ROM-119-150719 - length: 65:57 - taught on Jul, 19 2015
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.
“I’m offended.” Those are the words, either spoken or unspoken, that are directed toward others when they do something we don’t like. At that moment, we issue “an invoice.” Because we are offended, we think the other person owes us reparation. They do not. But often we credit the offense to their account, most times without telling them we’ve done it, and we expect a payment. This is expectation without agreement. Expectations kill relationships. “I’m offended” leads to two very big disappointments… first, no reparation is forthcoming…and second, we have put our power in another person’s hands. When the payment doesn’t come…resentment.
What is resentment?
RESENTMENT
A deep feeling of displeasure or anger directed toward someone else because of an offense…a painful memory of past hurts.
Resentment is the enemy of relationships…it destroys friendships and turns friends into enemies. But the most damaging effect of resentment is the emotional destruction of the one who holds the resentment. Only the person with the resentment can fix the problem. The answer? Forgiveness.
The Spanish have a story about a father and a son who had become estranged. The son left home and the father set out to find him. He searched for many months with no success. Finally, in desperation, the father took out a newspaper ad that read…
Dear Paco:
Meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you.
Your Father
On Saturday, eight hundred men named Paco showed up looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers.
In a fallen world, forgiveness is essential to maintain close relationships. We all need forgiveness, and we all need to grant forgiveness, because we all sin and we all have been sinned against. We all fall short of the glory of God. Ephesians, Chapter 4, Verses 31 and 32 say…
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God the Father, by placing you “in Christ,” also has forgiven you.
The Lord Jesus Christ, our Sovereign God, is asking us to direct a sincere inner compassion and a genuine graciousness toward those who have wronged us, just as He would. He is asking us to release our resentment and instead to reflect the fruit of the Spirit…patience…kindness…goodness toward others. In Matthew, Chapter 5, Verses 43 to 45, Jesus says…
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’”
“But I (the Lord Jesus Christ) say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…”
“…so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
Welcome to a place where you can be made aware that you are forgiven.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION
Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ
Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
JESUS LOVES ME
Chris Tomlin
The opening song is JESUS LOVES ME by Chris Tomlin.
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 not counting our sins against us…thank you for freeing us from the law…thank you for Your peace…thank you for placing us in the sphere of grace…
Help us learn how to reflect Your goodness, kindness and compassion to others by depending on God the Holy Spirit’s enabling power…
We ask this in Christ’s name...Amen.
TODAY’S STUDY
God the Holy Spirit Provides the Power for Spiritual Victory
We have spent a few lessons in transition from Romans, Chapter 7 to Romans, Chapter 8. We spent that time in overview, introducing you to God the Holy Spirit, the One whom we depend on. Well end of overview. Now into the depths of Romans, Chapter 8 to meet your prime benefactor in the Christian Way of Living, the third person of the Triune Godhead, God the Holy Spirit. Here is the Lord’s promise to His disciples in Acts, Chapter 1, Verse 8…
“…you will receive power when God the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ…you have receive power, too… the same supernatural power…the supernatural power that is a requirement for the Christian Way of Living, and this power will lead you to spiritual victory after spiritual victory. We’ll begin our study of Romans, Chapter 8 after a few announcements.
BARAH MINISTRIES ANNOUNCEMENTS
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
Nick Tsontakis, Architect
Presents the Floor Plan for our New Church
July 26
In the Second Service
10:30AM MST
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The Next Lord’s Supper Celebration
EVENING SERVICE
August 9, 2015
6:00P-7:30P
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
Next Deacon’s Meeting
August 29, 2015
7:30AM MST
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Barah Ministries
COEUR D’ALENE CONFERENCE
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
August 7-8, 2015
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
No Face-to-Face Teaching
August 16, 2015
Lessons Will be Posted
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VISIT THE VETS
August 16, 2015
1:45P
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
Barah Ministries
PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW YORK BIBLE CONFERENCE
Binghamton, NY
September 18-19, 2015
TODAY’S STUDY
God the Holy Spirit Provides the Power for Spiritual Victory
Let’s begin our study of Romans, Chapter 8 by reading the first passage…Verses 1 to 11…together…as we do, listen for the two offers that are being discussed…God’s offer and Satan’s offer…
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh…
…so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace…
…because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so…
…and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
The first thing I want you to reflect on as you think about this passage is that God is not relative. God is absolute. What does it mean to be relative?
RELATIVE
When someone is being relative, they are refusing to be absolute.
Why are they refusing to be absolute? They want to be right no matter what the position they are in. Said another way, they are threatened when they are wrong. How do you feel when you are wrong? Here’s an example of how someone who is being relative would handle a situation…if you ask someone who enjoys being relative, “Did you mail the letter you agreed to mail for me?” … and their response is, “I tried to mail it.” The person is being relative in their approach. They didn’t mail the letter, and they want it to appear that it is okay that they broke an agreement and didn’t mail the letter. “I tried” means I put in a weak effort but did not get the result. There’s no one who believes “I tried.” We all know what “I tried” means. It means you didn’t do what you have agreed to do, and when you don’t do what you agreed to do, you like self-deception. Yoda, the Grand Master Jedi from Star Wars fame would say to those who like being relative…
“There is no try…only DO or DO NOT.”
If someone were not being relative in the case of this letter, they would be absolute. They would say, “I did mail the letter,” or they would say, “I did not mail the letter.” “I tried” is “I did not mail the letter” with a pretty dress on.
God is absolute. Do this…go to heaven. Do this…go to the Lake of Fire. There is no confusion with God. You did it or you didn’t do it. In this first Romans passage, you will notice the absolutes… “in the flesh” or “in the Spirit.” God is absolute so you won’t be confused. Satan pretends to be flexible, but he is more of an absolutist than God. He just lies about it. He’ll let you think you can worship any way you want…but all of his schemes are to lead you to worshipping him…absolutely. Let’s take a music break to reflect on what we have learned so far…
MUSIC BREAK
BLESSINGS
Laura Story
TODAY’S STUDY
God the Holy Spirit Provides the Power for Spiritual Victory
What is a spiritual victory? As Christians, we attain a spiritual victory when at the point of decision, in any situation, we make the decision God would want us to make. There are many opportunities to have spiritual victory. Every day, we are presented with “games” that we can win…situation in our lives where we get to make absolute decisions that give us spiritual victory. The situation presents itself, and we can decide. But there is a dilemma…Paul highlights the dilemma in Romans, Chapter 7, Verses 21 to 25…
I (Paul) find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.
At the point of decision, in each “game” of life, we believers in Christ want to do the right thing. Romans, Chapter 7, Verse 22…
For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man…
…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 (the body).
Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
Thanks be to God the Father through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.
The English word that describes what this passage is communicating to us is the word DICHOTOMY.
DICHOTOMY
Two completely opposed and totally contradictory viewpoints being offered for your consideration at the point of decision.
For example…married people…your spouse has been found to be unfaithful. At a single point in time, in a single decision, your spouse decides to have sex with someone other than you. Let’s back up to the decision point of the error. There were two completely contradictory offers being made to your spouse. One was to be faithful, and one was to be unfaithful. A dichotomy. It’s the same dichotomy that you are being offered every day in situations that receive a lot less significance than this “emotional” situation.
For example, there is an accident in the home. You ask your spouse, “Do
you want me to clean up the mess?” Your spouse says, “No. I’ll clean it up.” A dichotomy…you can clean it up, or you can leave it messy. Your spouse has asked you not to clean it up. If you clean it up, you are violating a direct request. You have been offered two completely different and totally contradictory viewpoints for your consideration…a dichotomy…what will your decision be?
Young people…there is a villain called “peer group pressure” … you have driven to a party. You told your parents that you were going to the movies with some friends, but you really went to a party. You failed when you were presented with the dichotomy...tell my parents where I really will be or tell them I am going to be one place when I am at another place. So you’re at the party, and your “friends” encourage you to drink a beer. The way they put it is, “Just one beer.” Peer group pressure. A dichotomy. You know you are driving. You know you have to drive home. You know it is illegal to drink because you are under the legal drinking age. You know it is illegal to drink and then drive. You can actually kill someone. You take the drink. Of course your friends then encourage you to have another beer. And then another. And you agree to do it. After all, drinking is “fun” … “it’s a great way to have a good time.” At least that’s what peer group pressure says.
That’s the dichotomy that is being described in Romans, Chapter 7, Verses 22 and 23…
For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man…
…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 (the body).
Dichotomy. Spiritual victory occurs when you depend on a power outside of yourself. God the Holy Spirit is the power Christians depend on. God the Holy Spirit would say to the spouse, “Honor your marriage commitment.” God the Holy Spirit would say to the spouse in the home incident, “so what you were asked to do.” God the Holy Spirit would say to the teen-ager, “Tell your parents where you really are.” God the Holy Spirit would say to the teen-ager, “Don’t drink…it’s illegal.” God the Holy Spirit would say to the teen-ager, “Don’t drink and drive…you could kill someone, maybe even yourself.”
Dichotomy…we are being presented with a series of dichotomies every day of our lives… multiple times every day. When we depend on God the Holy Spirit’s guidance, we gain spiritual victory. When we reject or ignore God the Holy Spirit’s guidance, which He is always giving us, we lose. Why? Because we listen to the flesh instead…the “different law that is in the members of our body…waging war against the law of the mind.” God the Holy Spirit is the One that the Godhead has sent to “deliver” us as Christians. How often do you go to God the Holy Spirit for guidance?
And when you blow it, how often do your remember this simple verse that is the first step in our journey into Romans Chapter 8…
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in union with Christ Jesus.
It’s really important to remember that you are forgiven for your mistakes. Ephesians, Chapter 4, Verse 32 says…
Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God the Father, by placing you “in Christ,” also has forgiven you.
The fact that God forgives you is an established and irrevocable fact, long before you make any error. So when you make an error, do you hide from God or do you run toward Him?
True spiritual victory occurs when you depend on God the Holy Spirit for direction. When you make an error, truer spiritual victory occurs when you run back to God, knowing that He loves you unconditionally and that you are forgiven. Now…when the one who has wronged you runs back to you for forgiveness, what is your response?
When the Lord Jesus Christ
Promises Salvation, It’s a Guarantee!
…as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one”
But God the Father demonstrates His own unconditional love toward all mankind, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
For God the Father did not send the Son (the Lord Jesus Christ) into the world to condemn the world, but the Father sent His Son into the world that the world might be saved through believing in Him.
But as many as received the Lord (taking advantage of the free gift of salvation), to them He gave the right (once and for all time) to become children of God…to those who believe in Christ’s name…
CLOSING SONG
YOU DON’T HAVE TO BEG
June Murphy
CLOSING PRAYER
Let us pray...
THANKS- INTERCESSION- PETITION
And we pray that You continue to shape messages from this pulpit that accurately reflect Your unconditional love, Your glorious Person, Your lucid thinking, Your impeccable work, and Your magnificent 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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1220 S. Alma School Rd. Suite 201 Mesa, AZ 85210 |
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