Results

In John’s first letter he is dealing with a tension that every believer faces. As Christian’s we have been set free from sin, given the ability to obey God’s commands, and John is writing to encourage us not to sin. At the same time he acknowledges that we will sin, because we are not yet made perfect.…

INTRODUCTION 1 We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. 2 This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you…

Church in turmoil? Back to the basics! Christ died for our sins. According to the scriptures. He was buried, and raised on the third day. He has appeared to witnesses. This message is the only thing that keeps us going.

The Atonement Term to know: Atonement - to cover, cancel, or forgive The Basic Motifs of Atonement Sacrifice Propitiation Substitution Reconciliation The Cause for the Atonement 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Genesis 2:16–17 (NKJV) 16 And…

We probably aren’t too familiar with all that goes into being a shepherd, but to the people of Jesus’ day it was very well known. Anyone who has taken care of a pet, however, has some experience of the relationship that can develop between an animal and its owner. “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep…

One of the traditional things we say when celebrating the Lord’s Supper is, “as often as you do this, you do this in remembrance of me”. But what is it, exactly, that we are remembering? Is it just that Jesus shared a meal with His disciples before His death? Is it the breaking of the bread or the sharing…

Intro This morning I would like to conclude this mini series on Behold the Lamb. We have seen thus far The Promise of the Lamb, The Preparation of the Lamb and today I want us to see the Provision of the Lamb. God has provided us with so many things in our lives, but I believe we could all admit that…

I owed a debt I could not pay, He paid a debt He did not owe"

If you had to pick one day on the calendar as the most important day of the year, what would it be? Would it be your birthday? Would it be an anniversary? Maybe Easter, Christmas, or the fourth of July or some other holiday? According to the UN, the most important day of the year is September 21, the…

In helping to prepare the residential program at the Transformation Project, I was introduced to Restorative Justice. This is an approach to criminal justice that places more emphasis on restoration of a criminal offender to a fruitful life in their community rather than retributive justice that can…

TRANSITION [Video Clip] — The Talking Stain I am Tony Baker, Lead Pastor at Gateway. Glad you are here — watching online INTRODUCTION I hate it when I get a stain on a good shirt Ta’Mara hates it when I wear a good shirt to work in Some stains are really stubborn — need “Shout Out” — funny story about…

You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink! Is a common saying and if you have ever had anything to do with horses you know that there is some truth to the statement. When I was young there was a period of time when we would go to a trail riding farm at Mooloolah in the Sunshine Coast…

Introduction: 26 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present a food offering to the Lord . 28 And you shall not do any work on that very day, for…

What does it mean to say that Jesus is the "propitiation"? Could anyone else be our propitiation?

What is Faith? That’s a difficult question for our contemporary culture. Merriam-Webster Dictionary offers several definitions of faith. This is the one that most Christians would identify with: belief and trust in and loyalty to God.[1] However, our contemporary culture would probably identify more…

13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. 27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified…

Who is someone that you love deeply? Why do you love them? If you have a list of all the reasons you love someone, you don’t really love them. You love yourself, and these reasons only tell you the ways that person pleases you. For example, G.K. Chesterton said you could pick a place, let’s say Portland,…

Intro Text - Romans 3.24-26 Title - Propitiation (Part 4, Key Words of the Christian Life) 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance…

Over the past several weeks we’ve been hearing terms like “unprecedented”, “once in a life-time”, “corona virus”, and “pandemic”, and these words have become tiresome and lost much of their initial impact. A similar thing can happen when we read Scripture. Especially when we’re dealing with a familiar…

I don’t need to repeat news alerts or articles to tell you of tribulation. There is no time in human history that has not come with some sort of tribulation. Is there any doubt that what we call “life” is “the great tribulation”? It may get worse, but do we need it to? To call on God to save us? Can…

17 Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord . Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 5 not…

Generally, the word substitute carries a negative connotation with it. Substitute teacher (not the same as the main teacher) Substitute on a ball team (not quite as good as the starting players) Sugar substitute (what is this anyway?) But sometimes a substitute is a good thing: When a you have a teacher…

Spinning that stone uphill again Like atonement for a bygone sin Under the weight of it, my bones Are cracking like a dry branch in a westward wind But Zeus and his pantheon of kin Take the first nine out of every ten Minas, like lightning changing hands It all returns back to his pockets, in the end…

You and I are living in chaos and uncertainty, and the chaos demands your attention. On average, Americans receive up to 80 notifications on their smartphones every day, not counting actual phone calls. And they pick up and check their phones 150 times per day. We are being conditioned to live in constant…

Introduction This is a lesson in answer to someone’s question to me some time ago as to whether or not I believe Christ died for everyone. I could put it another way, who did Christ die for? Or, Does the blood of Jesus Christ cover the sins of all mankind? I for one, think that the early church because…