(# 282) Romans 8 - The Lord’s Supper Celebration: THE SELFLESS SAVIOR

Class Outline:

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BARAH MINISTRIES

a Christian Church

Rory Clark

Pastor-Teacher

 

Good Morning!

 

Welcome to Barah Ministries…a Christian Church based in Mesa, AZ…my name is Pastor Rory Clark. 

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

The Lord’s Supper Celebration:

THE SELFLESS SAVIOR

 

If you look at what plagues us as human beings…if you look at what ruins all of the things we value…if you look at the root cause of what destroys us…one thing is at the center of the mayhem…SELF.

 

What do all religions have in common?  On the surface, religions are skillful at articulating their differences, and they deceive us in such a way that we don’t look at the core of what makes religions tick.  So while religions appear to be different, they’re not.  They have a couple of similarities.  First, Satan sponsors ALL religions…and the way you know he sponsors them is that at the core of every religion is one thing…SELF.  Satan is the author of self-interest.  Another similarity all religions have in common is that success in the religion always involves you doing something to become acceptable… once again, SELF is at the center.

 

How do you know when something is from the SELF?  It will be SELF-ish and not self-LESS.  What does it mean to be selfless?  Being selfless is…

 

SELFLESS

Having little or no concern for oneself, especially with regard to fame, position, money, or other material things…being unselfish is thinking of the well being of others first.

 

We have a SELFLESS SAVIOR, the Sovereign God of the Universe, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Mark, Chapter 10, Verse 45…

 

Mark 10:45

“For even the Son of Man (the Lord Jesus Christ) did not come to be served, but He came to serve, and He came to give His life as a ransom payment for the many.”

 

Philippians, Chapter 2, Verses 5 to 8 recommends that you…

 

Philippians 2:5

Have this attitude in yourselves that was also in Christ Jesus…

 

Philippians 2:6

…who, although He existed in the very same essence of God the Father (as fully Deity), did not regard equality with God the Father as a thing to be seized and held…

 

Philippians 2:7

…but instead emptied Himself, taking on the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

 

Philippians 2:8

Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a Cross.

 

Christ embodied a desire to be selfless instead of self-willed…even though as Deity Himself, He had every right to demand His rightful equality to God the Father as His Son.

 

Today, as we do every month, we celebrate The Lord’s Supper.  We stop to look back at the Cross, and to reflect on the Person who took up His life on it, the Lord Jesus Christ.  It’s a time we use to enjoy and to celebrate what He did for us there.  Welcome to a place where you can learn about the Selfless Savior.

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

SOMETIMES

Ana Laura 

 

As we prepare our souls for worship, let’s enjoy Ana Laura, singing SOMETIMES.

 

OPENING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…

 

Thank you for being selfless on our behalf by sending Your Son to be our sin substitute…thank you for reconciling us to a relationship with You by His blood…thank you for conforming us believers to Your standard of righteousness…thank you for redeeming us, purchasing our freedom from the slave market…

 

Help us to honor You by turning us into the caring people You want us to be, especially, in those times when we only seem to care about SELF…help us to remember that the generous will prosper…and that those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed…encourage us to choose, at all times, to be a reflection of Your Magnificent Son…

 

We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name... Amen.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

The Lord’s Supper Celebration:

THE SELFLESS SAVIOR

 

Let’s take a moment, now, to do one of the most selfless things we can do…let’s make an offering to the Lord that can be used for the benefit of those who are without...thank you for making it possible for them to hear the Word of God taught from the Lord’s perspective.

 

Let’s welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall to take the offering.

 

THE OFFERING

Deacon Denny Goodall

 

OFFERING VERSE

 

2 Corinthians7:4

Great is my confidence in you; great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort; I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction.

 

OFFERING

FLIGHT OF THE EAGLE

Dave McClure, Instrumental

 

Thank you for your generosity. 

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

The Lord’s Supper Celebration:

THE SELFLESS SAVIOR

 

When you look back to the Cross, what do you see?  I see a Selfless Savior.  He is THE example of how to live the selfless life.  First Peter, Chapter 2, Verses 21 to 24…

 

First Peter 2:21

For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps…

 

First Peter 2:22

…the Christ…who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth…

 

First Peter 2:23

…and while being reviled, He did not revile in return…while suffering, He uttered no threats, but He kept entrusting Himself to God the Father who judges righteously…

 

First Peter 2:24

…and the Lord Himself bore our sins in His own body on the Cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

 

As believers in Christ, we follow His selfless example by suffering trials… and we follow His selfless example by living the righteous life…the eternal life…the ZOE life…the resurrection life.

 

But selflessness is not our lifestyle, nor is it our life experience…at least not right now.  God the Holy Spirit is giving us experiential instruction in the matter of the lifestyle that is the opposite of the selfless life…the SELF life.  The Holy Spirit is teaching us just how deep our SELF life goes, and how destructive it is.

 

When you look to the Cross, you’ll see selflessness.  When you look at your own life, what do you see?  If you’re seeing clearly, you see SELF.  In James, Chapter 1, Verses 23 and 24, he put it this way…

 

James 1:23

For if anyone is a hearer of The Word and not a doer of The Word, and all of us are, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror…

 

James 1:24

…for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

 

How easily we forget what kind of people we are…focused on SELF…yet there are constant reminders of our depravity…we often wonder, “Why does my life seem so lousy?  Why do I struggle so much?”  As believers in Christ, it is not our NEW SELF that struggles…NO!  It’s that part of us that never changes that lures us into the struggle…the OLD SELF.

 

We have three enemies…and none of them are selfless…Satan…The World…and The Flesh.  These are the things in our world that never change.  We are Christians now, and we are new creatures now…Second Corinthians, Chapter 5, Verse 17…

 

Second Corinthians 5:17

Therefore if anyone is in union with Christ, and all believers in Christ are, he is a new creature; the old self things passed away; behold, new things have come.

 

…yet the OLD SELF will not allow us to forget where we came from.  Where did we believers in Christ come from?  Ephesians, Chapter 2, Verses 1 and 2…

 

Ephesians 2:1

And you were spiritually dead in your trespasses and sins…

 

Ephesians 2:2

…in which you formerly walked (as a lifestyle) according to the curriculum of The World, according to the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the lifestyle of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience (unbelievers).

 

We were dead to God…we were unable to communicate with God…we had no interest in God…and we had a lifestyle of routinely committing deliberate acts against God…sins…that violate His standard of absolute

righteousness.  In other words, SELF was our focus.  The production of this lifestyle is highlighted in Galatians, Chapter 5, Verses 19 to 21…

 

Galatians 5:19

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality…

 

Galatians 5:20

…idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions…

 

Galatians 5:21

…envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you now, just as I have forewarned you in the past, that those who practice such things (as a lifestyle) will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 

And this lifestyle, of course, is the lifestyle of the unbeliever…they are “in the flesh.”  Believers in Christ are no longer of this lifestyle according to Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 9…

 

Romans 8:9

However, you believers in Christ are not “in the flesh” but you are “in the Spirit,” if indeed the Holy Spirit of God indwells you (and it does). But if anyone does not have the Holy Spirit of the Christ indwelling, that person does not belong to Christ.

 

Romans, Chapter 7, Verses 18 and 19 confirm the existence of an internal enemy that is completely SELF focused…

 

Romans 7:18

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willingness to do good is present in me, but the doing of the good is not present in me.

 

Romans 7:19

For the good that I want to do, I do not do, but instead I practice the very evil that I do not want to do.

 

Romans, Chapter 7, Verses 21 to 23…

 

Romans 7:21

I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.

 

Romans 7:22

For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man…

 

Romans 7:23

…but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.

 

At our very core is a part of us, left in us at the moment of salvation by our gracious Lord, which is designed to teach us just how deep the SELF goes.  Let’s enjoy The Lord’s Supper elements, and then we’ll learn what our SELFLESS SAVIOR did about the SELF at the Cross.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

The Lord’s Supper Celebration:

Enjoying the Elements

 

Let’s enjoy the Lord’s Supper elements…

 

Following God’s request, we keep on celebrating CHRIST and His Cross on a regular basis…we eat to remember who He is…His PERSON…we drink to remember His WORK, the voluntary sacrifice He made at the Cross on our behalf as our substitute…and we are grateful for what God has done for us.  First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verses 23 and 24 say…

 

First Corinthians 11:23

For I, Paul received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus Christ on the night in which He was betrayed took bread…

 

First Corinthians 11:24

…and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is, and keeps

 on being My body, which is broken for you; keep on doing this celebration

 for the purpose of remembering Me.”

 

When we eat the bread during the Lord’s Supper Celebration, we remember THE PERSON of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

 

When we drink the cup, we remember THE WORK of the Lord Jesus Christ.  First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verses 25 and 26 say…

 

First Corinthians 11:25

In the same way the Lord Jesus Christ took the cup after supper, representing His death on the Cross, saying, “This cup is a new testament forged with My blood; keep on doing this celebration, as often as you drink it, for the purpose of remembering Me.”

 

First Corinthians 11:26

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

 

As you enjoy the bread and the cup, enjoy the memory of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as well. Now and always, let us keep on giving thanks that we are loved and accepted fully by God…and let’s enjoy that love Day by Day, our Lord’s Supper song.

 

LORD’S SUPPER SONG

DAY BY DAY

Godspell

 

MUSIC BREAK

IN CHRIST ALONE

Various Artists

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

The Lord’s Supper Celebration:

THE SELFLESS SAVIOR

 

Some things never change.  Satan and The World and The Flesh in us have a gravitational pull that draw us away from the life our SELFLESS SAVIOR came to teach us about.  Hear this clearly…the focus of Satan and The World and The Flesh…the focus of religion…is to keep us over focused on our sinfulness and over focused on following the Law, as if somehow, someday we will be able to change ourselves in such a way that we eradicate sin from our lives and begin following the law.  We are encouraged to focus on our SELF so much, that we miss the opportunity to focus on being of service to others…SELFLESS.

 

The Lord Jesus Christ gave us His Selfless Person, His Inerrant Word, and God the Holy Spirit to teach us how to live the selfless life.

 

The first lesson of God the Holy Spirit is that SELF is worthless.  And we know that SELF is worthless because it is dead.  Galatians, Chapter 2, Verse 20…

 

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives indwelling me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me unconditionally and who gave Himself up (selflessly) for me.

 

You’ve heard me express this verse another way to offer clarity…

 

Galatians 2:20 Another Translation

The “I-Life” has been crucified with Christ (at the Cross…thus it is dead); and it is no longer the “I-Life” that lives, but the “Christ-life” lives indwelling me (that’s the new self life…the resurrection life); and the life which I now live (even though I am still resident) in the (dead) flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me unconditionally and who gave Himself up (selflessly) for me.

 

As believers in Christ, we are DEAD to SELF.

 

So God the Holy Spirit first delivers us to death…we are conformed…so that we can know just how horrible this self is…then the Holy Spirit delivers us to life…we are transformed…so we can know just how wonderful the resurrection life is that we have been given as a gift from God the Father as a result of the Lord purchasing this life for us through His blood at the Cross.

 

God chooses weak people to serve Him.  That’s each of us.  And He gives us over to constant deaths…Philippians, Chapter 3, Verse 10…as Paul puts it…so…

 

Philippians 3:10

…that I may know Christ and so that I may know the power of His resurrection and so that I may experience the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death…

 

John, Chapter 12, Verse 24 says…

 

John 12:24

Truly, truly, I (the Lord Jesus Christ) say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

 

The Lord’s death on the Cross has born much fruit in us.  God the Holy Spirit shows us experientially what the SELF life really is, as He simultaneously lets us see the SELFLESS of the Savior.  SELF revelation

is followed by divine revelation…spiritual death is followed by spiritual life…spiritual immaturity is followed by spiritual maturity…success comes through failure…the old self dies and the new self emerges, alive from this death.

 

Thanks be to God the Father for giving us His Son to show us the worthlessness of the SELF life sponsored by Satan, and the value of the SELFLESS life sponsored by Christ, and its most vivid symbol…the Cross.

 

GOD WANTS YOU!

The Most Important Decision of Your Life

Matthew 22:42

“What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?”

 

Matthew 7:13-14

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.//For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

 

John 10:9

Jesus said, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, (maybe you will and maybe you won’t you have a choice) he will be saved, and then he will go in and out and find pasture.”

 

Luke 23:42-43

And the repentant thief was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!// And Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

 

CLOSING SONG

CALLING YOU TO FREEDOM

June Murphy

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

          THANKS- INTERCESSION- PETITION

 

We pray that You protect our steps as we go out into the world, Father…and that you keep us on the narrow way, completely dependent on You and Your Guiding, Mentoring Spirit…we ask this in Christ’s name, Amen.

 

Thanks for coming!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for listening!

 

www.barahministries.com