Archive for the ‘Love’ Tag
All Of God’s Human Deliverers Need Deliverance Too
Filed under: By Tim Brassell, Christian Living, Church, Evangelism, Faith, God Father Son and Spirit, God the Trinity, Gospel, Grace Communion International, Humor, Inclusion, Love, Ministry, On Mission with Christ, Participation with Christ, Participation with Jesus, Perichoresis, Prayer, Relationships, Sermons, Song, Spiritual Warfare, The Dance and Dream of the Trinity, The Gospel Project, The Plan of Adoption, Timothy Brassell, Trinity, Uncategorized, union, Union In Christ, Union with Christ, Witness, Worship | Tags: Bible, By Tim Brassell, Christian Living, Faith, Gideon, God Father Son and Spirit, god the father, God the Holy Spirit, God the Trinity, God's Faithfulness, God's good news, God's Grace, God's love, God's Power, God's Presence, Gospel, Grace Communion International, Jesus Christ, Judges 14 - 16, Love, Ministry, New Life Fellowship Of Baltimore Maryland, On Mission with Christ, Overcoming Fear, Participation with Christ, Participation with Jesus, Pastor Timothy Brassell, redemption, Relationships, Sermons, The Gospel Project, Timothy Brassell, Trust, Uncategorized, Union with Christ, Witness, Worship | Tags: Facing Fear
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Full Message: 51min: “https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/01-2017-01-08-all-of-gods-human-deliverers-need-deliverance-too-judges-14-16-tah.mp3”
Main Passages: Judges 14:1-9 – Judges 16:4-5,15-30
Theological Theme:
God – Father, Son, and Spirit, works even through the defeats of sinful leaders to bring about His plan. [“God Loves human beings. God Loves the world. Not an ideal human, but human beings as they are; not an ideal world, but the real world. What we find repulsive in their opposition to God, what we shrink back from with pain and hostility, namely, real human beings, the real world, this is for God the grounds of unfathomable love.”] – Dietrich Bonhoeffer, A Year with Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Christ Connection:
Samson’s downfall was the result of his own disobedience, and yet God – The Father used his death to begin the deliverance of His people. Jesus’ death was the result of His perfect obedience and our disobedience. God used His death to bring deliverance “once for all” for His people. [“The bible teaches that what matters isn’t what we think is right, but what GOD says is right and what GOD does in the person of JESUS”] – TJBrassell
Missional Application:
God – The Holy Spirit, calls people who feel defeated by sin and evil to put away their sins by turning back to God for deliverance. [“There is no sin that God cannot forgive and has not forgiven in Christ! There is no end to his mercy! But today YOU can choose to TRUST GOD in CHRIST and trust him to receive and forgive ALL of your sins and you can live the kind of life that we all need to, and that is, THE LIFE OF GRACE and THE LIFE OF WORSHIP!”] – TJBrassell
Photo Courtesy: http://www.greenvillegrace.org: http://www.crossmap.com
God, In Jesus, Comes and Reigns In Judging Grace
Filed under: Bible, By Tim Brassell, Christian Living, Faith, God Father Son and Spirit, God the Trinity, Gospel, Grace Communion International, Love, Ministry, Participation with Christ, Participation with Jesus, Prayer, Relationships, Sermons, The Gospel Project, Uncategorized, Union with Christ, Witness, Worship | Tags: Consequences of sin, God Father Son and Spirit, god the father, God the Holy Spirit, God the Son, God's good news, God's Grace, God's Kindness, God's love, God's Mercy, God's Righteousness, Idolatry, Jesus the Judge, Jesus the Savior, Judges 2, Love, Sin, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, The Judges Cycle
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Part 1, 26 mins: “https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/16-11-27-god-in-jesus-comes-and-reigns-in-judging-grace-part-1-judges-2-tah.mp3”
Part 2, 26 mins: “https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/16-11-27-god-in-jesus-comes-and-reigns-in-judging-grace-part-2-judges-2-tah.mp3”
Full Message: “https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/16-11-27-god-in-jesus-comes-and-reigns-in-judging-grace-judges-2-tah.mp3”
THEOLOGICAL THEME: God – Father, Son and Spirit cares for His people too much to let them languish in their sin and idolatry forever. He will judge and He will save.
CHRIST CONNECTION: The judges saved people from the consequences of their sin but could not change the cause of their sin. Jesus is the Savior and Judge of the world who takes upon Himself the consequences for our sin and then offers us new hearts that seek His righteousness.
MISSIONAL APPLICATION: God the Holy Spirit places us into union with Jesus, helping us identify and resist the prevailing idolatries in our society so that our distinctiveness will back up our proclamation of the gospel.
*picture courtesy of dwellingintheword.wordpress.com
Perspective On Your Present Sufferings and Future Resurrection!
Filed under: Bible, By Tim Brassell, Christian Living, Faith, God Father Son and Spirit, God the Trinity, Gospel, Love, Participation with Christ, Participation with Jesus, Relationships, Timothy Brassell, Uncategorized, Union In Christ, Union with Christ, Witness, Worship | Tags: Co-suffering, Easter, Easter Resurrection, Faith, George MacDonald, Glorified with Jesus, Hope, Love, New Life Fellowship Of Baltimore Maryland, Pastor Tim of New Life Fellowship, Resurrection, sharing in Jesus' humanity, Suffering With Christ, Sufferings of Christ, The Resurrection of Jesus, Timothy Brassell of New Life Fellowship
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Because of God – Father, Son and Spirit’s involvement in our real human lives as revealed in Jesus, and the fact that Jesus himself did not get out of sharing in our humanity without suffering, we will suffer with Him as we participate in and from Jesus.
As I like to say by analogy, sin was us missing the mark in relationship with God and rejecting him was like forcing our heads through a knothole. In undoing the mess we made, Jesus took on our humanity and pulled it back through the dark knothole, literally!, undoing the mess we made. As you can imagine, or maybe even know by experience, being pulled back out of a situation in which you’ve been stuck HURTS TOO!
This is what we see, hear and feel in Jesus as he is facing the supreme point and pain of getting us out of our stuckness, when he says in Luke 22:42, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” You might remember that the context of these words shows that an angel was sent to strengthen Jesus and he was in “great anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”
This expectation of having to suffer with Jesus and share in his pain is important and is actually one way of relieving the suffering that is to be experienced by us in our participation with him. How is it relieving? Well, when you are told about something in advance, it is not as shocking to you when it occurs and, in some way, though not fully, you are more prepared for it, at least mentally. As a former human resources director, I remember that nothing was more fearful for people in the workplace than “fear of the unknown!”
One consideration for your suffering as a Christian is definitely the same reason Lazarus, Jesus’ friend, suffered:
John 11: “Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.)3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” 4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”
Ultimately, your participation is with Christ and in his sufferings as one who trusts him and is being saved! Consider this awesome union with Jesus Christ we have, from the Father and by the Spirit, and receive encouragement from these words penned by George MacDonald in this light:
“But oh, my friends, what shall I say about this wonderful message? Think of being sick for the glory of God! of being shipwrecked for the glory of God! of being drowned for the glory of God! How can the sickness, the fear, the brokenheartedness of his creatures be for the glory of God? What kind of God can that be? Why just a God so perfectly, absolutely good that the things that look least like it are only the means of clearing our eyes to let us see how good he is. For he is so good that he is not satisfied with being good. He loves his children so, that except he can make them good like himself, make them blessed by seeing how good he is, and desiring the same goodness in themselves, he is not satisfied. He is not like a fine, proud benefactor, who is content with doing that which will satisfy his sense of his own glory, but like a mother who puts her arm round her child, and whose heart is sore till she can make her child see the love which is her glory. The glorification of the Son of God is the glorification of the human race, for the glory of God is the glory of man, and that glory is love! Welcome sickness, welcome sorrow, welcome death, revealing that glory!”
2 Timothy 2: 8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. 11 Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with him,
we will also live with him;
12 if we endure,
we will also reign with him.
Have a glorious Easter weekend (especially if you’re suffering!), Participating in Your Share of the Sufferings of Jesus Christ, and in Hope of Your Future Resurrection and Glorification in Him!
– tjbrassell
*picture courtesy of michaelkrahn.com
God – Father, Son and Spirit of Unusual Victories!
Filed under: Bible, By Tim Brassell, Christian Living, Faith, Gospel, Grace Communion International, Humor, Love, Ministry, On Mission with Christ, Participation with Christ, Participation with Jesus, Relationships, Sermons, Spiritual Warfare, The Gospel Project, Timothy Brassell, Trinity, Uncategorized, Witness, Worship | Tags: Faith, Faith in God, Faith in Jesus, God - Father-Son-and Holy Spirit, God Fights For Us, God's Faithfulness, God's love, God's promises, God's Unusual Victories, Hope, Josua 6, Love, Miracles, New Life Fellowship Of Baltimore Maryland, Obedience, Pastor Timothy Brassell, Taking Action With God, The Gospel Project, victory
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Full Message, 27mins.: “https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/16-11-06-god-father-son-and-spirit-of-unusual-victories-joshua-6-tah.mp3”
Theological Theme: God – Father, Son and Spirit achieves victory through the faithful obedience of His people, no matter how unusual His commands may seem.
Christ Connection: God’s ultimate victory over His enemies, and ours, takes place through the faithful obedience of His Son – Jesus Christ.
Missional Application: God calls us to battle against evil in this world using the weapons of prayer, His Word, and our testimony in the Holy Spirit.
*picture courtesy of pinterest.com
When Faith In God Fails
Filed under: Bible, By Tim Brassell, Christian Living, Faith, Gospel, Grace Communion International, Love, Participation with Christ, Participation with Jesus, Relationships, Sermons, The Gospel Project, Uncategorized, Union In Christ, Union with Christ, Witness, Worship | Tags: Christian Living, Christianity, Faith in God, Faith in Jesus, Faith in Jesus' Faith, god the father, God the Holy Spirit, God the Son, God the Trinity, God's discipline, Grace Communion International, Hope, Jesus Representing humanity, Jesus Substituting for Humanity, Love, New Life Fellowship Baltimore MD, Obedience, Participation with Jesus, Pastor Timothy Brassell, Temptation, Timothy Brassell of New Life Fellowship, Vicarious humanity of Christ
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Part 1, 25 mins : “https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/16-10-09-what-happens-when-faith-in-god-fails-part-1-numbers-13-14-tah.mp3”
Part 2, 25 mins : “https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/16-10-09-what-happens-when-faith-in-god-fails-part-2-numbers-13-14-tah.mp3”%5D%5B/audio%5D
Full Message: “https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/16-10-09-what-happens-when-faith-in-god-fails-numbers-13-14-tah.mp3”
Theological Theme: Our Lord Father disciplines and redeems the faithless for the glory of His name.
Christ Connection: When Israel was tempted in the wilderness, the people failed to trust the Lord and faced 40 years of wandering. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days, He remained faithful. Through His obedience, He became the representative who pleads for all humanity before the Lord.
Missional Application: God the Holy Spirit calls us not to conquer the nations but to take the gospel to them no matter the obstacles, knowing that His power and wisdom is greater than our own.
*photo courtesy of tbjfansuk.wordpress.com
The Law’s Blessing and Curse
Filed under: Bible, By Richard Andrews, Christian Living, Evangelism, Gospel, Love, On Mission with Christ, Participation with Christ, Relationships, Sermons, Trinity, Uncategorized, Union with Christ, Witness, Worship | Tags: blessings, Cursings, Exodus 10-11, Faith, Faith in Jesus, God's Law, God's Law of Love, Grace, gratitude, Hope, Jesus, Love, New Life Fellowship Of Baltimore Maryland, Obedience, Pastor Richard Andrews, Pastor Timothy Brassell, redemption, Righteousness, Sin
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Part 1, 24 mins : “https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/16-10-02-the-laws-blessing-and-curse-part-a-deuteronomy-10-11-tah-guest-andrews.mp3”
Part 2, 24 mins : “https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/16-10-02-the-laws-blessing-and-curse-part-b-deuteronomy-10-11-tah-guest-andrews.mp3”
Theological Theme: The law is God the Father’s good gift [holy, just and good], but it cannot save us from the penalty of disobedience.
Christ Connection: Obedience to God-Father, Son and Spirit’s law brings a blessing. Breaking God’s law brings a curse. Jesus is the One who took the curse of our law-breaking humanity in order that we might experience the blessing of His law-keeping humanity, all of Grace!
Missional Application: In response to the awesome works He has accomplished for us Jesus sends us His Holy Spirit, conforming us to Himself as we participate in and reflect His character toward others.
*picture courtesy of knowing-jesus.com
Jesus is the Ultimate Atonement and Sacrifice, Part 2
Filed under: Bible, by Tony Marra, Christian Living, Love, Ministry, Relationships, Uncategorized, Worship | Tags: Atonement, Faith, god the father, God the Holy Spirit, God the Son, Grace, Hope, Jesus Christ, Love, Mercy, Offerings, Sin, Trust
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Theological Theme: The sin offering represented the purification of the people before Our Father. The restitution offering addressed the damage of depriving others of their rightful due, and it served to cleanse the offender’s conscience.
Christ Connection: These offerings point forward to Christ, whose work purifies our hearts, cleanses our consciences, and frees us to do good deeds for His glory.
Missional Application: God the Holy Spirit calls us to offer others the hope of purification and cleansing that comes only through trusting in Jesus Christ.
*picture courtesy of velocity.net
Jesus is the Ultimate Atonement and Sacrifice, Part 1
Filed under: Bible, By Tim Brassell, Christian Living, Church, Gospel, Humor, Inclusion, Ministry, Relationships, Sermons, Timothy Brassell, Trinity, Uncategorized, union, Witness, Worship | Tags: Atonement, Faith, Forgiveness, Grace Communion International, Hope, Jesus Christ, Leviticus 1, Love, Mercy, New Life Fellowship Of Baltimore Maryland, Reconciliation, sacrifice, Timothy Brassell of New Life Fellowship
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Theological Theme: The burnt offering was for the removal of the people’s guilt before God; the grain offering restored Israel to serve God and neighbor, and the fellowship offering was for the reconciliation between God the Father and His people.
Christ Connection: Because of Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice, we celebrate the removal of our guilt before God, the freedom to serve God on His mission, and the restoration of our relationship with God – Father, Son and Spirit.
Missional Application: Because we who share in Christ’s life have been freed from our guilt, God the Holy Spirit calls us to serve Him by serving others.
*photo courtesy of pinterest.com
Jesus Is The Tabernacle Of God The Trinity
Filed under: Bible, By Tim Brassell, Christian Living, Gospel, Grace Communion International, Love, Relationships, Sermons, Timothy Brassell, Trinity, Uncategorized, Witness, Worship | Tags: Exodus 25-40, Faith, God Father Son and Spirit, Grace Communion International, Hope, Jesus Christ, Love, Moses, New Life Fellowship Baltimore MD, Pastor Tim of New Life Fellowship, Relationships, The Good News, The Tabernacle
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Full Sermon: “https://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/16-09-04-jesus-is-the-tabernacle-of-god-the-trinity-exodus-25-40-tah.mp3”
Theological Theme: The tabernacle was built so it would be possible for our holy, unique and one-of-a-kind relational God to dwell among a sinful people.
Christ Connection: God instructed the Israelites to build a tabernacle so that He could dwell with them. God wants to be with His people. For this reason, God the Father later sent His Son, Jesus, to “tabernacle,” or dwell, with us.
Missional Application: As the people in whom God, Father, Son and Spirit dwells, we are called to manifest His glorious presence in the world in which we live.
*photo courtesy of slideshare.net
So Why Not Say You’re Gay, or…?
Filed under: By Tim Brassell, Christian Living, Evangelism, Gospel, Grace Communion International, Love, Ministry, Relationships, Scripture Paraphrases, Timothy Brassell, Trinity, Uncategorized, union, Witness, Worship | Tags: Faith, God Father Son and Spirit, god the father, God the Holy Spirit, God the Son, God the Trinity, God's good news, good news, Gospel, Grace Communion International, Homosexuality, Hope, Identity, identity in Christ, Image of God, Love, Meyers-Briggs, New Life Fellowship Baltimore MD, Participation, Participation with Christ, Pastor Tim of New Life Fellowship, Politics, Race, Sharing God's Good News, The Good News, Union In Christ, Union with Christ
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…Black, White, Asian or Hispanic??? Or Republican, or Democrat? Or why not say you’re a Millennial, Boomer, or a Gen X’er??? (After all everyone else calls themselves by their age, too?) Why not call yourself ESFJ, or INTJ – for those familiar with the Myers Briggs personality inventory?
Because, simply put but complexly true, according to Jesus Christ and the God Revealed in Him, you are not any of those things! You certainly may exhibit some of those traits but…
“Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.
– Colossians 3:3-4 (The Msg)
According to Jesus, from the Father and through the Holy Spirit in the Apostle Paul, that’s why you shouldn’t identify as just any old “thing”, or even as your own thing! So if you’re struggling with your identity, it is probably because you’ve forgotten, or never knew the Truth God points out through this scripture:
1.) Your identity is not in some thing (your sexual attraction, your skin color, your political party or age), it is in Someone outside yourself, namely, in Jesus Christ, in God. You’re going to have to look outside yourself in the first instance to discover your identity! You should receive and look to Jesus because your real life is hidden in him. Your true humanity is hidden in him. He is your life! (By the way, what largely remains hidden to you now is the glorified humanity Jesus has for you; the humanity that will never die and is incorruptible. What isn’t hidden is all of the other stuff revealed and witnessed to about Jesus in the bible!)
2.) If you’re going to receive who you really are, you’re going to have to follow Jesus and let him show and tell you. Because he is a Person and you are a person, that means discovering your identity is not static but dynamic, or relational and active. Identity is not a thing that can be discovered in isolation from others (as in “I’m a hermit”). Your identity is a discovery that comes in relationship with Jesus and the God Revealed in Him.
3.) One of the greatest and common places Jesus is pleased to meet you is in the scriptures! Perhaps you, personally, are having more clarity about your identity through the scripture just quoted. It wouldn’t surprise me! This Relational God – Father, Son and Spirit is the one who inspired and left us these books we call the bible through which he would encounter us and witness to himself! If you like reading books, he left you quite a few to catch up on! Lol! If you are getting clarity about your identity through the scripture notice that we went to a passage through which God has been pleased to witness to himself (though He’s NOT the bible!) Through that passage he was pleased to speak to you not only about who he is but also about who you really are!
4.) Notice also that this isn’t a scripture only about you, it’s about every one of us! Because of who we are speaking of, Jesus, the God/Man and One who created and sustains every single person, your fellow human beings also have their identity in Him! Jesus is literally the One Human for all! Pointedly, this means you should seek to see your neighbor also for who they are in Jesus who represents all humans in his humanity, namely, your brother or sister, or neighbor in Christ!
Imagine for one moment how transformed our world would be if we referred to all others as “brother” or “sister” or “neighbor” “in Christ” rather than the things I noted in my first few sentences? Can you see the difference that would make in our treatment of each other? Can you sense the other-centered love in humility that could thrive, and the self-centered pride that could die? Wow!!!
By the way, none of this means that you become Jesus or that he becomes you! No! He will still be Jesus and you will still be distinctly you. It does mean that Jesus intends to share with you his awesome and glorified human nature so you can relate with God and each other in a way that partakes of the divine nature, as one made in the image of his image in Jesus (2 Cor 4:4)! His life reveals what it really means to be human and those who trust him get to participate in that!
Here’s the link to a GREAT read through which I was encountered by God – Father, Son and Spirit and got stirred to write this article: http://www.livingout.org/why-not-say-you-re-gay-
As author Jonathan Berry writes in his last paragraph:
“We’re often warned of the dangers of identity theft in an increasingly digital age. As a Christian I feel passionately that I don’t want to allow myself to be robbed of the enjoyment of these great blessings, by falsely embracing any other identity. In his letter to Christians in Rome, Paul urges his readers not to “conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). For me, a really important aspect of that mind-renewal process involves ditching any unbiblical labels and securing my true identity as being in Christ.” (underline emphasis mine!)
Amen!
– tjbrassell
*photo courtesy of rhemafromgod.blogspot.com
