Messages with tag - Communion

The Greco Roman culture, not unlike our own culture, had no sense of sin. Yet we are again reminded by Paul, who uses the term 164 times, that we are "in Christ." But how do we receive Christ? How do we walk in Him? In this lesson, we learn that our walk experience is how we conduct our life, dependent upon God step by step and moment by moment.

There are four keys in vs. 8 to walking in Christ. We are "rooted", we are "built up"; we are "established"; and we are "abounding". Understanding these concepts determines how your spiritual life grows and progresses.

How well do you know doctrine? How is your own spiritual life growing?

God commands corporate worship. It is valuable as an encouragement, a response to what God has done and a display of our joy. At the beginning of the 18th century Isaac Watts added a dimension to congregational singing. How was that change different than the changes brought about by contemporary church music today? Christians knew that all beauty existed in the mind of God and that to know beauty, we first had to know God. The Enlightenment shifted the idea of beauty to an internal, relative standard separate from the absolute standards of God. Beauty was in the eye of the beholder. Which idea reflects joy in worship which is all about God?

Where do you find a definition of love from which to set standards, expectations and goals? Does scripture clearly define love? Attributes of love are introduced throughout scripture in concepts including submission, authority, grace, mercy, faithfulness, forgiveness and a multitude of others. Love is ultimately exemplified at the cross. While emotion and affection can be a part of love, they are more the result than the motivator. God sets the standard for love, so to understand love we must know God. For a believer, love for one another is a reflection of God’s love for us which is based on His integrity and righteousness. The Holy Spirit is our only means of approaching the love God wants His body to exhibit toward one another and to perpetuate the stability of His divine institutions.

Note that the class series (Romans) on the video is incorrect.

Pastor Dean encourages us to listen to the excellent presentations from the recent Pre-Trib Conference where the core doctrine presented is the rejection of the sufficiency of Scripture.

In his address to masters and slaves, Paul is not making a statement about social change. Neither is he endorsing or rejecting slavery. Change is brought about by the application of Christian principles, and the universal principle here is; whatever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord and not to men. Paul uses reward and repayment as legitimate motivation, not necessarily reward in time, but the reward of inheritance. Orientation to authority, accountability, obedience and humility of master and servant is a function of shedding the self absorption of the flesh and focusing on the pattern of service of Jesus Christ, the ultimate authority, in the same manner He subjected Himself to the authority of the Father when, as a man on this earth, he suffered injustice beyond any we will ever encounter.