CHRIST OUR RECONCILIATION – MATTHEW 18:21-35
V35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from the heart.” We cannot be in the right with God if we are not also seeking to be in right relationship with others. Inseparable.
Life is a whole and its parts are inseparable - 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. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.1st John 4:19-21
Biblical teaching
- Obadiah – Edom condemned for its centuries-old undying hatred of Israel
- Isaiah 58 – their prayers not heard because of their unjust relationships
- Amos 5:21ff – their worship unbearable to God because of their greed, and oppression of the poor, the absence of righteousness and justice
- Matthew 5:24 – if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
- Ephesians 4:30-31 – do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you are sealed for the day of redemption
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CHRIST OUR REFUGE Luke 7:1-10, Matthew 15:21-28
What is a true, living and saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Observe these two stories where Jesus says the two people have ‘great faith’.
FAITH – ITS CENTRAL IMPORTANCE
- Ephesians 2:8- by grace you are saved through faith
- Hebrews 12:5 – without faith it is impossible to please God
The purpose of this talk - to help us see if we are in the faith and if not, then take steps to finding true faith in Jesus
- Some may discern that up until now what they have regarded as true is in fact not true faith at all
- Others with a very timid or even somewhat hidden faith may have that faith affirmed, nurtured and fanned into flame
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CHRIST OUR EVERLASTING REWARD – REVELATION 22
This wonderful chapter does two things – it tells us what kind of future is coming and urges us to get ready.
The time has come – we have listened and learned; it is time to leave behind the City of Destruction and set out on the pilgrim path to the New Jerusalem.
It’s time because you have to choose whose side you are on in the great battle of the universe - are you a follower of the Lamb or a captive of the great dragon? A citizen of the doomed city of Babylon ( symbol of the world) or a citizen of the New Jerusalem ( a symbol of the church)?
vs 1-5 - a word of revelation - – respond because there is a new world coming
A world of indescribable life, beauty, joy and fulfilment – and lasting forever! One day God will make all things new!
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Study One: 1 Timothy 1:1-2
“ … if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth ” (1 Timothy 3:14-15). Paul’s colleague, Timothy, was helping the church in Ephesus get on its feet. Paul hoped to be there soon, but forwarded some instructions in the meantime. His letter is our “1 Timothy” - an inspired epistle that always was intended to be read by others, and from which we may learn how to conduct ourselves in God’s household. 1 Timothy tells us how the church of the living God is to uphold the truth of the only God (1 Timothy 1:17) - that is, how we are to live out the Gospel.
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Study One : Removed (Jeremiah 29:1-4)
The Situation. In 597bc, King Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian army led thousands of citizens of Judah into exile. The captives included Jehoicahin (whose uncle, Zedekiah became king in his place), Ezekiel and Daniel. By the rivers of Babylon, the captives were strangers in a strange land. The prophet Jeremiah wrote to them; his letter is recorded in Jer 29:1-23.
The exiles in Babylon are not the only ones to be described in the Bible as strangers in a strange land. 1 Peter 1:1, 1:17 and 2:11 describes Christians in this way too! Those who follow Jesus live throughout the world, but the world is not their home. Sometimes the strangeness is particularly apparent.
The Strangeness. One study, quoted in “Everyday Church,” describes the strangeness like this. The Church has moved from being from in the centre to the margins; from being a majority to being a minority; from feeling like settlers to feeling like sojourners; and from having a position of privilege to being one voice in a plurality of faiths.
We can see this in Jer 29:1-2. The Judeans in Babylon no longer had the symbols of their faith (the temple, the Promised Land, the king), so it was harder for them to show who they were. Their ceremonies were nearly impossible; they were now living in a place where “Sabbath rest” or “clean food” meant nothing. The call to sing “one of the songs of Zion” (Ps 137:3) was just mockery to them. They were being pressed on every side to forget about the Lord their God. Some clung to the hope that things would soon change, and that they would get back to what was familiar and safe.
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Gospel Perspective - 1 : Unity
The Epistle of Paul to Philemon is a personal note, written about a slave called Onesimus (and probably delivered by him). It is also Scripture; the Church recognised its authority as the Spirit-inspired Word of God. It is a privilege to read; we sit in on a conversation between two godly men - the aged, imprisoned apostle Paul, and the well-to-do church-leader Philemon. The letter has a lot to teach about looking at life from the perspective of the Gospel - that is, how does my faith shape how I see things?
Part of the Perspective of the Gospel is UNITY. Those who know/trust the Lord Jesus Christ are united in Him. This comes across clearly in Philemon.
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