Archive for the ‘Pastor Timothy Brassell of New Life Baltimore’ Tag
Who and Where Jesus Is, and What He’s Doing!
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Part 1A
Part 1B
Scripture: Ephesians 1, 4
Introduction:
Summary and Goal:
On this Ascension Sunday, we ask, “Who is Jesus Christ?” And, “Who are you, Lord?” We get the incredible response and reminder that He is the Father’s Son in the Holy Spirit Who, as the God/Man, is The Way, The Truth, The Resurrection, The Life, and The Ascended One!
Theological Theme:
As the Ascended One, Jesus is ruling over all things with his Father and the Holy Spirit as the God/Man! Though He is living with the limitations of our glorified human nature, he is also living with the unlimited nature of his God Being, as one Person with two natures! Ruling over the earth was always Jesus’ destiny, even if we hadn’t sinned, for God alone can rule over all things within creation and outside of creation! God alone can rule over the visible as well as the invisible! Apart from Christ, no one can do anything! This is not just a statement coming from the fact that we have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory! Only the Father Son and Holy Spirit God can pull off Their real, full, and final goal inside their creation; the goal of the adoption of mankind into Their relationship!
Christ Connection:
In Jesus’ being conceived by the Holy Spirit, he has started something fresh and new right here in the middle of our broken humanity (for he was not born of the will of fallen man but of God). In his fleshly life as a baby, a child, a teenager, a young adult, and a full-grown man, he has completely undone every obstacle and all sin between the Father and us. We can relate with him and the Father and come before his throne of grace boldly to receive mercy in time of need! In his suffering and crucifixion, and his ascension to heaven as a fully glorified Man before the Father, Jesus is sharing everything He is and has with our human nature in the Holy Spirit.
Missional Application:
In the grace and power of the Holy Spirit Who is with us, and through whom Jesus knocks on the door of our hearts to live inside us, you can now turn and come to the Father! Through Jesus the Son you can live a life that glorifies God—great things Jesus has done! You are called to live in unity with Jesus and the Father by receiving the Holy Spirit, a relationship that is offered to you freely! You are summoned in Jesus by the Spirit to embrace and stop rejecting the Father! You are called to understand Jesus and stop putting off understanding Him! You are called to enjoy the Holy Spirit and stop grieving Him! You are called to receive and share this Good news with others!
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“Jesus: ‘Look, I Am Making Everything New!'”, Part 2
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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
I Am the Resurrection And The Life!
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Part 1A
Part 1B
Scripture: John 11:17-27
Introduction:
On this Easter Sunday, the Resurrection has something first of all, and primarily, to do with the Father-Son-Holy-Spirit God and His Activity as the Father-Son-Holy-Spirit-God, especially Revealed in Jesus Christ!
Theological Theme:
The most fundamental thing that Jesus has revealed about the resurrection is that HE, HIMSELF, is the Resurrection. We don’t want to keep mistaking resurrection primarily and only as rising up from physical death in the life of the age to come.
Christ Connection:
You don’t have to wait to until the life of the age to come to participate in rising from death. You can rise from death now, because this is meant not only physically but spiritually, and Christ shares himself with us NOW through the Holy Spirit conforming our humanity to his! Forget ONLY waiting to rise from the dead in the future. You can begin to rise and share in the life of the age to come right now, from the Father, through the Son, and in and by the Holy Spirit!
Missional Application:
Because Jesus is Himself the Resurrection, receiving and enjoying the Resurrection is primarily about receiving and enjoying Jesus Christ (along with him the Father and the Holy Spirit!) This is the Good News we seek to share with all that they too may participate actively in the relationship Jesus graciously gives!
Photos compliments: http://www.pinterest.com
I, Yet Not I, But Christ In Me!
Filed under: Bible, By Pastor Timothy, By Tim Brassell, By Timothy Brassell, Christian Living, Christianity, Church, Discipleship, Evangelism, Faith, GCI Windsor Mill, Maryland, God, God Father Son and Spirit, God the Trinity, God's love, good news, Gospel, Grace Communion Baltimore, Grace Communion International, identity in Christ, 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, The Church, The Holy Spirit, Timothy Brassell, Trinity, Uncategorized, Union with Christ, Witnessing to God, Witnessing to Jesus, Worship, Worshiping God, Worshipping Jesus | Tags: Christ In Me, Emotional Pain and Relief, God is Faithful, God Is Making Everything New, God Is True, God's Primary Goal, How To Be A Conqueror, Jesus, Jesus' Accomplishment, Lent, Life With The Father, Love, Me In Christ, Mental Pain and Relief, New Heavens and Earth, No More Crying, No More Grief, No More Tears, Participating In The Divine Nature, Pastor Timothy Brassell of New Life Baltimore, Physical Pain and Relief, Politics, Satan Overcome, Social Problems, The Christian Faith, The Kingdom of God, The Who Question, Timothy Brassell of New Life Fellowship, Trinitarian Theology, Victory Over Evil and the Devil, Victory Over Sin, Victory Over Temptation, What the Resurrection Accomplished
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Bible Verse: Galatians 2:20
Introduction:
The primary goal of God, Father, Son and Spirit is that you share in His Divine nature and relationship as a GIFT! This time of Lent can help you remember this basic point and foundation of the Christian Faith. We remember the gift Jesus gave us of giving up so many things and becoming poor in the desert that we might become rich in his victory over evil’s temptations! He now shares with us the gift of participation in his victory over temptation and sin that we might share in the unobstacled and rich relationship he shares with his Father!
Theological Theme:
“You, yet not you, but Christ in you” is the only Christian Gospel we have!
Christ Connection:
In the light of Who Jesus is Revealed to be, and what he has accomplished on our behalf that
every person might share in his relationship with his Father by the Spirit (John 17:3, John 16:13-
15), we must not underestimate the priority of the Who question! As CHRIST-ians we don’t
believe that just anyone could be and do Who Jesus is and what he did in his birth, life, suffering
and death, resurrection, ascension and coming again! We don’t believe that just anyone
could achieve the same outcome/s! Jesus is the unique and only Begotten of the Father
(John 3:16). He is the only human Mediator between God and man (1 Tim 2:5). He is the only
one to whom every knee will bow and tongue confess that he is Lord! (Phil 2:9-11)
Knowing Who Jesus IS, do you see the qualitative difference the Who question can have on your faith, hope, and love? Regarding the politics and social issues of this world, Whose world is it? Regarding
all physical, mental and emotional pain, Whose body and soul is it? With regard to COVID and
the disturbance of death it has brought to far too many in this world, Whose Resurrection from
death was it that makes all alive? Jesus! Which means there is nothing Jesus has allowed that he can’t redeem!
Missional Application:
In the Holy Spirit Jesus sends to us, we seek to proclaim this Good News of the transformation of the world to all who will hear and receive it by grace through faith:
Rev 21:1-7 CSB: “1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first
earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.
3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will
live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their
God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and
pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.
5 Then the one seated on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new.” He also said,
“Write, because these words are faithful and true.”6 Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the
Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give to the thirsty from the spring
of the water of life. 7 The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and
he will be my son.”
Photo Compliments: pinterest.com
GOD: The Most Important PERSONS and TASK For Everyone! Part 4 (Jesus’ Suffering/ The Biblical Worldview)
Filed under: By Tim Brassell, By Timothy Brassell, Christian Living, Christianity, Church, Discipleship, Evangelism, Faith, GCI Windsor Mill, Maryland, God, God Father Son and Spirit, God the Trinity, God's love, good news, Gospel, Grace Communion Baltimore, Grace Communion International, Humor, identity in Christ, Inclusion, Jesus Christ, Love, Ministry, New Life Fellowship Of Baltimore Maryland, New Life Fellowship Of Windsor Mill, MD., On Mission with Christ, Participation with Christ, Participation with Jesus, relationship with God, Relationships, Sermons, The Church, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, The Holy Spirit, Timothy Brassell, Trinity, Uncategorized, Union In Christ, Union with Christ, Witnessing to God, Witnessing to Jesus, Worship, Worshiping God, Worshipping Jesus | Tags: Evil Eradicated, God Is For Us, God Is With Us, God Revealed, God Revealed In Jesus, Humanity Revealed In Jesus, Jesus Assuming Human Nature, Jesus Substituting for Humanity, Jesus' Suffering, Pastor Timothy Brassell, Pastor Timothy Brassell of New Life Baltimore, Pastor Timothy Brassell of New Life Fellowship, Person And Work Of Jesus, Proclaiming The Good News, Sharing The Gospel With Others, Sin Destroyed, Spiritual And Physical Life, Spiritual And Physical Unity, Sufferings of Christ, The Meaning Of The Trinity, The Work Of The Trinity
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Part 4A:
Part 4B:
Bible Verse: Luke 4
Introduction:
In this series we are rehearsing and remembering the centrality of Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, and how important every part of Who He is and what He does holds together as our Salvation. We are reviewing what it means that Jesus was born of a Virgin, that He lived a fleshly life for quite awhile, that he suffered and was crucified. We’re remembering what it means that he was the Resurrection, personally, in His Resurrection, what it means that He Ascended into Heaven, and what it means that He will return in His Final Appearing and Advent.
Theological Theme:
Jesus suffered because God-Father-Son-Holy-Spirit was intent to absorb every drop of sin and evil out of our human nature, in order to give us a renewed and healed nature in its place! The cross was not about the Father punishing His Son because He hates us and took out the hate on his Son. The Cross was about us punishing His Son because we were provoked by God’s goodness and Godness and we hated him! Two crucial questions arise: How was God going to get rid of the hate in our hearts without becoming human and substituting for us?!?! How was the Potter going to shape the clay without becoming the clay, while also remaining God?!
Christ Connection:
Jesus, the Son of the Father and Holy Spirit, assuming our human nature, had to go to the depth of sin by taking on our exact nature physically and spiritually, if he were to reach every part of us. The entire extent of our human being and activity had to be assumed, and was assumed by Jesus, without sin, thereby cleansing and renewing us with the love and life of the Trinity!
Keeping Jesus’ unity with the Trinity always in mind, we can say that: God-Father-Son-Holy-Spirit reveals Himself, through Himself, To Himself, As Himself, For us, and in us (for and inside our human being and nature) We then receive this gift in the Holy Spirit Jesus sends!
Missional Application:
In the Light of such Good News for humanity, the Church participates with Jesus Christ in receiving the Spirit and sharing this Good News with all, encouraging them to turn from their sin and receive relationship with the Father-Son-Holy-Spirit-God!
Our Gospel message can be proclaimed similar to what St. Augustine has written:
“There is nothing too subtle or dense for the Spirit to penetrate or too sinful for the Spirit to cleanse or too weary for the Spirit to refresh or too dead for the Spirit to breathe life into again. The Spirit strives with us, prays for us, groans with us (Rom. 8:18–27; Augustine, Hom. on 1 John 8).”
Photo Compliments: trinityandhumanity.com
JESUS: The Most Important PERSON and TASK For Everyone! Part 1 (Our Christian and Biblical Worldview)
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Part 1A:
Part 1B:
Part 1 C:
Full Message:
Bible Verses: Luke 2: 52 (Various Scriptures)
Theological Theme:
God-Father-Son-Holy-Spirit proclaims in a living personal relational way that:
- God the Father does not stand far off from sinners but he draws close to sinners in His Son.
- Though we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, we still have human dignity from the fact of our being God’s good creation from our conception and beginning, and now from the stronger fact of Christ living in our human nature and uniting it to his Godly nature forever!
- God-Father-Son-Holy-Spirit has revealed in the virgin birth of the Son that God does the dirty work of dealing with the tensions and paradoxes of our dignity and brokenness and heals them in HIMSELF, in our humanity that he has now taken on and assumed!
- The Father takes responsibility for His creation and He loves us so much that He even subjects Himself to taking on our sinful flesh, suffering flesh and, ultimately, even evil for our sakes, in His Son. In the power of His Spirit he destroys sin and evil, and preserves us by grace!
Christ Connection:
“If there are two sides to humanity, ”Ray Anderson proclaims, “Christ will be on the wrong side. “1 Jesus embodied the unreserved presence of God with and for sinners. “Those who are well have no need of physician,” Jesus declares ‘but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mt.9:12f.). Christ’s incarnate humanity – his entire life, death, and resurrection among and on behalf of sinners – provides the basis for and the reality of reconciliation. He stands in our place and acts on our behalf to heal our humanity. His vicarious humanity – i.e., his substitutionary life and death in our place and representative humanity on our behalf – reconciles us to one another and to God. Social reconciliation is both an indicative and an imperative of the gospel of Jesus Christ, both gift and task, both command and promise.”
Missional application:
“A key understanding of our theology has to do with what God has accomplished for all humanity in and through his incarnate Son, Jesus Christ….. God [in and through Jesus Christ] has reconciled all people to himself.
This theological declaration is based on the biblical revelation that Christ died for all and that God has loved and reconciled the world to himself.
Because this reconciliation is accomplished, and thus a present reality, God’s desire, which is fulfilled by the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit, is for all people everywhere to come to repentance and faith so they may personally experience (receive and live into) this reconciliation and so not perish...
…[from God the Father in a variety of ways, all people in all places and times have been included in God’s love and life in and through Jesus and by his Spirit. In that we rejoice, and on that basis we make our gospel declarations.” -Gary Deddo
Conclusion:
Because of the virgin birth and what it reveals about God in Christ having to replace us even from our conception, we can see that we do not gain enlightenment through meditation and mindfulness practices. We cannot look inside ourselves and come to realize what it takes to meet our true selves and the true power of self-compassion and self-love! No! We gain enlightenment through JESUS ALONE! We must look outside of ourselves to Him to find the fullness of humanity we were meant to bear! In Jesus, the Father is filling us and our human nature with His life and love as GOD – The Father Son and Spirit. Receiving this enlightenment by grace can then lead to the fruit of our practicing with Jesus His meditations and mindfulness of His Father and the Gospel, in the Holy Spirit!
Photo Compliments: http://www.halomtidings.org (edited)
The Most Important TASK Done For Everyone Everywhere – JESUS CHRIST! (Our Christmas and Biblical Worldview)
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Part A:
Part B:
Full Message:
Bible Verse: Luke 2
Introduction:
Can you see from reading this section of the Nicene Creed what would be missing if as Christians we ONLY spoke about Jesus in terms of His birth (Christmas), His suffering, death and resurrection?
Excerpt about Jesus from the Nicence Creed
“We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through Him all things were made. For us and for our salvation He came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit, He became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered death and was buried. On the third day He rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.”
What happens if we leave out His incarnate life for 33 years? What if after speaking about His Resurrection we stopped and never addressed His human Ascension and Bodily Return?
Theological Theme:
“Christ does not heal us as an ordinary doctor might, by standing over us, diagnosing our sickness, prescribing medicine for us to take and then going away, leaving us to get better as we follow His instructions. No, He becomes the patient. He assumes that very humanity which is in need of redemption, and by being anointed by the Spirit in our humanity, by a life of perfect obedience, by dying and rising again, for us, our humanity is healed in Him, in His person. We are not just healed through Christ, because of the work of Christ, but in and through Christ. Person and work must not be separated.” – James Torrance
Christ Connection:
Christ emptied himself so we may be filled
“The very Son of God, older than the ages, the invisible, the incomprehensible, the incorporeal, the beginning of beginning, the light of light, the fountain of life and immortality, the image of the archetype, the immovable seal, the perfect likeness, the definition and word of the Father: he it is who comes to his own image and takes our nature for the good of our nature, and unites himself to an intelligent soul for the good of my soul, to purify like by like.
He takes to himself all that is human, except for sin. He was conceived by the Virgin Mary, who had been first prepared in soul and body by the Spirit; his coming to birth had to be treated with honor, virginity had to receive new honor. He comes forth as God, in the human nature he has taken, one being, made of two contrary elements, flesh and spirit. Spirit gave divinity, flesh received it.
He who makes rich is made poor; he takes on the poverty of my flesh, that I may gain the riches of his divinity. He who is full is made empty; he is emptied for a brief space of his glory, that I may share in his fullness. What is this wealth of goodness? What is this mystery that surrounds me? I received the likeness of God, but failed to keep it. He takes on my flesh, to bring salvation to the image, immortality to the flesh. He enters into a second union with us, a union far more wonderful than the first.” – St. Gregory The Theologian
Missional Application:
Just as Jesus took on all the parts of our human nature and flesh through the history of a human life to bring us Salvation, as those in union with Jesus in the Spirit we participate with Him in all the parts of His human history and continued Lordship, pointing others to Him as their Salvation also!
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The Most Important PERSON For Everyone Everywhere – JESUS CHRIST! (Our Christmas and Biblical Worldview)
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Part A:
Part B:
Full Message:
Bible Verse: Luke 2
Introduction:
Luke 1:26-38
1:26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,
1:27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
1:28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”
1:29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
1:30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
1:31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.
1:32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.
1:33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
1:34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
1:35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.
1:36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren.
1:37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
1:38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
Theological Theme:
This story in Luke, noted above, is a good example of how we can preach and witness to others similarly about the Gospel!
vv.26-31 “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” You should start your witnessing with Who God is as Revealed in Jesus and who we are in Him – Favored!
v.31 “And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.” ONLY AFTER PROCLAIMING WHO GOD IS IN HIS WORDS AND DEEDS do you proclaim our participation with Him!
v.34 “Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’, 35 The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.’”
All of this happens by the grace of God – from the Father, through the Son, and in the Holy Spirit!
Christ Connection:
“God loves you so utterly and completely that he has given himself for you in Jesus Christ his beloved Son, and has thereby pledged [promised and given] his very being as God for your salvation. In Jesus Christ God has actualized [made actual and real] his unconditional love for you in your human nature in such a once for all way, that he cannot go back upon it without undoing the Incarnation and the Cross and thereby denying himself. Jesus Christ died for you precisely because you are sinful and utterly unworthy of him, and has thereby already made you his own before and apart from your ever believing in him. He has bound you to himself by his love in a way that he will never let you go, for even if you refuse him and damn yourself in hell his love will never cease. Therefore, repent and believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.”- (T. F. Torrance, “The Mediation of Christ,” 94)
Missional Application:
As we are filled with the Love of the Father and Son Relationship in the Holy Spirit, we participate with God, compelled to go to all and say:
“In and through Jesus, God has included all people everywhere in a particular relationship with himself for just these purposes so that what has been fulfilled for us objectively in Jesus by the Spirit, will then be fulfilled in us personally (subjectively) by the Spirit via our deliberate, purposeful participation (response) as subjects who are moral, spiritual agents. What Christ did for us, he did so that the Holy Spirit could work a response out in us. When we understand that the person and work of Christ establishes or reestablishes a living, vital, personal relationship with all humanity, then the biblical teachings concerning inviting, admonishing, encouraging, directing, commanding and warning in regard to setting forth the fitting or appropriate response make sense.” – Gary Deddo
The Most Important Priority For Everyone Everywhere! Part 3 (Our Christian/Biblical Worldview)
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Part 3B:
Full Message:
Bible Verses: Colossians 1: 15 – 29 Colossians 3: 5
Introduction: Developing, then living out an ethic that is God-centered rather than human-centered is a great challenge. Why? Because the worldview (mindset) prevalent in our modern/postmodern West is fundamentally human-centered, leading to an ethic that is largely pragmatic, utilitarian and even hedonistic. So how do we as Christians, in this cultural setting, develop, then live out a truly theological ethic?
In this sermon we draw on scripture and insights from theologian Dr. Gary Deddo as a help in considering the crucial issues at play regarding our participation with Jesus in worshipping His Father in the Spirit!
Theological Theme:
According to Jesus, these two commands summarize the will of God for humankind as presented in Holy Scripture:
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matt. 22:35-40, NRSV)
Christ Connection:
Jesus came to seek worshipers of the Father (see John 4, the account of the woman at the well). He came so that we could share in his true worship of the Father in Spirit and Truth (see the book of Hebrews). That meant he came so that we might love God as He loved God, with all he had and all he was — heart, soul, mind and strength. That worship included Jesus absolutely trusting in and lovingly obeying the Father — in our place and on our behalf. We are to serve no other Master, Jesus tells us. He came to take us to the Father and to send us his Spirit.
As Jesus tells us, eternal life is to know the Father through him (John 17:3). Jesus’ central mission was to reconcile God’s own sons and daughters to him through his atoning death and to destroy the source of all rivalry to the worship of God alone. Evil is represented by the Satan, the deceiver. Jesus is our great High priest, our Leitourgos (leader of liturgy/worship), our one true worship leader. He came to enable us to be true worshipers of the Father in the Spirit through him, the Son.
Missional Application:
In participation with Jesus we share the Gospel in word and deed with our neighbors, teaching them what Jesus is teaching us:
Though Jesus speaks of two great commandments, they are not equal. One cannot be collapsed into the other, especially the first into the second. Why? Because God is not my neighbor and my neighbor is not God. The command to love God is unique, applying to no one and nothing else. We are to love God with all that we are and all that we have — body and soul, mind and heart. There is nothing that is a part of a human’s existence that is not to be devoted to loving God.
Photo Compliments: Dr. Gary Deddo
Grace To A Runaway Slave!
Filed under: Bible, By Ann Vinson, Christian Living, Christianity, Church, Discipleship, Evangelism, Faith, GCI Windsor Mill, Maryland, God, God Father Son and Spirit, God the Trinity, God's love, good news, Gospel, Grace Communion Baltimore, Grace Communion International, identity in Christ, Inclusion, Jesus Christ, Liturgy, Love, Ministry, New Life Fellowship Of Baltimore Maryland, New Life Fellowship Of Windsor Mill, MD., On Mission with Christ, Participation with Christ, Participation with Jesus, Perichoresis, Prayer, relationship with God, Relationships, 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: Active Participation With Jesus, Adoption, Christian Living, Christian Reconciliation, Christian Unity, Christianity, Cross, Cross of Christ, Discipleship, Duty, father, former slaves to sin, GCI Baltimore, God Father Son and Spirit, God in Flesh, God Incarnate, God Likes You, God the Trinity, God's Faith, God's Faithfulness, God's Gift, God's Grace, God's Healing, God's Hope, God's Humility, God's love, God's Love And Life, God's Mercy, God's Mission, God's Patience, God's Power, God's Presence, God's Salvation, God's Unconditional Love, Gospel, Gospels, grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, Grace Communion International, Grace To a Runaway Slave, heralds of reconciliation, Humanity Uplifted, Humility, Humility of God, Humility of Jesus, Incarnation, Included In Christ, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Is God's Love Revealed, Jesus Is God's Salvation, Jesus Is Our Salvation, Jesus is the way the truth and the life, jesus ministry, JESUS THE CHRIST, Jesus Transforms, Jesus' Reconciliation, Jesus' Authority, Jesus' Presence, Jesus: True God True Man, law, Love, Obligation, Oneness, Oneness in Christ, Outpouring Of The Holy Spirit, Participation with Jesus, Participation with Jesus Christ, Pastor Timothy Brassell of New Life Baltimore, Perichoresis, philemon, Philemon 8-22, Purpose, Racial, Racial Reconciliation, Receiving God's Love, Reconciled, Reconciled To God, Reconciliation, Reconciliation to Jesus, Reconciliation with God, Relationship With Jesus, Relationships, Salvation, Salvation By Grace, Salvation By Grace Alone, Salvation In Christ, sameness, Sharing God's Love With Others, Slaves, Spiritual Maturity, The Father, The Father's Love, The Father-Son-and-Spirit-God, The Holy Spirit, The Holy Spirit Of Love, The Holy Spirit's Power, Trinitarian Theology, Trinity, Unconditional, unconditional acceptance, Unconditional Love, Union and Communion, Union With Jesus, Union with Jesus Christ, Wholeness in Christ, Worship, Worshipping Jesus
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Part A:
Part B:
Full Message:
Bible Verse: Philemon 8-22
Introduction:
In his short letter to Philemon, Paul made an appeal for oneness and unity in Jesus Christ. He placed himself in the middle of a broken relationship between Philemon, a slave master, and Onesimus, a runaway slave. Contained within this story of reconciliation, grace, and de-exaltation is the gospel itself. A slave himself, Paul urged Philemon to consider love—not law, duty, or obligation. His instruction to receive Onesimus as a brother, not a slave, challenges us to evaluate our pride and align our perspectives of others with Christ’s perspective. In this letter, Paul helps us reflect on the racial, radical, and redemptive reconciliation Christ offers.
“The salvation secured by Christ in the gospel is more comprehensive than justification alone: it brings repentance, wholeness, love for brothers and sisters in the Christian community.” –D. A. Carson
Outline:
1. Appealing to Love, Not Obligation (Philem. 8-14)
Like Philemon, love is to be our motivation for obeying God in all things. We can easily fall into the trap of obeying God primarily out of obligation. We obey because we have to. We know we should. While this is certainly true—God has given us commands, not suggestions in Scripture— obligation cannot be what prompts our obedience. Love must be.
Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commands (John 14:15). Love fuels obedience; obedience verifies love. A steady diet of love fattens obedience, but obligation will starve it at some point. This is why Jesus fused the two together. Our love for God produces obedience that pleases Him and also brings Him glory as the world around us sees us joyfully obey.
2. Accepting a Brother, Not a Slave (Philem. 15-17)
“Love all men, even your personal enemies, not because they are brothers but in order that they may be brothers, in order that you may always burn with brotherly love, whether for one already become a brother or for an enemy so that by [your] loving he may become a brother.” –Augustine
3. Anticipating Grace, Not Duty (Philem. 18-22)
If we as Christians only obey God out of a sense of obligation or duty, then we commit the sin of the Pharisee: righteousness without right-heartedness. God desires that our obedience come from the heart.
After committing adultery with Bathsheba, David discovered, “The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. You will not despise a broken and humbled heart, God” (Ps. 51:16-17). God cannot overlook a broken heart. He collects them, tends and mends them. Duty is a harsh master, but through the cracks of a broken spirit, the Holy Spirit enters into us and distributes grace to every limb. Paul had a broken heart when he penned his letter—a heart that Philemon could heal by demonstrating the grace of Christ to Onesimus. “Refresh my heart in Christ,” he instructed (Philem. 20).
Theological Theme:
Christian reconciliation models the cross of Christ.
Contained within this story of reconciliation, grace, and de-exaltation is the gospel itself – a gospel that regardless of background, skin color, class, or cultural difference unites God’s [Father-Son-Holy Spirit] family members and demonstrates the reconciling power of the cross. Christian unity is not about sameness; it’s about oneness.
Christ Connection:
When Paul appealed to Philemon on behalf of the runaway slave Onesimus, he placed himself in the middle of their broken relationship. In order to make peace, he volunteered to pay Onesimus’ debt. Through this action, Paul modeled Jesus Christ, who is the peacemaker between God and sinful humanity. By volunteering to pay our debt, Jesus reconciled us to God and to each other.
Missional Application:
God, through his Holy Spirit, calls us to live as peacemakers who reflect the heart of our crucified Savior.
Conclusion:
Jesus once promised that He would “go away and prepare a place for you” (John 14:3).
After the toils of life are over, God will declare your emancipation also. Like Paul, you will escape “this body of death” (Rom. 7:24) and abscond to your mansion in glory—a home where “neither moth nor rust destroys” and “where thieves don’t break in and steal” (Matt. 6:20). This future home is what should motivate us today. Because we anticipate entering Christ’s presence and basking in His love and grace as His brothers and sisters, we give to others today what we will receive then. It is the least we, all former slaves to sin who are now one family in Christ, can do for one another.
“We have but one leading aim, to which it is our deliberate and unreserved desire that every thing else in which we are concerned may be subordinate and subservient—in a word, that we are devoted to the Lord, and have by grace been enabled to choose him, and to yield ourselves to him, so as to place our happiness in his favor, and to make his glory and will the ultimate scope of all our actions.” –John Newton
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Trinity and Humanity 