of coming into a bigger place, a broader expanse of the understanding of “ascending higher” into a place of relationship with him. Ephesians 2:6 says, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him  in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” As the steward gently guided us over to the alcove to the two extra plush extra comfortable reclining seats  that were prepared for us, (we were being SEATED With Him In Heavenly Realms) the Lord showed me that when he moves us into a different place or when he is causing us to travel into a new location or a place with him, he puts us under the shadow of his wing and protects us, and shields us while we are in that time of transition and change. And, as I saw the sign positioned  on the wall that said  Prayer Room, and even spoke out-loud In the dream saying, “Wow! I’ve never seen a prayer room on a plane before”, it was if the Holy Spirit was saying to me, “When I move you into a new place of transition, even if you feel hobbled or you feel restrained or restricted, this is because I am drawing you into a place or a new 'plain' of prayer”.  He wants us to understand that we are seated with Christ in heavenly places, and that, that ascended place of intercession in prayer, is a place where the strongholds and warfare are viewed from the pure wisdom of God’s view and God’s understanding.   Colossians 3:1 says, ---- >“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ,  ---- > Set your hearts on things above, ---- > Where Christ is,  ---- > Seated at the right hand of God.”   Now Remember, we were on a jumbo jet with only selected people who were allowed to be on that flight, waiting for instructions from someone that was going to come through a single door on a platform.  I believe that those on the plane represented a fresh unity and equal playing field in the Body of Christ. Everyone had a place to sit and a place to comfortably spread out, and yet there was no title or competition for position or notoriety or elite seating. Everyone was waiting to be told to take their seats and were anticipating this unique flight, and, waiting for instructions from the person who would come through the door.   Now! The last part of the dream was very significant.  When Steve and I had gotten over the surprise at the extremely comfortable and roomy seats that we were given in the prayer alcove, I was impressed to remember the steward that stood by quietly and was smiling, but was very much a professional in his uniform.  REMEMBER. He leaned over and winked at us and said “buckle up”! Now, This was said kindly and the wink was in a sense of being humorous, but when he said it, it was as if we were being told, “you need to make sure you are ready for what you are about to experience in prayer on this next journey”. After much meditation and praying and dialoguing with Steve and a few other individuals in ministry that I respect, I feel that this dream is an indicator to the Body of Christ to leave behind the things that so easily trip us up and to also allow ourselves, to be separated from the things that  the world has to offer us, or, the things that the world is throwing at us to mock what we believe in Christ as truth.    We are to no longer lean upon our own understanding, our own intellect, or our own intellectual assumptions about giftings and callings. We are to quickly climb and ascend with Christ at this time as the path narrows, and gather among those that God has assigned us to be in unity with, in prayer.   This is a time of the Holy Spirit drawing us into an atmosphere of reverence, and it may feel a little cloistered and compressed for a while as if being hobbled, but it is in fact a place of being called to come up higher into the things of the Spirit of God. As we hide under the shadow of his wings and we intercede and we pray in the spirit and wait upon the Lord and steward this time, we are being prepared and kept safe, as we buckle up for some of the turbulence in the days ahead.    Whoever was about to step out on the platform in the front of the plane, was someone of great significance which I believe was the Lord Himself giving Divine instructions and fresh commissioning to those who were selected to be on this flight.  They came from all walks of life, all ethnic backgrounds and had one thing in common.  They wanted to walk in unity and in a deeper level of the knowledge and wisdom of God.   Psalm 133:1 says, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!”   My friends, with the world in absolute upheaval and so many shocking events taking place so rapidly, many believers have asked themselves how could they have missed what was coming, or how could they have not seen things more clearly or sooner!  Understand this, evil has always been just one breath away in the earth.  It just puts on different forms and personalities and masks in order to trick people, or to deceive them into solving problems through intellectualism, through scientific projections and theories, and also through religious structures that prohibit freedom in Christ for all.    Remember that Satan goes around “like” a roaring lion seeking... ...whom he “may” devour.    Most people are devoured by looking to news articles and trending narratives in order to make sense of chaos or to make sense of experiences that they are having.   We as believers are being called to “ascend into a place of great fellowship with the Lord”. That’s going to cost us something. It’s going to cost us our reputations at times, it’s going to cost us relationships. It’s going to cost us financially and it’s going to cost us, how much time we spend entertaining ourselves.    I have seen many believers put on a new form of “self protective rigidity in their faith” actually shunning or distancing themselves from anyone who does not meet their standard of structure or approach to serving Christ. This is actually a form of secret pride in thinking personal holiness and personal reverence is allowed to be selective. I would like to say that when you are desperate enough to serve the Lord at all costs, you don’t have a whole lot of time to pigeonhole people. If you find yourself discriminating against someone who isn’t as zealous as you are, or who tends to be a verbal processor, or perhaps even someone who is very stoic, most likely you will be hindered from being allowed to enter this new plain and place of travel with the Lord.   I like how the Passion translation addresses this in John 7:24. “Stop judging based on the superficial.  First you must embrace the standards of mercy and truth.”   The Lord is looking for unity, he is looking for like mindedness, he’s looking for humility and an anticipation of being able to speak and direct his people in the up-and-coming fresh move of his power in the earth among mankind.    One thing I know for sure, the Lord is looking for vessels who know how to honor and respect as well as fear the Lord. Those who reverence Him, and in doing so, reverence those that God has placed in their lives to form a bond of unity with, no matter how unique and different each individual is. The Body of Christ has always been encouraged and challenged by the Holy Spirit to come up higher to hear what the Spirit of the Lord is saying to the churches. (Revelation 3:22 )  So, if the Spirit of the Lord is speaking to us to come up higher and has something to tell us, then the Spirit of the Lord is also telling us, there are things that we will need to be saying and speaking after we receive instructions about them.  These instructions can only be pure and concise after we have spent time in intercession, in the prayer room, in an alcove seated with Christ in heavenly places.  We need to “buckle up” and prepare in prayer for the things God is about to lay out to us in instructions, but we also have to understand that there will be warfare and discouragement and accusations that will come during this time of being secluded and called to prayer.    Satan does not give up ground easily...  …and, if you will recall when Jesus was in the wilderness, he was being sent by the Spirit of the Lord to be set aside for a time of prayer and fasting, and the enemy was relentless in attempting to wear him down and break him.   Jesus gave us the model to an ascended life, and what means is that we must get alone with the Father.  We get into a place of secluded intercession as we ascend to meet with him in prayer.    Life is not easy for those who choose to separate themselves and answer the upward calling of Christ.  But, life is exciting and rewarding as we serve him with our eyes fixed upon the eternal long term results.   Philippians 3:14-15 says this,  “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do:  Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,  I press on toward the goal to attain the heavenly prize…  …of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should embrace this point of view.  And if you think differently about some issue, God will reveal this to you as well."    Duplication and sharing of this writing is welcomed provided that complete source, podcast and website information for Mary Lindow is included. Thank You Copyright © 2021 " THE MESSENGER " ~Mary Lindow www.marylindow.com www.globalprayerrooms.com Mary's Podcast Site and Link Mary's Mentoring Videos Link and Site      

Deana, Crystal, and Uriah Barnes, discuss the subtle displacement of the body of Christ in our assemblies, and relevance in our meetings- in this Into The Night conference call. Called: Insurrections and Riptides. Find Deana's page on FB https://m.facebook.com/NWPouring Find my new page on MeWe, I follow back. https://mewe.com/i/deanabarnes To co- labor with NWP/ RNR go to the PayPal link below. Viewers from 198 different countries have been blessed by free access to Deana's dream journal website- Where Christ is proclaimed! https://www.paypal.me/DeanaBarnes1

THE WEEK OF EPIPHANY III - SATURDAYLESSON: 1 THESSALONIANS 2:13-16When Jesus heard him, he marveled, and said to those who followed him, Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” Matthew 8:10The words of Jesus to the centurion have caused no end of trouble to the commentators. They have raised the question whether Jesus really told the truth in these words. On the basis of these words, one would have to infer that the mother of Jesus and His apostles were inferior to this centurion.I would like to point out here that Christ is speaking of the people of Israel to whom He had preached and to whom He had come, and that His mother and apostles are really excluded because they were normally a part of His company. Nevertheless I will still stick quite simply to the words of the Lord and take them just as they read.It is not contrary to any article of the faith to believe that the faith of this centurion did not have any parallel among the apostles or even in the faith of God's mother. Where Christ's words do not conflict openly with an article of faith, we must allow them to stand just as they read, and not twist them or guide them by our expositions and interpretations, not even for the sake of a saint, or an angel, or even for God's own sake. For God's Word is the very truth above all saints and angels.SL.XI.483,13AE 76,254PRAYER: Your Word, O God, is the truth and the whole truth. Grant us, at all times, such a faith that we trust you fully in your Word and derive from it the full confidence of salvation in and through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

What is Oneness and how does it relate to unitarian Christians and Trinitarians? Dan Gill describes how he went from “wrong” to an influential website ministry. OPENING REMARKS Two ingredients that do not mix well: Theory and Essentialness.  RESOURCES YouTube: Is the Doctrine of the Trinity Essential? - William Lane Craig YouTube: Is the Trinity Essential? Response to Dr. Craig - James R. White, Alpha & Omega Ministries. James plays the above Craig video at the start.  Coke and Mentos Explosion  United Pentecostal Church International Sean Finnegan, “368 Introducing the UCA Podcast (Mark Cain)” Restitutio, September 7, 2020. UCA Membership Setup Tutorial - YouTube UCA Group Setup Tutorial - YouTube UCA Help page Joel Hemphill 21st Century Restoration - www.21stcr.org SCRIPTURES 1 Corinthians 1:10-14 - Divisions based on favoring personalities. Romans 16:17 - Those who create obstacles by not teaching what the apostles taught. 1 Corinthians 4:6 - Going beyond what is written leads to being puffed up. Matthew 16:16 - The original, God-given Christological proclamation. Acts 2:38 - Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ... Colossians 3:1 - Where Christ is: seated at the right hand of God. Acts 7:56 - Stephen saw Jesus standing at God's right hand. Matthew 6:11 - Give us this day our daily bread. Philippians 1:2 - Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 10:38 - God anointed Jesus of Nazareth...God was with him. John 10:30 - I and the Father are one (person, being, in unity?). John 17:11, 21 - The believers are one like God and Jesus are one. 1 Corinthians 3:6-8 - Paul and Apollos are one (person, being, in unity?). John 10:29 - No one can take them out of my Father's hand. John 9:34 - The context of John 10:30: The rulers casting out the formerly blind man. FEEDBACK Questions, comments, or frustration? Say your first name and your state or country. "Hey, it's Austin from Boston. Thank you for..." Email podcast@unitarianchristianalliance.org Click here to RECORD A MESSAGE Or call: 615-581-1158 LISTENING TIPS If your podcast app lets you remove silences, maybe don't. You might enjoy this better with the silences left in. FOLLOW Twitter https://twitter.com/UCApodcast Parler https://parler.com/profile/UCApodcast

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Where Christ is king, the rule is love. Monterey Church (UCC) Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)

Disciple Up #160 Colossians, Pt. 6: Keep Looking Up, Col. 3:1-11 By Louie Marsh, 5-20-2020   Intro.  This is a major turning point in the book, Paul now turns to practical matters having laid the doctrinal foundational - something he does regularly in his writings.   I) GETTING SET (vs. 1-2)   1  If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Colossians 3:1-2 (ESV)   A) Raised with Christ 1                     1, raised = "co-raised" in Greek                     2, Through Christ we are in the new, resurrection, life.                     3, This sets the tone for our entire life.   B) Setting our Minds & Hearts 1-2                     1, "set your hearts" = seek with a direct reference to the orientation of the will.                               a, It's in the present tense showing a continual effort is needed.                     2, "Set your minds"= a stronger word, means using all our thoughts and will.                     3, We must continually set ourselves with everything within us!   C) On Christ Above                     1, "Where Christ is" spells out the place and character of above.                     2) The Christian and “positivity”                               a, I'm concerned because the church today is doing what's done before, borrowing from the world.                                         1, In our day, everywhere you go, you constantly hear about how vital it is to have a positive attitude!  It's an idol before the world worships daily!                               b, I'm NOT saying we should have negative attitudes - God forbid!                               c, I AM saying that for the Christian there is a reason for being positive.  We should look upwards because that's where Christ is!                     3) And for the Christian the very idea of what's positive is different from the what the world thinks!  Malcolm Murreridge quote -                               a, "It is a curious fact that today...one is called a pessimist if one ventures to express a certain contempt for the things of this world and dares to entertain the truly extraordinary hopes...that buoyed up the first Christians...I wonder whether, in the history of all the civilizations that have ever been, a more insanely optimistic notion has ever been entertained than that you and I, mortal, puny creatures, may yet aspire, with God's Grace and Christ's help, to be reborn into what St. Paul calls the glorious liberty of the Children of God."  Jesus Rediscovered, 1969, pgs 76-77   II) CHRIST OUR LIFE (vs. 3-4)   3  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4  When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Colossians 3:3-4 (ESV)   A) Two Reasons to Keep Looking Up                     1, We've died to the world                               a, died = separated                               b, We've died a spiritual death - through baptism                     2, Our New Life is hidden in Christ                               a, Perfect tense - it's hidden and will remain that way!   B) Hidden in Christ                     1, Hidden from the world - because it's spiritual                     2, Hidden even from ourselves -                               a, "The world knows neither Christ nor Christians, and Christians do not even fully know themselves." - J. A. Bengel                               b, Col. 2:3 - none of us fully understands this resurrection life.                               c, That's why we must continually set ourselves on the hidden life above.   C) Christ Our Life (vs. 4)                     1, When He appears - the secret's out!                     2, Christ is our spiritual life (zoe)                               a, The closer you get to Him the more alive you are.                               b, The farther away from Him you get - the less alive you are.                     3, We will share His glory!!                               a, Is that Grace or what??   III) OUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE OLD NATURE  (vs. 5-11)   5  Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6  On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7  In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8  But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9  Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10  and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11  Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. Colossians 3:5-11 (ESV)   A) Putting Old Things to Death 5-6                     1, We're not to kill the old nature - it's already dead! (Col. 3:3; Rom. 6:1-12)   2  By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3  Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:2-4 (ESV)                                 a, Written in aorist tense = "a decisive initial act which introduces a settled attitude."                     B, Dead = “separated” in Scripture – not nonexistent.                     2, We are to kill the things that belong to it.                               a, Like our old behavior patterns.                     3, Notice that this list of acts moves from the outward to the inward                               a, "Sexual immorality" = porneia in Gk.  Used of adultery, fornication, prostitution, and every unlawful act.  It's the word from which we get pornography.                               b, The first four words in this list all deal with sexual issues, and show us God wants, but seldom gets, purity from His people.                               c, Greed is Idolatry - another great sin of our nation.   B) Putting Off and On 6-10                     1, Paul uses this clothing metaphor to show our changed nature 22  to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23  and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24  and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24 (ESV)                       2, THIS IS A KEY CONCEPT!                               a, Don't just stop doing something bad!                               b, But substitute something good for the bad!                               c, Vacuum and straw illustration.                     3, New Nature is constantly renewed                               a, Through Knowledge - which is why we study the Word.                               b, To transform us into the image of God.   C) ALL ABOARD! (vs. 11)                     1, No prejudice in Christ!! - Gal. 3:28   28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28 (ESV)                                 a, no male/female, cultural or racial walls!                     2, The New Creation is equally open to all.                     3, So whoever you are, whatever you are, we urge you to come to Christ!

“The life we have been given is now. Where Christ will be really present is in the real present, in the now, right now, wherever and however we are. Our life will indeed come to an end, if not today, someday, maybe soon. Live today as if this were your last day. It could be.” Br. Curtis Almquist takes Saint Paul’s words and overlays them on our own Coronavirus circumstances, to find some good counsel for life together during our own conflicted time.

I. Heaven Is Real!II. Where is heaven?A. Heaven is a real place“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." John 14:1-3 NIVB. Heaven is the dwelling place of God"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ," Philippians 3:20 NIV"Jesus answered him, 'Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.'” Luke 23:43 NIVC. The Bible hints that heaven is not as far away as we might think Hebrews 12:22-24 NIV III. What is heaven like?A. God's dwelling place"From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth" Psalms 33:13-14 NIV B. Where Christ is today“'Men of Galilee,' they said, 'why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.'” Acts 1:11 NIV C. Where Christians go when they die"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far" Philippians 1:21-23 NIV D. The Father's house"My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?" John 14:2 NIV E. A city designed and built by God"For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." Hebrews 11:10 NIVF. A better country"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6 NIV G. Paradise"Jesus answered him, 'Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.'” Luke 23:43 NIV IV. Who is in heaven right now?A. God is in heavenB. The Lord Jesus"After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 'Men of Galilee,' they said, 'why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.'” ACTS 1:9-11 NIVC. The angels are in heavenD. The saints of God who died on this earth are in heaven"For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord." 2 Corinthians 5:7-8 NIV"For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me." Philippians 1:21-23 NIVV. Will we know each other in heaven?"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” I Corinthians 13:12 NIV VI. How can I be sure I am going to heaven?"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'"John 14:6 NIV"I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture." John 10:9 NASB

Where Christ-followers fear to tread, darkness takes hold. Download>> I must confess that I have been putting this entry off. It's been mostly written since 2016, Continue reading » The post #16: There But For the Grace of God appeared first on EXPATS OF EDEN.

Where Christ leads we must follow

A great light shines in Capernaum. Why? Jesus moves there. Where Christ is, there is light. Sermon on Matthew 4:12-25.

Sermon Notes • Preacher: Jeremiah Fyffe • **1. THE FORGOTTEN ONE THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH THE ATHANASIAN CREED THE WORK OF THE TRIUNE GOD THE ECONOMICS OF THE APOSTLES’ CREED** And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal. And yet they are not three eternals but one eternal. As also there are not three uncreated nor three incomprehensible, but one uncreated and one incomprehensible. So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty. And yet they are not three almighties, but one almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; And yet they are not three Gods, but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit is Lord; And yet they are not three Lords but one Lord. John 16:13–15 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. Hebrews 9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God Ephesians 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, Romans 8:14–16 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, Romans 8:1–4 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Titus 3:4–6 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, Romans 8:11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. Titus 3:7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. A. W. Tozer The Christian doctrine of the Trinity boldly declares the equality of the Three Persons and the right of the Holy Spirit to be worshiped and glorified. Anything less than this is something less than Trinitarianism. Charles Spurgeon Now, if you wanted to praise Jesus Christ tonight, what would you have to do? Why, you would only have to speak of Him as He is—holy, blessed, glorious! A. W. Tozer And let us remember that He is drawn to the sweet name of Jesus as bees are drawn to the fragrance of clover. Where Christ is honored the Spirit is sure to feel welcome; where Christ is glorified He will move about freely, pleased and at home.

Song: Lift Up Your HeadsText: Isaiah 35Click HERE to listen to and download the new album "Advent"Hello and welcome to episode #3 of the Anno Domini Podcast. A podcast dedicated to the supremacy of Christ over all things including our days, weeks, and months.Join me as we explore how Christ is revealed through the cyclical life of the church calendar year. We’ll discover how this calendar once structured culture and how it can again. We’ll also discuss practical ways to observe and celebrate these holy days in our quest to glorify God and live the good life in the midst of all good He has given us. Welcome back to week 3 of our year-long journey of following the liturgical church calendar. My name is Joe Stout and I will be your host today. My wife and I and our 7 children decided to spend a year following the liturgical calendar. Since the church new year started on Dec. 1st 2019 with the First Sunday of Advent we are now at the Third Sunday of Advent which is sometime called GOW Day Tay Sunday which I will explain my understanding of later. This day should be marked with Joy and Rejoicing. We have much to rejoice over because the King of Kings is drawing near, the Savior of the World is here. So take joy dear Christians, Christ has overcome the darkness. Just a quick housekeeping note that Christians are called to keep one holy day only and that is the weekly Lord’s day. These days, weeks, and seasons of celebration are merely intended as a way of worshipping God with our entire being and provide communal focus to our lives as one body in Christ. We worship together, rejoice together, weep together…the Church calendar provides an opportunity for this and nothing more. This is the new covenant and if celebrating Christmas or Easter or Lent afflicts your conscience then by all means abstain. We all get to spend eternity together celebrating whichever way you choose. This podcast is divided into four parts. We start with practical ways to celebrate the holiday. We then move on to a biblical portion connected to the celebrated day chosen from the Lectionary, (see podcast #2 if you would like more information on the Lectionary). Our third section looks into historic ways in which the Church and our forefather’s have followed the calendar and the tools, traditions, and insight that has sprung from that. We finish the podcast with an in depth look at an ancient hymn that can be tied to the holiday.Let’s get started. PracticalOn the practical side of Advent celebrations I’ve got to say that celebrating holidays is a ton of work. When we look at the plethora of ways the Jews angered Yahweh in the old testament we often see a refusal to celebrate his commanded feast days at the forefront. In other words, God told His people to rest or party or somehow tried to bless them by giving them good works to do, they complained, corrupted the work, or simply ignored the feast day all together. While I certainly don’t want to condone their sin, I can also understand why not resting or celebrating is tempting. There is usually a lot of preparation that goes into the feast or celebration. This can make it hard to want to obey because what we think of as a blessing is usually self centered. We want peace and quiet, we want to veg out, we want to do our own thing and not be hindered by intentionally resting. We can sometimes conflate resting and relaxing. While they seem similar they can reveal themselves to be very different in their acts. Relaxing is like taking a long shower or sitting in a hot tub. It requires nothing from you and only offers benefits. Resting on the other hand usually requires discipline. The Jews understood this as they set aside the Friday before Saturday as the Day of Preparation. They were preparing for rest that paradoxically required work to achieve. This is not unlike our own journey of faith. We are accepted by God through the blood of Christ and we respond to this acceptance with faith. This faith results in good works. Lots of them. Good works that God has planned out long before the world began. These good works culminate when our temporal life ends and our eternal life begins which is referred to as “entering His rest.”So what is the difference between relaxing and rest? One requires nothing, the other requires work and obedience to something outside your own desires. With all that in mind our family of 9 found our celebrations of Advent while encouraging also not for the faint of heart. Celebrating the liturgical calendar should not be thought of in merely a romanticized way. In other words, celebrating is work in a way and should not be only done when it feels nostalgic or postcard-esque. We continued our nightly celebrations by turning out the lights and then marking some way in which our own lives are dark without Jesus. We are constantly reminded of the victory of the gospel as each night another candle is lit and the darkness flees a little more as we approach the birth of our Lord. BiblicalThe lectionary passages this week are Isaiah 35 which we will be discussing. Our psalm will be 146, our epistle will come from James 5:7–11, and our gospel reading is found in Matt. 11:2–15. In keeping with the theme of the last two weeks we will look at the passage from Isaiah 35. Let’s read it now, remember this is the very word of God.Isaiah 35The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;it shall blossom abundantlyand rejoice with joy and singing.The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.They shall see the glory of the Lord,the majesty of our God.Strengthen the weak hands,and make firm the feeble knees.Say to those who have an anxious heart,“Be strong; fear not!Behold, your Godwill come with vengeance,with the recompense of God.He will come and save you.”Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,and the ears of the deaf unstopped;then shall the lame man leap like a deer,and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.For waters break forth in the wilderness,and streams in the desert;the burning sand shall become a pool,and the thirsty ground springs of water;in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down,the grass shall become reeds and rushes.And a highway shall be there,and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;the unclean shall not pass over it.It shall belong to those who walk on the way;even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.No lion shall be there,nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;they shall not be found there,but the redeemed shall walk there.And the ransomed of the Lord shall returnand come to Zion with singing;everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;they shall obtain gladness and joy,and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.In Chapter 34, Isaiah has been prophesying some pretty grim destruction on the people and the land of Edom. But now in Chapter 35 and new hope is foretold. It is promised that the wilderness will no longer be in sorrow but will be glad and shall blossom and rejoice with joy and singing. The ground, cursed not only by the Edomites but by the sin of Adam will begin to reverse with the coming of the King. Just as the Christmas carol promised “no more let sin or sorrow grow or thorns infest the ground. He comes to make His blessing known far as the curse is found.”Verses 3 through 6 speak of the work that will be done in that day. Weak hands will be made strong, knees that are shaking will be made firm, anxious hearts are calmed, blind eyes are opened, deaf ears are unstopped, lame men will go about leaping, and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy. Does this remind us of anyone in particular? Was there perhaps a new Adam who was both fully God and fully man who set about on earth with this work in mind? A mind to accomplish what the first Adam could not? You see the first Adam plunged the garden into wilderness and His rebellion cursed the ground. The second Adam watered the wilderness and made it bloom once again. On the day of His resurrection, When Mary, seeing Jesus, assumes Him to be the gardener. She wasn’t wrong at all. Christ is the true Gardener the one who is making the wilderness bloom again. This passage ends with the promise that the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing and that everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. We are promised that these ransomed will obtain gladness and joy because the sorrow and sighing that was previously a part of their life will flee away. This Joy is both something in our hearts that we experience and it is the Savior of the World, Christ. HistoricalAs I alluded too in the opening of the show the 3rd Sunday of Advent is regarded somewhat differently that the first, second, or fourth. As a church we have called this day Gaudete (GOW day tay) Sunday because the historic passage read publicly during this day of worship has always been Philippians 4:4-6 which begins with Rejoice in the Lord always. The ecclesiastical latin word for Rejoice is Gaudete and therefore the theme surrounding this day is one of rejoicing. Interestingly the gospel reading shows John discouraged or perplexed in prison sending word via his disciples to Christ asking if He was the one promised. Jesus responds encouragingly that the words of Isaiah are being fulfilled. By extension we can say that he was building up the broken hearted. Building them up with what? Joy of course. MusicalOne note before we jump into this weeks hymn is that I am getting this podcast up very late in the week because I’ve spent an enormous amount of time getting the album that will contain all of the songs we’ve been discussing and that we will discuss in coming weeks finished and released. Well the good news is that it has been released to all the major streaming services such as Spotify and iTunes and should be available on those platforms in the next few days. If you would like to listen to and download it now, I also have it available for free on my bandcamp profile page. I will have a link in the show notes that directs you to the music. There are six songs in all two of which were highlighted in episodes 1 and 2 and 4 additional songs as of yet unheard. I hope you are blessed by them and I will be glad to get a break from working on them now that they are finished.Okay back to the topic at hand. The last two weeks we’ve examined ancient hymn from the 4th century. This week we are going to jump ahead over a 1000 years to a german hymn written in 1642 by Georg Weissel. The translated title of the hymn is “Lift up Your Heads” and while originally in German, was translated by the very prolific hymn translator Catherine Winkworth in 1855. Let’s get a look at the words.Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates,Behold the King of glory waits;The King of kings is drawing near,The Savior of the world is here;Life and salvation He will bring,Wherefore rejoice and gladly sing:We praise Thee, Father, now!Creator, wise art ThouThe Lord is just, a helper tried,Mercy is ever at His side,His kingly crown is holiness,His scepter, pity in distress,The end of all our woe He brings;Wherefore the earth is glad and sings:We praise Thee, Savior, now,Mighty in deed art Thou!Oh blest the land, the city blest,Where Christ the ruler is confessed!Oh happy hearts and happy homesTo whom this king of glory comes!The cloudless sun of joy He is,Who bringeth pure delight and bliss:O Comforter divine,What boundless grace is Thine!Redeemer, come! I open wideMy heart to Thee—here, Lord, abide!Let me Thy inner presence feel,Thy grace and love in me reveal,Thy Holy Spirit guide us onUntil our glorious goal is won!Eternal praise and fameWe offer to Thy name.This hymn is set around Psalm 24 which describes that the earth and everything in it belongs to God and so we should be reading for the coming of the King of Glory. We sing that the Savior of the World is here. What a wonderful thought, God set out to save His elect but that elect includes eventually, all of creation. No not everyone will be saved. Many will reject Him but many more will come to Him and unto salvation. With this salvation and life that He brings, and with the keeping of the theme of this Lord’s Day we remember to REJOICE and sing with gladness for God is indeed wise. An oft used device in hymns writing is to conclude the song with a doxology to the Triune nature of God. This hymn takes a different approach and focuses the first 3 verses on the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit respectively. This first verse focused our praises on the Father.The second verse, focused on the work of the son, describes Jesus as just and a helper. Mercy is at His side and He wears a crown of holiness and yet carries a scepter of pity or compassion for those who are in distress. He ends our woe and so the earth is glad and sings! Therefore we praise Him our savior who is mighty in deed.Verse 3 begins by affirming the promise that the land and the city will be blessed where Christ is confessed as ruler. Oh how we need the reigning presence of Christ in our country and in the hearts of our rulers. I often hear Christians take the very secular argument that Christianity is a private relationship with Christ and therefore shouldn’t be brought into the public square. I couldn’t disagree more. Without Christ, our rulers have been driven insane by their own degeneracy with every imaginable lust of the heart and flesh. Without Christ as King our civic life can only exist for a time and then will come judgement. Happy hearts and happy homes are the vision for those to whom the King of glory comes and is received with Joy. The Holy Spirit of Christ is the cloudless sun that brings pure delight and bliss. Therefore we praise the Holy Spirit, here called the Comforter Divine for the boundless grace He bestows.When I first played this song for Elizabeth, she was surprised by verse 4 as it sounds much more Evangelical than the previous 3 verses or any of the other songs we will be discussing. It focuses on the heart of the believer which is a very common theme in modern music. We sing asking the redeemer to come and abide in our heart. We ask that we might be able to feel his presence and to have His love in us revealed. We ask the Holy Spirit to guide us in our glorious goal of glorifying and praising Him during this earthly life and we promise our praise and fame to Him. Now shifting to sing to God about ourselves is certainly not bad. The psalms do it all the time and we shouldn’t be afraid to sing about us to God. However, I think it becomes an issue when the main focus of most of our worship is on us. Our devotion to God, our faithfulness, our feelings, our needs, our wants. These are important but need to be put in their proper place. In verse 4 after we have spent 3 verses giving God the glory due His name.And with that I will go ahead and finish up by playing a new version of the nearly 400 year old hymn Lift Up Your Heads. Again don’t forget this is track 3 of the new album called Advent. You can go to the podcast website annodominipodcast.com and find a link to the album there or just check your favorite streaming service in the next few days and it should show up there as well.I hope everyone has a Joyful 3rd Sunday of Advent and I will see you all next week.

Summary: In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Holy Scripture compares the Christian life to a runner running, an athlete training, and a fighter fighting. It's easy to read the text with a performance-based-mindset and say, great, if this is how I need to succeed in my Christian life, I'll do whatever it takes to earn my salvation. But Jesus offers us rest and a race. There's a way to run restfully and joyfully. Since Jesus ran his race to the cross with joy, now we can run our race with joy as well.Transcript:This media has been made available by Mosaic Boston Church. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston and our neighborhood churches, or donate to this ministry please visit MosaicBoston.com.Good morning, welcome to Mosaic church my name is Jan. I'm one of the pastors here at Mosaic along with Shane Sikkema. And if you're new or if you're visiting welcome. We're so glad you're here. And if you'd like to connect with us we'd like to connect with you, no pressure. We do that officially through the connection card and the worship guide if you filled it out legibly. You can either toss it into the offering basket afterwards or my recommendation you redeem it at the welcome center for a little gift that we have lovingly prepared for you. With that said would you please pray with me over the preaching of God's Holy Word.Heavenly Father we thank you that you are a God who wants to see us succeed. You are a God who says that you have come to give us life and life to the full. And I pray Lord Jesus that you today show us that you are Christus Victor, you are the God of all victory. You triumphed over Satan, sin and death. Therefore, we can now live lives of victory, victorious lives running with you on mission, on the mission that you have for us, running in our lane not driven by pride or fear, but led, fueled by love and joy given to us through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.We pray Holy Spirit come into this space now, convict us of sin where there is sin, perhaps sin of complacency, perhaps sin of coasting in our faith, trying to get by on cruise control and that's when the enemy takes us out. I pray today show us Lord that you have a mission for us that you need us full throttle, full tilt living lives of meaning, living lives of purpose, living lives of impact and intentionality. We pray Holy Spirit come, speak, lead, convict, cleanse, and most importantly we just want you here. We long for your presence. And I pray all this in Christ's holy name. We long for your presence. And I pray all this in Christ's holy name. Amen.So, my wife goes to the first service and after the first service she always comes to me with feedback. And her feedback today was, "Jan you were too happy. No one in Boston likes that, they get freaked out." And the reason why, it's a happy sermon because today I'm talking about my two favorite things, which is Jesus and sports. It's two things in one.Saint Paul today in first Corinthians 9, 24:27, what he does is he compares the Christian life to a runner in a race, to an athlete training and to a fighter fighting. The title of the sermon, I don't always have titles to the sermon, I have one today. And this is a phrase I'd like the stick with you. It's joyful running and joy fueled running. Joyful, you enjoy it. And that same joy is what keeps you going.So Saint Paul started this church in Corinth, it's an urban center very similar to Boston. Young, hip, a lot of people coming from all over the Roman Empire to make a name for themselves in this place. And when Saint Paul started this church, and he was there in 51 A.D. when the Isthmian Games were happening. The Isthmian Games were only second to the Olympic Games. But everyone in Corinth thought the Isthmian Games were better just like everyone in Boston knows that the best marathon in the whole world is the Boston Marathon. I don't care what anyone else says. So that's kind of ... So as he's talking about these metaphors, he's using these illustrations, he is tapping into something deep, something that resonates. In a culture where bread and circuses, what people wanted, food and entertainment similar to us today. And for them in the Corinthian culture the epitome of humanity was a person with a noble mind and beautiful body. And that's what everyone was striving for, similar to Boston.So the big idea of the sermon today is that everybody is running. Everybody is running a race. And we're all training for something. And that training is the habits of our lives. And we're either progressing or we're regressing. So if you're an athlete you understand, and even if you're not an athlete, you probably, you watch sports. You understand sports. And even if you don't in order to contextualize in Boston you should. This is title town, right? We go, how long has it been, like when the Bruins were in the finals we should have won. We should have won. We should have won that. But everyone was saying like we've got a drought of championships. The last championship was like four months before that was when the Pats won the Super Bowl and then the Sox.So all these metaphors they really connect in our context. We understand that goals aren't deserved. We're not entitled to goals. We're not entitled ... And this is really important to know in our culture of participation trophies. Goals are earned. Wins are earned. That's what Saint Paul is talking about. And growth in the Christian life, training in the Christian life is very similar to training athletically. There is pain, but you learn to embrace the pain. You learn to get through the pain. Your threshold for pain increases. This is why we workout. If there's no sweat puddle, that nasty little sweat puddle at the end of your workout did you even do anything? That's what Saint Paul is saying. Where your nasty sweat puddle spiritually? Are you pushing yourself? That's what he's talking ... Okay.When first Corinthians 9, 24:27, would you look at the text with me either in your Bible or on your app or on the screen. "Do you not know tat ina race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly. I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." This is the reading of God's holy and errant and infallible authoritative word. May He write these eternal truths upon our hearts.Three points to frame up our time, three questions. Why do we win? How do we win? And what do we win? So first of all, why do we win? Saint Paul's presupposition here, and this is really important, he's saying we're not called to strive to earn salvation. This is really important. He's saying don't run in order to earn salvation. Don't run in order to get acceptance from God, the earn His love, to earn a place in Heaven. That's already been secured through the work of Jesus Christ, the Great Victor, Christus Victor. So because Christ has won we can now be champions, victors. We can be more than conquerors, is the phrase that Saint Paul used. The idea is that Christ already won the war. Now we are to go and win the battle. It's like in the Old Testament, God tells the chosen people, He tells Israel, "I'm giving you the promised land. It's yours. Now go and get. Now go and take it." Same thing, victory is yours now go and take that victory.And there will be times when there are setbacks, when it seems like hope is utterly lost, like there's no chance. This is a whole history of humanity. Adam and Eve had it and it was perfect. And then hopelessness, hopelessness, hopelessness. God sends prophet after prophet after prophet. Glimmers of hope, glimmers of hope. And then again hopelessness, hopelessness, hopelessness until, until the Chosen One was sent. Until the one who should have made a lot more money. His contract is worth probably, I don't know, $150 million dollars at least. But he says you know what? I'm going to take the pay cut because I want to be on your team. He joins our team. The Chosen One. The Great One. You know I'm talking about Jesus Christ, right?And in our lives there's always setbacks. And the setback is always the setup for the comeback. The sermon is going to be chock full of cliches. Just warning you right now and it's the last time I'm going the say that. And we're going to play a drinking game of coffee. Every time there's a cliché take a swig of coffee.So every setback is a setup for the comeback because there was the ultimate setback. The Son of God comes. The Son of God, Son of Man, ultimate setback. He lives the perfect life we should have lived. He dies the death that we deserve to die. And He go into a tomb. And right here, and this is every single race, sports, game, sports, movie, there's always the comeback, right? We got to the point of no return. And out of nowhere, out of the oblivion He bounces back. What an incredible turnaround. This is the Cinderella story with the storybook ending. He hits it out of the park. It's a hole in one tomb. And then Jesus Christ comes back from the dead, the ultimate setback is the setup for the ultimate comeback. That's Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead.Now, what does that mean to us? That means there's a wing of momentum. And in every game there's that swing of momentum like when the Pats were down to Atlanta a few years back. Remember that? There's a swing of momentum. You feel it. We're down 28 to 3. But there's a swing of momentum because we've got the greatest quarterback on our team who doesn't buckle under the pressure. Jesus Christ I'm talking about. And because there's a swing of momentum we can play with confidence because we know the end. I've read the Book of Revelations. You know what happens at the end? We know the end. Jesus wins. That's what happens at the end. Jesus wins. That's what happens at the end. Therefore, in all humility we can live lives of confidence and play like we got nothing to lose. Play like we're on a mission. His suffering, His death, His resurrection fuels our win. His suffering gives meaning to our suffering. His death gives us life. He plays in a way that electrifies all of us.And I say all this to say this. When you read this passage in first Corinthians 9, 24:27, being the Type A person that you ar, being the performance driven, performance identify driven person that you are it's easy to read it and say okay, this is how I grow in the faith. I'm going to grow myself. I'm going to get my own victory. I'm going to secure my own salvation. I'm going to build my own identify. And that's what I'm saying Paul is saying, that's a very works based mindset. Saint Paul is saying at Jesus Christ has run the perfect race. And now His performance is counted to us and that grace fuels our race. Hebrews 12, 1:2, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." We're running. "Race that before us looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of your faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross," that's him running his own race. He ran his own race. "Despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."What propelled, what fueled Jesus? It was joy. The joy of seeing God the Father's delight in his sacrifice. The joy of seeing us come the faith. Every single one of our names is graven on his hands that giving fuel to his joy. Now because of His sacrifice we can also be fueled with joy to run the race that we have for us.Every single sports movie when the champ wins the championship and this is every great championship, by the way. This is the NBA championship recently. This is every time Tom Brady, oh I'll just throw that name out there. He's a good guy. Tom, still praying for him to become a member of Mosaic and then we can buy Temple of Bai Shalom. Tom Brady, the last Super Bowl that he won there's always this moment at the end where he's like yah, yah! And he puts his other hand on his head, I can't believe it, but I can because I've been working for this my whole life and that's why I eat avocado ice cream. And he does this thing and then he always points to someone. He's like, he points to Gronk, he points to Edelman and they do the same and they point right back. And then this is what happens in the great championships. And the champ takes his jersey off. He brings it to the person that he pointed to. He signs it. There's an autograph. He gives it to the person. You know what the person does? They put the jersey on. And you know what it says on the back of the jersey that Jesus Christ gave us? It says his last name. Not that it's His last name, but you know what I'm saying. It says Christ.This is what it means to be a Christian. Jesus won that championship, put on his jersey, you're on his team. This is what he, so that's why can we win? Because Jesus Christ has won.Matthew 11:23, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden," that's people who are burdened with sin and burdened with self righteousness. Sin, I can't live the way I'm supposed to live. Self righteousness, I think I'm a good person. Here's my good works. And that's not enough. That burdens us. We bring that to Jesus and He says I will give you rest. But he doesn't stop there. He doesn't say I give you rest. Now I put you in a waiting room on nice comfortable couches until I come back to take you to Heaven. That's not what He does. He says, "Take my yoke upon you. Learn from me for I'm gentle and lonely in heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." You know what He's saying? He's saying I saved you. I'm giving rest. You don't have to carry your own yoke of righteousness. Come to me. Partner with me. You know what a yoke is? Two animals with a yoke together and the stronger animal would carry more of the burden. And Jesus I saying this is why my yoke is light. I've done the work, but I want you close to me. I want you running with me.And that's when you find ultimate rest for your souls. When you are yoked with Jesus, when you're right there ... Some of you have not felt the presence of God in a long time. Some of you as believers have not felt the presence of God in a long time and you're saying God where are you? I feel like I'm in a dry spot. I feel like in the valley of the shadow of death. God where are you? And Jesus is saying I'm right here where you, why aren't you yoked to me? Why aren't you on mission? Why aren't you running next to me? And that's when we get ultimate rest for our souls. So if there's a dissatisfaction in your soul, if there's any unease, if there's a lack of restlessness perhaps you're not close to Him.And so Jesus invites us to run together. And we're not driven by our performance. We're led by his performance. And I run the race, I can run the race that I'm called to. I don't have to look to the sides to see who's running faster or who's running slower. I don't have to look at a person who's running better than I am and be envious of that person. I don't have to look at someone who's not running as hard as I am and being proud an condescending, I'm a lot better. I can run my race. God, what's the race that you have for me? And now self discipline isn't fueled by shame and it's not fueled by guilt. We're not running from failure, restlessness, lack of satisfaction. We're running from victory for victory. I'm not driven by pride. I'm not driven by fear. I'm led by the Holy Spirit, fueled by love and joy. And now my self worth, how I feel about myself, it's not based on my performance. It's based on His performance. This is how Jesus offers us both a race and rest. And we can run restfully in the race that he has for us. Joyful running, joy fueled running. So why do win? Because Jesus won.Number two, how do we win? By the way, this point actually has 10 sub points. So if you've zoned out - 10, yeah - if you've zoned out we're going the go quick maybe. If you've zoned out come back because this part of the lecture will be on the exam. You know how you listen in class, you're smart enough. I don't have to explain this.Sub point number one, let's go! And this is Tom Brady, let's go! That's what I'm talking about. With seven Os. Why seven? One for every single one of his Super Bowl wins. Plus his favorite one, the next one. So that's why seven. A lot of Christians who grew up in the church, they know the Christianese. They know the lingo. You know how to go to Communion group, you know what to say, you know how to pray. And you pray for traveling mercies and you know what I'm saying. And it's easy to cover up the fact that you're not doing anything. You're not in the game. You know the plays, but you're not on the field. You're on the bench. So Jesus calls us to step up to the plate. He says the ball's in your court. Don't just show up on any given Sunday. We don't want just the Sunday quarterback or a Monday morning quarterback. No one likes that guy. We want an every single day quarterback. That's what Jesus calls us to.You know how a lot of people run the Christian faith? They run like people run road races in Boston where your friends come to you like, "What are you doing this weekend?" "Nothing." "You want to go run a 5K?" "Sure. I haven't run in six months, but sure, it'll be fun." And you pay your whatever, $150 fee and you've got, you get a medal so why not. And you do it for the instapick and you do it for the medal at the end. "So what are you doing?" "Oh, nothing." You roll out of bed, your friends call you. "What are you doing today?" "Nothing." "It's Sunday. You want to go run a race?" "Sure. How long is it?" "It's about an hour 20, hour 30 depending on how long the guy talks. But they give bagels an coffee and the band's really good and the space is okay. Let's go run the race." And that's, for many of you, and offense non taken, that's your Christian walk. Your race. And you're done with that and you go about the rest of your week. And what Jesus here is saying is there's no vacations from following Christ. You can't go on a hiatus from being a Christian just like you can't go on a hiatus from breathing.Being a Christian is compared to life. Regeneration is like being born, being born again. You can't take break from food. You can't take, you can but, you can't stop eating forever. You can't stop drinking ... You get what I'm saying.You know what Sunday is? Sunday isn't the race. This isn't the race. This is halftime. This is us in the locker room and this is the emotional inspirational speech. This is me trying the get you pumped. I'm trying to be Belichick, trying to get you pumped and saying we got to dig deep. We got to make our halftime adjustments. There are things we need to change in order to win. And do you want to win? Are we here to play or if not let's just get on the bus right now and forfeit.There's a few professional athletes at Mosaic and I emailed them this week and I said, "Help me write the sermon because you've got a very particular vantage point." And two of them wrote back. And one is a sports psychologist. I've got a few quotes here. Shout out to them if they're listening. I'll just say their names. You know who I'm talking about. Abby D'Agostino, who's in the Olympics, married to Jacob Cooper who's a sports psychologist. And Liz Costello who's just a baller all around. So I emailed them, great stuff.And this is one of the lines. If you train as an athlete to win it absolutely, absolutely changes how you look at everything. This is the lens through which you look at every single decision in your life. Talking about diet and nutrition, the supplements you take, what you eat, what you don't eat. Talk about time on your feet. Talking about social plans, travel plans, sleep. Everything is filtered through the question will this hurt my training or will this help my training? This is the spiritual life. This is what it means to be a Christian. You look at everything through the lens of the Gospel. Is this helping me grow in the faith? Christianity is an ultra marathon. It is, for the rest of our lives. But it's done one play at a time. One sequence at a time. One game at a time. And if you lose one play, if you lose one sequence or if you lose one game you win or you learn. You keep, you get back up and there's always grace that keeps you going.Point two, sub point two, pain is weakness leaving the body or the soul. Time under pressure builds strength. It does. Same thing spiritually. Diamonds are made under pressure. So are muscles. So strength, perseverance, endurance, it comes with pressure. We're refined by fire.And this is what Saint Paul is saying is that there are sacrifices to make. Just like you already make sacrifices for what you think is important in life. Where are your sacrifices for your run after Christ? Where are you sacrificing? And yeah, the sacrifice is painful in the beginning. Just like if you haven't worked out and you're like, "I need to workout." That first workout, man you dread that thing. Anything but that. That first run, that first time, oh no! And as you're going through you're like this is the worst, this is the worst. I hate this, I hate this, I hate this. Why am I ... But then you're done you feel so good. The endorphins start kicking in like you, they, a little soreness. You're like okay, all right. And you string a few of those together and then you start craving it. You start craving that pain, that sacrifice. You begin to find pleasure in being under the pressure. There's something there. Our world, we've been spoonfed this lie that comfort is where it's at, pleasure is where it's at. Stay as far away from sacrifice and pain as possible. And then we're just a hollow shell of our potential self. You find your true self when you're under the pressure.I'm sure you've heard this poem, "Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times." By men we mean humans of course. I didn't write this one. "Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men and weak men create hard times." So true. Apply it to the church in Boston. Christianity in Boston. 100 years ago, a ton of churches around here, that's why the, the Freedom Trail right now is dead people and dead churches. That's the Freedom Trail. There, I saved you three hours. But all those churches, all those church buildings used to be full of people proclaiming the Gospel, people worshiping God, people on mission. What happened? They got comfortable. They go endowments. They got housing allowances and all that. And what did that, that led to weakness. And then the weak men created the hard times. And that's where we are. We're in hard times. We're at the end of that poem about to start the beginning of that poem. So that's what, you know, that's why you're here. That's why you're at Mosaic.There's a lot of churches where you can be a lot more comfortable on a Sunday morning, a lot more comfortable. There's a reason why I do what I do because I'm trying to make Navy Seals out of every single one of you, to be on mission together for the Lord Jesus Christ to conquer this city with God's love one soul at a time. You know what I'm saying.Strong souls, strong spirituality, strong heart. Pain is weakness leaving the body. Question. I thought weakness is good in Christianity? There's a good weakness and a bad weakness. The good weakness is, this is what Saint Paul talks about. When I am weak then I am strong. When I'm desperate in the Lord. Good weakness is humble. It's a presence of faith and humility. That's Second Corinthians, chapter 11 and 12. Bad weakness, it's the presence of fear and pride. And sometimes God sends pain into our lives to expose fear, expose pride that things that are pulling us away from the Lord.Point number three is discipline freeze. This is true in absolutely everything. It's true in your studies. It's true in music, sports, job relationships, focuses, your focus finances, driving, language. Like when you discipline yourself to study something, when you discipline yourself to study and practice you get free to do it. And here's another quote from one of our athletes. She said, "When you're intentional about training, intentionality bleeds into each lap, gym session, mile." And even when we resent that discipline, when we resent that pain, when time goes by and you leave that season of training you always look back to that season of training with longing. You miss it.So if you played a high school sport or a college sport then you graduate and you're like, "Okay, I'm going to go workout at the gym." And it's never the same. You know what I'm saying. And by the way, living in the city is a sacrifice. And if you're called to living in the city because you're on mission for the Lord, it's a sacrifice. I know and I complain about it all the time. Oh, not enough space. I've got neighbors on all three sides and I've got four kids. But deep down inside I love it. I love the sacrifice. If I didn't have the ... I'm telling ... And I know people who moved away and they write like, "Man, we still pray for you guys and we miss it. We miss that sacrifice." There's something there.We thrive under discipline. Every single one of us. We thrive when you got schedules. We thrive when we're in a routine. We thrive when there are rhythms in our life. Just like children thrive with set times. This is the time we wake up. This is when we eat. This is when the diaper change happens. Every parent knows this. And I figured out, I've cracked the code to the routine of every single one of my daughters, I've got four. I'll just share with one. My third daughter is a Katerina. She's four. I figure out her daytime nap schedule. I cracked the code. This is how we go.A half an hour before she's supposed to take a nap I say, "Katia, you're taking nap in a half an hour." She says, "Okay." She got a half an hour grace. She feels good about that. And then I say, "Okay, now you got to go to the bathroom." She goes to the bathroom. And then she puts on her little pajama and then five minute, little story time that's read to her on YouTube. I discovered this little old lady that reads stories. It's the same thing as me reading and it saves me time. We do that and then five minutes done and next, "Dad, don't forget the vitamin." I give her a little multivitamin, feels like a candy. And then I lie down with her. Five minute massage. We start with the upper back, middle back. We do the waves. We go up and down. And then arm, arm, arm, face, face, out. Routines, really important. So what's that to say? That's to say you need to discipline, you need to figure out what works best for you, for you to thrive. Water can be channeled powerfully. And there's a thing called jet sauce streams where it's focused water and it can cut through metal. That's what discipline does with us.First Corinthians 9:26. So I do not run aimlessly. I do not as one beating the air. So he's got the metaphor of a runner. Now he's got the metaphor of a boxer. And he's talking about shadow boxing. Now if you box, shadow boxing, there's nothing wrong. It's actually a good thing to do. The first thing when you go box and the coach, he teaches you the one, two. The hook's three. Upper cut, four, five. And then six. It's good. And he says go stand at the mirror and just do that one, two, three, four, five, six.And Saint Paul is not saying don't do that. He's say don't shadow box when you're in the ring and it goes ding, ding, ding, and you got to fight. You've got an opponent. You've got Mike Tyson in front of you. And you turn around and you're like, "I'm not fighting that guy." I don't blame you. Mike Tyson, even now, if you see videos of him now, I still wouldn't fight him. And you turn around and you start shadow boxing in the corner. That's what he's saying. He's saying a lot of Christians are doing that. You know who that guy is? That's the person who all they want to do is study theology. All they want to do is Bible studies and listen to podcasts and all they want to do is go to conferences and they don't want to fight. You got all the training in the world and Saint Paul says you've got to train and you've got to fight. You learn things you start implementing. Learn and do. Learn and, that's what he's saying. No runner runs aimlessly. No boxer shadow boxes in the ring.True athletes, one of the things that separates true, an elite athlete from anyone else is just energy management. You just get so efficient at what you do there's no wasted energy. There's no meandering. And this is what Saint Paul says. We got to get efficient in our Christian walk. We got to know exactly where the path is. Jesus Christ said, "I am the way and the truth." I am the way. It's the narrow gate. It's the narrow path. Now keep running efficiently. Don't, no serpentine running back and forth.Our culture, we live in a culture that applauds people running aimlessly just as long you run you'll get your participation medal. And Saint Paul says, it's actually offensive to ask anyone like, hey, where you going in terms of spiritual faith. Just be really sincere in your run. Saint Paul says no, that's not all that matters. You've got to be sincere. You also got to know exactly where you're going.Matthew 7, 13:14, "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction and those who enter by it are many. Frequency the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life and those who find it are few." First Corinthians, 9:27, "I discipline my body and keep it under control." The word for I discipline my own body is hupopiazo in the Greek. And it literally means, and this is your footnote, I pummel my body. But it literally means I punch myself in the eye. He's saying I knuckle box myself. And here he's talking about the flesh. He's talking about keeping himself, I control myself. I tell myself what to do. I tell my desires what to do. I control my thoughts. I don't let my thoughts control me. I control my desires. I don't let my desires control me.It's the same word that's used in Luke, 18:5 that says the only other time it's used, hupopiazo, "Yet because this widow keeps bothering me I will give her justice so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming." There's a flesh, there's a sinful part of our nature. This is the shadow self. And God is calling us to keep that under control by the Grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. And he used the word pummel to like, if you watch UFC it's the ground and pound game. This is where you keep your opponent on the ground. This is what he said you got to do that with your flesh. He's saying I make me obey me. By the way, it's not asceticism. This is really important. Asceticism is through external rules we control ourselves. That's not how Christianity works. Christianity isn't behavior modification. It's heart transformation. It's from the ... So if you hire a personal trainer, if you're like I need to get in shape. I'm going to hire a personal trainer. The personal trainer can make you work for an hour and you might hate every second of it. He's forcing you to do it externally. The best personal trainers, the best coaches, they put that fire in your heart. They give a dream of vision and now it's coming from the inside. That's what Christianity does. God changes our hearts.So this idea of asceticism verse Gospel transformation, Colossians, 2:23, "These have indeed, talking about external restraints, "these have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh." So how do we stop the indulgence of the flesh? Colossians 3:1-5, "If then you have been raised with Christ," if you're a Christian, "seek the things that are above where Christ is." She says discipline yourself to focus on Christ. "Where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above not on things that are on earth." Watch your thoughts. "For you have died an your life is hidden in Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death," now that leads to action. So you vivify your affections for Christ. You get your heart on fire for the Lord by focusing on Christ and what Christ did on the cross for you. And then that gives you power. That gives you fuel to mortify sins. "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you. Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil, desire and covetousness, which is idolatry."Four, sub point four, defense wins championship. And here, we know this from sports and this is true in Christianity. You got to play defense in terms that Satan is trying to plant lies in your mind. Ephesians 6:10-11. "Finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength in His might. Put on the whole amour of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the Devil." And the best defense is offense. A high throttle offense. So how do we do this? How do we fight the lies of the evil one? You know the truth. You study the truth. You love the truth.Number five, you need the team. Running is usually an individual sport. You run. But do you know how runners train? In a team. Do you know how boxers train? Yeah, when you box it's one on one, but then the boxer wins and he gets the belt. And if he's good he's got multiple belts. They're all over. And then he's got his crew behind him. He's got all his trainers. He's got all his sparing partners. It takes all of that. This is what Saint Paul, he's saying Christianity's a team sport. Why is church membership a thing? Why do we do church membership? Because we want you on the team. You need the team. There's no "I" in team. Whenever I hear that I always say, "Yeah, but there's a me. But there's no you." So you need the team and the team needs you. That's, I could say more, but you get the point.Six, study the game and know the playbook. This is, we do that through Scripture. You got to know ... You know how, like the great athletes, the ones who want to leave a legacy? What they say about them is he's really a student of the game. Are you a student of the game? Do you know your Bible? If you went down to Mini Mosaic Dear Christian, would the kids in Mini Mosaic know more Bible verses than you do? I'll just leave that there. Let's meditate on that. And they know a lot of verses. That's what I'm saying. So do you know your Scripture. And by the way, when we say the strategy, when Mosaic talks about strategy and this is how we do things. We do three things. We do services. We do community groups. And we do service teams. Why do we do that? It's not arbitrary. We study the playbook and this is the, that's the strategy from the very beginning. This is what they did in Acts, chapter 2.Okay, number seven, nutrition. When people start working out the first things they want to do is, okay, give me all the supplements. What kind of whey protein, I need some casein protein, I need some creatine BC AAs, a little glutamine. What do I need? What do I need? And that's important. You need to add stuff. It's also probably more important to take stuff away. If you're diet is terrible it doesn't matter how much stuff you add you're not going to get anywhere. And a lot of Christians, this is how they, like their sin, obvious sin in your life. And you're like, okay, what the stuff I got to read? What are the conference I got to go to? Let's deal with this first. The junk food in your life that comes in through eyes and ears and a lot of time it's neutral.Let me just give you and example. Hebrews 12:1. "Therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every way and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance. There's sin that clings closely. And there are also weights, seemingly neutral, they're going to way you down. And perhaps this is, you know what it is for you. So you got to get rid of that. There's helpful consumption and there's harmful consumption. Athletes talk about pre-hab and rehab. But the most underrated thing that separates elite athletes from anyone else? It's nutritions doing all the little things to get the W.Number eight is listen to the coach. Are you coachable? Are you teachable? When you read things from Scripture, when the Lord Jesus Christ obviously convicts you through the Holy Spirit, do you just close off your ears or do you listen? And the best coaches were always players just like Jesus Christ. He knows exactly what you've gone through, therefore, when He tells us how to live He tell us from a position as God and experience as a human. And by the way, this is how discipleship works. You learn something and now you're a coach. In every good team a great coach says, okay, sophomores, you learned something freshman year. Now go teach the freshmen. This is how discipleship works. Freshmen need to learn from the sophomores. Sophomores, you need to coach. It's virtually the same thing with the Christian walk. You find someone who hasn't been Christian as long as you, hey, let me encourage you. How can I help you in your walk? Freshmen, are you teachable or do you show up with a big ego and say, "I've listen to John Piper's sermon. I know more that you."Number nine, don't cheat. No shortcuts. This is First Corinthians 9:27, "But I discipline my body and keep it under control lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." And the word for disqualified here, it's counterfeit. He's saying I keep running. I keep running to make sure, to prove the authenticity of my faith. That's sounds kind of intuitive. I thought Christianity is once saved always saved. I don't like that term because that like saying I started running at some point and then I sat down on the bench and I'm still in the race. No, that's not how that works. It's once saved, always persevering. That's what Saint Paul is saying. I started the race and I'm going to continue running that race every single day to get to the end because once saved, always persevering because I don't want to be disqualified. That's the tension. No one is beyond the reach of grace, but also no one is beyond the need for grace. We need it on a daily basis to keep, to keep going.Number 10, obviously, don't forget to thank your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is after every championship and the athletes, the Christian athlete's given the microphone. "Hey, Tim Tebow, what do you think?" And he's like, "First of all I just want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." I love that. I love that so much. I don't care if it's a Jesus juke, I don't care. Do that in your life. Are you grateful to the Lord? It keeps you humble and hungry and holy.Point three, what do we win? This is important. First Corinthians 9:24, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?" That's in the Isthmian Games. In the Christian walk there's more than one prize. But there's no participation trophy. There kind of is where it's like First Corinthians 3, you're barely saved from the flames of fire. You don't want to be that. Since prizes are available for every, what are those prizes? And what he's saying is everyone is running, believers and unbelievers are running, like unbelievers are running in the rat race for the cheese and believers are running in the right race for Jesus. So what's that for Christians? What is that to run to get the prize? What is that?You know when King David, when he's about to fight Goliath, he's like yeah, I'm going to take him out. But first what do I get? You know that? Because there was an incentive. That's good. The Christian should ask what are we, what's the win? What's the "W"? And I'll show you. First Corinthians 9:24, "So run that you may obtain it." He uses the Greek word kridino. It's used in several other places and it's really important, kridino. You can gain something, obtain something, win something, kridino. So just roll with me for a bit. If you can gain money, this is James 4:13, "Come now you who say "today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit." Cost benefit analysis.What's the cost? I got to move to another town and spend a year there. What's the benefit? I'm going to make a lot of money. Kridino. You gather profit. Jesus uses the same phrase when he's talking Matthew 16:26, "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?" Now he's saying do a cost benefit analysis. What's the benefit? You get the whole world. You get all the money in the world. What's the cost? You lose your soul. Now is that worth it? No. He says the same thing in Luke 9:25, "For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?" You lose yourself, you soul, you suffer. You suffer for the whole world and then poof! The whole world is gone and so is your soul. Instead what do we run toward? We run to get Christ. He's the ultimate treasure. He is more valuable than all the riches in the world and all of life itself.Philippians 3:8 and 23-14, "Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake," what's he doing? He's doing a cost benefit analysis. Is it worth being a Christian? There's a cost obviously. You've got to sacrifice. Is the worth it? Of course it is. "For the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ," kridino. Everything else I ever had it's all rubbish. All my riches, it's all rubbish. "Not that I've already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own." Grace fueled running. "Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind straining forward for what lies ahead I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."For Saint Paul Christ was so valuable that death, he said, is gain. Same kridino. Philippians 1:21, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." So we run to get Christ and the we run to use our talents for Christ to gain for Christ. And this is the parable of time and talents, Matthew 25:16, "He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them and he made five talents more." Investments always feel like sacrifices. They do. When you invest money, when you buy stock it feels like it just disappeared. You money just disappeared, got drafted from your account into your E-Trade. It feels like it's gone. It's a sacrifice. But you do the cost benefit analysis because, and you do it because the benefit out weighs the cost. And he says Christ, that benefit, is worth any cost even dying on, in this life.And then how, what do we gain? We pursue Christ to get Him. We use our talents to get for Him. What are we getting for Him? We're getting people. And I get this from Matthew 18:15, "If your brother sins against you go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother." Kridino. We use our talents to help brothers and sisters who are going to the serpentine path, who've gone wayward. We bring them back. We suffer for that. We discipline ourselves to bring them. So it's worth it. And we suffer and we run the race in order to get new brothers and sisters.This is First Corinthians 19:19-23, the very paragraph before our text, which shows you this is exactly what Saint Paul is talking about. Look at verse 19, "For though I am free from all I have made myself a servant to all that I might win more of them." Class, what word is that in Greek to win more? Kridino. And he uses it over and over. "To the Jews I became as a Jew in order to win," kridino, "To those under the law I became sone under the law thought not being myself under the law that I might win those under the law. To those outside of the law I became as one outside the law not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak that I might win the weak. I have become algorithm things to all people that by all means I might save some." So for him it's parallel, synonymous with kridino, to win someone is to save someone. Our win is to help people be saved. Saved from what? Satan sin and death, which is what Jesus Christ conquered on the cross.That's why, what he's talking about, and this is my conclusion, in conclusion. My wife tells me my conclusions come out of nowhere. So this is on brand. And I do listen to my wife. I don't know if you noticed that. Happy wife, happy life.What is the prize? In the Olympic Games the prize, at that time, that prize was a laurel wreath. It's nice. Wilts away, gone. Turns to dust. In the games, what's the word? Isthmian Games in Corinth. You know what the wreath is? This is ridiculous. It's made out of celery. No one likes celery. Here's some celery. You know celery, you burn more calories in chewing and digesting it than ... You know that.And Paul, he's saying these people suffered to get celery. Guys! How much more so should we discipline ourselves, be willing to suffer? Make whatever sacrifice we need to sacrifice for an imperishable wreath? What's the imperishable wreath? Number one, it's the Glory of God. We get more of God. It's the joy of God. God says well done good and faithful servant. Well done. Now enter into my what? Joy. And as we enter into his joy we see people. We see people in Heaven that God allowed us, that God allowed us the grace of being used to draw them to Him and now they're in Heaven. Don't run the rat race to get the cheese that God is gone. Run the race that God has given you, the race with Jesus for the imperishable wreath. And his is what he's talking about. The joy filled running. This is joyful running. This is joy fueled running. Amen.Let's pray. Heavenly Father thank you so much for this time that you've given us. You are a great God and we long for more people to know how great you are. You're both good and great and we thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ who ran the race, who suffered the cross in order to get that joy that was set before our Lord and I pray motivates us by the same joy. Fill our hearts with joy and draw many more to yourself, perhaps even through Mosaic Boston and through us. We pray this through Christ's name. Amen.

An Easter Sunday look at apophatic theology, the Christian view of God as essentially unknowable or ineffable, which also insists that human language is inadequate to describe God. This insight overlaps with Zen and the famous words of its Founder: “I don’t know.” The post Where Christ and Bodhidharma Meet appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

1 Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates, Behold, the King of glory waits! The King of kings is drawing near, The Saviour of the world is here; Life and salvation He doth bring, Wherefore rejoice and gladly sing: We praise Thee, Father, now, Creator wise art Thou. 2 The Lord is just, a helper tried, With mercy ever at His side, His kingly crown is holiness, His sceptre, pity in distress, The end of all our woes He brings, Wherefore the earth is glad and sings: We praise Thee, Saviour, now, Mighty in deed art Thou. 3 O blest the land, the city blest, Where Christ the ruler is confessed! O happy hearts and happy homes To whom this King in triumph comes! The cloudless sun of joy He is, Who brings us pure delight and bliss. We praise Thee, Spirit, now, Our Comforter art Thou. 4 Fling wide the portals of your heart; Make it a temple set apart From earthly use for heaven's employ, Adorned with prayer and love and joy; So shall your sovereign enter in, And new and nobler life being. To Thee, O God, be praise For word, and deed, and grace. 5 Redeemer, come! I open wide My heart to Thee; here, Lord, abide. Let me Thy inner presence feel, Thy grace and love in me reveal; Thy Holy Spirit guide us on Until our glorious goal is won. Eternal praise and fame We offer to Thy name.

Colossians 3:1-4Psalm 27:51 John 3:1-3Matthew 16:23Romans 8:4-6Philemon 3:17-212 Corinthians 4:18Romans 6:8-11“But you say, ‘Things above: that is an indefinite phrase. What do you mean by it?’ I will tell you what the Bible means by it. It means Jesus Christ. All the nebulous splendors of that firmament are gathered together into one blazing sun. It is a vague direction to tell a man to shoot up, into an empty heaven. It is not a vague direction to tell him to seek the ‘things above’; for they are all gathered into a person. ‘Where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God,’—that is the meaning of ‘things above,’ which are to be the continual aim of the man who is conscious of a risen life. And of course they will be, for if we feel, as we ought to feel habitually, though with varying clearness, that we do carry within us a spark, if I might use that phrase, of the very life of Jesus Christ, so surely as fire will spring upwards, so surely as water will rise to the height of its source, so surely will our outward lives be directed towards Him, who is the life of our inward lives, and the goal therefore of our outward actions? Jesus Christ is the summing up of ‘the things that are above’; therefore there stands out clear this one great truth, that the only aim for a Christian soul, consistent with the facts of its Christian life, is to be like Christ, to be with Christ, to please Christ.I am afraid that the Christian life of this generation suffers at a thousand points, because it is more concerned with the ordering of the outward life, and the manifold activities which this busy generation has struck out for itself, than it is with the quiet setting of the mind, in silent sunken depths of contemplation, on the things that are above. Oh, if we would think more about them we should aim more at them; and if we were sure that we possessed them to-day we should be more eager for a larger possession to-morrow.”— ALEXANDER MACLARENSermon discussion questions for parents to use with their children:How does Paul remind us of who we are (under the headings Risen & Hidden)?Why is important to understand this foundation?How does Paul then work out the practical impact these truths should have (under the headings Seek & Set)?How does the soldier illustrate this? What will this look like today?

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers in the 19th Century, said, “When home is ruled according to God’s Word, angels might be asked to stay with us and they would not find themselves out of their element.” It could be added to that, “Where Christ is Lord in the home, angels might be asked to stay with us and they would find themselves right at home.” Both of  these statements are the result of a Spirit-Filled marriage. The secret of harmony and unity in the home is the fullness of the Spirit. It is power from within not pressure from without that holds the home together. And the fullness of the Spirit is how a home becomes a godly home of influence for the Kingdom of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Fr. Paul sets the proper context for our prayers for healing: Pray for Christ to be near. Where Christ is, there is also healing.

Where Christ the head has gone before in glory, we the body are called to follow in hope.

Paul prays for the Ephesians that what he has been teaching them may be manifest in their lives. He stopped himself and explained their place in God’s cosmic redemption: God will put you on display so that heavenly beings can see God’s wisdom in you. Specifically the unity of the church under the authority of Christ. The church is a picture of what is coming for all the cosmos: Christ’s rule as king. Ephesians 3:14-17a 14. “For this reason” What he started in v. 1, he now resumes his prayer 15. “I bow before the Father, from whom every family is named” Phil 2:10 “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,” “family”, clan, tribe, nation – God is Creator and, therefore, Father to all. “Is named” – every family’s existence and significance is dependent on God. Ephesians 3:17b-19 “According to his riches in glory” When Paul prays, he often uses the words to describe the resources of God available to believers: “fulness, abundance, riches.” We are so hungry, so thirsty, so empty. This world leaves us dry, disappointed, frustrated, longing, empty. God has fullness, abundance, and unsearchable riches for us. God, unlike anyone or anything else, can fill out of His fullness, abundance, riches. Paul prays that they may be strengthened with [God’s] power. Through his Spirit in your inner being That Christ may dwell in your hearts The Spirit gives wisdom and revelation and now power to believers. Where? In our inner being, in our hearts. It is the center of our being and will. This is where the Spirit does His work. Where Christ dwells in us. In religion, rules are focused on the outer being, behaviors, actions. But the work of the Holy Spirit is within our hearts and center of our conscience. Here, the Ephesians were losing heart over Paul’s imprisonment. In 2 Cor 4, Paul says, we are afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, struck down… 2 Cor 4:16 “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” He that believes in God as his God, believers God is always present with him, according to His promises. In the worst of times, God is present with His people. And can there be any cause of heart trouble to such souls as have always the presence of God with them, whose presence makes heaven, and in whose presence is fulness of joy? (Ps 16:11) – John Bunyan There is for the believer a strength from the Spirit within that is greater than the affliction without. Ephesians 3:17b-19 17b. Strengthened by the Spirit, by Christ dwelling in their hearts, they are “rooted and established in love.” Love is foundational (rooted, established). Love describes God’s character. God’s love for the world is the reason given for His sending Christ into the world. Jesus gave his life for his people out of his love. Because of the great love with which he loved us, He made us alive w/Christ (2:4) 18. Paul prays for strength to comprehend the dimensions of some object: the power of God, the mystery of salvation, the wisdom of God, the love of Christ. 19. “And to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge” Despite his readers being believers, they do not adequately know Christ’s love. Christ’s love for his followers is so big it surpasses our ability to fully know it. Paul prays for God’s help to comprehend Christ’s immense love for them. Christ’s love is so great that one can never know it fully. We can never plumb its depths or comprehend its magnitude. No matter how much we know of the love of Christ, how fully we enter into his love for us, there is always more to know and experience. – Leon Morris 19b “That you may be filled with all the fullness of God” May God fill you that you might truly be filled and not turn to empty idols. Paul’s prayer: inner strength by the Spirit & greater grasp of Christ’s love for you.

Pastor Bryan answers questions about these topics:- The process of sanctification by faith- Where Christ was after His death- John 5:14 "sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you"- How were the books of the Bible chosen to be in the Bible?- How does Satan tempt us as believers?- The Passover celebration in relation to circumcision- Should Christians strive to obey the Ten Commandments?- Why did Joseph choose Simeon to imprison instead of his other brothers?- What is the significance of Jesus not having any broken bones?- How did the Easter bunny get associated with Easter?

Pastor Bryan answers questions about these topics:- The process of sanctification by faith- Where Christ was after His death- John 5:14 "sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you"- How were the books of the Bible chosen to be in the Bible?- How does Satan tempt us as believers?- The Passover celebration in relation to circumcision- Should Christians strive to obey the Ten Commandments?- Why did Joseph choose Simeon to imprison instead of his other brothers?- What is the significance of Jesus not having any broken bones?- How did the Easter bunny get associated with Easter?

Drs. Rosenbladt, Keith, and Francisco continue along the Loci to talk about the Law and its functions. Sit back grab a drink and enjoy a show about theology, history and apologetics. Featured this episode: Where Christ is Present Christ Hold Fast: The Definitive Third "Use" Episode. 1517 Speakers Bureau

REFLECTION QUOTES “There is no process of amalgamation by which opinions, wrong individually, can become right merely by their multitude.” ~John Ruskin (1819-1900), English art critic, artist, and author “The problem of secularism in America begins in a significant sense with the churches themselves and their theology and religious practices. Why should we be surprised if Americans increasingly experience Christianity as alien to their secular experience, when their Christianity has already defined itself as alien to secular experience.” ~David L. Schindler, contemporary American theologian “ …no single piece of our…world is to be hermetically sealed off from the rest, and there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!'” ~Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920), Dutch theologian and statesman “The gospel is not a doctrine of the tongue, but of life. It cannot be grasped by reason and memory only, but it is fully understood when it possesses the whole soul and penetrates to the inner recesses of the heart.” ~John Calvin (1509-1564), French theologian and pastor “Where Christ is preached as ascended in the flesh, it cannot be said that the flesh is unworthy of the upward call. And if it is worthy, or has been made worthy, then it follows that the flesh can neither be despised nor indulged, but must rather be disciplined and trained for glory.” ~Douglas Farrow, professor at McGill University in Montreal “What binds us [as Christians]…is not common education, common race, common income levels, common politics, common nationality, common accents, common jobs, or anything else of that sort. Christians come together because they have all been loved by Jesus himself.” ~D. A. Carson, contemporary theologian and biblical scholar SERMON PASSAGE Colossians 1:9-14, 3:1-17 (NIV) Chapter 1 9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Chapter 3 1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. 12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

sermon transcript Introduction Well, Christmas is a time of journey, it is a time of moving around from place to place, many of you are going to be traveling this week, I know of some of you who have traveled to get here, to be with family, and maybe you are guests or visitors. And so we know this a time of moving around, a time in which people move. They travel to be with family, they're willing to pay elevated air fares or to bear the traffic around urban centers. They're willing to just get in a car packed up with all kinds of gifts or whatever and drive long distances to be with family, and just to sit and to enjoy that family time together. I picture in my mind's eye: a crackling fire in the hearth, that we haven't had one in years but I just love that picture and the tree right there, hopefully not too close to the fire, but just the enjoyment of being with family and friends, it's a time of moving around. I also picture sometimes, this is a time of the year after Christmas in which people go to missions, conferences, I know a year ago we went to the cross-conference and traveling through the hills of West Virginia or Western North Carolina, seeing the snow and all that. It's a great time. A time of movement. Christmas has always been associated with journeys, if you look at the very beginning, in Luke chapter 2, when Caesar Augustus issued his decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. And that meant movement. It meant populations moving around within Palestine, as each of the Jews went to their home area to their tribal - their place of tribal ancestry - and they would go there to register, and we know that that's what moved Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem, where the prophecy had said that the Christ was to be born. After Jesus was born, shepherds moved a very short distance from the hills outside of Bethlehem to see this incredible thing that the angel had told him about as the angel descended, and who told them, "'Today in the town of David, a Savior is born to you, who is Christ the Lord.'" And so they said, "Come, let's go see what the angel has told us about." And they left the sheep and went to see, and it was just what the Lord had told them would happen. And of course, we know the story of the Magi, we don't know how far they traveled, but they moved from distant lands and they were following a supernatural light, a star that moved and was able to stop over at the place where the child lay, and they traveled from their great distances because of the birth of Christ. And these long journeys were caused by the coming of Christ into the world. And so people since that time have been traveling also, because Christ came into the world. The entrance of Christ into our sin cursed world, result in massive movements of people, providentially. God has been moving people around to achieve His sovereign goals. I think especially of missionaries who have left their own homes and have gone long, long distances to bring the news of Christ, the coming of Christ and of his birth, of His death and resurrection, to those who have never heard his name. John Paton was a missionary from Scotland in the 19th century. He traveled probably farther than any missionary in history, I don't know that this is true, but I can't think of anyone that traveled farther. From Glasgow, Scotland to Tana in the New Hebrides Islands in the South Pacific. A distance of 9987 miles as the crow flies. Don Richardson, who wrote the missions book, Peace Child, traveled from Calgary, Alberta to Papua New Guinea, a distance of 6167 Miles. William Carey, for him, the distance from London to Serampore, India was 4934 miles as the crow flies, but he had to actually navigate around Africa to get there, an additional 5000 miles. So many people have traveled long distances to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who have never heard his name. In 1993, Christie and I boarded a plane with Nathaniel and Jenny. Our two children that were alive at that time - please don't think we left the other three behind, they just weren't born yet, they were in the mind of God. But we took those two and they came with us to Japan, and for us that distance was over 7000 miles and our desire was to bring Christ to what was at that time the largest unreached people group in the world, the Japanese, that they would hear the gospel. Yet I would say that of all of these journeys, no journey is as vast and immeasurable, even indeed infinite as the journey traveled by Christ Himself, in the text that we're going to look at today, in Philippians Chapter 2, it's an infinite journey. The coming of Christ from Heaven to Earth, to the cross, to the grave. No one has traveled so far. Look again at the words of Philippians 2, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." So in this Christmas sermon, we're going to trace out the words from the words of the text, Christ's stunning and amazing journey. Where Christ began in divine and heavenly glory, how Christ traveled downward into human form, how He traveled further downward to human humility, how Christ traveled infinitely downward at the cross. How then God exalted Christ upward in resurrection glory. How God exalted Christ even further to heavenly glory at His right hand. And now, how God through the Spirit has been exalting Christ to worldwide glory, that's the journey we're going to follow. Down and back up again. Where Christ Began: Divine and Heavenly Glory Before the Incarnation, Jesus Existed Eternally in Heavenly Glory And so we're going to start with where Christ began, divine and heavenly glory. Look at verse 6, "Who being in very nature God, speaking of Christ, who being in very nature, God did not consider equality with God, something to be grasped." Some of the translations have, "Did not think it robbery to be considered equal with God." So before the incarnation, Jesus existed eternally in heavenly glory, He was not created by God the Father. He was eternally begotten as God the Son and received from Him equal glory and equal worship from the heavenly angels. Now, as we've been studying in the book of Isaiah, we realize that He does not share His glory with any created being. Remember how we saw in Isaiah 42:8, The Lord says this, "'I am the Lord, that is my name. I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.'" There is an infinite gap between God as the creator and all created beings, the creature. A.W. Tozer put it this way In his classic Knowledge of the Holy, he said, "We must not think of God as the highest in an ever ascending order of beings starting with the single cell and going on from there to the fish, to the bird, to the animal, to man, to angel, to cherub, to God. This would be to grant God eminence, even pre-eminence, but that is not enough. We must grant him transcendence in the fullest sense of the word. Forever, God stands apart. In light, unapproachable. He is as high above an archangel, is above a caterpillar. For the gulf that separates the archangel from the caterpillar is but finite, while the gulf between God and the archangel is infinite." End quote. In that quote from Tozer, there is 1 Timothy six, 15 and 16, which says, "God, the Blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who dwells in unapproachable light whom no one ever has seen or can see." That's God. But Jesus shared God's glory equally. He shared his position in the universe as Almighty God equally. We know that, because as his work was nearing an end the night before He was crucified, He asked in John 17:5, "'Father glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began,'" which would be infinitely bold for him to ask if He were not almighty God. Christ Equally God, Equally Glorious, Equally Worshipped So Christ was equally God, equally glorious, equally worshipped. It was not robbery, as one of the translations has, for him to be considered equally God. Another way to look at it is He didn't think it was something He had to grab hold of, to be God or something to hold on to, all the trappings of divine glory. There's different ways to look at that. But He didn't consider it robbery to be considered equally God. It was not arrogance, it was not idolatry, it was not presumption, it was not wickedness. In Isaiah 6, in the call of Isaiah, we have these unforgettable words. "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the temple. And above Him were seraphim, each with six wings. And with two wings, they covered their faces. And with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another. 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. The whole earth is full of His glory.'" Now, in John 12, the apostle John says, Isaiah spoke about Jesus's glory because he saw him. He saw Jesus's glory and spoke about Him. He said, Jesus's glory, so I think his definitely having in mind Isaiah 6. And so he sees Christ in throne before the incarnation. Jesus's glory was so brilliant before his incarnation that the holy angels couldn't bear to look on him. They'd never committed any sin, they were holy and pure, morally perfect and yet, they're covering their faces. Because Christ dwelt an unapproachable light. 100 million angels, Daniel 7, gives us the implication of a 100 million angels worshipping Christ. That's hard to even fathom what that would have looked like. And so Jesus did not think it robbery to be counted equal with God, it was not robbery to be as divine as God the Father, as omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, holy, righteous, just, loving, wrathful, eternal. All the attributes you can think of when you think about God, they are equally true of Christ before his incarnation. It was not robbery to be as glorious as the Father. He was as brilliant, as radiant, as terrifying to the holy angels, as was God the Father. And it was not robbery to be worshipped like God the Father, there was nothing wrong and everything right for the son being worshipped by those 100 million angels. The Downward Journey: To Earth, to Servanthood, to the Cross The Father Sent Him and He Obeyed That's where Jesus was when he began his downward journey - the pinnacle of glory, the pinnacle of deity and worship - but then the downward journey begins, to earth, to servanthood and to the cross. First, we must understand the Father sent Him and he obeyed. 1 Peter 1:20 says that "He was chosen before the creation of the world" to be our savior. The father sent him from his side into the world 40 times in John's Gospel. It is said of Jesus that the Father sent Him. He is the sent one. Again and again in John's gospel, it stresses this, that the Father sent Him. For example, John 6:38 and 39, "'For I have come down from heaven. Jesus said, not to do my own will, but to do the will of Him who sent me, and this is the will of Him who sent me that I shall lose none of all that He has given me, but raise them up at the last day.'" Friends, by the way, John 6:38, 39 too are the most encouraging verses in the whole Bible. The Father sent the Son into the world to save his children, and he will not stop until He raises you up on the final day. And isn't that encouraging? But again, clearly, the Father sent Him. Or again, John 8:42, he said, "'I came from God,'" this is Jesus speaking, I came from God and now I'm here. "'I have not come on my own, but He sent me.'" So it is clear that the Father sent Jesus on a mission into the world. The Father sent Jesus to become a baby. Jesus Chose to Become Human The father sent Jesus to seek and to save the lost, but Philippians 2 emphasizes Christ's own decision in the matter. His own will in the matter. In his pre-incarnate state, he chose to enter the world. He willed to do it. He was delighted to do it even. He chose to become a human being. Look again at verses five through seven, "Jesus: who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness." You see the willfulness of it, the choice of it on Jesus's part. He is choosing to do this, it was His will to leave heavenly glory, to make himself nothing. It was his will to become human, to be made in human likeness. And the phraseology here, he was in very nature, God, is the NIV's translation. He became in very nature, servant. I've meditated on it. He was as much servant as he ever was God. He didn't play at being a servant, act at it, he truly to his core was a servant. And the essence of that is he became human in order to do it. Once Made Human, He Chose a Downward Journey From There Now once made human, he chose a downward journey from there. God ordained for the birth of Jesus to be noteworthy in its humility and noteworthy in its poverty, actually. It was extremely poor, the circumstances of his birth. Unusually poor, very few babies in the world are born into as degrading circumstances as was the son of God. You know the story, of course, no room in the end, and so Jesus ends up being born in a stable, it might have been a cave outside Bethlehem, it might have been one of those barn type things that you look at. But it was a degrading situation, surrounded by animals. And then after His birth, He was wrapped in cloths by His mother Mary, who apparently, had no help at all. I'm not trying to be insulting to Joseph, but he was probably no help at all. There were no midwives, there were no nurses, there were no OB-GYN, there was no NICU standing by in case there was a problem with the baby, no one took his Apgar score, I don't think any of that happened. And then he's laid in a box of feeding trough for animals. I mean, you think of all the efforts made at Duke or at UNC to keep new-born babies free from any infections at all and free from viruses, and that's a laudable effort, and I know some of you are involved and I praise God for your work. And it's well done too because the infant mortality rates are - it's just a terrible tragedy, I get that. But none of that was there for Jesus, none of it. He's born into abject poverty. I mean, think about 2 Corinthians 8:9, "For you know the grace of our lord Jesus, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes, He became poor. So that you, through His poverty might become rich." So the vast majority of the world's population is poor, below a certain line of poverty, and Jesus, by being born in this way, identified with their poverty. Downward Further: Servant to All He willingly chose by his humble birth circumstances, but then once he became a man, he made more and more of the same kind of conscious choices. Verse 8 again, "Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient." He was obedient, he always did what the Father told him to do, He was constantly obedient. We talked about that last week with Isaiah 50. The Lord gave him an opened ear, and he was not rebellious, He didn't draw back, He did everything the Father commanded him to do. He humbled himself and served the father. And at the horizontal level, He humbled himself and served anyone and everyone who came to him for anything. I mean, do you read an account of someone coming to Jesus for something and not getting what they came from for? It's amazing how humble He was to people who came and needed something from him. Think about Matthew Chapter 8, "When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 'Lord', He said, 'My servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.' Jesus said to Him, 'I will go and heal him.'" Matthew chapter 9, the very next chapter, "…a ruler came and knelt before him and said, 'My daughter has just died, but come and put your hand on her and she will live.' Jesus got up and went with him." Matthew 14, "When Jesus heard [that John the Baptist had been executed], He withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place." All He wants to do is be alone and pray to his father. He was grieving. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with suffering, and He was grieving over the death of John the Baptist, his friend. And so He just wanted to be alone, but the crowds wouldn't let him be alone. When He landed on the other side of the sea, a huge crowd was waiting for him. And when He saw them, “He had compassion on them and healed them” and taught them many things and fed them. And so He fulfilled his own words. Mark 9:35, "If anyone wants to be first, He must be very last and the servant of all." So, Jesus humbled himself and became obedient. But Jesus’ Obedience and His Humbling Went to the Infinite Level But Jesus's obedience and his humbling went to the infinite level. So let's finish the thought, "And being found in appearance as a man", Verse 8, "He humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross." The cross was His perfect act of submission and obedience to His Heavenly Father. He said, "The world must learn that I love the Father, and I do everything the Father has told me to do. Including dying." And so He said in Gethsemane, "'Not my will but yours be done.'" He drank the cup for us. Now, the cross was infinitely degrading to Jesus. You cannot measure it, you cannot understand how degrading it was. Isaiah 52:14, which God willing we'll get to soon, it says this, "Just as there were many who were appalled at Him, His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and His form marred beyond human likeness." Now that's got to be talking about Jesus's death on the cross. And then in the very next chapter, Isaiah 53, it says, "He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." No one can possibly imagine, fathom how infinitely degrading and humiliating it was for Jesus, the Son of God, the Holy Son of God, to bear our sins, our defilements, our iniquities, our wickedness on himself like swimming in a swamp of un-holiness covered with the muck of our lusts and murders, and thefts and blasphemes and corruptions. And then being justly with him as our substitute, crushed by God the Father, suffering the infinite wrath of God for us as our substitute. This was the very reason why He became human. This is why He took on a body that He might lay that body down in our place on the cross, that was the nadir, that was the bottom of this downward journey that we have been tracing out here in Philippians 2, from Heavenly glory to death, even death on a cross, and then to burial in the grave. The Upward Glory: Resurrection, Ascension, Enthronement God Glorified Jesus in His Resurrection But now, we begin the infinite upward journey as well. Resurrection, ascension, and enthronement. Look at Verse 9, "Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name." God the Father glorified Jesus in His bodily resurrection from the dead. At Christmas time, we celebrate the commitment of God the Son to be human, that is eternal, it's perpetual, he's still human. He took on a body because we humans, we have bodies. He died and laid that body down. God raised him from the dead in a resurrection body to show his perpetual commitment to Christ as human, as our mediator. And so, God glorified Jesus in His resurrection. Verse 4 of Romans Chapter 1 says, "Through the spirit of holiness, Jesus was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord." So this, just glory as God raised Him from the dead. God Glorified Jesus in His Ascension And then God glorified Jesus in His Ascension to Heaven. I love that moment in Acts 1 verse 9, where Jesus after he'd spent 40 days with His disciples. Teaching them many things about the Kingdom of God took them out to the Mount of Olives. And it says in Acts 1:9, "He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight." I remember at one time, a number of years ago, one of my kids got one of those free balloons from Kroger and - a helium balloon - and it wasn't properly secured around the wrist. You know those moments. You ever seen that? And then off it goes, we step out, and it just goes, and I just stood there watching it go higher and higher and higher, thinking about the Ascension of Jesus Christ. It's funny my child wasn't thinking about the Ascension of Christ at that moment. It was a moment of great sadness and sorrow, but I was just thinking, what would it have been like to stand there on that hillside and see Jesus as He went higher and higher until finally, a cloud hid Him from their sight. It must have been an awesome sight. And you get the picture of the apostle just standing there staring and like the world. Their lives have ended. They're just there now. And they're immobile. And so God has to send an angel to say, "Come on, let's move along, now. Go back into Jerusalem. The Lord's going to come and give you the power of the Holy Spirit. Don't stand here waiting. He's coming back some day." But what an awesome glory that was to Jesus to ascend. But the book of Hebrews tells us that even the cloud hiding from the sight. That wasn't enough. Jesus, it says, "Has moved through the heavens," So you can imagine like circle upon circle of heavenly reality and exaltation and glory, and Jesus is going higher and higher and higher, even within the heavenly realms. God Glorified Jesus in His Enthronement at His Right Hand It says in Hebrews 4:14, "We have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens. Jesus, the son of God, and then God glorified Jesus in His enthronement at His right hand." Mark 16:19 says, "After Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into Heaven and sat at the right hand of God." Psalm 110 verse 1, "The Lord said, to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." Ephesians 1:20-22 kind of captures all of this upward journey that we've just covered so quickly. Ephesians 1:20-22 says this, "That God raised him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way." So that's the upward journey from the grave to a resurrection, to ascension, to sitting at the right hand of God over everything there is in the universe. “Therefore” Means the Humiliation Results in the Exaltation I also want you to notice the link between verse 8 and 9. By the word, therefore, the downward journey was the causal relationship to the upward exaltation. Whoever humbles himself will be exalted. No one has humbled himself as much as Jesus, and therefore no one is as exalted as Jesus. There's a connection. Therefore God raised Him from the dead and seated him at His right hand. Therefore, He exalted him to the highest place. Jesus Given the Name that is Above Every Name: God There's a link there. And then it says, Jesus is given "the name that is above every name." Well, that simply is God, He's given the name God or any name that we could refer to God, God the Son, Almighty God, omnipotent, powerful ruler of Heaven and Earth, the one who sits in throne above the circle of the Earth and all its people are like grasshoppers. He is the sustainer of everything in the universe. He is the judge of all the Earth. Any title that could be given that's glorious. Jesus has those titles. Christmas Results in Greater Glory for Jesus Than if He’d Never Come And Christmas results in a greater glory to Jesus than He would have had if He had not come to Earth. He ends up with more glory because of what He did. Revelation 5:9, it says, "They sang a new song in Heaven, singing to Jesus, You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals because you were slain and with your blood, you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation." They're celebrating his atoning work, and so He is in Heaven, and He is glorified and exalted. But there is a remaining glory yet for Jesus, and that is a worldwide worship. Look at Verses 9-11, "Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name. That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in Heaven and on Earth and under the Earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." The Remaining Glory: Worldwide Worship The Glory of Christ Has Been Spreading Since His Resurrection Now the glory of Christ has been spreading and increasing since His resurrection and ascension. It's been getting greater and greater every day, every single day. On the night of His resurrection, Jesus came to where his disciples were in the upper room where the doors were locked for fear of the Jews, and Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you," and they were stunned when they saw him and filled with joy, and He showed them His hands and His side. The marks of His atoning work. And again, He said to them, "'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so, I am sending you.' And then He breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'" And with the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the church started moving out, started that external journey that we talk about, just pouring out of the Upper Room to those thousands of pilgrims who had come there for the day of Pentecost and began preaching the Gospel beginning in Jerusalem, a church started there, it grew to 3000 baptized that first day, and it just continued to grow in Jerusalem. Persecution broke out, it spread throughout Judea and Samaria, and they preached the Gospel in that area. It was taken down to Ethiopia by that eunuch that Philip witnessed to out in the desert from Isaiah 53; we will get to all that. It spread to the Gentiles by Peter's witnessing to Cornelius and his family. It spread to Cypress and then throughout Asia Minor by Paul and Barnabas as they went on their first missionary journey. And then it spread across to Macedonia and Thessalonica, and down to Athens and Corinth by Paul and Silas as they were called there by the Holy Spirit. It was taken in chains by Paul to Rome, the center of the Roman Empire, but God's word was not chained, and a church was growing up there in Rome and spreading, and everyone in the Roman world heard about that. It continued to spread after the apostolic era through the Roman empire by the blood of martyrs, seed for the church, and our brothers and sisters willing to die for their faith so that the Gospel might spread and Christ might get more and more glory and honor. As the Gospel spread throughout the Roman world, it continued to spread through the barbarian tribes of Europe, it spread to Germania and Britannia, by early Roman missionaries continued little by little to conquer Europe, spread eastward to the vast rolling hills and valleys of Russia, the distant, mysterious kingdoms of India and China in those early centuries, under the Nestorian's, spread along the Silk Road into the steps of Central Asia. Explorers started taking banners of their Christian kings and queens to the New World, but genuine missionaries came too and started sharing the Gospel among those that were already living in the new world, and the Gospel continued to spread. The Name of Jesus is Greater and Greater with Every Day of Missions The last three centuries have seen an explosion of missions to India, Burma, China, distant islands of the South Pacific. After World War II, the unreached people groups began to be isolated and focused on, and more and more turning to the Gospel that they're hearing as this thing relentlessly spread. You know how it says, there's more joy in Heaven over one sinner who repents than 99 who don't need to repent? Everyone person who turns to Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit under the true Gospel, that's more glory for Jesus up in Heaven. Amen. That's awesome. And every saint that dies and is "absent from the body, present with the Lord" and sees his or her Lord face-to-face and is instantly transformed and made holy and perfect in every way, more glory for Jesus, and there is yet more glory to come, there's more and more work to be done. The Gospel is going to continue to spread. We're going to continue to evangelize right here in the Durham area and to be involved in missions to the ends of the Earth. And it's going really, really well. It's exciting, actually. This is a great time to be alive. I read an incredible article in World magazine written by David Garrison. The name of the article was the rising tide of Muslim converts to Christianity. And David Garrisons is an IMB missionary for 25 years, PhD from the University of Chicago. He's written a book called, A Wind in the House of Islam. A Wind in the House of Islam. He believes - and in that book, he does research and relates the results of his research - he believes, based on his research, that somewhere between two and seven million former Muslims have converted to Christianity in the past two decades. He says there's been lots of upheaval in the Muslim world, but some of that has actually loosened the grip of Islam on the hearts of people living in Muslim countries. Key example is Iran. Garrison says that The Ayatollah Khomeini has been one of the greatest evangelists for Christ that Iran has ever seen. He didn't mean to be that way, but that's been the outcome. What do I mean? What did Garrison mean? Well, because of his overwhelming dedication to enforce the Islam that is actually taught in the Quran, hear me carefully, it's not extreme Islam, it's genuine Islam, and he desired to enforce that in Iran, thousands and thousands of Iranians don't want any part of it. Don't want any part of it. They're leaving Islam in record numbers. Tens of thousands and probably hundreds of thousands in Iran are now brothers and sisters in Christ. And Jesus's glory has increased as a result of that. That's happening on a grand scale in many places. Garrison said this; there are movements of Muslims to Christ. And by that, I mean not just individuals, but movements of at least a thousand within a single community who have been baptized or 100 churches planted over the last two decades. Those are his criteria from one end of the Muslim world to the other, so from West Africa to Indonesia and everywhere in between. He said Muslims are having their sleep disturbed by visitations and by answered prayers as well. He said we've talked to a number of folks who just talked about how they tested God. They said, "If this is real, I'm just going to pray, and if you're really there, Lord, I want you to hear this." And Jesus began to reveal Himself through His faithfulness in amazing ways, and they realized that to follow Christ was not to follow a 2000-year-old dead prophet. It was to follow the living Lord. That, for them, was the turning point. Garrison said this, "I traveled more than a quarter of a million miles into the Muslim world, and in every corner I interviewed people, I would never have imagined I'm talking about Sheikhs and Imams and Mullahs, leaders in the Islamic community who gave testimony to having been baptized after having met Jesus and knowing that in doing so, they were saying, "I am willing to die because they knew very well that Islamic law did not allow for conversion from Islam to anything." "Over the next... The course of the next couple of years, as I began compiling lists," said Garrison, "What I discovered was that in the whole course of Muslim-Christian interaction, there have been 82 times, 82 movements of Muslims to Christ of at least a thousand baptisms or 100 church plants over the last two decades," 82 times. Now, here's what's striking, 69 of those have occurred since the year 2000, we're in the midst of the greatest turning of Muslims to Christ in history. I don't think the Church of Christ is aware of this. Now, even though it's minuscule, when you look at 1.6 billion Muslims, it's less than 1.5% of Muslims have been touched by the Gospel at all. Yet we're seeing 84% of all the movements that have ever happened in the history of missions right now among the Muslim world, and that's exciting. By the way, all of that's in a book written by David Garrison. It's on my desk, in my office. I will give that book after worship is over. I'm going to go to the back of the church to the first person that promises that they'll read it sometime in the next three months. I mean, all of it. If you make me a promise that you'll read the whole book, I'll give it to you for free. Moving on. Jesus Deserves to Be Worshipped and Glorified as God Jesus deserves to be worshipped and glorified as God. Verse 10:11, "At the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in Heaven and on Earth and under the Earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." Simply put, people are saved. They're saved from their sins when by the power of the Holy Spirit, under the hearing of the true Gospel, they confess the deity of Christ. And when they do, Christ's glory increases that much more. This human baby that we're celebrating at Christmas time recognizes fully God and their own savior by the power of the Holy Spirit. Christmas Leads to Missions! So, therefore, Christmas leads to Missions. Amen. It leads to missions. This is a completely appropriate emphasis of Southern Baptist churches across the nation. The Lottie Moon Offering $120,000 for our goal, 175 million nationwide, if you happen to have 175 million lying around somewhere, give it to The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering or less is fine to consider the widow who gave two copper coins, and we're told she gave more than anyone, whatever God calls you to do. But more than that, lay yourself on the line in 2015 to grow in your commitment to evangelism and missions. You're commitment to seeing Christ's glory expand more and more, that every knee would bow and every tongue would confess. That should be the passion of our hearts. Applications Celebrate with Great Joy! So some final applications, first just celebrate with great joy. Christmas time, enjoy yourselves in a Christian way, enjoy yourselves. Have a good time with your family. But let's be sure that we remember Him who gave everything that we might have all of these gifts. Let's make Him the center of our celebration. Amen. I know we mean to, but often we forget. We've got our own family traditions, etcetera. Don't forget. Don't forget, and I mean, just literally like the text says, bow your knees to Jesus, get down on your knees on Christmas morning, and thank Him for dying for you and rising again. Worship Him as God. I'm going to especially challenge fathers, okay? Lead your families on Christmas morning with the Bible, read scripture, Colossians 1, John 1, Hebrews 1, or the accounts that were so familiar with in Luke and Luke 2, and in Matthew 1 and 2. Focus on Christ and worship Him. Imitate Jesus’ Downward Humility Secondly, imitate Christ's downward journey in your own way. We cannot travel as far as he traveled, but the same downward upward journey is commended by Paul to all Christians in Philippians 2. That's the reason why he's even talking about it. He wanted the Philippian Christians to get along and to serve one another. And so take to heart what he says in Verses 2-5, "Be like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility, consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interest but also to the interest of others." Have this mind in you, which is also in Christ. Think like He did, who went that downward journey. Missions Thirdly, missions. The exaltation of Christ has continued now for 2000 years. God has sent people on long journeys to win the ends of the Earth. Ask God to make you more attentive than ever before to missions, learn more about it, ask him to give you a heart for missions, embrace church members who are serving overseas, who are presently there in the field now. It's actually pretty lonely to be on the field at Christmas time. It's a strange feeling. In Japan, they celebrated Christmas in a purely secular way. There was nothing Christian about it, in that way, similar to the US, but without churches and people assembling together. Other places, it's just another day. There's no difference at all. Pray for our brothers and sisters who are serving on the field. Young people, I just believe that God is going to be calling some of you to go and lay down your lives to the unreached people groups. I'm talking about high schoolers, college students. What is God doing with you? What is He calling you to be and to do? I just would love to see FBC as a launching pad for unreached people group missionaries. And so if you're young, you might be in elementary school and you just, your ears are perking up. You might be in middle school. You might be in high school, college, or just out of college. What do you want to do with your life? How do you want to sacrifice and serve? Could this be something God is calling you to do? Consider it. Come to Christ And then, finally, if I could just say if you're a visitor here, you were invited here, and you know you're on the outside looking in, and you've never given your life to Christ, today is the day for you. Repent and believe. Give your life to Christ, trust in Him. If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Close with me in prayer. Father, thank you for this time of celebration that we have, this time of year, in which we get to rejoice and delight in the gift of Jesus Christ for us. Closing Prayer Father, I pray that we would... That we would not think too highly of ourselves. As we're opening gifts, Lord help us to not feel I deserve this, or we deserve this. So Lord, help us to realize that you have lavished grace on us contrary to what we deserve. Thank you for Jesus, who is God in the flesh, and who gave Himself fully for us, and thank you for His bloodshed on the cross. I pray in Jesus name. Amen.

Jesus told Peter he could not follow him where he was going. Yet the constant plea of the master to the twelve had been "follow me." Where Christ was going was Calvary and there is a prerequisite for following him there. Jesus had told what that was at different times. Simon the Cyrene experience it. He bore the cross AFTER the Lord. When you pick up your cross, you'll be able to follow the Lord... even to Calvary.

Advent—The Great Joy of the Gospel Luke 1:39-45; 2:8-14 There is an undeniable connection between God’s presence and true joy. “You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest . . .” Isaiah 9:3 In Need of Joy . . .  Without Christ there is no hope, and without hope there is no joy.  The things of this world will never produce joy. The Joy of His Presence . . .  The advent of Jesus was God’s gift of great joy. (Luke 1:39-45; 2:8-14) o Where Christ is not present, there is no joy. (Isaiah 9:1-3) o Where Christ is present, there is overwhelming joy. (Matthew 2:10)  The indwelling presence of Christ is the source of all joy. (Psalm 16:11; 37:4) o Inexplicable joy is experienced when we are delighting and finding pleasure in Christ. o All satisfying joy eludes us when we pursue the “lesser joys” of life. o Sustaining joy is present even in times of sorrow. (2 Corinthians 6:10; John 16:16-22) God’s Invitation to You . . .  God invites all, through His Son Jesus, to know the joy of His salvation. o Without Christ, all is not right. o In Christ, all is made right.

Speaker or Performer: Pr. Mark D. Lovett Scripture Passage(s): Matthew 22:1-14 Date of Delivery: October 6, 2013 In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit.One of the mysteries of the Church of Jesus Christ is that it is given not only to the Jews, the bloodline descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but it is given also to us who are called Gentiles. This is what St. Paul says in Galatians, that the mystery he was to reveal is that salvation is for the Gentiles as much as for the Jews.This is also the point of Isaiah the prophet when he says to us today, “Behold, you shall call a nation that you did not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified you.” (Isaiah 55:4) It is also what Jesus says in the Gospel according to St. John when He says that He has sheep of another fold that He must bring into the one fold. And it is what the Lord is speaking of today in His parable when He says that those invited did not come, and others were brought into the banquet hall. The Gentiles will be in the same Church as the Jews. There are not two churches – one for the Jews and one for the Gentiles – but one church just as there is one Lord, one Baptism, one faith, and one God and Father of us all. But that’s not all He says to us in this parable. He also says that there are some at the banquet who are not wearing the wedding garment.The wedding garment is Christ. For in holy baptism we are clothed with Christ, as St. Paul says in Galatians, chapter 3. We have put on Christ and walk in Him, our life being hidden in Christ. Those who are found at the wedding banquet of the Great King without this proper garment, without Christ, will be bound hand and foot and thrown out into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.But what does it mean to be clothed with Christ and to walk in Him? Surely there are many who are baptized who do not wear Christ or walk in Him, even as this ill-clad man was at the banquet, among the blessed, and yet was not wearing the proper garments. So what does this mean, to be clothed with Christ and to walk in Him?It means simply to trust that Christ is your righteousness before God. This is the great comfort and peace the Christian has with God that the pagans – by the by, the pagans in our days are those that worship false gods such as the god of the Mormons, Allah of the Muslims, Jehovah of the Jehovah Witnesses, which is not the God of the Scriptures. In short, today’s pagans are those that do not look to Christ for all good and for their righteousness. This is what our faith is: trust that for Christ’s sake we have peace with God.When you have peace with someone it means that there’s nothing but friendship between you. There’s no enmity, fear, anxiety, or any such thing. There is only contentment and friendship. And the closer a person is to you, the more that peace between you draws you to one another. So it is with God. In Christ there is nothing but peace between you and God. For Christ’s sake there is no enmity, fear, anxiety, or any such thing between you and God. And the more you meditate and ponder and consider this great peace you have with God in Christ, the more God will draw you to Himself so that you seek the things above and not earthly things. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:1-4). There is no enmity, fear, or anxiety between you and God because there is none of this in Christ, in whom He is well-please. And you have put on Christ and have been clothed with Him in Holy Baptism.Where there is not Christ, there is enmity, fear, and anxiety between you and God. Where Christ has been laid aside there, too, has our comfort and confidence before God been laid aside. For Christ is our righteousness before God. Without Him we are nothing but damned sinner bound for eternal darkness. This is what it means to cling to Christ alone and look to Him only as our peace with God.Notice, though, that I did not say that where there is sin there is enmity, fear, and anxiety between you and God. Because Jesus receives and eats with sinners. He raises sinners up from death and shines on them. He does not condemn us in our sins, but came precisely to free us from the condemnation of sin. We sin daily, even hourly, yet in Christ we need not be afraid of our sins for we are clothed with Christ.Now someone will say, “But that sounds like it’s okay to sin.” No, of course not. It’s not okay to sin. But there is a difference between sins, as St. John says in his first epistle. There is a sin that leads to death. This is the rejection of Christ, which is to blaspheme the Holy Spirit who bears witness to Christ. Such sin is to remove the garment called Christ and to be clothed in our own righteousness. This is the sin that leads to death as it blasphemes the blood of Jesus that is poured out for us sinners to be washed in. When we stand before God by our own righteousness, by our own efforts, by our own litany of what we’ve done right, tried to do right, and feel really passionate about, then we stand before Him naked, as did the man without the wedding garments.So don’t comfort yourself that your sins won’t damn you because you’ve tried to make up for them or because you’ve done the best you can or any such thing. That path is wide and easy and leads to hell. But the narrow path is Christ, and He leads to eternal life.To be clothed with Christ does not mean to be without sin, for no one is without sin in this mortal life, as the Bible teaches everywhere. There’s no state of sinlessness for us who have not yet been risen from the dead. Rather, the apostles teach us that sin is always with us and that we must strive against it precisely because it is there, crouching at our door, ready to devour us. No, to be clothed with Christ does not mean to be without sin. To be clothed with Christ means simply to trust that for Christ’s sake your sins no longer accuse you and damn you to hell.Standing firm in Christ isn’t about doing the right thing or being a good person – though these are not lost – standing firm in Christ means we stand firmly in the forgiveness of sins won by His perfect obedience, His death and resurrection, and that in Him we are ascended to the right hand of God and dwell in Him in the heavenly places.You are clothed with Christ in holy Baptism, by which He has invited you into His Church and banquet hall. And you remain clothed in Him by always remembering and calling to mind that you are baptized; that you have been crucified with Christ and buried with Him, dead to sin and to it’s threats of hell and damnation, and that you have been raised with Him in the newness of life, walking in the ways of God, following Jesus into eternal life, eating the bread of heaven given in this wilderness to strengthen you, sustain you, and continually mark you as one redeemed, a member of the Body of Christ, wearing the proper garments of righteousness.+ In Nomine Iesu +

"You keep using that word"; Any real scholar of biblical studies should know this; Politics of religion; Political correctness in archaeology (too); Spiritual/physical realm; Molded by associations/relationships; DNAR (Do Not Attempt Resuscitation) law; The word (or vibration, frequency, DNA) of God; Clearing up the confusion; Christ's gospel (of the kingdom [of God]); From THE beginning; Cain vs Abel; "Mark of" (read: character of) Cain/Beast vs "Mark of" (read: character of) God; Definition of "terrorism" and why we fear; Love of God; Fractal networking; Sacrifice of one's being for others – the DNA of Christ; Willing... to... be... crucified?; Key to life; "Prayer" (immersion in will of God) vs "The great temptation"; What means to be a Christian; Ẻξουσία under God; Choose life; "Armor of" (read: character of) God; Every cell (with a life of its own) within network of communication; Disease and confusion within our DNA; Drawing out what resides within; Path of Cain; "Drag" of unforgiveness; How the beast gets power (over us); On His Path, or in our own way; Many wrong turns; Where Christ wants to lead us; Providing daily ministration; SS as "Corban of Pharisees"; Let the light in; Only two paths; Claiming vs knowing; Whole message of Christ (even the inconvenient stuff?); Law of Anglos vs civil law; Christ's church defined as "one form of government" – Black's Law Dict.; Employee/slave connection; Way it is in world today; Word of God – to effect, or to no effect; Strengthening the poor; Finding others – for others; Scars will heal; The flow around you; Connecting to sacrifice of Christ (through our sacrificing as did Christ).