A Church that knows God
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
Knows His goodness.
Knows His goodness.
Atheism denies God’s existence—unbelief denies his goodness, and since goodness is essential to God, these doubts do, in reality, stab at his very being.Charles Spurgeon
18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
19 And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
5 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord.
6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,
7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
It’s impossible to be good without correction. What parent would do that?
How have I experienced God’s goodness?
He’s been compassionate to me - Kindhearted, responsive, sympathetic, warmhearted,
He’s been very gracious - courteous, kind, and pleasant. “to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior; to favor, or to bestow” . It is grace, giving to the undeserving.
slow to anger- He doesn’t have a short fuse and is patient with us.
He has maintained this relationship.
forgives these three; wickedness, rebellion, and sin. ( all mentioned so that no one would think there were some types of sin God is unable to forgive.)
8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
9 The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.
38 Yet he was merciful; he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after time he restrained his anger and did not stir up his full wrath.
It was the first song at the temple.
13 The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang: “He is good; his love endures forever.” Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud,
We are to reflect His goodness.
11 we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith.
12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
ladder of virtue
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;
6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;
7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.
Moral excellence
Knows and Loves His diverse people.
Knows and Loves His diverse people.
Gentiles, Communion
35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
The Disciples:
Socio-Economic Backgrounds
The group included wealthy individuals like Joanna (who was well-off), middle-class fishermen such as Peter, Andrew, James, and John, and a former tax collector, Matthew.
Jesus intentionally brought these diverse and even antagonistic groups together, creating a community of former enemies, like the tax collector and the Zealot.
Transformative Power of Christ:.Their shared experience under Christ's teachings demonstrated how individuals with different viewpoints could be united by His transformative influence.
The diverse nature of the disciples demonstrates that God's image is seen in all kinds of people, and the church should embrace its diverse membership.
The Gentiles - Peter
20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.
10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Dishonoring the Saints
Dishonoring the Saints
17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.
18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.
20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat,
21 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk.
22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!
26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.
29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.
30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment.
Not eternal judgment but corrective judgment.
Ananias and Saphira were dishonest to God and The Body of Christ.
Knows His mission.
Knows His mission.
Individually
13 “You are the salt of the earth.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Disciples are like salt because they are precious. In Jesus’ day, salt was a valued commodity. Roman soldiers were sometimes paid with salt, giving rise to the phrase “worth his salt.”
Disciples are like salt because they have a preserving influence. Salt was used to preserve meats and to slow decay. Christians should have a preserving influence on their culture.
Disciples are like salt because they add flavor. Christians should be a “flavorful” people.
Light - we are not only light-receivers, but also light-givers. We must have a greater concern than only ourselves, and we cannot live only to ourselves; we must have someone to shine to, and do so lovingly.
Salt is needed because the world is rotting and decaying, and if our Christianity is also rotting and decaying, it won’t be any good. Light is needed because the world is in darkness, and if our Christianity imitates the darkness, we have nothing to show the world. To be effective we must seek and display the Christian distinctive. We can never affect the world for Jesus by becoming like the world.
Collectively
The Great Commission
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
