Adopted: Beloved by the Father
Romans 8:12-17 It doesn’t make sense that Almighty God would have children characterized by inordinate anxiety, anger and hopelessness. Chronic inordinate emotions in a believer is often the result of Gospel amnesia. To the degree you remember and relish who God is, who you are as his child, and what you have been given by His grace is to the degree you will experience…
Free: Redeemed by the Son
Romans 8:1-39 God is not a restrictor but a liberator! You are never freer than when you are fully devoted to Jesus Christ. Freedom isn’t doing whatever you want to do but doing what you were created to do. We were designed to know, serve, and love God supremely – and when we are faithful to that design, we flourish.
New Creation: A Brand-New Life
2Cor 5:14-21 Everyone is building their identity on something. Our identity is what gives us meaning (What are you living for?) and worth (How well are you doing?). Identity apart from God is fundamentally unstable. Understanding our identity in Christ will give us an unshakable Identity of meaning and worth that all the success in this world can’t give you and all…
Spiritual Warfare- Power of Prayer
1 John 5:14-21 Spiritual warfare is a hotly contested issue. One author said “Some people make the mistake of seeing Satan as a second god, viewing life as an ultimate conflict between good and evil.” Not only is this a misunderstanding of spiritual warfare, it also rejects the biblical view of the sovereignty of God over Satan. We must go to Scripture to understand what…
Faith that Overcomes Fear
1Jn5:1-13 The Corona Virus has put our world on edge. As the number of confirmed cases grow so does fear and uncertainty. As Christians how should we be responding to this Pandemic? With Faith that overcomes Fear! Christianity is not a denial of the reality of this pandemic but embracing a greater reality that we have a God who is bigger than this pandemic, and we have a…
Experience God’s Love
1John 4:7-21 Our love for God and others grows out of an experience of God’s love for us. You can’t just grit your teeth and try harder to be a more loving person. True spiritual fruit of love, joy and peace comes from being swept up in intimate, loving encounters with Jesus Christ.
Test the Spirits
1John 4:1-6 It is not always easy to know who you can trust. It is not always easy to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys as the movies would lead you to believe. Truth and error are not as obvious as we would like them to be primarily because Satan masquerades as an angel of light (2Cor11:14). The battle field is our minds and what we believe (2Cor4:4, 11:3-4).…
Love in Deed and Truth
1John 3:11-24 The Bible is very clear that everyone is in one of only two families. You are either in the family of the Devil or the family of God (John 8:35-47). We are born into this world as children of the Devil, but we must be born again to be children of God. In our pluralistic world that is not very politically correct, but it is very Biblically true, and the…
Practice of Righteousness
1John 3:4-10 Righteousness is a characteristic that is unmistakably important to the Christian life. Nevertheless, many professing believers misunderstand it, substituting it for other concepts and vice versa. One of 1 John’s primary purposes is communicating what righteousness is and what it looks like in our lives. In chapter 3 John takes on the subject unapologetically.
Purity of Life
1John 2:28-3:3 The Christian life is not a morally restrained will but a supernaturally transformed heart. It is not behavioral modification but heart transformation. Fear and pride can restrain the will but only God’s love can transform the heart.