A Christian to be Thankful For
Notes
Transcript
Their Faith Motivated Their Service
Their Faith Motivated Their Service
Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
The purpose of faith is the fulfillment of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
Faith without works is not faith it all. It is wishful thinking.
Their Love Drove Their Labor
Their Love Drove Their Labor
For God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you demonstrated for his name by serving the saints—and by continuing to serve them.
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
Labor - Love = Duty Labor + Love = Delight
Their Hope Strengthened Their Endurance
Their Hope Strengthened Their Endurance
God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
“We can face the future with hope because we have already been given a foretaste of future glory in the power of the Spirit. We can embark on a pilgrimage of faith because we are energized by the Spirit, who liberates our will for obedience in the name of Christ. We can give ourselves to the service of the kingdom in the power of love because the Spirit rekindles within us the hope of life everlasting.” [Donald Bloesch, Last Things, 259].