Archive for the ‘Pain’ Tag
Sin and God’s Good News!
Filed under: Bible, by Tony Marra, 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, 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, Scripture Paraphrases, Sermons, The Church, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, The Gospel Project, The Holy Spirit, Trinity, Uncategorized, Witnessing to God, Witnessing to Jesus, Worship, Worshiping God, Worshipping Jesus | Tags: Clothed In Christ, Defeat of Sin, God Helps Us, God Looks For Us, God's Good Creation, God's Help And Hope, God'sGrace, Grace Greater Than Sin, Guilt, Idolatry, Jesus A Better Adam, Jesus Destroys Evil, Jesus Our Atonement, Mercy In Jesus, New Life Fellowship Baltimore MD, New Life Fellowship Of Baltimore Maryland, Pain, Rebellion Against God, Relational Conflict, Sacrifice of Jesus, Separation From God, Shame, Timothy Brassell of New Life Fellowship, Unbeliuef, Willful Disobedience
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Scripture: Gen 3:1 – 4:8
Introduction:
Summary and Goal:
In the previous two sessions, we saw that God created everything good, including people as the pinnacle of creation. Adam and Eve were made in God’s image and instructed to rule over the world and worship God through their work, rest, and relationships with one another and with Him. As we will see in this session, that didn’t last. Adam and Eve chose to sin against God in open defiance of His goodness and loving provision for them. Their sin had drastic consequences as it brought death to all humanity and ruptured our created purpose. But as dark as that moment was, we will see that it was pregnant with hope—hope that could only come from God in His promise to one day send Someone who would make everything right again.
Theological Theme:
People sinned against God and ruptured our created purpose, but God has provided
forgiveness in Christ Jesus.
Christ Connection:
God promised that one of Eve’s offspring would crush the head of the serpent. Jesus
is the promised One who defeated sin and death once and for all.
“ There is more mercy in
Christ than sin in us.”
–Richard Sibbes (1577-1635)
Missional Application:
Because we have been forgiven through faith in Christ and given His righteousness,
we trust in God and His grace as we fight against sin in our lives and proclaim the
reason for our hope found in Christ Jesus.
Photos compliments: youtube.com
Christ-Centered Clarity On Sex And Marriage! Part 3 (Our Christian Response)
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, 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, Perichoresis, Prayer, relationship with God, Relationships, 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: Adoption, Authority, Christian Calling, Christian Living, Christian Response, Confessing Sin, Consequences, Costly Grace, Creation, Discipleship, Eph 1-3, Eph 4-6, GCI Baltimore, God Father Son and Spirit, God in Flesh, God Incarnate, God Likes You, god the father, God the Holy Spirit, God the Son, God the Trinity, God's Calling, God's discipline, God's Faith, God's Gift, God's Grace, God's Healing, God's Hope, God's Judgment, God's Law, God's Love And Life, God's Mercy, God's Mission, God's Patience, God's Power, God's Presence, God's Spirit, God's Warnings, Gospel, Grace Communion International, Guilt, healing, Honoring Leaders, Human Sexuality, Humanity Uplifted, Humility, Incarnation, Included In Christ, Integrity, Jesus, Jesus is the way the truth and the life, Jesus' Authority, Jesus' Presence, John 14, John 14:6, Legalism, Lord Jesus, Love, Marriage, Outpouring Of The Holy Spirit, Pain, Participation with Jesus Christ, Pastor Timothy Brassell of New Life Baltimore, Pastors, Purpose, Relationship With Jesus, Salvation By Grace, sex, Sin, Spiritual Maturity, Spirituality, The Father, The Father's Love, The Holy Spirit, Trinitarian Theology, Trinity, Unconditional Love, Union and Communion, Union With Jesus, Wholeness in Christ
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Audio Part 3A:
Audio Part 3B:
Full Message:
Bible Verses: John 14: 6 Ephesians 4-6
This Message Series:
Living Into This Challenging Christian Life With Jesus!
Introduction:
This series reinforces that the Christian Life is living out and manifesting the reality of our union and communion with the Father, through Jesus (the Son), and in the Holy Spirit in every part of our humanity! Our purpose in life is to be one with God! Despite our sin and weaknesses, the Lord strengthens us in our relationship with Him by the Spirit as we trust Him for it! When our Lord Jesus Christ reappears gloriously, we too will be glorified and fully blameless in Him! Until Jesus’ reappearing, the Christian life is a challenging life —lived out only in union and communion with the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit!
“The Christian life is thus about living in dependence upon the Triune God of grace, and it has largely to do with the work the Holy Spirit does to unite us to and conform us to Christ through the “spiritual union.” It is through this union (our relationship with God) that we have access to and are able to possess all the blessings of grace. We trust Jesus to give us these blessings through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Moved by the Spirit, we receive these blessings through repentance and faith. Though never earned or deserved, we receive them deliberately, using whatever capacities we have at our disposal (capacities that differ from person to person). Because our transformation (sanctification, maturation, growth) is God’s gracious work in us, it follows God’s timetable, and God is not anxious or impatient about the pace.”
“To understand the Christian life, we must account for the New Testament teaching that, as believers, we do not yet have the fullness of the Holy Spirit. As we receive and respond to the Spirit, living in fellowship with the Spirit, we must regularly be “filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). In this life we are given the “first fruits” (Rom. 8:23) or “deposit” (Eph. 1:14, also translated “down payment” or “earnest”) of the Spirit, having been “sealed” (Eph. 4:30) for a greater future with the Spirit yet to be unsealed. We thus understand that our relationship with the Spirit is not fixed, static, mechanical or impersonal. It is dynamic and personal.” – Clarifying Our Theological Vision, by Gary Deddo
Theological Theme:
The Christian’s calling is the highest of all, and so sets the highest standard. God-[Father-Son-Holy-Spirit] has predestined you before the foundation of the world to be seated in the heavenly places and to be adopted in Jesus Christ. The plan and will for your life is Jesus Christ! In this series, this calling has been proclaimed in Ephesians 1-3, and is essentially a calling to the body of Christ. God has predestined you as a human being to be a glorious human being sharing in the son’s relationship with The Father in The Spirit! Marriage, for some, is included in this calling.
Christ Connection:
Beneath and behind all the troubles of this world, God the Father has predestined you to be adopted as His sons and daughters and to share in His relationship with His Son – Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit. That is what your job is about, that is what marriage is about, that is what sex is about, and that is what singleness is about. The Father is working to make you a son or a daughter sharing in the Sonship of Jesus!
Missional Application:
Marriage has been ordained not just for Christians but for mankind. Because, in Jesus, we are all destined to go from dust to glorified humanity , the call goes out to all marriages to particpate with Jesus by placing their faith in Him, and receiving His empowerment in the Spirit!
As Christians we are to live in our marriages worthy of this calling we have received such that we witness to the Love of the Fther, Son and Spirit as His lights in this world.
Eph 4:1 beckons us all to think God’s thoughts along with Jesus Christ. “to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” – Ephesians 5: 15 —“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,” We are to be “filled with the Spirit.”— Ephesians 5:18
Be imitators of God, “submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” — Ephesians 5: 21
“22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord…..25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her….. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church”—Ephesians 5: 22-29
“for we are members of His body.”(The Body Of Christ) —Ephesians 5:30
“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” – Ephesians 6: 1-3
“18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” —Ephesians 6: 18
Conclusion:
“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.” Gary Deddo
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Christ-Centered Clarity On Sex And Marriage! Part 2 (Our Christian Foundation)
Filed under: Ascension, Ascension of Jesus, Bible, By Tim Brassell, 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, 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, Song, 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 Jesus, Worship, Worshiping God, Worshipping Jesus | Tags: Adoption, Christian Living, Confessing Sin, Consequences, Costly Grace, Creation, Discipleship, Eph 1-3, GCI Baltimore, God Father Son and Spirit, God in Flesh, God Incarnate, God Likes You, god the father, God the Holy Spirit, God the Son, God the Trinity, God's Calling, God's discipline, God's Faith, God's Gift, God's Grace, God's Healing, God's Hope, God's Judgment, God's Law, God's Love And Life, God's Loving Authority, God's Mercy, God's Mission, God's Patience, God's Power, God's Presence, God's Spirit, God's Warnings, Gospel, Grace Communion International, Guilt, healing, Honoring Leaders, Human Sexuality, Humanity Uplifted, Humility, Incarnation, Included In Christ, Integrity, James 4: 13, Jesus, Jesus is the way the truth and the life, Jesus' Authority, Jesus' Presence, John 14, John 14:6, Legalism, Lord Jesus, Love, Marriage, Outpouring Of The Holy Spirit, Pain, Participation with Jesus Christ, Pastor Timothy Brassell of New Life Baltimore, Pastors, Purpose, Relationship With Jesus, Rev 19: 9, Salvation By Grace, sex, Sin, Spiritual Maturity, Spirituality, The Father, The Father's Love, The Holy Spirit, The Secret, Trinitarian Theology, Trinity, Unconditional Love, Union and Communion, Union With Jesus, Wholeness in Christ
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Part 2A:
Part 2B:
Full Message:
Bible Verses: John 14: 6 Ephesians 1-3 Revelation 19: 9 James 4: 13
This Message Series:
Living Into This Challenging Christian Life With Jesus!
Introduction:
This series reinforces that the Christian Life is living out and manifesting the reality of our union and communion with the Father, through Jesus (the Son), and in the Holy Spirit in every part of our humanity! Our purpose in life is to be one with God! Despite our sin and weaknesses, the Lord strengthens us in our relationship with Him by the Spirit as we trust Him for it! When our Lord Jesus Christ reappears gloriously, we too will be glorified and fully blameless in Him! Until Jesus’ reappearing, the Christian life is a challenging life —lived out only in union and communion with the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit!
Theological Theme:
The foundation, even for understanding and participating in marriage, is the Gospel of the Triune God! That foundation is stated in our primary mission, vision and strategy when we gather as the Church to worship God-Father-Son-Holy Spirit. A Christian Marriage is based on each partner having a relationship with The Father, through The Son, and in The Holy Spirit, therfore our Mission and Vision is to love and know Jesus Christ and love our neighbor as ourselves in participation with Jesus. We’re about worship and witnessing to that Good News in Christian marriage and we witness that good news in 2 ways—
- By meeting regularly with Christ’s Body, the Church.
- By witnessing to each other and reminding each other of The Father, Son and Holy Spirit through worshiping the Lord together by praying for each other, hearing His Word proclaimed in scripture together – and in responding to that word together in many and various ways, especially relationally.
This is the basics of Christian because in Jesus Christ it has been revealed that the Father-Son-and-Holy Spirit is The Way, The Truth and The Life. This bases a marriage as something that is not law-centered but grace and relationship-centered. It has more to do with relational obligations of grace rather than the static obligations of law.
Our primary understanding of God is that He is The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He is a RELATIONSHIP of Three Persons in One God Being, and One God Being in Three Persons — The TRINITY. Christian marriage particpates in and mirrors this!
Christ Connection:
A Christian Marriage has no possibility of existence apart from Jesus Christ! We rehears Ephesians Chapters 1, 2 and 3 to rehearse the foundational Christian thought that Jesus has always been the plan and purpose of humanity and in marriage! We share the basic structure of God’s plan which is noted as: TRINITY (expressed above)-ADOPTION-INCARNATION-SECRET/ MYSTERY-EDUCATION
2. ADOPTION: God-Father-Son-and-Holy-Spirit created us so that we could share in Jesus’ life with His Father by the Holy Spirit and become participants in God’s divine nature.
3. INCARNATION— In Jesus Christ, God became man, while remaining God which revealed that God is so gracious that where we have each failed in our relationship and obligations toward God and each, Jesus Christ has overcome and prevailed so that it is possible for flesh to particpate with Jesus in The Holy Spirit.
4. SECRET/ MYSTERY— The great mystery and secret behind all of life is humanity’s adoption into God’s Love and Life through Jesus, by the Spirit, and all of Grace!
5. EDUCATION — This is the primary teaching and learning of life – to experience the Father by sharing in Jesus’ life with Him in the Spirit, and to share in this love with other human beings and all creation.
Missional Application:
One of the primary ways we love our neighbors in this fallen world (even in Christian marriage) is to proclaim the gospel of the Father-Son-and-Spirit-God in WORD and DEED to those who don’t know Him, telling them the Lord Jesus and that HE is their Lord and Savior too. We call them to surrender to the Triune God and LIVE INTO something, not make something up. ALL humanity is called to LIVE INTO God’s Love and Life. It is challenging because we are NOT GOD; but we are not to be discouraged because we are only called to PARTICIPATE in Jesus’ doing of it through The empowerment of the HOLY SPIRIT! The Father is urging us to recieve His relationship THROUGH JESUS CHRIST by THE HOLY SPIRIT!
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Our Father’s Gift of Jesus’ Life and Death!
Filed under: Ascension, Ascension of Jesus, 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, Prayer, relationship with God, Relationships, Sermons, Spiritual Warfare, The Church, 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: Adoption, Baltimore GCI, Christian Living, Christmas, Confessing Sin, Consequences, Costly Grace, Creation, Discipleship, Father's gift, 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 Holy Spirit, God the Son, God the Trinity, God's Calling, God's discipline, God's Faith, God's Gift, God's Grace, God's Healing, God's Hope, God's Humility, God's Judgment, God's Law, God's love, God's Love And Life, God's Loving Authority, God's Mercy, God's Mission, God's Patience, God's Power, God's Presence, God's Spirit, God's Warnings, God: Father, Godly Leaders, Godly Leadership, Gospel, Grace Communion International, Guilt, healing, Humanity Uplifted, Humility, Incarnation, Included In Christ, Integrity, Jesus, Jesus is the way the truth and the life, Jesus' Authority, Jesus' life and death, Jesus' Presence, Jesus: True God True Man, Lord Jesus, Lordship, Love, Marriage, Marriage Relationships, Mary, One Life, One Truth, one way, Outpouring Of The Holy Spirit, Pain, Participation with Christ, Participation with Jesus, Pastor Timothy Brassell of New Life Baltimore, Pastors, Purpose, Relationship With Jesus, Salvation By Grace, sex, Sin, Spiritual Maturity, Spirituality, The Father, The Father's Love, The Father-Son-and-Spirit-God, The Holy Spirit, The Life, the Truth, The Way, Trinitarian Theology, Trinity, Unconditional Love, Union and Communion, Union with Christ, Union With Jesus, Wholeness in Christ
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Audio – Part A: 21min
Audio – Part B: 22min
Full Message:
Bible Verses: Luke 1 Hebrews 2 Luke 2: 1-20
Theological Theme:
The primary Gift given to humanity is the most Personal Gift you could ever get. It is nothing less than the Gift of God Himself [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] to us. That is all God really has to give us —the Gift of Himself in the Person of Jesus Christ.
Christ Connection:
The Father’s Gift of Jesus’ Life and Death is God’s greatest gift to us. He lived the life we didn’t live so that we could truly live. Jesus died the death that all of us die so that our death would truly die and remain dead.
We are to understand the gospel as Jesus being given to us by the Father so that we would have His life, the way He lived, the way He thought and acted, the way he talked and related with His Father and other people. And Jesus lived this way by the Holy Spirit, and we live a true human life by the Holy Spirit!
Missional Application:
The word of Christ that believers share with others is this — Don’t underestimate the kind of life that is available to you right now in Christ. Jesus has come now so that we can, somehow, right now, begin to receive this transformed life. We don’t have to wait! Right now we can be full of The Holy Spirit, full of the smiles and hugs of The Father even as we still die and approach our death. We still do sin, but we no longer have to be sin centered and sin focused. We repent and believe the good news and encourage everyone else to do so! May we all receive Jesus now and say as Mary said: “I am The Lord’s servant –Son or daughter– may it be done to me according to your word.”
….those who trust in Christ share in his life, death, resurrection and ascension…just as we are dead already in Jesus’ substitutionary death, we have also already been “made alive together with him” and we are “raised up together with him” and “seated together with him in the heavenly realms.” All this comes from God’s grace and is experienced through faith—the faith of Jesus that he shares with us by the Spirit….
The benefit of what Jesus did so long ago extends to the past, to the present and into the future. Paul says, “how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” This shows that salvation is not a one-time event, but an enduring relationship that God has with all humanity—a relationship formed within the person of Jesus Christ, who has brought God and humanity together in peace.
Jesus has not simply done something for us, he has done something with us by including us in his life, death, resurrection and ascension. —GOD: THE GOD REVEALED IN JESUS CHRIST – A BOOKLET (GCI)
Christ-Centered Clarity On Sex And Marriage!
Filed under: Ascension, Ascension of Jesus, 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, 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, Scripture Paraphrases, 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, William Paul Young, Witness, Witnessing to God, Witnessing to Jesus, Worship, Worshiping God, Worshipping Jesus | Tags: Adoption, Baltimore GCI, Christian Living, Confessing Sin, Consequences, Costly Grace, Creation, Discipleship, 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 Holy Spirit, God the Son, God the Trinity, God's Calling, God's discipline, God's Faith, God's Gift, God's Grace, God's Healing, God's Hope, God's Humility, God's Judgment, God's Law, God's love, God's Love And Life, God's Loving Authority, God's Mercy, God's Mission, God's Patience, God's Power, God's Presence, God's Spirit, God's Warnings, God: Father, Godly Leaders, Godly Leadership, Gospel, Grace Communion International, Guilt, healing, Hebrews 12, Hebrews 13, Honoring Leaders, Honoring Pastors, Human Integrity, Human Sexuality, Humanity Uplifted, Humility, Incarnation, Included In Christ, Integrity, Jesus, Jesus is the way the truth and the life, Jesus' Authority, Jesus' Presence, Jesus: True God True Man, John 14, John 14:6, John 5, John 5: 25-29, John 8, John 8: 1-11, Legalism, Lord Jesus, Lordship, Love, Marriage, Marriage Relationships, One Life, One Truth, one way, Outpouring Of The Holy Spirit, Pain, Participation with Christ, Participation with Jesus, Pastor Timothy Brassell of New Life Baltimore, Pastors, Purpose, Relationship With Jesus, Salvation By Grace, sex, Sin, Spiritual Maturity, Spirituality, The Father, The Father's Love, The Father-Son-and-Spirit-God, The Holy Spirit, The Life, the Truth, The Way, Trinitarian Theology, Trinity, Unconditional Love, Union and Communion, Union with Christ, Union With Jesus, Wholeness in Christ
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Audio – Part A: 27 min
Audio – Part B: 26 min
Full Message:
Bible Verses: John 14 – 6 John 8: 1-11 John 5: 25-29
Living Into This Challenging Christian Life With Jesus!
Introduction:
The Christian Life is living out and manifesting the reality of our union and communion with the Father, through Jesus (the Son), and in the Holy Spirit! Our purpose in life is to be one with God! Despite our sin and weaknesses, the Lord will strengthen us in our relationship with Him as we trust Him for it! When our Lord Jesus Christ reappears gloriously, we too will be glorified and fully blameless in Him! Until Jesus’ reappearing, the Christian life is a challenging life —lived out only in union and communion with the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit!
“There can be no doubt, however, that the New Testament is pervaded with the joyful sense of God’s actual presence in Jesus Christ, and with the realisation that the coming age has already broken into the present and overlaps it. That is precisely the good news of the gospel, that here and now in Christ Jesus God is present in all his royal power, not only to speak a word of pardon but actually to enact it and fulfil it in the liberation of the children of God.” — Thomas F. Torrance
Theological Theme:
In the light of the Triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and Jesus being the Image of God, and man and woman together as being made in the image of the Image, Jesus – What is the Christian view of marriage?.
As revealed in the Holy Scriptures, and as stated by Jesus, God established marriage as an exclusive, sacred union between one man and one woman. That union is a unique, living witness that reflects and honors God’s covenant relationship with his people in Jesus Christ (through His Holy Spirit). It is a union that involves a unity—a difference and a harmonious coordination of being and action in holy loving. That unity, which normally has the potential to be fruitful by generating new-born life, bears witness to the life-giving nature of the triune God through the union and communion of the Father and Son in the Spirit. Christian marriage, lived as a witness to God’s faithfulness, honors God and builds trust between human beings, especially between men and women. —Grace Communion International —(THE GCI STATEMENT OF BELIEFS 15.19 —)
Christ Connection:
The relation of man and woman bears witness to the glory of God even more ultimately as it is expressed in Jesus Christ. His own Person embodies the fulfillment of the covenant relationship between God and humanity. In the one Person of Jesus the divine and human natures meet without confusion, without separation, without fusion and without division. In Jesus, the divinity of the Son is not exchanged for the humanity, neither is the humanity swallowed up by its union with the divine nature. Nor do they become mixed or fused so as to become neither. In Jesus we are united to God so that all that is ours has also become his and all that is his is shared with us in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is why the apostle Paul indicates that the glory and mystery of marriage bears witness to Christ and his Church…The difference yet unity of God with humanity in Christ is imaged or reflected in the marriage of man and woman. Marriage is a witness to the glory of the Lamb God. The differentiation in that union is essential in each relationship. – Gary Deddo “Why We’re Gendered Beings”
God loves us with a perfect and freely given and eternally faithful love, establishing marriage as an exclusive and sacred union between one man , and one woman to be a unique living witness that reflects and honors God’s covenant relationship with His people in Jesus Christ. —Grace Communion International
Since love is God’s great gift, God expects us to not corrupt it, or confuse it with momentary desire to fulfill our own selfish pleasures. God forbids all sexual immorality, whether in married life (adultery) or single life (fornication). Faithfulness is essential to experience the blessings of marriage. The faithfulness of celibacy is essential to experience the blessings of being unmarried. All sexual relations outside the safe boundaries of covenant marriage are forms of sexual abuse and harm our capacity to form healthy relationships of non-sexual love between members of the body of Christ and sexual relationships of married couples. Sexual relations are safe and healthy and honor God only when experienced within a lifelong commitment to marriage between one man and one woman. All else falls far short of the glory of God and his good purposes for humanity. All sexual immorality including sexual abuse and fornication dishonors God and destroys trust between human beings. —Grace Communion International — (THE GCI STATEMENT OF BELIEFS 15.21 —Why should Christians avoid sexual immorality of all kinds?)
Missional Application:
Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”… God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. (Genesis 1:26-28; 31 NRSV throughout except as noted)
“In partnership with Christ, we are ambassadors of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5). Though we are members of the Body of Christ, we are decidedly not the Head of the Body….But the church, although not the source of salvation, does contribute in its own way to God’s fruitful work in the world to bring humanity back into right relationship with him.” – Gary Deddo
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Created To Participate In Jesus’ Godly Responses!
Filed under: Ascension, Ascension of Jesus, 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, 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: Adoption, Baltimore GCI, Christian Living, Confessing Sin, Consequences, Costly Grace, Creation, Discipleship, 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 Holy Spirit, God the Son, God the Trinity, God's Calling, God's discipline, God's Faith, God's Gift, God's Grace, God's Healing, God's Hope, God's Humility, God's Judgment, God's Law, God's love, God's Love And Life, God's Loving Authority, God's Mercy, God's Mission, God's Patience, God's Power, God's Presence, God's Spirit, God's Warnings, God: Father, Godly Leaders, Godly Leadership, Gospel, Grace Communion International, Guilt, healing, Hebrews 12, Hebrews 13, Honoring Leaders, Honoring Pastors, Human Integrity, Human Sexuality, Humanity Uplifted, Humility, Incarnation, Included In Christ, Integrity, Jesus, Jesus is the way the truth and the life, Jesus' Authority, Jesus' Presence, Jesus: True God True Man, John 14, John 14:6, Legalism, Lord Jesus, Lordship, Love, Marriage, Marriage Relationships, One Life, One Truth, one way, Outpouring Of The Holy Spirit, Pain, Participation with Christ, Participation with Jesus, Pastor Timothy Brassell of New Life Baltimore, Pastors, Purpose, Relationship With Jesus, Salvation By Grace, sex, Sin, Spiritual Maturity, Spirituality, The Father, The Father's Love, The Father-Son-and-Spirit-God, The Holy Spirit, The Life, the Truth, The Way, Trinitarian Theology, Trinity, Unconditional Love, Union and Communion, Union with Christ, Union With Jesus, Wholeness in Christ
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Audio – Part A: 24 min
Audio – Part B: 23 min
Full Message:
Bible Verses: John 14 – 6 Hebrews 13
Living Into This Challenging Christian Life With Jesus!
Introduction:
The Christian Life is living out and manifesting the reality of our union and communion with the Father, through Jesus (the Son), and in the Holy Spirit! Our purpose in life is to be one with God! Despite our sin and weaknesses, the Lord will strengthen us in our relationship with Him as we trust Him for it! When our Lord Jesus Christ reappears gloriously, we too will be glorified and fully blameless in Him! Until Jesus’ reappearing, the Christian life is a challenging life —lived out only in union and communion with the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit!
“God has united himself with us, and us with himself, so that all that we think or do, we do as his children, participating with him in all that he is doing in our world now through the continuing ministry of Christ by the power of the Spirit.” —Dr Gary Deddo
Theological Theme:
Advent means the coming of Jesus in His first appearance and in His last appearance. With regards to Hebrews 13, God [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] wants us to see that He has come, therefore He is here, yet He is still coming in the Second Advent, His second appearing as well. He wants us to know that in Jesus Christ we have been created to PARTICIPATE in Jesus’ Godly responses. You are NOT to think of yourself apart from Jesus Christ because that is not who you are. You are a “Chip off the old block”.
Christ Connection:
“Who is Jesus? After addressing that inquiry, and only after, can we take up two other theological questions: Who are we in Jesus Christ?, and What are we to do in response?” —Dr Gary Deddo
Jesus is God as man and the way and the life of a human being. So at every point, we are to look at Jesus to understand who and what God is really like. When we look to Jesus, we understand the Father’s heart, we understand what the Spirit’s intent is, we understand what He meant for men and women to be like, to live like and to give like.
Christ has taken our human cause and our human nature and lived for us the Godly life that God always envisioned for us to live so there is nothing for you to make up. There is something for you to discover but that has come to you in grace.
In God, we’ve been given a gift and a task in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the answer to anything. “Union with Christ means that he is the sole and ultimate source of our meaning, purpose, significance, security, dignity, and destiny.”
We have been given the gift of Jesus Christ. He has been the gift of THE WAY, and THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE for us, and Jesus IS THE TASK. The gift is something to do, to be done, something to be lived into, something to be shared with others.
“But if Christian life and ministry is somehow participation, what is it that we actually get involved in? Christ has completed his once-for-all ministry. How can we get involved in that? We can’t attempt to redo what he has done. How, then, can we participate? This line of questioning indicates that we often forget or perhaps never fully grasped the fact that the risen Christ ascended in his bodily form with his humanity, a humanity not only intact but now glorified.
All our responses to Christ are nothing more than following Christ in his present activity and engaging in the ministry that he is actively doing now through the Holy Spirit. When we preach the gospel, we participate in the apostolic ministry of Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, for the Spirit continues to bear witness to Christ and to our need for Christ. When we love a neighbor, or love an enemy, for the sake of Christ and witness to his kingdom, we are merely catching up with God. We’re merely going to work with God. When we pray, we’re joining Christ in his faithful prayers of intercessions for us and for the world. When we worship, we are joining in with all the faithful, including those who have gone before us who are continually worshiping following the leadership of Jesus Christ, our great worship leader.
When we see our whole lives this way, we join with the apostle Paul, who proclaimed, “I live yet not I but Christ who lives in me.” That is not just a platitude that sounds nice. The whole of the Christian life is actually a participation in the life and ministry of Christ. So we can say, I pray, yet not I but Christ prays in me. I obey, yet not I but Christ obeys in me. I have faith, yet not I but Christ has faith active in me. I hunger and thirst for righteousness and reconciliation, yet not I but Christ in me.” —Dr Gary Deddo
Missional Application:
Jesus has now given us the Father’s love in a tangible way, but until The Lord comes in His second appearing, you only live with The Lord by Faith —through The Holy Spirit—and not by sight. This message of Advent —the fact that Christ has come, that He is RIGHT HERE NOW and that He is STILL COMING — is the message that can only amaze us. We proclaim this message to the world in participation with Jesus!
“….although still sharing in our now glorified human nature, he is not present in the way he was before his ascension. He is, in a way, absent from earth. He has sent the Spirit as another comforter to be with us, but he in his own person is unavailable to us as he was. But he has promised us that he will return.
Parallel to this is the nature of the kingdom. It was indeed “near” and active in Jesus’ earthly ministry. It was so near and available that it called for an immediate response, just as Jesus himself called for a response of faith in him. However, as Jesus taught, his rule and reign had not yet come in its fullness. There was more to come. And that time will coincide with Christ’s return (often called his “second coming”).
So faith in the kingdom includes hope for the coming of the fullness of the kingdom as well. The kingdom was already present in Jesus and continues to be present by his Spirit. But its completion is not yet. This is often summarized by saying the kingdom of God is already, but not yet.”—Dr Gary Deddo
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Father’s Gracious New Covenant Warnings and Exhortations!, Part 2
Filed under: Bible, By Tim Brassell, 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, 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 Dance and Dream of the Trinity, The Father Loves and Like You Fest, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, The Gospel Project, The Holy Spirit, The Plan of Adoption, Timothy Brassell, Trinity, Uncategorized, Union with Christ, Witnessing to God, Witnessing to Jesus, Worship, Worshiping God, Worshipping Jesus | Tags: Adoption, Baltimore GCI, Christian Living, Confessing Sin, Consequences, Costly Grace, Creation, Discipleship, 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 Holy Spirit, God the Son, God the Trinity, God's Calling, God's discipline, God's Faith, God's Gift, God's Grace, God's Healing, God's Hope, God's Humility, God's Judgment, God's Law, God's love, God's Love And Life, God's Loving Authority, God's Mercy, God's Mission, God's Patience, God's Power, God's Presence, God's Spirit, God's Warnings, God: Father, Godly Leaders, Godly Leadership, Gospel, Grace Communion International, Guilt, healing, Hebrews 12, Honoring Leaders, Honoring Pastors, Human Integrity, Human Sexuality, Humanity Uplifted, Humility, Incarnation, Included In Christ, Integrity, Jesus, Jesus is the way the truth and the life, Jesus' Authority, Jesus' Presence, Jesus: True God True Man, John 14, John 14:6, Legalism, Lord Jesus, Lordship, Love, Marriage, Marriage Relationships, One Life, One Truth, one way, Outpouring Of The Holy Spirit, Pain, Participation with Christ, Participation with Jesus, Pastor Timothy Brassell of New Life Baltimore, Pastors, Purpose, Relationship With Jesus, Salvation By Grace, sex, Sin, Spiritual Maturity, Spirituality, The Father, The Father's Love, The Father-Son-and-Spirit-God, The Holy Spirit, The Life, the Truth, The Way, Trinitarian Theology, Trinity, Unconditional Love, Union and Communion, Union with Christ, Union With Jesus, Wholeness in Christ
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Audio – Part A: 27 min
Audio – Part B: 30 min
Full Message:
Bible Verses: John 14 – 6 Hebrews 12 Hebrews 13
Living Into This Challenging Christian Life With Jesus!
Introduction:
The Christian Life is living out and manifesting the reality of our union and communion with the Father, through Jesus (the Son), and in the Holy Spirit! Our purpose in life is to be one with God! Despite our sin and weaknesses, the Lord strengthens us in our relationship with Him as we trust Him for it! When our Lord Jesus Christ reappears gloriously, we too will be glorified and fully blameless in Him! Until Jesus’ reappearing, the Christian life is a challenging life – lived out only in union and communion with the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit!
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'” – John 14:6
Theological Theme:
How are we to understand our Father’s strong warning and exhortations in scripture?? Only in the Light of God’s Story, the Gospel!
Story of the Gospel: The Father is the great fountain of love and of every blessing, which he has always bestowed upon his Son in the Holy Spirit in covenant – in an unconditional pledge to love the other! The Son has always received the Father’s unconditional Love and returned it equally in response, in the Holy Spirit!
Christ Connection:
In lavish love that overflows, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit desired to share Himself with others so others could know it too and so He thought of the first and most important thing to create: Jesus Christ our King! “He chose us in him before the foundation of the world!” “Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory, and the exact expression of his nature (IMAGE) IN FLESH, sustaining all things by his powerful Word!”. Jesus is God’s purpose for all creation, therefore, what Jesus did, mankind can participate in by Grace in The Holy Spirit. And so The Father, Son and Spirit made humanity in Jesus’ image (Gen 1:27,28): as male and female! He blessed us and gave us the task of being fruitful and multiplying together, in covenant, and gave us, together, dominion over all living things!
“Jesus was God spelling himself out in language humanity could understand.” – S.D. Gordon
Missional Application:
We are to look forward to living with Jesus in Heaven ON EARTH, so we invite everyone, everywhere, to repent, believe and receive relationship with the Father, through Jesus, in the Holy Spirit RIGHT NOW! Because this present evil age and world is not our home and will soon perish, we warn people not to place their trust in the world against Jesus but to turn from it, submitting only to Jesus and His Loving Lordship!
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16
Photo Compliments: youtube.com (Joy Williams)
Father’s Gracious New Covenant Warnings and Exhortations!, Part 1
Father’s Gracious New Covenant Warnings and Exhortations!, Part 1
Filed under: 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, 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, Song, 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: Adoption, Baltimore GCI, Christian Living, Confessing Sin, Consequences, Costly Grace, Creation, Discipleship, 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 Holy Spirit, God the Son, God the Trinity, God's Calling, God's discipline, God's Faith, God's Gift, God's Grace, God's Healing, God's Hope, God's Humility, God's Judgment, God's Law, God's love, God's Love And Life, God's Loving Authority, God's Mercy, God's Mission, God's Patience, God's Power, God's Presence, God's Spirit, God's Warnings, God: Father, Gospel, Grace Communion International, Guilt, healing, Hebrews 12, Human Integrity, Human Sexuality, Humanity Uplifted, Humility, Incarnation, Included In Christ, Integrity, Jesus, Jesus is the way the truth and the life, Jesus' Authority, Jesus' Presence, Jesus: True God True Man, John 14, John 14:6, Lord Jesus, Love, One Life, One Truth, one way, Outpouring Of The Holy Spirit, Pain, Participation with Christ, Participation with Jesus, Pastor Timothy Brassell of New Life Baltimore, Purpose, Relationship With Jesus, Salvation By Grace, sex, Sin, Spiritual Maturity, Spirituality, The Father, The Father's Love, The Father-Son-and-Spirit-God, The Holy Spirit, The Life, the Truth, The Way, Trinitarian Theology, Trinity, Unconditional Love, Union and Communion, Union with Christ, Union With Jesus, Wholeness in Christ, Worship
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Audio – Part A: 18 min
Audio – Part B: 20 min
Full Message:
Bible Verses: John 14 – 6 Hebrews 12
Living Into This Challenging Christian Life With Jesus!
Introduction:
The Christian Life is living out and manifesting the reality of our union and communion with the Father, through Jesus (the Son), and in the Holy Spirit! Our purpose in life is to be one with God! Despite our sin and weaknesses, the Lord will strengthen us in our relationship with Him as we trust Him for it! When our Lord Jesus Christ reappears gloriously, we too will be glorified and fully blameless in Him! Until Jesus’ reappearing, the Christian life is a challenging life – lived out only in union and communion with the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit!
“Christ came to deliver us not only from the guilt of sin but also from the power of sin! He was delivered from it and we will be too!” – pastor Timothy Brassell
Theological Theme:
We humans especially have God-Father-Son-and-Holy Spirit’s fingerprints upon us being made in the image of Jesus Christ, being conformed to him, and having a destiny far above all created things! Above all things in creation, when you look at Human Nature and Being in Jesus you see (as you can see in no other way) the greatest glory and reflection of the invisible God, Who, in grace, made all things, and made all things new in Christ by His Spirit! In those Who trust Him, you also see those made in the image of the Image being more and more conformed to Jesus.
Christ Connection:
Jesus is God’s purpose for all creation, therefore, what Jesus did, mankind can now do by His Grace in The Holy Spirit. Christ came to deliver us not only from the guilt of sin but also from the power of sin! He was delivered from it and we will be too, starting now!” If we say we have no sin we are liars” (but if we continue in sin without participating in Jesus’s struggle against it and in obedience to the Father we are also liars because we proclaim that we received a Spirit by which we now “reckon ourselves dead in trespasses and sins”)
All of grace means all of man, for the fullness of grace creatively includes the fullness and completeness of our human response in the equation.” – T.F Torrance
Missional Application:
The Holy Spirit does proclaim to us personally and individually – “You’re included”, but that is not the only word of the gospel. “You’re Included” also includes participating with Jesus in reaching out to “Go and Make Disciples!” Salvation, forgiveness, redemption, etc. are not just words to proclaim or thoughts to think. They describe Jesus and our union with Him in relationship that is lived out and shared with this world that they too might believe, enjoy, and share in eternal life! In God’s love, and with Him, we warn those who don’t believe “You get all the time you need to respond to God, not all the time you want! So repent and believe the Good News! Trust and receive the Christ Who receives and loves you and is going to reappear soon!”
“God in grace gives us what he seeks from us” – James Torrance”
Photo Compliments: youtube.com (Joy Williams)
Father’s Discipline Is First Painful – Then Fruitful! Part 1
Father’s Discipline Is First Painful – Then Fruitful! Part 2
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, Good News Festival, 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, Scripture Paraphrases, Sermons, Song, 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: Adoption, Baltimore GCI, Bearing Fruit, Christian Living, Creation, Discipleship, Fruit Bearing, 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 Holy Spirit, God the Son, God the Trinity, God's Calling, God's discipline, God's Faith, 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 Loving Authority, God's Mercy, God's Mission, God's Patience, God's Peace, God's Power, God's Presence, God's Righteousness, God's Spirit, God's Training, God: Father, Gospel, Grace Communion International, healing, Hebrews 12, Hebrews 12:12-13, Human Integrity, Humanity Uplifted, Humility, Incarnation, Included In Christ, Integrity, Jesus, Jesus is the way the truth and the life, Jesus' Authority, Jesus' Presence, Jesus: True God True Man, John 14, John 14:6, Lord Jesus, Love, One Life, One Truth, one way, Outpouring Of The Holy Spirit, Pain, Participation with Christ, Participation with Jesus, Pastor Timothy Brassell of New Life Baltimore, Peace, Purpose, Relationship With Jesus, Righteousness, Spiritual Maturity, Spirituality, The Father, The Father's Love, The Father-Son-and-Spirit-God, The Holy Spirit, The Life, the Truth, The Way, Trinitarian Theology, Trinity, Unconditional Love, Union and Communion, Union With Jesus, Wholeness in Christ, Worship
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Audio – Full Message: 38 min
Bible Verses: John 14: 6 Hebrews 12
Living Into This Challenging Christian Life With Jesus!
Introduction:
The Christian Life is living out and manifesting the reality of our union and communion with Jesus Christ. Our purpose in life is to be close to The Father! Even in our weakness, the Lord will strengthen us in this relationship as we trust Him! When our Lord Jesus Christ reappears gloriously, we too will be glorified and blameless in Him! Until Jesus’ reappearing, the Christian life is a challenging life – lived out only in union and communion with the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit!
“Progress in Christ is possible, even major progress.” – Bishop Todd Hunter
Theological Theme:
At times God [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] has to ask: “Have you forgotten who I am? Be encouraged! I AM Your Father, the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ!” You are my children! I sent my one and only Son to put my life in you! Your children may escape rebuke and correction but my children don’t! Who loves children more, the one who lets them walk right into harm’s way with no consequence, or the One who openly rebukes them, trains them, disciplines them, and makes them free in Christ? Open rebuke is better than secret love!”
Christ Connection:
Jesus is God’s purpose for all creation, therefore, what Jesus did, mankind can now do by His Grace in The Holy Spirit. Our worldview should be the Person of Jesus Christ as mediated to us by the Holy Spirit and met in Holy Scripture. The scripture proclaims that Jesus is the one man for all men and women. Jesus is the One Human Substituting for and Representing all humans. What Jesus did, mankind can do in the Spirit after Jesus! Jesus didn’t do what he did in response to the Father so that you wouldn’t have to do it – Jesus did what he did so you and I could do it too, in participation with Him. Jesus calls out to us: “Fix your eyes on me and do what I did and still do in you!”
“All of grace means all of man, for the fullness of grace creatively includes the fullness and completeness of our human response in the equation.” – T.F Torrance
Missional Application:
The Holy Spirit does proclaim to us personally and individually – “You’re included”, but that is not the only word of the gospel. The Holy Spirit also proclaims and moves in us to “Go and Make Disciples!” Salvation, forgiveness, redemption, etc. are not just words to proclaim or thoughts to think individually but actions in relationship to be lived out!
“We’re being discipled and bearing fruit, and therefore we’re being disciplined that we might bear more fruit!” – pastor Timothy Brassell
Photo Compliments: https://www.highlandparklc.com/verse-of-the-day-hebrews-1211-kjv/
Father’s Discipline Is First Painful – Then Fruitful! Part 1
Gospel Pleasure & Pain
Filed under: By Tim Brassell, Christian Living, Gospel, The Plan of Adoption | Tags: Christianity, Gospel, Jesus, Pain, Perichoresis, repentance
Comments (1) If the Gospel is supposed be Good News, why is it bringing me so much pain and suffering?
I was reminded of this legitimate question after preaching the Gospel of our Adoption for about the 1000th time at my congregation this past weekend. I was approached by an exuberant 92 year old member who was excited, AGAIN, by the proclamation that He’s always been included in Jesus’ relationship with His Father. By exuberant, I mean that he still jumps and kicks his feet up in the air a little when he is enthusiastic about things he is experiencing, especially his adoption! No joke! I wanna grow up to be just like him! Ha-Ha!
As he approached, I hugged him as usual and asked him a question: “Are you still hearing Jesus’ Good News, and understanding and embracing it?!” He gave me an enthusiastic “Yes!” And then he gave me a more sobering response…
“…and I didn’t realize how dumb and stupid I was until I started hearing it!”
Immediately I, and the other members standing next to me, went into roaring laughter at his honesty! I could sense that not only were we proud to see a man in His nineties still experiencing the pleasure and pain of repentance – the pleasure and pain that comes along with changing his mind and embracing the Good News of our Adoption – but we were also laughing at how much he was telling the truth about each of our lives, too!
Perhaps you are experiencing this pleasure and pain too!
Let’s face it. The Good News of our Adoption is certainly a pleasurable thing, I mean, who doesn’t want to experience pleasure and assurance in some way? (Ps. 16.11) And who doesn’t want to be accepted and included by others? (Rom. 5.10-11) But the Gospel also brings pain doesn’t it? I mean, who wants to be exposed as a liar? As one who thought they could change the character of the Father with their sinful faith, only to find out that God doesn’t change at all and it is His Son’s faith in us shared wholly by grace that is important? (Gal. 2.20) Who wants to think they have “repented” and shifted the Father’s “negative attitude” toward them, only to find out that repentance and a calling to embrace the Gospel is the gift of God without repentance, and the Father has always thought positively about them? (Rom. 11.29) OUCH! And on and on the pain goes!
These kinds of “ouches” become twice as strong when we realize that not only have WE believed and experienced untruth about the Father and ourselves, we have shared these untruths STRONGLY with others. In a judgmental, self-righteous, and criticizing way not worthy of the Gospel! Double OUCH!
But just as we tend to think of the pleasure as a gift, so is the pain! Imagine the pathetic existence of not being able to able to feel pain – anywhere, anyhow! No built in warning system to keep you from further injury! No tingle when your body was burning! No sharp pain when your ankle was being twisted! No protection! No feeling! No pain! Yikes!
Thankfully, the Gospel of our Adoption brings both! The opportunity to participate in the Gospel Pleasure that Jesus has with His Father, and shares with us as a human being. (Matt. 3:17) And, the opportunity to share in Jesus’ Gospel Pain so we might be protected from further sin injury and experience EVEN MORE of His Gospel Pleasure FOREVERMORE! (Heb. 12.3-12)
~ by Timothy Brassell
Trinity and Humanity 