Archive for the ‘Grace Communion Baltimore’ Tag

Who Is The Relational God Revealed In Jesus?

Part 1A

Part 1B


Scripture: Acts 2:33, 2 Cor 13:14


Summary and Goal:

On this Trinity Sunday, we proclaim the relational God-Father-Son-Holy-Spirit Revealed in Jesus. This is an attempt to clarify further why this is so important to grasp, and what it means for our Christian faith. Indeed, there is no Christian faith apart from this relational God Who, in Love, sent Jesus Christ into our humanity to reveal Himself and share His Love and Life with us.

Christ Connection:

Jesus alone reveals this God and, by becoming human, has given us human beings real knowledge of, and access to, God!

Photos compliments: trinityandhumanity.com (John Stonecypher)

“Jesus: ‘Look, I Am Making Everything New!'”, Part 2

Scripture: Revelation 21:1-8


Introduction:

The Lord Jesus Christ Is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! So, “Who is Jesus Christ?” “Who are you Lord? And the answer he gives is that He himself is the Resurrection and the Life! The scriptures themselves testify to Jesus Christ as the person around whom all things revolve and the One to Whom we should all turn and be directed.

Theological Theme:

Holding this two all together we can say that the Gospel is the Good News about Jesus Our Resurrection, and therefore the Resurrection is primarily about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ (personal doesn’t mean individual! It means sharing in Jesus relationship with his Father, the Spirit and all things!) It IS also about a glorified body! But it must be clarified in our day that Easter/Resurrection is a proclamation of the Fact that: You’re not just going to rise from the dead, you’re going to rise before, and accountable to Jesus Christ!

Christ Connection:

Relationship with Jesus is a priority ahead of receiving a new and glorified body! Because Jesus is not only the Resurrection but the Father’s Son, He is God and therefore present to us now in the Holy Spirit! He is Not first far off, but up close! He is “The God who made the world and everything in it—he is Lord of heaven and earth— [and he] does not live in [things] made by hands. 25 Neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things. 26 From one man[e] he has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live. 27 He did this so that [we] might seek God, and perhaps [we] might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 For in [the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit] we live and move and have our being,” – Colossians 1:24-28a

The picture you should have in your head about God is one where the Father embraces and seeks to embrace you through his arms of Jesus and the Holy Spirit! And Jesus is central because he is the one who takes us to the Father and sends us the Holy Spirit, so…

We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 I labor for this, striving with his strength that works powerfully in me.” (Col 1:28-29)

Missional Application:

In participation with Jesus Christ, by the Spirit, and to the Glory of the Father, we continue to proclaim Jesus to all and encourage all to place their faith in Him and enter a trust relationship with Him!

“the ministry of the Holy Spirit is personal and personally transforming—it is dynamic and interactive, bringing about receptivity, responsiveness and participation. And the result is that we are on a journey towards spiritual maturity and full sanctification, being changed into the likeness of Christ. But this journey is not automatic, causal, or impersonal. It is not mechanically imposed on all believers…receptivity and participation do make a difference, [and so] the New Testament indicates the differences it makes and encourages, exhorts and even commands us to be receptive to the Word of God and the ministry of the Spirit out of trust in God’s faithfulness through the Son and in the Spirit. As Paul exhorts in Eph. 5:18, we are to be “filled with the Spirit.”

These personal distinctions related to personal participation should not be taken to mean that God is faithful to some but not to all. The difference our personal responsiveness makes does not condition God into changing his purpose and aim for us and all humanity. It does not make God for some and against others, and it certainly does not lead him to want to see those who are unresponsive perish.

Our personal response (or lack thereof) to God cannot undo the fact that Jesus is and remains Lord and Savior of all. The character and purpose, mind and heart of God remain just as they have been revealed in Christ. The finished work of Christ is never undone—God remains, in Christ, reconciled to all people, no matter their response. He has and holds out forgiveness for them, is ready to receive them back into fellowship with him, and in that sense accepts them. However, while God accepts them, he does not accept their rejection, their sin, their rebellion, but accepts them in order to do away with what is against them and against their participation in the reconciliation accomplished for them in Christ. Nothing changes that reconciliation (with all it means), not even a person’s complete or partial rejection of God’s gift. However, our personal response (participation) does affect the quality of our lived relationship with God and thus our personal experiencing of the benefits of Christ.”

-Dr. Gary Deddo

Photos compliments: etsy.com

The Method: Missionaries

Acts 13 Missionaries Sent By God

Audio – Part A: 23 min

https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/19.11.17-the-method-missionaries-part-1-acts-13.1-3-14.8-28-tah-andrews.mp3”

Audio – Part B: 21 min

https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/19.11.17-the-method-missionaries-part-2-acts-13.1-3-14.8-28-tah-andrews.mp3”

Audio – Full message:

https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/19.11.17-the-method-missionaries-acts-13.1-3-14.8-28-tah-andrews.mp3”


Bible Verses:  Acts 13:1-3, Acts 14:8-28


Introduction:

God sent out some of the first missionaries through His Church. These missionaries were committed to following Jesus wherever He led them, even if that meant facing opposition to and suffering for the gospel message they proclaimed. God used these missionaries not only to bring others into His family but also to strengthen and encourage the church itself as they saw God at work.

Theological Theme:

God’s kingdom expands through mission to the unreached.

Christ Connection:

Jesus told His disciples that the gates of hell would not prevail against His church. This image helps us see God’s people as “on offense,” taking the powerful and good news of Jesus to places of deep spiritual darkness with full confidence that Jesus will build His church.

Missional Application:

God-Father-Son-and-Spirit calls His Church to send and support missionaries to those who have never heard the gospel.

Photo Compliments YouTube

Contending For The Faith Delivered To The Saints! – Part 12

Contending for the Faith

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fCnlbFY-m0

Audio: Part 12a: 32 min

“https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/18.12.12-contending-for-the-faith-delivered-to-the-saints-part-12a-john-4.1-42-tah.mp3”

Audio: Part 12b:  30 min

“https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/18.12.12-contending-for-the-faith-delivered-to-the-saints-part-12b-john-4.1-42-tah.mp3”

Audio: Full Message:

https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/18.12.12-contending-for-the-faith-delivered-to-the-saints-part-12-john-4.1-42-tah.mp3”


Main Passages: Jude 1  John 4 


This Specific Message Concludes the Series of 12 messages addressing today’s big questions regarding relationships, race, marriage, love, gender/sexual identity, politics, and worship and witness as it relates to the Christian God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Photo Compliments: http://www.lifeassuranceministries.org/proclamation/2010/4/Resources/octnovdec2010fea.jpeg

 

Contending For The Faith Delivered To The Saints! – Part 11

Jesus and Politics 2

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X08EByCsRQg

Slides: NLF Sermon Slides 12.2.18

Audio: Part 10a: 32 min

“https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/18.12.02-contending-for-the-faith-delivered-to-the-saints-part-11a-jude-mark-tah.mp3”

Audio: Part 10b:  32 min

“https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/18.12.02-contending-for-the-faith-delivered-to-the-saints-part-11b-jude-mark-tah.mp3”

Audio: Full Message:

https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/18.12.02-contending-for-the-faith-delivered-to-the-saints-part-11-jude-mark-tah.mp3”


Main Passages: Jude 1  John 4 


 

This Specific Message in the Series Points to the Truth in Christ that: “The Church in its witness must never give ultimate or unquestioned allegiance to any political or social ideology, or to the absolute rule or reign of any person or human institution. It must not idolize any humanly imagined ideal, and it must not justify evil means to accomplish the ideals promoted by ideological zealots. Instead, the church must carefully discern what limited good government (be it local, regional, national or international) can achieve without causing more harm than good (see Romans 13:1-7).”…other good stuff!

This series on God’s Good News urges believers to contend FOR the faith once delivered to the Church, in participation with Jesus Christ!, and AGAINST the ungodly cultural pressures and influences of our current times!

This is a Gospel message to a specific congregation of our times facing issues similar to congregations in other times as seen in the scriptures, particularly the Books of Jude and John. In this series, we make Christ-centered comparisons with the congregation in Jude and the Samaritan woman of Jesus’ time in John 4 to our particular congregation. You may see that the Church in general (especially if in the United States!), faces these same issues and also be helped by WHO and HOW He is proclaimed!

In the light of Jesus and the God revealed in Him (and over the course of 12 messages), we address today’s big questions regarding relationships, race, marriage, love, gender/sexual identity, politics, and worship and witness as it relates to the Christian God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Photo Compliments: http://jacksonwu.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/jesus-politics.jpg

Contending For The Faith Delivered To The Saints! – Part 10

contending 5

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X08EByCsRQg

Audio: Part 10a: 31min

“https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/2-18-11-11-contending-for-the-faith-delivered-to-the-saints-part-10a-gen-1-2-jude-john-4-tah.mp

Audio: Part 10b:  26min

“https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/2-18-11-11-contending-for-the-faith-delivered-to-the-saints-part-10b-gen-1-2-jude-john-4-tah.mp3”

Audio: Full Message:

“https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/2018-11-11-contending-for-the-faith-delivered-to-the-saints-part-10-gen-1-2-jude-john2-tah.mp3”


Main Passages: Jude 1  John 4   Gen 1-2


This Specific Message in the Series Points to the Truth in Christ that: To be made in the image of God in Christ is to be male and female, to be in union, distinction, and with equality. This message points to the clarity we can have regarding love gender, marriage and sex because of being made in the image of Jesus (The true Image of God).

This message of God’s Good News urges believers to contend FOR the faith once delivered to the Church, in participation with Jesus Christ!, and AGAINST the ungodly cultural pressures and influences of our current times!

This is a Gospel message to a specific congregation of our times facing issues similar to congregations in other times as seen in the scriptures, particularly the Books of Jude and John. In this series, we make Christ-centered comparisons with the congregation in Jude and the Samaritan woman of Jesus’ time in John 4 to our particular congregation. You may see that the Church in general (especially if in the United States!), faces these same issues and also be helped by WHO and HOW He is proclaimed!

In the light of Jesus and the God revealed in Him (and over the course of 12 messages), we address today’s big questions regarding relationships, race, marriage, love, gender/sexual identity, politics, and worship and witness as it relates to the Christian God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Photo Compliments: http://www.tclministries.org/nt-scripture-gallery/

 

Contending For The Faith Delivered To The Saints! – Part 9

contending 5

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL6FScyA_Jc

Audio Part 1a: 20 min

“https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/2018-11-04-contending-for-the-faith-delivered-to-the-saints-pt9a-jude.-john4.-gen1-2-tah.mp3

Audio Part 1b: 21 min

“https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/2018-11-04-contending-for-the-faith-delivered-to-the-saints-pt9-b-jude.-john4.-gen1-2-tah.mp3”

Audio Full Message: 

“https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/2018-11-04-contending-for-the-faith-delivered-to-the-saints-pt9-jude.-john4.-gen1-2-tah.mp3”


Main Passages: Jude 1  John 4   Gen 1-2


 

This Specific Message in the Series Points to the Truth in Christ that: To be made in the image of God in Christ is to be male and female, to be in union, distinction, and with equality. It emphasizes how man corresponds to woman and how woman corresponds to man as created by the Father-Son-and-Spirit-God!

This series of God’s Good News urges believers to contend FOR the faith once delivered to the Church, in participation with Jesus Christ!, and AGAINST the ungodly cultural pressures and influences of our current times!

This is a Gospel message to a specific congregation of our times facing issues similar to congregations in other times as seen in the scriptures, particularly the Books of Jude and John. In this series, we make Christ-centered comparisons with the congregation in Jude and the Samaritan woman of Jesus’ time in John 4 to our particular congregation. You may see that the Church in general (especially if in the United States!), faces these same issues and also be helped by WHO and HOW He is proclaimed!

In the light of Jesus and the God revealed in Him (and over the course of 12 messages), we address today’s big questions regarding relationships, race, marriage, love, gender/sexual identity, politics, and worship and witness as it relates to the Christian God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

 

Photo Compliments: http://www.tclministries.org/nt-scripture-gallery/

 

Jesus Provides Bread From Heaven!

bread4


Video – Watch on You-Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJDt16cqNEA


Audio – Part 1a: 28min

“https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/2018.10.28-jesus-provides-bread-from-heaven-matthew-14.13-21-part1a-guest-andrews-ta.mp3”

Audio – Part 1b: 22min

“https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/2018.10.28-jesus-provides-bread-from-heaven-matthew-14.13-21-part1b-guest-andrews-ta.mp3”

Audio – Full Message:

“https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/2018.10.28-jesus-provides-bread-from-heaven-matthew-14.13-21-guest-andrews-tah.mp3”


Bible Verses: John 6: 29  Matthew 14: 13-21


“Jesus provides not only for physical needs but also for spiritual ones. He showed compassion for the crowd following after Him, He took what was available and worked an amazing miracle to feed a multitude, and He chose to communicate that blessing to the crowd through His disciples. Jesus’ miracle of feeding the 5,000 demonstrated His deity in providing bread for the crowd, even as He Himself is “the bread of life” (John 6:35).” – The Gospel Project

Theological Theme:

Jesus is the Son of God – [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit], who provides bread from heaven.

“Jesus did not come into the world mainly to give bread, but to be bread. He did not come to be an ever-ready bellhop for our bellies, but to be the all-satisfying bread for our souls. O, he cares about our physical lives in this age, but he cares 10 million times more about our eternal lives.” –John Piper

Christ Connection:

When the Israelites were hungry in the wilderness, God provided manna from heaven. Jesus is the greater Moses, the One who not only provides bread from heaven but who also speaks of Himself as the Bread who gives life to the world.

Missional Application:

God, Through His Holy Spirit, calls us to be the people through whom Jesus meets needs today.

“Our compassion for others leads us to share our money, our meals, and our home. We give words of peace and comfort and hope. And even when we’re exhausted or grieving or raw ourselves, we don’t harden our hearts. As Jesus would say in John 15:9, “As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you.” The Father has proven His love by sending His one and only Son (John 3:16). The love of the Father and the Son and the Spirit was not limited to emotions—God acted on it. Likewise, we as followers of Christ are not called to feel compassion but to be compassionate. Before He ever provided the crowd with a meal, Jesus provided them something far more valuable—Himself. The bread from heaven in the exodus nourished God’s people, but the Bread of Life satisfies forever (John 6:35-38). So, in His compassion, He healed their sick…..

When we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, we learn that we’re called to be servants, but sometimes that servitude leads to much more—sometimes we are conduits of His miracles. Sometimes we think we’re crazy (or we’re sure others will think we’re crazy), but we step out in faith. Sometimes we have no idea why we left our everyday routines to go out of the way, but then we see clearly that God used us to show His glory to someone.” – The Gospel Project

“The greatest miracle of all, however, is the miracle of a changed life—and this can happen, as we open our hearts and lives to Christ. Do others see Christ in you—His love, His compassion, His purity, His joy? Make sure of your commitment to Christ, then ask Him to change you from within by His Holy Spirit, and make you a living witness to the miracle of His transforming power.” –Billy Graham

Photo Compliments: Heartlight.org

Jesus Turns Water Into Wine!

wine1

Part 1a: 26min

“https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/2018-10-21-jesus-turns-water-into-wine-john2.1-12-part-1a-guest-marra-tah.mp3”

Part 1b: 30min

“https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/2018-10-21-jesus-turns-water-into-wine-john2.1-12-part-1b-guest-marra-tah.mp3”

Full Message:

“https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/2018-10-21-jesus-turns-water-into-wine-john2.1-12-guest-marra-tah.mp3”


Main Passage: John 2:1-12 NLT


“John did not recount the story of Jesus turning water into wine for our entertainment; by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he intentionally presented the truth that Jesus’ miracles reveal God the Father. Through the details of this miracle, we see Jesus’ compassion for our needs, a glimpse of His identity, and His ability to reveal God in all He does.” – The Gospel Project

Theological Theme:

The miracles of Jesus were part of His purpose in bringing glory to God. – [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit]

“With [Jesus], nothing is incomplete or done at the wrong time, just as with the Father there is nothing haphazard.” –Irenaeus

Christ Connection:

Sin has disrupted our relationship with God, leading to spiritual barrenness and sorrow in our lives. Christ’s miracles are a sign that joyful reconciliation with God is possible again through faith in Jesus’ glorious life, death, and resurrection.

Missional Application:

God, through His Holy Spirit, calls us to do whatever Jesus tells us to do as we seek to display His glory and lead others to faith.

“Now this transformation of the water from its own substance into another, testified to the powerful presence of the Creator. Only he who had made it out of nothing could change water into something whose use was quite different.” –Maximus of Turin

By this first sign, Jesus revealed His glory, ‘the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth’ (1:14). His glory would be revealed in greatest measure in his cross, resurrection and exaltation, but every step along the course of his ministry was an adumbration of that glory.” –D. A. Carson

 “So what does this have to do with me?” you might ask. “Jesus is not on earth anymore; I don’t get to see His miracles.” Correct. But you are a miracle of Jesus, pointing others to God.

“Me?” you might ask, “I’m a sinner saved by grace.” Exactly. And when you tell others how Jesus won your heart, called you by name, and changed you from the inside out, you are just as amazing and awe-inspiring to unbelievers as the turning of water into wine.

Just as Jesus considered His purpose before each miracle, we should consider our purpose before each conversation, each lunch meeting, each relationship, and each trial: Am I reflecting Christ? Do I point others to Him? Can others tell by my words and actions that Jesus is King of kings, Lord of lords, and the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world?The Gospel Project

Photo compliments: BLCF: thefirstmiracle

Contending For The Faith Delivered To The Saints! – Part 8

contending 5

Part 8a: 32min

“https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/2018.10.07.contending-for-the-faith-delivered-to-the-saints-part-8a-jude-gen1-2-tah.mp3”

Part 8b: 26min

“https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/2018.10.07.contending-for-the-faith-delivered-to-the-saints-part-8b-jude-gen1-2-tah.mp3”

Full Message:

“https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/2018.10.07.contending-for-the-faith-delivered-to-the-saints-part-8-jude-gen1-2-tah.mp3”


Main Passages: Jude 1  John 4   Gen 1-2


This message of God’s Good News urges believers to contend FOR the faith once delivered to the Church, in participation with Jesus Christ!, and AGAINST the ungodly cultural pressures and influences of our current times!

This is a Gospel message to a specific congregation of our times facing issues similar to congregations in other times as seen in the scriptures, particularly the Books of Jude and John. In this series, we make Christ-centered comparisons with the congregation in Jude and the Samaritan woman of Jesus’ time in John 4 to our particular congregation. You may see that the Church in general (especially if in the United States!), faces these same issues and also be helped by WHO and HOW He is proclaimed!

In the light of Jesus and the God revealed in Him (and over the course of 12 messages), we address today’s big questions regarding relationships, race, marriage, love, gender/sexual identity, politics, and worship and witness as it relates to the Christian God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

 

Photo Compliments: http://www.tclministries.org/nt-scripture-gallery/

 

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