Archive for the ‘Easter’ Category

“Remembering What Is Often Forgotten About Pentecost (TRINITY)!”

Part A:

Part B:

Full Message:


Scripture: Acts 2, Matthew 28: 19-20, 1 Corinthians 12: 4-6, 2 Corinthians 13:14 John 14


Summary:

In this insightful and foundational sermon, Pastor Timothy Brassell challenges us to move beyond a fragmented view of God that emphasizes one Person of the Trinity over the others. Instead, he calls us to embrace the full relational unity of the Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in our worship, discipleship, and daily life.

Drawing from Acts 2, John 14, and the Nicene Creed, Pastor Tim calls the Church back to honoring God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, indivisible and fully unified. He reminds us that Pentecost is not merely about the Holy Spirit’s arrival; it’s about encountering the whole God in unified action. When we divide the Trinity, we distort the gospel and hinder our spiritual growth. But when we hold the Persons of God together, we see clearly, live rightly, and worship fully. This is a call to deeper reverence, relational intimacy, and Christ-centered living empowered by the Spirit.

Key Themes & Highlights:

1. The Trinity in Full Unity 🔺💞

  • Theme: The Church often emphasizes one Person of the Trinity over the others, but true worship involves knowing and honoring God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, united not divided.
  • Discipleship Question: Are you growing in relationship with the whole Triune God, not just a “part” of Him? Are you remembering that He doesn’t come in parts but in Whole?
  • #WholeGodWorship

2. The Forgotten Side of Pentecost 🔥🔄

  • Theme: Pentecost is more than the Holy Spirit’s outpouring; it’s an encounter with the entire Trinity, working in love and mission.
  • Discipleship Question: How can you celebrate the full presence of the Trinity in your spiritual life this week?
  • #TrinitarianPentecost

3. God Revealed Through Relationship 👨‍👦‍👦💬

  • Theme: God reveals Himself through the relationship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—not abstract doctrines, but living, loving Persons.
  • Discipleship Question: How does viewing God as relational impact the way you relate to others?
  • #GodIsRelationship

4. True Doctrine is Like Glasses 🤓📖

  • Theme: Sound doctrine isn’t just theology; it’s a gift from God to help our broken minds see Him more clearly, like corrective lenses.
  • Discipleship Question: Are you viewing doctrine as a tool for clarity or as a burden?
  • #DoctrineAsGlasses

5. God Is Not Distant—He’s Hidden for Our Good 🌫️❤️

  • Theme: God’s hiddenness (especially through the Holy Spirit) is intentional. It protects our free will and invites pursuit.
  • Discipleship Question: How can you respond with trust even when God seems silent?
  • #HiddenButPresent

6. Worship the One, Not Just the Parts 🙌💠

  • Theme: Dividing God into Father-only, Jesus-only, or Spirit-only leads to spiritual confusion. Worship must be holistic.
  • Discipleship Question: In what ways can your worship better reflect the unity of the Trinity?
  • #UndividedGod

7. The Holy Spirit Always Points to the Son and Father 🕊️➡️👑

  • Theme: The Spirit doesn’t draw attention to Himself. He glorifies Jesus and leads us to the Father.
  • Discipleship Question: Are your spiritual experiences drawing you deeper into relationship with Jesus and the Father in the Holy Spirit?
  • #SpiritLeadsToChrist

8. The Trinity Teaches Us to Hold Things Together 🧩🫂

  • Theme: Just as God’s nature is united in three persons, we are called to unity, not division, in doctrine, worship, and life.
  • Discipleship Question: What part of your life needs the integrative healing of the Triune God?
  • #HoldItTogetherInChrist

9. Baptism and Salvation Are Trinitarian Acts 💧✝️

  • Theme: Baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit reflects that salvation is the shared mission of the Triune God.
  • Discipleship Question: How can you live as someone who’s been baptized into the fullness of God?
  • #TrinitarianBaptism

10. God Is Always Working—even in Chaos 🌍🔧

  • Theme: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are actively involved in redeeming the world, even when it seems chaotic.
  • Discipleship Question: Where can you discern the presence of God working in the brokenness around you?
  • #GodInTheMess

Context:

In a time when many churches tend to highlight the Father’s authority, the Son’s grace, or the Spirit’s power in isolation, this message calls us back to the wholeness of who God truly is. Pentecost is often reduced to a celebration of the Holy Spirit alone; but what if we’ve forgotten something essential?

Pastor Tim leads us into a richer understanding of Pentecost as a revelation of the entire Triune God. Through Acts 2 and the Nicene Creed, he urges the Church to honor God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, indivisible and fully unified, working together to redeem creation and empower His people.

Reflective Moment:

✨ What part of your faith practice has become one-dimensional?
✨ Are you embracing God as Father, Son, and Spirit or just the “parts” you’re most comfortable with? ✨ Where can you discern the presence of God working in the brokenness around you?

This message emphasizes reverencesound doctrinespiritual maturity, and a return to a fully Trinitarian gospel. Let it lead you into deeper worshipclearer understanding, and a renewed desire to live in step with the fullness of God.

📖 Rediscover Pentecost through a Trinitarian lens.
💬 Reflect. Repent. Receive the fullness of God.

“6 Ways Of Understanding God’s Gracious Judgement!”

Part A:

Part B:

Full Message:


Scripture: Revelation 2-3; Revelation 1: 4-20


Summary:

In this theologically rich Ascension Sunday message, Pastor Timothy Brassell unveils Jesus Christ not only as Savior but as God’s active, relational, and loving judgment. Drawing deeply from Scripture and lived experience, he explores six “ways” of understanding God’s judgment in Christ, each centering on the truth that God-Father, Son, Holy Spirit is for us, not against us. Rather than punishment, judgment is presented as intimate correction, grace-filled disruption, and a call to deeper relationship with the Triune God. Pastor Tim calls the Church to repentance, trust, mission, and communion in light of Jesus’s ongoing presence in and with all creation.

Key Points and Highlights:

1. Jesus Is God’s Judgment of Love

Theme: Jesus reveals God’s judgment as a relational act of redeeming, not condemnation.
Quote: “God’s judgment in Christ is: ‘I am for you.’”
Discipleship Question: Do I truly believe God is for me, even when I face hardship or correction?
#JesusIsForYou #JudgmentAsLove #GodIsForUs

🛐 2. We Mourn With Hope

Theme: In Christ, grief is transformed by hope because judgment has already been dealt with at the cross.
Quote: “We mourn, but not as those without hope.”
Discipleship Question: How can I grieve and still anchor my hope in the victory of Christ?
#HopeInGrief #JesusHasOvercome #GrieveWithGrace

💥 3. Judgment Is Intimate, Not Distant

Theme: Jesus’s judgment is relational. He draws near to correct because He desires deeper intimacy.
Quote: “Jesus is seeking to be more intimate with you… that’s why He gets in your face.”
Discipleship Question: What obstacles am I clinging to that keep me from intimacy with Christ?
#CloserThanYouThink #IntimateGod #FaceToFaceFaith

⛪ 4. The Church Is a Reminder of Truth

Theme: Christ uses the Church, not to shame, but to remind us who we are in Him.
Quote: “Gather with others to remind each other what’s true.”
Discipleship Question: How is community shaping my understanding of who I am in Christ?
#ChurchAsReminder #GospelCommunity #GraceTogether

🚫 5. God Judges Our False Idols

Theme: God opposes the thoughts and behaviors that distort our identity and keep us from Him.
Quote: “God is against you, when you are against yourself.”
Discipleship Question: What lies am I believing that God may be disrupting for my healing?
#DisruptToHeal #JudgedToBeFree #BreakTheIdols

🌍 6. Judgment Is Always Missional

Theme: God’s judgment extends outward through creation and especially through humanity. It is never self-centered.
Quote: “Salvation is never just for you. It’s always for the other, too.”
Discipleship Question: Is my faith focused inward, or is it driving me outward toward others?
#MissionMinded #ForTheOther #OutwardFaith

🔥 7. God’s Disruption Is Grace

Theme: Sometimes God’s love comes in the form of disruption because His will is to draw us close.
Quote: “He’ll kick your legs out from under you if it will wake you up to His love.”
Discipleship Question: Am I recognizing God’s loving interruptions in my life?
#GracefulDisruption #WokenByLove #GodGetsMyAttention

🕊️ 8. The Spirit Makes God’s Judgment Believable

Theme: Only the Holy Spirit allows us to receive and trust that God’s judgment is for our good.
Quote: “You can’t receive that truth without the Holy Spirit.”
Discipleship Question: Am I listening to the Spirit or to my circumstances?
#LedByTheSpirit #BelieveByGrace #SpiritOfTruth

📖 9. Scripture and Prayer Are Participation

Theme: Reading the Word, gathering with believers, and praying are how we align with God’s relational judgment.
Quote: “Prayer isn’t a religious checklist. It’s how you survive as a living person.”
Discipleship Question: Am I relating with the Relational God, or checking religious boxes?
#PrayToLive #ScriptureIsLife #RelationalFaith

🍞 10. Communion Is Receiving the Judge Who Saves

Theme: The Eucharist is not a ritual. It’s a real participation in Christ’s glorified life.
Quote: “This is participation with Him in His ascended life.”
Discipleship Question: Am I receiving Christ in communion as a living relationship or as tradition?
#RealPresence #CommunionAsLife #ReceiveJesusFully

Context:

This message was delivered on Ascension Sunday and serves as a theological meditation on what it means that Jesus Christ is both Lord and Judge. Rather than presenting judgment as divine wrath or rejection, Pastor Tim reorients our understanding of judgment to be about God’s relentless pursuit of relationship, holiness, healing, and hope. The sermon touches on themes of grief, correction, community, creation, mission, and communion, all through the lens of Christ as the relational Judge who is present, active, and victorious.

Reflective Moment: Come Closer

Take a quiet moment to ask:
Am I letting Jesus be near enough to correct me because He loves me?
Am I resisting the very disruptions that are meant to restore me?
Have I made salvation about me alone, or am I joining God’s mission for others?

Come as you are. God’s judgment is not a hammer. It’s a hand extended in love.

“Sent to Share – Living the Resurrection Now!”

Devotional By Pastor Timothy Brassell

Scripture: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”
John 20:21 (CSB)

Today’s Reflection:

In the quiet after the resurrection, Jesus didn’t come with fire from heaven, but with something even more powerful: peace and purpose.

“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

These are not just words for the disciples; they are words for us. The resurrection isn’t only a celebration of the past or a promise of the future. It’s a living reality that changes how we walk through each moment of each ordinary day. We’re not just receivers of grace; we’re sharers of it. As we live sent lives, we don’t go alone; we go for and with each other

“The Christian needs another Christian who speaks God’s Word to him… again and again when he becomes uncertain and discouraged.”
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Sharing grace isn’t always dramatic, it’s often quiet, relational, and consistent. God sends us to speak encouragement, truth, and hope into one another’s lives, especially when faith feels uncertain.

Mary Magdalene was told not to cling to the risen Jesus, but to go and tell. That same divine pattern lives in you. Even your “boring days” are holy ground when you live under Christ’s reign.

“Your day has purpose. Jesus is walking with you on your boring days.”

And the great comfort is this: “The urgency is on, but the pressure is off.”
God-Father-Son-Holy Spirit, sends you, but it’s not on your shoulders. It’s His Spirit working through you that does the heavy lifting.

God and Evil Are Not Equals:

One of the most profound truths is this: Evil is not eternal, and evil is not God’s equal.

“Evil doesn’t sit beside God as an equal force; it’s a distortion; a twist in creation that God is straightening out in Jesus.”

There is no cosmic tug-of-war. There is only one Sovereign God, and in Christ, evil has been decisively defeated. It’s not a matter of if, but when it will be gone forever. Evil may have twisted creation, but in Jesus, God-Father-Son Holy Spirit, is redeeming what He made, not replacing it. Our bodies, our relationships, our time, all of it is being redeemed and we’re called to participate in that straightening work, not by power, but by presence, prayer, and proclamation.

“The resurrection is not the reversal of a process but its completion. It is not the denial of the cross, but its vindication.”
— Lesslie NewbiginTruth to Tell, p. 45

Living on God’s Calendar:

When you live under God’s calendar, nothing is wasted. That means when you’re doing dishes, struggling through studies, or enduring pain Jesus is there. The time you once saw as pointless is now sacred. You’re not waiting for heaven to begin resurrection life. You’re already living in it.

You are a dual citizen, walking in this world while belonging to the next. That’s why your habits, priorities, and even relationships begin to shift. You’re not just reacting to life anymore; you’re living sent with purpose.

“You can live slower and stronger now under the calendar of Jesus Christ.”

Just as the Father sent Jesus into a broken world to redeem it, He now sends you into your family, your neighborhood, your job, your daily routines to participate in that same redemptive work. We live between resurrection and return. In this in-between time, we are not passive. We are active participants in God’s Kingdom mission.

“Our sole future is that He will come, just as our sole present is that He has come.”
— Karl BarthDogmatics in Outline

This quote reminds us that we don’t just look forward; we live fully in the now. The resurrection isn’t an interruption to history; it’s the anchor of it. Christ has come. Christ is coming. And in the middle, we live sent.

Reflective Moment:

Take a breath. Sit with these questions:

  • What has Jesus taught me lately?
  • Am I clinging to safety… or stepping out in faith?
  • Who around me needs to know that evil doesn’t win?

Let the Spirit place someone or something on your heart. Then move toward them with love, light, and truth. Today, take what you’ve learned, big or small and share it. Write it. Speak it. Text it. Live it. You don’t need to be perfect; just present. You’re not sent because you’re strong; you’re sent because Jesus is risen, and He lives in you.

Prayer: 

Lord Jesus, You are the resurrection and the life. You’ve not only called me to Yourself ; You’ve sent me into the world You are redeeming. I confess the times I’ve retreated into fear or comfort when You were calling me to share. Help me live in the truth that evil is already defeated, and that time is not my enemy; it’s Your tool. Let my moments be filled with eternity. Fill me with peace. Move me in power. Let me live and love as someone sent. In Your victorious name I pray, Amen.

Commissioning:

Now go; loved, empowered, and sent by the risen Christ. Live sent.

“Hear What Jesus Says To You, His Church!” Pt2

Part 2A:

Part 2B:

Full Message:


Scripture: Revelation 1-3


Summary:

In Part 2 of his sermon series, Pastor Timothy Brassell continues his heartfelt exhortation for the Church to actively listen, obey, and respond to the living voice of Jesus Christ. Preaching from Revelation chapters 1–3, Pastor Tim proclaims that Jesus is not only Savior, but JudgeLord, and Living Head of His Church. Through the lens of each of the seven churches addressed in Revelation, he emphasizes Jesus’ loving discipline, the necessity of repentance, and the call to faithful endurance amid tribulation. Using both Scripture and the insights of theologian T.F. Torrance, he reveals that the Church is God’s chosen instrument in history — called to suffer, witness, and reign with Christ, embodying His redeeming presence on earth.

“The Church is the instrument and medium on earth through which God Almighty is at work. It is around this Church that the love of God and the whole history now revolves.”
— T.F. Torrance

“The Church is not meant to call men and women out of the world into a safe religious enclave but to call them out in order to send them back as agents of God’s kingship.”
— Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, 1989, p. 232

Key Points and Highlights:

👑 Jesus is Lord, Judge, and Present Among His Church

• Jesus walks among His Church, not as a distant God, but as a present Lord and Judge.
Reflective Question: Do I recognize Jesus as my judge and leader, not just my comforter?
#ChristIsLord #JesusJudges

🕯️ The Church Must Listen, Obey, and Repent

• Hearing Jesus means obeying Him. Obedience is the mark of true listening in Scripture.
Reflective Question: In what areas am I hearing God’s word but resisting His call to action?
#HearAndObey #SpiritLedLife

🔥 Judgment Begins With the Church

• God’s judgment begins in His own house, before the Church judges the world, it must examine itself.
Reflective Question: Am I more concerned with judging the world than being purified by Christ myself?
#SelfExamination #HouseOfGod

🛑 Jesus’ Rebuke Is Love in Action

• Christ’s rebuke and discipline are signs of His deep love, not rejection.
Reflective Question: Am I receiving correction as a gift of grace or resisting it in pride?
#GodCorrectsInLove #DisciplineIsGrace

🌍 The Church Is God’s Instrument in History

• The Church is where God exerts His redeeming power, not politics or culture.
Reflective Question: Do I see the Church as central to what God is doing in the world?
#ChurchOnMission #KingdomPurpose

🌊 Tribulation Is Normal for the Faithful

• Suffering and opposition confirm our union with Christ and purify our witness.
Reflective Question: Am I shrinking back from difficulty or stepping into Christ’s refining fire?
#FaithUnderFire #RefinedInChrist

💡 Return to Your First Love

• Like the church in Ephesus, we must not let ministry or routine replace love for Christ.
Reflective Question: What does loving Jesus first look like in my everyday life right now?
#FirstLove #SpiritualRenewal

🕊️ Repentance Is Ongoing and Necessary

• Each church is called to specific repentance — and so are we.
Reflective Question: What is Jesus specifically calling me (or our church) to repent of today?
#DailyRepentance #ChurchRenewal

✝️ Victory Comes Through the Cross

• The Church overcomes not by strength, but by the blood of the Lamb and faithful testimony.
Reflective Question: How can I more boldly live and speak as a witness to Christ today?
#VictoryInJesus #CrossPower

🔭 Urgency, Endurance, and Expectation

• The Church must live with urgent expectation, holding fast until Christ returns.
Reflective Question: Am I living as if Jesus could return today, or have I grown complacent?
#LiveReady #JesusIsComing

Context & Reflective Moment:

This message challenges the Church to embrace the full identity Christ offers: a beloved but disciplined people, a kingdom of priests, a body called to suffer with Jesus in order to reign with Him. Drawing from the piercing truths of Revelation 1–3 and the historic insights of T.F. Torrance, Pastor Tim reminds us that the Church is not peripheral, it is central to God’s redemptive plan in the world. His warning is clear: judgment starts with us, and Christ walks among His people today. His invitation is just as clear: listen, obey, repent, and reign.

🕯️ Jesus is knocking. Will we answer?
📖 Revelation 3:20 – “Behold, I stand at the door and knock…”

“Resurrection For Real Life!”

Devotional By Pastor Timothy Brassell

Scripture: John 20

“He is Risen Indeed!”
When Mary Magdalene wept outside the tomb, she thought Jesus was gone. But then—He said her name. “Mary.” In a moment, despair turned to joy. The risen Jesus stood before her, not as a ghost, but in a glorified, real human body. She ran to tell the others, “I have seen the Lord!”

The resurrection isn’t just something that happened—it’s Someone alive. Jesus didn’t just rise; He is the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25). That means resurrection isn’t primarily an idea or doctrinal teaching first. It’s a Person you can know. The Person of Jesus!

Real Hope for Real Life
The empty tomb means more than victory over death. It means you will live. As Paul wrote, “In Christ all will be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22). Resurrection is humanity’s future—because Jesus is humanity’s new Head transforming bodily the entire human family. You’re not facing death alone, or anything alone. You’re heading toward life in Christ.

So, what does this mean now?

  • It means you can face and share grief with hope. “This is not the last word.”
  • It means you treat every person as someone God wants to and will raise.
  • It means your ordinary days are colored by God’s extraordinary future.

The Risen Christ Comes to You
Mary saw Him. Thomas touched Him. The disciples heard His “Peace be with you.” His meeting them as the Living Savior personally made all of the difference. And now, Jesus comes to you, personally. Not as a memory, but through the Holy Spirit, the Risen One reveals Himself to you – your heart, the very center of your being. You can’t study Him like any other subject to know Him. He must meet You, and you Him —again and again, and this all by His initiation and grace!

Have you?

If the Resurrection is personal, and it is, it’s also a call. Jesus doesn’t ask for admiration. He asks for relational allegiance. He is the Resurrected One that you might share with Him in His Relationship with His Father in the Holy Spirit forevermore! You can’t stand in the middle. He doesn’t allow you to take Him neutrally. You either worship and walk with Him or walk away, resurrected body and all. But to those who believe, Jesus says: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

 Today’s Reflection:
Jesus, You are not only alive—You are here. Make Yourself known to me. Make Yourself known to me again, today. Let Your Resurrection Life and hope shape my words, my work, and my worship. I don’t just want to admire You—I want to follow You. I want to know and trust Your Father as You do. I want to be filled with the pleasures of Your Spirit in communion and fellowship with You and the Father forevermore, overflowing into my relationship with all creation! Thank You!

 Question for the Day:
Who do you say Jesus is? (hint: Your response will only be correct when it is the same as Jesus’! Ha!)

“What happened on that day (of Easter) became, was and remained the center around which everything else moves. For everything lasts its time, but the love of God—which was at work and was expressed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead—lasts forever. Because this event took place, there is no reason to despair, and even when we read the newspaper with all its confusing and frightening news, there is every reason to hope.”

— Karl Barth, Insights: Karl Barth’s Reflections on the Life of Faith, p. 30 

“Keeping First Things First This Easter/Resurrection Season!” 

Part A:

Part B:

Full Message:


Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15


As we gather and prepare our hearts for this upcoming Resurrection Sunday, this message calls us to remember that the empty tomb means nothing without the cross — and that the risen Christ invites us not just to celebrate, but to participate in His life, death, and victory.

“The resurrection of Jesus was not just a coming back to life of a dead man, but the coming of eternal life into our world of sin and death, breaking its way through into the form of a new creation.”
— T.F. Torrance, “Space, Time and Resurrection”


Summary:

In this deeply reflective Easter sermon, titled “Keeping First Things First”, Pastor Timothy Brassell delivers a powerful Gospel message that proclaims the Triune God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — revealed in Jesus Christ. It’s a call to realign our Christian life and church practice around the full narrative of Jesus’ life, not just the Resurrection.

Pastor Tim walks the congregation through the context of 1 Corinthians, exposing the moral, theological, and communal dysfunctions within the Corinthian church — all of which trace back to losing focus on Christ’s full story: His life, crucifixion, death, and resurrection.

This message isn’t only about looking forward to our personal resurrection — it’s about being transformed now by the risen Christ and living into His life today. In a world and church distracted by individualism, factionalism, pride, and cultural confusion, the message calls for repentance, humility, and renewed dependence on Christ’s death and resurrection. It is both sobering and hope-filled — reminding us that the resurrection is not just a future hope but a present way of life.

Key Highlights from the Sermon


1. ✝️ The Whole Gospel: Life, Death, and Resurrection Are One

Jesus’ Resurrection cannot be rightly celebrated apart from His life, crucifixion, and death. The full Gospel is one seamless act of redemption.
💬 Discipleship Question: Have you embraced all parts of Jesus’ life—or only the ones that comfort you?


2. 🤝 Christian Unity Over Division

Paul calls out divisions in Corinth — factions over leaders and prideful preferences — and reminds them (and us) that unity in Christ demands humility and sacrifice.
💬 Discipleship Question: In what ways do my preferences get in the way of Christian unity?


3. 🚫 Immorality & Legal Disputes: Signs of Forgetting Jesus

The Corinthians’ sexual sin and lawsuits reveal what happens when Jesus’ sacrifice isn’t central to Christian life.
💬 Discipleship Question: Where do I seek justice or gratification outside the life of Christ?


4. 🏛️ Your Body: A Temple of the Risen Lord

Paul reclaims the body as sacred, affirming its value through the Resurrection. Holiness isn’t optional — it’s our new normal.
💬 Discipleship Question: Do I honor Christ in how I treat my body and others’?


5. 💍 Singleness and Marriage in Light of Christ

Whether single or married, Paul teaches that our status is secondary to our call to serve Christ in love, sacrifice, and purity.
💬 Discipleship Question: Am I using my current relationship status to fully serve Christ?


6. 🔄 Misusing Spiritual Gifts Without Gospel Centrality

Confusion and pride around spiritual gifts erupted in Corinth because they forgot the Cross. True gifts serve others, not self.
💬 Discipleship Question: Do my spiritual gifts point to Christ or to me?


7. 🌅 Resurrection Power Starts Now

Resurrection isn’t just for the future — Jesus brought the future into our present. His life changes our now.
💬 Discipleship Question: How is Jesus’ resurrection transforming your life this week?


8. 🍇 Communion: Remembering Christ Together

The Lord’s Supper isn’t just a ritual — it’s a communal encounter with Jesus’ broken body and poured-out blood. It demands reflection and unity.
💬 Discipleship Question: Am I truly seeing Christ — and His church — when I take Communion?


9. 📣 Include the Cross in Your Gospel

A true Gospel is not just inclusion into life but inclusion into Christ’s death and crucifixion. That’s the path to transformation.
💬 Discipleship Question: Does my Gospel include the cost of following Jesus?


10. 🕊️ Live the Risen Life in Community

Living into Christ’s resurrection means radically loving, serving, and forgiving within the church. Our witness starts with one another.
💬 Discipleship Question: How are you revealing the risen Jesus through your church relationships?


Reflection: The “He Is Risen Indeed” Tradition

The sermon beautifully affirmed the rich Christian tradition of proclaiming:

“He is risen!”
“He is risen indeed!”

It’s more than a greeting — it’s a declaration of shared life, rooted in Christ’s victory over death. But the full meaning only comes when we remember that Resurrection follows crucifixion. Jesus died to kill death — and rose to raise us now.

“Jesus Christ IS The Revelation of Revelation!”

Part A:

Part B:

Full Message:


Scripture: Revelation 1 (CSB)


Summary:

This sermon, the second in a series on the Book of Revelation, centers on one powerful truth: Jesus Christ IS the Revelation. In this foundational message, Pastor Timothy Brassell boldly proclaims that Revelation is not primarily about cataclysmic events or mysterious prophecies — it is about encountering the glorified, victorious Christ at the center of it all.

Delivered during Lent, the message reflects on Christ’s victory over temptation and evil, inviting believers to engage deeply in this season through repentance, self-denial, and devotion. Pastor Brassell calls the church to move beyond surface-level readings of Scripture and see Revelation as a stunning unveiling of Jesus’ divine nature, His majesty, and His eternal union with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

This sermon lays the groundwork for approaching the book not with fear, but with awe, reverence, and hope, urging a renewed view of Jesus — not only as the crucified Savior, but as the reigning Lord of glory.

“The Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who did, through His transcendent love, become what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself.”
— Irenaeus of Lyons

“In Jesus Christ, the revelation of God has taken place, does take place, and will take place. … Revelation in fact does not differ from the person of Jesus Christ nor from the reconciliation accomplished in Him. To say revelation is to say ‘the Word became flesh’.”
— Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics I/1, pp. 111–119

Key Points and Highlights:

📖 1. Jesus Is the Revelation, Not Just in It
• The Book of Revelation is not primarily about end-times events — it’s about Jesus Christ Himself being revealed in glory.

🧎 2. The Fear of God: Good Scary vs. Bad Scary
• God’s holiness is awe-inspiring (“good scary”), but terrifying only to those who reject His love and truth (“bad scary”).

🔥 3. Lent as a Season of “Bright Sadness”
• Lent is a time of repentance and reflection, but also of joy — knowing Christ has already won the victory.

👁️ 4. Seeing Jesus as He Truly Is
• Many know Jesus as the suffering servant, but Revelation reveals Him as the radiant, reigning Son of God.

🕊️ 5. The Holy Spirit Enables True Understanding
• We cannot grasp Christ fully without the Spirit; knowledge alone is not enough — we need divine revelation.

🔑 6. Christ Holds the Keys to Death and Hades
• Jesus has full authority over life, death, and eternity — offering believers confidence in His victory.

🪞 7. Revelation Calls Us to Reflection and Readiness
• The call is not to predict the future, but to live faithfully in light of who Jesus is now.

🧬 8. Participation in the Divine Nature
• Christ invites us into union with the Father through the Spirit, making us partakers in the divine nature (2 Peter 1).

🌎 9. The Church as a Spirit-Filled Witness
• Believers are called to be light in the world, pointing others to the glorified Jesus — the Alpha and Omega.

🛐 10. True Worship Begins with a Right View of God
• Revelation draws us into reverent, Christ-centered worship, based on who God truly is, not our projections.

Context:

This sermon was delivered on the first Sunday of Lent as part of an ongoing teaching series on the Book of Revelation. Pastor Timothy Brassell sets a theological and spiritual foundation for how to read and interpret the book — through the lens of Jesus Christ as its core revelation. He bridges the liturgical season of Lent with the apocalyptic vision of John, urging believers to repent, rejoice, and recognize the awe-inspiring reality of Christ’s victory.

“Even if you die in unrepentant sin as a Christian; still, you will be saved!” – by Bobby Grow

Article by Bobby Grow (Attached)

The True Gospel: Grace, Not Performance:

Without Jesus Christ, we are doomed. Yet, much of what is preached today focuses on performance—whether through legalism or moralistic self-improvement. Many measure faith by how well they “perform” rather than by Christ’s finished work. But the truth is, we are all sinners, every single day. We fail more than we admit, yet God sees it all.

🙌 The Good News? Jesus took our sin upon Himself, fulfilling the law on our behalf. Our hope isn’t in our works, our church tradition, or even our best intentions—it is in Christ alone! The Gospel is not a call to self-righteous striving but to rest in His righteousness. However we slice it up, the answer is always JESUS CHRIST.

📖 Ephesians 2:8-9
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

“The law says, ‘Do this,’ and it is never done. Grace says, ‘Believe in this,’ and everything is already done.”Martin Luther, The Heidelberg Disputation (1518)

“This is the mystery of the riches of divine grace for sinners: for by a wonderful exchange our sins are now not ours but Christ’s, and Christ’s righteousness is not Christ’s, but ours.”Martin Luther, The Freedom of a Christian (1520)

If your faith is based on what you do for God[Father-Son-Holy-Spirit] rather than what He has done for you, reconsider the Gospel. May we live in response to His radical love—not to earn favor, but as an overflow of grace.

📖 Read this article by Bobby Grow to dive deeper into the truth of the Gospel and the danger of performative Christianity.

JESUS: The Most Important PERSON and TASK For Everyone! Part 3 (Jesus’ Suffering / The Biblical Worldview)

Part 3A:

Part 3B:

Full Message:


Bible Verses: Luke 4: 1-28


Introduction:

In this series we continue understanding the Person of Jesus and the Father’s Work in Him, and what the entire course of His Incarnate Human Life (God in Human Flesh) meant and means for us. We’re understanding more accurately and biblically what it means to place our trust in and say “Jesus Christ!”

Theological Theme:

We’re in the process of answering the question “Who are You Lord?” and Jesus’ own answer back to us as the revelation of God, in the Holy Spirit, is that He is, Himself, God, and therefore He is the human expression of God’s Love. It is Revealed in Jesus that because God is Love and God is a Relationship in His own Being, God stoops and draws near to His creation, to sustain it, and, when it falls into sin, He seizes and lifts it up again in His Son, renewed. He does not forsake His own or turn from what He has made, He fulfills that which He has purposed! He literally fulfills it in Himself! The story of Who God is and Who he has revealed Himself to be for us in Jesus is the Greatest Love Story there is!

Christ Connection:

As the One Who becomes human taking our place in the entire range of our human activity, Jesus is also the one who substitutes for us in our suffering, and our death. With Representation, Substitution and Renewal in mind, we can receive that the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus isn’t about the wrath of the Father against His Son, but the Father, Son and Holy Spirit against sin and for our complete and total salvation! The suffering of Jesus is not about God the Father needing to have a pound of flesh (or an eye for an eye, or a tooth for a tooth) so that he could be satisfied (the Lord does not take pleasure in the death of anyone – Ezekiel 18:23, 32, 33:11!) but because the Father is intent to absorb every drop of evil out of our nature and give us a renewed and healed nature in its place! The suffering and cross of Jesus is not about the Father punishing His Son because He hates us, but about us punishing His Son because we have hated him in the evil of sin! Jesus did take on the punishment we deserved but it was sinners who dealt it out!

God is not afraid of sin as if he is intimidated by it and can’t get near to or touch it. He can and must get near it (assume it by getting inside of it) to get rid of it. His goodness absorbs it completely because he is completely righteous and doesn’t sin at all, therefore “mopping up” the mess of sin – undoing it !

Missional Application:

Because of Jesus, sinners can draw near to God to be healed, reconciled and redeemed. God in Christ touched lepers! Sick people touched him! It was the sickness that was defeated and overcome when Jesus drew near, not Jesus! This is what we proclaim to the world of pre-believers that they might turn from their sin and put their trust in Jesus. This is also why St. Augustine wrote about the Spirit Jesus now sends in this way:

“There is nothing too subtle or dense for the Spirit to penetrate or too sinful for the Spirit to cleanse or too weary for the Spirit to refresh or too dead for the Spirit to breathe life into again. The Spirit strives with us, prays for us, groans with us (Rom. 8:18–27; Augustine, Hom. on 1 John 8).”

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In Jesus, The Church Is God’s New Humanity!


Part A:

Part B:

Full Message:


Watch On YouTube

Bible Verse: Acts 2:42 – 47 Romans 8


Introduction:

Because Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son has come and lived, and suffered, and died, and risen from the dead, and ascended into heaven, in our glorified humanity, sending the Holy Spirit to us,  a new world order has been inaugurated from the Father, through Jesus the Son, and in the Holy Spirit! A new humanity is breaking in and rising up in believers who share in the responses of Christ in the holy Spirit, through Jesus, and to the Glory of the Father! This New Humanity, or New Creation, breaking into our present is what it means to be a part of the Church, a part of the Father-Son-and-Holy-Spirit-God’s New Community!”

Theological Theme:

“There can be no doubt, however, that the New Testament is pervaded with the joyful sense of God’s actual presence in Jesus Christ, and with the realisation that the coming age has already broken into the present and overlaps it. That is precisely the good news of the gospel, that here and now in Christ Jesus God is present in all his royal power, not only to speak a word of pardon but actually to enact it and fulfil it in the liberation of the children of God.” – T.F. Torrance

Christ Connection:

“…when we do hear God’s voice through Jesus Christ, It calls us out of ourselves into community with God and man. And then individual Gospel and social Gospel become all one. We can’t separate them, without killing both, and running away from God…God was incarnate in Jesus Christ, and He created in the world a new community – the fellowship of the Holy Spirit – to draw us out of ourselves into community with God and man, for our own salvation and the salvation of the world.” – Donald Baillie

Missional Application:

“And if you, my friend, feel your heart pierced, in this your day and generation, by the woes of your fellows, that is perhaps the beginning of God’s work in your heart, saving you from yourself, drawing you out of yourself, into a life worth living, where you wiIl be lifted above your own temptations and defeats by the enthusiasm of the service of God and man, in the Community of the Holy Spirit. God is beginning that work in you – let Him have his way.” – Donald Baillie

The scriptures indicate what Salvation in Christ sounds and looks like in Acts 2:

36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

37 When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” 

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.

43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. 44 Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. 45 They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”

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