Faith Community Church Tucson: Recent Episodes
Faith Community Church
One key to spiritual vitality is not getting more from God but in giving God our all. Matthew 6:33, Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.
Our strength comes from being plugged into the strength of God. Loving God with all our strength means making sure we are putting on the full armor of God so that we can love God with a greater intensity, and a higher level of quality, and a superior abundance.
God mercifully saves a people for Himself. He does this through His mighty power and grace.
To love the Lord with all of our mind means making sure that the "mind" doesn't simply justify what the heart loves. Instead, the mind makes the heart and will accountable to the written Word.
God has purposed to save all of His elect – our “names written in the Book of Life from before the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). We must rest in His promises because God will surely finish what He has started (Psalm 138:8). God’s “elect” are both Jew and Gentile.
How can anyone place their faith in the Gospel unless someone brings the gospel to them? Our “job” here and now is to “let your light shine.”
Our salvation is through Christ alone, by grace alone, by faith alone, and for God’s glory alone.
The more we understand what love is, the greater our ability to love God and others as we are instructed.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
Jesus’ death paid the price in full for our redemption. The resurrection was God’s vindication of Christ’s work and God’s testimony that Jesus’ work was accepted.
God uses a pattern with Christ. Through Christ's suffering, He bore fruit. If we are united in Christ, we will share in sufferings; and if we share in His sufferings, we will share in the glorious fruitfulness of His resurrection power.
God will see to it that all of His sheep are saved and He will not lose one of them. He will save all that He has chosen.
Every genuine believer perseveres because our God perseveres with us. Scripture is filled with examples of this. This perseverance of believers is the ultimate proof they are truly born-again. Every genuine believer will persevere to the end because Jesus prays for us like He did for Peter.
Encouragement is a very Godly and needed part of human and spiritual life. We should be looking for opportunities and taking advantage of them to be used by God as encouragers.
The Holy Spirit enables us to pray, assuring us that we are God’s children – “Abba Father”. Nothing can separate us from our Father’s love.
As Christians we can all struggle with sin and spiritually drift but we must keep working and we can be overcomers only with the help of God and the Bible.
God has forgiven His people of their sin because of Jesus' work of redemption in His life and sacrificial death. One day (soon we hope) we will see that "Day" when all suffering is over and we will be with the Lord forever in glorified bodies . . . forever.
Romans 8 tells us there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. THIS IS GREAT NEWS in the context of our daily fight against sin!
When our normal is challenged, our God remains steadfast, secure and available for us to draw near to; He will protect and comfort us.
Every true Christian fights the “good fight” against sin as we pursue righteousness. This is our born-again nature at work.
Christ bore my punishment the Law required and He perfectly obeyed the Law’s demands. Through Him, I am united with Him.
Christians are not perfect (yet) but they are not slaves of sin. Scripture labels us as slaves of righteousness which means true freedom to serve our Lord.
You don't have to like a person to show love. Love is not a feeling or emotion. Love is action.
“Dead to sin” is not something we do but what has been done for us when we were joined to Christ. The power of sin is broken for every believer even though we still fight the “good fight”.
Keeping yourself in God’s Word will help us keep our faith and focus on God and His sovereignty. It will give us hope and courage in the shifting-winds and sinister ways of this world.
Scripture is clear: assurance is not only possible, but it is attainable. We should be “fighting this good fight of faith” every day. If the Father has us in His hands and Jesus has us in His hands... who could remove us from that secure position?!
We can “rest” in God’s hands and His great salvation. Our Heavenly Father has made eternal peace with His children (us) through the atoning work of our Lord Jesus.
All genuine believers in Christ have peace with God and are no longer under His wrath. Every one of these believers stands in God’s grace and looks forward to God’s glory.
Our salvation is God-centered; and like Abraham, our faith is simply trusting our Heavenly Father and walking in obedience to what God instructs us to do - our "pilgrimage."
Scripture has lots to say about how the believer is to endure, cope, and trust. The development of Christian character does not occur without difficulties and adversity.
Scripture has lots to say about how the believer is to endure, cope, and trust. We are repeatedly told that the development of Christian character does not occur without difficulties and adversity.
By grace alone, through faith alone – and in Christ alone. When Christ came, He paid for Abraham’s and David’s sin as He did for your sin and mine.
Christ taking flesh is a mystery we shall never fully understand until we come to heaven. If our hearts not be rocks, this love of Christ should affect us. Behold love that passes knowledge (Ephesians 3:19). - Thomas Watson, A Body of Divinity
Twice so far Paul has said that the gift of God’s righteousness apart from the Law was announced in the Old Testament. Now we will see that it was not only announced, but it is the only way ANYONE could be saved.
Faith is not a good work; it does not earn salvation. BUT faith is essential; only those who believe on Jesus Christ can be saved. Thanks be to God that He has given us that which He requires – Ephesians 2:8-10.
Our only hope for salvation is for God to change our heart - and that is exactly what He has done in every believer.
The Holy Spirit “opens our eyes” to God’s Word, softens our hearts to receive it, and brings to us the New Birth – born again children of God, our Heavenly Father!
The word “temptation” in Scripture can refer to a direct temptation to do evil, to a trial, or a testing. We are to persevere as we walk through this life!
Outside of our salvation, sin dominates the mind and every believer struggles with indwelling sin – no exceptions.
When the Lord returns, His will shall be done on earth without resistance from the unbeliever (they will be gone) and without indwelling sin in the believer - "as it is in heaven." Maranatha!
God is now ruling and has always ruled the universe, which includes what happens on earth. He is THE SOVEREIGN. God created it and He rules over it. But it is obvious that God is not (YET) ruling on earth as He rules in heaven – and this is what we are to pray for – “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
God hears our prayers and we should have confidence that we will receive what we have asked for if they are according to God’s will.
Peter had failed the Lord and made it worse by denying the Lord three times - BUT JESUS LOVED PETER in spite of his weaknesses, and Peter loved the Lord.
The emphasis in John 21 is Jesus’ post-resurrection ministry. We see our Lord ruling over His church and directing His followers in their Christian growth and service. What we see CLEARLY is Jesus’ perseverance with His own.
Our text shows us: 1) Jesus’ disciples together, 2) the impossibility of serving Christ in the energy of the flesh and the fruitlessness of such efforts, 3) Jesus’ ongoing direction of our serving Him and the blessings that come from our obedience, 4) Jesus’ provision in this life for His people.
Could anything be a greater blessing than the new and eternal relationship with God that is given to His children? AND THIS IS ALL OF GRACE.
One clear historical evidence of Jesus’ resurrection is the empty tomb and what was seen inside.
From birth, to the cross, and to glory, Jesus perfectly fulfilled Scripture concerning His Person and His work.
“It is finished!” What Jesus accomplished in His sacrificial death perfectly fulfilled the Father’s will and eternally secured our redemption.
JESUS shows us not only the way to be saved (He is the way…); He also gives us assurance of our salvation!
The authority of man’s government comes from God (not man) – it is a delegated authority and ultimately accountable to God Himself.
Jesus’ sacrifice to redeem God’s people was God’s will; and Jesus submitted to His Father’s will.
Here is another aspect of our Lord’s perseverance, which is His determination to fully carry out the Father’s will in purchasing our salvation.
An amazing point in this passage is the humble obedience of our Lord. He is an unresisting prisoner while AT THE SAME TIME being the Lord of Glory.
One very important lesson from this Scripture passage is for us to see Jesus’ dependence on prayer. We should highly value our prayer life.
The love of God is what we should hold onto FOREVER! Our security and salvation is His grip on us and not our grip on Him
Some of the “marks” in the genuine believer’s life are joy, holiness, truth in the Bible, and unity. In this mark of UNITY, we deal with the Christian’s relationship to all who are also children of God.
Holiness is a characteristic of the genuine believer most mentioned in Scripture. It is simply walking in a way that God makes possible and that pleases Him. Here is evidence of the “New Birth.” Holiness should characterize Jesus’ church (you and me).
Jesus has prayed for Himself in verses 1-5 andNOW He intercedes for His disciples. Jesus prays for their safekeeping. Later He prays for their sanctification (verse 17), unity (verses 20-21), and eventual presence with Him in heaven (verse 24).
Jesus makes it clear that those who believe were God’s originally, “They were Yours and You gave them to Me. “
John 17 is the longest recorded prayer we have that our Lord prayed. It is referred to as “His high priestly prayer.” It is a prayer that only Jesus could present. Jesus’ prayer is a model of His high priestly intercession for us, which He continually makes in the presence of God the Father, on the grounds of His completed work and accepted sacrifice.
THE GOD WHO HEALS
We know that in the midst of our uncertainty; we can remain calm because of the certainty of our God! Jesus Christ is our firm foundation, our cornerstone… the rock of salvation on which we stand!
The Faith To Move Forward
God loves us. God doesn’t want us to break; but INSTEAD, God wants us to live an abundant, fruitful, and productive LIFE… for His glory and for our good!!
PART II
Let your thoughts dwell not on your love for God, on your performance/successes/strengths, but let your thoughts dwell on His extraordinary, extensive, expansive, unconditional love for you.
There is no handout for this message. Let your thoughts dwell not on your love for God, on your performance/success/strengths, but let your thoughts dwell on His extraordinary, extensive, expansive, unconditional love for you.
If God has given us “eyes” to see, we can clearly see that God’s purposes are always accomplished. This is seen from the Garden of Eden through the cross of our Lord Jesus and will be seen until the end of time into eternity. Keep your troubles in the light of Jesus’ resurrection!
Trust in the Lord when everything is not understood (which is just about all the time). Walk in the “light of God’s Word” and keep trusting Him – FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH.
Jesus had a true friendship with Lazarus and his sisters which points us to our Lord being fully human while always being fully Divine – “very God of very God and very man of very man.” We see our Lord’s humanity clearly when He weeps at the grave.
THERE WILL ONLY BE AN MP3 DOWNLOAD FOR THIS MESSAGE.
Jesus is our Shepherd and we are His sheep. Apart from Him we have no hope for the present day or for the future or for eternity. Our Shepherd will keep us and bring us “all the way home.”