We conclude our discussion of the Three Core Exercises with an overview of service. As we seek our Father’s desires in prayer, study the Scripture with the illumination of the Spirit, we are led to follow the example of our Lord Jesus living a life of self-sacrificial love. The beauty and glory of Christ is displayed in a through us as we seek to follow Him in all that He is doing.

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Tags: exercise | service | jesus

This is week we consider the second of our core exercises: study. As we study God’s Word, we seek to be mastered by His word. We seek to understand His word in order to meditate on it and in this way hide His Word in our hearts. The exercise of study bridges the exercises of prayer and service.

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Tags: exercise | jesus | focus

We continue our discussion of discipleship by focusing on the idea of "oneness." Jesus does not just desire that we know about Him; He desires that we know Him. This type of knowledge is an intimate, personal knowledge that has as its goal being of "one heart and mind" with Jesus.

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Tags: oneness | jesus

Too often, the eternal aspects of God's choosing and predestination of those who will be saved is discussed apart from the reality of the Cross of Christ. Before we can fully grasp the implications of God's gracious work of choosing in salvation, we must first see ourselves from the perspective of being the very people who first despised, mocked, beat, spat upon and crucified Christ. God chooses to redeem His enemies; in this lies the scandal of His grace.

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Tags: election | salvation | jesus | grace

This week we continue our discussion of Philippians 3 by considering the the main goal of keeping our eyes focused on the main goal - Christ. In this passage Paul says, "One thing I do: Forgetting what lies behind and looking to what's ahead I press on..." Our past, whether good or bad, is behind us and in the present God wants us to keep looking toward our goal - being fully transformed and conformed to Christ's glorious image.

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Tags: jesus | grace | vision

We take a look at Philippians 3 and Paul's "one thing" that gives him vision and clarity as he follows Christ. Anything that we might consider personal "asset" becomes dung when we compare it to the exceedingly better "asset" of knowing Christ and discovering the righteousness come to us by means of faith. Whereas the false gospel of religion says, "I am accepted and loved by Christ for what I do," the true gospel of faith says, "I do what I do because I am loved and accepted in Christ."

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Tags: jesus

Romans 3:21-26 may be one of the most significant passages in the New Testament. In this passage the heart of Paul's Christ-centered theology is explained: God's righteousness is revealed in the faith (and faithfulness) of Christ for the faith (and faithfulness) of the believer. When we believe in the message that Christ has done all that is necessary to redeem us from our fallen way of life and reconcile us to God, we are declared righteous. This declaration is no "legal fiction" - stating something that is not really true. When God declares that we are righteous in Christ, this powerful and creative act changes our identity and our position before God. Our relationship with God has changed and this is the beginning of His work in us to transform us and conform us according to Christ's perfection.

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Tags: faith | jesus

We continue our discussion of the faith of Christ as part of the revelation of God's righteousness. The Gospel reveals both that God is righteous in both being (His character) and doing (His actions). In the Gospel we see that God reveals a way to be right with Him that is not according to law - self-righteousness by good works - but by way of Christ's faith.

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Tags: jesus | faith

This week, we begin a two part discussion on the faith and faithfulness of Christ. God saves us based on the faithfulness of Christ to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. In all that He has endured as a human, Jesus is qualified to be our faithful and merciful high priest who saves us by His grace. The Gospel therefore calls us to focus on Christ as our one and only savior.

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Tags: faith | jesus

What does Jesus mean when He says, "Do not judge so that you will not be judged." This week, our exploration of the 12 Aspects of the Gospel leads to a lively class discussion about the nature of God condemning our sin in truth but also displaying His grace to us in and through Jesus Christ.

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Tags: judgment | grace | jesus

This week, we begin to explore how Jesus' "one act of righteousness" on the Cross heals our fallen condition. We begin to look at 12 aspects of Christ's work as the means to providing eternal redemption. We will continue this discussion next week.

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Tags: cross | jesus | grace | redemption

This week we begin to explore what Christ has accomplished for us by observing Paul's teaching in Romans 5:12-21. Here we see that Adam (our first human father, the father of us all) made choices that have had disastrous consequences for the rest of us. In the same sense, Jesus has made choices that have provided an alternative to Adam's rebellion. We also take a brief overiew of Jesus' time on the Cross as His "one act of righteousness."

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Tags: jesus | grace | righteousness

Today, we move from the Larger Story of life to the Central Story of the Gospel. Central to the Gospel is the revelation of what Jesus has done for us AND what He desires to do to us. As we begin to consider this, we begin by thinking about three types of people and their response to the message of the Gospel. We will conclude this discussion next week.

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Tags: gospel | jesus

This week, we conclude our discussion of the Core Exercises and 2 Peter 1 by bringing together all we have discussed over the past couple of months.

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Tags: exercise | jesus

Moving from the individual pursuit of Christ in our day to day lives, we turn to consider how we fit together in the Body of Christ - the Church. We begin to develop a VISION for seeing what the Body is, what its purpose and goals are, and the means that are available to pursue the Mission that Christ our Master has given us.

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Tags: the Body | church | vision | jesus