Archive for the ‘Resurrection’ Tag

“Resurrection For Real Life!”

Devotional By Pastor Timothy Brassell

Scripture: John 20

“He is Risen Indeed!”
When Mary Magdalene wept outside the tomb, she thought Jesus was gone. But then—He said her name. “Mary.” In a moment, despair turned to joy. The risen Jesus stood before her, not as a ghost, but in a glorified, real human body. She ran to tell the others, “I have seen the Lord!”

The resurrection isn’t just something that happened—it’s Someone alive. Jesus didn’t just rise; He is the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25). That means resurrection isn’t primarily an idea or doctrinal teaching first. It’s a Person you can know. The Person of Jesus!

Real Hope for Real Life
The empty tomb means more than victory over death. It means you will live. As Paul wrote, “In Christ all will be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22). Resurrection is humanity’s future—because Jesus is humanity’s new Head transforming bodily the entire human family. You’re not facing death alone, or anything alone. You’re heading toward life in Christ.

So, what does this mean now?

  • It means you can face and share grief with hope. “This is not the last word.”
  • It means you treat every person as someone God wants to and will raise.
  • It means your ordinary days are colored by God’s extraordinary future.

The Risen Christ Comes to You
Mary saw Him. Thomas touched Him. The disciples heard His “Peace be with you.” His meeting them as the Living Savior personally made all of the difference. And now, Jesus comes to you, personally. Not as a memory, but through the Holy Spirit, the Risen One reveals Himself to you – your heart, the very center of your being. You can’t study Him like any other subject to know Him. He must meet You, and you Him —again and again, and this all by His initiation and grace!

Have you?

If the Resurrection is personal, and it is, it’s also a call. Jesus doesn’t ask for admiration. He asks for relational allegiance. He is the Resurrected One that you might share with Him in His Relationship with His Father in the Holy Spirit forevermore! You can’t stand in the middle. He doesn’t allow you to take Him neutrally. You either worship and walk with Him or walk away, resurrected body and all. But to those who believe, Jesus says: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

 Today’s Reflection:
Jesus, You are not only alive—You are here. Make Yourself known to me. Make Yourself known to me again, today. Let Your Resurrection Life and hope shape my words, my work, and my worship. I don’t just want to admire You—I want to follow You. I want to know and trust Your Father as You do. I want to be filled with the pleasures of Your Spirit in communion and fellowship with You and the Father forevermore, overflowing into my relationship with all creation! Thank You!

 Question for the Day:
Who do you say Jesus is? (hint: Your response will only be correct when it is the same as Jesus’! Ha!)

“What happened on that day (of Easter) became, was and remained the center around which everything else moves. For everything lasts its time, but the love of God—which was at work and was expressed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead—lasts forever. Because this event took place, there is no reason to despair, and even when we read the newspaper with all its confusing and frightening news, there is every reason to hope.”

— Karl Barth, Insights: Karl Barth’s Reflections on the Life of Faith, p. 30 

“Keeping First Things First This Easter/Resurrection Season!” 

Part A:

Part B:

Full Message:


Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15


As we gather and prepare our hearts for this upcoming Resurrection Sunday, this message calls us to remember that the empty tomb means nothing without the cross — and that the risen Christ invites us not just to celebrate, but to participate in His life, death, and victory.

“The resurrection of Jesus was not just a coming back to life of a dead man, but the coming of eternal life into our world of sin and death, breaking its way through into the form of a new creation.”
— T.F. Torrance, “Space, Time and Resurrection”


Summary:

In this deeply reflective Easter sermon, titled “Keeping First Things First”, Pastor Timothy Brassell delivers a powerful Gospel message that proclaims the Triune God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — revealed in Jesus Christ. It’s a call to realign our Christian life and church practice around the full narrative of Jesus’ life, not just the Resurrection.

Pastor Tim walks the congregation through the context of 1 Corinthians, exposing the moral, theological, and communal dysfunctions within the Corinthian church — all of which trace back to losing focus on Christ’s full story: His life, crucifixion, death, and resurrection.

This message isn’t only about looking forward to our personal resurrection — it’s about being transformed now by the risen Christ and living into His life today. In a world and church distracted by individualism, factionalism, pride, and cultural confusion, the message calls for repentance, humility, and renewed dependence on Christ’s death and resurrection. It is both sobering and hope-filled — reminding us that the resurrection is not just a future hope but a present way of life.

Key Highlights from the Sermon


1. ✝️ The Whole Gospel: Life, Death, and Resurrection Are One

Jesus’ Resurrection cannot be rightly celebrated apart from His life, crucifixion, and death. The full Gospel is one seamless act of redemption.
💬 Discipleship Question: Have you embraced all parts of Jesus’ life—or only the ones that comfort you?


2. 🤝 Christian Unity Over Division

Paul calls out divisions in Corinth — factions over leaders and prideful preferences — and reminds them (and us) that unity in Christ demands humility and sacrifice.
💬 Discipleship Question: In what ways do my preferences get in the way of Christian unity?


3. 🚫 Immorality & Legal Disputes: Signs of Forgetting Jesus

The Corinthians’ sexual sin and lawsuits reveal what happens when Jesus’ sacrifice isn’t central to Christian life.
💬 Discipleship Question: Where do I seek justice or gratification outside the life of Christ?


4. 🏛️ Your Body: A Temple of the Risen Lord

Paul reclaims the body as sacred, affirming its value through the Resurrection. Holiness isn’t optional — it’s our new normal.
💬 Discipleship Question: Do I honor Christ in how I treat my body and others’?


5. 💍 Singleness and Marriage in Light of Christ

Whether single or married, Paul teaches that our status is secondary to our call to serve Christ in love, sacrifice, and purity.
💬 Discipleship Question: Am I using my current relationship status to fully serve Christ?


6. 🔄 Misusing Spiritual Gifts Without Gospel Centrality

Confusion and pride around spiritual gifts erupted in Corinth because they forgot the Cross. True gifts serve others, not self.
💬 Discipleship Question: Do my spiritual gifts point to Christ or to me?


7. 🌅 Resurrection Power Starts Now

Resurrection isn’t just for the future — Jesus brought the future into our present. His life changes our now.
💬 Discipleship Question: How is Jesus’ resurrection transforming your life this week?


8. 🍇 Communion: Remembering Christ Together

The Lord’s Supper isn’t just a ritual — it’s a communal encounter with Jesus’ broken body and poured-out blood. It demands reflection and unity.
💬 Discipleship Question: Am I truly seeing Christ — and His church — when I take Communion?


9. 📣 Include the Cross in Your Gospel

A true Gospel is not just inclusion into life but inclusion into Christ’s death and crucifixion. That’s the path to transformation.
💬 Discipleship Question: Does my Gospel include the cost of following Jesus?


10. 🕊️ Live the Risen Life in Community

Living into Christ’s resurrection means radically loving, serving, and forgiving within the church. Our witness starts with one another.
💬 Discipleship Question: How are you revealing the risen Jesus through your church relationships?


Reflection: The “He Is Risen Indeed” Tradition

The sermon beautifully affirmed the rich Christian tradition of proclaiming:

“He is risen!”
“He is risen indeed!”

It’s more than a greeting — it’s a declaration of shared life, rooted in Christ’s victory over death. But the full meaning only comes when we remember that Resurrection follows crucifixion. Jesus died to kill death — and rose to raise us now.

It’s Time For Jesus To Renew Your Mind!

Part A:

Part B:

Full Message:

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Bible Verse: Romans 12: 1-2


Introduction:

“There is no point in playing down the staggering significance of the incarnation and resurrection. God the Creator of the universe, transcendent over all time and space, has himself become a creature within time and space, the man Jesus Christ… within the measures and limits’ of our human historical existence, he is at work in immeasurable love defeating the forces of darkness, irrationality and evil within creaturely being where they are…entrenched. The eternal Word-and-Reason of God has become human flesh, personally penetrating into and participating in…our existence!!” – T.F. Torrance, “Space, Time and Resurrection”

It is better to think of this Christian life mainly as something that God will pull off by grace and not something that you will pull off by works. The Father, through The Son, by The Spirit, meets us in the world in which we live right now. In the middle of the mess. The Father and The Son have broken into our chaos, along with The Holy Spirit and every BREAK-IN by Jesus is a BREAK-WITH the something else that was creating the chaos and holding us hostage.

Theological Theme:

Father, Son and Spirit God IN GRACE has given HIMSELF AS GRACE to be among us and to lead us from wherever he is right now. You are the beloved child of God in Jesus Christ. The beloved child the Father always wanted. This is not possible to believe and receive part from receiving the Hoy Spirit and having Spiritual union with Jesus Christ. Our Father is not discouraged that you, personally, have not yet fully received this truth about yourself but, encouragingly, He has made provision in His Son, Jesus Christ, to receive all those things on your behalf and in your place, so that you can trust him and grow up into Him, increasingly, by His grace!

Christ Connection:

We are being called by Jesus to have our minds renewed. “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the Champion who initiates and perfects our faith. This is possible because he has gone before us and “Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.” – Hebrews 12:2, and he sends us the holy Spirit.

There is not a year on this earth or a political situation anywhere where Jesus is not human now and king of the universe. There is not a minute of pandemic and panic-filled life that Jesus is not the Savior of the whole world. Jesus meets us first as The Word, as The ONE who speaks to us, who lovingly comes to us and embraces us, who speaks a word of grace and love and goodness and gospel to us about Who he is and also who we are in him.

Missional Application:

We have the Person of the Holy Spirit of God. The very Spirit of the Father and Son. The Holy Spirit is the way that God is. He is God’s exact characteristics being God of God himself. He shares with us the characteristics of Jesus The Son who is always giving Himself in self-sacrificing, self-giving love for the other for the sake of the Father. The Spirit is the answer to the questions: “What has Jesus done for us and done on our behalf?” “What is He doing for us now?  “How will that reach us?” “How will we participate with Jesus and what He is doing to glorify His Father, to honor Him?”

 The answer is: He is poured out on the human race and from Whom we are given grace and power from Jesus to receive him. All people everywhere are continually encouraged to turn from their sin, turn to Jesus and relate with him in the communion of the Holy Spirit, becoming the saved and adopted children of God.

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Toward Obedience To His Word!

Part A:

Part B:

Full Message:

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Bible Verse: 1 Timothy 4: 11-16 2 Timothy 4:1-8 Titus 2:11-14


Introduction:

There is an entire world crying out for an encounter with God. To know he is real.  Are we willing to yield ourselves to Him? – [Father –Son and Spirit God] – and enjoy the adventure of Christ that HE has for us in THIS WORLD that RIGHT NOW NEEDS LOVE!

Theological Theme:

God [Father-Son-Holy-Spirit] has made YOU and US as carriers of His presence, His glory, His fire. This is true even if you are not called to the office of an apostle, a prophet, a pastor, a teacher or an evangelist in the church. You are a kingdom entrepreneur. God desires to use you MIGHTILY in the marketplace to bring his transforming peace.

As carriers of God’s presence:

(1) We have to remind ourselves of the importance of OBEDIENCE to God’s word in His service to His people and for His people. If we are obedient to God’s word then the fruit of The Spirit should flow from us (Being an example outwardly). What feeds our INWARD so that our OUTWARD can express HIS LOVE and JOY?

(2) If you proclaim The WORD then you are proclaiming The TRUTH!

(3) God calls us to NOT neglect His spiritual Gifts. We have been gifted in service to Jesus Christ.

(4) Continue to grow as a believer to encounter God through PRAYER, READING, FASTING, MEDITATION, FELLOWSHIP, with each other!

Christ Connection:

Christians serve God’s people by preaching The Truth even it is costly. We have been called to preach The Word passionately so others can see and know who God is, and persist in sharing The Word whether it is convenient or not. You are a NEW CREATION in JESUS CHRIST! We have been redeemed and cleansed. We can be eager to do good works in Him for Him where we are now, regardless of the circumstances because Jesus Christ has made it possible for us.

Missional Application:

As Christ’s followers, we are carriers for God’s presence. As such, obedience to God’s word by The Spirit is what sustains us in our work with Jesus, and produces the eagerness to do His work. The Spirit will produce the eagerness we need to do His work…never us. It is The Spirit that sustains us in our work with Jesus.

Conclusion:

“The question is not, nor has it ever been, whether God is willing to move in the hearts of His people; the issue is whether we are willing to surrender in full obedience to Him so that we may begin to enjoy the enormous blessings He invites us to enjoy by living in His presence.”
― Ronnie W. Floyd, The Power Of Prayer And Fasting

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In Jesus, The Church Is God’s New Humanity!


Part A:

Part B:

Full Message:


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Bible Verse: Acts 2:42 – 47 Romans 8


Introduction:

Because Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son has come and lived, and suffered, and died, and risen from the dead, and ascended into heaven, in our glorified humanity, sending the Holy Spirit to us,  a new world order has been inaugurated from the Father, through Jesus the Son, and in the Holy Spirit! A new humanity is breaking in and rising up in believers who share in the responses of Christ in the holy Spirit, through Jesus, and to the Glory of the Father! This New Humanity, or New Creation, breaking into our present is what it means to be a part of the Church, a part of the Father-Son-and-Holy-Spirit-God’s New Community!”

Theological Theme:

“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.” – T.F. Torrance

Christ Connection:

“…when we do hear God’s voice through Jesus Christ, It calls us out of ourselves into community with God and man. And then individual Gospel and social Gospel become all one. We can’t separate them, without killing both, and running away from God…God was incarnate in Jesus Christ, and He created in the world a new community – the fellowship of the Holy Spirit – to draw us out of ourselves into community with God and man, for our own salvation and the salvation of the world.” – Donald Baillie

Missional Application:

“And if you, my friend, feel your heart pierced, in this your day and generation, by the woes of your fellows, that is perhaps the beginning of God’s work in your heart, saving you from yourself, drawing you out of yourself, into a life worth living, where you wiIl be lifted above your own temptations and defeats by the enthusiasm of the service of God and man, in the Community of the Holy Spirit. God is beginning that work in you – let Him have his way.” – Donald Baillie

The scriptures indicate what Salvation in Christ sounds and looks like in Acts 2:

36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

37 When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” 

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.

43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. 44 Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. 45 They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”

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The Plot Against Paul!

Part A:

Part B:

Full Message:


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Bible Verse: Acts 23: 1-24


Introduction:

While in Jerusalem on a mission of mercy, Paul was judged for his resurrection hope, strengthened by Christ’s presence in prison, and preserved through a surprising plot twist. Even in prison, God was faithful to provide for Paul and lead His servant to be used where and how He desired. Paul demonstrated boldness, courage, and conviction because resurrection hope gives God’s people confidence to share the gospel no matter the consequences.

Theological Theme:

Resurrection hope through God [The Father-Son-Holy-Spirit] is the source of Christian courage.

Christ Connection:

Paul’s confidence in the midst of trying circumstances came from his belief that the God of his fathers was the God who had revealed His glory in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Paul believed that the faithfulness of God that was shown through the cross and resurrection of Jesus would sustain him through persecution and trial.

Missional Application:

God, through His Holy Spirit calls us to courageously testify to the gospel, even when the cost of telling the truth is high.

Conclusion:

What a difference the resurrection makes! It distinguishes Christians from non-Christians in every culture and context as it refurbishes our life pursuits, changes our old attitudes, and gives us hope to continue running the race even in the midst of despair. Because of the resurrection, Christians are thrice-born creatures: 1) we are born; 2) we are born again (John 3:7); and 3) one day, we will be born again, again. Our third birth will be just as physical as our first. That’s why archeologists will never discover Jesus’ skeleton. As the angel told Mary, “He is not here, but he has risen!” (Luke 24:6). And we will rise too (Rom. 8:11). Until then, let the resurrection become a source of courage and confidence as we live knowing one day “we will be like him” (1 John 3:2), and for all eternity we will see the Savior “face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12).

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Whoever Has Been Forgiven Much, Loves Much!

Part A:

Part B:

Full Message:


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Main Bible Verses: Luke 7: 36-50 Acts 2: 36-41


Introduction:

The Father-Son-Holy-Spirit-God revealed in Jesus Christ is the God of Love and is therefore a forgiving God! In the birth, life, suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus we see God at work to forgive and overcome sin, sending it away and reconciling all to himself. In the way Jesus lived, the things he said, and the way he thought and spoke we understand what forgiveness really is and means for human beings.

Theological Theme:

We are each and all called to participate in receiving God’s gift of forgiveness, and participate with Jesus in being reconciled back to his Father and our neighbors! This proclaims to us the Good News that forgiveness is first something God gives to us a gift which enables us to repent and then share his forgiveness with others. So, we don’t have to repent in order to be forgiven, rather we are forgiven and enabled to repent!

Christ Connection:

Jesus is the True and Fully Human Being. When we want to see and know most clearly what God’s love really looks like in a human being and what his purpose and plan is for us we look to Jesus Christ! WE LOVE because HE first LOVED US. WE FORGIVE BECAUSE HE HAS FORGIVEN US. What Jesus gave us was not only himself as an individual but, in and through the Holy Spirit, he gives us the opportunity to participate with him in his human nature.

“We put our trust in God because of who Jesus Christ is. And he himself is the grace of God towards us. He is the Gospel. He himself is our salvation. And we receive all the benefits of who he is as we trust in him and cast aside (repent of) all other rival objects of trust. We then enjoy our union and communion with him as our Lord and God. Our lives are united to Christ and we share in his life, we participate with him in all he is doing and will do in and through our relationship of trust or faith.” – Dr Gary Deddo

Jesus Christ took on our broken humanity, healed it and raised it up NEW so that he shared in his renewing humanity. He performed a great exchange. He shared in OUR POORNESS so that we could share in HIS RICHNESS! He shared in OUR BROKENNESS so that so that we could share in HIS HEALED HUMAN NATURE! He shared in the temptation of our unforgiving nature and, resisting it with his forgiving love, gives us the same opportunity to resist our unforgiving nature through receiving his forgiving love.

Missional Application:

We are called as Jesus’ disciples to encourage God’s children tore forgiven in order that they, too, might REPENT because of the forgiveness of their sins by God the Father and receive the Holy Spirit. They will then not only be saved FROM their sins but also be saved FOR God and sharing God and his characteristics with their neighbor.

Conclusion:

Overflowing love and forgiveness toward others is the natural response to God’s forgiveness of us and the appropriate consequence of faith in him. However, only those who realize the depth of their sin can appreciate the complete forgiveness that God offers them and the share that with others. Having received this forgiveness we believers seek to share it freely with others because, in Jesus Christ, God has forgiven and rescued the sinful human nature of all people, whether those people are extremely wicked or conventionally good, even as we were!

Do you appreciate the wideness of God’s mercy? Are you grateful for his forgiveness?  Are you grateful for God’s forgiveness given to us in Jesus Christ?” If so, you will become more and more forgiving of others. Having received this forgiving love of Jesus we are now being compelled as ambassadors who are appealing to others (as if Christ was appealing through us!) to “Be reconciled to God”. “Receive his forgiveness!” The compulsion to appeal to others in love “to repent, turn to Christ and be reconciled” should outmatch any anxious cry and plea to “turn before you burn” because God’s grace is greater than our sin! Although God’s grace through faith is what saves us, and NOT our good works toward our neighbors, our good works demonstrate faith in Christ and are honored by Christ, and actually come from Christ, and therefore can bear fruit in the lives of our neighbors as we participate in them!

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Our Father’s Hope For All: In The Faith Of Jesus Shared With Us! Part 10

Part 10 A:

Part 10 B:

Full Message:


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Main Bible Verses: Romans 14 Acts 2: 21-41


Theological Theme:

In his life and in relationship with His Father Jesus overcame the old humanity filled with sin, hate, prejudice, brutality and evil, and pulled off a life of New Humanity. He now shares this New Humanity with us by pouring out the Holy Spirit on us! Through the Spirit he shares with us his faith in what he has done so that our ultimate faith is not even in our own faith or beliefs but only in him and his faith on our behalf. We are therefore less judgmental of our brothers and sisters and absolutely demanding of our own way, rather we trust Jesus for every person because, in him, we still stand and are saved by his grace. Will we share in this faith of Jesus and live in his unity?
Romans 14 “Welcome anyone who is weak in faith, but don’t argue about disputed matters. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while one who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 One who eats must not look down on one who does not eat, and one who does not eat must not judge one who does, because God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge another’s household servant? Before his own Lord he stands or falls. And he will stand, because the Lord is able to make him stand.
5 One person judges one day to be more important than another day. Someone else judges every day to be the same. Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 Whoever observes the day, observes it for the honor of the Lord. Whoever eats, eats for the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; and whoever does not eat, it is for the Lord that he does not eat it, and he gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives for himself, and no one dies for himself. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 Christ died and returned to life for this: that he might be Lord over both the dead and the living. 10 But you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to God. 12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.” – Christian Standard Bible

Christ Connection:

Just as in Christ, our sin nature was put to death and we were given new life in him through his forgiveness and reconciliation, so, as we are united to him in the Spirit as his brothers and sisters,The church dies to its own righteousness and lives solely by the righteousness of God alone. Because they have died to their sinful nature and live as forgiven sinners, the saints proclaim God’s forgiveness and reconciliation to the world.  Christians are called not only to proclaim forgiveness but also to bear the sins of fellow Christians. “Thus the call to follow Christ always means a call to share the work of forgiving men their sins. Forgiveness is the Christlike suffering which it is the Christian’s duty to bear.”47 True preservation of the community does not come through judging and fighting for recognition but through confession, forgiveness, and repentance.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Missional Application:

As Dietrich Bonhoeffer also wrote,The only way in which the church can defend her own territory is by fighting not for it but for the salvation of the world.”  A church that fights for the world, not its own preservation, is a community characterized by forgiveness and repentance.”

Because the Life, Crucifixion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus proclaims the absolute and complete healing of our human nature from sin and corruption, it means that Christians carry forth the same message to our world today that the Apostle Peter proclaimed nearly 2000 years ago:

Acts 2: 32 “God has raised this Jesus; we are all witnesses of this. 33 Therefore, since he has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, he has poured out what you both see and hear. 34 For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but he himself says: The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand 35 until I make your enemies your footstool.’ 36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” 37 When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” 40 With many other words he testified and strongly urged them, saying, “Be saved from this corrupt generation!” 41 So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them.

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Our Father’s Hope For All: In The Forgiveness Of Sin! pt.6

Part 6A:

Part 6B:

Full Message:


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Main Bible Verses: Luke 24 Luke 7: 36-50


Introduction:

“Our Father’s hope for all: In The Forgiveness Of Sin” has primarily to do with relationship and how relationships work. It is not some static fact apart from actual relationship. When we say Resurrection, we mean God’s forgiveness resulted not only in the sending away of sin but RELATIONSHIP with JESUS in a RENEWED HUMAN NATURE by the Spirit. This message focuses in on the forgiveness/reconciliation that is ours because of Jesus, The Resurrection.

Theological Theme:

The Gift God gives us is The Gift of Himself. God doesn’t have anything else to give humanity but Himself, so the gift you have been given in The Gospel is God -The Father, Son and Spirit and relationship with Him. This is why Jesus personalized Resurrection saying that HE IS THE RESURRECTION – John 11:25.

John 3:16

Christ Connection:

The primary thing Jesus has been proclaiming is HIMSELF and Who HE IS. Because He is God the Son, the only begotten of The Father, then when He is with us, in our humanity, He is God with us, God for us, for our humanity!

What The Resurrection is proclaiming:

  • Jesus is God The Father for us (since He is One with the Father).
  • Jesus is The Holy Spirit in us (since the Spirit is One with He and the Father).
  • Jesus is God, having done something to our human nature. Jesus is literally inside our human nature and so God is intimate with us by the Holy Spirit in our human nature.
  • Jesus is God, transforming our human nature up close and personal – personalizing and humanizing us.

When we say JESUS, we are saying that in Him and because of His union with us as His creation, there is now a reconciled relationship that God has with all with creation. For Jesus to become human and to touch and heal humanity means that what God created but had fallen into sin has now been made right again, in Him, so that we can have hope now and fulfillment at Jesus’ Final Appearing! We receive in Christ the complete forgiveness of sin and at the same time the complete healing of the proper relationship between God and man, and all creation.

“The Gospel is as inclusive as Jesus’ Humanity” – Bobby Grow

Missional Application:

What sin is:

Because God is a relationship and has called us into His relationship, sin means our not believing in Him, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Sin is our not trusting, or relating with Him. Sin is turning to something else other than The Father, Son and Spirit for your identity, for guidance in your life, for strength in your trials, etc. Sin is also the horrible motive of seeking to put God to death. Sin according to the scriptures is lawlessness meaning that it corrupts every part of our humanity in word and deed, and everything in between..

However, the one unchanging Truth of the universe is God and His love revealed in Jesus Christ. God is interested in us and in a restored relationship no matter that we have sinned and despite that we have done everything to mess up our relationship with Him. In His fantastic mercy and grace He has placed into the universe, and into His creation in Jesus Christ, THE FULLNESS OF THE FATHER SON AND SPIRIT IN FLESH! So Law in The New Testament is actually the Love of The Father, Son and Holy Spirit Revealed in the human nature of the Son. Since everyone has sinned, and Christ has undone our sin, every human has been forgiven of their sin and reconciled to God in Jesus Christ and, therefore, are each and all called to put their trust in Jesus and receive this forgiveness and reconciliation freely given to us!

Conclusion:

In The Resurrection Season, God The Father proclaims to you through His Son and in the Holy Spirit the forgiveness of all of your sins. Luke 24: 1-8

God wants all to participate in what Christ has done for us and to receive what is already theirs in Christ – THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN. The reason your sins are forgiven in Christ is because Jesus is “THE ONE FOR THE MANY”. Knowing Christ in His Resurrection means knowing the forgiveness of ALL your sins. Hear and receive this hope and proclamation of THE COMPLETE forgiveness of your sins because of Jesus, THE Resurrection, and because of Jesus’ Resurrection, bodily, from the dead!

“….Despite man’s sin, God is with him, the One who was in Jesus Christ reconciling the world, drawing man unto Himself in merciful judgment. Man’s evil past is not merely crossed out because of its irrelevancy. Rather, it is in the good care of God. Despite man’s life in the flesh, corrupt and ephemeral, God is with him. The victor in Christ is here and now present through His Spirit, man’s strength, companion, and comfort. Despite man’s death God is with him, meeting him as redeemer and perfecter at the threshold of the future to show him the totality of existence in the true light in which the eyes of God beheld it from the beginning and will behold it evermore. In what He is for man and does for man, God ushers in the history leading to the ultimate salvation of man.” ― Karl Barth, The Humanity of God

Photo Compliments: https://www.comeuntochrist.org/

Our Father’s Hope For All: In The Resurrection Relationship! pt 4

Part 4A:

Part 4B:

Full Message:


Main Bible Verse: 1 Corinthians 15: 1-34


Introduction:

God The Father so loved the world that He gave His Son to us as Jesus (God in the flesh) that whoever believes in Jesus (The God Man) by the power of The Holy Spirit will not perish but will have eternal life. God’s life – the Life He talks about by which we will not perish but live and thrive – is life knowing The Father, and Son intimately in The Holy Spirit. That is Who and what Life and Resurrection is and is about.

Theological Theme:

All truly are included in God’s [Father, Son and Spirit] love and life. It doesn’t have so much to do with a decision we make but has something to do with a decision God made prior to any decision we can make and which is the basis for our decision. That decision is the Person of Jesus Christ, Who is God for us from within our humanity. The gospel is not primarily about us receiving God into our life. The gospel is primarily about the tremendous grace of God, through Jesus, receiving us into His life.

Largely it is relationship with The Father, Son and Holy Spirit by Whom you are guided about how you think about life, what you do, what you receive, and what you reject.

Christ Connection:

Resurrection means relationship with Christ and being reconciled to the Father in and through Jesus Christ. Being reconciled means being in relationship with The Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Forgiveness means reconciliation with God and it means the restoration of relationship with God. Forgiveness of sin doesn’t just mean that sin ends but salvation means that we are saved INTO the restoration of relationship with God, where new relationship begins!

Missional Application:

God the Father Himself IS your Salvation. Sharing with Jesus in His relationship with His Father IS Salvation. Sharing friendship with Jesus IS Salvation. Intimacy with The Holy Spirit IS Salvation. The Holy Spirit comes upon you to reveal Christ to you, to mediate Christ to you. You respond by receiving and believing what The Holy Spirit has to say and, as God directs, witnessing to others about Him.

Photo Compliments: YouTube