The Power of the Gospel X - Living Grace Fellowship

Sunday 06/07/15

Series: The Power of the Gospel X

Message – The Power to Bear Fruit unto Godliness VI.mp3

Thorny Heart:

Mat 13:22/Luke 8:14 As for what was sown among the thorn bushes, this is the person who listens to the word, but as they go on their way they are choked by the worries of life and the deceitfulness of pleasures of life and wealth so that the fruit doesn’t come to maturity and can’t produce a crop.

The audio this week will be a little more, well let’s just say ‘intimate’ rather than polished, since we met this week in the home of a family in our church.

This week the Lord took us a different direction than the one for which I had planned. We still discussed the Thorny heart in Parable of the Soils, but be did so by exploring the one thing we can do to side-step being the person with this heart.

The Hope of the Gospel

If you were to ask most Christians what the hope of the gospel is, they would very likely say that it had something to do with going to heaven. This is the result of teaching a gospel that is primarily appeasing to the flesh and self-oriented. While an eternity with God is in fact a future expectation of the believer, it is never referred to as the hope of the child of God. No, the one thing that scripture says over and over is our great hope – is realizing the fullness of Christ-likeness in us.

This is where it can get confusing. There are scriptures that tell us that we are like Christ now, and there are scriptures which tell us that one day we WILL be like Him. So, how are we to understand this?

The moment a person comes to Christ in faith, they are changed. People ARE spirits, they have a soul and they live in a natural, corporeal body. When we are come to Christ, it is true self that experiences a re-birth. Spiritually we are made like Him.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,” ~ 2Cor. 5:17-18

Then begins the life-long process of converting the soul into His likeness. This process is only limited by our laziness, our pre-occupation with the things of this word and our willingness to trust God to complete in us what He began. This is the process of soul-salvation, where we become more like our savior.

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.” ~ 1Peter 1:6-9

“Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” ~ James 1:21

The final end of our Gospel hope is the redemption of our natural bodies.

“For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.” ~ 2Cor. 5:1-6

This is the fulfillment of our great hope in it’s fullness!

The scriptures tell us that if we will maintain this HOPE within our hearts we will make ourselves pure even as He is pure. This is what Paul called keeping his eye on the prize “The upward call of God in Christ Jesus”.

This message was a little more discussion based than normal so I hope you enjoy the more laid back style and that you learn how to avoid the snare of having a thorny heart.

This is where we ended this week. We will begin with hurtles to bearing fruit in our next message.

I realize that the graphic on the video says this is week 3 but that was my mistake and I did not feel like redoing the video so, I kept it like it is – my apologies.

I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. If you do not know Him, please use our ‘Contact Us‘ page and reach out so we may have the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Attendance at our church will NOT even be mentioned nor will money.

If you have been spiritually fed by this ministry and wish to give, we truly appreciate that and you may do so here, but all outreaches of this ministry are FREE for you and anyone to enjoy at no cost.

Blessings!

Pastor Mark

View posts by Pastor Mark

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!