ROM-35-140817 - length: 74:25 - taught on Aug, 17 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, and I’m proud to be the Pastor of Barah Ministries. I am committed to helping you see the Lord Jesus Christ as He truly is and to helping you see His Word from His point of view.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION
Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ
Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
WORTHY
As God prepares your soul for RENEWING, let’s hear June Murphy worship our Lord in song. The opening song is WORTHY.
OPENING PRAYER
Let us pray...
We’re grateful Heavenly Father for the privilege of studying the absolute truth...the Word of God…
Help us to understand unity from Your point of view…
We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit...in Christ’s name... Amen.
TODAY’S STUDY
Unity is Spiritual, Not Human
Mark, Chapter 3, Verse 25 says…
“If a house is divided against itself, and some are, that house will not be able to stand.”
In this lesson we’ll take a look at the issue of unity in a church, or in a business, or in a home. First, a few announcements…
ANNOUNCEMENTS
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
The next Lord’s Supper Celebration is September 14, 2014
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
September 14, 2014
Service FROM 6:00PM-7:30PM
No Morning Service
A good time to bring a friend…
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
Conversational Bible Study
August 27
7:00PM-8:30PM
Discuss your biblical questions with the Pastor.
VISIT THE VETS
Today
1:45P
Like
BARAH MINISTRIES
on
We’re building quite an online community…over one thousand people have joined us on Facebook. Get your friends to like us today!
Contribute to the Food Drive
Help fight hunger in our community
unitedfoodbank.org
Non-perishable food is accepted or cash donations are accepted… provides food for five meals. Online donations accepted at unitedfoodbank.org…be sure to mention Barah Ministries…
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.
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.
TODAY’S 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
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…
OFFERING VERSE
…through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
OFFERING VERSE
And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance…
OFFERING VERSE
…and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope…
OFFERING VERSE
…and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
OFFERING SONG
Awesome is the Lord Most High
TODAY’S STUDY
Unity is Spiritual, Not Human
To the resident and non-resident members of Barah Ministries,to our guests who join us from time to time, and to all believers in Christ…grace and peace to you from God our Father.
Peace.
Unity.
We say these words and we think these words but the bible warns us…in Ezekiel, Chapter 13…beginning at Verse 1…
Then the word of the LORD came to me (Ezekiel) saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their own inspiration, ‘Listen to the word of the LORD!’”
False teachers, of whom there are many, add their own spin to the Word of God rather than just presenting what the Word of God says.
“So My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will have no place in the council of My people, nor will they be written down in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel, that you may know that I am the Lord GOD.”
“It is definitely because they have misled My people by saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace.”
There is never going to be peace…there is never going to be unity…in a place where the Cross of Christ and grace are preached. The Cross of Christ inspires division. The Lord Jesus Christ tells us so…Matthew, Chapter 10, Verse 34…
“Do not think that I (the Lord Jesus Christ) came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword (of division).”
Where the truth is taught, it becomes clear what the people who are being taught stand for…whether unity or division…whether the flesh or the Spirit. First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verse 19…
For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you.
Larry Collins asked me about unity last week. Rather than engaging the conversation I told him that it was my plan to teach about unity this week… and so this lesson is inspired by Larry’s prompting. The discussion begins by looking at what Barah Ministries stands for and by looking at what I stand for as a Pastor. In the future, if you ever lose track, and begin to wonder what Barah Ministries stands for…if you ever wonder what I stand for as a Pastor…you don’t have to look for very long or very hard to find the answer. It is embedded in a passage in the first chapter of Colossians…turn to Colossians, Chapter 1, Verse 13…we stand for CHRIST…I stand for CHRIST…
For God the Father rescued us believers in Christ from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ…
…in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
We are rescued from the slavery of the kingdom of darkness by our God, who pays the ransom being asked for by the kingdom of darkness for our souls.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the visible manifestation of the invisible God and Father, and He is the firstborn over all creation.
The Lord existed before creatures were created, and He is sovereign over all creatures.
For by the Lord Jesus Christ all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities…all things have been created through the Lord Jesus Christ and for Him.
The Lord Jesus Christ is before all things, and in Him all things in the universe hold together.
The Lord Jesus Christ IS unity. Our unity is spiritual, and it is caused by our union with the Lord Jesus Christ. We don’t manufacture it.
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 the Lord Jesus Christ Himself will come to have first place in everything.
For it was God the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him…
In Christ, Deity is manifested in bodily form.
…and for God the Father, through the Lord Jesus Christ, to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ’s Cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
Sin is paid for by blood…breach is repaired by blood…the blood of the Christ…the blood of the Cross. God creates the unity.
And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds…
…yet the Lord Jesus Christ has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before God the Father holy and blameless and beyond reproach…
We were estranged from the life of God…God has made us move from being His enemy to being His friend. We are freed from the accusations of the enemy of God, who, in frustration, accuses us day and night before the throne of grace.
…if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul (Rory), was made a minister.
We continue in the faith when we keep on listening to God and His Word and believe everything it says.
Now I (PaulRory) rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what service is lacking in light of Christ’s afflictions.
Of this church I (PaulRory) was made a minister according to the stewardship from God the Father bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God…
…that is, the preaching concerning the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints…
…to whom God the Father willed to make known what are the glorious riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ indwelling you, the absolute confidence of your future glory.
We proclaim God the Father, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.
For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.
Take a five-minute break and we’ll see how this passage applies to us.
BREAK
Somewhere over the Rainbow
Welcome back! Unity is spiritual, not human.
It really didn’t occur to me until recently that I don’t owe any of you anything. The Lord has been removing a blindfold from my eyes in the last year, one that I have carried for my whole life…and one of the big revelations that He has placed in my soul is that I don’t owe ANYONE anything. Not even Him. He gave me free will so I could choose how to use it. He doesn’t demand that I serve Him. He gives me a “want to” that I can exercise. He doesn’t need me to accomplish His plan, but if I want to let Him, he will gladly use me to accomplish His plan. These are really freeing thoughts.
These thoughts removed the idea of obligation from my soul. Obligation is slavery. Being a Pastor can feel like slavery at times if you begin to think of it as an obligation. I had begun to think of it that way…not because I am ambivalent about my calling…not because I am ambivalent about my love for you or for God…I am not…more because when your soul is battered with tribulation after tribulation after tribulation, the humanness in you starts to come out. Satan, the enemy of God, delights at such a penetration within the soul of a Pastor. He loves the idea that a Pastor would begin thinking, “I’m only human.” But it occurred to me that when Christians begin to think of themselves as human, it is not spiritual and it is not unity. In other words, it is a GIGANTIC failure in the spiritual life.
Let’s be clear on something else. You don’t owe me anything either. There are a lot of churches and a lot of Pastors, and you don’t have to be coming here or listening to me. You have options as well.
If I don’t owe you anything, then I am here for a different motivation than obligation. I am here to respond to the will of my Head…just as in John, Chapter 4, Verse 34…
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.”
…it is my will to do the same…to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work. I want you to see, reflected in me, shining through my imperfections, a will to do the will of the One who sent me…the One who sent me to you, when He could have sent me many other places. I invite you to do the same…to do the will of the One who sent you. Mark, Chapter 3, Verse 25…
“If a house is divided against itself, and some are, that house will not be able to stand.”
A couple of months ago, a schism occurred within Barah Ministries.
SCHISM
A division…disunity
Several people left the resident congregation of Barah Ministries, among them, my younger son Elliott. I chose not to say anything about it, so many of you in the non-resident congregation may not know that we lost two deacons in the schism. I was very angry about this for two weeks. Then I accepted it as part of life and put it behind me. In our humanness, we’ll see this as failure, rather than seeing it as progress. I see it as progress.
The people who left don’t owe me anything. I don’t owe them anything. When obligation is taken out of an equation, unity occurs. Unity is controlled by God the Holy Spirit. Unity is spiritual, which means that human beings don’t create it. Unity is NOT human. When Christians are being human, they separate. I don’t have to school you on that. You know very well that there is a part of you that wants nothing to do with unity. Romans, Chapter 7, Verse 18…
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not present in me.
The realization of these things caused surrender in my soul. I accept. I am at peace with the decisions each person makes regarding Barah Ministries and regarding me as a Pastor. You can stay, or you can go. That’s your choice. Just know this. There is a warfare wherever Christ is preached…it is the warfare between the life “in the Spirit” and the life “in the flesh.” Where unity exists, there is the life “in the Spirit.” Romans, Chapter 7, Verses 22 and 23…
For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man (“in the Spirit”, but I see a different law in the members of my body (“in the flesh”), waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.
I have a list of choices I have made “in the Spirit” that I would never make if
I chose to listen to my flesh.
<0K decision> <Gholston> <Divorce>
Those choices are made “in the Spirit.” The flesh would have dictated vastly different choices.
Being the Pastor of Barah Ministries is one of those choices I am making “in the Spirit.” I am listening to the prompting of God the Holy Spirit in this matter. I am ignoring the desires of the flesh.
In God’s plan, unity creates division.
Unity is spiritual, not human.
Barah Ministries has existed since 1999. Many souls have been touched by the Spirit’s teachings through this pulpit. Fifteen years is along time. Many have come, many have gone, and the phenomenon will keep occurring. I have outlasted everyone who has come through Barah Ministries so far. The tribulations have not discouraged me to the point of quitting.
As I reflect on Barah Ministries’ past, I know it is behind us. The best days of Barah Ministries are in front of us. We are in a very green pasture in our new location. We are in the green pasture that the Lord planned a billion years ago for His sheep. Make no mistake about it. We are here because of the Lord Jesus Christ and for the Lord Jesus Christ.
We exist to provide the opportunity for others to learn about the Lord Jesus Christ without Satanic distortion, one person at a time. That’s how we measure our success. It is our aim to take this mission out into the community we serve and to influence those we touch so they gravitate to the Risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I don’t see myself as a “large church guy.” I don’t really like the limelight. I’m going to have to get over that. I prefer intimate. It seems rather funny to me that the mega churches would tell you they thrive because of the small ministries that exist within the church. The large churches want to be small, and the small churches want to be large. I will accept what the Lord makes of us, but if He is giving us the desires of my heart, I prefer to be a small and potent force in a world that would never see us coming. I prefer to be small and deep rather than large and shallow. But I will serve as the Lord requests.
I think what we do well here at Barah Ministries is that we teach the Word of God from God’s point of view. Many people who have come through Barah Ministries want to conform the Lord Jesus Christ’s church to their liking rather than BEING conformed by the Word of God. Not on my watch!
I really enjoy our little community. I really appreciate our little community. Regardless of the hurts that go with being at the head of this ministry, I press on. And believe me the hurts are deep. I mourn for those who come and leave. My life is filled with grief for them. But they are in God’s care.
I want your spiritual gift. Yet I have no desire to beg you for it, to push you into it, to coerce its compliance. I will take what you are willing to give. However, I can tell you this. If the best days are ahead for Barah Ministries, it will be because of the collective will of those led by the Spirit who desire to provide a unique sanctuary for those in our community who are in need. It will not be because I am shoving you into compliance. I’m looking forward to seeing what the unity of the Spirit can provide.
Colossians, Chapter 3, Verse 14 makes it clear that unity is not human.
Beyond all these things put on unconditional love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
Unconditional love is not human. Ephesians, Chapter 4, Verse 1 to 3…
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called…
…with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in unconditional love…
…being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
I am looking forward to seeing what God does with the remnant of His unity that exists among us, whether resident of non-resident. I thank you for pressing on with me.
The Promises of the Lord Jesus Christ
Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God the Father’s will for you (who are) in (union with) Christ Jesus.
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.
“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.
CLOSING SONG
There’s Just One Hope
CLOSING PRAYER
Let us pray...
THANKS
INTERCESSION
PETITION
And we pray You continue to shape the messages from this pulpit that are a reflection of Your unconditional love, Your Magnificent Person, Your perfect thinking, Your impeccable work, and Your indescribable 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
| April 2024 | ||||||
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
| 31 | 1 Mon | 2 Tue | 3 Wed | 4 Thu | 5 Fri | 6 Sat |
| 7 Sun | 8 Mon | 9 Tue | 10 Wed | 11 Thu | 12 Fri | 13 Sat |
| 14 Sun | 15 Mon | 16 Tue | 17 Wed | 18 Thu | 19 Fri | 20 Sat |
| 21 Sun | 22 Mon | 23 Tue | 24 Wed | 25 Thu | 26 Fri | 27 Sat |
| 28 Sun | 29 Mon | 30 Tue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
 |
1220 S. Alma School Rd. Suite 201 Mesa, AZ 85210 |
 |
(480) 237-9903 |
 |
info@barahministries.com |
