ROM-49-141012 - length: 76:55 - taught on Oct, 12 2014
Class Outline:
Welcome To
BARAH MINISTRIES
a Christian Church
Rory Clark
Pastor-Teacher
Good Morning!
Welcome to Barah Ministries…a worldwide Christian Church based in Mesa, AZ…my name is Pastor Rory Clark. Turn in your bibles to John, Chapter 13, Verse 3…
Jesus, knowing that God the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God the Father and was going back to God the Father…
…got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, Jesus girded Himself.
Then Jesus poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
Look ahead to John, Chapter 13, Verse 12…
So when Jesus had washed their feet, and had taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?”
“You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right to do so, for so I am Your Teacher and Your Lord.”
“If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
“For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.”
Welcome to a place where we are learning how to serve by following the Lord’s example. Welcome to our monthly celebration of the Lord’s Supper, a time when we look back to the Cross and remember the ultimate service that the Lord accomplished for us.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION
Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ
Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
WE ARE ROYALTY
As God prepares our memories for reflection, let’s hear June Murphy worship our Lord in song. The opening song is WE ARE ROYALTY.
OPENING PRAYER
Let us pray...
We’re grateful Heavenly Father for the privilege of studying the absolute
truth...the Word of God…
Remind us of all You did for us, all You are doing for us now, and all You have yet to do for us in our exciting future…
We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit...in Christ’s name... Amen.
THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION
The Spiritual Progression Offered by the Cross
When you look back to the Cross, what do you see? I see the Lord Jesus Christ doing something for us that often we are too busy to recognize and that most times we are too shallow to think about. I see the Lord offering us a spiritual progression at the Cross. Today we’ll learn about a part of that progression. First, a few announcements…
ANNOUNCEMENTS
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
The Next Lord’s Supper Celebration
November 9, 2014
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
No Face-to Face Teaching
NEXT WEEK!
October 19
THE WEDDING
Lessons will be provided on line.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
No Face-to Face Teaching
November 16 - December 7 - December 28
Lessons will be provided on line.
Conversational Bible Study
Resident Congregation
October 29
Conversational Bible Study
Non-Resident Congregation
November 6
5:00PM - 6:30PM
If you would like to participate, please send a request to pastor@barahministries.com. Daylight savings time will be over at that time. We’ll be back to regular time differences across the country.
Like
BARAH MINISTRIES
on
We’re building quite an online community…nearly twenty-two hundred people have joined us on Facebook. Get your friends to like us today!
VISIT THE VETS
TODAY!
October 12
1:45PM
Please join us!
THE OFFERING
Deacon Denny Goodall
Let’s take the offering. This is the time when you get to make a sacrifice on behalf of all the people around the world that can’t afford to pay to study the Word of God. Your generous contributions make it possible for them to learn about the Lord Jesus Christ free of charge via the internet or face-to-face.
Let’s remember to give with the motivation suggested in Scripture
Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful (grace oriented) giver.
Let’s welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall.
THE OFFERING
Deacon Denny Goodall
Barah Ministries Financial Policy
Even though we are sanctioned by God to charge for the many things we provide so you can worship God, we choose not to exercise our right. Therefore no price appears on any material from Barah Ministries so that anyone who desires biblical teaching may have it free of charge.
Barah Ministries Financial Policy
Even though the materials we provide are free of charge, they are not free of cost. We appreciate it when the Word of God motivates you to give financial support so as to provide biblical teaching, both for yourself and for others. Please be generous in your support of God’s work through this ministry.
OFFERING VERSE
“The LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
OFFERING SONG
Friends in High Places
THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION
The Spiritual Progression Offered by the Cross
When you look back to the Cross, what do you see? I see the Lord Jesus Christ doing something for us that often we are too busy to recognize and that most times we are too shallow to think about. I see the Lord offering us a spiritual progression at the Cross.
The spiritual progression began for us with a statement of clarity from Jesus Christ as He hung from the Cross…in John, Chapter 19, Verse 30…the Lord said this about the spiritual progression He was offering us…
Therefore when the Lord Jesus Christ had received the sour wine on the Cross, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His human spirit into the hands of God the Father.
If you had been standing within earshot at the base of the Cross, and you heard these words Jesus spoke… “It is finished” … it would have begged a question in your mind … “What is finished?”
What was finished is one of the last and most important pieces of the Lord’s offer to all of His creatures…what was finished is the sacrifice that paid the price for the offer that the Lord was making to all of us…John, Chapter 3, Verses 16 to 18…
For God the Father loved all mankind so much and so unconditionally, that He gave His uniquely born Son (the Lord Jesus Christ), that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but instead shall have the eternal life (the resurrection life).
For God the Father did not send the Son (the Lord Jesus Christ) into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the Person of the uniquely born Son of God.
What was finished, after the Lord’s sacrifice, is salvation. Then the difference maker…the event that separated the Lord Jesus Christ from all the pretender “gods” throughout history…His resurrection from the dead… Matthew, Chapter 28, Verse 1…
Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week (Sunday), Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.
Matthew, Chapter 28, Verses 5 to 7…
An angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.”
“Jesus is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.”
“Go quickly and tell His disciples that Jesus has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, and there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”
After His resurrection, the Lord’s offer was REALLY finished! The Lord Jesus Christ, as the firstborn, as the first to be resurrected from the dead, was sealing the deal that He came to offer on behalf of God the Father. Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 29…
…those whom God the Father foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that Jesus would be the firstborn among many brethren…
Jesus was the first, but certainly not the last to be resurrected from the dead. We will follow Him in resurrection.
In John, Chapter 10, Verse 10, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself tells us the intention of His resurrection…
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that believers in Christ may have the resurrection life, and have it abundantly.”
What is the spiritual progression that Jesus offered us through His Cross?
THE LORD’S OFFER OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESSION
Design
Death
Destiny
Dearth
Divine
If you’re really thinking about all Jesus and His Cross has done for us as you look back, you’ll see this spiritual progression and the different stages in the Lord’s offer to His creatures…DESIGN, DEATH, DESTINY, DEARTH, and the DIVINE…and within each of these stages, you will see a death followed by life. In this Lord’ Supper Celebration, we’ll look at the Lord’s DESIGN.
THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION
Enjoying the 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…and we are grateful. First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verses 23 and 24 say…
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; 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.
First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verses 25 and 26 say…
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. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
When we drink the cup, we remember THE WORK of the Lord Jesus Christ.
As you remember the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, please enjoy the bread and enjoy the cup. And come on up! As you enjoy the elements, and as you give thanks to the Lord, let’s listen to the Lord’s Supper song...Give Thanks.
THE LORD’S SUPPER SONG
Give Thanks
Take a five-minute break.
BREAK
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Welcome back!
God has a plan for your life…Acts, Chapter 2, Verse 23 says…
DESIGN
God has a plan for your life
…this Man, Jesus Christ, was delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God the Father, and you nailed Him to a Cross by the hands of godless men (unbelievers) and put Him to death.
In God’s plan, death is always followed by life. The Lord’s death on the Cross was immediately followed by His resurrection … the life.
It’s pretty easy for us to lose the context of Christianity…just as it is easy for us to lose the context of our lives. We describe this beautiful gift of life that God has given us with cavalier and clever expressions that do not capture the essence of the gift of the life … “Life’s a bitch and then you die” … “He who dies with the most toys still dies” … expressions are funny to be sure, but they clearly miss the point…there is a DESIGN to this life, God’s DESIGN.
The words from a song by The Fifth Dimension, a pop vocal group from my era, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, put it this way…
THIS IS YOUR LIFE
The 5th Dimension
This is your life you’re living
And it’s the only one you’ve got
It’s your life you’re giving
Don’t you think it’s time
You ask yourself, “For what?”
THIS IS YOUR LIFE
The 5th Dimension
This is your life
Not a game that you play
It’s your life
And you’re throwing it away…
God has a DESIGN for your life.
A sports analogy illuminates God’s DESIGN.
There is a GOD, and He is a Person. Our God is analogous to the owner of a sports team. Isaiah, Chapter 45, Verses 5 and 6…
“I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; that all men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other…
The owner of a sports team is the designer of the team; the owner wants to win; the owner is the creator of a plan for the team, and it is the owner’s responsibility to provide the resources a team needs to win. God is the designer of life; He wants you to win; it is God’s responsibility to provide you with the many resources you need to win. First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verse 57…
CO 15:57
…thanks be to God the Father (the owner of the team), who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible, the Word of God, reveals God’s Game Plan. The bible is analogous to the game plan for a team in a competition. It is written. It can be read. It can be studied. It can be followed. Hebrews, Chapter 4, Verse 12 says…
For the word of God is alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the division of the soul and the spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is a critic of the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
First Corinthians, Chapter 2, Verse 16 says…
For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD so well, THAT HE WILL be qualified to INSTRUCT HIM? <OF course, no one!> But we believers in Christ have the mind of Christ (in writing, the bible, the Word of God).
God has a game plan for your life and He reveals His plan in ways that make sense to every human being.
The Church is a gathering place where you and your teammates come to learn about God’s game plan. It is analogous to the locker room of a sports team. Turn in your bibles to Colossians, Chapter 1, Verse 13…
The Lord Jesus Christ is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn resurrected from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
God gives us a Church as a place to meet with others where we can bring out the best in each other.
God gives you a Pastor, the head of a church. The Pastor is analogous to the coach of a sports team. <He’s always the first one to get fired!> Ephesians, Chapter 4, Verses 11 to 13…
And the Lord Jesus Christ gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers…
…for the purpose of the equipping of the saints (any believer in Christ) for the work of service, to the purpose of building up of the body of Christ…
…until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
The Pastor’s job is to make God’s game plan clear to the congregation.
God gives you a congregation of which you can be a part. The congregation is analogous to the sports team…many people with different gifts assembled for the same goal. Turn in your bibles to Romans, Chapter 12…
For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function…
…so we, who are many, are one body in union with Christ, and individually we are members one of another.
As an individual congregation member, you are analogous to the player on a sports team, without the big contract, of course! What does a player do?
A player hears the game plan from the coach, coordinates with teammates, and runs the plays. Second Peter, Chapter 3, Verse 18…
…but grow in the sphere of grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
Players give their best selves to the team effort. The only way to be your best is to continue to grow. As Christians we are to grow so we can give our gifts to each other rather than simply holding our hands out to receive only the gifts of others.
God wants congregation members to obey His requests. He knows what it takes to win and He wants us to follow His lead.
The bible lesson is analogous to practice on a sports team. It is a place to get repetitive instruction. Philippians, Chapter 3, Verses 1 to 3…
Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.
Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision…
…for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in union with Christ Jesus and we believers in Christ put no confidence in the flesh…
The Pastor repeats and repeats and repeats instruction so much and so often that you can’t forget the instruction, especially under pressure. God wants you to continuously expose yourself to biblical teaching, to neutralize the influence of “the flesh.” Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 2…
And do not be conformed to this world, but keep on being transformed by God through the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
As you expose yourself to the truth of the Word of God, He transforms your thinking.
God has an enemy. God’s enemy is analogous to our opponent when we are playing on a sports team. The other team wants to knock your head off. IN the spiritual life, the other team is lead by Satan and the Fallen Angels. Revelation, Chapter 12, Verse 9…
And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his fallen angels (who were with him in heaven) were thrown down with him.
First Peter, Chapter 5, Verse 8…
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
It is important in any endeavor to have an enemy. They keep us on our toes. As players in the game we ask ourselves, “How am I going to implement the game plan and win in light of the fact that I have an enemy who is out to stop me?” First John, Chapter 4, Verse 4 tells us how…
You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
First Peter, Chapter 5, Verse 9…
But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.
Your life is analogous to the games played by a sports team. Every day there is another game to play. You run the plays. The plays work or they don’t work. If the plays don’t work, it’s God’s problem, not yours. Your job is to make the adjustments. Only all of God’s plays work! If your plays aren’t working, you have to ask yourself whose game you are playing.
The Promises of the Lord Jesus Christ
When God makes a promise…
it’s a guarantee!
“Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today…”
He gives strength to the weary, to him who lacks might He increases power.
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God the Father, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
CLOSING SONG
WHOSOEVER
CLOSING PRAYER
Let us pray...
THANKS
INTERCESSION
PETITION
And we pray that You continue to shape the messages from this pulpit that are an accurate reflection of Your unconditional love, Your person, Your thinking, Your work, and Your essence...we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit, in Christ’s name, Amen.
Thanks for coming!
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for listening!
www.barahministries.com
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