Tune and Prepare!

{grace, community, kingdom and love} an extract from Simon Elliott’s sermon Everyday Church Wimbledon Grace ... Based on Christ's performance on the cross as an expression of God's grace, God's riches at Christ's expense. Grace is not cheap. It costs God everything. And grace does not make us passive. Grace enables us to say no to godliness. Obedience has not got me into the presence of God, but grace births in me obedience. I can now love God because I was first loved by God . I can now pursue holiness, not because it qualifies me, but because I have been qualified by grace, and therefore I can live out the good of grace in my life. And praise the Lord, I'm not called to do that alone. Community Yes, I walk in step with the Holy Spirit, so I'm at that level, never alone, but I'm also called to be part of a community. God is community, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God created out of community. We're told the Father spoke. We'...

According to the apostle Paul in his letter for Ephesians As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us , God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not...

W hen Jesus was born, he received a gift set consisting of three items from the wise men who had travelled from the mythical Far East. The package contained the following:  · Gold  · Frankincense  · Myrrh ... These gifts came from the Magi... from the people who were far, separated from God and His covenant.. they openly acknowledged that a majestic Ruler – greater than any earthly power – had come into the world. Well then. Why are we building a throne today? Our reflection - our workout with Gd The next deep teaching comes from ap Paul who indeed understood the significance of the death — life dynamic. Read it carefully: this is not just God's work. This is not just your work. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. ...

A mikor Jézus megszületett három részből álló ajándék­csomagot kapott a mitikus Távol-Keletről érkező bölcsektől. A csomag a következőket tartalmazta:  · Arany  · Tömjén  · Mirrha ... ezek az ajándékok a mágusoktól származtak,... Istentől és az Ő szövetségétől távol álló emberektől, akik nyíltan elismerték, hogy egy fenséges Uralkodó – aki minden földi hatalomnál nagyobb – érkezett a földre. Nos. Miért építünk ma trónt? Visszajelzésünk – Isten előtti (lelki) gyakorlatunk A következő mélyreható tanítás Pál apostoltól származik, aki valóban megértette a „halál–élet” dinamika jelentőségét. Olvasd el figyelmesen: ez nem csupán Isten műve. De nem is csupán a te munkád. Ezért, szeretteim, ahogyan mindig is engedelmeskedtetek – nemcsak jelenlétemben, hanem még inkább távollétemben –, úgy munkálkodjatok is a saját üdvösségeteken félelemmel és reszketéssel, mert Isten az, aki bennetek munkálkodik, hogy akaratotokat és cselekedete...