Archive for the ‘Union In Christ’ Category

“A Divine Calling!”

Word of Life Devotional by Sherwin Scott

Therefore, holy brothers [and sisters], you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession…
Hebrews 3:1 (ESV)

Many people consider themselves to be called to a specific profession or service. They believe that they have been called to be doctors, lawyers, and teachers, or to serve in the armed forces or the local or national government of their country. Maybe they feel they are called to be the leader of a nation as president or prime minister.

Believers in Jesus Christ have received a specific and definite calling into his fellowship.  The Apostle Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 1:9: ‘God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.’ What exactly is ’the fellowship of his Son’? It is the holy, loving relationship of God the Father, Jesus the beloved Son and the Holy Spirit – a divine relationship that has existed from eternity and will continue forever!

Believers are blessed, privileged, and honored to be called to participate or share in this wonderful relationship. It doesn’t get any better – it is finding the pearl of great value (Matthew 13:45-46), the ultimate calling! And an amazing truth about this special calling is that it cannot be revoked as explained in Romans 11:29: ‘For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.’

 Relationships are very important to God, for God is in relationship: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a communion of love. And he wants us as his children to participate in the divine relationship, which will continue forever. With this divine calling there is no going back, for God takes no pleasure in anyone who draws back (Hebrews 10:36-38). There is only one way – marching forward into the fullness of God’s glorious kingdom.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for the invitation to participate in your beautiful relationship. Please help me to respond in a manner that is pleasing to you. In Jesus’s name I pray, Amen.

Study by Sherwin Scott

Photo Compliments: WorldChallenge.org

“Who is The Father Revealed in Jesus?” Pt. 2

Part 2A:

Part 2B

Full Message:


Scripture:

2 Cor 13: 14, Matthew 23: 8-11, John 17


Summary and Goal:

This sermon discusses the importance of understanding the relationship between God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. It emphasizes the deep love and joy that comes from being united with the Father through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

“What I mean is this. An ordinary simple Christian kneels down to say his prayers. He is trying to get into touch with God. But if he is a Christian he knows that what is prompting to pray is also God: God, so to speak, inside him. But he also knows that all his real knowledge of God comes through Christ, the Man who was God—that Christ is standing beside him, helping him to pray, praying for him. You see what is happening. God (THE FATHER) is the thing (ONE) to which he is praying—the goal he is trying to reach. God is also the thing (ONE) inside him which is pushing him on—the motive power. God is also the road or bridge along which he is being pushed to that goal. So that the whole threefold life of the three-personal Being is actually going on in that ordinary little bedroom where an ordinary man is saying his prayers. The man is being caught up into the higher kind of life—what I called Zoe or spiritual life: he is being pulled into God, by God, while still remaining himself.” (P.163) – Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

Highlights:

👨‍👦‍👦 The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct persons in the Godhead.

👻 The Holy Spirit is not a commodity, but a person who hears, speaks, sees, inspires, and moves.

🎁 Everything we receive and do comes from the Father through Jesus and in the Holy Spirit.

😇 Joyous days in the Father surpass mere happiness and can be experienced even in affliction and distress.

❤️ The love of the Father is deep and unbreakable, even in the face of trials and persecution.

✝️ The Father’s love was demonstrated through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, which reconciled and saved humanity.

🤝 The relationship with the Father is shared through the participation in the Holy Spirit’s fellowship.

“Who Is The Father Revealed In Jesus?” Pt. 1

Pt 1A:

Pt 1B:

Full Message:


Scripture: Isaiah 40: 18-31, Isaiah 46: 3-13, Hebrews 1: 1-3, 1John5, Mark 12, John 17


Summary and Goal:

This sermon is about the importance of knowing and understanding the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The speaker emphasizes the supreme advantage and relevance of having a relationship with the Father-Son-Holy-Spirit-God as Revealed in Jesus Christ the God/Man.

Highlights:

🙏 Praying to the Father before the message

🌟 The twin doctrines of faith: Who is the Father? What is He doing?

👨‍👧‍👦 Father’s Day celebration and addressing everyone

🏛️ The foundation of Jesus Christ and the importance of building on it

📖 Scripture references and teachings on the Father

🌍 The Importance of God the Father for every family

💞 Implications of understanding and relating to God the Father

💡 Knowing the Father gives supreme advantage and relevance in life.

Photo compliments: smoodock45.wordpress

Pentecost And The Coming Of The Holy Spirit!

Part 1A

Part 1B


Scripture: Acts 1, 2


Introduction:

Summary and Goal:

Pentecost was the occasion following Jesus death, resurrection and
ascension when the Holy Spirit was sent as Jesus promised to his
disciples in Jerusalem. Peter proclaimed the fulfillment of the
prophecy of Joel 2:28-32.

Theological Theme:

Jesus Christ is the living Head of the Church, and to whom it looks and is
directed through the Holy Scriptures, by the indwelling Holy
Spirit.

Christ Connection:

Jesus lives in his followers through the presence of the Holy Spirit
indwelling and empowering them to fulfill the great commission of
proclaiming the good news of Jesus in the world.

Missional Application:

The Church, the body of Christ, is composed of people who trust in
Jesus and who are commissioned to make disciples of others in the world.

Photos compliments: pinterest.com

Who and Where Jesus Is, and What He’s Doing!

Part 1A

Part 1B


Scripture: Ephesians 1, 4


Introduction:

Summary and Goal:
On this Ascension Sunday, we ask, “Who is Jesus Christ?” And, “Who are you, Lord?” We get the incredible response and reminder that He is the Father’s Son in the Holy Spirit Who, as the God/Man, is The Way, The Truth, The Resurrection, The Life, and The Ascended One!

Theological Theme:

As the Ascended One, Jesus is ruling over all things with his Father and the Holy Spirit as the God/Man! Though He is living with the limitations of our glorified human nature, he is also living with the unlimited nature of his God Being, as one Person with two natures! Ruling over the earth was always Jesus’ destiny, even if we hadn’t sinned, for God alone can rule over all things within creation and outside of creation! God alone can rule over the visible as well as the invisible! Apart from Christ, no one can do anything! This is not just a statement coming from the fact that we have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory! Only the Father Son and Holy Spirit God can pull off Their real, full, and final goal inside their creation; the goal of the adoption of mankind into Their relationship!

Christ Connection:

In Jesus’ being conceived by the Holy Spirit, he has started something fresh and new right here in the middle of our broken humanity (for he was not born of the will of fallen man but of God). In his fleshly life as a baby, a child, a teenager, a young adult, and a full-grown man, he has completely undone every obstacle and all sin between the Father and us. We can relate with him and the Father and come before his throne of grace boldly to receive mercy in time of need! In his suffering and crucifixion, and his ascension to heaven as a fully glorified Man before the Father, Jesus is sharing everything He is and has with our human nature in the Holy Spirit.

Missional Application:

In the grace and power of the Holy Spirit Who is with us, and through whom Jesus knocks on the door of our hearts to live inside us, you can now turn and come to the Father! Through Jesus the Son you can live a life that glorifies God—great things Jesus has done! You are called to live in unity with Jesus and the Father by receiving the Holy Spirit, a relationship that is offered to you freely! You are summoned in Jesus by the Spirit to embrace and stop rejecting the Father! You are called to understand Jesus and stop putting off understanding Him! You are called to enjoy the Holy Spirit and stop grieving Him! You are called to receive and share this Good news with others!

Photos compliments: youtube.com

The Primary Point You Should Receive From All Christian Teaching! 

The Primary Point You Should Receive From All Christian Teaching, 1A
The Primary Point You Should Receive From All Christian Teaching, 1B

Bible Verse: 2 Peter 1


Introduction:

Because the primary goal of God-Father-Son-Holy-Spirit is that we share in the Divine nature, as it says in 2 Peter 1, we are properly pointed to the primary point of all Christian teaching!

Theological Theme:

What the triune God requires of us has to be something He first does for us in our place and on our behalf since he is the only one Who is divine, and able to give and receive divinity!

Christ Connection:

Jesus Christ is not only the Gift of Humanity that God gives to us by becoming Incarnate in our place and on our behalf in a substitutionary way, but Jesus is also the Giver of our Humanity to us, and sharing His Spirit with us that we might participate with Him in His Humanity!

Missional Application:

Psalm 24: says, “The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the Lord;” Because this is so, the new humanity God shares with us in Christ is not just for Christians but something God has done for and to all mankind in the person of Jesus. Therefore we joyfully proclaim this Good News about Who Jesus is, and Who we all are in him, to everyone, that all may accept, receive, and experience Jesus’ life in the Spirit, by grace, repenting of their unbelief in Him by believing in Him!

Photo Compliments: twitter.com

Once Greedy, Now Generous!

“Once Greedy, Now Generous!” – Melvin McKee, Jr.

Bible Verse: 2 Cor 8:1, 2 Cor 9:6-15


Introduction:

The grace of God works deeply into us so that it can also work out of us to benefit others. Grace
hoarded is grace squandered; in fact, it may be grace misunderstood or even unexperienced. God’s
gracious gifts are meant to be held loosely with generosity, not held onto tightly with greed. Our
motivation for living with generosity comes from God’s exceeding generosity to us in giving us the
fullness of His Son despite our total spiritual bankruptcy. Because we have been given the eternal
riches of His glory in Christ Jesus, we are compelled to live generously, not reluctantly, and with joy
and gratitude.

Theological Theme:

God-Father-Son-Holy-Spirit already owns all that we have. He has called us to be stewards of the wealth He entrusts to us.

Christ Connection:

In Jesus Christ, we have both a model and a motivation for generosity. Because God has been
merciful and generous to us by giving us His Son, we are empowered to be merciful and generous
toward others.

Missional Application:

God gives us wealth in order that we might share it with others in need, not out of a sense of guilt or
obligation but cheerfully and willingly.

Photo Compliments: sharinghorizons.com

GOD: The Most Important PERSONS and TASK For Everyone! Part 4 (Jesus’ Suffering/ The Biblical Worldview)

Part 4A:

Part 4B:


Bible Verse: Luke 4


Introduction:

In this series we are rehearsing and remembering the centrality of Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, and how important every part of Who He is and what He does holds together as our Salvation. We are reviewing what it means that Jesus was born of a Virgin, that He lived a fleshly life for quite awhile, that he suffered and was crucified. We’re remembering what it means that he was the Resurrection, personally, in His Resurrection, what it means that He Ascended into Heaven, and what it means that He will return in His Final Appearing and Advent.

Theological Theme:

Jesus suffered because God-Father-Son-Holy-Spirit was intent to absorb every drop of sin and evil out of our human nature, in order to give us a renewed and healed nature in its place! The cross was not about the Father punishing His Son because He hates us and took out the hate on his Son. The Cross was about us punishing His Son because we were provoked by God’s goodness and Godness and we hated him! Two crucial questions arise: How was God going to get rid of the hate in our hearts without becoming human and substituting for us?!?! How was the Potter going to shape the clay without becoming the clay, while also remaining God?!

Christ Connection:

Jesus, the Son of the Father and Holy Spirit, assuming our human nature, had to go to the depth of sin by taking on our exact nature physically and spiritually, if he were to reach every part of us. The entire extent of our human being and activity had to be assumed, and was assumed by Jesus, without sin, thereby cleansing and renewing us with the love and life of the Trinity!

Keeping Jesus’ unity with the Trinity always in mind, we can say that: God-Father-Son-Holy-Spirit reveals Himself, through Himself, To Himself, As Himself, For us, and in us (for and inside our human being and nature) We then receive this gift in the Holy Spirit Jesus sends!

Missional Application:

In the Light of such Good News for humanity, the Church participates with Jesus Christ in receiving the Spirit and sharing this Good News with all, encouraging them to turn from their sin and receive relationship with the Father-Son-Holy-Spirit-God!

Our Gospel message can be proclaimed similar to what St. Augustine has written:

“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).”

Photo Compliments: trinityandhumanity.com

JESUS: The Most Important PERSON and TASK For Everyone! Part 5 (Jesus’ Crucifixion / The Biblical Worldview)

Part 5A:

Part 5B:

Full Message:


Bible Verses: Mark 15 Psalm 22 Isaiah 53


Introduction:

On this Transfiguration Sunday we are reminded that the Whole God Father Son and Holy Spirit loves you/us so much that he has suffered for you/us in the Life of the Son made flesh! The Father-Son-Holy-Spirit-God loves you so much that together, in Their utter Oneness, Each distinct Person somehow shares in the humanity of the Son of God in Jesus (only the Son became human!), having suffered for you and having resisted all evil and every temptation on your behalf and in your place! In Jesus, Who sustains you from within his own human nature, you have victory over all evil principalities and powers. Even your present sufferings cannot and will not prevent you from receiving your victory in Christ! Christ’s victory is so full of the glory and love of God that you will consider your present sufferings to be light in comparison to the glory you will receive! Whereas sin and evil have no future, you have an immortal and eternal life to look forward to with Jesus in His eternal relationship with the Father Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus Transfiguration is a picture of our transformation in Him!

Theological Theme:

On one hand is the non-relational, unfeeling god of our sinful imaginations; the God more interested in law and punishment and sin than he is interested in us. On the other hand is the One and only True God – Father-Son-Holy-Spirit – Merciful and compassionate! The Relational, loving God revealed in the Person of Jesus! The triune God WITH US & FOR US despite our sin! The God Who includes us all in His Life & Love, permanently, in Jesus – Who atoned for the sins of the world!

Christ Connection:

Do you have this great vision of the Gospel before you????? You are being made fit for eternal life, and by God-Father-Son-Holy-Spirit you WILL be fit with the spiritual muscle of Jesus Who has transformed our human nature in His own, turning it back fully to the Father. Our Father does nothing halfway! In Christ and by the Spirit you are becoming who and what you really are and you will be that (or you won’t be at all!) The death of Jesus means the death of death, and a nature turned from God and corrupted now turned back to God in a glorified and permanent way.

Missional Application:

As believers in union with Jesus Christ, and in the light of Who He is and what He has done, we proclaim and witness to others not yet in spiritual union with Jesus that, as George Hunsinger has well-stated “There’s always more grace in God, than there is sin in us!”, therefore, repent and believe, receive the Good News and enter a trust relationship with the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit!

“JESUS: The Most Important PERSON and TASK For Everyone! Part 2” (Jesus’ Human Life / The Biblical Worldview)

Part 2A:

Part 2B:

Part 2C:

Full Message:


Bible Verses: Luke 2: 52 (Various Scriptures)


Theological Theme:

In relationship with Jesus His faith in us causes us to seek understanding about Who He is in His Person and Deeds, taking into account the entire course of His Human Life, with the help of the Holy Spirit. We’ve rehearsed Jesus’ Person and Work by grasping more of the meaning of His Virgin Birth. In this message we understand more basic and fundamentally the meaning of His Incarnate Life!

Christ Connection:

When Jesus lived He lived our life, meaning that as the Son of the Father united to us in our human nature He was the God/Man renewing our fallen human nature from the inside because he never sinned in it. Just as in Adam the human nature in which we all have shared became fallen, so in the one person of Christ the human nature in which we all shared was made right and saved! Jesus is more significant than Adam because He not only shared in our fallen human nature, but was also the One in, through, for and by Whom all things are created and made! He was both God and Man. This means that by his one human life, the human nature of everyone is now set on an entirely new basis! Where sin abounded (Adam), God’s grace in abounds even more (in Jesus!!)

Missional Application:

“Jesus embodied the unreserved presence of God with and for sinners. “Those who are well have no need of physician,” Jesus declares, “but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mt. 9:12f.). Christ’s incarnate humanity — his entire life, death, and resurrection among and on behalf of sinners — provides the basis for and the reality of reconciliation. He stands in our place and acts on our behalf to heal our humanity. His vicarious humanity — i.e., his substitutionary life and death in our place and representative humanity on our behalf — reconciles us to one another and to God. Social reconciliation is both an indicative and an imperative of the gospel of Jesus Christ, both gift and task, both command and promise.” – Ray Anderson

So, as we experience reconciliation with the Father-Son-Holy-Spirit-God that Christ accomplished, and because it is social – touching the lives of every human being – we share this Good News with others that they, too, might trust Christ and experience the gift and promise of real human life before the Father along with other believers!

Photo Compliments:

http://www.dinglemount.org