(#008) Corinthians 1 - Whatever Your Problem, the Solution is JesusKeep it simple gentile.
Welcome To BARAH MINISTRIES a Christian Church
Rory Clark Pastor-Teacher
Good Morning!
Welcome to Barah Ministries…an intimate, local Christian Church with worldwide impact. My name is Pastor Rory Clark. Welcome to this Bible lesson! Who is Jesus Christ? At Barah Ministries we know this truth…that JESUS CHRIST IS GOD. In the apostle John’s gospel, he does a magnificent job of describing the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ…here’s one example …John, Chapter 6, Verses 35 to 40…
JOHN 6:35 Jesus said to the people who had seen him feed five thousand people with five loaves and two fishes, “I am the bread of life…he who comes to Me will not hunger…and he who believes in Me will never thirst.
JOHN 6:36 But I (the Lord Jesus Christ) said to you that you have seen Me (the One God the Father sent down as the true bread from heaven to give eternal life) …and yet do not believe in Me.
JOHN 6:37 All those that God the Father gives Me will come to Me…and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out (into the outer darkness…the Lake of Fire).
JOHN 6:38 For I (the Lord Jesus Christ) have come down from heaven (like living manna…not to do My own will…but to do the will of Him who sent Me.
JOHN 6:39 And this is the will of God the Father who sent Me…that of all that He has given Me I lose none…instead, that I raise them up on the last day.
JOHN 6:40 For this is the will of My Father…that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life (the resurrection life)…and I Myself (the Lord Jesus Christ) will raise him up on the last day.”
The Lord is saying, when you believe it…you’ll see it. When you believe in Him…you’ll see the resurrection life…eternal life. Only the True and Sovereign God of the Universe can make promises like that and then keep the promises.
Why does Barah Ministries exist? At Barah Ministries, we introduce people to the Lord. We make a difference by teaching the Word of God verse-by-verse from the Lord’s perspective and not from man’s perspective. Barah Ministries is provided by God for the benefit of both unbelievers and believers. We give unbelievers the gospel message…the good news concerning Jesus Christ’s salvation offer. We teach believers in Christ the Word of God…the Bible…the inerrant Canon of Scripture…so those who study the Word can have a deep, intimate, and personal relationship with the Lord. In Matthew, Chapter 11, Verse 28 the Lord says…
MATTHEW 11:28 “Come to Me…all who are weary and heavy-laden…and I will give you rest.”
For those who are weighed down and burdened by the sin which so easily entangles us, the Lord invites us into a yoke with Himself so that He can carry our burdens. For those who want a relationship with Him, He cleanses them from sin once and for all time, and He give them the gift of His righteousness at the moment of salvation.
Barah Ministries exists to encourage believers to gather with other believers to study the Word of God instead of retreating from each other to do Biblical study alone or only online. Being with like-minded people is immeasurably valuable.
Why study the Word of God? Second Timothy, Chapter 3, Verses 16 and 17…
SECOND TIMOTHY 3:16a All Scripture is God-breathed (into the writers of Scripture…the Greek word theopneustos …through supernatural inspiration) … and Scripture is profitable for teaching (knowledge)… for reproof (strong disapproval)…for correction (a gentle nudge back onto the right road)…
SECOND TIMOTHY 3:16b …and for training in righteousness (so we walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called)…
SECOND TIMOTHY 3:17 …so that the man of God may keep on being mature…totally equipped for every good work.
God’s enemy is Satan, whom God made ‘the ruler of this world.’ He is a deceiver who hates everyone in the world, including you and me. In John, Chapter 12, Verse 31, the Lord says…
JOHN 12:31 “Now judgment is upon this world…now the ruler of this world (Satan) will be cast out (he will be dethroned from ruling planet earth at a future time).”
Satan only wants a part of us…our will. He deceives us…he causes us to suffer…yet neither of these things is nearly as bad as how he convinces us to let him influence our will. That's when his insidious method of destruction, designed to corrode our spiritual lives and ruin everything precious to us, is most powerful against us. We permit him to destroy us. In Mark, Chapter 12, Verse 30, the Lord Jesus gives us the remedy against Satan…
MARK 12:30 “….and you shall love the Lord your God unconditionally…with ALL your Heart …and with ALL your soul…and with ALL your mind, and with ALL your strength.”
ALL is not some. Do not give the devil a single opportunity. Fix your eyes on Jesus!
TODAY'S BIBLE LESSON Whatever Your Problem, the Solution is Jesus
What are the gifts the Lord Jesus Christ has given you, the wretched sinner? His biggest gift to you is the offer of a relationship with Him! In today’s lesson, we begin our verse-by-verse study of the apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossians. The first chapter describes the preeminent One, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and a few of the many gifts He offers us in addition to Himself. Let’s begin this wonderful journey into these ninety-five verses.
SONG INTRODUCTION
Let’s begin with music! The Lord always encourages us. What does that mean? It means He is always inculcating us with the courage that would be expected from a person indwelled by the entire omnipotent Trinity. He gave the same encouragement to Old Testament believers…like in Joshua…in Chapter 1, Verse 9…to whom the Lord said…
JOSHUA 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed…for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
God encourages us because He is omnipresent…He is always with us…and as Aaron Cole and Toby Mac sing, He is always there RIGHT ON TIME.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
RIGHT ON TIME Aaron Cole Featuring Toby Mac
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
RIGHT ON TIME Aaron Cole Featuring Toby Mac
OPENING PRAYER Let us pray...
We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…
Father, thank you for giving us an indescribable gift…a relationship with Your Son and our Lord Jesus Christ…help us…through the power of God the Holy Spirit to obey Him, to worship Him, and to reflect Him in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called…keep us from dumbing Him do2nw to fit our mediocre lifestyle and our comfort zone…
…we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ's name...Amen.
TODAY'S BIBLE LESSON Whatever Your Problem, the Solution is Jesus
Paul's letter to the Colossians is four chapters and ninety-five power-packed verses about a problem that plagues us every single day of our lives…the problem of REAL versus COUNTERFEIT.
As we begin the eighth lesson of our study, it might be worthwhile for you to review the first seven lessons. Since it’s short, also it would be a good idea to read Paul’s letter to the Colossians every day for a week to make yourself familiar with its contents.
We've had quite a few interruptions and several distractions as we begin this study. In addition, we are dealing with the very crisis that the Colossian believers were having…a Satan-inspired infiltration into our church. Unfortunately for me, as Pastor of this church, I can't walk over to Ephesus to meet with the apostle Paul to get counsel on how to deal with our problem. I have to deal with it in my own soul, one headache at a time.
What relevance does this letter have to our lives today? We have a problem…but we know God created the solution before we had the problem. He will unfold the solution before our very eyes. We’ll notice if we’re watching for it with our spiritual eyes wide open.
Chapter One of the letter begins with the solution. Whatever your problem, Christ is the solution. Colossians, Chapter 1, Verses 1 to 29…
COLOSSIANS 1:1 (A letter from) Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God the Father, and from Timothy our brother (who is with me)…
COLOSSIANS 1:2 …(a letter) to the saints (who are believers in Christ) and to the faithful brethren in union with Christ who are at Colossae…grace to you and peace from God our Father.
COLOSSIANS 1:3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for all of you (Colossian believers) …
COLOSSIANS 1:4 …since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and since we heard of the unconditional love which all of you have for all the saints…
COLOSSIANS 1:5 …because of the hope laid up for all of you in heaven…of which hope all of you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel…
COLOSSIANS 1:6a …the gospel which has come to you…just as (it is coming) in all the world also…the gospel message that keeps on bearing fruit and increasing…
COLOSSIANS 1:6b …even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of the gospel message and understood the grace of God in truth…
COLOSSIANS 1:7 …just as all of you learned the gospel message from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf…
COLOSSIANS 1:8 ….and he also informed us of your unconditional love in the Spirit (en Pneumati).
COLOSSIANS 1:9a For this reason, also, since the day we heard the report of your faith, we have not stopped praying for all of you…
COLOSSIANS 1:9b …and we have not stopped asking that all of you may be filled with the knowledge of God the Father’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding…
COLOSSIANS 1:10 …so that all of you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord…to please Him in all respects…bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…
COLOSSIANS 1:11 …strengthened with all power…according to His glorious might…for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience…
COLOSSIANS 1:12 … joyously giving thanks to God the Father…who has qualified us believers in Christ to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.
COLOSSIANS 1:13 For God the Father rescued us from the domain of darkness, and He transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son (the Lord…Jesus…the Christ)…
COLOSSIANS 1:14 …the Christ in whom we have redemption…the forgiveness of sins.
COLOSSIANS 1:15 The Lord Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God and Father…He is the firstborn of all creation.
COLOSSIANS 1:16 For by the Lord (God the Son) all things were created…both in the heavens and on earth…whether visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether rulers or authorities—all things have been created through the Lord and for the Lord.
COLOSSIANS 1:17 The Lord is before all things…and in the Lord, all things hold together (by the Word of His Power).
COLOSSIANS 1:18 The Lord is also head of the body…the church…and He is the beginning… the firstborn from the dead…so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
COLOSSIANS 1:19 For it was God the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness (of Deity) to dwell in the Christ…
COLOSSIANS 1:20 …and through the Lord to reconcile all things to God the Father, having made peace through the blood of the Lord’s Cross…through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
COLOSSIANS 1:21 And although all of you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind… engaged in evil deeds…
COLOSSIANS 1:22 …yet the Lord has now reconciled all of you in His fleshly body through death…in order to present all of you before God the Father…holy…and blameless…and beyond reproach—
COLOSSIANS 1:23 …if indeed all of you continue in the faith…firmly established and steadfast…and not moved away (by false teachers) from the hope of the gospel message that you have heard…which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven…and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.
COLOSSIANS 1:24 Now I (Paul) 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 is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.
COLOSSIANS 1:25 Of this church I (Paul) 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…
COLOSSIANS 1:26 …that is, (preaching about) the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations…a mystery that has now been manifested (made clearly visible) to God the Father’s saints…
COLOSSIANS 1:27 ….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 hope (absolute confidence) of (your future) glory.
COLOSSIANS 1:28 We proclaim Him…admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom…so that we may present every man complete who is in union with Christ (en Kritso Iesu).
COLOSSIANS 1:29 For this purpose, also, I (Paul) labor…striving according to God the Father’s power…which mightily works within me.
Colossae is like modern-day Detroit…at one time it was a booming metropolis that was the cradle of the industrial revolution…all of the major American car manufacturers were based there…and it was the place to be if you wanted to make money. Today, Detroit is struggling to come back to its former glory, but it is more of a carcass that has had the life picked from it by the vultures of Satan's world system.
So it was at Colossae. Once on a road that was a major trade route…when the route was changed the city began to die…it became a small town in the middle of nowhere. A home-based Christian church was started there by a man named Epaphras…and wouldn’t you know it…as soon as the new church started to bud, false teachers and false teaching sprang up like a root, infiltrating the church and threatening its existence.
Epaphras…who had learned from the apostle Paul during His three years in Ephesus, just one hundred miles away from Colossae in modern-day Turkey…went to Rome to visit Paul and to get help with the problem in the churches at Colossae, at Laodicea, and at Hierapolis. Although Paul would never visit Colossae…although he never met the believers there…he penned this letter to them.
When we return from the break, we’ll take the offering, and then we’ll look a the first few verses of the letter.
FIVE MINUTE BREAK NOBODY Casting Crowns
TODAY'S BIBLE LESSON Whatever Your Problem, the Solution is Jesus
When we give the gospel message to unbelievers and they return the gift by listening attentively, it is one of the most gratifying experiences in the world. The gift of listening is the gift of intimacy.
When you give to Barah Ministries, you make it possible for us to give the gift of the gospel message to people all over the world through the magic of the internet. People are listening!
Thank you for supporting this ministry with your generosity. You are giving to God. Your unselfish giving is a reflection of our God, and it gives people around the world a chance to respond intimately to a life-giving message… the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Let’s welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall with one of his always inspiring offering messages.
THE OFFERING Deacon Denny Goodall
OFFERING VERSE
HEBREWS 12:15 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God…that no root (a problem) produces a bitter poison…springing up and causing trouble…so that by it the many are defiled…
OFFERING SONG CHANGE MY HEART O GOD Songs4Worship
TODAY'S BIBLE LESSON Whatever Your Problem, the Solution is Jesus
The first two verses of the letter to the Colossians introduce the author…the apostle Paul...
COLOSSIANS 1:1 A letter from Paul…an apostle of Jesus of Nazareth…the Christ (the Jewish Messiah)…by spiritual gift an apostle…by the will of God the Father…with Timothy our brother (who is with me)…
COLOSSIANS 1:2 …a letter to the saints…those who are believers in Christ…and to the holy and faithful brethren IN UNION WITH CHRIST who are at Colossae… grace to you and peace from God our Father.
Paul is the apostle of grace. What is grace?
GRACE A policy from God whereby He gives sinners (unbelievers) what they do not deserve by saving them…and by which He gives believers in Christ what they don't deserve by using His influence to equip them with the capacity to obey Him…to suffer in Satan’s kingdom…and to work to learn about Him.
As Church Age believers we are the recipients of God’s grace…a policy God was free to use toward us AFTER the Cross because of the Lord’s Jesus Christ’s propitiatory work at the Cross on our behalf. Romans, Chapter 6, Verse 14 says it all about us Church Age believers…
ROMANS 6:14 For sin shall not any longer be a lord and master over you…for you Church Age believers are not under law…you are under grace.
Why are we graced out? Second Corinthians, Chapter 5, Verse 17 tells us…
SECOND CORINTHIANS 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in union with Christ…and all Church Age believers are…there is a new creation…the old man things passed away (they died)… behold, new creation things have come.
As Church Age believers we are a new creation…the believers who are the recipients of grace. God gives grace to people who don’t deserve grace… from his heart…from His mind…from His character…from His nature… His very essence…with a huge cost to Him…and with no cost to us.
The best song ever about God’s grace was written by John Newton, an immoral slave trader and a blasphemer — a man who knew he was a wretch…who, like us, often wept over the depth of his sins. By understanding how bad he was, he was then able to understand why God’s grace was so utterly amazing. The immoral man wrote an IMMORTAL song and gave it, as a grace gift, to all of us.
When we realize how bad we are as people, we realize what Galatians, Chapter 2, Verse 21 means…
GALATIANS 2:21 “I (Paul) do not set aside the grace of God the Father (with my works)…for if, for the sake of argument, righteousness comes through (obeying) the Mosaic Law…then Christ died needlessly (I nullify His work on my behalf).”
We can't work to save ourselves. As wretches, we are dependent on God's grace…we are counting on God loving us when we know we are unlovable. Unfortunately, we don’t give the same grace to others.
The word grace appears one hundred and thirty-one times in the Bible…one hundred and twenty-four of those times in the New Testament. The apostle Paul uses the word grace eighty-six times…more than half of the uses…in his letters to the Church.
What is the problem in Barah Ministries that requires a solution? We have lost our minds. We have taken our eyes off of Jesus. We have become “familiar.” We are taking our blessing of this ministry for granted. We have been infiltrated by the world. And frankly, we are blind to the insidiousness of the problem. The problem manifests as dissatisfaction…with each other…with the progress the ministry is making…with the growth we refuse to see…with ourselves…with the world.
The Bible says believers in Christ are filled up to all the fullness of God. We are totally sufficient. God has us right where He wants us. He has given us the gift of Christianity, and it has a solution for every one of our problems. Only we don’t think so. We think we have a better idea. Why? Because we are listening to Satan and we are letting him infiltrate our thinking. Because we are watching the news too much. Because we think God is off duty. He isn’t. Whatever your problems, the solution is Christ. As you reread the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Colossians in the coming weeks, see if you can identify who Christ is and what He has done for you.
As a Pastor, I am charged with studying and teaching the Word of God so that you as saints are equipped for the work of service. I am not charged with refereeing your fights. But I do…out of a concern for you. None of us are immune to Satanic infiltration of our thoughts. But as a Jewish believer in Christ pointed out to me this week, the Lord warned the Jews quite a bit about the destructive power of Satan and his world forces in the Torah…the first five books of the Bible…and they still disobeyed. True. For many, many years they disobeyed. They are still in the midst of their disobedient rejection of their Messiah.
The reminder calmed me. It suspended my disbelief that we would ever allow ourselves to be a part of the dissatisfaction that is rampant in the world…because we have Christ and His Word. It shocked me that we would allow the teaching of the world to be more powerful in our lives than the teaching from this pulpit. Yet we do. It teaches us to never underestimate Satan’s power to cause problems. It teaches us to never underestimate his ability to steal our passion. It teaches us to be wary of his power to kill and destroy. Simultaneously, it reminds us to never forget that the solution to our problems is Christ.
GOD WANTS YOU! Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life
How would it be for you to know that there is someone who loves you so much that their love for you is almost unspeakable, yet you don’t know who they are and you haven’t met them? Actually, that is your situation if you don’t have a relationship with God.
The Creator of the universe created many things, including you…John, Chapter 1, Verse 3 says…
JOHN 1:3 All things came into being through the Lord, God the Son…and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being (including you).
You can have a relationship with your Creator because you are lost if you don't have a relationship with Him…but the good news is that He is looking for you! Luke, Chapter 15, Verses 4 to 7…
LUKE 15:4 “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine sheep in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?”
LUKE 15: 5 “When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.”
LUKE 15:6 “And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’”
LUKE 15:7 “I (the Lord Jesus Christ) tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner (an unbeliever) who repents (changes his mind about having a relationship with Christ) than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”
I've got bad news for sinners…unbelievers who don't have a relationship with Christ…you were born in a state of unrighteousness. All of us were. We are born physically alive and spiritually dead as ungodly, unrighteous unbelievers. It’s not our fault, but it is our circumstance. In First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verse 22, the bible says…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:22a …all in union with Adam at physical birth (and that is every human who comes to earth) are set to die the second death in the Lake of Fire…
But in the face of this bad news, there’s good news! The Sovereign God of the Universe…the Lord Jesus Christ…the Creator…provides a way for you to be saved! The good news is preached in what Christians call the gospel message. Let’s see what happened when the gospel message was preached in a prison in first-century Rome in Acts, Chapter 16, Verses 25 to 34…
ACTS 16:25 …about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God from their jail cells, and the other prisoners were listening to them…
ACTS 16:26 …and suddenly there came a great earthquake…so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken…and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.
ACTS 16:27 When the jailer…a prison guard…awoke and saw the prison doors opened… he drew his sword and was about to kill himself…supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
In first-century Rome, allowing prisoners to escape carried a penalty of instant execution for prison guards!
ACTS 16:28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying to the guard, “Do not harm yourself…for we are all here!”
ACTS 16:29 And the jailer called for the lights to be turned on and he rushed in…and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas…
ACTS 16:30 …and after the prison guard brought Paul and Silas out, he said, “Sirs… what must I do to be saved?”
Evidently, the guard had been listening to the spiritual songs Paul and Silas were singing!
ACTS 16:31 And Paul and Silas said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved…you and everyone in your household who also believes.”
There are no works of any kind necessary to be saved…it is simply faith, expressed in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, that is the ticket to eternal life.
How did our jailer friend get saved? In a crisis, he recognized He needed a Savior. He asked someone who knew what it took to be saved. Believers in Christ presented the accurate gospel message. The jailer did what was suggested. It’s that simple. But you don’t have to wait for a crisis to be saved! Do it now!
Who is this God who saves you? The apostle Paul describes the Lord Jesus Christ…in First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verses 3 and 4…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:3 For I (Paul) delivered to you as of first importance the gospel message I also received directly from God…that it was Jesus Christ who died for our sins according to the Old Testament Scriptures…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:4 …and that He was buried…and that He was raised from the dead on the third day…according to the Old Testament Scriptures…
It’s worse news if you choose not to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation. Romans, Chapter 1, Verses 18 to 20 say this…
ROMANS 1:18 For the wrath of God the Father is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and against the unrighteousness of unbelievers who ignore the truth in their unrighteousness…
ROMANS 1:19 …because that which is known about God the Father is evident inside of them…for God the Father made it evident to them from inside of them.
ROMANS 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible attributes…God’s eternal power…and God’s divine nature (His Deity) … have been clearly seen by all mankind… being understood even through what has been made (in nature… God’s creative work) … so that all mankind is without excuse before God.
God makes Himself clearly visible to human beings in ways that make sense to human beings…both from the inside of them and from the outside of them. Remember what Paul and Silas said to the jail guard, in Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31…
ACTS 16:31 “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”
ACTS 16:32 And Paul and Silas spoke the Word of the Lord (the gospel message…the good news) to the jailer together with all the people who were in his house.
ACTS 16:33 And the jailer took Paul and Silas that very hour of the night and washed their wounds…and immediately the jailer was baptized (by God the Holy Spirit)…he and all (those in) his household (who also believed…and they all did).
ACTS 16:34 And the jailer brought Paul and Silas into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in THE God (the Lord Jesus Christ) with his whole household.
So accept the invitation and heed the warning in John, Chapter 3, Verse 36…
JOHN 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has the resurrection life right at that moment… but he who does not obey the command to believe in the Son will not see the resurrection life…instead the wrath of God (the Lake of Fire) abides on him.”
Wouldn’t you like to spend all eternity in heaven? Don’t miss your opportunity…take advantage of the good news of the gospel message RIGHT NOW!
SONG INTRODUCTION
When unpleasant circumstances befall an unbeliever, they sigh and say, "I guess that's my fate." Unbelievers see circumstances as a curse from an unknown source…perhaps the "universe." As believers in Christ, we know that our God works all things together for our God because He has given us a destiny! Ephesians, Chapter 2, Verse 10 says…
EPHESIANS 2:10 For we are God the Father’s workmanship…created to be in union with Christ Jesus (and equipped) for good works…which good works God the Father prepared (for us) beforehand before the foundation of the world)…so that we would walk in them.
Here's June Murphy to sing about our DESTINY from God's perspective.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
DESTINY June Murphy
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
DESTINY June Murphy
CLOSING VERSES
A Doxology of Praise to Our God
Let’s close with words of worship for our Almighty God.
EPHESIANS 1:3 Worthy of praise is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us believers in Christ in eternity past with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms (a place of permanence)…through our union with Christ…
God wants us to enjoy His gracious provisions…
EPHESIANS 1:7-8 In Jesus…we have redemption (deliverance from slavery to sin) through His blood…the forgiveness of our trespasses…according to the glorious wealth provided by His grace…which He lavished on us…including as a gift, wisdom and insight…
EPHESIANS 3:20 Now to God the Father…who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we could ask or imagine (more than is humanly possible) …according to the divine power (omnipotence) that works within us…
EPHESIANS 3:21 …to Him be the glory…through the church age believers in union with Christ Jesus…and to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
CLOSING PRAYER Let us pray...
Thanks for coming! Thanks for watching! Thanks for listening! |