Once Greedy, Now Generous!
Filed under: Bible, By Melvin McKee, Jr., Christian Living, Christianity, Church, Discipleship, Faith, GCI Windsor Mill, Maryland, God, God Father Son and Spirit, God the Trinity, God's love, good news, Gospel, Grace Communion Baltimore, Grace Communion International, identity in Christ, Jesus Christ, Lent, Love, Ministry, New Life Fellowship Of Baltimore Maryland, New Life Fellowship Of Windsor Mill, MD., On Mission with Christ, Participation with Christ, Participation with Jesus, Prayer, relationship with God, Relationships, Scripture Paraphrases, Sermons, The Church, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, The Gospel Project, The Holy Spirit, Trinity, Uncategorized, Union In Christ, Union with Christ, Witnessing to God, Witnessing to Jesus, Worship, Worshiping God, Worshipping Jesus | Tags: Cheerfully, Generosity, Generous, Generous vs. Greedy, Gift, Giving, Health, Hear, Heart, Jesus, joy, Love, Melvin McKee Jr., money, Overflow, Poverty, Provide, Rich, Share, Surplus, Wealth
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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)
Filed under: By Tim Brassell, By Timothy Brassell, Christian Living, Christianity, Church, Discipleship, Evangelism, Faith, GCI Windsor Mill, Maryland, God, God Father Son and Spirit, God the Trinity, God's love, good news, Gospel, Grace Communion Baltimore, Grace Communion International, Humor, identity in Christ, Inclusion, Jesus Christ, Love, Ministry, New Life Fellowship Of Baltimore Maryland, New Life Fellowship Of Windsor Mill, MD., On Mission with Christ, Participation with Christ, Participation with Jesus, relationship with God, Relationships, Sermons, The Church, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, The Holy Spirit, Timothy Brassell, Trinity, Uncategorized, Union In Christ, Union with Christ, Witnessing to God, Witnessing to Jesus, Worship, Worshiping God, Worshipping Jesus | Tags: Evil Eradicated, God Is For Us, God Is With Us, God Revealed, God Revealed In Jesus, Humanity Revealed In Jesus, Jesus Assuming Human Nature, Jesus Substituting for Humanity, Jesus' Suffering, Pastor Timothy Brassell, Pastor Timothy Brassell of New Life Baltimore, Pastor Timothy Brassell of New Life Fellowship, Person And Work Of Jesus, Proclaiming The Good News, Sharing The Gospel With Others, Sin Destroyed, Spiritual And Physical Life, Spiritual And Physical Unity, Sufferings of Christ, The Meaning Of The Trinity, The Work Of The Trinity
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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
John Has A Vision Of Jesus!
Filed under: Bible, By Richard Andrews, Christian Living, Christianity, Church, Faith, GCI Windsor Mill, Maryland, God, God Father Son and Spirit, God the Trinity, God's love, good news, Gospel, Grace Communion Baltimore, Grace Communion International, identity in Christ, Jesus Christ, Love, New Life Fellowship Of Baltimore Maryland, New Life Fellowship Of Windsor Mill, MD., On Mission with Christ, Participation with Christ, Participation with Jesus, Prayer, relationship with God, Relationships, Scripture Paraphrases, Sermons, The Church, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, The Gospel Project, Uncategorized, Union with Christ, Witnessing to God, Witnessing to Jesus, Worship, Worshiping God, Worshipping Jesus | Tags: Book of Revelation, Christian Living, Christianity, Church, Godly Hope, Gospel, Jesus, Jesus Always With Us, Jesus' Defeat of Hell, Jesus' Glory, Jesus' Power Over Death, Jesus' Power Over Hell, Jesus' Power Over Time, Jesus' Victory, Jesus' Power, Jesus' Presence, life, Love, Overcoming Fear, Pastor Richard Andrews, Rejecting Fear, Relationships, Revelation 1, Salvation, Stepping Out In Faith, The Mission of God, The Mission of Jesus, Trinity
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Part A:
Part B:
Full Message:
Bible Verse: Revelation 1
Introduction:
In the Book of Revelation, Jesus revealed Himself in a vision to His beloved disciple John. He revealed
Himself in the glory of the most holy triune God, affirming that He is the Son of God the Father. He
revealed His power over time, death, and hell, each of which factor significantly in the Book of Revelation.
This vision also revealed Jesus with His church—with us—giving us hope and confidence as we strive to
remain faithful to the mission He has given us while waiting for His return.
Theological Theme:
The reality of Jesus’ glorious presence gives hope to Christians today.
Christ Connection:
When Jesus revealed Himself to John, He pointed to His identity as the First and the Last, the Living
One. He also pointed to the work He accomplished while on earth—defeating death and hell through
His crucifixion and resurrection. The same Jesus who was once crucified in shame is the Jesus who is
now exalted in glory.
Missional Application:
God-Father-Son-Holy-Spirit calls us to believe John’s testimony about Jesus and to trust that Jesus is present with His people as they fulfill His mission!
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JESUS: The Most Important PERSON and TASK For Everyone! Part 5 (Jesus’ Crucifixion / The Biblical Worldview)
Filed under: Bible, By Pastor Timothy, By Tim Brassell, By Timothy Brassell, Christian Living, Christianity, Church, Evangelism, Faith, GCI Windsor Mill, Maryland, God, God Father Son and Spirit, God the Trinity, God's love, good news, Gospel, Grace Communion Baltimore, Grace Communion International, identity in Christ, Jesus Christ, Love, New Life Fellowship Of Baltimore Maryland, New Life Fellowship Of Windsor Mill, MD., On Mission with Christ, Participation with Christ, Participation with Jesus, relationship with God, Relationships, Sermons, The Church, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Timothy Brassell, Trinity, Uncategorized, Union In Christ, Union with Christ, Witness, Witnessing to God, Witnessing to Jesus, Worship, Worshiping God, Worshipping Jesus | Tags: Becoming Glorified, Biblical Worldview, Christian Living, Christianity, Church, Defeat Of Evil, Defeat Of Satan, End of Evil, End of Pain, End of Suffering, eternal life, Faith, False Gods, Forgiveness of Sin, Glory, God's Crucifixion, God's Suffering, God's Compassion, God's Mercy, Gospel, Hope, Human Identity, Human Transformation, Idolatry, Immortality, Incorruption, Isaiah 53, Jesus, Jesus' Crucifixion, Love, Mark 15, Perichoresis, Psalm 22, Receiving God's Love, relationship with God, Relationship With Jesus, Relationships, repentance, The Death Of Death, The Good News Of Jesus, The Incarnation, Transfiguration Sunday, Transformation In Christ, Trinitarian Theology, Trinity, Victory In jesus
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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 3 (Jesus’ Suffering / The Biblical Worldview)
Filed under: Bible, By Pastor Timothy, By Tim Brassell, By Timothy Brassell, Christian Living, Christianity, Church, Easter, Faith, GCI Windsor Mill, Maryland, God, God Father Son and Spirit, God the Trinity, God's love, good news, Gospel, Grace Communion Baltimore, Grace Communion International, identity in Christ, Inclusion, Jesus Christ, Love, Ministry, New Life Fellowship Of Baltimore Maryland, New Life Fellowship Of Windsor Mill, MD., On Mission with Christ, Participation with Christ, Participation with Jesus, relationship with God, Sermons, The Church, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, The Holy Spirit, Timothy Brassell, Trinity, Uncategorized, Union with Christ, Witnessing to God, Witnessing to Jesus, Worship, Worshiping God, Worshipping Jesus | Tags: Christian Living, Christianity, Church, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Entrusting Ourselves To God, evil, God's goodness, God's Grace, God's Humility, God's Mercy, Gospel, healing, Human Nature Renewed, Incarnational Theology, Jesus, Jesus' Humility, Jesus' Suffering and Death, Living Again, Love, Punishment, redemption, Relationships, Renewal, Sin, Suffering, Suffering With Jesus, Sufferings of Christ, The Christian Hope, The Father's Love, The Forgiveness of Sin, The Incarnation, The Incarnation of the Son, Trinitarian Theology, Trinity, Trusting God, Trusting Jesus
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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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“JESUS: The Most Important PERSON and TASK For Everyone! Part 2” (Jesus’ Human Life / The Biblical Worldview)
Filed under: Bible, By Tim Brassell, Christian Living, Christianity, Church, Evangelism, Faith, GCI Windsor Mill, Maryland, God, God Father Son and Spirit, God's love, good news, Gospel, Grace Communion Baltimore, Grace Communion International, identity in Christ, Jesus Christ, Love, New Life Fellowship Of Baltimore Maryland, New Life Fellowship Of Windsor Mill, MD., On Mission with Christ, Participation with Christ, Participation with Jesus, relationship with God, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Timothy Brassell, Uncategorized, Union In Christ, Union with Christ, Worship, Worshiping God, Worshipping Jesus | Tags: Baptism, Christian Living, Christianity, Christmas, Church, Faith Seeking Understanding, Gospel, Grace, Human Life, Human Nature, Human Nature Renewed, Important Relationships, Important Tasks, Jesus, Jesus' Human Life, Life Priorities, Love, Luke 2:52, New Life Fellowship Of Baltimore Maryland, Reconciliation with God, Relationships, The Baptism of Jesus, The Biblical Worldview, The Incarnation, The Incarnation of the Son, Timothy Brassell of New Life Fellowship, Trinitarian Theology, Trinity, Vicarious humanity of Christ
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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!
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JESUS: The Most Important PERSON and TASK For Everyone! Part 1 (Our Christian and Biblical Worldview)
Filed under: Bible, By Tim Brassell, Christian Living, Christianity, Church, Discipleship, Evangelism, Faith, GCI Windsor Mill, Maryland, God, God Father Son and Spirit, God the Trinity, God's love, good news, Gospel, Grace Communion Baltimore, Grace Communion International, identity in Christ, Inclusion, Jesus Christ, Liturgy, Love, Ministry, New Life Fellowship Of Baltimore Maryland, New Life Fellowship Of Windsor Mill, MD., On Mission with Christ, Participation with Christ, Participation with Jesus, Perichoresis, Prayer, relationship with God, Relationships, Scripture Paraphrases, Sermons, The Church, The Dance and Dream of the Trinity, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, The Gospel Project, The Holy Spirit, The Plan of Adoption, Timothy Brassell, Trinity, Uncategorized, union, Union In Christ, Union with Christ, Witness, Witnessing to God, Witnessing to Jesus, Worship, Worshiping God, Worshipping Jesus | Tags: 1 Cor 15: 1-11, Adoption, All Are Included In Christ, Christian Living, Christianity, Church, Discipleship, enlightenment through JESUS ALONE, father, Fruit of God's Grace, GCI Baltimore, God - Father-Son-and Holy Spirit, God Father Son and Spirit, God in Flesh, God Incarnate, God Likes You, god the father, God The Father's Love, God the Trinity, God's Faith, God's Faithfulness, God's Gift, God's Grace, God's Healing, God's Hope, God's Humility, God's love, God's Love And Life, God's Mercy, God's Mission, God's Patience, God's Power, God's Presence, God's Unconditional Love, Gospel, grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, Grace Communion International, humanity, Humanity Uplifted, Humility, Humility of God, Humility of Jesus, Incarnation, Included In Christ, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Is God's Love Revealed, Jesus is the way the truth and the life, jesus ministry, JESUS THE CHRIST, Jesus Transforms, Jesus' Authority, Jesus' Presence, Love, Luke 2: 52, Outpouring Of The Holy Spirit, Participation with Jesus, Pastor Timothy Brassell of New Life Baltimore, Perichoresis, Purpose, Receiving God's Love, Reconciled To God, Reconciliation, Relationship With Jesus, Relationships, Salvation, Salvation By Grace Alone, Salvation In Christ, Sharing God's Love With Others, sharing in Jesus' humanity, Spiritual Maturity, Spirituality, The Father, The Father's Love, The Father-Son-and-Spirit-God, The Holy Spirit, The Holy Spirit Of Love, Trinitarian Theology, Trinity, Unconditional, Unconditional Love, Union and Communion, Union With Jesus, Union with Jesus Christ, Wholeness in Christ, Worship
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Part 1A:
Part 1B:
Part 1 C:
Full Message:
Bible Verses: Luke 2: 52 (Various Scriptures)
Theological Theme:
God-Father-Son-Holy-Spirit proclaims in a living personal relational way that:
- God the Father does not stand far off from sinners but he draws close to sinners in His Son.
- Though we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, we still have human dignity from the fact of our being God’s good creation from our conception and beginning, and now from the stronger fact of Christ living in our human nature and uniting it to his Godly nature forever!
- God-Father-Son-Holy-Spirit has revealed in the virgin birth of the Son that God does the dirty work of dealing with the tensions and paradoxes of our dignity and brokenness and heals them in HIMSELF, in our humanity that he has now taken on and assumed!
- The Father takes responsibility for His creation and He loves us so much that He even subjects Himself to taking on our sinful flesh, suffering flesh and, ultimately, even evil for our sakes, in His Son. In the power of His Spirit he destroys sin and evil, and preserves us by grace!
Christ Connection:
“If there are two sides to humanity, ”Ray Anderson proclaims, “Christ will be on the wrong side. “1 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.”
Missional application:
“A key understanding of our theology has to do with what God has accomplished for all humanity in and through his incarnate Son, Jesus Christ….. God [in and through Jesus Christ] has reconciled all people to himself.
This theological declaration is based on the biblical revelation that Christ died for all and that God has loved and reconciled the world to himself.
Because this reconciliation is accomplished, and thus a present reality, God’s desire, which is fulfilled by the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit, is for all people everywhere to come to repentance and faith so they may personally experience (receive and live into) this reconciliation and so not perish...
…[from God the Father in a variety of ways, all people in all places and times have been included in God’s love and life in and through Jesus and by his Spirit. In that we rejoice, and on that basis we make our gospel declarations.” -Gary Deddo
Conclusion:
Because of the virgin birth and what it reveals about God in Christ having to replace us even from our conception, we can see that we do not gain enlightenment through meditation and mindfulness practices. We cannot look inside ourselves and come to realize what it takes to meet our true selves and the true power of self-compassion and self-love! No! We gain enlightenment through JESUS ALONE! We must look outside of ourselves to Him to find the fullness of humanity we were meant to bear! In Jesus, the Father is filling us and our human nature with His life and love as GOD – The Father Son and Spirit. Receiving this enlightenment by grace can then lead to the fruit of our practicing with Jesus His meditations and mindfulness of His Father and the Gospel, in the Holy Spirit!
Photo Compliments: http://www.halomtidings.org (edited)
The Most Important TASK Done For Everyone Everywhere – JESUS CHRIST! (Our Christmas and Biblical Worldview)
Filed under: Bible, By Tim Brassell, Christian Living, Christianity, Christmas, Church, Discipleship, Faith, GCI Windsor Mill, Maryland, God, God Father Son and Spirit, God the Trinity, God's love, good news, Gospel, Grace Communion Baltimore, Grace Communion International, identity in Christ, Inclusion, Jesus Christ, Love, Ministry, New Life Fellowship Of Baltimore Maryland, New Life Fellowship Of Windsor Mill, MD., On Mission with Christ, Participation with Christ, Participation with Jesus, Perichoresis, Prayer, relationship with God, Relationships, Sermons, The Church, The Dance and Dream of the Trinity, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, The Holy Spirit, The Plan of Adoption, Timothy Brassell, Trinity, Uncategorized, union, Union In Christ, Union with Christ, Witness, Witnessing to God, Witnessing to Jesus, Worship, Worshiping God, Worshipping Jesus | Tags: 1 Corinthians 15: 1-4, Adoption, All Are Included In Christ, Christian Living, Christianity, Christmas, Church, Discipleship, father, Fruit of God's Grace, GCI Baltimore, God Father Son and Spirit, God in Flesh, God Incarnate, God Likes You, God The Father's Love, God the Trinity, God's Faith, God's Faithfulness, God's Gift, God's Grace, God's Healing, God's Hope, God's Humility, God's love, God's Love And Life, God's Love Is Concrete, God's Mercy, God's Mission, God's Patience, God's Power, God's Presence, God's Unconditional Love, Gospel, grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, Grace Communion International, Gregory of Nazianzen, Gregory The Theologian, Humanity Uplifted, Humility, Humility of God, Humility of Jesus, Incarnation, Included In Christ, James Torrance, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Is God's Love Revealed, Jesus is the way the truth and the life, jesus ministry, JESUS THE CHRIST, Jesus' Presence, Love, Luke 2, Outpouring Of The Holy Spirit, Participation with Jesus, Pastor Timothy Brassell of New Life Baltimore, Perichoresis, Purpose, Receiving God's Love, Relationship With Jesus, Relationships, Salvation, Salvation By Grace Alone, Sharing God's Love With Others, Spiritual Maturity, Spirituality, The Father, The Father's Love, The Father-Son-and-Spirit-God, The Holy Spirit, The Incarnation of the Son, The Nicene Creed, Trinitarian Theology, Trinity, unconditional acceptance, Unconditional Love, Union and Communion, Union with Jesus Christ, Wholeness in Christ, Worship, Worshipping Jesus
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Part A:
Part B:
Full Message:
Bible Verse: Luke 2
Introduction:
Can you see from reading this section of the Nicene Creed what would be missing if as Christians we ONLY spoke about Jesus in terms of His birth (Christmas), His suffering, death and resurrection?
Excerpt about Jesus from the Nicence Creed
“We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through Him all things were made. For us and for our salvation He came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit, He became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered death and was buried. On the third day He rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.”
What happens if we leave out His incarnate life for 33 years? What if after speaking about His Resurrection we stopped and never addressed His human Ascension and Bodily Return?
Theological Theme:
“Christ does not heal us as an ordinary doctor might, by standing over us, diagnosing our sickness, prescribing medicine for us to take and then going away, leaving us to get better as we follow His instructions. No, He becomes the patient. He assumes that very humanity which is in need of redemption, and by being anointed by the Spirit in our humanity, by a life of perfect obedience, by dying and rising again, for us, our humanity is healed in Him, in His person. We are not just healed through Christ, because of the work of Christ, but in and through Christ. Person and work must not be separated.” – James Torrance
Christ Connection:
Christ emptied himself so we may be filled
“The very Son of God, older than the ages, the invisible, the incomprehensible, the incorporeal, the beginning of beginning, the light of light, the fountain of life and immortality, the image of the archetype, the immovable seal, the perfect likeness, the definition and word of the Father: he it is who comes to his own image and takes our nature for the good of our nature, and unites himself to an intelligent soul for the good of my soul, to purify like by like.
He takes to himself all that is human, except for sin. He was conceived by the Virgin Mary, who had been first prepared in soul and body by the Spirit; his coming to birth had to be treated with honor, virginity had to receive new honor. He comes forth as God, in the human nature he has taken, one being, made of two contrary elements, flesh and spirit. Spirit gave divinity, flesh received it.
He who makes rich is made poor; he takes on the poverty of my flesh, that I may gain the riches of his divinity. He who is full is made empty; he is emptied for a brief space of his glory, that I may share in his fullness. What is this wealth of goodness? What is this mystery that surrounds me? I received the likeness of God, but failed to keep it. He takes on my flesh, to bring salvation to the image, immortality to the flesh. He enters into a second union with us, a union far more wonderful than the first.” – St. Gregory The Theologian
Missional Application:
Just as Jesus took on all the parts of our human nature and flesh through the history of a human life to bring us Salvation, as those in union with Jesus in the Spirit we participate with Him in all the parts of His human history and continued Lordship, pointing others to Him as their Salvation also!
Photo Compliments: slidetodoc.com
The Most Important PERSON For Everyone Everywhere – JESUS CHRIST! (Our Christmas and Biblical Worldview)
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Part A:
Part B:
Full Message:
Bible Verse: Luke 2
Introduction:
Luke 1:26-38
1:26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,
1:27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
1:28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”
1:29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
1:30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
1:31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.
1:32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.
1:33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
1:34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
1:35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.
1:36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren.
1:37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
1:38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
Theological Theme:
This story in Luke, noted above, is a good example of how we can preach and witness to others similarly about the Gospel!
vv.26-31 “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” You should start your witnessing with Who God is as Revealed in Jesus and who we are in Him – Favored!
v.31 “And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.” ONLY AFTER PROCLAIMING WHO GOD IS IN HIS WORDS AND DEEDS do you proclaim our participation with Him!
v.34 “Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’, 35 The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.’”
All of this happens by the grace of God – from the Father, through the Son, and in the Holy Spirit!
Christ Connection:
“God loves you so utterly and completely that he has given himself for you in Jesus Christ his beloved Son, and has thereby pledged [promised and given] his very being as God for your salvation. In Jesus Christ God has actualized [made actual and real] his unconditional love for you in your human nature in such a once for all way, that he cannot go back upon it without undoing the Incarnation and the Cross and thereby denying himself. Jesus Christ died for you precisely because you are sinful and utterly unworthy of him, and has thereby already made you his own before and apart from your ever believing in him. He has bound you to himself by his love in a way that he will never let you go, for even if you refuse him and damn yourself in hell his love will never cease. Therefore, repent and believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.”- (T. F. Torrance, “The Mediation of Christ,” 94)
Missional Application:
As we are filled with the Love of the Father and Son Relationship in the Holy Spirit, we participate with God, compelled to go to all and say:
“In and through Jesus, God has included all people everywhere in a particular relationship with himself for just these purposes so that what has been fulfilled for us objectively in Jesus by the Spirit, will then be fulfilled in us personally (subjectively) by the Spirit via our deliberate, purposeful participation (response) as subjects who are moral, spiritual agents. What Christ did for us, he did so that the Holy Spirit could work a response out in us. When we understand that the person and work of Christ establishes or reestablishes a living, vital, personal relationship with all humanity, then the biblical teachings concerning inviting, admonishing, encouraging, directing, commanding and warning in regard to setting forth the fitting or appropriate response make sense.” – Gary Deddo
The Most Important Priority For Everyone Everywhere! Part 3 (Our Christian/Biblical Worldview)
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Part 3B:
Full Message:
Bible Verses: Colossians 1: 15 – 29 Colossians 3: 5
Introduction: Developing, then living out an ethic that is God-centered rather than human-centered is a great challenge. Why? Because the worldview (mindset) prevalent in our modern/postmodern West is fundamentally human-centered, leading to an ethic that is largely pragmatic, utilitarian and even hedonistic. So how do we as Christians, in this cultural setting, develop, then live out a truly theological ethic?
In this sermon we draw on scripture and insights from theologian Dr. Gary Deddo as a help in considering the crucial issues at play regarding our participation with Jesus in worshipping His Father in the Spirit!
Theological Theme:
According to Jesus, these two commands summarize the will of God for humankind as presented in Holy Scripture:
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matt. 22:35-40, NRSV)
Christ Connection:
Jesus came to seek worshipers of the Father (see John 4, the account of the woman at the well). He came so that we could share in his true worship of the Father in Spirit and Truth (see the book of Hebrews). That meant he came so that we might love God as He loved God, with all he had and all he was — heart, soul, mind and strength. That worship included Jesus absolutely trusting in and lovingly obeying the Father — in our place and on our behalf. We are to serve no other Master, Jesus tells us. He came to take us to the Father and to send us his Spirit.
As Jesus tells us, eternal life is to know the Father through him (John 17:3). Jesus’ central mission was to reconcile God’s own sons and daughters to him through his atoning death and to destroy the source of all rivalry to the worship of God alone. Evil is represented by the Satan, the deceiver. Jesus is our great High priest, our Leitourgos (leader of liturgy/worship), our one true worship leader. He came to enable us to be true worshipers of the Father in the Spirit through him, the Son.
Missional Application:
In participation with Jesus we share the Gospel in word and deed with our neighbors, teaching them what Jesus is teaching us:
Though Jesus speaks of two great commandments, they are not equal. One cannot be collapsed into the other, especially the first into the second. Why? Because God is not my neighbor and my neighbor is not God. The command to love God is unique, applying to no one and nothing else. We are to love God with all that we are and all that we have — body and soul, mind and heart. There is nothing that is a part of a human’s existence that is not to be devoted to loving God.
Photo Compliments: Dr. Gary Deddo
Trinity and Humanity 