The Basics
Notes
Transcript
Handout
To be a Christian
To be a Christian
Today will be more of a conversation. I want to challenge you to be able to both understand & explain what you believe.
What is a Christian?
A person who follows Christ
What is sin?
the hebrew word translated sin mean “to miss the goal” -bible project
Its our failure to fully love God and others
Failing to honor other imagers is a failure to love God
Sin is described as a force, rooted in our flesh
We all sin without knowing, Leviticus 5:17 ““If a person when he sins violates one from all of Yahweh’s commands that should not be violated, but he did not know, then he is guilty and he shall bear his guilt.”
Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself with my mind am enslaved to the law of God, but with my flesh I am enslaved to the law of sin.
This is one reason we need Christ. We cannot root sin out of our own lives.
“I'm a good person, I'm going to heaven” How would you respond?
What does it mean to be saved?
9 that if you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation.
What is repentance?
Repent is to turn around, change direction
37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “What should we do, men and brothers?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all those who are far away, as many as the Lord our God calls to himself.”
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
What is faith? What does it mean to “Have faith?”
Pistis, the Greek word translated as faith, can be understood as loyal commitment.
Now faith is the realization of what is hoped for, the proof of things not seen. For by this the people of old were approved. By faith we understand the worlds were created by the word of God, in order that what is seen did not come into existence from what is visible.
By faith Abel offered to God a greater sacrifice than Cain, by which he was approved that he was righteous, because God approved him for his gifts, and through it he still speaks, although he is dead. By faith Enoch was taken up, so that he did not experience death, and he was not found, because God took him up. For before his removal, he had been approved as having been pleasing to God. Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and is a rewarder of those who seek him.
What does baptism mean?
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Baptism is an outward sign of allegiance to God & rejection of Satan.
When you hear the word Water or Sea in Scripture, it’s often used as an image for chaos. So anytime God shows command over the waters, He is proving His dominance over the powers of chaos
21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh moved the sea with a strong east wind all night, and he made the sea become dry ground, and the waters were divided.
Baptism uses imagery of when God split the water for the Israelites to escape the Egyptians, see Matthew 3:16–17 “16 Now after he was baptized, Jesus immediately went up from the water, and behold, the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove coming upon him. 17 And behold, there was a voice from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.””
The greek work for “opened” is the same greek word used in the Greek translation of the OT (Septuagint) for “divided”
Page 164 of the Book of Common Prayer for the rejection of the Devil. This is spiritual warfare. We are choosing sides.
St. Patrick’s Prayer
St. Patrick’s Prayer
May the Strength of God pilot us.
May the Power of God preserve us.
May the Wisdom of God instruct us.
May the Hand of God protect us.
May the Way of God direct us.
May the Shield of God defend us.
May the Host of God guard us
Against the snares of the evil ones,
Against temptations of the world.
May Christ be with us!
May Christ be before us!
May Christ be in us,
Christ be over all!
May Thy Salvation, Lord,
Always be ours,
This day, O Lord, and evermore. Amen.
